FREE (Cheap) Indispensable Plugz

[Zoesch]

There used to be a thread about great inexpensive plug-ins... which was a huge help for a lot of people, let's kick Mk. 2 into gear shall we?

My first picks:

http://www.greenoak.com/crystal/

Crystal is still a free synth that will make your CPU groan but will produce amazing results.

http://www.digitalfishphones.com/

The digital fishphones plugins have served me well, free, great sounding and not too heavy on your CPU

[Brendo]

Could we post which platform etc the plugins are suitable for?

[PSN Big Al]

Glad you decided to revisit this.

ColorTone FREE

TriTone Digital (http://www.tritonedigital.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=35&osCsid=7d4bc6e626aceeda80204ef923708d5b)

Works for Mac and PC

RTAS, AU and VST via the Pluggo Runtime wrapper

[seagate]

VintageMeter (http://pspaudioware.com/indexen.html?url=http://pspaudioware.com/plugins/vmeter.html;)
Platform:
MacOSX: AU, VST, RTAS
PC: VST DirectX RTAS


Sonalksis FreeG (http://sonalksis.com/index.php?section_id=99)
Platform:
MacOSX: AU (UB), VST, RTAS
PC: VST, RTAS

[eagan]

Crystal and the Digital Fishphones stuff. Yeah.

Both get used daily in my little world.

Moving forward:
http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/classic-series.php

(VST)

Useful stuff.


JLE

[Fulcrum]

I'm going to request that the actual computer platforms also be stated. Knowing that something is VST is fine and dandy, but not if it's VST on the PC and all you have is a Mac (and you're not running Parallels or some such).

For example, (and this will work when you're getting a jones to run down the middle section of Come Sail Away):

Crazy Diamonds (http://www.kvraudio.com/get/193.html) by Rumpelrausch Taips (http://rumpelrausch.de.vu/)
Solina/ARP String Ensemble emulator
VST for Windows and OS X
free

[Fulcrum]

You fans of pre-Wavestation vector synthesis might find much to like here-- a bit heavy on the CPU but gets the job done. Only comes weith a very few presets, so get ready to edit....

Augur (http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1066.html) by Smart Electronix (http://www.smartelectronix.com/)
Prophet 2000 emulator
VST for Windows
free

[Jason Phair]

I use the Digital Fishphones comp a LOT.

I don't remember who makes it, but there's one called "Rubytube"...basically a dirt limiter style thing.

SSL has an emulation of their 2-buss. Not sure if it actually emulates that, but it sure is fun on drums.

[Fulcrum]

I don't remember who makes it, but there's one called "Rubytube"...basically a dirt limiter style thing.

I do... Silverspike (http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:RubyTube). Works under both Wintel and OS X.

SSL has an emulation of their 2-buss. Not sure if it actually emulates that, but it sure is fun on drums.I've found that it operates in principle pretty much the same way that Blockfish does... you really have to use your ears for these; you can't just dial in a threshold of -18dB for example.

Also, while it is a free plug, SSL makes you register at their site so they can spam you before they'll hook you up with the plug. This, too, works both sides of the great computer divide.

[Fulcrum]

This is rapidly becoming my go-to reverb, even above the Lexicon Pantheon. It sits quite nicely in my mixes.

Glaceverb (http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1566.html) by DaSample (http://www.dasample.com/)
VST for Windows
free

[Fulcrum]

Some people like to see things as well as hear them. I use these two when my eyes need a bit of excitement.

SPAN (http://www.kvraudio.com/get/696.html) by Voxengo (http://www.voxengo.com/)
spectrum analyzer with metering
VST for Windows

Gonio (http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2061.html) by UKMusic (http://www.uk-music.de/)
goniometer/phase correlation meter
VST for Windows

[Skwaidu]

SSL has an emulation of their 2-buss. Not sure if it actually emulates that, but it sure is fun on drums.

Isn't it(the free VST) actually an emulation of their listen mic compressor?

[Pimp-X]

Isn't it(the free VST) actually an emulation of their listen mic compressor?


Thats the one.

[malice]

Glad you decided to revisit this.

ColorTone FREE

TriTone Digital (http://www.tritonedigital.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=35&osCsid=7d4bc6e626aceeda80204ef923708d5b)

Works for Mac and PC

RTAS, AU and VST via the Pluggo Runtime wrapper

Hey big Al,

I loved that review on your last show :

the plug that makes a choir out of a singing drummer (pun intended) :

http://www.cloneensemble.com/

the clone ensemble : pretty neat plugg

congrats for your show

malice

[nomad]

Isn't it(the free VST) actually an emulation of their listen mic compressor?



Uh, yeah. Rather significant difference.

You will suffer greatly for putting that sucker on your mix buss.

Awesome, though, for really extreme shit. Pretty cool on drum room tracks, too. Lops off a ton of low end, though, often too much. I use it mostly just as an effect. A really damn cool effect.



(None of this was really directed at you, Skwai. I know your 'question' was rhetorical and polite. I don't do 'polite'.)

[Zoesch]

DestroyFX Geometer

http://destroyfx.smartelectronix.com/

Windows VST, Mac VST and AU (Non universal sadly)

If you want to destroy audio with style this is THE tool... it can create wonderful digital distortions and stutter-style patterns

Dronebox (GBP 25, not free)

http://www.oli.adbe.org/dronebox.shtml

Windows VST

Six resonant, tuneable filters... it's just amazing

[PSN Big Al]

the plug that makes a choir out of a singing drummer (pun intended) :

http://www.cloneensemble.com/

the clone ensemble : pretty neat plugg

Thanks Malice!

Hey, when you don't want to drop a load of cash on
something like AVOX for a special effect like this,
it's hard to beat (say it with me) FREEEEEEEEEeeee. :grin:

[Charles Dye]

Mike + Al over @ PSN are the experts @ FREEEeee plugz.

I, OTOH, could learn a lot from this thread.

Thanks everyone for posting.


How about Massey Plug-Ins (http://www.masseyplugins.com)? I haven't seen anybody mention them.

You love their plugz, dontcha Al?

[Skwaidu]

How about Massey Plug-Ins (http://www.masseyplugins.com)? I haven't seen anybody mention them.

You love their plugz, dontcha Al?

Ditto on Massey, was just about to post that...

[Brendo]

Ditto on Massey, was just about to post that...

What's the catch with the Massey stuff?

[meLoCo_go]

They are RTAS?
Are there any RTAS-to-VST wrappers?
I believe VST-to-RTAS exists...

[Fulcrum]

They are RTAS?
Are there any RTAS-to-VST wrappers?
I believe VST-to-RTAS exists...

I understand that MOA had a bit of a hissy fit when someone tried to make and market an RTAS to VST wrapper... RTAS being a proprietary format and such, y'see... guess they want you to, like, buy a license to use RTAS, or something.

But yes, you can go the other way.

[Skwaidu]

What's the catch with the Massey stuff?

Catch? None, IMHO...

The "free versions" are basically demos("Better demos"?) with unlimited use. No 48kHz<, no bypass and settings don't save with the session... (Some folks take screenshots around this, I hear. Cheapskates. :P )

Anyway, the real catch is that they are so darn cheap and usable that you will most likely end up buying them after installing the free versions. The new stomp box plug(THC) is mondo cool too.



-Yeah, Fxpansion makes a VST-RTAS wrapper, but I haven't heard of the opposite being made...

http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=31

Oh. They also seem to have a free synth up.

http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=12&tab=60

[PSN Big Al]

How about Massey Plug-Ins (http://www.masseyplugins.com)? I haven't seen anybody mention them.

You love their plugz, dontcha Al?

I certainly do! And at just $69 each, I loved them so much,
I bought the company...no wait...just all the plugz, that's it! :grin:

But you can have all of them for free if you don't mind
using them @ 44.1 and losing your settings when you
close the session. But, you can hardly resist picking
them up for such a low price.

The vt3 eq and Tape Head are my two favs.

[imusick]

Hello everyone. First timer here. I heard of this forum from PSN. Great podcast. Well, here's my two cents.
Free plug-ins, RTAS.

iZotope Vinyl
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/

Inspector
http://www.rogernicholsdigital.com/inspector.htm

Nomad Factory NF Free Bundle
http://www.macmusic.org/software/version.php/lang/en/id/3941/

SynthMaster Free PC only
http://www.kv331audio.com/downloads.aspx

Cycling '74 PLuggo Junior
http://www.cycling74.com/downloads/pluggo

Ohm Force Frogmage
http://www.ohmforce.com/ViewProduct.do?p=Frohmage

Plugsound Free
http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/downloads.php/id/1051/software/Plugsound-free/

Prosoniq NorthPole
http://www.prosoniq.com/

UltimateSoundBank Universal UVI Player
http://www.ultimatesoundbank.com/demo.html

Digidesign's:
SignalTools, TimeShift, EQ III, and Dynamics III.

[malice]

Great side chain pluggin for SX :

http://www.twistedlemon.nl/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=32


for PC though :(

at least the sidechaining will be implemented in Cubase/Nuendo 4

was about time

malice

[MacGregor]

The following aren't all free but in the very low budget
categorie. The free ones I use are already mentioned anyway :

C3 Multi Band Compressor (VST, PC/Mac, free):
http://www.macmusic.org/software/view.php/lang/en/id/2916/

Not the best sounding compressor, but a great tool to make
single tracks cut through the mix better.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Voxengo Elephant (AU/VST, PC only, $70):
http://www.voxengo.com/product/elephant/

This is a very good sounding limiter, if you're that kind of guy
you can make things really LOUD before it starts to become
messy.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Voxengo Marquis Compressor (VST, PC only, $70):
http://www.voxengo.com/product/marquiscomp/

Good sound and tons of options.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Voxengo Soniformer (VST, PC only, $50):
http://www.voxengo.com/product/soniformer/

It's a compressor, but gets more used like some kind of eq.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Remark: the Voxengo plugs are a bit CPU hungry, so if you plan
to use them on individual tracks in realtime double check your
latency settings.
==============================================
dB-D dynamics processor (DirectX, PC only, $39):
http://www.db-audioware.com/dB-D-dynamics-processor-more.htm

Actually it's not the best compressor on this planet, but it has a
nice sidechain feature which I often (combined with the expander)
use to trigger other plugs
-----------------------------------------------------------
dB-S de-esser (DirectX, PC only, $39):
http://www.db-audioware.com/dB-S-de-esser-more.htm

Like the compressor above, not very good but has a nice 'test'
feature to locate the frequencies you want to process. Saved
me a ton of time.
-----------------------------------------------------------

And just in case you're using Soundforge 8, the internal effects
are actually DirectX plug-ins which can be used with every
other software that supports DirectX.
I love using their paragraphic EQ in Cubase. Too bad Steinberg
dropped the DirectX support with Cubase 4 (shame on you,
Steinberg. You've lost one customer for this. Do the same with Nuendo and I'm out.).

[Charles Dye]

Thanx, Mac for the great post + all the detail. Very informative + useful.

I gave your rep a bump for it.:Thumbsup:

[Molly's Lips]

Glad you decided to revisit this.

