20 Best EFFECT Plugins For Pro Tools (FREE & PAID)

In this article, we dive into the best effect plugins for Pro Tools, covering tools that elevate your sound design, streamline your workflow, and deliver professional-grade results.

Pro Tools has long been the industry standard for audio recording and production, favored by professionals for its precision, flexibility, and powerful features. However, even the most robust DAW can benefit from the magic touch of third-party plugins… Whether you’re looking to add depth to a mix, or transform raw audio into a polished masterpiece, the right effect plugins can make all the difference.

Let’s explore the must-haves that every Pro Tools user should consider adding to their arsenal.. Since this article includes a wide range of plugins, we’ll provide concise overviews for each to keep things clear and easy to explore. Let’s dive in!

1. Three-Body Technology Kirchhoff-EQ

The ultimate modern-looking parametric EQ plugin available nowadays.

Equalizers can be taunting to master properly, as they can inflict strange results in the process of tailoring the effect itself. One wrong twist or turn in a specific bandwidth, and your sound can go to crap instantly. This is one thing that Kirchhoff-EQ nails, and it’s all due to the incredible ease of use to set any parameters properly. 

Great processing
The tweaks you make inside the plugin will be reflected automatically in your sound, as expected. The incredible number of options and parameters to adjust can be overwhelming, but almost assuredly, it won’t be a problem to be loaded properly. If you use a 64-bit system, then you don’t need to worry about any lagging or slow-performance issues because Kirchhoff-EQ was tailored to work with 64-bits, independent of the DAW’s current working precision. If that’s not enough, you can also activate the “Double Double” mode to use 117 bits in total, with ultra-precision to deliver demanding results.

Filter types
There are 15 filter types included in this EQ, with the most common shapes included – like low pass, high pass, and notch, for instance – and also some unusual ones, such as the “Sword” (kind of like a bell shape, but with a sharper slope) and brick wall low and high pass.

2. FabFilter Pro-C 2 

Visualize your compression by using the Fabfilter Pro-C 2.

Most compressors on the market don’t offer you that much visualization, where you can see precisely how the soundwave changes with your configurations. The Fabfilter series primarily focused on providing that visual experience, with their vast line of great mastering tools featuring extensive options to tweak your sample.

The Fabfilter Pro-C 2 is no exception, offering you 8 different compression styles, low and high-pass filters, audition triggering, and many more features that help you get the right sound for your song.

Compression Styles
Aside from offering the standard compressor experience, The Fabfilter Pro-C 2 gives you 8 different compression styles to choose from. The styles range from a Clean, overall sound to more personalized options that make mixing bus channels or vocals a better experience. For your EDM/Future Bass tracks, it’s best to use the Pumping style, which gives an added deep character to your kicks and bass lines.

3. Devious Machines Pitch Monster

Create stacks of harmonies or pitch-shift beyond recognition with this versatile plugin.

Despite a simplistic interface, Pitch Monster lives up to its name with features beyond what you’d expect from similar plugins.

Furthermore, Pitch Monster often sounds better than other pitch-shifting plugins even when comparing the same functions thanks to its granular pitch-shifting engine.

The plugin features three pitch-shifting engines: Granular, Formant, and Vocode. The Granular Engine is suitable for any kind of audio, and you can even adjust the granule size. Conversely, the latter two engines are better suited for solo vocals.

Formant changes the pitch of the vowel and the consonant separately, whereas Vocode flattens vibrato.
I suggest using the Forbmant mode for general voice editing and creating harmonies. It sounds the most natural for monophonic vocals. However, if you want to get creative and produce melodies for vocal chops, try the vocode mode.

Modes
Pitch Monster features three modes of performance: Normal, Midi, and Chord. The normal mode is merely a pitch shifter, whereas the Midi mode allows you to control the pitch using midi input with an optional glide feature.

Similarly, Chord mode lets you play multiple notes simultaneously. Furthermore, a Chord Memory feature lets you save up to eight chords. You can perform the chords using automation. This feature is excellent for creating artificial harmonies during a live performance.

4. Valhalla VintageVerb (Versatile Reverb)

VintageVerb is an algorithmic emulation reverb by Valhalla.

VintageVerb aims to bring to life the grit and dirt of vintage reverb hardware units from the 1970s and 1980s. The danger with emulation plugins is that they tend to sound fake or lifeless.

This is not the case here since Valhalla created a very versatile plugin that can be used in many different ways, with a sound that can be dark and mysterious or bright and overwhelming. 

The true brilliance of VintageVerb is inside the color menu. This is where the vintage emulation occurs since you can set the tone to the 1970s, 1980s, or now. The 1970s color has a lower resolution and a downsample character that helps capture the darker, filled with artifacts, the sound of that era.

Similarly, the 1980s color has a noisy sonic profile but is significantly brighter and wider than the 1970s. Finally, if you choose the now color option, you’ll get a full stereo modern reverb with a clean sound and no artifacts. You can apply the color options to each of the different modes, which gives you unparalleled sonic flexibility.

Modes
Valhalla VintageVerb is very versatile, mostly due to the different modes it carries. There are numerous modes with different characteristics that will make for subtle reverb sounds or exaggerated and chaotic ones.

Some of the modes are concert hall, plate, room, chamber, random space, chaotic hall, chaotic neutral, sanctuary, chorus space, and many more. In addition, each mode has different decay length capabilities, different room size and shape, and overall completely different characters, which make VintageVerb a sound designer’s dream.

5. Neural DSP Parallax

A great bonus on our list is the Parallax plugin from Neural DSP. This plugin will make your life easier and drop a mellow and punchy bass tone.

The Finnish company Neural DSP is one of the flagships in terms of amp sim software these days. They released many great guitar plugins collaborating with famous musicians and bands like Gojira, Adam Nolly Getgood, Tim Henson, Tosin Abasi, and others.

