Free Vst Plugins List

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There are free VST plugins available and paid VST plugins, if they are free they are named as freeware. VST is an additional function to a DAW, see it as an app you can install on your phone. With that application, you have more functions within the same phone. Different VST formats. Download free VST plugins, free synth VST, autotune VST, Drum sound VST, choir VST, Orchestra VST, and much more free VST plugins. Great place to download free VST plugins for music production, updated each week with new VST plugins check back frequently.

Free quality plugins 2020

The price of software plugins has dropped a lot over the last 10 years. The market is flooded and the amount and quality of free plugins have never been higher. Today almost all audio plugin developers use some of their marketing budgets on downscaled versions of their products for promoting the brand and plugins.

But can you make 'professional' sounding mixes with free plugins? The answer is yes!

What makes a good free plugin:

  • It does not sound 'free'
  • It is competing with expensive plugins on at least a few features
  • CPU usage not too high
    • Free plugins might not be as optimized as selling plugins
  • VST 3 format is a plus but not a must

Here are a few of the best free high-quality plugins that we have tested for this article:

  • Valhalla Supermassive from Valhalla DSP - NEW plugin
  • Voxengo SPAN
  • OrilRiver Reverb
  • Softtube The Knob
  • TAL Chorus LX
  • Xfer Records OTT Multiband Compressor


The plugins explained

The plugins are list in random order and not by rank. They are all good plugins for different sounds and mixing purposes.

Valhalla Supermassive

Valhalla Supermassive is a new free reverb plugin from Valhalla DSP. It is a new design with delays and reverbs and has a unique Warp feature for interesting sounds. It has fewer controls than the plugins from Valhalla for sale.


Valhalla Supermassive delay and reverb plugin

This is quality-algorithms for free! Try it.

This plugin is built on valuable knowledge and probably a tested framework used in the products for sale which gives the user a lot for the zero money.

Like in Vintageverb and Room the modes have names

OrilRiver Reverb

This is one of the better sounding free reverbs. No low quality ringing and it has a nice diffusion. It does not quite have the pro feel of Supermasssive but still a good free tool for a good reverb.

The GUI looks ok though 'free' but it still easy to dial in what you want.

The early reflection and variations- and reverb variation names are just 'Variation x'. In Supermassive at least they have names.

Voxengo SPAN

This is one of the best free metering plugins there is. It is frequently updated and has the metering you need for a modern music production setup.


Voxengo SPAN free analyzer and metering plugin

This metering plugin has all the basics:

  • Analyzer display
  • RMS
  • Peak
  • Correlation
  • MS spectrum analyzer
  • Crest factors
  • Different scales like K-12 and K-14

The contesters on the expensive pro-market are:

  • Izotope Insight 2
  • Flux Pure Analyzer
  • Steinberg Wavelab

The Knob saturation plugin

The knob is a simple one-knob saturation plugin with 3 modes. It creates pleasant saturation to distortion for different kinds of material.


Softtube The Knob plugin

This is a loud plugin and an output control would have been nice but like most free plugins, there often is a nag. The missing output control can be overcome with a trim plugin after in the plugin chain.

Xfer Records OTT Compressor

ITT is a different plugin. It is a multiband upward / downward compressor.

Xfer Records have more free plugins here

An alternative to this plugin is Waves MV2 which also has upward and down compression and limiting.

TAL Chorus LX

TAL Chorus LX is a plugin emulating the famous Juno 60 chorus from the vintage analog Roland synthesizer. A defining effect from a hardware synth.


Download the free TAL LX and get a high-quality effect.

The plugin

This plugin has a sweet wide sound. It is simple with 2 mode buttons and a stereo width control giving it 3 stages of effect. 1, 2, and both 1 and 2.


