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Blue Cat's Destructor
Blue Cat's Destructor
"The distortion and amp sims factory that goes to 11, and beyond!"
Price: 99€ or $99 (tax incl.)
Blue Cat's Destructor - Distortion and Amp Simulation Plug-In (VST, AU, AAX, VST3)

Blue Cat's Destructor is a powerful distortion and amp sim modeling tool capable of simulating any kind of distortion: from harsh digital destruction to smooth compression or guitar amp simulation (works for clean tones too!), and most importantly, yours!

MacOSUniversal BinaryWindows Vista or newerWindows x64 (64-bit)VSTVST3AAX64-bit AAXAudio Unit
Also in Bundles: All Plugins Pack / Axe Pack

Destructor is delivered with hundreds of presets and predefined models, either inspired by existing gear (guitar & bass amps or cabinets, compressors, pedals, tape machines...) or created by our destructive minds.

But the plug-in is not limited to these predefined models: all parameters of existing presets are fully editable, which gives you access to an unlimited number of distortion simulations - no need to purchase extra presets or amp models to build your custom tone. And if you want to keep it simple, use tone maps to create new sounds without diving into the details.

Based on a perceptual model rather than on electronic designs or impulse responses, the signal chain is reduced to its bare minimum, simplifying the process of tweaking the tone and making it fit into the mix. You can also load and transform your own impulse responses to add color to your tone.

Thanks to its exclusive adaptive shaper, it is reactive to the playing of instrumentists, providing a very natural feeling, similar to analog gear.

To make the look and feel of the plug-in fit with your favorites tones, it is bundled with more than 1600 visual styles that can be selected separately for each module. Use the "EZ mode" with rack or guitar pedal style to control the effect with only a few parameters.

It is also possible to import reference curves measured with Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst Multi to quickly match existing tones.

If you are looking for a complete amp simulation solution with effects, check out Blue Cat's Axiom. For frequency-selective or multiband distortion, the plug-in can be used in combination with Blue Cat's MB-7 Mixer.

Main Features

  • Powerful distortion and amp modeling tool.
  • Simulate any kind of distortion: analog or digital, guitar and bass amps, saturation, clipping, compression, bit crushing...
  • Works for "clean" sounds too.
  • Get started with several hundreds of fully editable presets, inspired by real gear.
  • More than 1600 visual styles to customize the user experience.
  • Control the dynamics with the input gate and compressor.
  • Control the tone with the pre and post filters.
  • Exclusive shape dynamics control: adapt the tone to the dynamics of the signal.
  • Tone maps: explore and morph presets in 2D to create new tones.
  • Use the internal or external side chain to trigger the distortion.
  • Load your own cabinet or reverb impulse reponses, transform and mix them with built-in simulations.
  • Protect your ears with the output brickwall limiter.
  • Comprehensive visual feedback: real time spectrum analysis, dynamic distortion curve display with embedded signal histograms.
  • Load reference curves for tone matching.
  • No latency.

Blue Cat Audio Standards:

  • Available in most plug-in formats for Mac and Windows.
  • Full MIDI control and automation support, MIDI Learn.
  • No CPU load on idle: processing shuts down when fed with silence (optimal CPU usage).
  • Customizable user interface with transparency & zoom.
  • Smooth Bypass: noiseless plug-in activation / deactivation.
  • Undo/Redo.
  • Full featured integrated presets manager.
  • Copy/paste the state of the plug-in between instances.
  • Any sample rate supported.

Typical applications: Distortion modeling, guitar amp simulation, non-linear tone shaping channel strip, overdrive, bit crushing, analog compression, hard & soft clipping, coloring, tape saturation, Lo-fi, fuzz, digital noise, aliasing, filter effects.

Credits: this plug-in includes several factory presets created by Sink and Hans Van Even.

