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Average Price: $198
High-end/Boutique
$39
$100+
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Price History
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Description
Transform your digital mixes into warm, analog masterpieces with the Soundtoys Decapitator. This powerful distortion plugin replicates the soulful essence of analog hardware, bringing the richness of tubes, transistors, and circuits straight to your digital workstation. Whether you're looking to add subtle warmth or push your track to the brink with extreme saturation, Decapitator offers a versatile range of options to suit your creative needs.
Dive into the depths of analog saturation with five meticulously modeled hardware styles, each offering a unique character that echoes the subtleties of vintage and modern equipment. The Punish button is your best friend when subtlety just won't cut it, delivering an extra dose of gain that transforms polite tracks into bold, dynamic statements. From vocals and guitars to drums and synths, Decapitator provides that signature analog touch that makes your music stand out.
With its thoughtfully designed interface, Decapitator offers intuitive control over your sound. The analog-modeled tone control allows for precise shaping of the saturation, while the mix knob facilitates seamless parallel processing. These features, combined with the reliability and flexibility of a Soundtoys plugin, ensure a seamless integration of analog warmth into your digital mix.
Key Features:
- Five distinct analog saturation models based on renowned studio hardware
- Unique Punish button for high-gain saturation
- Analog-modeled tone control for nuanced sound shaping
- Mix knob for easy parallel processing without complex routing
- Compatible with macOS and Windows, supporting VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX formats
- Supports sample rates from 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz
- Requires a free account at ilok.com (no physical USB iLok needed)
Product specs
| Software Type | Saturation effects |
| Platform | Mac, PC |
| Upgrade/Full | Full |
| Download/Boxed | Download |
| Bit Depth | 32-bit, 64-bit |
| Format | AAX Native, VST, AU, AudioSuite |
| Authorization Type | iLok Account required |
| Hardware Requirements - Mac | Intel processor |
| Hardware Requirements - PC | Intel compatible processor |
| OS Requirements - Mac | OS X 10.10 or later |
| OS Requirements - PC | Windows 7 SP1 or later |
FAQs
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What kind of saturation effect does the Soundtoys Decapitator provide?
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The Soundtoys Decapitator offers an analog saturation effect, simulating the warmth and character of classic analog hardware. It allows users to add subtle warmth or intense distortion to their audio tracks.
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Is the Soundtoys Decapitator compatible with my DAW?
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Soundtoys Decapitator is compatible with most major DAWs, supporting formats such as AAX Native, VST, AU, and AudioSuite. Ensure your DAW supports these formats for seamless integration.
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Does Soundtoys Decapitator require an iLok account for authorization?
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Yes, an iLok account is required to authorize the Soundtoys Decapitator. However, a physical iLok dongle is not necessary; you can authorize the software directly to your computer.
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Can I use Soundtoys Decapitator on both Mac and PC?
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Yes, Soundtoys Decapitator is compatible with both Mac (OS X 10.10 or later) and PC (Windows 7 SP1 or later) systems, requiring an Intel or Intel-compatible processor.
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What are the standout features of the Soundtoys Decapitator?
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The Soundtoys Decapitator features five different analog saturation models, a tone control for shaping the high and low frequencies, and a mix control for blending the dry and wet signals, offering versatile sound shaping options.
Videos
Geoff Manchester
Soundtoys Decapitator: Why is everyone in love with this thing?
Reviews
PROS
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Offers five distinct emulation modes for varied sound coloration
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Features a "Punish" button for aggressive 20dB signal boost
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Excellent for both subtle saturation and intense distortion effects
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Includes integrated low- and high-pass filters for sound shaping
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Highly versatile, suitable for vocals, drums, bass, and synths
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Easy-to-use interface with auto-makeup gain and mix knob
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Enhances sound with analog warmth or digital grit
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Popular among top-level engineers and producers
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Can replace physical gear for live performances
CONS
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High CPU usage when used on multiple channels
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Some users prefer other plugins for saturation effects
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Soundtoys Decapitator.
Features and functionality
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The Decapitator lacks an oversampling option, leading to noticeable aliasing issues according to some users.
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The Decapitator's various settings (A, E, N, T/P) mimic specific hardware preamps, providing versatility in tonal applications, like using the N setting for vocal preamps.
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Devil-Loc acts as a highly aggressive limiter with distortion, ideal for thickening drum room sounds, particularly effective in metal and rock genres.
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Value and pricing
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Soundtoys Decapitator often goes on sale significantly below its $200 price, with bundle deals offering greater savings during holiday promotions.
