User manual
Valve saturation with four models, built as a device: the valve in its socket, a VALVE meter, the transfer curve and the live harmonic fingerprint.
Less Tube is a valve saturation plugin built as an instrument you can read. The window is a rendered front panel: the model you choose sits in the socket, a VALVE meter shows how hard the signal is driven, and the transfer curve and harmonic fingerprint show what the valve does to the music while it plays. Four models: Triode for even-harmonic warmth, Pentode for odd-harmonic edge, Vari-Mu for gain that gives way as you drive it, and Iron for weight in the lows.
All four models are included with the plugin. Sessions saved with an earlier build that shipped two models open unchanged: the model parameter has kept the same four slots from day one.
Run the installer for your platform. On macOS the AU and VST3 versions install for all users; on Windows the VST3 installs under Common Files. Factory presets install into your user preset folder and are never overwritten: presets you save land in the same folder and stay yours.
| macOS presets | ~/Library/Application Support/MixLess/Presets/Less Tube |
| Windows presets | %APPDATA%\MixLess\Presets\Less Tube |
The screenshot is the shipping interface, rendered by the shipping code. Press I in the plugin to toggle the same control descriptions as cursor tooltips.
Two moments from the same display: at rest, and with material running through it. Print cannot move, so these are frames of the animation rather than a drawing of it.
| DRIVE | Drive: how hard the signal is pushed into the valve. Level is compensated, so this changes character, not loudness |
| MODEL | Triode: soft, even-harmonic warmth. Pentode: harder, plate reddens when pushed. Vari-Mu: a matched pair that settles like a compressor. Iron: transformer, saturates the lows first |
| BIAS | Bias: slides the valve's operating point. Off centre makes even harmonics (warmth), centred leaves only odd ones (edge) |
| TONE | Tone: chooses WHERE it saturates, negative drives the lows into the curve, positive the highs. The output is not tilted |
| MIX | Mix: blend with the dry signal for parallel saturation (time-aligned) |
| OUTPUT | Output trim after the valve |
| PLACE | What the valve touches: the whole signal, only the mid, only the side, or one channel |
| BYPASS | Click-free bypass |
| TRANSFER | The valve's transfer curve. The dashed diagonal is no change; the dot shows how far up the curve the signal is driven; bias shows as the curve leaning off centre |
| HARMONICS | Live harmonic fingerprint at the current level: amber = even (warmth), teal = odd (edge). The needle sums it into one EVEN/ODD balance, it is what BIAS trades |
| VU | VALVE: how hard the signal is driven into the valve. 0 VU is where the curve starts to bend, the red zone is hard saturation |
| AUTO G | AUTO G: loudness-matched output (K-weighted), honest A/B against bypass |
| DELTA | DELTA: hear only what the plugin adds (output minus dry). With bypass on it goes silent, the proof bypass is transparent |
| MB | MB: split into three regions, each with its own valve. Placement rests while this is on; latency does not change |
| MB X1 | Low/mid crossover (LR4, sums flat) |
| MB X2 | Mid/high crossover (LR4, sums flat) |
Choose Triode, set Drive around 8 dB and Bias around 45%. Watch the harmonic display: the amber (even) bars grow as Bias rises, and the valve on the deck glows with them. Pull Mix back to about 85% so consonants keep their edge, and leave AUTO G on so the level stays honest.
Play the same loop through all four models at the same Drive. Triode is soft and even, Pentode harder with odd harmonics and a plate that reddens when pushed, Vari-Mu gives way as the signal pushes so the material evens out, Iron saturates the lows first. The VALVE meter reads the same for all four: zero is where the curve starts to bend.
Choose Iron: it saturates the lows first. Push Drive until the transfer curve shows the signal reaching the bend, then use Tone toward the negative side to focus the saturation further down.
Press DELTA: you hear only the difference between input and output. Adjust Drive and Bias while listening to the delta, then release it. With Bypass on, delta plays silence, which is the proof that bypass really is a passthrough.
| Formats | AU, VST3 |
| Latency | 48 samples, reported exactly |
| Oversampling | 4x, polyphase FIR |
| Models | Triode, Pentode, Vari-Mu, Iron |
| Factory presets | 12 |
| Channels | mono, stereo, mid/side placement |
| Window | 760 by 650 by default, aspect locked, 640 to 1140 wide |
Questions and problems: support@mixlessaudio.com. Legal notices, the privacy notice and third-party licences: mixlessaudio.com.