ColorTone FREE

TriTone Digital (http://www.tritonedigital.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=35&osCsid=7d4bc6e626aceeda80204ef923708d5b)

Works for Mac and PC

RTAS, AU and VST via the Pluggo Runtime wrapper

Tritone has another free plug up called the "PhaseTone". Same compatability as the ColorTone.

[andrew schaap]

What's the catch with the Massey stuff?

i believe the catch is that they are only for RTAS/TDM. Can't use those babies if you're not using PT. correct me if I'm wrong.

[Brendo]

Well, i am, and I downloaded them and tried them out.

No saving of presets, no bypass. Unlimited time demo, no beeps or noise or dropouts.

[Empty Planet]

Hi Folks.

These are all VST, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of them are PC. My apologies to my worthy Mac brethren.

I offer them here because there are a bajillion free VST plugs out there, and when you come across one that works well, it's worth telling people about. I actually chose Cubase, specifically on PC -- MANY, many versions ago :icon_eek: -- because of the open VST architecture and the idea that a bajillion wonky kids would eventually put their crazy ideas into code and I would be the -- OCCASIONALLY lucky :very happy: -- beneficiary. These aren't the crazy ones here, but I've found those below to be useful tools that do a great job of supplementing the (vastly more expensive) bread and butter software tools that we all know and love.

So here, submitted for your approval, is the Short List of Not So Shabby Freebies (including a couple of real stunners).


Compressors
Endorphin (http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=3)
Endorphin was the first comp made by the guy who eventually gave us Digital Fish, already mentioned above. Only one instantiation per session, but lovely, quick and dirty.
SSL LMC-1 (http://www.solid-state-logic.com/resources/lmc1plugin.html)
Has the SSL talkback compressor been mentioned? Worth the hassle of their registration process.

Limiters
TLs Pocket Limiter (http://hem.bredband.net/tbtaudio/)(TLs Maximizer, TubeLimit)
This guy made some tasty limiters. The Pocket Limiter doesn't brickwall, so it's trickier to use, but if you ever run across his TLs Maximizer or TubeLimit, they're great fast solutions to stomping your foot down on a troublesome channel till you can get back to it later. And sometimes they stay on the channel.

Dynamic Eq
ID4gui (http://www.platinumears.com/)
Ok, this is an unqualified gem. Believe this one came out before Sonalksis brought out their similar plugs. A multiband...err...eq...err...compressor...err...eq .... Well, it compresses on frequencies you choose, at the Q you choose, with the attack and release and ratio you choose. AND it has Mid/Side capability! AND it doesn't stop there. It has downward and upward compression AND downward and upward expansion! What does that mean!?! It means you can set the threshold to mark signal that either passes above OR falls below it, and then you decide whether you want compression or expansion to happen when this occurs! In other words, get it! Don't crowd around now! One at a time! Hey, don't PUSH! (Really, it's not bad at all.)

Delay
mgTempoDelay (http://www.mgaudio.de/modules/main.php)
MILLIONS of free delays out there, many of them get QUITE freaky. This one's not so freaky, but a great workhorse. Has a pretty fabulous feature set (ducking, filters, etc.) and what do you know!...sounds pretty darn good.

Distortions
CamelPhatFree (mono)
CamelCrusher (http://www.camelaudio.com/camelphatfree.php)
Can't seem to find CamelPhatFree anymore, but I love the little sucker. Quick and dirty...um...dirt. CamelCrusher is their current free offering, and it's both better and worse than the original.
Cyanide2 (http://bram.smartelectronix.com/)
The drag about most digital distortions is that they're insanely and unpleasantly harsh. This one isn't so bad on that score, and it's pretty configurable. It's no overdriven V72S from Oliver Archut, but it's not bad.
TriDirt (http://www.noizware.com/software.htm)
Multiband distortion, highly configurable, definitely a nice tool. If trash is your goal, they've got your number.

SimulAnalog Guitar Suite (http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm)
Bad news, all mono. Good news, two REALLY decent guitar amp sims and some DAMN nice modulation effects ala classic guitar pedals. Worth your time. (Oh. Umm...no interface. Don't let it scare you. :) )

Filters
LittleDuck (http://www.funkelectric.com/~cockaigne/)
Me likey. LFO, pretty smooth. Nice.
Flybaby (http://www.twistedlemon.nl/)
I have the beta, which acts as an interesting filter. (Mick Ronson, anyone?) If this official release sucks, it's my fault, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
Galleoneer Filter Mk1 (http://www.galleoneer.com/galleoneerGifts.htm)
Another decent free filter.

Misc
SidekickV3 (http://www.twistedlemon.nl/site/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=)(sidechainer)
This is a sidechainer that will help you get around the fact that a lot of software compressors make it damn difficult to duck and key. Bit of a learning curve, but worth it in the end. [Edit: Apologies, Malice! Saw your post after this, daddy-o. Malice was here first!]
Wow n Flutter (http://www.interruptor.ch/vst_overview.shtml)
Is that right? You want to ADD wow and flutter?!? You betcha. This is the very tip of the TIP of the iceberg when it comes to the category of WEIRD VST plugs, but it sure gives you the idea.

Tuner
GTune (http://www.gvst.co.uk/gtune.htm)

Stuttering Gates
KillerGate (http://www.novakill.com/)
mgTriggerGate (http://www.mgaudio.de/modules/main.php)
Thee..ee..ee..ss..se.....a..a..a..ar..rr..re.....n n..nii..ii..icc..ce.....tt..to..oo..oo! (Pause, pause) EVERYBODY DANCE!

Image
StereoTools (http://www.kellyindustries.com/stereo_tools.html)
A nice little workhorse. Make your signal mono, flip the phase on a channel, raise/lower levels, etc.

Modulation
Tiny Chorus (http://www.tinygod.com/)
There's a vast world of scratchy, digital-sounding free modulation plugins out there. This one is not bad. Doesn't suck at all, in fact.
MDA Detune (http://mda.smartelectronix.com/effects.htm)
Ahh, an oldie but a goodie. It's always sounded pretty darn good to me. It comes in a pack, but it's a small download, and there might be one or two other things in there you like. Some applications experience a small bug in the Detune -- to alter a parameter, you need to make the change, flip to the next preset and then click back to your original preset (two clicks) to get it to take. STILL worth it.
KTGranulator (http://www.koen.smartelectronix.com/KTGranulator/)
Grain synthesis. A bit of a freaky plug. Deep. Weird.
Discord (http://www.audiodamage.com/)$40. Stereo pitch-shifter with LFOs.
Audio Damage is a nice little company. This is the only plug I'm listing that costs anything, because it does something that no free plug I know of does -- that funny "a few cents on the left, a few cents on the right" jazz. Does it fairly well, too.

Reverbs
SIR convolution reverb (http://www.knufinke.de/sir/index_en.html)
Okay, I just have to mention this guy, because he's the guy who started it all. Long before anyone else jumped on the convolution reverb bandwagon, this guy put out this convolution engine for free and said to the world -- ENJOY! The actual mathematical process of convolution is centuries old, but this plug was the first time anyone was able to enjoy something that sounded even DIMLY like a Lex in their humble PC. Worth a salute, if you ask me.

Noisevault (http://noisevault.com/nv/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=29)
And here's where you can get some nice impulse responses -- but the quality of them varies, so, as always, use your ears and YMMV.


Putting together this list, my friends, was a HUGE pain in the ass :lol: but I've learned a WHOLE lot from Charles over the years and so it's my own imperfect, wonky way of saying Thank You. Pity he's on a non-VST, Mac system. :Confused: Isn't that just like life?

It's not a completely comprehensive list, but it does feature some of the better ones I've found over the years. Really hope one or two of you find at least SOME of these useful.


Cheers.

[Empty Planet]

Double Post! Genius!

[MacGregor]

[...]
Image
StereoTools (http://www.kellyindustries.com/stereo_tools.html)
A nice little workhorse. Make your signal mono, flip the phase on a channel, raise/lower levels, etc.



Wow, that's a quite impressive list, thanks a lot.
This StereoTools thingy with its M/S feature looks interesting.

[Charles Dye]

Very nice, EP. Thanx for all the killer info!! :Thumbsup:

I actually plan on gettin' a wrapper + checking out some VST plugz.

I'll start with ur list. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

And you're very welcome.


:karmadude: :karmadude: :karmadude:

[Empty Planet]

Well, in spite of my crabbing, it was fun to do.

Just hope it's useful for folks.


Cheers!

:)


PS. Actually, at the moment I'm following what's (to me at least) the weirdest and most interesting plugin innovation I've seen in years :icon_eek: . It's called Nebula, and it uses a process called dynamic Volterra kerneling to give a sort of "3D" convolution, convolution that happens over time (thus providing much more realistic emulations of gear). It has issues at the moment -- multithreading has to be disabled in apps like PT, for instance, it's PC and VST only, the interface is almost identical to multiscreened samplers from the 80s, and it is a GIANT CPU hog (and that last issue isn't going away because it's an intensive process).

But the sound, at least on a couple of settings on their freebie (the actual plug hasn't been released yet) is astonishing, in my humble opinion. It does modulation, compression, eq, you name it. It sounds too freaking good to be true. But I've used the freebie, in spite of all the hoops one has to jump through, and the sound is truly something else. It's an Italian company called Acusticaudio (http://www.acusticaudio.com/)(and they're not fluent English speakers), and their target price for the thing is something like 25 bucks or so, so it's going to fit right into the subject of this thread. If someone doesn't do so before me, I may resurrect this thread when it's released (supposedly at the end of Februrary.)

Interesting times to be living in. :)

[Zoesch]

Nebula is incredibly cool and by the looks of it it's gonna be a fun ride because one can design customized kernels and emulations in the final (paid) version. Kinda like a self contained convolving version of Reaktor.

And the damned bastard kills my MBP (Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz) under Bootcamp, it is THAT resource intensive.

[Fulcrum]

Yeah, I pulled Nebula down from their site, too, along with all the libraries and the PDFs. Haven't actually installed it yet.

I guess this is gonna be one for mastering, if it's that CPU intensive I can't see myself mixing with it unless I am very very sure of what I want and only Nebula can get me that sound.

[Zoesch]

Yeah, I pulled Nebula down from their site, too, along with all the libraries and the PDFs. Haven't actually installed it yet.

I guess this is gonna be one for mastering, if it's that CPU intensive I can't see myself mixing with it unless I am very very sure of what I want and only Nebula can get me that sound.

Yes but don't limit yourself to just that... certainly it can do great compressors and limiters but it can do much more... just tweak and freeze.

BTW Charles, could we make this a sticky?

[Charles Dye]

Done + stuck. Excellent suggestion, Z.

Thanks to everyone for your information + link rich posts!



:guydoingwerenotworthysalute: :guydoingwerenotworthysalute: :guydoingwerenotworthysalute:

[Empty Planet]

Elaborating on Zoesch's steer toward digitalfishphones, don't forget Dominion, also available at that site. You won't need it if you have Transient Designer or Trans-X, but it's a great, free plug to use when you need to emphasize or de-emphasize attacks on a signal.

Also, I just stumbled across a much better LP filter, also a freebie, from a company called Admiral Quality. It's Naive Filter (http://www.admiralquality.com/products/), and is a nice, thick low pass that also has a fun envelope control that can help you get some great rhythmic sounds going.

