Smart Audio Plugins has recently released an AD/DA converter emulation and saturation plugin for Windows and Mac.
Emulsion Box models four well-known converters, aiming to recreate the character, color, and analog cohesion that conversion to and from the analog domain traditionally adds to a mix. Beyond emulating the hardware, the plugin lets users combine those characters in saturation chains that wouldn’t be possible in the analog world, while still keeping that analog-style sound in the box.
In photography, emulsion is the process that decides the grain, the quality, the emotion that film will give back to us. Emulsion was built with that idea in hand. It takes its inspiration from analogue circuits that create character, emotion and colour — sometimes subtly, sometimes far more openly. With Emulsion you can now combine those sonic characters that make the difference for a record that is produced, and that moves people.
The plugin includes 5 selectable models:
- Green: Based on a well-known colorful effects unit, suited to drum bus and guitar duties.
- Gold: Aimed at a crisp, controlled, more compact tone than Green.
- Grey: Modeled on another classic converter, with a musical character and a re-positioned digital THD stage.
- Old PCM: Emulates 1980s digital conversion technology, with a distinctive, precise vintage tone.
- Digital: A pure THD stage with no AD conversion coloring, available on top of any of the other four models for an extra layer of harmonic saturation that wouldn’t be possible in hardware.
Other controls include a Drive Level knob that shifts the tone from brighter and thinner (anti-clockwise) to richer and darker (clockwise), and an A/D Circuit mode selector that switches the saturation stage between transformer and pre-conversion modes where applicable.
Emulsion Box is available in VST, AU and AAX plugin formats. The plugin is on sale for the introductory price of €27.30 EUR until September 30th, 2026 (regular €39 EUR). A free 14-day trial is available.
More information: Smart Audio Plugins