These guys have not ignored the bass players and created some fantastic plugins – Darkglass Ultra and Parallax. As for the last one, it is multiband bass distortion, which gives an outstanding sound quality. The point is that to get the best bass tone, and many engineers use parallel processing.

That is, they divide the bass line into several tracks and process them separately. Now you can do all this with only one plugin. It is important to note that this software is not a MIDI instrument but a processing one.

If you don’t want to deal with the settings, you will have the opportunity to play with ready-made presets. There are over a hundred of them. These are custom settings from musicians like Nolly Getgood, Kane Churko, Forrester Savell, Tom Doyle, etc.

Distortion
You will be able to handle high and low-frequency distortion separately. Just use the Mid Drive, Mid Level, High Drive, High Pass, and High Level knobs. It uses tube modeling technology to give you a rich harmonic sound.

6. SoundToys PanMan

Auto-panning is finally made easy with this excellent software.

PanMan is an auto-panning software designed to combine classic sonorities into a new level, blending analog aspects and digital elements in a single housing.

Encompassing different elements from vintage hardware like PanScan, Cyclosonic FS-1, and Electrospace Spanner, this plugin houses the best characteristics of each unit to provide authentic and useful sounds in your mix.

To set the appropriate width upon which the panning will react, there’s a dedicated knob. In more precise words, the “Width” control adjusts how the pan position can be modulated according to its position. The default value is 180 degrees, and the same limit regarding the “Offset” knob is also applied here (105 degrees on each side, totalizing 210 degrees). Speaking of which, these two controls are imperative to be explored to better set into your source material, and consistent experimentation is recommended.

Modulation sources
The different modulation types included can be selected via a small white button in the center of PanMan’s design interface. Including sources are “LFO,” “Rhythm Step,” “Rhythm Shape,” “PingPong,” “Random,” and “Step.” To change any modulation source, click and hold on the push button below the current display type.

7. Arturia DIMENSION-D 

One of the most popular effects ever brought to you in one of its best renditions.

As always, Arturia is great when it comes to recreating an iconic sound. They do that with virtual instruments and effects likewise. This time, they decided to recreate Roland’s iconic Dimension C chorus effect.

This iconic effect was included in many of their equally iconic synthesizers and even got to be recreated in a BOSS pedal format. So now, you can have all nuances of this swirling effect inside your DAW.

Dimension mode
One characteristic elements of this particular chorus was the few buttons in the main interface. Here, you have five – from zero to “4” – chorus preset parameters. Each mode, except for zero, has a particular configuration and sound characteristic, and they all sound good nonetheless.

Oscillator shape
Similar to the Dimension’s parameters, you can switch between different oscillator shapes. There’s “Default,” “Sine,” “Ramp,” and two variations of waveforms. They all correspond to the modulation LFO options available, leading to interesting results that are not normally achieved with this kind of effect.

8. Softube Tape 

Tape by Softube brings you three different flavors in a simple and effective plugin to enhance your mixes.

Tape is an excellent option for people who don’t want to get too caught up in tweaking many controls to get what they want. It’ll take you right where you need it to be in just seconds.

With Tape, you can improve an entire mix with just a handful of controls. The UI explains itself, and as for the distribution of its different elements, everything feels accessible and relatively at hand.

Different flavors:
You can choose between three very different and interesting models with unique characters and tones. Each one of these models is based on separate machines and components. Choose between a swiss reel-to-reel tape machine for a clean balance, a transformer-based machine for richer low-end harmonics, and a British tape machine for better mid-range definition.      

9. Arturia Dist COLDFIRE

The Arturia Dist Coldfire is a revolutionary dual distortion plugin featuring a powerful modulation engine and a wide variety of distortion types that you can swap in and out.

There are two independent distortion engines in Dist Coldfire, and you can use them in whatever combination you like. A variety of pre-and post-distortion filters are available for each distortion type. Analog-modeled and purely digital distortion types are both available.

With assignable parameter modulation and dynamics processing, Dist Coldfire can dish out virtually any dirt you want.

The pre-and post-distortion filters, multiband/feedback, and extensive modulation section are all accessible via the advanced panel’s tabs, wherein you can choose LFO, Function, Follower, or Sequencer options.

Distortion Types
There are 150 factory settings to help you get started, some of which are meant to transform ordinary drum loops into snarling, ripping monsters. A total of eleven distinct kinds of distortion are available in the various distortion menus, with more options available in some categories.

10. Empirical Labs Mike-E Comp By Softube

An all-in-one solution for the basic audio production needs.

Plugins that contain different effects and uses inside a single window are awesome and can be the perfect tool for most production styles. It’s nice to have all you’ll need in a single window, which can lead to significantly less CPU power consumption.

Empirical Labs Mike-E Comp was created in collaboration with Dave Derr to simulate the versatility behind the ELI distressor and provide meaningful colorations to your track.

Preamp
The “Preamp” section offers up to 18dB of gain boost, and it can be used to gain stage your track with the authentic character of a hardware unit. You can even disable the preamp distortion with the “Clean” option, while the “Bad!” indicator will force clipping whenever possible.

11. Slate Digital MetaTune

Meta-Tune is a simple auto-tuner and pitch correction plugin that is great for more ‘modern’ genres of music such as Electronic or Hip-Hop.

The easy-to-use interface gives you basic controls that have enormous impact and are bound to save you time in the mixdown. There certainly are more advanced and powerful plugins out there, but this one boasts simplicity with mixed results at a reasonable price.

Negative Speed Processing
The negative speeds function refers to note detection and pitch correction timing. Essentially, it controls the speed at which tuning happens in the transitions between keys. Setting the ‘speed’ control beyond 0, you get into the negative speed region where Meta Tune’s unique algorithm kicks in. Designed to help the vocals pop against the rest of the instruments and note changes, it’s easy to use and can get you some fascinating results.

