Studio-to-stage
saturation
Whether it’s that gritty rough edge, that in-your-face impact, or that final transparent boost you’re after, Dist OPAMP-21 delivers the full range of crisp, urgent, colorful distortion and saturation that you’ve been looking for.
Amp-like distortion
Dist OPAMP-21 delivers a unique flavor of solid state guitar amp-style grit; responsive, organic, immediate, and as hot as you need it to be.
Character unlocked
Explore hundreds of possible distortion configurations with Dist OPAMP-21’s deceptively simple controls; combine its 4 modes with up to 8 ‘character’ switches to find your own crunchy flavor.
For any sound
From adding sizzling heat to your vocals, to adding amped analog character to your instrument tracks, to saturating your whole drum bus, Dist OPAMP-21 is a true distortion Swiss army knife.
Modern enhancements
Surpass the traditional possibilities of guitar pedals and studio gear for a DAW-friendly workflow; enjoy a host of additional contemporary features, from parallel processing to expanded stereo controls.
Amped sound
in a few clicks
Sometimes a sound just needs a little ‘more’. Maybe it’s more volume, more detail, more sustain, more warmth, or more presence - whatever it is, you want ‘more’ of it. That’s where Dist OPAMP-21 comes in.
Reinvigorate any sound with the thrill of guitar amp presence, the harmonic depth of cascaded op-amp circuitry, and that elusive sense of ‘more’ that sometimes only analog distortion can bring. The best bit? Get all this and more in a few clicks, no audio expertise necessary.
From mix-smoothing saturation to all-out distorted attitude, Dist OPAMP-21 is a go-to that you never realized you needed. Perfect for when your guitars need extra richness and bite in a mix, your vocals need a touch of extra presence and a grungy edge, or your drums could use a little extra punch - once it's engaged and cranked in your mix, you’ll never look back.
Strat Grit Layer
Just adding a bit of crunch to the dynamic peaks of the guitar track.
Agressive Arpeggio
Helps to transform your synth into a lead guitar. Use the dry/wet to destroy the sound.
Drums Slightly Bigger
Very famous tricks with this pedal. Use as a parallel process to destroy the signal and add it to your dry signal to add fat loudness to your sound. You can use it on a bus or on different parts of your drums, or on a "bone" mic.
Vocal Filter Drive
So you don't have a Fuzzybox. No to worry, you got a Dist OPAMP-21 ! Use it in parallel to add a fuzz effect to voices.
Bass Amp 21
A classic sound of famous Amp head with a simple settings.
Gentle Lo Fi
Using classic tape-style saturation, give your drums that coveted lo-fi vibe, making even the cleanest stem sound like an unearthed reel from the archives.
Stompbox feel,
studio sound
Dist OPAMP-21 is designed to strike the perfect balance between software effect flexibility and tactile guitar pedal immediacy. Plug in, experiment, customize, and enjoy - just like the real thing.
But this classic pedal turned studio staple has been enhanced with a number of extra features, designed to make it that little bit more creative, flexible, and fun as a DAW distortion toolkit.
Here’s a closer look at its feature set.
Artist
Corner
Steve Levine
Producer / Engineer (Culture Club / Beach Boys)
"The DIST-OPAMP 21 amp sounds terrific on guitar tracks - really helps the mid range of the guitar blend with the vocals."
Romesh Dodangoda
Producer / Mixer Motorhead, Bring Me The Horizon, Funeral For A Friend, Twin Atlantic
"The OPAMP-21 by Arturia is a brilliant recreation of a piece of gear I use all the time! A secret weapon for drums and vocals, it’s not just for guitar! "
Thiago Baggio
Recording & Mixing Engineer
"So versatile and sounds so good. Dist OPAMP-21 has already replaced my go to distortion plugin for bass and vocals right away and will live in my mixing template from now on, it was a no brainer."
Andy Toy
Miguel, Sabrina Carpenter, Kiiara
"OPAMP-21 is based on one of my favorite hardware distortions for vocals of all time. Arturia absolutely nailed the filter curves and distortion modelling, and the added features like 3 band EQ and Wet/Dry blend make this plugin extremely versatile."
A direct
hit
Let’s step back in time to the late ‘80s, at a time when the world of music technology was witnessing innovation after innovation.
This growing demand in alternatives to the old-school of heavy, temperamental amps was answered by a number of manufacturers and industry names, who raced to emulate the elusive tube sound - that’s where Tech 21* came in. The SansAmp®* was released in 1989, and it was a guitar pedal that immediately looked like it had a lot going on under the hood. More than just a distortion pedal, this little black box was designed to give guitarists a convincing amped-up sound straight into the desk. To this day, it’s considered the first ‘amp in a box’ solution offered to musicians.
By today’s standards, its amp emulation may not be perfect. But, like many innovative and novel bits of gear, it ultimately transcended its original purpose. Its relative wealth of controls, modes, and coloration options made it a surprisingly effective saturator, great for injecting grit and warmth into any sound. Its notoriety landed it in the hands of countless musicians, from Kurt Cobain’s iconic screaming guitars to Tchad Blake’s signature parallel saturation heard on records by Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, and many more. Today, Dist OPAMP-21 puts all that op-amp character - and more - right in your DAW.
DAW ready
However you use these plugins; for the amazing tone of their reverb, for the gritty preamps, or for their incredible sound design abilities, you'll be safe in the knowledge that they are fully compatible with your setup. These plugins work with all major DAWs, and on both Windows and MacOS.
TAE® Powered
The exclusive analog modeling technology that makes our emulations indistinguishable from the originals.
By accurately mimicking the characteristics of analog oscillators, filters, and soft clipping, we can provide astonishing component-accurate detail and authentic analog charm in equal measure.
Gallery
Main Features
Stereo distortion and saturation effect with emulated op-amp circuit behavior
4 modes of virtual preamp:
MODERN: flat EQ, no coloration
NORMAL: Mesa Boogie®-style preamps
LEAD: Marshall®-style preamps
BASS: Fender®-style preamps
Combine up to 8 ‘Character’ switches:
Mid Boost 1
Mid Boost 2
Low Drive
Clean Amp
Bright Switch
Vintage Tubes
Speaker Edge
Close Mikin
Drive, Presence, and High controls for customizing your distortion sound
Stereo mode selector: L-R, Mid, Side
Added Dry/Wet control for parallel processing
Pre-Drive high-pass and low-pass filters with Curve low-end emphasis
3-band Output EQ with visualizer
2 Oversampling modes for supreme audio quality or lower latency performance
A/B comparison
NKS-ready