Free TAL Chorus LX

Other Juno 60 chorus units

  • TC Electronics JUNO-60 pedal
    • A hardware pedal from TC Electronics
  • Oblivion Sound LAB
    • Another free hardware chorus emulation VST
    • Down load it here

IZotope Ozone Imager

Izotope has released a simplified version of the imager component from the full Ozone mastering plugin. This is probably part of the marketing budget collection website profile members and setting focus on the full mastering plugin.


Free Ozone Imager from Izotope website

Faking stereo always has a downside so do not overdo it. but it can make the individual sound more interesting or widen a whole mix a but.

Flux Stereo Tool

A free stereo imaging and analysis plugin with a nice GUI.

Vst


The free Flux Stereo Tool

Features:

  • Input gain for left and right channel individually
  • Pan
  • Phase inverse
  • Vector Scope Display
  • Parameter morphing between presets

CPU usage

The CPU usage is not directly comparable since the processing is very different but here is a list:

As shown in the CPU usage table only Saturation knob and OTT Compressor has latency and most of them have insignificant CPU load. Supermassive has surprisingly low CPU usage.

Free synth presets

A free Bass Demo Package

  • 9 great patches
  • Basses for different genres

Best Free Vst Plug-ins List

We covered the best free synthesizer plugins in a recent article. But what are the best free retro synthesizers? Find out in the list below and return to free VST plugins for more software.

The retro 80s sound is more popular than ever. Genres like synthwave and chillwave are the perfect soundtrack for working from home while daydreaming about night rides on open highways.

But you don’t have to be a retro synth geek to love the sound of vintage synthesizers. One can hear the emulated sounds of retro polysynths in the chart-topping hits from mainstream artists like Dua Lipa and The Weeknd.

If you’re into making synthwave music, chances are you’ll need a good virtual analog synthesizer for your digital audio workstation. Help yourself to our Top 10 list of free retro synth VST plugins.

Free Retro Synthesizers: Top 10

These are the best free vintage synthesizer emulation VST plugins:

  • PG-8X (Roland JX-8P)
  • OB-Xd (Oberheim OB-Xa)
  • Mono/Fury (Korg Mono/Poly)
  • Fury-800 (Korg Poly-800)
  • TAL-U-No-62 (Roland Juno-60)
  • Tyrell N6 (Roland Juno-60)
  • Dexed (Yamaha DX7)
  • Viking (Moog Voyager)
  • Synth1 (Nord Lead 2)
  • Nils K1v (Kawai K1)

Read more about each instrument below and scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Honorable Mentions.

PG-8X

PG-8X emulates Roland’s legendary JX-8P analog synthesizer. The original JX-8P sounded huge, but it lacked in the hands-on control department. Users had to dive through menus to program new sounds.

That’s why Roland released the PG-800 controller. It was an external hardware device that made programming the Roland JX-8P and Super JX synthesizers a far more user-friendly affair.

The free PG-8X synthesizer by Martin Lüders gives the best of both worlds. You’re getting a detailed emulation of JX-8P’s analog synthesis engine and the control layout borrowed from the PG-800 controller.

Ni massive free vst google drive. PG-8X truly shines as a synthwave instrument. It’s one of those rare virtual instruments that sound analog-like almost effortlessly.

Free Vst Plugins List

Create eye-watering lush pads and earth-shattering analog basslines in the blink of an eye. Turn on the Unison mode for instant fat leads. Also, the included chorus module applies an immediate retro-boost to any sound.

More info:PG-8X

OB-Xd

OB-Xd takes inspiration from the Oberheim OB-X analog synthesizer. The original was the analog weapon of choice for brass sounds, pads, and punchy bass.

Thankfully, this freeware plugin from discoDSP nails that classic Oberheim sound. It also comes with an extensive collection of presets that serve as an instant source of legendary analog sounds.

Even better, OB-Xd is easy to program thanks to its user-friendly interface. Beginners and sound design experts alike shouldn’t have any issues with building custom synth patches from scratch.

