The Free or Cheaper VST Plugin Thread

[tim]

Because I started this on the "other" forum, I'll start it here too! Seemed like it got some good use. So let's do it!

Do yourself a favor, no matter what plugins you are already using, and grab the free Valhalla DSP stuff. They only make amazing things, and the fact that any of them are free is incredible.

Super delay/reverb: https://valhalladsp.com/shop/reverb/...-supermassive/

Crazy flanging: https://valhalladsp.com/shop/modulat...ace-modulator/

Psychedelic echo...delay..thing: https://valhalladsp.com/shop/delay/valhalla-freq-echo/

After that, grab Saturation Knob from Softube. It's a single knob distortion/saturation plugin. Do it. Do it now. Go here and do it now: https://www.softube.com/saturationknob


Voxengo has a great list of free plugins (here: https://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugin-download/), but SPAN is a favorite of mine. It's a free spectrum analyzer with a ton of great options, especially for free: https://www.voxengo.com/product/span/

Bonus: Here's a great Youtube video/tutorial on how to get the most out of SPAN:

Blue Cat Audio has a great lineup of free stuff. Mostly modulation effects, but there's an EQ, an Analyzer, and an Amp Simulator in here. Solid stuff if you need a mix of everything: https://www.bluecataudio.com/Product...ry_0_Freeware/

Speaking of a great lineup of free stuff...again...Melda has a great free bundle with a little bit of everything. There are 37 plugins in this. 37! For free! They are stripped down versions of their paid plugins, but who cares. Free! : https://www.meldaproduction.com/MFreeFXBundle

Ignite Amps has a lot of great guitar-focus plugins. Some standouts for me have been Emissary (really great free amp simulator. Also we should do another amp sim thread), NadIR (meant to be used with guitar cab impulses), and their Tube Screamer clones: https://www.igniteamps.com/

These are a bit old, but I always dig the Variety of Sound plugins, especially for free. I think most of these are Windows only though: https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/vst-effects/


I think that's enough for now....

Any one got any good ones to share?

[tim]

Fuck. I put this in the wrong forum. This was supposed to be in Recording.

edit: crisis averted! Thanks mods!

[Tony]

Kinda free.

If you download amplitube 5 you get the SLO & JCM800 free just by clicking restore licences

[Drew]

Another vote for Blue Cat, specifically the Chorus, which rules.

I love Izotope Vinyl - not only is it a great record simulation plugin, it's a surprisingly useful lo-fi effect used on individual tracks rather than a full mix.

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/vinyl.html

The Sonimus SonEQ is a free download, and while I've actually never messed with this one much, I like their other stuff enough that it's probably worth a try:

https://sonimus.com/products/soneq

...their Britson and Satson console emulation plugins are nice too, and $39 each, and if their Burnley73 Neve-style EQ ever goes on sale, grab that.

[desertdweller]

Free VSTs I use and love:

Anything by Nalex. Their Ninja amp sim and Pectifier are top notch.
https://honestampsimreviews.com/2019...are-plugins-2/



IR loading: STL Tones NAD IR - is this still free? It shouldn't be, it's an awesome IR loader with resonance, blending, and room options.
https://www.stltones.com/products/st...plug-in-bundle - Comes with the Emissary amp model, which is awesome too.


Overdrive:
Mercurial Greed Smasher: It's a Mesa Grid Slammer in a VST. I run this before just about any amp sim.

https://mercuriall.com/cms/details_freestuff

Effects:
Pitch shift: Aegean Music Pitchproof - fantastic harmonizer plugin, really good for thickening a lead track with an octave below it, and it does intelligent pitch shifting.

https://aegeanmusic.com/pitchproof-specs

Delay: NastyDLAmkII - This is actually my main delay sound on my recordings. I love it. It does everything right for a digital-sounding delay. It's not going to get an analog delay sound, but it's excellent.
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multim...yDLAmkII.shtml


Other:
GTune: free VST tuner. I have this on all my guitar/bass tracks so I always can tune up easily.

https://www.gvst.co.uk/gtune.htm

[Valtteri]

For glorious 80's synth sounds OB-Xd is awesome:

https://www.discodsp.com/obxd/

I rarely use my MIDI keyboard, but when I do, it's usually just to play Jump, and OB-Xd works superbly for that

[Markus]

I guess everyone knows about Lepou plugins, right? I still think they sound pretty good, especially the Legion (I think).

[Drew]

I guess everyone knows about Lepou plugins, right? I still think they sound pretty good, especially the Legion (I think).

I've been using the Lecto while demoing lately, there may be something better out there, sure, but it's certainly good enough.

[mpexus]

The free TSE X50 still sounds damn good to be honest. Mercurial free Pedal VST's are really great and I use their Greed Smasher and Chorus in Reaper all the time, disabling whatever suite VST FX I might use and prefer use those two.

[Budda]

DT on SSO has a bunch in this thread here:

https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/the-free-irs-amp-sims-and-boosts-post.345857/

[RevDrucifer]

Slate has a free Fresh Air plugin https://slatedigital.com/fresh-air/

I haven’t tried it, but it’s supposed to let you add in some highs without being shrill or ear piercing. I’d assume an ilok account is required (they’re free)

[desertdweller]

I've been using the Lecto while demoing lately, there may be something better out there, sure, but it's certainly good enough.