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Comparisons
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Audio Assault Head Crusher is frequently recommended as a budget-friendly alternative to the Decapitator for similar distortion and saturation effects.
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Arturia's Culture Vulture model and Soundtoys Decapitator offer different tonal qualities, with some users preferring Arturia for its dynamic and EQ circuits.
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Decapitator's A mode emulates the tube preamp from a vintage tape recorder, distinct from true tape effects like Kramer Tape, which emphasize tape saturation and wow&flutter.
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Use cases and applications
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Many users consistently apply the Decapitator lightly on bass and vocals, enhancing tracks by subtly altering brightness or darkness.
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Decapitator excels on drum busses, providing a crunchy texture that enhances the drum mix's cohesion and impact.
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It's effective for creating aggressive tones in EDM bass genres, helping sounds cut through the mix with added saturation.
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Ableton's Drum Buss and Roar in Multiband are recommended for drum processing and general sound enhancement, respectively, offering viable alternatives to Decapitator.
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Radiator excels when cranked on kicks and toms, leveraging its EQ section to enhance brightness, providing a unique tonal option compared to Decapitator.
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User experience
Critic Reviews
5.0 out of 5
Based on 6 Reviews and 54 Ratings
1798
Something to warm up or incinerate your signal with
I have two dirt pedals that I utilize to either beef up my signal or absolutely destroy it, but when I don't want to go through the trouble of hooking up my outboard gear to setup I just open up Decapitator. It's one of those saturation/dirt plug-ins that can be used with subtlety to add warmth to your tracks or you can be abrasive by initiating the "punish" button and turn your signal into a glitchy fuzzed out mess. It goes great with everything and I'll probably be using it in place of my Life Pedal when I tour or play shows in town.
1539
Endless distorted joy
I can't begin to express how much I love this plugin and I've barely had time to use it. It feels like it has unlimited possibilities and can give you any kind of distortion tone you could possibly want, from subtle and warm to severely mangled, and yet everything sounds musical somehow. Magic!
1513
Inspiring, Incredibly useful
The Decapitator from SoundToys is incredible, I use it on all my synth tracks, really adds a fantastic "color" to the sound that compliments whatever project i'm working on. One of the best plugins ever!!
238
Artist usage
Add artist
This article on the making of Marr's 2018 Call the Comet album by MixOnline.com touches on some of the gear used during the recording process. "'“We used some Lexicon PCM91 outboard reverb and some EchoBoy, not necessarily timed to the track so it could bounce around a bit and fill space,' says [engineer] Doviak. 'I usually go for something slightly degraded, like a cheap Tape Echo--something with character that sits in the background, not distracting, but has some integrity. MicroShift Soundtoys is great for vocal doubling and widening effects. I’d often use Decapitator or Radiator for some dirt.'" (While the engineer is providing this feedback, the gear is housed in Marr's own Crazy Face studios, which contains gear he's collected over his decades in the music industry.)
at 6:20 in the video you can see the Decapitor in this breakdown of the track "Alone"
He uses this in addition to Parallel Particles to make things sound beefier. Don't press the punish button.
In a livestream titled "Today's CoronaJam: A Hybrid Theory-style demo" on April 1, 2020, Mike Shinoda uses the Soundtoys Decapitator plugin. The session is available on the Shinoda Livestreams YouTube channel.
Used on Lamar's vocals for "All the Stars" as stated by producer Matt Schaeffer in this May 2018 Sound on Sound interview.
Kendrick Lamar’s vocal audio tracks, named after his teenage stage name K.Dot, consist of his first verse rap track, ‘VS 1 LD’, and 10 tracks for three moments in the track where he sings the pre-hook in a robotic voice. The verse rap track only has the AIR Flanger on it, and is sent to the ‘Dot VS LD’ aux track, which has eight inserts and five sends. Nine of the 10 pre-hook tracks have Auto?Tune, while the top four have a number of plug-ins on the inserts, including the EQ3 seven-band, Waves RVox, UAD Galaxy Tape Echo, SoundToys Little AlterBoy, SoundToys MicroShift and Valhalla Vintage Verb. These four are sent to a ‘Hook Ref’ aux track higher up in the session with another four plug-ins on the inserts and five sends. The other six are backing vocals to the four other pre-hook tracks and have no other plug-ins, other than a Trim, and are sent to a ‘Hook Background’ aux, just below them, which itself also is sent to the ‘Hoof Ref’ track. It’s a pretty complicated vocal signal chain, as Schaeffer admits.
