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British Kolorizer By Master Tones Is FREE For A Limited Time

By 35 Comments3 Mins Read
British Kolorizer By Master Tones

Master Tones offers the British Kolorizer ($149 value) AI-powered analog saturation and EQ plugin as a FREE download until June 17th, 2021.

British Kolorizer is an analog-style coloration and saturation effect. The plugin is based on a customized British tube amplifier and uses the “Ariosa” analog modeling technology by Master Tones.

See also: Free Saturation VST Plugins

Master Tones is a startup company based in Taiwan, and British Kolorizer is their first release. The company developed an analog modeling engine that combines digital signal processing (DSP), machine learning (ML), and deep neural networks (DL).

Instead of simulating the individual components of an analog circuit (such as the Tube Preamp plugin we covered recently), the Ariosa engine (and similar technologies) analyze the sound output of analog hardware to emulate its characteristics in the digital domain.

British Kolorizer uses internal oversampling (96 kHz) with minimal latency and fairly low CPU consumption.

The plugin sports a simple user interface with three control knobs and a volume output slider. The user can adjust the low-frequency boost (Fat knob), high-frequency boost (Bright knob), and the dry/wet level (Mix knob). Although the plugin is easy to operate, Master Tones provided ten presets to help new users get started.

I tested British Kolorizer on a set of electronic drum samples and a couple of virtual synthesizers (Vital and Charlatan). It performed quite well. The Bright control adds clarity, and the Fat knob works well on synth bass, adding weight and a bit of growl. On the other hand, I noticed that the Fat knob is not the best choice for processing kick drums (it tends to add mud instead of a desirable bass boost).

The plugin also saturates the signal in a pleasing way, and overloading the input will result in more audible saturation.

One caveat I noticed is that turning the knobs results in low-frequency noise artifacts, at least in Studio One. However, this only happens while turning a knob.

It seems that British Kolorizer is a “proof of concept” type of release, and we should expect to see more plugins from Master Tones in the future. Either way, getting a $149 plugin for free is an amazing deal so hurry up and snag your free copy of British Kolorizer while it’s still available.

British Kolorizer is available in VST3 and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstations on Windows and macOS. According to the info available on the developer’s website, a Linux version of the software is coming soon.

More info: British Kolorizer (3.7 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE installer, VST3/AU plugin format for Windows & macOS, free until June 17th, 2021)

More articles:

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

35 Comments

  2. Alexander Rasumovski

     on

    If the plugin makes noise in FL Studio, then you need to enable the fixed buffer in the plugin options

    Reply

  3. Neytcev

     on

    For me it’s just a beautiful toy,
    can be useful, but i don’t like it …
    I think for such a price mistake,
    might be around 15-25, no more

    Reply

  4. Thales

     on

    Not low CPU consumption at all.
    My cpu average at ableton stays at 30%, peaking at 60% sometimes.
    Someone else?

    Reply

      • Alesssandro Melo

         on

        Alto consumo de Cpu no Studio One 5, causando alguns estalos.
        Mas o brilho que ele traz é muito bom, mas procuro algo parecido porém de preferência gratuito para substituir esse plugin.

        Reply

        • Alesssandro Melo

           on

          High Cpu consumption in Studio One 5 causing some crackling.
          But the brightness it brings is very good, but I’m looking for something similar but preferably free to replace this plugin.

          Reply

  6. Jon B

     on

    Read their terms of services before you register and download this. I’m not very sure it’s a good idea to register an account or buy anything from a Taiwanese or Chinese company with regards to their surveillance and data collection.

    Reply

  7. Michal Ochedowski

     on

    Plugins that tend to do more than meets the eye require more processing power. “Analog modelling technology” is not something to be taken lightly :) Let’s not forget about one of the best free saturation plugins SGA1566 from Shattered Glass Audio. This gem takes a lot of CPU even without oversampling enabled, but it’s totally worth it. I’ve seen it being praised online plenty of times. This might be the case with British Kolorizer. Let’s give it a chance.
    Also from my experience I wouldn’t recommend using Ableton Live as a reference for CPU usage. It usually displays bigger values compared to what is actually needed. Reaper is much better for that job.