Groups Function
The ‘groups’ function is handy when working with a lot of vocal tracks in a mix. It allows you to link whichever other instances of Meta Tune you have in your session for multi-track editing. For example, you could connect your background vocals in a group and simultaneously make adjustments that affect the entire group. Grouping is a considerable time saver and a great perk that alleviates a ton of individual adjustments or copy-pasting automation.

12. AudioThing Fog Convolver 2

A genuinely stereo spatial tool that responds to every nuance dynamically.

Convolution reverbs are new and recent in the history of this effect. The nicest part about this type of effect is that impulse responses are used in the spatial context of your effect, which allows you to recreate  more accurately how a reverberation would occur in a given environment.

IR selection
The top left corner’s “IR 1” and “IR 2” buttons allow you to choose which impulse response is presently being changed, with the option of swiftly skipping any of the two. The little “Link” button (the small chain) connects the settings for both inputs, and the “Lock” button disables all parameters except the IR, which is loaded from a preset.

Graphic EQ
The inbuilt equalization may be turned on and off at any moment. There are five bands, and the ability to control each one with a mouse click while the mouse wheel adjusts the “Q” factor of that band. Each band may be reset to its default setting by double-clicking it.

13. Soundtoys Little Plate

Soundtoys is a beloved audio plugin company that delivers unique and instantly recognizable plugins. Little plate is a plate reverb that was inspired by five unique EMT 140 plate reverbs.

Soundtoys gathered inspiration from them and created Little Plate as an easy-to-use and instantly inspiring plate reverb catered to all music producers and engineers.

As I already mentioned, Soundtoys was inspired by the iconic EMT 140. One area they decided to push to new boundaries is decay. The maximum decay found on the EMT 140 is five seconds, while on the Little Plate, you can push for 32 seconds or infinity. If you set the decay to infinity mode, the reverb tail never ends.

This is very useful for those of us who are into sound design since you can create a long tail and resample it, process it in different ways, and resample it again to create haunting atmospheres and textures. As for classic vocal usage, I’d stick to the 1-2 second realm for dreamy vocals or the 0.5 seconds mode for classic subtle vocal plate reverb.

Mod and EQ
Mod is a switch inside Little Plate that introduces hints of modulation on the reverb tail. It can thicken up your reverb and add a dreamy and vibey quality to it that’s instantly associated with Soundtoys’ brand of sound. The EQ included is very simple and functions as a low cut. You can set it anywhere from 20Hz to 1kHz. It does a great job at cleaning up the low end or removing muddiness in the low-mid frequencies.

14. Baby Audio Smooth Operator 

Baby Audio Smooth Operator is a smart sound balancer since it can reduce boom and harshness in mixes and instruments.

Initially, Smooth Operator by Baby Audio appears to be a competitor to dynamic resonance suppression plugins like Soothe by Oeksound. While dynamic resonance suppression is one of Smooth Operator’s capabilities, the application’s focus is not on improving audio quality but on sculpting sounds in novel ways.

Algorithm
Contrary to popular belief, Smooth Operator is not a multi-band compressor or a dynamic equalizer but rather an FFT-based algorithm that uses band-splitting to engage in a game of spectral whack-a-mole. The concentration slider regulates the degree to which each band’s reduction is decoupled from the others, with settings ranging from perfect harmony to a spiky, wavy look.

The ideal degree of smoothness is typically achieved in the middle, hence the name of this plugin. Though it may be tempting to pour Smooth Operator all over your mix or instrument, remember that just a touch of its sonic brush can improve things without sounding overcooked.

15. Eventide Rotary Mod 

All you may ever want from a rotary effect is contained in this plugin.

Eventide is a very experienced company that has been developing excellent effects in hardware and software for a long time. Their famous racks, guitar pedals, and plugin effects are notorious for extreme quality in terms of sonority. This time, they showcase what they can do best with everything related to a rotary effect in Rotary Mod.

The rotor’s and the horn’s speed can be adjusted separately via two dedicated knobs. This allows for a precise adjustment in your overall soundscape, further expanded by another individual volume control that can make each track stand out in the mix.

You can add frequency modulation to your speakers via a secondary LFO that includes a selectable modulation source, a custom rate control, and another responsible for the overall amount of the effect. 

Cabinet size
Rotary speakers come in different sizes and, as expected, may deliver different sounds because of that. In Rotary Mod, you can switch between “Standard” or “Giant” sizes via a small “Type” button on the left side of your user interface screen.

16. Crystallizer

Another plugin inspired by the H3000 unit from Eventide, Crystallizer, is not so easy to be explained in a few words.

Although it’s branded as a “Granular Echo Synthesizer,” it’s capable of much more: you can pitch shift, add echo and shimmer in multiple ways, and bring awesome, reverse effects into this mix.

The dedicated “Pitch” control adjusts the audio signal’s pitch in three octaves, either up or down. The values are listed as “cents,” and the maximum values are -3600/+3600. Setting this control at +100 cents, for instance, will result in a half-step change – in this case, upwards. 

As with other Soundtoys plugins, there’s a dedicated “Tweak” page for Crystallizer. Here you can set offset values for pitch, splice, and delay controls, with a “Smoothing” knob that sets the crossfade between splices in the plugin’s delay. You also have high and low-cut knobs with an envelope control, making it possible to accurately set the dynamics in the effect.

Splice
This configuration determines the audio selection’s length captured and played back, with readings in milliseconds (from zero to 2050ms). A short value will result in minimal delay time, offering a subtle variation that lightly resembles a metallic sound, while higher values will make a selection of the input signal to be ‘grabbed’ and played back for the interval you have selected, like 300ms, for example. This creates small loops that can be set to be repeated according to your input time value.

Recycle
Located near the “Delay” control, the “Recycle” knob is a feedback control for the delay that ensures the output of the effect signal will be sent back to the input at varying values. Turning the knob up will generate repeating, rotating pitch effects, possibly even setting the spiral up or downwards. 

