Ten of The Best FREE Effects Plug-Ins in 2023
by The Press Desk
Today we can set up a powerful digital mixing rig with our computers for comparably little money, and that’s largely due to the fact that there are many great tools out there that will require no investment other than the internet bandwidth you need to download them - for your consideration we present some of the best free effects plug-ins you can grab right now:
Audio Damage RoughRider3
Currently listed throughout the internet as one of the best free compressor plugins since its first version, Audio Damage’s RoughRider 3 continues the legacy of its previous versions. After over half a million downloads, the plugin’s third version brings an external sidechain input, the ability to turn off the built-in “warming” filter by pushing the ‘full bandwidth’ button and a more accurate metering alongside the common parameters present in most compressors such as attack, release, ratio, make-up gain and input level controls. Besides the usual AAX/AU/VST/VST3 support for Windows and Mac, this plug-in is also available for iOS so you can ride that audio wherever you are.
iZotope Vinyl
Vinyl adds lo-fi character to any sound source with low cpu usage and straightforward user interface. Users are able to choose a decade for that vintage vibe ranging from the 1930s to the 2000s, add mechanical and/or electrical noises with percentage sliders related to the levels of dust, scratches and ‘warp’ - used to create modulation effects based on old gear instability. The plug-in also features other controls such as ‘RPM’ and ‘Wear", which adds to its authenticy. Since iZotope and Native Instruments have recently joined forces under the Soundwide banner, it is possible to control Vinyl with NKS-ready equipment such as Maschine controllers and Komplete Kontrol keyboards.
Kiive Audio Warmy EP1A Tube EQ
Canadian company Kiive Audio has been surprising many for its great sounding plugins with rather affordable prices. Modeled after legendary Pultec EQ models, the company’s Warmy EP1A offers low boost, low cut, high boost, high cut and bandwidth controls. Like the original hardware unit, Warmy gives users the ability to cut and boost the same frequency, a trick widely applied by engineers throughout the decades to tame high frequencies or to shape the low end with the famous "push-pull" curve. The plugin is also loaded with 20 presets to get you started with this tube EQ emulation filled with character and up to 16x oversampling.
MeldaProduction MFreeFXBundle
Loaded with 37 different effects plug-ins, Melda Production’s MFreeFXBundle claims to be "the biggest and most powerful free plugins pack available", and we have little reason to dispute such bold claim! This bundle packs saturators, distortions, compressor, equalizer, filters, pitch shifters, reverb, frequency analyzer and much more. This bundle can also be upgraded to a paid version which gives users resizable GUIs, internal modulators and some nice extra features.
Togu Audio Line TAL-Reverb-4
The Togu Audio Line (TAL) Reverb 4 is for sure one of the most complete free reverbs in its category. Announced as a “high quality plate reverb with a vintage 80’s character”, but there's so much more to it than that. Beyond classic parameters such as dry/wet, size, damp, delay, diffuse and stereo controls, TAL includes modulation percentage rate and amount controls, a built-in EQ section with one peak band plus high and low cut filters. It's also one of the few plug-ins available for Linux, so you can run it on pretty much any computer out there.
TBProAudio GSatPlus
Developed by TBProAudio's Thomas Bier in collaboration with the Gearspace team, GSat+ was largely based on the saturation module of the mighty CS5501 V2 Channel Strip. It packs four saturation modes with variable odd/even harmonics injection, a clipper for catching peaks or pushing it into heavy distortion, comprehensive metering with VU/Peak/RMS/EBU options, fully resizable interface, two oversampling rates (2x and 4x) and 64-bit internal processing for superb audio quality. It is a great tool for adding character and it also helps with gain-staging, so it's a great option for that first insert slot. Enjoy, this one is on the house!
Tokyo Dawn Labs TDR Nova
We could have happily included their awesome Slick EQ on this list, but we think Nova has the upper hand and secures this spot. This fantastic plug-in provides not only an excellent “static” four-band parametric equalizer but more importantly, it brings a “dynamic” function where each band dynamically reacts to the incoming signal. Nova can function as a parallel processor by blending in the unprocessed signal and also works as a standard wide-band compressor, and if all of that isn’t enough it also brings low pass/high pass filters and real-time frequency analysis to the party. Want even more? Check out the impressive (paid) Gentlemen's Edition for even more features and tweaks.
ValhallaDSP ValhallaSupermassive v2.2.0
There’s always some backstage discussion about which Valhalla product we are putting on our next list, and since there are three different free plugins currently available at their website, this time was no exception. The big winner this time around is the ValhallaSupermassive, a widely-praised reverb and delay engine loaded with eighteen effects (called "modes") ranging from tasteful echoes to otherworldly reverbs. This beast of a plug-in can so much, from short slap backs to evolving modulated soundscapes and everything in between, so it's definitely worth checking out - and keep an eye out for updates as Valhalla is known for introducing new features and modes every now and then.
Voxengo Boogex
If you are looking for an amp sim without the distractions and CPU consuming of too detailed graphic user interfaces, Voxengo's Boogex may just be the one, other than the fact that it’s totally free. The plugin highlights include a parametric EQ with graphic display, a Pre EQ with input’s overall Low, Mid and High frequency controls, gate, drive, cabinet simulator, stereo reverb and output gain level control knob. Since version 3.0 Boogex implemented the ‘DynaCab’ dynamic convolution technique and can also be used as a plain stereo convolver when ‘Amp’ stage is disabled, and the ‘Pre EQ Mix’ is set to 100 among other cosmetic enhancements.
Xfer Records OTT
Xfer OTT is the kind of plugin that would certainly be a best-seller if it wasn’t for the fact that it is free. The plugin is made after a preset from Ableton Live’s built-in Multiband Dynamics Compressor. OTT stands for ‘Over The Top’ compression, such technique has been often associated with electronic music producers but brings benefits for mostly anyone who would like to have sounds just cutting through the mix, an extreme kind of compression that tames not only your waveform’s peaks but the entire dynamic range in the process. OTT features depth, time and I/O gain controls as well as a visual display of input and gain reduction over the low, mid and high frequency bands.
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