User's GuideOn The BlogPresetsTutorialsNewsletter

Blue Cat's Destructor - Distortion and Amp Simulation Plug-In (VST, AU, AAX, VST3) Blue Cat's Destructor - Choose from more than 1600 visual styles to build your own pedals. Blue Cat's Destructor - Choose from more than 1600 visual styles to build your own guitar amp or distortion/compression rack. Blue Cat's Destructor - Distortion and Amp Simulation Plug-In (VST, AU, AAX, VST3) Blue Cat's Destructor - Distortion and Amp Simulation Plug-In (VST, AU, AAX, VST3) Blue Cat's Destructor - Distortion and Amp Simulation Plug-In (VST, AU, AAX, VST3) Blue Cat's Destructor - Minimized Blue Cat's Destructor - Minimized pedal style view: build your own guitar pedals Blue Cat's Destructor - Browse factory and user presets on 2D maps, and morph between them to create unique new tones.

User Comments & Reviews

"In summary, Destructor is a revelation, bringing awesome distortion and tone shaping to your DAW at a great price.[...] Guitarists will get right down with this authentic amp simulation, and electronic producers will find endless sound design potential behind its intuitive interface." - Computer Music Magazine - December 2016 - [read review on musicradar].

"Having spent several hours finding my way around Destructor and putting it through its paces i'm happy to report that it really is as flexible and fully featured as Blue Cat describe. [...]

Destructor's interface is well laid out and a breeze to use; Blue Cat have went to great lengths here to make sure getting some fantastic sounds as easy as possible.[...]

Viable as a great sounding Amp sim as well as a downright filthy saturation and distortion plug in, Blue Cat Audio's destructor offers fantastic value for money." - rated "Excellent" by The garageband guide, October 2016 - [Watch video review here].

"Destructor doesn't look like an amp simulator, but let's not make the mistake of underestimating the immense scope of this plug-in: Destructor is all about distortion in the broadest possible sense, and that includes guitar amplifiers - basically all of them ever! From clean tones to mild overdrive to ultra high-gain, Destructor is equipped with all the tools necessary to deliver tones from across the board. [...] Look no further if you’re after a new and refreshing approach to the amp simulation game" - Gearslutz.

"Destructor is extremely handy for literally any tone you could ever want. [...] From crystal cleans to the most punishing yet articulate hi-gain you could ask for. [...] There simply is no other plugin on the market today that gives you the ability to create and customize tones the way Destructor and Axiom do." - Honest Amp Sim Reviews - [Read full review].

"I absolutely love this plug-in [...]. Destructor is a very impressive plug-in. Its capabilities are endless. I am very excited to use this plug-in in my future tracks and on stage." - Blayne Stone - [read full review].

"I must say it is so easy to use, and the scope for sounds and distortion [...] is just endless. [...] I forget that it's a plug-in, it's that good! These modules in the middle can be tweaked till the end of the world,[...] the possibilities really are endless. " - Pro Tools Expert, October 2016 - [full video review].

" [Destructor] is capable of much more than just amp simulation and its range is everything from the gentlest, pleasing "warmification" to brutal audio annihilation.

The shape dynamics control [...] is where Destructor truly shines in relation to most of the competition. [...] This allows for much nuanced distortion design and can contribute to much expressivity in final tone." - SoundBytes Music Magazine - Nov. 2016 - [full review].

"I am so blown away by the way this plug-in. I think it sounds absolutely amazing! " - Studio One Expert, October 2016 - [full video review].

"Blue Cat Audio réalise [...] un véritable tour de force. Les modes "Easy" et "Edit" alliés aux multiples niveaux de presets satisferont tout le monde, du guitariste pressé à l’ingénieur du son exigeant, en passant par le Sound Designer en quête d’un traitement sur mesure. Et bien entendu, le son est définitivement de haute volée !" - audiofanzine.fr - Award "Valeur sûre" [Test Complet].

To add your own comment about this product, please contact us.

Demo Limitations:

  • 5 instances of the plug-in allowed per session.
  • The effect is bypassed for half a second every minute.

System Requirements

MacOS

  • An Intel or Apple Silicon processor.
  • Mac OS 10.9 or newer.
  • Any VST / Audio Unit / AAX compatible application (64-bit) .

