ABOUT FREE VST PLUGINS

Free VST Plugins

In todays audio world we are really spoiled with free VST plugins to add to the effects and instruments that may come with a digital audio workstation (DAW). At the same time the plugins that come with most commercial DAW’s are already of a pretty high quality and to be honest it would most definately be possible to mix a song using only the plugins that come with the pro versions of say for instance Cubase, Logic, or ProTools.

Nevertheless there are so many nice free VST plugins out there that it would almost be a shame not to enhance your arsenal of tools by adding some freebies to your collection of plugins. At the same time: exactly because there are so many free vst plugins available on the internet it can seem almost overwhelming and difficult to decide which of them are of high quality and thus which ones to choose.

On these pages I share my five cents of wisdom on free vst plugins. For some years now I have tested quite a few of them and compared them to commercial plugins from for instance Waves, SSL, TC Electronics, Softtube, IK Multimedia, Eventide, Universal Audio, Slate Digital etc. There are definitely many good commercial plugins out there – I own several of them myself – and there can be many good reasons to invest in commercial plugins. However, the best of the free VST plugins I have tested can easily compete with many commercial plugins.

Of course some free vst plugins are of a higher quality than others – and some are just not good enough for professional use. But in many cases the plugins I have compared were equally good – just different. In some cases the free VST plugins even performed better than commercial plugins. In other words there is no reason not to dive in and snatch a few free VST plugins to your liking.

The fact that plugins of the same type (for instance VST compressor plugins) have different sound and work in different ways is one of the good reasons to have several vst plugins to choose from when you make music. While one vst compressor plugin may be the right choice when dealing with drums you may need another compressor for the vocal. And while one compressor may be right for the drums in a certain style or mix it may not be appropriate in a different situation. In some cases you may want a vst effect that colours the sound and in other cases you may need one that is clean etc.

Check out the description and the links to free VST plugins in the menu. Only the very best free VST plugins are listed here so you can safely download and enjoy these freebies!

I hope the information gathered on these pages can be of help to you. Please feel free to send comments, suggestions, etc. via the blog page.