Ever twist a saturation knob and wonder if you’re hearing compression, distortion, or something in between? In this episode of Inside The Mix, Marc Matthews puts that question to the test with a clean, scientific setup, a 440 Hz sine wave, the Softube Saturation Knob, and Wave Observer, a free oscilloscope plugin by Press Play.
By placing Wave Observer last in the signal chain, Marc visually shows how your waveform changes as you dial in saturation, how rounded peaks flatten, harmonics stack up, and a pure sine wave slowly edges toward a square. No more guessing, no more placebo, just a clear visual of how your favourite plugins reshape the sound.
Marc explains why visual feedback matters when subtle processing tricks your ears, and walks you through a simple DIY method you can try in any DAW. You’ll see exactly what happens around -12 dBFS, where soft saturation tightens dynamics long before the audible grit appears.
This quick session helps you connect what you hear to what you see — so you can mix faster, gain stage with intention, and start trusting your ears with confidence.
Takeaways:
- How to use Wave Observer for real-time saturation analysis
- What clipping actually looks like
- A repeatable workflow for plugin testing and calibration
If you’re ready to stop mixing blind and start seeing your decisions pay off, on meters, waveforms, and final masters — this one’s for you.
Subscribe, share the episode with a producer friend, and drop Marc a note with the next plugin you want analysed. Your suggestion might feature in a future episode of Inside The Mix.
Links mentioned in this episode:
FREE Plugin To See Inside Your Mixes - Press Play Wave Observer
Ways to connect with Marc:
Listener Feedback Survey - tell me what YOU want in 2026
Radio-ready mixes start here - get the FREE weekly tips
Book your FREE Music Breakthrough Strategy Call
Follow Marc's Socials:
Instagram | YouTube | Synth Music Mastering
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Episode Transcript
Have you ever turned the knob on a plugin and
thought, what exactly ishappening to my audio right now?
Maybe you're using a saturationplugin and you're twisting that
dial thinking, can I hearcompression?
Can I hear distortion?
Or can I hear something elseentirely?
Or maybe my ears are fooling mealtogether.
Here's the twist.
You don't have to guess.
There is a free plugin calledWave Observer by Press Play, and
you can use it to analyze whatyour plugin is actually doing to
(00:47):
your audio.
And I'm going to use it in thisepisode with one of my favorite
free plugins.
So how can you use WaveObserver to visually understand
your plugins?
Let's dive in.
You're listening to the Insidethe Mix podcast with your host,
Mark Matthews.
Welcome to Inside the Mix, yourgo-to podcast for music
creation and production.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
(01:10):
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews,
practical tutorials, andinsights to help you level up
your music and smash it in themusic industry.
Let's dive in.
Hey folks, welcome to Insidethe Mix and a big welcome if you
are a new listener or viewer,if you're watching on YouTube,
and a big welcome back to allthe returning listeners and
viewers.
Now, this episode I amdemonstrating a great free
(01:33):
plugin that I discoveredrecently called Wave Observer.
And it's brought to us by PressPlay.
Now, disclaimer, this episodeis in no way, shape, or form
sponsored by Press Play.
It is literally me justsharing, sharing with you a
plugin I discovered recentlythat I think you'll enjoy.
This all started when alistener asked a brilliant
(01:54):
question on episode 214, thebest free plugins every producer
should use.
And the question is this Whatdoes that soft tube saturation
do?
Shave Peaks and Audibly,because you have to crank that
dial a lot to get it to audiblydistort things.
And honestly, great question.
And it made me realize that Idon't have a plugin that allows
(02:15):
me to see what effect a pluginis having on my audio.
So I started scouring theinternet for free time domain
audio analysis plugins, and Idiscovered, or rather, stumbled
across the oscilloscope that isWave Observer by Press Play.
Now, this isn't a tutorial orepisode on how to use Wave
Observer.
There are fantastic ones thatalready exist online, and I'll
(02:37):
put a link to one of myfavorites in the episode
description.
This is just me describing howI used it to answer that
question way back at thebeginning of the episode of what
exactly is SoftTube SaturationKnob doing to the audio.
But before we go any deeper, Ihave put together a quick
two-minute survey and I wantyour input on the podcast, on
(02:59):
how I'm going to shape thepodcast in 2026.
So click the link in theepisode description and just
give some feedback on thepodcast itself and what you want
to see or rather hear more ofin 2026.
And you can also in there shareyour music win of 2025 and get
featured on episode 227, whichis going to be the last episode
(03:20):
of two of 2025.
