As a music producer, having a nice collection of VSTs can make a huge difference in your sound. And in some instances, a quality VST doesn’t come with a price tag. Whether you’re looking for a great delay plugin or trying to dial in a nice Lofi sound, my top 6 free VST plugins will have you covered.
In no particular order, these are the top 6 free VST plugins.
Spitfire Labs
As soon as I told anyone about Spitfire Labs, people got really mad, because this is literally the sauce. Everything in here sounds great. It’s hard to believe that it’s free, but it is. You’ll definitely want to download this amazing free VST plugin. Support Spitfire. This one is really dope all around.
Softube Saturation Knob
Softube Saturation Knob is a go to plugin of mine, especially when I’m working in Pro Tools. I love the Ableton built-in saturator, but the Softube one is great in other DAW’s. Its simplicity makes it extremely attractive. One knob, select your type. It looks great and sounds great.
TAL-Filter-2
TAL-Filter-2 is a host synced filter module with different filter types, panorama and volum modulation possibilities. This is another quick go to because of these ease in which you can get these effects. Just draw in the filter type that you want. Adjust the resonant filter type, depth, input and output. You can get real creative with the shapes too.
Valhalla Freq Echo
Valhalla Freq Echo is a great delay plugin that lets you adjust the frequency. This is another one that you can get really creative with depending what delay your session calls for.
iZotope Vinyl
This VST plugin has been around for a while. It has the same sound as before, but they recently upgraded its GUI. With Vinyl, you can select what year you want it to be and adjust the speed of the turntable. Lofi mode is like a bit crusher. And you can set the amount of wear and scratches to the record. I’m not crazy about turning the scratch up, because it sounds more like my DAW is skipping. There’s warp where you can set the warp type. And there’s mechanical and electrical noise types you can add in. If you’re on a budget, iZotope Vinyl is amazing for quickly dialing in that Lofi sound. This plug-in is also widely used. I go into a lot of sessions and people load this up and now that it looks better, there’s no reason not to get it.
Xfer OTT
Over the top compression that makes everything in your face and super bright. For those working Ableton, there is a default OTT preset already, but if you move over to Pro Tools or FL Studio, that’s when this free VST plugin is amazing.