    Reply

      • Michal Ochedowski

         on

        BRENNY C, thank you for these kind words.
        I just made a few sound tests and liked what I heard. British Kolorizer is a combination of compression, eq and saturation enclosed in a smart interface with minimum distraction for the user. It’s the type of effect that either works or it doesn’t. As it turned out in my case, with some patience I was able to make each sample sound more focused, more interesting while maintaining the same peak level. Gain matching is the key, not to be fooled by well known concept “louder is better”.
        I was surprised to see knobs with half-step values and it surely wasn’t a bad thing. It helped me find proper setting much faster without secong-guessing. What is not available keeps me more focused on the sound instead of mindless fine-tuning.
        By the way I used Cakewalk and haven’t noticed any noise while turning knobs. Perhaps it depends on the material. I will report back if that changes.

        Reply

    • SGA

       on

      Don’t want to hijack this post but the following needs to be said. Since SGA1566, we (as in Shattered Glass Audio) have developed Phoenix. Phoenix is 20+ times faster than SGA1566 while still performing the full circuit simulation. Phoenix is the proof that you can have a plugin which relies on the full circuit simulation to deliver the most authentic analog sound and vibe without sacrificing the CPU.
      You can download Phoenix demo at http://www.shatteredglassaudio.com/product/110 and compare it to SGA1566.

      Reply

  10. PureFire

     on

    Hey thanks again Tomislav, BPB & Aris.
    I installed this on my Mac.
    It sounds ok to me, a cross between a Transient shaper & a Compressor.
    Fatter & Brighter settings are always appealing though.
    I lowered the output level on the plug-in so it won’t just sound louder as well, you really need to monitor the output level while tweaking this to gain the benefit of it.
    30% CPU when turned on without an audio signal needs fixing tbh. Sleep on silence could be useful. Interesting that i added the plug-in to 8 channels with no further increase in CPU percentage though.
    .
    I got a Master Tones folder in my Applications folder which contains an uninstaller. Did i need that ? I deleted it & booted into safe mode after, i can manually delete plug-in files myself easily enough ?

    Reply

  11. RedBaron

     on

    Something is a little strange with ‘British Kolorizer’. On Mac install it requires access to change system files. Why? Thanks…

    Reply

      • Neytcev

         on

        I join, support and agree with that,
        also I paid a little attention earlier …
        My dream is to have such team for
        similar investigations for all plugins.
        Too many cookies, analytics or so …

        Reply

    • PureFire

       on

      I’m no expert & i’m not sure if this is the right answer to your question, but if its what i think you mean (based on my effort to install this as well)
      😊
      .
      Mac has their hidden ‘Gate Keeper’ function, so when you try to install anything on a Mac, Gate Keeper analyses the file (for security etc).
      It might be because Master Tones is a new developer & unknown to Mac Gate Keeper, but i don’t know if this is the case.
      I can change my System Preferences / Security & Privacy / General – to allow Apps downloaded from App store & identified developers only (a Terminal code is needed these days, to add ‘install from anywhere’ into the os).
      .
      Only if & when you feel very confident about what you want to install onto your Mac, you can go into System Preferences / Security / General, where their will be an option (which only appears whilst you try to install a blocked file), to “open anyway”
      Just to let you know, in ‘Finder’ if you ‘Right Click’ on any file to open it, it will always open also.

      Reply

        • Michal Ochedowski

           on

          Thanks for sharing the knowledge. Mac territory is totally unknown to me, so every bit of information is useful.

          Reply

          • PureFire

             on

            Hey your welcome, i mention “App’s & Gate Keeper” because this plug-in wants to install an uninstaller into the Mac Applications folder, which requires an Admin user to authorise it first.

            Reply

            • RedBaron

               on

              Thank you PUREFIRE. That is a feasible explanation of British Kolorizer‘a access request. It would be great if dialogue box appeared with the reason for system access. Alternatively, if there is a process for confirming the install log (file search in Finder?!) on the Mac that would be ideal. Cheers…

              Reply

              • PureFire

                 on

                Hey, your welcome. You can check your Mac’s install log easily enough in:
                Macintosh HD / Library / Receipts / InstallHistory.plist.
                This text document contains a good description of your history of files which have been properly installed onto your Mac (but not manually pasted files).
                Or for a basic description of all:
                Click the Apple logo (top left) / About This Mac / Overview / System Report / Software / Installations.
                I agree about what you said about a reason for system access, thats fair enough & not a lot to ask.
                Hope this helps 😉

                Reply

                • Neytcev

                   on

                  None of these both are presented in OS X 10.10,
                  there isn’t such file and no info in system report

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