Windows

  • An SSE2-enabled processor (Pentium 4 or newer).
  • Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10.
  • Any VST / AAX compatible host software (32 or 64 bit).

For more information about supported platforms, see our Knowledge Base.

Versions History

V1.62 (2022/12/12)

  • Added Apple Silicon support for AAX Plug-in Format.
  • Fixed VST3 version not always loading properly in Ableton Live 11.
  • Improved VST parameter value display in some host applications.
  • Added an option in global & preset input settings to send MIDI events when MIDI-enabled parameters are modified in the plug-in (to update control surfaces accordingly).
  • Improved undo management and automation when using the mouse wheel to move knobs.
  • AAX: Fixed erratic mouse behavior in Pro Tools on Mac.
  • Mac: installers and plug-ins have been notarized to avoid security warnings on Mac OS Catalina and newer.

V1.61 (2021/10/19)

  • Single Installer on Mac (all plug-ins formats).
  • Fixed issue with volume knob in EZ mode not using the right parameter in some cases.

V1.6 (2021/06/29)

New Features & Improvements:
  • New "Guitar Pedal" mode: build your own effect pedals with Destructor.
  • New drive range parameter to adjust the range of distortion available in a preset.
  • Revisited all 707 factory presets and related tone maps, with adjusted drive range and improved tone.
  • Added 19 new distortion and compression pedals presets.
  • Improved tone maps navigation, with updated user interface.
  • The opacity of the tone map window can now be adjusted.
  • Arrow keys can now be used to navigate presets, in the main view or in the presets browser.
  • Smoother presets switching.
  • Improved smooth plug-in bypass (faster and smoother transition).
  • Added MIDI control support (MIDI CC) for Next and Previous Preset commands, with MIDI learn.
  • Improved MIDI & automation control settings with lock, reset and "save as global setting" capabilities.
  • Preset files can now be dropped onto the preset LCD area to be loaded.
  • reduced time to load the plug-in.
  • Level meters, spectrum analyzers and tuner stop processing when the user interface is closed, reducing CPU usage.
  • Reduced the number of threads used by the plug-in.
  • Improved global and preset settings window loading time on Windows.
  • Full unicode support.
Compatibility:
  • Native Apple Silicon (M1 processor) support.
  • Dropped 32-bit support on Mac.
  • Now requires MacOS 10.9 and newer.
Fixes:
  • Fixed VST3 (and sometimes VST) version freezing Ableton Live upon save on Windows.
  • Mac: fixed GUI performance issues on native P3 displays and improved performance on other displays.
  • Mac: fixed mouse wheel that required large movements to change parameter values.
  • Mac: fixed mouse cursor flickering issues.
  • Mac: fixed Esc key not closing fine edit parameter dialog.

V1.52 (2020/05/28)

  • New high resolution graphics for knobs.
  • Improved impulse response convolution performance (long reverb tails are now supported, with low CPU usage).
  • Reduced disk footprint.
  • Mac: faster GUI rendering on recent Mac OS systems (up to 5x faster).
  • Mac: fixed user interface not properly shown on retina displays in some applications built with the 10.14 Mac OS SDK (Cubase 10.5 or Logic 10.5 for example).
  • Mac: fixed settings panel rendering issues in dark mode on Mac OS Mojave and newer.
  • Mac: Fixed keyboard not responding in registration panel in some host applications (LUNA, Garage Band...).
  • Mac: Fixed demo version that could hang Logic when reloading projects using the plug-in.

V1.51 (2019/09/25)

  • Fixed tone maps presets morphing that did not work on Mac.
  • Fixed tone maps "reload from presets" when the map was created on another platform (Mac vs PC).