17. Waves Scheps 73 

Waves Audio worked with world-renowned mixing engineer Andrew Scheps to craft a 1073 plugin that perfectly matches the hardware.

Speaking of the 1073, Waves Audio’s Scheps73 is Waves Audio’s version of the British classic. It features interrelated bands that adhere to the 1073’s original specs and accurately emulate its behavior.

It also features a switchable low and mid-range, 18db/oct high-pass filter and includes the 1078’s 10Khz mid-range band. You can go from simply adding color to entirely defining your signal’s tone and shape in less than a minute.

Stereo mode:
The plugin operates on the stereo, dual, and m/s mode. On stereo mode, the left and right settings are linked, and every adjustment applies to both sides equally. If you work in dual mode, you can adjust each side independently, and if you change back to stereo, they’ll stay offset from each other so that any adjustment you make will remain the same. Finally, if you’re set to m/s mode, it adds a mid/side processor to the left EQ, so you’d control the middle with the left knob and the sides with the right.

EQ section:
It has just about anything any EQ should have, but what’s particular about the EQ section is that in addition to the fixed frequencies that you get with the plugin, they’ve also included the 10Khz midrange band from the 1078, which separates it from the original piece. Each band has an in/out switch so that you can bypass them individually.

18. Devious Machines Infiltrator 2 

The Infiltrator 2 is a monstrous multi-effect that can combine, sequence, and adjust a whopping ten separate effects. 

You can utilize many copies of the same modules, and there are ten effect slots, user-editable multi-segment envelopes, and assignable macros, much like in the original Infiltrator. The amount of control you have in real-time truly sets it apart from other multi-effects. There are now two independent envelopes for each effect, each of which can be synced to a maximum of 128 bars in duration.

Presets
When it comes to presets, it’s common for effects plugins that pack a punch elsewhere to fall short. This could be because some people view the use of presets as lazy. But we consider it presets to be a crucial demonstration of a plugin’s capabilities. Infiltrators 750 presets already quite a lot, but v2 more than doubles that number.
It’s an insane amount, but at least they’re organized into categories and subcategories.

To jumpstart your imagination, check out the Sound Design folder, where you’ll find patches like Faller Robo 4 Bar and Inertia. Presets like Bit Meddler, Future Announcement, and Slick Shifter are just a few examples of the incredible variety of sounds you can create with this plugin.

19. UVI Shade

From the makers of Falcon 2, one of the best sound designing instruments ever created, comes this versatile equalizer capable of comb filtering and so much more.

While we will be focusing on the comb filter side of this plugin, we must still mention its grandeur when it comes to EQing. Shade is a digital equalizer with unlimited bands, numerous kinds of filters, modulation, side-chain, etc. It also employs a spectrum analyzer on its background to provide visual feedback.

Shade generates the comb filtering effect using a predefined comb shape rather than feedback or feed-forward delay. It’s more accurate and offers you a lot more control than you’d normally receive. You can also utilize the comb shape to amplify the comb frequencies instead of the usual cancellation. Speaking of which, Shade also provides notch-shaped comb filters to make the effect even more apparent.

35 Filters
There are 35 filters divided into these categories: low-pass, high-pass, notch, band-pass, high shelf, low shelf, peak, phaser, comb, and special. While most of them are relatively ordinary, the last three are unique. For example, under the Special category, you’ll find tilt EQ and Xpander, of which the latter has 37 modes and three drive/saturation types.

20. Xfer LFO Tool

The Xfer LFO device is a comprehensive tool that gives you a vast selection of signal shaping options.

This plugin is very well suited to low-frequency instruments such as synth bass. The user interface is quite intricate and might be intimidating for those without basic knowledge of LFO’s function. 

Customizable LFO Editor
The LFO editor lets you draw in your volume automation onto an x-y grid mapping, which you then apply to your signal. The editor allows you to link their programmed automation to affect things like the volume level, stereo panning, or filter parameters.

Modulation Layering
The interface allows you to control up to 4 graphs at the same time. This is handy when your want to create different modulation patterns for the same signal. For example, you might want the volume to open up while the filter’s cutoff is being brought down. 

Smooth Setting
You can use the Smooth parameter to soften the punchiness of any peaks in the volume automation. Volume ducking can either be enhanced or dulled with this setting, giving you better control of signal dynamics while processing. 

Best Free Effect Plugins For Pro Tools 2024

Integraudio & Sixth Sample Cramit

Cramit is CPU-friendly OTT compressor plugin featuring plenty of modern-day capabilities that works well for vocals.

Cramit allows you to change this via the application interface and may be used as a pre or post-fader. You get two knobs to regulate the distortion and drive amount, which makes it extremely simple to apply the distortion effect, which simulates the saturation effects of analog equipment.

Moreover, the compressor’s reaction time may be adjusted using the Speed knob, and the gain can be adjusted using the Gain knob. You can also adjust the Depth of the compressor. Monitoring all of this is simple, thanks to the box on the right, which visibly displays any changes you make to the transient.

You can use Cramit on instruments like:

• Bass: You can boost the dynamics and sound by utilizing some OTT.
• Plucks: You could move your plucks forward in the mix, but be careful since compression might ruin lively dynamics.
• Strings: Both the low and high analog strings are well matched with OTT.
• Drums: Although it can thicken the drums, you must be careful not to apply too much compression because doing so might ruin the dynamics. The groove and feel of the drums are very crucial.
• And so much more: This tool works great on virtually on any instrument or vocals when you need to add some life and energy to your mix. 

It can improve any sound you can think of. Just use three bands and several compression methods to play around with the samples above to see how you may start to enhance your sound.

Slate Digital Fresh Air

Fresh Air from Slate Digital will help add clarity and brilliance to your vocals and mixes without harshness.

We often want to take the blanket away from our mixes, giving them more presence and spark. For many years this was possible thanks to exciters, special studio units that added content in the upper frequencies. The good news is that now you can achieve this for free.