So click that link in theepisode description.
Let me know what you want tosee more of in 2026 and maybe
what you want to see less of in2026 on the podcast.
And also share your win andfeature on the podcast in the
very last episode of the year.
So click that link in theepisode description.
So what is Wave Observer?
It's basically an oscilloscopethat you can use for time domain
(03:42):
audio analysis.
So we can use it to understandhow peaks, transient response,
and waveform shape change as weprocess audio using plugins.
So I've got Wave Observer here,and it is last in my signal
chain.
It's after my test oscillator,which is a sine wave at 440
Hertz, which is A above middleC.
I recommend trying it out onsome more complex material like
(04:05):
a drum loop or on a vocal, forexample.
Specifically, if you're usingsomething like saturation knob,
because you've got the keephigh, neutral, and keep low,
which can be quite interestingto try out.
So when I enable this testtone, I'm gonna see the sine
wave in Wave Observer, and I'min the mode waveform.
If you want to know what themode duration and zoom do, go
(04:25):
check out that link in theepisode description, and there's
a brilliant tutorial where itgoes in more depth with that.
But what I'm gonna do is I'mgonna enable the test tone, and
you'll just hear a sine wave.
Okay, and we can see that inWave Observer, which is great.
So what I'm gonna do is I'mgonna enable soft tube
(04:45):
saturation.
And this is what I did afterthat uh in response to that
question, and I thought, okay,the question was, do you have to
really crank it for it toactually do any form of
basically clipping the audio?
It uh it essentially turns itinto a square wave.
So I'm gonna leave it onneutral and I'm just gonna crank
it.
Now it's gonna get a bit loudwhen I do that.
(05:08):
So in my post-production, I'lltry and bring that down.
So let's uh enable the testhome and hopefully as I crank
the saturation on soft tubesaturation, you'll start to hear
that waveform changing shapebasically.
It's turning into a square wavebecause it's shaving off the
top.
Okay, so there we go.
(05:39):
That's quite pronounced, isn'tit?
And that is soft tube, that'sat 6.3.
So I'm just gonna drag it upagain until we start to really.
I mean, again, that was quitepronounced.
I'm gonna drag it up again onthe on the sine wave.
So that's three.
That's not really that far onthe saturation obs.
(06:00):
You don't really need to do agreat deal.
Now, this sine wave is set atminus 12 dB in terms of output
with the with the testoscillator.
So you don't need to do a greatdeal, but you get this sort of
square wave, and that's it.
That's how I used Wave Observerto answer that question.
I didn't really need to crankit a great deal to get that
waveform to start changingshape.
But again, trial it on your ownmaterial, try it on more
(06:22):
complex material.
It's a great way, it's a greattool to use to visually
understand or start tounderstand what effect a plug-in
is having on your audio.
And I've really only scratchedthe surface with this.
And I love doing these kind ofepisodes where I find a new
tool, a new plugin, because Ican share my experience and then
get feedback from you and howyou've used it and how you are
(06:44):
using it as well.
So I love doing theseparticular episodes.
And again, click that link inthe episode description if you
want to get a deep dive intoactually what and how to use
Wave Observer.
Now it's your turn.
What plugin are you going toanalyze using Wave Observer?
Maybe a tape emulation plugin,maybe your favorite compressor.
Maybe you found a newdistortion plugin that you
(07:05):
really want to analyze and seewhat it's doing to your audio.
Shoot me a message.
Click that link in the episodedescription as I'd love to know
what plugin you analyze usingWave Observer, or maybe you've
got a different tool that youuse to analyze your audio, or
rather, analyze your plugins andwhat they're doing to your
audio.
Shoot me a message and let meknow, and I'll feature it on a
future episode.
(07:25):
So there you have it.
And of course, I'll put a linkin the episode description.
My biggest takeaway, sometimesvisualizing your signal can
identify something your earsmight have mixed.
And this is especially usefulif you're using a new tool for
the first time.
And before we wrap things up,if you would like to support the
(07:46):
podcast and what I'm doing hereat Inside the Mix, consider
joining the YouTube membershipfor less than the price of a
coffee per month.
And I love coffee.
You'll get priority reply tomessages, badges, and early
access to new episodes.
Just hit that big, I think it'sblue, hit that big blue join
button on YouTube.
And if you like this episode,check out episode 203 of the
(08:07):
podcast, where I chat with IanStewart, who breaks down what
actually happens when you choosea sample rate, the perfect
follow on from this episode.
Until next time, keep creating,keep producing, and I'll catch
you in the next episode.
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