I'd replace the Galleoneer filter (mentioned in my above post) with this one. I would have done it without adding this klunky extra post, but apparently making something a sticky disables one's ability to edit one's posts.

Is that an option we can change, O Great Webmaster Charles? :very happy: If the option to edit is restored (don't know if it's possible), I can update my post with tasty new plugins as I find them, without having to add these scattered addendums.

Cheers all.

:)


[Edit: Oh, weird. I can edit this post, just not the earlier ones. Hmmm.]

[Barish]

A former Digidesign employee friend of mine has been working on a softsynth called SynthMaster for sometime and he is offering a free version of it on his website at the moment.

It is currently Windows XP only and in VST, VSTi, DXi and RTAS versions, but he is working on the Mac compilations and hoping to offer them in the very near future.

To obtain its free fully working version:

http://www.kv331audio.com


B.

[Zoesch]

Nice Barish but why oh why does NOBODY implement Amplitude Modulation in their synths anymore?

(Missing his Ensoniq SQ-80 like hell)

[Barish]

Well, we'll get one with AM implemented in compiled for you then. Bülent is a mate. He grew up with my cousins back in Ankara. I don't think he'd deny our request :Coolio:



Special Zoesch Edition.




Come to think of it. It sounds pretty cool to my ears :very happy:


B.

[Zoesch]

Well, we'll get one with AM implemented in compiled for you then. Bülent is a mate. He grew up with my cousins back in Ankara. I don't think he'd deny our request :Coolio:



Special Zoesch Edition.




Come to think of it. It sounds pretty cool to my ears :very happy:


B.

Actually if it ends up having a modulation matrix like the Ensoniq synths and Amplitude Modulation it'd become pretty much my go to synth for sound design.

It's amazing what having freely routable LFO/Envelopes can do for sound design :)

(And yes I love the name... hehehehehehehe)

[Brendo]

Is that an option we can change, O Great Webmaster Charles? :very happy: [Edit: Oh, weird. I can edit this post, just not the earlier ones. Hmmm.]

It's on a timer.

[kv331audio]

Nice Barish but why oh why does NOBODY implement Amplitude Modulation in their synths anymore?

(Missing his Ensoniq SQ-80 like hell)

SynthMaster has indeed "tremolo" effect, which is basicly AM. Isn't that what you're looking for?

[kv331audio]

Actually if it ends up having a modulation matrix like the Ensoniq synths and Amplitude Modulation it'd become pretty much my go to synth for sound design.

It's amazing what having freely routable LFO/Envelopes can do for sound design :)


In SynthMaster:

1. Every osc/modulator/filter has its own envelope.

2. Mod sources are:
SideChain
SideChain Envelope
Mod 1
Mod 2
Mod 1+Mod 2
Mod 1*Mod 2
Mod 3
Mod 4
Mod 3+Mod 4
Mod 4*Mod 4

3. Mod destinations are:
Mod Phase
Mod Frequency
Osc Volume
Osc Frequency
Osc Phase/Pulse Width (if the osc is a pulse wave)
Filter Cutoff (there's audio rate cutoff modulation!)
Filter Reso
Filter Gain

There are also 2 global free running LFOs that can modulate any of the 1000+ parameters' value, via generating MIDI CCs.

[Zoesch]

SynthMaster has indeed "tremolo" effect, which is basicly AM. Isn't that what you're looking for?

Heya there Bülent, thanks for registering and taking time to answer our questions here, really appreciated

About tremolo, not even close, the ESQ-1 and SQ-80 (And the VFX) allowed you to select any wave from the ROM and use it to modulate amplitude, sure you could do tremolo style effects but grafting say a drum hit to modulate the amplitude of a bass gave you a lot more options to design sounds. Graft the attack of a sampled violin onto your sine pad? No problem grab the Violin ROM wave and use it to AM the pad. You could also do AM with the oscilators meaning you could develop really complex pads through feeding back the oscilator to control amplitude before (or after) the envelope.

It's a neat concept that I wish more developers would incorporate into their synths.

[kv331audio]

It's a neat concept that I wish more developers would incorporate into their synths.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to explain the concept Zoesch!

Well, you can achieve this sort of AM with SynthMaster in 2 different ways:

1. By using 2 plug-in instances instead of 1: Use the first one as the modulator and connect it to the "sidechain" input of the second. That's easily done on Protools, but I have no idea how it can be achieved on other hosts like Cubase/Logic (Who needs them anyways when you have PT, right folks? :grin: )

2. The second method is to use Osc 1 to module Osc2. Osc 1 can modulate the amplitude of Osc 2, so that might help you achieve your goal again. BTW, All 3 oscillators are additive, i.e. their waveform is constructed in real-time by the combination of 8 different waveforms.

[seagate]

When can expect the AU version for us ProTools challenged?

[kv331audio]

When can expect the AU version for us ProTools challenged?

The development for the OSX platform will hopefuly start in February. First the VST version will be released, then RTAS, and then AU. That might be as early as May, or maybe June. It's hard to come with a definite estimation though, because the whole code base has to be ported to OSX , and then extensively tested before released.

[Zoesch]

A good compendium of freeware plugs

http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/software.php/id/7037/audio/Plug-ins/

[Empty Planet]

Excellent resource, Zoesch!


:Thumbsup:

[Fulcrum]

Good find Zoesch, thanks for that. Gonna check some of these out soon...

[Wilkesin]

didnt see this mentioned anywhere yet, so:

http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/

free vst ensoniq 80 synth :very happy:

[otek]

Sorry if someone already posted this.....

But This Guy (http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/) has several cool plugins which are free (but will give you a nag screen on startup until you donate something).

Only tried the reverb so far, but I found it pretty damn useful, natural-sounding with a smooth tail. Also does small rooms and early reflections well. Can be a bit of a CPU hog, but allows you to adjust quality vs. CPU usage with a fader. :)

[MacGregor]

Sorry if someone already posted this.....

But This Guy (http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/) has several cool plugins which are free (but will give you a nag screen on startup until you donate something).

Only tried the reverb so far, but I found it pretty damn useful, natural-sounding with a smooth tail. Also does small rooms and early reflections well. Can be a bit of a CPU hog, but allows you to adjust quality vs. CPU usage with a fader. :)

I can second your finding, this reverb (full version) is included with most
Garritan (http://www.garritan.com/) products, sounds good and is easy to use.

Mac

[6x2]

I got all of the free smartelectronix stuff, make sure to check out Geometer. It's here: http://destroyfx.smartelectronix.com/

Makes things insane in a more fun way than most other "crazy" free plugs (face it, most of them are meant to make you go "OMG, what the fuck happened to my audio?".

;)

6x2

[chrisj]

I got some here from Airwindows, my company.

Actually I have tons, but most are somewhere between $10 and $50 from a Kagi store I'm making.

These are the totally free ones :D

Channel
http://www.airwindows.com/f/Channel.dmg
This is the one that imitates Neve, API and SSL behaviors. It contains a stripped-down version of my Highpass plugin (the pay version is adjustable and has a loose/tight control, this one's preset to where the device in question was rolling off- generally very low), plus the Drive and Slew plugins. It's got a control for cheating the level to get more or less effect- zero db should be the very subtle amounts you'd get from the real device.

Edit: as of 2:30 Monday EST this IS a universal binary- first time around, it was a PPC build. cripes! Now it's the right build.
Edit: as of 7:57 Monday night EST it's compiled with OTHER_REZ_FLAGS -d ppc_$ppc -d i386_$i386. Because everybody would remember to do THAT when building for Intel macs. ahahaha.
Edit: as of 11:36 Monday night EST, did I say OTHER_REZ_FLAGS -d ppc_$ppc -d i386_$i386? Of course I meant -rd -d ppc_$(ppc) -d i386_$(i386). Right? Ahahahahahahahahahaha...

FreeChamberCJ and FreeverbCJ
http://www.airwindows.com/f/FreeChamberCJ.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/FreeverbCJ.dmg
These are of course from the trusty Jezar algorithm- but taken to the next level! I've got an extra set of comb filters in there, and all the constants have been re-hacked so it does NOT sound like Freeverb anymore. The chamber version has much smaller spaces, and the hall version is actually quite a bit larger. Both have predelay, and the damping algorithm is substantially changed, enough to make both these verbs behave completely different from most Freeverb knockoffs. They're both free because they are still derived from Freeverb.

They are AU plugins, and universal binaries so they SHOULD run on Intel as well as PPC. I've got PPC, so I'd love to hear from anyone running these successfully on Intel. This is going to be my 'demo' mechanism: if you want to try out a plugin, try one of the free ones to see if it runs happily on your machine and AU host. If it does- specifically, if Channel does, since it's the same codebase as the pay plugs- you should be good to go.

Have fun,
Chris

[Zoesch]

I got all of the free smartelectronix stuff, make sure to check out Geometer. It's here: http://destroyfx.smartelectronix.com/

Makes things insane in a more fun way than most other "crazy" free plugs (face it, most of them are meant to make you go "OMG, what the fuck happened to my audio?".

;)

6x2

Yeah, I posted Geometer a while back, but I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one that's using it regularly.

Best way to create crazy loops, to destroy sane audio to create the wildest most useful noise beds in the world.

(Yes, if I could, I marry Geometer :lol: )

[chrisj]

http://www.airwindows.com/f/Channel.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/FreeverbCJ.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/FreeChamber.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/RMSBuddyCJ.dmg

All free, all working Universal Binary AUs. Enjoy.

The new freebie is a variation on DFX RMS Buddy- instead of text readouts, it has little windows of color that flash along with the music, in psychedelic fashion. I use it like this:

Purple, blue: too mellow, old school dynamic range
Green: Non-fatiguing steady-state stuff
Yellow: Getting pretty dense for steady state stuff, rock, loud
Red: Loud drum hits and such, too loud for steady-state stuff
Black: you broke it! Way the hell too loud, beyond red. Even if you're using the best loudenating tools, it should only flash black really briefly if at all.

Great fun to play with, and some music will give you seizures. Green Day American Idiot roars along mostly yellow-green and blasts up to orange sometimes. Californication cruises at green but goes totally black when everything splats and flattens out into distortion. Fun for all!

[MacGregor]

G'morning.

Just stumbled across these ones: Antress Modern Plugins (http://www.modernplugins.in-tw.com/)

GUI looks professional and they are okay with the CPU usage.

Couldn't test them enough for a final recommendation, but at least
the vintage editions sound quite useful (can't compare them to
their hardware counterparts, I leave that up to you gearsluts).

I need to hire someone for all that plugz testing.

Mac

[Zoesch]

Silly one trick pony that's mondo cool

http://www.bitnotic.com/vx-323/features/features.html

Mac only, AU.

Use the Mac OS X Text To Speech voices as a vocal synth

[Santiago]

Any good free modulation or dymamics RTAS around???

for awesome special fx touch ups on a mix :Twisted:

[meLoCo_go]

G'morning.

Just stumbled across these ones: Antress Modern Plugins (http://www.modernplugins.in-tw.com/)

GUI looks professional and they are okay with the CPU usage.