Slate Digital’s Fresh Air plugin will help you do just that. It’s a dynamic processor that affects the mid and high frequencies, bringing them to life by adding air. The great thing about this software is that it’s as simple as possible since you’ll only have the two main knobs. So let’s take a closer look at it.

A Simple Operation
It won’t take long to learn this plugin – there are only two knobs with which the main control is performed. In particular, these are Mid Air and High Air. Adjust them and listen to how the clarity level changes. By the way, you can also link and control them simultaneously.

Trim Control
By processing the mid and high frequencies, your signal can get hotter. Therefore, you will need to balance it with the previous level. To do this, the plugin developers implemented a special Trim knob, essentially a regulator of the output signal.

Analog Obsession LOADES 

Thanks to Analog Obsession’s LOADES plugin, you can easily get rid of annoying hisses and esses on vocals and cymbals.

We already mentioned the de-esser as part of the LOADED plugin from Analog Obsession above. But the cool thing is that you can also get this software separately. The developers have created a different version of the de-esser called LOADES, and we can say that the plugin is quite effective.

It also looks like the units of the 500 rack series, but there are only two sections. In the first one, you will have a full set of de-essing settings, and in the second one, you will find general parameters. Let’s take a look at what this plugin can do.

Set Up The Threshold
The Threshold knob will be the main one when working with this plugin. You will use it to select the amount of de-essing. You will notice quite drastic results after 12 decibels of reduction.

Use Shelf or Band
By default, the upper-frequency reduction here is in the form of a shelf. But you can switch this mode to the band and get a more narrow performance character. A separate Band knob helps with this.

Valhalla Supermassive

Supermassive is a free reverb plugin by Valhalla. 

Valhalla is probably the king of reverb plugins, and Super Massive feels like a genuine gift of gratitude to their faithful users. As the name suggests, it specializes in long and massive reverb tones and features the familiar Valhalla interface. It’s not a subtle plugin, but it can add drama and depth to vocals of modern genres.

Modes
Super Massive has 12 different modes to choose from, including Gemini, Hydra, Centaurus, Andromeda, Lyra, Capricorn, and many more. They all have different core characteristics, like attack times, decay times, chorus, and density. They all are designed expertly and can serve different purposes. For example, Gemini is the subtlest and most conventional of all the modes. Therefore it’s great to use on vocals that need a more traditional mixing approach. However, you can still mangle it and create intricate reverbs by messing with the warp knob. In contrast, Large Magellanic Cloud is a wacky mode that serves super long reverbs with long initial delays, great for atmospheric sounds.

Feedback and density
As I mentioned earlier, the density is already modified internally and varies from mode to mode. However, you can still adjust the density knob to further emphasize a mode’s dense or loose reverb style. In addition, the feedback is an excellent knob to scale back on the long decay times or multiply them if you feel they’re not long enough.

TDR Nova

Nova is a handy toolbox with everything you need for dynamic processing.

Nova is a powerful parallel dynamic equalizer that you can use for transparent frequency dynamic processing in mixing and mastering situations. This plugin offers you a wide range of possibilities in both cases. In addition, it allows you to be as drastic as you need while keeping transparency with the dry/wet mix knob without adding artifacts or distortion.

If you were looking for a free mastering solution or want to get started with dynamic EQs and didn’t know what to get, Nova by Tokyo Dawn Records is a great option. This plugin gives you precise control over your signal and brings the possibility of using it as a multi-band compressor or a wideband compressor.

Besides all its features, it has a smooth user interface, and it’s super helpful if you’re at a beginner’s level and aren’t familiar with this type of tool. It explains itself and has helpers that will guide you through the plugin so that you adapt quickly and achieve results.

Automatic gain compensation:
Nova has a button called EQ gain that automatically makes up for all gain additions and reductions you apply with the EQ to prevent you from confusing louder with better.

Band individuality:
Compress each band by group or individually with separate settings for each band. Determine which parts of the spectrum will be affected by the compression.

Integraudio & Sixth Sample Deelay

The number of different presets here is simply mind-boggling. All of them have a very different sounds. So you can glide through them until you find what you need.

One of the main features of this software is the presence of different types of distortion. Such a variety will be difficult to find even in the well-known paid plugins.

And, of course, the different types of mods. The Deelay plugin has as many as 5 of them. That’s enough for you to get the sound you want. Let’s now look at the features in more detail.

Deelay is a wonderful plugin from Integraudio and Sixth Sample that will surprise you with its many features.

There are stock delay plugins in almost every DAW. But sooner or later, the time may come when their functionality is not enough for you, especially if you want to look for a new sound or are engaged in sound design. In this case, the Deelay plugin will be especially useful. And the good news is that it’s completely free.

5 Different Modes of Operation
The mod choice will be fundamental to the operation of the delay. The plugin will give you options such as Normal, Reverse Forward, Pure Reversed, Chaos, and Reversed Chaos. For example, Reverse Forward can produce an inverted echo every second, and Pure Reversed every time. As for Chaos, it changes every echo’s pitch interval.

11 Shades of Distortion
The number of Distortion types here is also quite extensive. These include Saturation, Asymmetrical, Clip, Tube, Rectify, Crackly, Lightning, Amp, Bumpy, Razor, and Pixelated. Each one sounds appropriate to its name. So, for example, if we say Lightning, you get harshness and white noise. And Tube will give the effect of tube amplifiers.

Analog Obsession FRANK 2

The FRANK 2 plugin from Analog Obsession is a tonal shaping EQ that is based on well-known studio hardware equalizers.

The tonal shaping equalizer would be a great tool to give some color and expressiveness to your instruments. It is exactly the plugin of the famous company Analog Obsession, which creates its software based on analog gear. All products are free, but you can support the developer on Patreon.

Overall, there are three bands of EQ, Low and High Pass filters. So by the plugin’s name, you can understand that it is a kind of Frankenstein. And it is not strange because each parameter is taken from a separate studio equalizer, whether API, Neve, or Pultec. So let’s take a closer look at the plugin.

High and Low Pass Filters
The two Low and High Pass filter knobs are located on both sides of the window. The first is based on the Helios and allows you to cut from 0 to 15 dB at 50 hertz. The second one is a Pultec-style high-frequency attenuator, allowing you to go from zero to 10 decibels.

Adjust The Lows
As for the low frequencies, you will have two whole knobs at your fingertips. The first is a boost, and the second is an attenuator. Their frequency of action is 60 hertz. In general, they are based on Pultec units.

Analog Obsession Room041

The Room041 plugin by Analog Obsession gives you room reverb and plenty of tonal shaping options.

If you need to add spatiality to your tracks, namely room, the next item on our list might do the trick. It is Room041, the first reverb plugin created by Analog Obsession. It is not modeled from any unit, but you will find here settings of one of the famous plate reverbs.

Overall, you get enough settings for the reverb effect itself, but a few extra features are packed here. For example, you’ll be able to add saturation as well as tonal shaping thanks to the Post EQ section. And now about all of it in more detail.

Sharpen Your Reverb
There are three knobs for setting the reverb itself. In particular, these are Pre Delay and Decay. Thanks to them, you can adjust the tail and the character. There is also a Stereo Separation control, which is responsible for the transition from mono to stereo.

Preamp Section
It’s something you don’t always see in reverb plugins. Room041 has a separate preamp section. Here you will have the Drive control, which will help you to add saturation. You also get a High Pass Filter range of 20 to 100Hz.

iZotope Vocal Doubler 

If you need an easy-to-use solution to enhance vocals, iZotope’s Vocal Doubler plugin may be a good option.

Recording vocal doubles is standard practice in music production. It helps enhance the vocals and gives them more width. But what if you don’t have these tracks pre-recorded? In that case, software like doubler can easily achieve this effect.

Such is the Vocal Doubler plugin from the company iZotope. And the good news is that you can get it completely free. Its main advantage is that it is as easy to use as possible because you will only have a few controls. So let’s take a look at what’s here.

Add Some Separation
Separation control will determine the variation between the original and processed signals. At the same time, it will add more width to the stereo picture. In addition, you can control this parameter thanks to the main center slider.

Analog Obsession Distox

Analog Obsession’s Distox plugin will help you add grit to guitars, drums, and other instruments.

A slight addition of saturation or distortion is a major technique to make tracks a little more expressive and audible in the mix. On the other hand, smashing instruments with the distortion can also be a good creative idea. It is exactly what is possible thanks to the next item on our list.

It is Distox by Analog Obsession, which is a multi-mode distortion plugin. You get as many as seven distortion mods here and all the settings you need to bring this into the mix at its best. Also deserving of special praise is the plugin’s rack-unit design. Let’s break it down in more detail.

7 Distortion Types
In the plugin’s center, you will switch between seven types of distortion. They are all based on tubes and an op-amp circuit. In total, there are three op-amps and four tubes.

UJAM Finisher Micro

UJAM’s Finisher Micro helps you quickly apply the effect and get a little extra inspiration.

Imagine a situation where you feel that a certain instrument needs to add an effect, but you don’t know which one. It can happen especially with beginners. However, UJAM has created a free plugin to help you quickly and easily solve this problem.

This software is called Finisher Micro and is essentially a multi-effect plugin. You get 25 different effect chain Modes and the Amount knob, thanks to which you can determine exactly how much effect you need. The plugin is very simple and interesting. Let’s talk about it more substantially.

Select The Desired Effect
At the bottom of the window, you will see the Mode knob, which allows you to choose the desired effect. In general, there are 25 of them, and their names are self-explanatory. For example, there is Infinity, SpaceGrinder, Old Radio, Rotor Cab, Flanger, Vibrato, Chorus, and many others.

Analog Obsession BUSTERse 

Analog Obsession’s BUSTERse plugin can be your main tool for “gluing” mixes.

Now, what do you use the bus compressor for anyway? First, it allows you to shape transients, and second, to get the effect of “gluing” the mix as a whole. The SSL Bus Compressor is a very popular equipment for this, which was part of the console. But now, there are enough plugins that emulate its operation.

Such is the free software BUSTERse from Analog Obsession. Its main feature is that, in addition to the compressor settings, it has many additional features that will help you affect the character and dynamics even more. Let’s now try to take them all apart.

Transients Shaping
On top of that, the Sidechain section has another set of TR controls to help you influence the transients a bit more. For example, you will find a Tilt control that will boost the high frequencies and cut the lows, or vice versa. In addition, there are also separate Mix and Boost knobs.

Imaginando DLYM

Imaginando’s DLYM plugin can be your main tool for getting light and extreme sounding effects.

DLYM from the Portuguese company Imaginando is quite powerful free software. You can get extra width by applying it to all kinds of instruments. In general, there are chorus, flanger, and delay effects.

As for the settings, they are quite straightforward. You’ll have the basic effect controls, a choice between two modes of operation, and a few more features. So let’s try to analyze what’s hidden here.

Choose Your Waveform
DLYM provides a choice of waveforms. To be more specific, its waveform is used in modulation. In particular, there are Triangle, Sawtooth, Square, Sine, Sample & Hold, and Filtered Sample & Hold options.

Analog Obsession VariMoon

Analog Obsession’s VariMoon plugin will give you the character of the famous tube compressor.

The tube or variable mu compressors are some of the most expensive audio equipment. They provide smooth compression and enough harmonic distortion. In general, they are most often used as tools for mastering or drum buses. And now, we will look at one of the emulations of this hardware.

The VariMoon plugin is based on the famous Vari-Mu compressor and limiter. But in addition, the creators have laid here a few more features. For example, you can change the release, ratio, dry and wet balance, and apply a sidechain. Now about all of this in more detail.