Try the Pectifier.

[Drew]

Try the Pectifier.

Honestly, for something I'm just using to demo, it's really not worth the effort. It sounds good in the mix (running it at 8x sampling really helps), and it gets mark-y enough with the mids cranked and the presence low. Anything I actually give a shit about I'd either reamp, or actually cut through the Mark V anyway, so it's just one less thing to worry about.

[metalheadpunk]

Ola just out a new video about free guitar amp plugins:

[Megametal7]

is there a plugin for song mastering?

[Valtteri]

Megametal7 Ozone 9 is on sale right now at $99. So not free, but it's an absolutely awesome plugin.

https://www.izotope.com/en/shop/ozone-9-standard.html

[Megametal7]

Megametal7 Ozone 9 is on sale right now at $99. So not free, but it's an absolutely awesome plugin.

https://www.izotope.com/en/shop/ozone-9-standard.html

thanks, but can't buy it now, I'm out of work till May. :o

[scole]

I came across this plugin tonight and it's free. It's a filter plugin so it doesn't probably have a ton of uses in metal (more like EDM dance stuff) but you can so some volume/panning stuff which might be handy if you don't want to f*ck with envelopes on a given track.

Demo video:

Link: Tal-Filter-2

[lespauled]

http://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugins/

http://www.softube.com/index.php?id=satknob

https://goodhertz.co/faraday-lim

http://99sounds.org/vst-plugins/

https://obxd.wordpress.com/

http://www.meldaproduction.com/plugins/product.php?id=MFreeEffectsBundle

http://klanghelm.com/IVGI.php

http://klanghelm.com/DC1A.php

http://www.tokyodawn.net/news-tdr_vos_equalizer/

http://www.fluxhome.com/products/freewares/bittersweet-v3

http://www.fluxhome.com/products/freewares/stereotool-v3

http://kunz.corrupt.ch/products/tal-chorus-lx

http://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/virtual-studio/

http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_GainSuite/

http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Category_0_Freeware/

http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/

[Drew]

is there a plugin for song mastering?

Honestly, mastering is it's own seperate art form and while all-in-one boxes like Ozone can help, the few times I've mastered a project on my own I've generally started aligning stereo .wavs of finished tracks in track order in reaper, volume matched and applied any song-level equalization there, and then stacked a number of compression and limiting plug in the master bus and gone at it there, rather than using a dedicated mastering plugin/preset. Just taking a really transparent compressor and running a few instances of that for transient control and then carefully applying a limiter can go a long way, and honestly the Reaper stock compressor is actually pretty transparent so a good optio. here.

[Megametal7]

Honestly, mastering is it's own seperate art form and while all-in-one boxes like Ozone can help, the few times I've mastered a project on my own I've generally started aligning stereo .wavs of finished tracks in track order in reaper, volume matched and applied any song-level equalization there, and then stacked a number of compression and limiting plug in the master bus and gone at it there, rather than using a dedicated mastering plugin/preset. Just taking a really transparent compressor and running a few instances of that for transient control and then carefully applying a limiter can go a long way, and honestly the Reaper stock compressor is actually pretty transparent so a good optio. here.

I agree its completely different art the mastering, for some reason I cant get my head around it thats why I want easy way out , till I learn how to do it.

I will look into it and see if third party plug ins work with pro tools first.

[mpexus]

Neural is making 50% off on everything (except on the new Soldano vst)

https://neuraldsp.com/?fbclid=IwAR1E...P1RQDJeTIdh8_k

[jacksonplayer]

Neural is making 50% off on everything (except on the new Soldano vst)

https://neuraldsp.com/?fbclid=IwAR1E...P1RQDJeTIdh8_k

This is timely. Looks like I'm going to grab the Archetype: Cory Wong plugin. Very cool suite focusing solely on clean and broken-up sounds. It's not exact Fender or Vox sounds, but more a general modern clean sound with a good set of matching effects. I've been listening to a ton of country and Grateful Dead lately. so these sounds are on my mind at the moment.

[Drew]

Today only, but if anyone needs a good clipping plugin (which as it happens I did), Boz Labs Big Clipper is on sale for $29 (normally $149).

[desertdweller]

is there a plugin for song mastering?

Not free VSTs, but in the past 6 months I picked up Submission Audio's Flatline and Fab Filter Pro Q. What's really cool about FabFilter, is that if you apply instances of this EQ to multiple tracks, like your drum bus, bass buss, guitar buss, etc., it will show you where your frequencies are bunching up by highligting them in red. Another great feature is that if you hover your mouse over the EQ while your track is playing, it will highlight what it thinks might be trouble frequencies your track is peaking at for you to highlight and quickly notch filter out. Truly an incredibly useful tool that improves your workflow and speeds it along. Their multi band compressor is excellent too and comes with very usable presets.

After using Izotope Ozone for a decade for all my recordings, these plugins have replaced Ozone entirely. I'm getting cleaner mixes now, with tons more punch and clarity at a lower LUFS value. So I don't feel the need to crank the shit out of the mastering bus limiter to get the guitars to chug, I'm getting it at -12 LUFS now, which is ideal for Youtube and Spotify.

Say what you want about Glenn, this is a great product demo he does here for Flatline:

A great overview of Pro Q: