7 free audio plugins you need

There are lots of great plugins out there that can add functionality and sonic enhancements to your DAW. Plugin bundles from Waves, Nomad Factory and many others start at a few hundred dollars and continue upwards to the thousands.

But great plugins don’t have to cost a lot. Here are seven free plugins I find useful on a day to day basis. All are available in VST and AudioUnits (AU). Don’t let the price fool you – these are all serious pro audio tools!

1. Solid State Logic LMC-1 – This is a free compressor from SSL that was modeled on the compression circuit originally designed to prevent overloading the return feed from a studio communications mic. SSL claims the LMC-1 is “the secret weapon in many producers’ sonic arsenal of recording techniques,” and it’s no exaggeration. Its fixed attach and release curves make it perfect to use on ambient drums mics.
2. Digital Fish Phones Fish Fillets Bundle – This bundle from Digital Fish Phones consists of a compressor, de-esser and expander/gate. Blockfish is a compressor with “soul;” it’s a great tool once you’ve learned how to use it. Spitfish is an easy-to-use de-esser for mono or stereo vocal tracks. And Floorfish is a simple expander/gate that’s easy to set up and manages everything from slight expansion to extreme gating effects. I find I reach for these before many other plugins I actually paid for.
3. Nomad Factory Free Bundle – A trio of useful effects plugins, consisting of the Nomad-Phaser, the Nomad-Sweeper, and the Nomad-Tremolo. Discontinued, but still available.
4. iZotope Vinyl – This vinyl simulator plugin uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modelling and resampling to simulate audio being played on a record player.
5. CamelCrusher – This is a free “colouring” multi-effect (distortion, compressor and filter) plugin that offers two characteristically different distortion sounds. Blend these together to create a variety of tones and textures. Especially good on guitars and drums.
6. Magnus’ Ambience – This reverb seriously rivals the quality of some of the best commercial reverbs.
7. RNDigital Inspector – This plugin doesn’t change your sound, it lets you see it. Inspector is an audio analysis tool that can help you get a full picture of your audio. Includes a spectrum analyzer, a balance meter, and peak and RMS meters with customizable caution and warning zones.

There are literally hundreds more free plugins available from big companies and independent developers. The sites listed below are great places to start if you’re looking to take your sonic pallette beyond your DAW’s built-in plugins:

• The Ultimate List of Free VST plugins is exactly what it says.
• www.dontcrack.com also has an extensive list of plugins available free of charge.
• www.databaseaudio.co.uk has a very comprehensive list of free plugins. -mc