6 Release Positions
The attack of this compressor is fixed at 10 ms. But as for the release, you will be able to change it thanks to a separate switch. There are four fixed positions, 0.3, 0.8, 2.0, and 5.0, and two automatic 2/10 and 0.3/10/25.

Caelum Audio Tape Cassette 2

Caelum Audio’s Tape Cassette 2 might be handy for producers who make lo-fi music.

We all remember that warm cassette sound from our childhood. But, remarkably, now we can achieve it directly in our DAW to create lo-fi music. Caelum Audio’s Tape Cassette 2 plugin will help you do just that.

Tape Cassette 2 is a fairly simple plugin with some great features. Thus, you will have full control over creating your custom tape sound because you can adjust almost all of its components, right down to the noise. So let’s see what the creators have hidden under the hood.

Wow & Flutter Controls
The two Wow and Flutter knobs also help give your sound the right cassette effect. The first is a wobbler, and the second gives a distortion effect. It would be ideal for lo-fi.

Analog Obsession LOADED

Analog Obsession’s LOADED plugin gives you everything you need to mix almost any instrument, especially vocals.

Using a channel strip plugin is always great because you have all the main tools for mixing a particular instrument at your fingertips. Think of it as a console that allows you to process an individual track from start to finish. That’s exactly what the plugin called LOADED will give you.

It emulates five studio units of the 500 format and one general. Here you get Preamp, De-Esser, Gate, Compressor, and EQ. The last one in the chain will be a module where you can control the input and output signals. Let’s break it all down in more detail.

Preamplifier Section
The Preamp section will be the first in your chain. Here you will be able to add Gain and, therefore, more harmonics. In addition, here you will find the High-Pass Filter and the Treble and Bass Boost. In addition, you get the XFMR button, which emulates the operation of transformers.

Add Some De-Essing
When you compress vocals, you get a more expressive hissing sound, which can cut the ear. De-Esser is precisely designed to soften them. As for the plugin, you’ll have a Threshold, Release, and Mix knob. In addition, there are two modes, Band and Soft.

TriTik krush

TriTik’s Krush plugin is a great audio destructive tool to help make your beats more expressive and aggressive.

Bitcrusher is a popular sound effect that involves applying a distortion by lowering the resolution of the audio signal. It allows you to achieve a somewhat warm sound. On the other hand, it can become somewhat harsh. However, providing an aggressive sound is common, especially for beats or other percussive elements.

The free krush plugin from TriTik is just the thing to help you achieve this effect. Despite the usual bitcrusher settings, you will also get many additional ones, including modulation and filter parameters. Let’s analyze them one by one.

Add Some Drive
The Drive control will be the first in your set of settings. It provides transformer-based distortion and saturation. At least it sounds like the effect of analog hardware. Add this to make the signal more expressive.

Crush & DWSP
You also get the two more standard bitcrusher parameters here: Crush and DWSP. The first will reduce your bitrate, and the second will reduce the sample rate. So that gives you a traditional bitcrush sound.

Analog Obsession LALA

The LALA plugin from Analog Obsession gives you smooth compression that’s great for vocals and bass guitar.

The LA2A-type compressors are among the most popular studio units. They provide smooth compression with a slow attack, which is ideal for processing vocals and bass guitars. Through years of digital music production, dozens of plugins have been created that emulate their operation. And now we’re going to talk about a free one.

It is another Analog Obsession product called LALA. You will immediately see by its design that it is a reference to the original LA2A compressor by Teletronix. You will have the same main Gain and Peak Reduction knobs and additional features. We’ll talk about them below.

Extremely Simple Operation
As with other similar plugins, you get an extremely simple operation. It comes down to only two knobs, Peak Reduction and Gain. With the first, you can select the amount of compression, and the second helps you balance the output signal.

Sidechain Section
On the left side of the plugin, you will see some additional features. For example, there is a High Pass Filter from 20 to 500 hertz. You can also adjust the compressor’s sensitivity to medium and high frequencies, thanks to the corresponding knobs. And, of course, there is an External Sidechain button.

Surreal Machines Crack

The Crack plugin from Surreal Machines might be a great option if you need a simple transient shaper.

If you are faced with a situation where your drums lack punch and definition, the transient shaper plugin may be the solution. Thanks to this software, you can personally control the attack and sustain and make the material fit your creative situation as much as possible.

The free Crack plugin from Surreal Machines can help you with this perfectly. It is very easy to use and has only four knobs. Also, you will be able to change the nature of the dynamics, which is also awesome as on freeware.

Add or Reduce Attack
With the Attack control, you can make the transients more expressive and thus get punchiness. And vice versa – if you need to soften them, turn the knob back. It works well on percussive material.

Analog Obsession BLENDEQ

BLENDEQ by Analog Obsession is a plugin in which you get a combination of two legendary hardware equalizers.

It’s no secret that different hardware studio units have different sounds. It is what makes them unique and appropriate for a particular situation. And this applies not only to preamps and compressors but also to equalizers. Fortunately, Analog Obsession has created a plugin in which you can blend two flavors of gear.

The main thing about this plugin is that in addition to the usual EQ bands, you will also have blendable knobs. So you can either go for a specific one or get them 50/50. The same goes for the Input signal. So let’s talk about that in more detail.

4-Band EQ
In total, you get four EQ bands. Specifically, there are Low from 35 to 220 Hz, two Mid controls from 0.36 to 7.2 kHz, and High from 5 to 15 kHz. You can boost or cut each of them with separate knobs.

Chow Tape Model

The Chow Tape Model plugin from Chowdhury DSP will give you the warmth of tape and the ability to achieve a crazy sound.

We all know that tape saturation is an important part of music production, especially if you want to get some warmth and breathe life into your tracks. And all this will be quite possible, thanks to the free plugin Chow Tape Model.

In general, you will have full control over many parameters of the virtual tape machine. Thus, the plugin allows you to recreate your unique version and get the sound just the way you want. All in all, you can either get very subtle effects or achieve unconventional, creative solutions.

