If you don’t have a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to insert plugins into we collected our ten favourite free DAWs here or if you just want to play around with them there’s a great list of VST hosts here.
Brainworx’s flagship product, the bxdigital V3 is an 11-band equalizer that delivers an impressive set of features and sound quality. Make precision moves on each channel that includes filters for high and low shelving, highpass and lowpass filters, and parametric bell.
NoiseMaker is an improved version of the great, also free TAL-Elek7ro with a new synth engine and great sound. With 256 varied presets and a massive number of parameters to edit, like reverb, delay, LFO’s and much more, NoiseMaker lives up to it’s name – It makes noise and a great variety of it.
Modelled on the pricey Reaktor Prism this synth gives you the gorgeous sounds of a premium synth and plenty of range to play around with. Considering it’s a scaled down version of another synth the amount of excellent sounding presets is astounding. Customisation isn’t vast but still offers plenty with decays, filter, flanger, echo and a few more settings to play with.
Download Mikro Prism here(You’ll need NI’s free Reaktor 6 Player to use this synth)
We wrote about Nightlife last month shortly after it came out. It’s a great package with 3 oscillators, beat sequencers, various filters and effects, and more. It’s design is similar to the other synths but Nightlife is dedicated to the nightlife; helping you make easy dance, dubstep, D&B, etc.
Synth1 is modelled on the critically acclaimed Clavia Nord Lead 2 Red Synth. Designed meticulously by Ichiro Toda, Synth1 features 128 presets with 16 notes polyphony. Tweak your sound with 2 oscillators, FM modulation, ring modulation, 4 types of filter, arpeggiator and a number of effects.
This wavetable synth is capable of loads of sounds. “I’ve heard that before, what does it do differently?”. Something quite unique actually. Freehand allows you to draw, save and load 3 separate waveforms all within it’s synth interface. This means you can precisely adjust the tone and sound you want in addition to loads and loads of other parameters that make customisation beautifully accurate and free.
TyrellN6 was the result of German site amazona.de asking their readers what they’d want in a hardware analogue synth. With a design close to Roland’s Juno 60 the project proved too ambitious so they handed development over to Urs of U-HE. The culmination of Amazona, their readers, and Urs made for an outstanding and crazily deep synth.
Download TyrellN6 here (Get ready to translate your page unless you’re German)
Helm is a soft synth capable of an unreal level of customisation with waveforms and dials covering the interface (neatly). Helm stands out from the others because it’s source code is open, so you can dive in there and develop the synth sound you want on a whole other level. It doesn’t sound as nice as the others (by a long shot) but its more your ability to affect that sound than the sound itself with this synth.
Everyone loves a good saw synth. Super-7 is a polyphonic virtual-analog modelled synthesizer based on the lauded Supersaw sound of the Roland JP8000/8080. This synth doesn’t have the hundreds of settings that a lot of the others do but there’s enough there for a nice variety of saw sounds on top of the 20 presets included.
VACS stands for virtual analog club synth and is great for EDM tracks. This softsynth features 3 oscillators with an incredible 64 waveforms each. Customisation is as deep as you must have come to expect by now with a great feature set allowing intense modification of the 128 presets. Sounds vary from bizarre to banger material – check it out.
Unsurprisingly to those who know it OBXD is based on Oberheim’s classic gem, the OBX synth, and excels at recreating that heavy, spacey analog sound. OBXD 2 comes with a number of controls for oscillators, mix, control, filter, modulation, envelopes, and voices. Whilst it’s capability doesn’t stray too far from it’s core it’s an awesome sound that continues to sound great as you play with it’s variables.
Native Instruments’ Blocks Wired bundle is a bundle of 3 free synths you don’t want to miss. These 3 modular synths have a wonderful level of options and sound absolutely fantastic (as you’d expect from NI). Lummiko recreates the classic sound of West Coast monosynths. XY is an expressive sequenced synth with an incredible amount of modulation possibilities. Last but not least Submotion produces step-modulated timbres, bass sequences, and dark sequenced textures. You do NOT want to miss out on this free bundle.
Download Blocks Wired here (as with Micro Prism you’ll need NI’s free Reaktor 6 Player to use these synths)
There’s our ten favourite free Synth plugins plus a brilliant bonus bundle. Get downloading and start creating music now, we want to hear what you come up with!
In this Dubspot Top Picks guide, we look at a selection of our favorite mixing and mastering plugins that offer incredible sound shaping possibilities, impressive features, and professional sound quality.