2Dat originally developed the OB-Xd. He later provided the source code to discoDSP, who are now handling the development and support.

You can use OB-Xd for free. The developers are accepting an optional $49 donation from users who want to support their work.

More info:OB-Xd

Mono/Fury

Full Bucket Music’s website is a treasure trove of emulated analog synthesizers. Algorithmix scratch free vst plugin. Even better, all of their vintage-inspired virtual instruments are free. We had a hard time selecting just two Full Bucket Music plugins for this article.

That said, be sure to check out everything else this talented developer has to offer. And be sure to support their work with a donation if possible.

Our first Full Bucket Music pick is the Mono/Fury plugin, which models the Mono/Poly analog synthesizer by Korg. Mono/Fury emulates all the original instrument’s quirks and peculiarities, including the unique polyphony mode. Each voice triggers a different oscillator, resulting in some complex multi-layered timbres when playing chords and melodies.

At the same time, Mono/Fury comes will all the handy features of a modern-day audio plugin. It has a preset manager, supports MIDI learn and automation, and features a state-of-the-art zero-delay feedback low-pass filter with self-oscillation.

Mono/Fury operates as a VST and Audio Unit plugin in all compatible digital audio workstations on PC and Mac.

More info:Mono/Fury

Fury-800

Ah, another Full Bucket Music plugin and another Fury. This one is a personal favorite of mine as it models the Korg Poly-800, a cheap analog hybrid synthesizer that I owned back in the day. It featured digitally controlled oscillators and a terrible (in a charming way) analog filter.

The original Poly-800 is the exact opposite of what you’d expect from an analog synthesizer. It sounds lo-fi, thin, and plasticky. But sometimes that is precisely the type of sound you need for an 80s-inspired music track.

The killer feature here is Poly-800’s chorus module. It’s super noisy, and the pitch goes all over the place. If Korg manufactured the Poly-800 in 2020, I think they would label the effect as “VHS mode” instead of a chorus.

Anyway, the Fury-800 takes all of these charming Poly-800 features and packs them in a convenient virtual instrument for PC and Mac. By all means, the Fury-800 plugin is a must-have if you’re into synthwave production.

More info:Fury-800

TAL-U-No-62

TAL-U-No-62 is an old-school virtual instrument that emulates an old-school analog synthesizer. It is a virtual recreation of Roland’s legendary Juno-60 synth.

Togu Audio Line’s freeware Juno is more than a decade old. As a result, it doesn’t offer the latest and greatest DSP technology and analog emulation. However, TAL-U-No-62 is still a pretty solid virtual analog instrument that undeniably captures that classic Juno-60 vibe.

TAL-U-No-62’s oscillators and the low-pass filter won’t blow you away. But, the chorus module is where this virtual Juno-60 keeps its secret sauce. Turn on the chorus effect, and TAL-U-No-62 instantly sounds much closer to the original hardware.

Even better, you can download that same chorus as a standalone effect from Togu Audio Line’s website. Use the free TAL-Chorus-LX in combination with any virtual instrument for that lush 80s sound.

It’s also worth noting that the same developer offers a more advanced (but still fairy priced at €51) version of this instrument. The paid version is called TAL-U-NO-LX, and it’s the best Juno-60 emulation on the market.

More info:TAL-U-No-62

Tyrell N6

Tyrell N6 by U-He is loosely based on the Juno-60. We originally included it in the “Honorable Mentions” section of this article because Tyrell N6 isn’t a 1:1 recreation of any analog synthesizer. However, we decide to move it to the Top 10 list, following the suggestion from one of our readers (thanks, BenJ!).

You can think of Tyrell N6 as an 80s analog synth on steroids. All the usual components are there (a couple of analog oscillators, a multi-mode filter, a lush chorus), and you get a few valuable extras like a modulation matrix, ring modulation, feedback, and more.

A dream to program, thanks to its intuitive interface, Tyrell N6 also has dozens of freely downloadable sound banks. Some of these were created by professional sound designers.