Couldn't test them enough for a final recommendation, but at least
the vintage editions sound quite useful (can't compare them to
their hardware counterparts, I leave that up to you gearsluts).

I need to hire someone for all that plugz testing.

Mac

I was impressed to see such plug-ins as a free-ware.
Tried LA2ME and although I too can't compare it to the original I found that it has some character in it and does some coloration.
However it is quite CPU-hungry.

[ffaudio]

G'morning.

Just stumbled across these ones: Antress Modern Plugins (http://www.modernplugins.in-tw.com/)

GUI looks professional and they are okay with the CPU usage.

Couldn't test them enough for a final recommendation, but at least
the vintage editions sound quite useful (can't compare them to
their hardware counterparts, I leave that up to you gearsluts).

I need to hire someone for all that plugz testing.

Mac

Those look hot! I wonder how they sound.

[Senap]

Amplitube UNO. A stripped down free version of Amplitube. Works ok.

Have to register though:

http://www.amplitube.com/MainPhp.html?NewsDisplay.php&Id=398

[chrisj]

Those look hot! I wonder how they sound.

They ought to as I'm given to understand the GUI is ripped directly out of UA plugins and photoshopped to get rid of the UA logos :lol:

The audio is 'Synthmaker', and there have been wildly varying reports of what the Antress things sound like (only consistent feature is 'nothing like the hardware in the pictures') so why not get Synthmaker and make your own plugs? :D

http://synthmaker.co.uk/index.html

I shouldn't have said anything- I could have watched to see what people were impressed by Antress :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Zoesch]

It's actually quite bad taste to take digs at other plugin manufacturers in a thread about sharing information

[6x2]

Amplitube UNO. A stripped down free version of Amplitube. Works ok.

Have to register though:

http://www.amplitube.com/MainPhp.html?NewsDisplay.php&Id=398

Thanks for that, Senap! :)

Though I'm not a huge fan of any of the versions, it's still occasionally a handy tool in a tight spot.

Is this only standalone?

6x2

[chrisj]

I'm sorry, Zoesch. I didn't mean to offend you. I just really don't like what Antress did. I kind of think that's a lot more... not good, than teasing them about it. If you really want me to, I'll delete my comment. Otherwise, I'll stand by it for good or ill. Nobody ever said I gotta like _everybody_ else out there doing what I do.

[Senap]

Thanks for that, Senap! :)

Though I'm not a huge fan of any of the versions, it's still occasionally a handy tool in a tight spot.

Is this only standalone?

6x2

Unfortunally yes.

[imusick]

I just came across these new ones..

FXpansion's free Orca
http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=10&tab=81&showdownloads=15&xmode=singletab

KeyToSound Remedy
http://keytosound.com/?desired_section=remedy

[Fulcrum]

Caveat emptor: you need to register at fxpansion's web site in order to get Orca. That said, it does look like it could be some fun and I may just route all the spam they are bound to want to send me to a fake addy.

Also, I laughed when I saw this at keytosound's site.

REMEDY is a FREE software synthesizer and probably the only free synth featuring an arpegiator!

Uh... no. Even a cursory glance at the KVR database will turn up at least a fistful of free synths with arpeggiators. And they manage to misspell arpeggiator wrong in two different ways!

I know, whaddaya want for nuffin...

[HOOK]

Need some distortion? (...and more) :) How about the CamelCrusher?

http://www.camelaudio.com/camelcrusher.php



System requirements

PC Pentium III, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, VST host
Mac Intel or G4 (Universal Binary), Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, Audio Units/VST host



HOOK

[6x2]

Camelcrusher is good, but I've had problems with the user interface, it seems to disable the ProTools transport shortcuts and the graphics don't quite follow.

But it sounds pretty good, defintely one of the best free distrorion plugs!

6x2

[John Suitcase]

If you really want to open up the doors of creativity, Sonic Birth is being open sourced, and is now available for free.

This is an application that allows Mac users to create Audio Unit and VST plug-ins using a graphical interface. It's very cool, almost all of the plugs I use anymore are ones I created myself!

It uses a component/schematic type interface, but has lots of math operators, a convolution component, freeverb, delays, etc. You can do basic things like a digital delay, or quite advanced things, like FFTs, etc.

Check it out:

http://sonicbirth.sourceforge.net

I'm a user, but not otherwise affiliated with SB. I paid $150, and it was totally worth it. For free, you need to try it out!

[chrisj]

Thank you! That's free convolution reverb right there :) a missing bit in my arsenal. I have impulses, I have tiny-convolution-kernel programs, but I didn't have anything that would do a reverb impulse until now :)

The interface is horrifying (seems to have no settings that aren't completely overloading except 0.0 and 0.001, on the wet channel) but maybe I can contribute one that works better :)

[meLoCo_go]

http://www.teragon.org/

bunch of free stuff there - check out DualComp. Strange but nice - the GUI is abstractionistic, the first time I feel I DEFINETELY neeed manual :lol:

[Zoesch]

Of course, how could we forget Rogue Amoeba's new Mastering Plugin

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts/Company_News/RAMP-100-2007-04-01-07-00

The GUI is pretty simple

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/freebies/images/rampsshot.png

:Twisted:

[seagate]

Little late...

[Bonnybilly]

Hey,

I'm pretty sure no one has mentioned this yet -

Ambience is a great sounding VST reverb plugin I used ALL the time when I used to use cubase. It's very flexible and good enough for vocals or drums. It's free but when you select it on a channel it says - "buy now?" and you say no....or yes! if you'd like to donate.

http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/

enjoy.

[meLoCo_go]

Don't know if it was post yet, but this is VERY useful plug-in in the VST world - Senderella VST. It can send audio stream from one instance of the plug in to another, so hosts that don't have flexible routing (stein.... he he) now get it. It also said that feedback loops are possible (Kenny's delay for the masses!Yay!).

http://www.kvraudio.com/news/2685.html

[edhombre]

this is a great thread. Some personal favourites of mine, things that I do think have a bit of mojo about them - all PC and VST unfortunately. Sorry mac dudes. I use these wrapped into PT.

E-phonic Retro Delay - cool tape delay, lots of modulation options for a free 'un and it's good sounding as well... you can really mess with sounds using it... My go to delay, I was lusting after Echoboy and this was the closest I could find for PC. His other plugs are all cool as well.

http://www.e-phonic.com/plugins/

Ferox - cool tape emulation plug. Haven't really compared it to AC2 or anything like that but it has been making a lot of appearences round here as a vocal grittier uppier/snare dirtier etc. You can really push it hard in a really nice way! Again, the other plugs are cool as well. Been using his compressor a lot on snare recently and the vintage sample emulator is cool as well.

http://www.jeroenbreebaart.com/audio_vst.htm

DBGlitch - Seriously fun messed up glitch processor. This is the dogs... Capable of being both dumb and incredibly deep at the same time, you could build a whole track around this and a drum beat or use it to gently randomise a reverb. Just plug it in and keep hitting random till it does cool stuff and then tweak till your hearts content. The great thing is that all the random is totally repeatable. autechre eat your heart out...

http://illformed.org/glitch/

(NB. Just be aware that if you wrap it into PT the interface won't appear until you grab the top of the plug box and drag it off the bottom off the screen and back again. Hey... what do you want for nothing... rubber biscuit?)

Electri-q EQ - a really really good free eq

http://www.aixcoustic.com/index.php/Electri-Q-posihfopit/30/0/

Stringer - fantastic vintage string VSTi featuring 20 emulations. Sounds gorgeous....

http://www.moderato.ns.co.yu/17englishPage8.htm

...and backing up stuff that people have already mentioned:

The Simulanalog amp and pedal sims are wicked (www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm).
The Bombfish stuff
The TLS Saturated Maximiser
The Smartelectronix stuff

Anyways... shouldn't we be making music?

[bassntreble]

Here's a link to a sort of current-ish list of freeware VST's that have been tested to some degree with the VST->RTAS wrapper.

the short list (http://www.bigbluelounge.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17283&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0)

most do work with the most current version (2.1) of FXpansion's wrapper. A few don't pass muster in PT7 but then neither do some native RTAS.:Roll eyes:


and since we're on the subject of Cheap plugs as well, maybe I missed it but I haven't seen AudioDamage (http://www.audiodamage.com)mentioned. Good quality plugs, Chris pays attention to detail with the sound of these things. As a certified PT hater tho', when wrapped to RTAS the GUI's take keyboard focus away from PT. Don't think he plans on fixing that behavior. Good sounding plugs though in the sub $50 range. If you have a controller then no problemo. otherwise mouse the transport controls like when you first got PT:D

reFX (http://www.refx.net) makes some decent synths at excellent prices as well. Cross platform and they wrap to RTAS well.

[Mr. Moon]

Hi Folks.


Distortions
CamelPhatFree (mono)

Can't seem to find CamelPhatFree anymore, but I love the little sucker. Quick and dirty...um...dirt.

Cheers.


Here you go!!

CamelPhatFree download (http://www.sonicspot.com/camelphatfree/camelphatfree.html)

Enjoy!!

-mr moon

[Mr. Moon]

Here are a couple that get mucho use-o around my studio:

W1 Limiter (L1 clone) (http://www.yohng.com/w1limit.html)

* Free *

DLL (x86)
VST (OSX-ppc)
AudioUnit (uni)

Really decent L1 clone that works nicely on drums.


********** and **********

Tubedriver ...by NickCrow.

TubeDriver (http://www.the29a.org/nickcrow/index.html)

VST - FREE



-mr moon

[crunch]

Man, I love free vst plugins.

Love them.

Almost better than crack, ice and cigarettes.

That having been said, is anyone here doing vst development, or know of cool people doing said development? If so, I'd like to develop some interfaces for said projects.

I think we could make some waves!

(sorry, couldn't resist)

:Coolio:

Will work for outstanding compression and limiting. Bring it on!

[jakson]

I love the massey stuff I use the L2007, Ct4, and the vt3 all the time in my mixes The L2007 is a awesome limiter I'am going to buy them soon So I can use the automation and the bypass on them.
When I open up the session you have to reset them. But they are awesome plugs Jack Priode

[chrisj]

I just did some speaker modeling plugs, and included ones that are free. The for-pay ones are 4x12 cabs. Here's some that are not :)

http://www.airwindows.com/f/AcousticBass.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/CabAlnico10.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/CabPrinceton.dmg
http://www.airwindows.com/f/CabSVT.dmg

The acoustic bass mixes between dry (electric, presumably) and emulated acoustic, with a mic distance control. The rest (two guitar and one bass cab) have a mic distance control and wattage controls, which operate a cone-breakup emulation that makes these plugs way bigger than regular cabinet convolution modeling.

I think those of you who can run Mac AU plugs will enjoy these a bunch- the big speaker cabs are at my plugin website in the emulation section. They're fine, including a nice Greenback cab model that's generally useful for full-size guitar, but some things are actually better with these freebies. For instance, Rhodes into the Princeton plugin KILLS :D

Have fun out there!

[seagate]

Have fun out there!

:)

Thanks Chris!

[Mpeguero143]

Has anyone mentioned Analogx.com it has a wealth of direct X plugins which i think are pc only.
things like.
audio arpeggiator
dc offset removal
a phase plugin
gates. and many other usefull utilities

[knightsy]

Anyone tried these? I'm gonna have a go with them soon.