V1.5 (2019/09/23)

  • New tone explorer with presets morphing: explore presets on predefined or custom visual maps, and morph tones in 2 dimensions to create unique new sounds easily.
  • Added more than 100 factory "tone maps" for the new tone explorer.
  • New presets (and sub-presets) browser with built-in search.
  • New guitar factory presets: classic guitar amps, metal and signature guitar presets.
  • New bass guitar factory presets, including 45 new bass cabinet models.
  • Each instance of the plug-in can now have its own MIDI Program Change settings.
  • MIDI Program Change preference is now saved into session instead of global preferences, so each instance can now use different MIDI channels. It is also saved in the user default preset.
  • VST3: added support for MIDI program change messages to change presets via MIDI.
  • VST: the user interface is now properly resized in Cubase on Windows.
  • Hovering the mouse on the current preset name now displays a tooltip with the full path of the last loaded preset file.
  • Performance improvement: the user interface now only loads modules that are visible.
  • Mac: faster GUI rendering on recent Mac OS systems (up to 5x faster on level meters).
  • Mac: fixed user interface not properly shown on retina displays in some applications built with the 10.14 Mac OS SDK.
  • Changing the slope of lowpass and highpass filters in pre and post filters is now smoother.
  • Improved plug-in listing in Windows 10 start menu.

V1.41 (2018/12/06)

  • Spectrum analysis is now performed in the background and does not affect audio performance.
  • Improved convolution performance for the impulse response loader on multicore processors.

V1.4 (2018/10/09)

  • Load custom impulse responses (cabinets, reverbs) into the pre or post filters.
  • Shape impulse responses in the edit view to match the perfect tone.

V1.32 (2018/05/15)

  • New "randomize" feature to create new sounds using random destruction and pre/post presets.
  • New factory presets imported from the new Axiom software.

V1.31 (2018/03/29)

  • Fixed missing sliders in the "LCD Sliders" style.
  • Updated the user manual.

V1.3 (2018/03/19)

  • New minimized view (displays only the main "Guitar Amp-style" controls).
  • New clean guitar amp presets.
  • Faster GUI loading / instantaneous GUI display after it has been opened once.
  • Limiter on/off state is now independent from presets ("always locked").
  • Ui lock now also includes control settings display (green arrows).
  • Performance and memory usage improvements (both GUI and DSP).
  • Improved automation recording (and undo) in many host applications when controlling the plug-in with MIDI.
  • Fixed: changing bypass in the Audio Unit version did not update host application's bypass state.
  • Win: fixed copy/paste that sometimes stopped working until next app restart.

V1.21 (2017/11/24)

  • Fixed issue with dynamics source selection in the destruction module (worked only with preamp signal in version 1.2).

V1.2 (2017/11/21)

  • The GUI can now be zoomed from 70% to 200%.
  • Last loaded preset is now remembered in session and displayed in the presets menu.
  • Plug-in state can now be reverted to the last loaded preset.
  • Default preset now also saves the state of locks (when using "save as user default").
  • New installer on Mac.
  • Now supports retina displays on Mac.
  • Misc performance enhancements.
  • VST3: factory presets are not exposed to the host application anymore.
  • Fixed: the state of the plug-in was not fully restored when loading presets while bypassed.
  • Fixed minor compatibility issues with Mac OS High Sierra.
  • Dropped support for legacy RTAS and DirectX plug-in formats.

V1.11 (2016/12/29)

  • Memory usage optimization: unused graphical elements are now unloaded on plug-in window close instead of next time the window is opened.
  • Fixed (Windows): on older versions of Windows 7 with auto update turned off, the plug-in could fail to load.

V1.1 (2016/12/15)

  • Lock each module or the user interface to prevent changes when loading presets.
  • Bypass, input and output gain parameters are now independent from presets.
  • Added more than 200 new visual styles with vintage knobs.
  • New contrast setting for spectrogram display.
  • Spectrogram display is not reset anymore when resized.
  • Touch screen support improved: enlarged shape dynamics arrows and shape controls.

V1.01 (2016/11/22)

  • Changed demo limitations: up to 5 instances allowed, bypass time changed to half a second, and bypass parameter is not affected anymore.
  • Fixed: no more comb filtering when using the mix knob with oversampling.
  • Fixed smooth bypass crossfade (used to produce clicks).
  • Plugin now requires Mac OSX 10.7 and newer.

V1.0 (2016/10/11)

First release.

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