Coming from the developers of industry-leading virtual analog synthesizers like Diva and Ace, the freeware Tyrell N6 is an absolute must-have in any analog synth aficionado’s plugin collection.

More info:Tyrell N6

Dexed

Dexed is a virtual recreation of the Yamaha DX7 and the only FM synth on this list. The plugin emulates the original DX7 so well that it supports its SysEx messages. As a result, Dexed can work as a patch editor for the hardware DX7.

Now, the unfortunate thing about FM synthesizers is that they’re hard to program. But, the good news is that there are thousands of Yamaha DX7 patches available online. And yes, you can load them in Dexed.

Use Dexed for 80s electric piano sounds, pads, FM bells, and let’s not forget the Lately Bass patch.

More info:Dexed

VK-1 Viking Synthesizer

Free Vst Plugins Studio One

VK-1 Viking Synthesizer emulates the Moog Voyager analog monosynth. Now, the Moog Voyager isn’t exactly retro, but it dates back to 2002. And Moog discontinued the Voyager in 2015 with over 14,000 units sold.

The Voyager combined a pair of Moog’s signature ladder filters with three continuously variable wave oscillators, putting a modern twist on the classic Moog sound.

The free VK-1 Viking Synthesizer from Blamsoft is a rather precise emulation of the Voyager.

VK-1 Viking Synthesizer uses zero-delay feedback filters and advanced techniques for avoiding oscillator aliasing. Also, the developers matched the oscillators and envelopes to their hardware counterparts through precise and extensive measurements.

More info:VK-1 Viking Synthesizer

Synth1

Free Vst Plugins Splice

Ichiro Toda’s legendary Synth1 is one of the oldest freeware synthesizers around. Released almost two decades ago (on October 9th, 2002), there’s no denying that Synth1 is a vintage plugin. But it aged incredibly well.

Free Vst Plugins Like Soundgoodizer

Despite it being a retro plugin, Synth1 emulates the Nord Lead 2 very well. And its deceptively simple-looking user interface offers a surprising amount of synthesis firepower.

Free Vst Plugins Like Gross Beat

Even ten years ago, users praised Synth1 for its low CPU usage. Can you imagine how well it works on modern multi-core processors? You can use dozens of Synth1 instances in a project without hurting your computer’s performance.

However, Synth1’s most significant advantage is the incredible amount of available presets. There are hundreds of Synth1 soundbanks out there, making it the perfect choice for users who don’t like programming sounds from scratch.

More info:Synth1

Nils K1v

Nils K1v faithfully emulates the Kawai K1 digital synthesizer. It includes K1’s original factory bank and all ROM card expansions, and all this adds up to 768 presets.

The user interface mimics the original Kawai K1 module, with additional on-screen controls for parameters like envelopes and filters. This combination works quite well in the plugin format. Accessing the presets is easy, and tweaking the Kawai K1 sounds in real-time is fun.

The coolest feature in Nils K1v is the ability to morph the preset using the XY controller. It’s a fun way to add movement to pads and huge atmospheric sounds that the Kawai K1 was known for.

More info:Nils K1v

Free Retro Synthesizers: Honorable Mentions

These are retro synth plugins that haven’t made our Top 10, but they’re still worth checking out:

  • SQ8L (Ensoniq SQ80)
  • Cobalt (Korg DW8000, Ensoniq ESQ-1, and Kawai K3)
  • Phuturetone Phutura (Roland Alpha Juno-1)
  • Steinberg Model-E (Moog Model D Minimoog)
  • Tal-Bassline (Roland SH-101)
  • Manx Gigmate(Concertmate MG-1, thanks to Christian H. for the tip!)
  • K Brown Synth Plugins (various synthesizers)
  • Syntronik Free(various synthesizers)

Feel free to suggest additional plugins for this article in the comments section below.

Return to free VST plugins.