iZotope, the makers of award-winning software for audio production has a strong reputation for delivering professional plugins. The latest version of their flagship mastering software, Ozone 7 is a welcomed edition to iZotope’s Music Production Bundle. Ozone 7 is a set of essential mastering tools that enable both professionals and aspiring music producers to easily add a final level of polish to their mixes and audio recordings. While retaining the elegant workflow and precision audio processing of previous versions, Ozone 7 brings the best sonic characteristics of analog hardware to modern digital recordings and a host of new features. Read more at iZotope
A long-time favorite among Dubspot instructors, Soundtoys 5 brings together an entire range of audio effects into one powerful collection. The bundle includes all 18 Soundtoys plugins. Saturate, compress and distort with Decapitator, Radiator, and Devil-Loc. Get a virtual history of echo and delay hardware with EchoBoy and PrimalTap. Transform your vocals with Little AlterBoy. Recreate classic studio pitch, chorus and widening effects with Crystallizer and MicroShift. Take modulation to new levels with the beat-synced rhythmic effects of PanMan, Tremolator, FilterFreak, and PhaseMistress. All of these individual elements are proven, powerful tools, trusted by professional mix engineers, musicians and sound designers everywhere. Read more at Soundtoys
Above having innovative interfaces and a streamlined workflow, FabFilter creates powerful audio plugins with amazing sound quality. The beautifully slick interfaces of all their plugins make them extremely easy and fun to work with for music production and audio processing. In addition, many of the same features are shared across all plugins making them very intuitive to use together. The Mastering Bundle from FabFilter is a collection of four of their plugins, which consist of professional quality mastering tools often used by engineers in audio production applications such as studio recording, post-production, and more. With this bundle, you get FabFilter’s professional Pro-L limiter, Pro-Q 2 EQ, Pro-MB multiband dynamics, and the Pro-C 2 compressor plugins. Read more at FabFilter
Slate Digital’s award-winning products are some of the best analog modeling plugins in the industry. With the Slate Mix/Master Bundle, you get every Slate Digital plugin in addition to every future plugin they release. This complete package of amazing tools is available as monthly and yearly subscriptions that gives you everything Slate Digital comes out with including the exclusive Relab LX480 Reverb Plugin, a FREE ilok2, and up two $99 Coupons to buy ‘forever’ licenses. Read more at Slate Digital
Based on the renowned master buss center compressor of the SSL 4000 G console, the Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor captures the unique sound of the original’s IC input and twin VCA gain-reduction amplifier design. Prized by top engineers for its ability to “glue together” tracks, the SL 4000 G master buss center compressor is ideal for taming piano dynamics or adding punch to drums and percussion. Now, the ultimate finalizer that transforms a mix into a finished record can be yours in-the-box. Read more at Waves
Brainworx’s flagship product, the bx_digital V3 is an 11-band equalizer that delivers an impressive set of features and sound quality. Make precision moves on each channel that includes filters for high and low shelving, highpass and lowpass filters, and parametric bell. In addition, there is mono, L/R dual-mono, stereo, and mid-side modes of operation, a mid-side decoder, spectrum-balancing Bass and Presence Shifters, a Mono Maker summing tool, and comprehensive set of imaging, monitoring, and metering tools for high-level mastering. The release of bx_digital V3 extends the High Frequency band’s to 40 kHz, adds a Dynamic EQ module, offers API-style Proportional Q filters and six notch filters to handle any surgical mix or mastering tasks, alternate slopes, and global Gain Scale control. This unique EQ offers so many more features to list. Read more at Plugin Alliance
Alloy 2 by iZotope is truly a one-stop suite of professional-quality audio processing plugins that will save you valuable time by streamlining your workflow while giving you the essential tools to enhance your sounds. Far more than just a traditional channel strip, Alloy 2 is a modern twist on classic mixing. The basics have been re-imagined with forward-thinking features and time-saving flexibility. The plugin includes six tools – Equalization, Dynamics, Exciter, De-Esser, Transient Shaper, and a Limiter. This powerful, easy-to-use plugin delivers warm, punchy, vintage-inspired sound processing with precise digital control to sculpt your sounds. Read more at iZotope
A longtime secret weapon for audio professionals, the Sonnox Oxford Inflator has become the professional standard for adding power, warmth, and punch to your mix without audibly affecting the sonic quality or reducing dynamic range. Use this tool to increase the apparent loudness of your mix or individual tracks without overloads or compression pumping, or use it to add natural warmth and character. Read more at Sonnox
FabFilter’s Mixing Bundle is another great suite worthy of adding to your arsenal of your music production and audio processing tools. The Mix Bundle arms you with six professional quality mixing plugins that will enhance your audio with ease. The bundle includes FabFilter’s Pro-Q 2 professional EQ, Pro-C 2 compressor, Pro-DS de-esser, Pro-G gate/expander, Saturn, a multiband distortion, saturation and amp modelling plugin, and Timeless 2, a flexible tape delay plug-in with time stretching, top quality filters and drag-and-drop modulation. Read more at FabFilter
Throughout the vinyl era, the original Fairchild 660 and 670 compressors were ubiquitous: From the recording studio to the record lathe, the Fairchild was renowned for its advanced compression techniques and incomparable sound. Waves captured every distinctive nuance of Jack Joseph Puig’s Fairchild 670 along with every detail of its rich harmonic complexity. Read more at Waves
Learn the well-kept industry secrets of EQ, compression, panning, level balancing, reverb and special effects and transform rough ideas and basic compositions into a commercial master. Investigate how to use key concepts and tools in your tracks, while paying special attention to techniques of metering and spectral analysis in order to apply science alongside the art.
Mixing & Mastering Level 1: Mix
Mixing & Mastering Level 2: Modify
Mixing & Mastering Level 3: Master
“The videos were helpful and the chats were great. I expected a lot out of this course and I got it!” – Jon Yu, California
This program gives you everything you need to refine tracks into a clear commercial quality release, including special mixing and mastering techniques for dubstep, techno, house, trance, downtempo, hip-hop, and the gamut of electronically-produced music.
You will learn to mix and master your tracks using the same plugins that top industry engineers use every day, including plugins by Sonnox, Metric Halo, Altiverb, Soundtoys, Izotope, Waves, URS, and Abbey Road. Register today!
Click here for detailed information on this program, including start dates and payment plans.
Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.