Gain And Filters
The first section of this plugin’s settings is pretty straightforward. Here you get the Gain section with Input, Dry/Wet, and Output settings. Then, if you click on the Filters tab, you will see two Low and High Cut knobs.

Adjust The Tone
As for the second section, things get more interesting. For example, in the Tape tab, you will have a Bias control to affect the quality of the tape. There are also Saturation and Drive knobs. In turn, in the Tone tab, you will find the Bass and Treble settings.

Chow Phaser

The Chow Phaser plugin will help bring more excitement and movement to your tracks.

Phaser is one of the quite long-standing and popular audio effects. It involves creating a copy of an audio signal somewhat out of phase. Their amplitudes interact with each other to create a motion effect. It is what makes it possible to get a more exciting sound.

Now we look at another free plugin from Chowdhury DSP called Chow Phaser. It has sufficient settings and can work in mono and stereo. In the latter case, you will be able to set different parameters for both channels and thus get more depth and width.

Full Control Over The Effect
You will have ample opportunity to sharpen the sound of the phaser to suit this or that creative situation. For example, there are Depth, Feedback, Modulation, and Skew controls. With these parameters, you can choose exactly how you want your phasing to go.

Voxengo SPAN

Voxengo’s SPAN plugin can serve as a wonderful frequency spectrum analyzer.

We all know how important it is to mix with our ears, not our eyes. But still, in some scenarios, visual analyzers can help you. For example, to see what’s happening with frequencies you can’t hear. It’s also useful for comparing your material with a reference.

Such a plugin is exactly the SPAN from Voxengo. And it is the kind of plugin that is hard to believe is free. You will have a visual interpretation of the frequency spectrum and all the necessary settings to display it as conveniently as possible. So let’s talk about that in more detail.

Detailed Metering
At the bottom of the window of this plugin, you will get the most detailed metering of your audio. In particular, it will display the RMS, Max Crest Factor, True Pick, and Correlation Meter here. You can remove this information if it bothers you with the Hide Meters And Stats button.

Alex Hilton A1StereoControl 

A1StereoControl plugin will help you provide a wider stereo picture during mixing or mastering.

Stereo widening plugins are quite popular in music production. Some professionals advise not using them, relying only on panning instruments. But others like to use such software to get a slightly wider stereo picture. Now we will talk about one such plugin, which is free.

It is A1StereoControl by Alex Hilton, which you can download from the website of the same name. It has simple and expert controls and many other interesting features that will provide you with better monitoring. Let’s break it all down.

Keep It Simple
You can control the width of the stereo picture without complicating your life. Thanks to only two knobs in the center Pan and Stereo Width, it will be possible. Use the first to direct the signal to the left or right channel and the second to make it wider.

Expert Mode
If you want full control over widening parameters, you can enter Expert Mode. Use the special button on the left side of the window to do this. Here you will have additional options to influence Pan Law, select Balance or Dual Pan, as well as Linear, Logarithmic, or Sin/Cos modes.

Acon Digital Multiply

Acon Digital’s Multiply is a six-voice free chorus plugin with an anti-comb filter technology.

The plugin delivers everything you expect from a chorus effect and a little more. You can simulate up to six identical voices to thicken up your sound. Additionally, you can use the Pre-delay knob to create diffuse and modulated echoes.

Frequency Modulation
You can set up the Voice Count to your liking and tweak these two knobs to find the best sounding Chorus effect. Depending on the source material, too much Depth can generate thick sounds or wobbly results. Therefore, use it carefully.

Character & Sound:

You can use this plugin to create thick, rich chorus textures. The sound is lush and natural, and you can even generate reverb effects with it. There are eighteen built-in presets that show you the plugin’s robes and give you a direction in which to go on. The automatic comb-filtering avoider comes in handy to make each chorus voice sound clean and full, and the EQ gives the user extended versatility.

Baby Audio Baby Comeback 

Made as an alternative to Comeback Kid, the Baby Comeback is a great accessible delay plugin.

Although it has the same style as its paid counterpart, the Baby Comeback offers fewer controls for you to tweak. This lack of options shouldn’t be a problem, as the plugin gives you excellent sounding delays with its few presets available.

The main feature that stands out is the Ducking element which we will explain more in the section below.

Flavors
The Baby Comeback has 4 different presets that give you unique delay effects. The effects offer a different flavor, with Wide offering a delay that bounces at the ends of your stereo field, Analog giving you a retro hardware delay sound, Saucey is a hidden gem, and we will let you find out its characteristics.

Kilohearts Essentials Bundle

KiloHearts Essentials is a free collection of thirty useful and expansive plugins.

Essentials Bundle includes EQ plugins, dynamic processors, harmonic processors, time-based effects, and many more effects and plugins of great utility and can also be loaded as Snapins in the Snapin by KiloHeartz. The company also offers perpetual free updates once you download the free license of the plugin and shows intentions of updating the collection from time to time.

Versatile set of tools
No matter what kind of effect you want for your sound design or production, be it an equalizer for sonic shaping, a compressor for squaring your dynamics, a chorus for enhancing the stereo image, or a delay for adding a space or ambiance to your sounds, the Essential collection has you covered.

Hands-on control
For each effect plugin, you have good control over the sound. For example, with its compressor, you can set the threshold, ratio, attack time, release time, make-up gain, and sidechain another signal in the plugin. Similarly, if we talk about the delay plugin, you can adjust the feedback, enable ping-pong, adjust duck, pan, and mix, and set the delay time in milliseconds or sync it to the tempo.

Innovative plugins
Some plugins in the collection are cool, unique, and great for creative sound design. For example, the Ensemble plugin lets you create harmonies on a single voice with up to twelve voices in unison. Similarly, there are plugins for interesting effects like the Haas effect, Ladder filter, non-linear filter, reverse effect, and more.