Blanketfort Audio has released Ruinator, a dual-engine distortion plugin for macOS and Windows. It’s available in VST3 and AU formats, currently discounted to $29 until October 31st (regular price $49).
Ruinator is more than a typical overdrive. Instead, it offers a more creative approach to distortion, blending flexibility with a raw distortion engine capable of turning any sound into controlled audio chaos.
At its core are two independent distortion stages that can be stacked in series or split across frequencies, stereo channels, or mid/side modes. This flexibility makes it easy to go from subtle warmth to fully mangled noises and distorted textures.
Each stage features multiple distortion types, including soft clip, hard clip, fuzz, bit crush, sample reduce, and pitch distort, covering everything from analog-inspired saturation to FSU-style digital obliteration.
In other words, you can either dial in harmonics with precision or completely tear them apart.
That said, where Ruinator really shines for me is modulation.
You can animate almost any parameter with an LFO or envelope follower, both of which can react dynamically to the audio on the input. It’s easy to breathe life into static sounds.
You can quickly turn standard drum loops into more dynamic rhythms with modulated drive effects. It also sounds great on synths, and I especially loved it on arpeggios where the combination of analog drive and envelope followers works fantastically.
The modulation system is super versatile but still intuitive, and I think it’s ideal for musicians who want musical results rather than endless patching.
Developer Chris from Blanketfort Audio describes Ruinator as his answer to distortion plugins that are either too static or too complex. The idea was to combine the immediacy of a stompbox with the depth of a modular distortion workstation, and it really shows in the design.
The clean, modern interface keeps everything at your fingertips while still allowing you to go a bit crazy with experimentation if you feel like it.
There’s also a demo version that mutes audio every 30 seconds, but you can still save presets and projects, so you can fully explore the plugin before committing. Once authorized via serial, the mute disappears, and your sessions continue seamlessly.
Ruinator is available now for macOS 10.13+ and Windows 10+ (64-bit) in VST3 and AU formats. Each license covers all of your personal systems and comes with lifetime updates and support.
If you love distortion that moves and breathes rather than just crunches, Ruinator is a serious creative weapon, and at $29 during the intro sale, it’s an easy one to justify adding to your toolkit.
Get the deal: Ruinator ($29 until October 31st)
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Last Updated on October 28, 2025 by Tomislav Zlatic.
