Soundtoys PanMan - Manual (Page 6)

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level, and possible clipping which may or may not sound so good depending
on the switch setting and what your ears like to hear.
Analog Mode Switch (Distortion/Overdrive Characteristics)
The analog mode toggle switch and flavor button allow you to choose how
PanMan will distort or "saturate" as the signal input increases, which is
more noticeable at high signal levels.
Analog Mode
In ‘analog’ mode, PanMan will saturate in the nice, warm and friendly
manner similar to the way real analog gear responds. The analog setting
adds a certain amount of distortion at all signal levels. The Analog setting
sounds really good but keep in mind the "Analog" setting eats up
significantly more DSP resources. Sorry, no free DSP lunch here!
Digital Mode
When the analog mode switch is off, PanMan is in ‘digital’ mode. In this
mode, higher signal levels will clip in the typically nasty, crunchy digital
way. This too can be desirable depending on what effect you’re trying to
achieve. Lower level sounds are left pretty much unchanged and sound
spic-n-span clean. Also note that the digital setting uses significantly less
DSP horsepower than the analog setting. (What are horses doing in my
computer anyway?)
Needless to say you should experiment with both settings using various
types of source material and cranking the input levels up and down to hear
what it all sounds like. A fun and educational exercise!