Freeware, VST, PC.

http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm

[Bob Knobler]

Anyone tried these? I'm gonna have a go with them soon.

Freeware, VST, PC.

http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm

They're not bad. Mono only. JCM9000 plug rocks my socks.

[meLoCo_go]

Anyone tried these? I'm gonna have a go with them soon.

Freeware, VST, PC.

http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm

These are nice!
Amps play very alive. With low latency they feel better then POD imo.
Pedals sound good too. Sadly the site wasn't update too long... I wish they made LA2A with their technology...

[knightsy]

I tried them this evening. I think it might take a while to figure out how to best use some of them. I tried the PS1 on an already distorted guitar sound, just to try an add some balls to it. With just the raw guitar and the PS1 it sounded fizzy and stupid, but adding some EQ after that at 2.5k really smoothed it out!

Very interesting nonetheless.

[lebouche]

Does anyone know a freebie plug for Logic that would be good for making a choir? I've got three voices doing bv's. Something like Clone ensemble but AU.

Thanks v much:Thumbsup:

[lebouche]

...this question hangs like my public shame in womb square.....for I have been caught begging for titbits.
Does no one have the mercy to post something else at least?

[Empty Planet]

:very happy: :very happy: :very happy:




:Coolio:

[MacGregor]

...this question hangs like my public shame in womb square.....for I have been caught begging for titbits.
Does no one have the mercy to post something else at least?

I don't know anything else.
Maybe in the long run it'd be a good idea to buy VST2AU so you can use all these nice VST plugz...

Mac

[Fulcrum]

I'm with Mac. I had a boo on the search engine at KVR and found nothing like Clone Ensemble in Mac land. At this point you might get better traction with a VST plug than with an AU.

[lebouche]

Thanks fellas :)
:Thumbsup:

[Immanuel]

I guess, there are not many Pulsar/Scope users here, but in case there are any and they (against all odds) do not know about www.planetz.com/forum ... go there ... check the devices section and the forum in general. For people without Creamware cards ... this is platform specific stuff, which runs on the soundcard's onboard DSPs, so don't waste your time - unless you want to buy a new soundcard.

[southboundloco]

here's 1, i found out about this while listening to "the home recording odyssey" i reckon its really an ingenious idea the plugin is called PHONEMON. it emulates different play back systems/speakers.(their EQ curves i suppose) i.e. boombox, 2" consumer speakers etc. so u can listen to ur mixes using different consumer speakers...check out http://www.geocities.com/rgonzale1/audio/vst/

oh and its FFFRREEEEEEEEEHHHHHhhhhhh!!!!!:D its VST can be wrapped to RTAS hehe i got that from big al by the way!! :D :lol: :D

[Chris Lambrechts]

cool thread .... nead more room for other cool stickies .... so going to unstick it .... argh ... the tough choices a moderator has to make ... sigh ... thanks for understanding ...


Chris

[nobby]

<bump> :Thumbsup:

[edhombre]

I've just been messing with the free vst plug Senderella which basically allows me to route audio from one (or more) instances of the plug to another.

http://subminimal.org/tools.php

So i insert the plug on every track I wish to send to my reverb, insert another instance as first insert on my reverb aux and I can then route audio between to the reverb as I wish. It supports 64 individual channels. Why is this cool? Well, using the vst-rtas wrapper it means that I can use it to work round the 16 mono bus limit in Protools LE which I find to be a limitation far more often than the limited track count. Seems to work great so far!

(NB. Also useful in older versions of Cubase and other daws with routing limitations - i.e. it allows you to create feedback loops etc)

VST for Mac and PC

[Brendo]

isnt it 32 mono busses in PTLE 7.x...

[edhombre]

16 mono buses... 32 mono tracks.

Quite embrassing really!

[moaus]

anyone know where i can find any free rtas plugs for amp simulator/emulators

i have this mixing project to do and NONE of the guitars are what i need - well i lie - one is good but the other two need something extra that eq and compression just dont give me enough of - even if a distortion kind of plugin would help

cheers gents n ladies

[Brendo]

free distortion... massey THC - but it loses settings when you close sessions if you use the free ver.

[edhombre]

you could try the soundhack distortions

http://www.soundhack.com/freeware.php

not sure if they're what you really want but they may help you add an extra edge to something...

list of free rtas

http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/software.php/id/7037/audio/Plug-ins/plugins/RTAS/

Really can't recommend the vst-rtas wrapper enough, opens up whole world of fun for £55... especially if you're on a PC. You'll have free distortions coming out my ass!

You could also try really pushing the input/output of a plug which you already have... Rencomp distorts quite nicely for some guitars and so can the URS plugs but others may do the same thing like BF76 for example...

[HOOK]

If you wanna route audio from one app. to another this is a nice little thingie:

Soundflower (http://www.cycling74.com/downloads/soundflower)

"Soundflower is a Mac OS X (10.2 and later) system extension that allows applications to pass audio to other applications. Soundflower is easy to use, it simply presents itself as an audio device, allowing any audio application to send and receive audio with no other support needed. Soundflower is free, open-source, and runs on Mac Intel and PPC computers." (from the site)



HOOK

[Audio~Geek]

16 mono buses... 32 mono tracks.

Quite embrassing really!

It is definitely 32 mono busses.
maybe you don't have them all activated in the i/o?

[Audio~Geek]

anyone know where i can find any free rtas plugs for amp simulator/emulators

i have this mixing project to do and NONE of the guitars are what i need - well i lie - one is good but the other two need something extra that eq and compression just dont give me enough of - even if a distortion kind of plugin would help

cheers gents n ladies

you could try re-amping, or running it through a stompbox. Think outside of the box man!

[Brendo]

If you wanna route audio from one app. to another this is a nice little thingie:

Soundflower (http://www.cycling74.com/downloads/soundflower)Just a heads up, that this doesn't agree much with Adobe Soundbooth.

[marwood]

I found this list the other day. Some of these have been listed some have not. It's an unbelievable list of free plugs.

http://www.free-plugin-list.com/index.php?search_str=&show_cat=&os=all&page=1

Max Arwood

[ffaudio]

Anybody know any good cheap or free stereo pitch shifters?

[edhombre]

http://www.gvst.co.uk/gsnap_manual.htm

is like free autotune...

There's a big list on kvr here (http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php?mode=results&st=adv&soft=e&type%5B%5D=68&f=vst&fe=vst&win=1&free=1&com=1&un=1&sf=0&receptor=&de=0&sort=1&rpp=100). I've got to admit that off the free stuff I've only ever used the stuff that isn't transparent as an effect like mad shifta....

[bunnerabb]

Antress Modern plugins.. (http://www.modernplugins.in-tw.com/)

[Dirk Reinking]

http://www.studiodevil.com/products/
cheers
d

[Bobogura]

Does anyone know where I can find a good plugin for making a split harmonizer effect!!

thanks!!!!

[crunch]

Hmmm, just found these, the high and low pass stuff alone is worth it, if you can get past the cheesy interfaces:

http://www.softpedia.com/progMoreBy/Publisher-Tom%20Gersic.html

My apologies if this has already been posted.

[HOOK]

Please, guys!

Windows? Mac? AU? VST? AnalPlug?


HOOK

[dutch]

One I just came across that I really like so far is "rescue". Freeware vst. Better that waves transX that I have been using on the drum bus before sometimes. NiceMSED feature.

[6x2]

Care to elaborate a bit more?

Platform, link, who makes it and what the heck does it do?

6x2

[dutch]

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2887780

Here is a long thread about it. The link to it is on the first page.
Win XP vst. Multiple uses, see thread. I really like it using the drum presets on a drum bus that needs something extra.

[6x2]

Cheers!

I was secretly hoping something fun for OS X...

:(

6x2

[Moonrider]

You know - I can't believe this hasn't been make a sticky post yet

Charles? How come?

[Empty Planet]

Thanks, Dutch!

Rescue (and Tessla) are actually pretty damn fantastic. Those slipped completely under the radar. Appreciate the steer!


Cheers.

:Coolio:

[Empty Planet]

Oh, for the person who wanted the split harmonizer thingiemabob -- Discord 2 by Audio Damage is the only one I'm familiar with. VST for sure, but they possibly do other formats.

Cheers.

[6x2]

You know - I can't believe this hasn't been make a sticky post yet

Charles? How come?

This WAS a sticky, but it was... De-stickiefied? :lol:

I didn't get exactly why, but Chris & Charles must've had a reason.

Could we re-stickyfy this?

6x2

[CaptainHook]

I think it was cause all the MiXiT stuff was sticked here.
But now it has it's own forum so..

[dutch]

Another little freebie I like now is quik quaks "Upstereo" vst(win).
ALthough those with superior mixing skill can probably do without it. It is a really good width,air, and bass enhancement multiplug as well as loudness maximizer. It is really clean sounding vs. some other the other of its kind out there. It find a bit of this beast on my master bus really makes my projects shine.

[edhombre]

It is definitely 32 mono busses.
maybe you don't have them all activated in the i/o?

Hadn't checked this thread for a while and you just changed my life. Seriously! Maybe I should have read the manual all those years ago...

I think I love you Audio Geek.

Be mine forever I beg you.

x

[vocalnick]

I just discovered this one, thought it might be useful to some.

Wormhole (http://plasq.com/wormhole/).

Recently open-sourced. Basically it's a VST (PC/Mac) or AU (mac) plug that tunnels a hole under your host, sends audio through it, then lets you pick it up again in another host, either on the same machine, or using a machine on your network.

Latency will be an issue, naturally, but a handy tool for moving things around.

It even works in the RTAS-VST wrapper, which means with a bit of frippery you can get more ins & outs from PTLE using non Digi hardware.

[Audio~Geek]

Hadn't checked this thread for a while and you just changed my life. Seriously! Maybe I should have read the manual all those years ago...

I think I love you Audio Geek.

Be mine forever I beg you.

x

If I say yes, then you get to share my debt and I don't you want that.

[Audio~Geek]

I just discovered this one, thought it might be useful to some.

Wormhole (http://plasq.com/wormhole/).

Recently open-sourced. Basically it's a VST (PC/Mac) or AU (mac) plug that tunnels a hole under your host, sends audio through it, then lets you pick it up again in another host, either on the same machine, or using a machine on your network.

Latency will be an issue, naturally, but a handy tool for moving things around.

It even works in the RTAS-VST wrapper, which means with a bit of frippery you can get more ins & outs from PTLE using non Digi hardware.


That is really interesting have you used it? I don't even know how to set up a network so I'd probably give up on this.

[vocalnick]

That is really interesting have you used it? I don't even know how to set up a network so I'd probably give up on this.

I had a play with it last night, but just on the one machine, to see if I could route PTLE out through my non-Digi soundcard. It worked great using Reaper as a sort of interim/patch bay, although latency was not fantastic.

I'll try it across my little home network in the next few days - Apparently it will latency compensate given a host that supports it. Still not really suitable for tracking, but I can see it being handy at mix time. I could conceivably route a track from my PC DAW, across the LAN to my Macbook, apply an AU effect, and then run it back to the PC, all in (pseudo) real time.

