FabFilter

I've just noticed this occurring so tested a sin wave on a couple of distortion models in Saturn 2.

Sin wave on input is at 0dBfs PEAK, drive is at 100% for both models, no oversampling.

Using 'Subtle Saturation', the peak output is at -4.7dBfs. If I add +4.7dB to the output knob, I get a peak output of 0.0dBfs.
Fine and expected.

However, if I use the 'Clean Tube' model, I get a peak output of -4.4dBfs. Now if I add +4.4dB to the output knob, I get a peak output of -1.0dBfs.

I thought the output knob would add linear gain, but reading the forum I understand there is a soft clipper on the S2 output, but would have thought that would affect the output of both models the same.

Any light that can be shed is welcome, thanks! :)

There's a soft clipper on the output, but it uses a much higher ceiling level when you use the "subtle" or "transformer" styles. Otherwise you would always get a significant amount of distortion from the clipper, which is not desired with the subtle styles.

Cheers,

Thanks, Frederik!