iZotope Trash saturation plug-in: features and spec-based rating

iZotope’s Trash is a plug-in that reshapes sound by mixing more than 60 kinds of distortion and more than 600 impulse responses with an XY pad. It also supports three-band processing.

A saturation plug-in adds a faint distortion, as if the sound had passed through analog gear, to add thickness and warmth.

In this article we compare Trash with 12 saturation plug-ins and rate how well it serves its purpose on three criteria. The basis is official manufacturer information.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, SoundBounty may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices and sale information are as of the date we checked them and can change.

Summary

Among the 12 saturation plug-ins, Trash is rank S. The ranks run S, A, B and C, and S is the top. Averaging the scores for each criterion (out of 5, with the one criterion that matters most for the purpose counted double) gives 4.5.

Strengths

• Range of texture (5 points): you can choose from a wide range, from subtle warmth to strong distortion.
• Per-band processing (4 points): you can change the distortion for lows and highs, so the sound is less likely to get muddy.
• Mix and tone control (4 points): you can adjust in detail how much is mixed with the original sound, and the tone.

Who it suits: people who want to play with and shape vocals and drums, from faint distortion to bold changes in the sound.

Main features of Trash

Mix more than 60 kinds of distortion with an XY pad

The Trash module contains more than 60 kinds of distortion, such as Rusty Bits, Cactus, Noise Art and Distropia. You place up to four distortion settings at the corners of the XY pad and mix them by moving the pad. Drive sets the strength of the distortion, and Tilt sets the tilt of the frequency balance. Its feature is that you do not have to settle on one: you can mix them to make your own distortion.

A Convolve module that adds more than 600 kinds of resonance

Convolve uses impulse responses (recordings of how a space or an object resonates) to turn a sound into the resonance of another object or space. More than 600 are included, such as reversed reverbs and piano cabinets, and here too you can mix up to four with the XY pad. You can also load an audio file of your own.

Low, mid and high: three-band processing

You can split the sound into low, mid and high bands and apply Trash and Convolve separately to each. The mix knob lets you decide how much is applied band by band, and Swap lets you reverse the order of the two modules for each band. It seems you could, for example, leave the lows undistorted and roughen only the highs.

An envelope follower to add movement, and useful extras

The envelope follower moves Drive and other controls to match the loudness of the incoming sound. You can use it when you want to add change to a loop. There are also 4x oversampling, Scream, a self-oscillating low-pass filter, Randomize, which changes the settings at random, and auto gain and a limiter that even out the volume.

Video: “Re-introducing iZotope Trash | What’s new in our iconic distortion plugin” (official iZotope, Inc. YouTube channel; narration in English) Watch on YouTube

Where it is useful

• Adding faint distortion only to the highs of a cover vocal to bring out its presence
• Adding different distortion band by band to a drum loop for more power
• Reshaping a synth or sound effect into the resonance of another space with Convolve

Rating by criterion

Range of texture: 5 / 5

We check the range of distortion types you can choose, from subtle warmth to strong distortion.

You can choose from more than 60 kinds of distortion and mix up to four of them with the XY pad. There is also a Convolve module that uses more than 600 impulse responses (recordings of how things resonate).

Per-band processing: 4 / 5

We check whether the distortion can differ for low and high pitches.

You can split the sound into three bands, low, mid and high, and apply distortion to each band.

Mix and tone control: 4 / 5

We check whether you can adjust how much is mixed with the original sound, and the tone.

It has a mix that can blend Trash and Convolve for each of the three bands, Tilt, which tilts the frequency balance, and an envelope follower that reacts to the loudness of the sound.

How we score (Saturation plug-ins)

Criterion	Basis	5 pt	4 pt	3 pt	2 pt	1 pt
Range of texture	The range of distortion types you can choose, from subtle to strong	Choose from 20 or more kinds of distortion	Choose from 5 or more kinds of distortion	2 to 4 kinds	1 kind	—
Per-band processing	Whether the distortion can differ for lows and highs	Multiband processing of up to 6 bands	2 to 3 bands	—	—	No per-band processing
Mix and tone control	Control of how much is mixed with the original sound, and of the tone	Mix, tone, dynamics and more can be adjusted for each band	Both mix and tone are available	One of the two	—	Not mentioned on the official page

Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5 on how well the product serves one goal: adding thickness and presence to vocals and backing tracks. Scores follow the conditions in the table above, and the rank is based on an average in which "Range of texture" counts double. The basis is official manufacturer information. Sound quality and CPU load are not measured, so they are not scored; reviews from trade magazines are introduced in the articles for reference. Price is not part of the score. Features that cannot be confirmed from the manufacturer's or a retailer's description are scored as if absent. The "OBS (streaming)" column in the table shows whether the official page lists the VST2 format that the streaming software OBS Studio can use (○). OBS does not support the VST3 format. It is not part of the score.

Trash system requirements and getting started

Operating system	Windows 10 and 11 / Mac (macOS Sonoma, Sequoia and Tahoe; Apple silicon and Intel)
Plug-in formats	VST3, AU, AAX
Other	An iPad version (AUv3, sold separately) is also available
Trial	Free trial available
OBS (streaming)	Does not work as it is (VST3 only). It can be loaded through a bridge plug-in

Checked on the manufacturer’s official pages on October 17, 2026. How to use plug-ins in the OBS streaming software is explained in How to use VST3 plug-ins in OBS.

Compared with other saturation plug-ins

Click a heading to sort. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.

Read next

• Saturn 2: features and rating (rank S)
• Decapitator: features and rating (rank B)
• MSaturator: features and rating (rank C)
• Radiator: features and rating (rank C)