Pretty cool in theory :)

[dnafe]

One of the guys on our Paris NG has been using Wormhole with FXpansion 3.3 and was able to get sample accurate sync after wrapping wormhole in FXpansion...granted there is a little delay in hearing the audio but once started it does lock.

Buffer settings were another issue 4000 plus samples in Paris

With Paris a silent audio track needed to be placed in the receiving wormhole channel...assuming of course Paris is the receiving computer...without this the set up did not work.

Another issue (sort of) is some older DAWs may not be able to record the audio coming in on the wormhole channel - why you would want to I don't know

D

[Moonrider]

Since a question came up on the digital clipping thread about this topic, I'm a-bumping it agin.

.. . and requesting it be stickied, agin.


(Yes, Charles, I'm nagging. Being married for 30 years has let me appreciate how useful this motivational technique can be for getting things done that you don't have the authority or skill to do for yourself. :Twisted: )

[Charles Dye]

We're trying to keep the stickies to a minimum up there. This thread is rarely off the 1st page. Keep posting free plugz + this thread will continue to live on page 1.

We'll reconsider the sticky question, but for now it will remain unstickied.

[pipelineaudio]

ReaStream will do similar things as wormhole. Might have the same latency though

[24bit441]

Thanks to Tokyo Dan over at the audio2u podcast for linking to these free plugs.

http://www.gersic.com/plugins/hosted/antress/

The 1176 and modern meter are definitely worth your while. The modern analoger is interesting as well.

...hope I posted this at the right place.

[MacGregor]

Thanks to Tokyo Dan over at the audio2u podcast for linking to these free plugs.

http://www.gersic.com/plugins/hosted/antress/

The 1176 and modern meter are definitely worth your while. The modern analoger is interesting as well.

...hope I posted this at the right place.

There's a thread just for this, but it's not sticky anymore and a bit hard to find:
Free plugs (http://thewombforums.com/showthread.php?t=723)

ChrisJ and I don't post there because we're both long term Womb regulars so nobody cares (I hope) :) .

Mac
.

[crunch]

I care.

I care because they're free VST plugins.

Me likey.

:Coolio:

[meLoCo_go]

Is it Antress stuff? It was discussed with mixed opinions in the free plug-ins thread already.
Funny that his original site seems to be bought by SSL:lol: , maybe plugins are better than most people thought.
Anyway, they seem to do their work, but out of free stuff for compression to me nothing beats Blockfish and for EQ - Nyquist EQ5. They are my favs!

[nobby]

Thanks to Tokyo Dan over at the audio2u podcast for linking to these free plugs.

http://www.gersic.com/plugins/hosted/antress/

The 1176 and modern meter are definitely worth your while. The modern analoger is interesting as well.

...hope I posted this at the right place.

Thanks, 24!

I don't recall the Antress collection containing the 1176 before, but maybe I missed it.

I won't complain that I can't press in all 4 ratio buttons at once. It sounds agressive enough as it is (in a good way) :grin:

I merged the threads; high time the "Free and Cheap" was bumped anyway :Coolio:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m63/jonnewyork/1176ME.jpg

[Audio~Geek]

does it sound anything like an 1176?
Antress got some shit thrown at him on KVR because his GUIs were stolen from the UAD plugs.
I tried some of them about 2 years ago, I really don't remember how they sound.

off topic- You use internet explorer!?:Thumbdown:

[MacGregor]

does it sound anything like an 1176?
Antress got some shit thrown at him on KVR because his GUIs were stolen from the UAD plugs.
I tried some of them about 2 years ago, I really don't remember how they sound.

off topic- You use internet explorer!?:Thumbdown:

The ones I've tested didn't sound like any of the originals, but that doesn't mean you can't do interesting things with them.

And after all, they are free, so give them a try.

Mac
.

[nobby]

off topic- You use internet explorer!?:Thumbdown:

You've never heard of people having problems with firefox or safari? :Roll eyes:

IE has been smooth sailing since I switched from AOL and ME years ago.

Get over it. (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9005614)

[Wavne]

I don't know if these have been mentioned.


Stillwell Plugins VST & AU (http://www.stillwellaudio.com/?page_id=28)

[nobby]

The saturation plug thread reminded me that it's high time this one was bumped.

Feel free to toss your favorite saturation plugs on it!

[meLoCo_go]

Bootsy has a few interesting plugins (http://rekkerd.org/tag/bootsy/), they do some saturation/coloration.

Also, guys who run Reaper development released its their built-in plugins in a free VST bundle (http://cockos.com/reaper/reaplugs/) that works with other DAWs. Their plugins are simple yet effective. Gate has positive hysteresis (seems like Slippy's request:) ). ReaFir is unique FFT filter/compressor (may be set up as freaky DeEsser for example).

[dutch]

Another great newone is "the rocket" compressor by stilllwell. Cheap and gives a good 1176 vibe.

[gilligan204]

Thanks to Tokyo Dan over at the audio2u podcast for linking to these free plugs.

http://www.gersic.com/plugins/hosted/antress/

The 1176 and modern meter are definitely worth your while. The modern analoger is interesting as well.

...hope I posted this at the right place.

What kinda plugs are these ???

[Audio~Geek]

My new favorite drum bus and room mic crusher is Audio Damage Rough Rider
http://www.audiodamage.com/downloads/product.php?pid=ADF002

Gilligan204 - the Antress plugs are Windows VST
official site is here: http://antress.webng.com/

[gilligan204]

Thanks bud, I'm currently scouring this thread and others for VST/MAC as I just bought the wrapper.
:Thumbsup:

[Dave.R]

DENSITY is free and cool on drums or whatever

http://bootsy.cr68.com/plug/Density_1.0.rar

[Brendo]

what format?

[Audio~Geek]

If everyone would stop linking to the installer and instead to the kvr plugin database or developer homepage we wouldn't have this 'what format?' question ever other post. :)

Unfortunately Bootsie's great plugs are not in the database and he doesn't have a website (although I've offered to host one for him).

Closest we got for Bootsie is this:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=218656

PS. PC only, VST compatible host and SSE compatible CPU.

[harerton]

What about this site?

http://rekkerd.org/bootsy-plug-ins/

[Fulcrum]

what format?

I'll second that. And not for the first time.

For the convenience of your fellow posters here, please indicate whether the platform is PC, Mac, or Linux (or other... though I don't know how many people you'll find doing this on something other than those three choices, say for example, Atari 2600); and whether it is VST, DX, RTAS, AU, or whatever.

It wouldn't hurt to have a brief description of what the thing is supposed to do, either. See here for a fine example. (http://www.thewombforums.com/showpost.php?p=10720&postcount=6)

[Audio~Geek]

What about this site?

http://rekkerd.org/bootsy-plug-ins/

Awesome! I knew they would be all on one page somewhere.

These are great, not only does he put a lot of effort into the GUIs, they sound cool too.

[gilligan204]

Those bootsy plugs look great... sadly not rtas.

BTW

Windows, VST as far as i can tell

[6x2]

I'll second that. And not for the first time.

For the convenience of your fellow posters here, please indicate whether the platform is PC, Mac, or Linux (or other... though I don't know how many people you'll find doing this on something other than those three choices, say for example, Atari 2600); and whether it is VST, DX, RTAS, AU, or whatever.

It wouldn't hurt to have a brief description of what the thing is supposed to do, either. See here for a fine example. (http://www.thewombforums.com/showpost.php?p=10720&postcount=6)

Amen!!!

I usually just get depressed when I click on a link to see a cool free thing just to find out it's Windows only...

So format, please.

6x2

[gilligan204]

DENSITY is free and cool on drums or whatever

http://bootsy.cr68.com/plug/Density_1.0.rar

What is this ?

[Dave.R]

What is this ?

sorry...

http://rekkerd.org/bootsy-releases-density/

[gilligan204]

sorry...

http://rekkerd.org/bootsy-releases-density/

Bootsy has relased Density, a smooth and versatile dynamics processing effect plug-in for Windows PC.

Can;t figure if its VST or what... but its PC , in case anybody wants to know

[Audio~Geek]

yes, it's VST

[gilligan204]

Just found these synths today. Not sure if they've been mentioned.

Mac AudioUnits, VST host software or ProTools 6.4 and later

LinPlug FreeAlpha 3 - 3.0 (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31851)

free version of classic alpha synthesizer (AU/RTAS/VST)

LinPlug Organ - 3.0.1 (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31396)

organ instrument AU, RTAS, VST plugin

LinPlug Albino - 2.2.3 (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/22699)

professional virtual synthesizer (AU/RTAS/VST plugin)

[Audio~Geek]

New Massey plugin
http://www.masseyplugins.com/index.html?page=dtm

DTM will completely change the way you do drum replacement and drum reinforcement. DTM is an AudioSuite plugin for Pro Tools (v7 and higher on OS X or v6.1 and higher on Windows) capable of translating recorded drum tracks into MIDI tracks. This allows you to trigger drum patches from your favorite sampler, perfectly in sync with your song, to replace or reinforce the drummer's performance.

DTM's detection algorithm is extremely accurate and precise. Get back those hours of your life taken by manually fixing the results of other drum replacement plugins.


DTM is a bonus plug-in for all Massey Plugins customers.

[meLoCo_go]

If somebody is not very frequent on KVR forums check out bootsie's plugins, he has >a blog< (http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/) where he posts his updated versions, and he recently posted what seems to be a great free verb called >EpicVerb< (http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/tag/reverb/). I'm using it in a session right now and I like it! First impression is that maybe it is a little bit dirty, but he really spent time to make it usable in a mix and not for Wow-what-a-verb hype.

PS it's a VST (I really think it should be VCT so you can throw some "communism" into the abbreviation:lol::lol::lol::lol:).

[eagan]

Darn.

Right up until I read the part about exploding in flames on AMD Athlon CPUs.

Was looking interesting for a minute.


JLE

[meLoCo_go]

Darn.

Right up until I read the part about exploding in flames on AMD Athlon CPUs.

Was looking interesting for a minute.


JLE

Well, he's testing solution for it, and BTW newer Athlons (that support SSE2) work fine!

[Dave.R]

First impression is that maybe it is a little bit dirty, but he really spent time to make it usable in a mix and not for Wow-what-a-verb hype.

in the manual, bootsy writes: "This reverbs sound ranges from rather concrete or even edgy to smooth transparent and artifact free reverb tails"

like you, my first impression is not good. I tried it on vocal, guitar, and percussion. All I can get is the concrete and edgy. I played a pink noise burst through it too and it sounded awful to me, ERs and tails. Also, you can't pan a part within the reverb, it's not stereo (tho not a bad thing if that's what you want)

i'm new to mixing and I don't have any trouble getting nice sounds from wizooverb and CSR.

maybe you can post a couple examples showing its smooth character. yes?

have you tried his plugin density? it's really cool on drums, NY style crushed compression mixed in

just my HO

[meLoCo_go]

like you, my first impression is not good. I tried it on vocal, guitar, and percussion. All I can get is the concrete and edgy. I played a pink noise burst through it too and it sounded awful to me, ERs and tails. Also, you can't pan a part within the reverb, it's not stereo (tho not a bad thing if that's what you want)
I won't say, I'd call my impressions "bad". In fact I quite liked how it works - it is a bit grainy on the first sight, but after I fiddled with reverb time and wet/dry ratio (I used it on insert out of lazyness:D) I was able to add some dimension to the snare sample, what I liked is that due to that grainyness it glued with everything else very good (not that - oh, that's too much reverb, oh, now I can't hear it type of thing).

maybe you can post a couple examples showing its smooth character. yes?
Right now I'm learning it, I don't think I have anything right now to show some examples. And BTW reverbs you named, I haven't tried, but have heard good things about, maybe you just don't need another reverb right now?

have you tried his plugin density? it's really cool on drums, NY style crushed compression mixed in

just my HO
I definetely should try it! I use his Tesla quite a lot and his Nasty plugins from time to time, and I like them. They may seem subtle but they are useful!

