Arturia Dist COLDFIRE 2026: Dual-Engine Distortion

This Page Is Dist COLDFIRE. It Is Not Thermal. It Is Not Rift. It Is Not Saturn 2.

Stay here for Arturia Dist COLDFIRE: two engines, 11 types, five routings, modulation, Feedback, Dynamics, $79 vs the 2022 €99 review, and ASC install. Do not use this file as an Output Thermal XY review, a Minimal Audio Rift walkthrough, a Saturn 2 guide, an FX Collection 5 recap, or a Decapitator-alternatives list.

arturia.com Dist COLDFIRE overview and store are the feature and price primaries. Resources holds 1.2.1.6566 and the Mac 11 / Win 10 installer floors. KVR is the version echo. MusicTech 13 September 2022 is the independent review. KVR timeline: product added 30 Aug 2022. This September 2026 page is that SKU—not a 2026 launch.^[1][5]

Thermal is Output’s multi-stage XY saturator. Rift is Minimal Audio’s. Saturn 2 is FabFilter’s multiband. COLDFIRE’s job is two assignable engines plus modulation and a feedback delay. Related slugs own the others. FX Collection PRO currently includes this effect; the related FX Collection 5 article is a different bundle year.

Facts: $79 This Fetch. 1.2.1.6566. ASC, Five Computers.

Overview and store this September 2026 fetch print $79. MusicTech’s 13 Sep 2022 key-features box printed €99. Some dealer pages in this research pass still showed $99. Cite Arturia’s store for the live invoice; do not paste 2022’s €99 as today’s USD cart.^[2][5]

Resources: version 1.2.1.6566 (2/6/2026), Mac OS 11.0+, Win 10+, not standalone, activate in ASC, up to 5 computers. Store: Win 10+ 64-bit, 4 GB RAM, 4-core 3.4 GHz, OpenGL 2.0, ARM not supported on Windows; VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS. KVR: 1.2.1.6566, VST3 / AU / AAX. Quote both format lists.^[3][4]

Two Engines, Eleven Types, Five Routings, Six Modulators.

Official analog set: Tape, Tube, Transistor, Transformer (nickel/iron in the Transformer copy), Germanium, Force (four modes). Digital set: Rectifier, Bit Crusher, Bit Inverter, Wavefolder (7 shapes), Waveshaper (11 subtypes). Each engine has output, dry/wet, bypass, 6-mode pre-filter (including comb) and 2-band post filter. Routing: Serial, Parallel, Stereo, Mid/Side, Band Split, with a balance slider you can modulate.^[1]

MusicTech: six modulators, four types each (LFO, function curve, envelope follower, sequencer), click-assign, multiple modulators per parameter. Dynamics can sit pre or post: compressor, limiter, or multiband—MusicTech called the multiband “not very expansive” (five presets, rudimentary tweaks). Feedback is the built-in delay/lo-fi echo path, useful on snares and vocals in that review. TAE® is Arturia’s analog-modeling stack named on the page; this page does not invent component counts beyond that marketing line.^[5]

• Band Split vs Thermal’s stages COLDFIRE’s Band Split is a crossover into engines A and B. Thermal’s related page is an XY multi-stage product. Do not swap the SKUs.
• Force vs Saturn 2 Force is one of COLDFIRE’s 11 types (studio-outboard-style, four modes in the official copy). Saturn 2 is a different vendor’s multiband saturator on a related slug.
• Feedback vs a delay plug-in Official: filtered feedback delay; tempo sync or pitch-quantize. MusicTech treated it as lo-fi echoes, not a full delay suite.^[5]

Install: Arturia Software Center. Demo Until You Activate. Not Standalone.

Resources: download ASC, log into the My Arturia account, Install then Activate. The plug-in stays in demo mode until Activate. Same licence, up to 5 computers. Free demo link sits on the overview. There is no standalone app—load it in a DAW (Live, FL, Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig, Digital Performer are illustrated).^[3]

English manual on the store resources list is version 1.0.0 (8/19/2022). Installer 1.2.1.6566 is newer than that manual date—use the in-app tutorials Arturia ships if the PDF lags.^[2]

FL, Ableton, Logic: Two Engines, Then One Routing

1. Install via ASC, then confirm the live $79 cart
   Demo from the overview if you have not paid. MusicTech’s €99 is 2022. This fetch: US$ 79 on the Arturia store. FX Collection PRO owners should see it in ASC, not as a second full-price SKU.^[2]
2. Pick two types, then a routing
   Official drum-bus example: Transformer + Tape. Band Split if you only want grit on the top. Serial if you want stacked destruction. Balance slider is modulatable.^[1]
3. Assign one modulator before you stack six
   MusicTech: click-assign LFO/function/follower/sequencer. Dynamics pre or post if the output pumps. Feedback last, tempo-synced, then pull mix back.^[5]
4. Stop before this page becomes Thermal, Rift, or Saturn 2
   Once the color prints, bounce if CPU climbs (this page does not publish a percentage). Related slugs own those other distortions and the FX Collection 5 review.

Thermal, Rift, and Saturn 2 Are Out of Scope

This article does not review Output Thermal, Minimal Audio Rift, Saturn 2, FX Collection 5, or Decapitator alternatives. Dist COLDFIRE is Arturia’s dual-engine distortion that launched in 2022 and still ships in 2026.

As of this September 2026 fetch, arturia.com listed Dist COLDFIRE at $79 with installer 1.2.1.6566. Recheck the store if a later price or build disagrees.^[2]