Top 10 FREE VST Plugins You Need 2019
Get the 200 best free VST plugins ever made. From synth VSTs and drum VSTs to VST effects, this huge list has only the best of the best plugins. Studio One Prime is the free version of Presonus' popular Studio One DAW (currently at version 4). It features a single-window UI and a small subset of the tools and features of its bigger brother(s)—only one virtual instrument, a minimal library of sounds and loops, a small collection of plug-ins for mixing (though that does include a full. 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. After exploring thousands of great plugins for hours, we bring you a minimized list of best vst plugins out there. It includes a little over 100 plugins. As the cherry on the top, the below list also mention the top 100 vst plugins that are entirely free of cost and paid.
In life many things don't come free, but then again sometimes they do… VST plugins do so more often than not and that's a good thing for many of the uprising producers, musicians and composers out there. We scouted and looked through many of those top 10 lists of instruments and plugins and came up with a mix of our own. In no particular order, here is our pick of the top 10 free VST plugins you should check out.
Before we even get started with this list, there's also a HUGE selection of free sample libraries, sample packs, plugins and soundsets available at https://vstbuzz.com/freebies. Some of our favourites include:
- Shortnoise: A free electronic sample library for Kontakt with a huge 6GB of content and over 300 Kontakt instruments to choose from including Electronic Grooves, Arpeggiated Sequences, Manipulated Synths, Cinematic FX, Unique and Expressive Performance Patches, this beauty has a whole world of surprises waiting to be unleashed!
- Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra: a free orchestral sample library VST plugin – while not as advanced or ambitious in scope as commercial offerings, SSO contains all the basic building blocks for creating real virtual orchestrations. It's primarily aimed at beginners, but also more experienced composers looking for something lightweight and/or portable might find it useful.
- Pocketblaus Cello: A stunning free solo cello library for Kontakt created by Australian composer Blake Robinson. The library sounds gorgeous when soaked in reverb and is perfect for slow moving, expressive cello lines and fast, choppy spiccato lines.
1 ModulAir by Full Bucket Music
Full Bucket Music is a developer that mainly concentrates on soft synth plugins. Their iteration of KORG PS series in the form of FB-3100, 3300, 3200 synths was a smashing hit, and now they're back with ModulAir and we can freely say that this is THE BEST freeware modular synth out there now. VCV rack is its competition and it's a great freeware synth but ModulAir is an actual VST plugin which means it can integrate with your DAW and that's something that VCV rack still can't do.
This soft synth is still a work in progress application but it actually feels very stable and looks polished in its current state of development. The latest version features 38 module types and the ability to host 18 modules per patch. It supports 64 voice polyphony, file import and MIDI learn for quick control mapping.
The user interface is really simplified and minimalistic and not in a bad way because it allows the user to quickly navigate and manage complex patches with ease. It doesn't feature virtual patch cables but it has drop down menus instead. This is a must-have synth for every modular fan out there with the lack of space in their studio or the lack of cash for actual hardware.
2 Stereo Buss Compression by Minimal System Group (MSI)
This is a Windows only plugin but even so it's very special. Yes we know that there are many other free 'mastering' buss compressor plugins out there and sure they all give you that kind of final touch and glue to your mixes, but in all honesty MSI Stereo Buss does it better than most others, plain and simple.
Here is what the guys from Plugin Boutique say about MSI Stereo Buss:
This plugin is perfect for those producers looking to add the finishing touches to their latest masterpiece. Modelled on legendary buss compressors from classic analogue consoles the Minimal System Group Stereo Buss Compressor could be just what you need. Analogue Buss Compressors are the secret behind many classic releases. Often very simple units, a buss compressor's job is to ‘glue' all the elements of a track together and make mixes sound bigger with more punch and character without losing clarity.
It was paid software at first but the nice guys from Minimal System Group have made it freeware since 2014 and it is featured on many a bedroom producer's plugin lists and it is still the best freeware mastering buss compressor out there.
3 LABS by Spitfire Audio
If you have been living under a rock for the past few years then you have maybe never heard of Spitfire Audio, developers of top-notch orchestral sample libraries. LABS is a freeware rompler VST instrument. It is a simple sample player that serves as a platform for Spitfire Audio's free sound libraries. The company keeps releasing new expansion packs for LABS and they never cease to amaze us with the quality of their free content.
Where LABS lack in features due to its minimalistic look, it compensates in sound quality and each new sample pack we got was very unique and of high-quality sound. The minimalistic look is rather convenient actually and it features a few controls. This way you can concentrate more on the sound quality and composing than tweaking all of the options.
We highly recommend LABS as it is an excellent sample player with free downloadable virtual instruments for all composers and music producers who need high-quality acoustic sounds.
4 Ignite Amps Emissary Bundle
Now here is something that every guitar player will appreciate. Ignite Amps is a developer that has been around for quite some time and the fact that they actually created their own hardware custom-made amplifier head, modelled it and then created a sleek looking plugin is simply awesome! And not only that but they made it completely free for everyone to use. Plus they have a whole bunch of other guitar tools out there as freeware plugins.
This amp bundle also comes with their own NadIR cabinet impulse response plugin for guitar cab simulation which features a whole bunch of modelled cabinets but you can also load your own. Even though this amp is built for metal and hard rock genres it still features an awesome clean channel and if you dial it back a bit you can get some really smooth crunch sounds. Check out their Pro F.E.T. distortion and power amp plugins also.
5 SSD5 Free by Steven Slate Drums
For all of you out there looking for some free high-quality drum samples then you won't find better than Steven Slate Drums 5. This is a freeware acoustic drum kit developed by Steven Slate and his team at Steven Slate Drums. If you are aware of Slate Digital and their amazing plugins then you know what to expect from Steven Slate. Being a free version SSD5 features only one drum kit however there are no other limitations. This is a totally usable drum kit that feels like a complete product in all honesty. You can tweak it the way you wish and a provided drum kit can fit into every rock music track.
6 Camel Crusher by Camel Audio
Camel Crusher is a very well known and beloved plugin by producers and engineers alike and for a very good reason. It is very simplistic featuring a distortion and compression mixture in a single user-friendly interface. It also has a filtering option. This is the kind of plugin that is not for the faint-hearted as it can really destroy your tracks if not treated with care. But when you know what you're doing it gives you some really meaty results as it can drastically change the texture of your sound. It has a lot of presets that range from total annihilation to tube warmth.
Camel Audio was the original developer but then Apple acquired them so the original version of the plugin is still available as freeware from third party VST websites.
7 Wider by Polyverse Music
Wider is a really simple freeware VST plugin that does its job really well. Amazingly well to say the least actually. Polyverse Music have teamed-up with Infected Mushroom to treat you with this amazing stereo widening tool for your tracks. Wider is derived from a stereo width module that is featured in their commercial VST called Manipulator. What makes this plugin so unique and amazing is the ability to broaden the stereo width of the signal without causing phasing issues when played back in mono.
You can't make it simpler than this because Wider features only one control parameter and that's it. The slider affects the amount of stereo processing but be careful when pushing it too far though, because too much stereo widening can make your track sound as if it doesn't exist in the same space with others in your mix. Treated carefully this plugin is one of the best stereo wideners, while keeping your mix compatible with any type of playback system.
8 KOMPLETE Start by Native Instruments
Native Instruments? Need we say more? And this is not just one plugin but an actual collection of freebies you can use in your production. This is a great bundle of free instruments and plugins alike. It features more than 6GB of content which spans over various samplers, synths, sample libraries, mixing plugins and more. It is definitely something that every new producer and composer should take a look at.
9 Vocal Doubler by iZotope
The guys from iZotope have been known to put out a freebie from time to time and Vocal Doubler is their latest entry into the freeware world. This plugin is designed for natural doubling effect for vocals and also to add richness and depth to other sound sources. Basically it offers an artificial double-tracking technique. It is very easy to use simply by interacting with the visualization in the center of the GUI. You drag the position around to affect the stereo field and to introduce variations.
You are guided by percentage amounts of 'Variation' and 'Separation' as well as an 'Amount' knob.
10 DLYM Delay Modulator by Imaginado
The creators of excellent DRC synthesizer are back with a freeware modulation multi-effect plugin. It is actually inspired by DRC's built-in chorus effect but it expands to create a more versatile modulation tool which is capable of creating anything from subtle flanging and phasing effects over to extreme choruses and out-of-tune effects.
DLYM features a clean UI with a handy live waveform display. The user can adjust delay time and feedback amount, mod depth and rate, and the stereo spread of the affected signal. It includes six different modulation waveforms which can be synced to DAW tempo. 20 presets are included but we highly recommend that you give it a go at creating your own effects!
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The never-ending quest for the best mixing and mastering plugins is back again, only this time we're searching through the freebies. We scouted through many polls and forums to look for what the audio engineering community has to say about freeware mixing and mastering plugins. So here is our top 10 list of the best and brightest freeware mixing and mastering plugins in no particular order.
1 Youlean Loudness Meter 2 by Youlean
One of the most important aspects of proper mixing and mastering is monitoring. Both audible and visual. This is where Loudness Meter 2 by Youlean comes in to play. This is a freeware loudness metering plugin featuring four metering modes (LUFS, LRA, DR and true peak). It is a must-have visual tool for every producer and mixing engineer on a budget as it will help determine the proper amount of loudness without sacrificing the sound quality and dynamic range of the track. Compared to V1, it has a better-looking GUI which is resizable with reduced CPU usage and is more stable than the previous one.
2 Bitter Sweet V3 by FLUX
FLUX is a very well-known company with amazing high-quality plugins respected by many audio professionals. Bitter Sweet is their freeware audio sweetening tool. Basically, this is a tone and transient shaper plugin which can make your individual tracks go from biting hard to silky smooth. The UI is very simple to use and it features a large knob for controlling the amount of the desired effect.
By going to the sweet side you get very smooth transients and a silky tonal character, while going over to the bitter side you're getting much more pronounced tonal characteristics and more aggressive transients. A must have for anyone working with percussive and rhythmic materials.
3 Stereo Buss by Minimal System Group (MSI)
We already talked about this plugin in a previous post about the best free VST plugins overall but we're going to give it some more attention here again.
This is a Windows only plugin but even so it's very special. Yes we know that there are many other free 'mastering' buss compressor plugins out there, and sure they all give you that kind of final touch and glue to you mixes, but in all honesty MSI Stereo Buss does it better than most others plain and simple. For what it does and the fact that you're getting it for free, it really is the best one out there at the moment.
4 SPAN by Voxengo
Voxengo are very well-known among the freeware VST users out there and they're highly praised. Everyone needs a good plain simple spectrum analyzer for metering and in all honesty you really can't beat Voxengo here. It is our favourite spectrum analyzer overall and it beats many analyzers out there that are paid-for.
You can control the ballistics and response of its graph which makes it flexible enough for a wide variety of tasks. You can even route multiple tracks into SPAN and compare their frequency content. It is a great addition to YOULEAN Loudness Meter 2. Everyone needs to have Voxengo SPAN in their collection.
5 Freeware Plugins by Brainworx
This is not an official collection but mainly our own pick of various freeware plugins by the amazingly talented people at Brainworx.
bx_solo is a powerful tool for working with M/S because it features the legendary M/S technology from their bx_control V2.
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bx_subfilter is a subharmonic content processor. Basically it shapes your sub content and adds more oomph to your signal with body and punch. Highly recommended if you're into EDM and trailer music production.
bx_cleansweep is an extremely powerful Hi/Lo-Pass filter using advanced Brainworx technology.
6 Wider by Polyverse Music
We're re-visiting Wider for this list also as we have nothing but high praise for it. This is a simple freeware VST plugin that widens your stereo signal with a very unique ability to broaden the stereo width of the signal without causing phasing issues when played back in mono.
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You can't make it simpler than this because Wider features only one control parameter and that's it. The slider affects the amount of stereo processing, but be careful when pushing it too far though because too much stereo widening can make your track sound as if it doesn't exist in the same space with others in your mix. Treated carefully, this plugin is one of the best stereo wideners while keeping your mix compatible with any type of playback system.
7 Neutrino by iZotope
iZotope's Neutron plugin bundle features a very unique technology and they scaled it down in order to present us with Neutrino, which is a freeware version with limited options. Even though it is limited compared to the full-blown Neutron, you can still achieve amazing results with it. Neutrino tames undesirable resonances caused by poor room acoustics, cheap gear, and heavy-handed processing. iZotope calls this effect 'spectral shaping' and it can sound similar to gentle, low-ratio multiband compression.
The GUI is very simple to understand and use because it features only two knobs for controlling the effect and 4 buttons for selecting the sound source you are working with.
8 Limiter No.6 by VLADG/Sound
This is a rather cool and useful mastering plugin packed with features. Combined with the previously mentioned YOULEAN Metering and Voxengo SPAN, you get a free mastering power tool. Limiter No.6 features 5 separate modules mostly known as gain stages. A compressor followed by a peak limiter, high frequency limiter, clipper and the protection module.
The Protection module ensures that your output of the signal doesn't go into clipping. Each module is controlled individually and you can turn it on and off separately. The plugin has a certain character when pushed hard but it produces a warm pleasing output. It's a no brainer if you want to own one.
9 MFreeFX Bundle by MeldaProduction
MeldaProduction are well-known for some great plugins and they have earned their keep in many pro audio engineers' plugin collections. This bundle contains 30 completely free plugins which span from bread and butter tools like compressors and EQs to some not so common effects like ring modulator and oscilloscope. If you're starting out your path to becoming an audio engineer, or if you're a student with no budget this is a must-have for you.
10 NOVA EQ by TDR
This is a rare sight to see when it comes to freeware plugins. NOVA EQ is a real Swiss army knife when it comes to fixing those problematic frequencies. It is very easy on the eye with its rather sleek looking GUI.
Each EQ band features a dedicated dynamics section which allows the EQ to cover a wide range of frequencies. The sound is very transparent.
What are your favourite free mixing and mastering plugins?
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