[Dave.R]

And BTW reverbs you named, I haven't tried, but have heard good things about, maybe you just don't need another reverb right now?

yeah, that is true. I should be spending my time learning how to mix, not learning new plugins. I have all I need

[Audio~Geek]

I really liked epic verb, in my quick test of it anyway. I recon best (legally) free reverb out there.

[timboZ]

I don't think anybody mentioned DDMF plugins.

http://www.ddmf.eu

Free one.........
ddmf IIEQ

Not free ..but almost....Pick your own price
(minimum price is $0.60)

IIEQ Pro
LP10
COLOUREQ

[Dave Perry]

Funny I got on here to mention the IIEQ Pro. :grin:

I highly recommend this EQ, and the developer is also quite cool and responsive.

I've tried more VST EQ's than I can count and (barring Algorithmix which I haven't tried), this one is my favorite. It just sounds good, for lack of a better way to say it, and the interface is easy.

[clarito]

This thread is amazing. I now have a huge folder of free plugins that will most likely keep me up all night. I've been lurking on this forum for a week or so and I must thank the womb for existing.

[crunch]

Hey! Any new free vst plugins out there?

FWIW, I've been messing around with amp modelling...

[Audio~Geek]

I checked out the Aradaz amp 2 green. it's a great Hi Gain amp, with an IR cabinet.
http://aradaz.blogspot.com/2008/09/guitar-vst-list-2008.html

I didn't like the white version as much.

Check out his IR Cabinet plugin too.

Windows VST

[Dave Perry]

His maximizer is pretty cool, too, if you have need of such a thing. I use it to kick the shit out of dance drum tracks.

[Audio~Geek]

TT DYNAMIC RANGE METER VST-Plugin & TT DR Offline Mete

VST-Plugin & Offline Software Version 1.3 (PC)
MAC-Version will be finished May 2009

http://www.dynamicrange.de/en/download


I haven't tried it yet, more of an FYI post.

Also this one, maybe a good alternative to the Waves SSL bus comp. $99US, 14 day public beta right now.
http://www.cytomic.com/Beta/The_Glue_Beta_Info.html

[meLoCo_go]

Also this one, maybe a good alternative to the Waves SSL bus comp. $99US, 14 day public beta right now.
http://www.cytomic.com/Beta/The_Glue_Beta_Info.html

Can't compare them directly, but I like the sound. Gonna buy it.

[Audio~Geek]

yeah, I couldn't get it to distort even at the most extreme settings. which is pretty impressive.
I haven't tried it wrapped in PT yet, but so far didn't find any bugs and it didn't crash.

I'm not making any money right now so I have to put off getting it, when the RTAS version comes out I'll likely grab it.

[Psyko/Acoustics]

Just came across this. Requires an iLok, which I don't have... yet.

Another M/S tool, but with solo features.

http://www.brainworx-music.de/index.php?nav=26&um=2&lang=en

[Audio~Geek]

that one doesn't actually, the full versions of BX plugins do.
Try it out!

I like it for things I need pushed way out of the center.

[7thangel]

for those who want bootsie's stuff, he has a website variety of sound http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/. you can get his plugs and info/volunteer to beta test/comment over there.

spl free ranger http://www.spl.info/software/download/ meets one requirement...cheap. it's free but i wouldn't label it indispensable or even all that useful for some

[Nutmeg]

Just came across this. Requires an iLok, which I don't have... yet.

Another M/S tool, but with solo features.

http://www.brainworx-music.de/index.php?nav=26&um=2&lang=en

Check out DrMS (http://www.mathewlane.com/DrMS.html)! :Thumbsup:
Cheap and very powerfull tool that gives you control over your image and MS duties.

[Mo Facta]

Have any of you guys used the Electri-Q (http://www.aixcoustic.com/index.php/posihfopit_edition/30/0/) EQ plugin by AiXcoustic Creations?

I've been using it lately and frikkin' love it. I find it really really power and easy to manipulate. Plus, it has one of the steepest HPF's I've ever seen: 46dB/oct.

And, it's free!

Check it out if you have the time.

Cheers :)

[Tommy Fobia]

Blue Cat FREE bundle, now available for mac.

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

[Allstar]

I don't think the Togu Audio Line plug-ins have been mentioned on this thread yet. . .

http://kunz.corrupt.ch/?Products

Mac/PC vst and au.

I use them a fair bit. TAL-Dub ( version 1 ) is my secret weapon in Protools.

They all work with the vst to rtas wrapper. At least I know the Mac ones do anyway.

[crunch]

Ahhhh... With every new post here, it's like Christmas! Thanks, I don't have most of these...

Definitely my favorite thread.


nom, nom, nom!

[Tommy Fobia]

Ahhhh... With every new post here, it's like Christmas! Thanks, I don't have most of these...

Definitely my favorite thread.


nom, nom, nom!


Merry Christmas! :lol:

[Mo Facta]

Hey guys I did a search an so far I don't think these plugins have been mentioned:

http://www.meldaproduction.com/freevstplugins/

The bundle requires a donation license but I think you can download them all seperately license free.

Cheers :)

[sqkychair]

Guys,

Can I just get you guys to sort of update a current list of what free (or cheap) VST reverbs you like.

I tried bootsys EpicVerb and ...uh... it sounds more like a bunch of delays to me. Maybe some ideas about how to use it?

I cannot find a working link to download GlaceVerb.

I use FLStudio and I like their FruityVerb, but it is not working outside of that app. (I am using Reaper now).

By the way ReaVerb is very workable, just looking for other flavors.

So, what other VST reverbs do you guys use and like?

[meLoCo_go]

http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/
Ambience - kinda opposite to EpicVerb in that it is smoother.
I think with it + EpicVerb you'd have a great combo,
Also there's free convo thingies that you can abuse.

[qharley]

For the Linux users out there...

www.linuxdsp.co.uk

Basic but sweet sounding and nice looking "plugs"

[sqkychair]

http://magnus.smartelectronix.com/
Ambience - kinda opposite to EpicVerb in that it is smoother.
I think with it + EpicVerb you'd have a great combo,
Also there's free convo thingies that you can abuse.

Thanks for the link.

I went back and Ab'd EpciVerb and Ambience and I have to say that after fooling around with EpicVerb, I have come to like it.
I just needed to tweak and play some different presets. I now think that it has some of the best tails I have ever heard.

Ambience is a good one as well and seems to be suited for smaller room sounds.

Heh, they are named very aptly.

[Dave.R]

Ambience is a good one as well and seems to be suited for smaller room sounds.

Heh, they are named very aptly.

haha. I don't think that's what the dev was thinking when he named it

[Audio~Geek]

Ambience is OLD! sounds pretty cheap compared to epic verb IMO.

PS. I've been drinking so this may not be true

[Mo Facta]

Honestly, the reverb/convolution plugin I keep turning back to is SIR (http://www.knufinke.de/sir/sir1.html). I've got all the aforementioned free plugs, not to mention a whole lot of non-free ones, and I really have to say that SIR does the job great for me every time. The fact that it uses .wav IR's makes it very versatile and fun, as there are new ones popping up all the time. Plus, SIR is free, which makes it even better.

Although, sometimes you have to really search for IR's, but FYI the best ones are found at these locations:

http://noisevault.com/nv/

http://echochamber.ch (http://translate.google.co.za/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.echochamber.ch/&ei=2ygBSrL7DpLMMu2KxOMH&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dechochamber%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26 sa%3DG)

I set the link to the translated version of the echochamber site because it is originally in German, so don't be surprised if it's a little hard to follow. If you would like more links to impulse response download sites, go here:

http://www.bigbluelounge.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14100

Cheers :)

[Audio~Geek]

Forget those, I've got all those and haven't found even 1 to work in a mix.
You want good impulses go here: http://www.rhythminmind.net/presetblog/category/samples/impulse-sets/

I'm using TLSpace for my convolution reverb, no additional latency.

[Mo Facta]

Forget those, I've got all those and haven't found even 1 to work in a mix.
You want good impulses go here: http://www.rhythminmind.net/presetblog/category/samples/impulse-sets/

I'm using TLSpace for my convolution reverb, no additional latency.

Well it works well for me. All of my colleagues use it too with great results. TL space is excellent, but it's also $1000 ($600 for the stereo version).

This is a free plugin thread, afterall.

Cheers :)

[the_colonol]

Forget those, I've got all those and haven't found even 1 to work in a mix.
You want good impulses go here: http://www.rhythminmind.net/presetblog/category/samples/impulse-sets/

I'm using TLSpace for my convolution reverb, no additional latency.

agreed. there is some good stuff in there. ive installe these all all our daws in the past week or so.

[AndyGallas]

:http://www.cytomic.com/Beta/The_Glue_Beta_Info.html

This is a killer ssl style comp pluggi! It does "that" ssl glue thing, really!!!

Just in case you don't know the ssl bus compressor. This is not a comp to make something loud! Say if your mix is nearly finished but it still feels a bit nervous or hectic, try this plug in (or a quality ssl style hardware comp) with just one to 3 dB gainreduction or so... and voilà – you'll have that finished sound.

Edit: upps I just realized that this are old new. :Confused:

[meLoCo_go]

:http://www.cytomic.com/Beta/The_Glue_Beta_Info.html

This is a killer ssl style comp pluggi! It does "that" ssl glue thing, really!!!
Here's what weedy had to say about it
http://thewombforums.com/showpost.php?p=190707&postcount=63
:Coolio:
Anyway, I bought it, and I like it very much. External sidechain possibility is great - you can really reinvent the character.
Very nice plugin to have:Thumbsup:

[Audio~Geek]

This seems like a great deal.
http://www.mellowmuse.com/S1.html

I haven't checked out all the plugs from MM yet.

[Dave.R]

two very useful plugs from FLUX:

BitterSweet II (http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/bittersweet2)

Stereo Tool (http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/stereotool)

both have M/S params

FREE!

[HOOK]

PC?
Mac?
Amiga?
Vic20?

AU?
VST?
RTAS?

FUBAR?