“The ‘Dot VS LD’ aux indeed has a lot of stuff on it! I did most of the processing on that bus. On the inserts there are the SSL E-Channel, Waves RComp, Waves Q10 EQ, Waves DeEsser, UAD LA2A, UAD Pultec EQP1A, SoundToys Decapitator and Pro?Q2. The SSL channel strip, Q10 and RCompressor remain from the tracking, and maybe the DeEsser as well, but I most likely messed with the settings more during mixing. The Q10 has a high-pass at 50Hz and I notched out a frequency that was bothering me around 8.5kHz with the Q2. I added the other plug-ins during mixing, and they all add something a bit different. I’m boosting 100Hz and 16kHz with the EQP1A. As I said, I like using several EQs on one thing.
“The sends go to a ‘FlangeVerb’ track, on which I put the RVerb and the UAD MXR Flanger, then the ‘Huge Verb’ with the [Audio Ease] Altiverb and EQ3, ‘Hook Valhalla’ with the Vintage Verb, and the SoundToys EchoBoy, the ‘EMT250’ aux with the UAD EMT250, Valhalla Plate and MicroShift, and then finally a send to the ‘Dot VS Delay’ track, with the EchoBoy, set to quarter note, the Reel Tape Flanger and the RCompressor. The EchoBoy is the main delay you can hear in the verse. The EMT250 is not set to a reverb, but to a phaser effect, which gives a cool stereo effect. The Valhalla adds a bit of reverb here, though it’s set to -12, so it only gives a tiny bit of ambience, and the MicroShift makes the whole thing a little wider. It probably still sounded a bit dry, which is why I sent the track to the ‘Huge Verb’ aux with the Altiverb, again taking out low end with the EQ3.
“We use the Neumann M150 to record Tom’s vocals at the Clubhouse, because it has a tight pattern which diminishes the amount of bleed. You can see the verse lead vocal track, and immediately below it two vocal fix overdubs, because Tom changed a couple of lines, and below that the ‘Voc Amb’ track, which is the ambient mic that I always have set up close to Tom, pointed away from him. If I have to drop in a line, I can add some of the ambience that was on the original vocal mic. I also put that ambience at the beginning of the song before the vocal comes in. The verse vocal has a substantial effect on it, coming from the Decapitator, set on the ‘Old Radio Voice’ preset. Tom has this character in his lyrics, and he felt that it enhanced it to make it more lo-fi. It also meant that his voice sounds bigger in the choruses, when the effect disappears. The verse vocal goes through the 1176 and the MDW, with which I’m just rolling off some low end and adding at 8kHz.
“The chorus vocal is from the same live take, moved to a different track because I applied different processing. It also had the 1176 and MDW. I pushed a lot of 3kHz, to get it to cut through more. Tom sang the chorus part rather softly, because it fit his character, so it needed EQ to come out more in the track. All the vocal harmonies in the track were recorded at Tom’s place. Below the vocals there’s the ‘Vox slap delay’ aux track, which has the Digi Long Delay set at 150ms, and I ran it through the Decapitator, at the same setting as the snare drum.”
“…I love all the SoundToys plugins, I use a lot of Decapitator, Radiator, Devilok…”
Album Usage
The Soundtoys Decapitator has been featured on the following albums:
Starlight
Disciples (2025)
Spacetime
Andrew Huang (2021)
Oceans & Galaxies
JAUZ & HALIENE (2021)
Ex Machina
Metrik (2020)
Cojum Dip
Cojum Dip (2019)
Echoes
Ben Duffy & Kove (2019)
Sun EP
Gallago (2018)
Call The Comet
Johnny Marr (2018)
All The Stars (with SZA)
Kendrick Lamar & SZA (2018)
Bodak Yellow (feat. Messiah) [Latin Trap Remix]
Cardi B (2017)
Pictures In My Head
MJ Cole (2017)
Bodak Yellow (feat. Kodak Black)
Cardi B & Kodak Black (2017)
Light
San Holo (2017)
All The Way (VIP Mix)
Hellberg (2016)
Alone
Alan Walker (2016)
Perfect Strangers
Jonas Blue & JP Cooper (2016)
I Want You
Huxley (2015)
Blurred
Huxley (2014)
Hypnotic Eye
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2014)
Beast
Borgeous & Thomas Gold (2014)
II
Moderat & Moderat (2013)
Remember
Thomas Gold (2013)
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Soundtoys Decapitator, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
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