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WA Production Heat 2 First Look (WINNER ANNOUNCED)

By 178 Comments3 Mins Read
WA Production Heat 2

WA Production recently released Heat 2, the successor to their earlier ‘Heat’ plugin. We are taking a closer look at Heat 2 and giving away a free copy to one lucky BPB reader.

Heat 2 is a twin distortion plugin with extensive controls and an intuitive design. You can get it at an intro price of just $14.90 (retail $49.50). You can also upgrade to Heat 2 with a $5 fee if you already own the original Heat plugin.

Heat 2 is a handy distortion tool suitable for any genre of music, capable of generating anything from complete fuzz to light overdrive and subtle amplification. It includes two different distortion effects with individual controls allowing you to target independent frequency bands with different results.

The middle portion of the UI is divided into two equal halves with the same controls. Each half corresponds to one of the distortion effects. There are Drive, High-pass, and Low-Pass filters and Makeup settings for each of the two distortions. You can choose between ten different distortion types (named A to J) and keep distinct settings for each half.

The Blend button in the center controls the mix between the two distortions. At the bottom of the interface, you have options to control input, output, and mix between input signal and output. At the top of the UI, the distortion outputs are represented with waveforms, each side being color-coded for clarity.

There is a latency-adjusted bypass switch at the top left for convenience; you can also bypass each of the distortions individually. The plugin includes several factory presets to choose from and makes the workflow quicker. I particularly liked the ‘Lead Synth Power’ preset.

YouTube video

The interface is intuitive but straightforward – a calm black with neon red, orange, and yellow accents, with white text. Along with being resizable, the UI feels snappy to use. Heat 2 is available for macOS and Windows in the VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX formats.

WA Productions is also offering the Ultimate FX Bundle for FREE with every purchase so that you can get nearly 2200 samples for free when you buy Heat 2 on their website. The Ultimate FX Bundle includes one-shots, loops, vocal FX, orchestral loops, and an ear training course. The bundle is automatically added to your cart upon purchasing anything from WA’s website.

I tested Heat 2 on various tracks myself, and I found that it’s indeed versatile – from guitars and synths to drums and vocals, I could do a lot with it. Even if you’re not looking for full-blown distortion, a subtle saturation effect sounds good on just about anything.

More info: Heat 2 ($14.90 sale price, $49.50 full price)

The Giveaway

We are giving away a FREE copy of WA Production Heat 2 to one lucky BPB reader.

To enter the giveaway, answer this question in the comments section: What is your favorite free distortion plugin?

We will pick the winners using a random comment picker on Monday, March 14th.

The winner is: Konstantin: k************@gmail.com

Congratulations, Konstantin (check your email)!

Everyone else, better luck next time, and thanks for reading BPB! ❤️

Anshul Jain is a content writer and session guitarist from India. An avid fan of rock and metal, he is 1/6th of the progressive act Black Flower.

178 Comments

  1. Smith

     on

    Tube Saturator Vintage by Wave Arts. Thank you for all your hard work guys. You’re my go to Guys for these kinds on news and deals, Thank you.

    Reply

  2. Max Dementyev

     on

    Temper is my favourite free distortion. Though, I managed to snag a Trash 2 license for free during the last Izotope giveaway which is arguably the best distortion plugin that I own currently.

    Reply

    • Ignacio Barraza

       on

      I know it will sound obvious, but dirty filter by bpb is fire. And Saturation Knob by Softube 🔥

      Reply

  24. Jason

     on

    Like others, I really love the sound of Tube Saturation Vintage by Wave Arts, but I also got a free copy of Trash 2 during a promotion and so technically that one is my favorite free one, even though it’s not free anymore. So versatile and really well-designed.

    Reply

  37. Alexander Rasumovski

     on

    Softube – Saturation Knob, Abletunes – Drive Knob, Diginoiz – TrapDrive, Wave Arts – Tube Saturator Vintage, Camel Audio – Camel Crusher, BPB – Saturator

    Reply

  44. flip

     on

    oftube – Saturation Knob, Abletunes – Drive Knob, Diginoiz – TrapDrive, Wave Arts – Tube Saturator Vintage, Camel Audio – Camel Crusher, BPB – Saturator

    Reply

  52. Nikita

     on

    Speaking specifically of free distortion, this is “Krush by Tritik”. I like to use digital distortion to mimic old school samplers. I also like the “Trash by iZotope” plugin, it’s often free, has four bands, and thus gives you the ability to distort a certain frequency range. But most often I use saturators.

    Reply

  53. Jason

     on

    I really like the distortion in Vadim Taranov’s Peavey 5150 simulation. For distortion alone, though, I’d say Red Skull Distortion by audiorammer.

    Reply

  65. Víctor Marlon Sánchez Mejía

     on

    Hola BPB, el Valvola de Hornet y el Black de Nembrini son mis favoritos, y eso que tengo distorsiones de pago pero con estos dos Muaaaac…!!! belleza de armónicos que me da en mis pistas.

    Reply

  77. Chris Bailey

     on

    If we’re talking a strait distortion plugin, then Saturation Knob from Softube. If we’re talking a suite, then IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube 5 CS

    Reply

  89. Stefano

     on

    my favorites sat plugins are: IVGI klanghelm, saturation Knob softube and BPB Saturator…thanks for all the good job Guys!!!

    Reply

  92. Synth Street

     on

    My favorite free distortion plugin’s comes from – Airwindows ”Distortion”
    But there are also a bunch more there on the site.

    Reply

  99. Lokesh

     on

    (((((((HEAT 2)))))) OBVIOUSLY
    (((((((HEAT 2)))))) OBVIOUSLY
    ((((((HEAT 2)))))) ACTUALLY
    ((((((HEAT 2)))))) ACTAULLY

    Reply

  102. EZ3

     on

    Waves Berzerk is the “free” one I use the most. It’s not free all the time, but it was free for a while a couple of years ago, so it was free to me

    Reply

  113. Jay

     on

    Stock Ableton Live Saturator is the best for me. Various modes to choose from with soft clipping option. It’s simple and works nice on a lot of things.

    Reply

  117. Steven R.

     on

    Not counting bit-crushers, I’m really enjoying Punish Lite from Heavyocity. Sounds good, and it’s free. What more could you want? :P

    Reply

  135. Xiu

     on

    I don’t own any, kinda never needed that sort of effects, since I mostly get distortion from using Fruity Soft Clipper and then boosting any sound.

    Reply

  136. Auxbeatz

     on

    I would say decapitator by the sound toys.. but I love anything that will give me a great sound.. I stay using dirty filter and dirty spring by BPM!!

    Reply

  137. liam ryan

     on

    trash2 by izotope. (yes its usually a paid for item, but either this year or late last year it was free for a limited time. so this is my fav free distortion plugin) :)

    Reply

  158. Yannis Fotis

     on

    “FreeAmp” by KLEVGR. Although it is subtle, maybe too subtle for some cases, it sounds awesome and does a fantastic at enhancing several different types of sounds. Therefore it quickly became my most often used freeware plug-in.

    Reply

    • Konstantin

       on

      I think it’s other Konstantin wins, but Im confused, cause my name, and not only first email letter matches, but amount of symbols too :D

      But Im lost my memory if I participate in this one. Or did I? It’s funny ))

      Reply
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