Please guys, its sooooo easy to enlighten the rest of us about these things!! :)




HOOK

[meLoCo_go]

If you're on VST you gotta try this -
http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/2009/05/23/released-tesslapro-a-transient-aware-signal-saturator/

Tried it on finished mix. To me this is usually a good way to find out the way thing works, but adding something afterwards is almost always a degradation, unless I swap things to something similar. But this thing seems to add punchiness and I couldn't even imagine that I could add some more punch:Roll eyes:

[Dave.R]

I don't think CLAS has been mentioned:

http://refinedaudiometrics.com/products-clas.shtml

"The effect is similar to BBE treatment, but without being "in your face!". Psychoacoustic compression is similar to many classic compression curves, producing the most boost at low sound levels, and progressively tapering off to no-boost at extreme loud levels. This is more pleasing to listen to than typical linear compression, and accounts for the appeal of many classic analog compressors. The effect, in CLAS, is much like dynamic Loudness Contouring."

[HOOK]

PC?
Mac?
Amiga?
Vic20?

AU?
VST?
RTAS?

FUBAR?



Please guys, its sooooo easy to enlighten the rest of us about these things!!




HOOK - Experiencing deja-vu

[Mo Facta]

If you're on VST you gotta try this -
http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/2009/05/23/released-tesslapro-a-transient-aware-signal-saturator/

Tried it on finished mix. To me this is usually a good way to find out the way thing works, but adding something afterwards is almost always a degradation, unless I swap things to something similar. But this thing seems to add punchiness and I couldn't even imagine that I could add some more punch:Roll eyes:

Honestly, I have been using ALL of the VOS stuff a lot lately and love all of his plugins. They are great alternatives to a lot of plugs that you have to pay for and they sound really good so I'm sold!

I've been wanting to start a thread about these plugins and maybe get our contingent of pros around here to try them out and report back their prognosis.

Waddayasay guys?

Cheers :)

[6x2]

PC?
Mac?
Amiga?
Vic20?

AU?
VST?
RTAS?

FUBAR?



Please guys, its sooooo easy to enlighten the rest of us about these things!!




HOOK - Experiencing deja-vu

Indeed. :Roll eyes:

Please mention the platform/host...

6x2

[Dave.R]

BitterSweet II = VST AU RTAS
http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/bittersweet2

Stereo Tool = VST AU RTAS
http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/stereotool

CLAS = VST
http://refinedaudiometrics.com/products-clas.shtml

[Mo Facta]

Don't know if this site has been mentioned before:

www.rekkerd.org (http://rekkerd.org/hosted-plug-ins/)

There's a bunch of indie developers who host their plugs there.

All VST for Windows.

Cheers :)

[bitflipper]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Jeroen Breebaart's excellent Smash Pro (http://www.jeroenbreebaart.com/audio_vst_smash_pro.htm)multiband compressor. Five stars, and worth much more than the asking price of a mere 10 euros. The demo is not crippled (no silence/beeps), just has a few noncritical options disabled.

[Dave.R]

not crippled, just disabled

couldn't help it. i'm sure it's a good one

[Audio~Geek]

and those disabled options are only disabled in the GUI, in a DAW like Reaper all parameters can be adjusted in the other non-GUI view

[Toonman]

This is my first contribution to this thread, so we'll see how well it goes...
I recently purchased this EQ...

http://www.g-sonique.com/gweb/PultronicEQ110P.htm

This is definitely not your go-to EQ for many things, but for others... man. This little thing is heavy on character and color. Whereas most EQs will smoothely massage your frequencies into shape, this things will just chew through them and spit the result back at your face. Electric guitars just loooove this mean machine. You may also try it on bass, keyboards are a good cadidate, and depending on the material, even drums (heck... just throw stuff at it and see it mangle it!). I love it. Don't use it all the time (it depends what kind of stuff I'm stomping through), but it's a really nice effect.

On a personal note, I must say it sounds to me like some sort of cross-breed between an EQ and a frequency-dependant saturator. Give it a go, and maybe you'll have a new friend too.

The price is ridiculous. Windws VST.

[meLoCo_go]

Recently heard about eTAP2 (http://www.echotapper.nl/dev/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=11) - it is tape echo VST plugin with lotsa controls, used it only on one mix so far but was quite impressed - really easy to get grungy washy echo that I wanted for that song.

[meLoCo_go]

In case you haven't heard - IK launches group buy for TRacks singles plugins here (http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?groupmix/index.php).
If you buy one species (it's $99) you got the other one for free. If more than 500 people sign up (there's 160+ already since July 1st) you get yet another one and if 1000 people sign up - another one.
This offer expires at August 31st.

[otek]

This little thing is heavy on character and color. Whereas most EQs will smoothely massage your frequencies into shape, this things will just chew through them and spit the result back at your face.

That's kind of odd really, considering the original is known for its distortion-free smoothness and airiness.

Alright, I should stop barking about the plugin thing and accept it for what it is I suppose. :D


otek

[Toonman]

That's kind of odd really, considering the original is known for its distortion-free smoothness and airiness.

Alright, I should stop barking about the plugin thing and accept it for what it is I suppose. :D


otek

Please note that, in spite of the plugin's name, I'm not implying that it actually emulates any known hardware. Anyway, I would not be able to tell if it does or not (having never used the hardware in question). I just take it for what it does (and the nice UI helps... for some reason, I'm a very 'graphical' person... no pun intended...).

Give it a go man!

[meLoCo_go]

Give it a go man!
otek probably can't, maybe he's jealous:lol:

[otek]

Please note that, in spite of the plugin's name, I'm not implying that it actually emulates any known hardware.

I'm sure you're not. Though I kinda think they are!

I mean, c'mon.

http://www.sonicftp.com/news/images/gsonique_pultronic_eq110p.jpg

Pultronic? :Roll eyes:


otek

[eagan]

Whoa, dude. They got, like, a picture of a tube on it, so it's gotta be like, you know, like all vintage and tubey n' stuff.


JLE

[dnafe]

Whoa, dude. They got, like, a picture of a tube on it, so it's gotta be like, you know, like all vintage and tubey n' stuff.


JLE

I think you really mean moist

:D

[strangedays]

um... I think its definitely a tube... nothing else...

[David Aurora]

i wonder when plugin designers will realise that making shit look vintage and using virtual rotary knobs and stuff actually sucks to work with? then again, i know people who buy plugins based on visual criteria like that. fuck, nevermind, theres my answer :Roll eyes:

i think the part i find funniest is that most cool vintage gear doesnt seem to have had ANY thought put into the way it looks, they're just shitty looking metal boxes that make cool noises. why on earth would you intentionally copy the look of plain old metal faceplates? i know it sells on visual recognition, but shit, if i wanted to sell plugins through visuals i'd just stick miss world 1994 somewhere in the plugin window and use a bunch of clearly labelled sliders to adjust parameters. id buy that shit, even if it was a plugin recreation of a behringer compressor or some shit.

[Toonman]

<snip> if i wanted to sell plugins through visuals i'd just stick miss world 1994 somewhere in the plugin window and use a bunch of clearly labelled sliders to adjust parameters. id buy that shit, even if it was a plugin recreation of a behringer compressor or some shit.

Yeah, I got those plugs too... and use the occasionally. Not while my GF is around though... "Making musice, eehh?? SUureee!!" :very happy:

Seriously... let's not over-turn this nice, spirited, sharing thread onto a vicious assault on UI design or "vintage or not" bashing thread. I leave to companies to deal with these topics... I just like my tools to sound good, and be intuitive and easy to operate... and I still stand behind that EQ and its fully-functional tube!! (yes... it's real... see it? right there... it's real, I'm telling ya, damn it!!)

[strangedays]

Yeah, I got those plugs too... and use the occasionally. Not while my GF is around though... "Making musice, eehh?? SUureee!!" :very happy:

Seriously... let's not over-turn this nice, spirited, sharing thread onto a vicious assault on UI design or "vintage or not" bashing thread. I leave to companies to deal with these topics... I just like my tools to sound good, and be intuitive and easy to operate... and I still stand behind that EQ and its fully-functional tube!! (yes... it's real... see it? right there... it's real, I'm telling ya, damn it!!)


Its all fun really... I think when checking out plug ins its worth avoiding any serious expectations from it, when you do try it out and it works at least its a surprise and a learning experience. Even a real pultec or whatever might not be that great - highly unlikely - but it could be a personal view I might have with it that puts me of.

Tube or not tube Ive realised just from owning real kit that decisions based up its content of a valve is a real fundamental lack of understanding in the first place. Its obvious valves are nothing to do with a great sounding piece of kit.

To me Logic 8 makes the most sense as it has all I need particularly from learning to stick with what you have. So the rest is just a bit of fun for a bored evening.

Having said that some plug ins do crazy stuff and are unique and they are the real useful tools.

[meLoCo_go]

Well, as much as I hate hype I can understand why developers use fancy pics.
Good thing is that you can almost always demo plugin to judge whether it is worth the hype yourself.
Now, I kindly ask everyone to continue this discussion on separate topic and leave this thread for heads-ups.

[eagan]

Now, I kindly ask everyone to continue this discussion on separate topic and leave this thread for heads-ups.

Thank you. I was just going to say this. There's plenty to discuss in all this, but I think that nobody browsing this, looking for stuff they didn't know of (especially new visitors just coming in and starting from the beginning), is going to be interested in a bunch of tangential chatter (other than personal feedback about a specific plugin or host site mentioned).


JLE

[Dave.R]

this is not about a plugin per se but...

for anyone using convo reverb, signaltonoize (http://www.rhythminmind.net/presetblog/) recently put out a set of true stereo IRs taken from the Bricasti Design M7. they sound absolutely gorgeous!

DOWNLOAD link here (http://www.rhythminmind.net/presetblog/2009/06/667/) (by voluntary donation)

[Charles Dye]

i wonder when plugin designers will realise that making shit look vintage and using virtual rotary knobs and stuff actually sucks to work with? then again, i know people who buy plugins based on visual criteria like that. fuck, nevermind, theres my answer :Roll eyes:

Pretty soon you'll be tellin yourself to fuckoff.

[David Aurora]

Pretty soon you'll be tellin yourself to fuckoff.

i dunno man, some other names are springing to mind first. :grin:

[seagate]

Pretty soon you'll be tellin yourself to fuckoff.

Not far off I think...

:lol:

[Dave.R]

cheap, but not for long...

PSP Audioware PSP Nitro On Sale: $10.00 (usually $149) through aug 9

AudioUnit, VST, RTAS

audiomidi.com (http://audiomidi.com/PSP-Nitro-P6567.aspx)

PSP Nitro has been known to cure boredom

[otek]

PSP Nitro has been known to cure boredom

Nitro sounds great, but the editing is a bit cumbersome I think.


otek

[Dave.R]

Nitro sounds great, but the editing is a bit cumbersome I think.otek

well then it probably put you to sleep. a cheap sleeping pill

[otek]

well then it probably put you to sleep. a cheap sleeping pill

Au contraire, I bought mine for way more, so if anything it's keeping me awake! :lol:


otek

[Dave.R]

Au contraire, I bought mine for way more, so if anything it's keeping me awake! :lol:


otek

haha! ok, got ya

[David Aurora]

http://ohmforce.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/ohm-force-cohmpost/

mac/pc, au/vst/rtas.

funniest goddamn thing ive ever seen :lol:

[Audio~Geek]

http://ohmforce.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/ohm-force-cohmpost/

mac/pc, au/vst/rtas.

funniest goddamn thing ive ever seen :lol:

Just don't play with it on your lunchbreak.:Wink: