I requested for Kontakt 6 player and Factory Selection. Got both links in e-mail, then added serial as it pointed in e-mail. Native Access downloaded and installed Kontakt 6 player, but not Factory Selection. I have factory selection listed in a list of all NI products (622 MB), but the Kontakt 6. Apr 08, 2017 #LogicProX #Tutorial #BeatMaking In this quick beatmaker tutorial for logic pro x, I will show you how you could easily import sounds like drums, effects and samples into logic pro x to create. Logic uses exclusively the Audio Unit (AU) plug-in format to load Native Instruments plug-ins. If your NI plug-in does not appear in Logic, you have to make sure the AU plug-in file is installed on your system. If your NI plug-in still does not show up in Logic, you have to manually reinitialize the missing plug-in.
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Want to make high-quality music productions for nothing? We’ve created a comprehensive guide to the best free VST plugins 2018, best free VSTs for 2019 and 2020. I’ve included every effect you could ever need from vintage style EQ, Compressors, Classic Synths, Amp Simulators, Delays, Drum Kit, Reverbs, Autotune alternatives, Limiters, Bit Crushers, Nexus VST, Lo-fi FX and a ton more.
There are hundreds of free VST effects or music producers in this list, so take your time, you are going to need a large mug of coffee to after receiving a large volume of these beauties!
For ease, I’ve split up the list of free VST Plugins into categories in the following order: Classic Synths, VSTInstrument Bundles, EQ & Compressors, Channel Strips, Amp Simulators, Reverb, Delay and finally FX.
To get you started.
What Is A VST Plugin?
Virtual Studio Technology VST Plugins for short. It allows the person using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to install software from 3rd party companies. VSTs give you various audio FX (effects) and virtual instruments as plugins inside your DAW. This was first developed and introduced to the market by Steinberg with their DAW Cubase in 1996, it was a game changer for sure and gave huge flexibility and opportunity for software development and huge benefits to the music creators.
So without further ado, let’s get to it!
Classic Synth Sounds
For me having a new synth or plugin inspires me to create new music. I’m constantly looking for new synths and FX to use in my own music productions. So, I’ve done the hard work for you to bring together, in my opinion, the best VST plugins available right now.
This compiled list is the best of the best and features everything from classic synth sounds to vintage compressors, fantastic delays and guitar amp simulators. I think if you downloaded all of these you could produce most genres of music to a pretty high standard.
Dexed FM Synth
The Dexed FM Synth is closely modelled on the sound quality of the classic Yamaha DX7. The DX7 was used on countless recordings in the ’80s. Everyone from Prince, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston to Brian Eno have used sounds from the DX7 in their chart-topping hits.
Many artists used the default presets the rom synthesizer had to offer at the time as it was very complicated to use. You can make use of the cartridge manager to load some of these iconic patches/sounds, thanks to Black Winny from KRV Audio, oh and check out spitfire audio as well!
Download the Dexed Synthhere (Mac / PC) – Check what is the best computer for music production.
MiniMogue VA
This is an emulation of the classic Minimoog with a couple of extra features thrown in for good measure including a very nice user friendly audio interface.
This is a classic sound which you should ensure you have in your plugin folder. For me, some of my favourite artists and producers have used the Minimoog’s classic sounds in their audio productions.
From the bass lines of Parliament-Funkadelic to Dr Dre using the synth for lead lines on The Chronic album to J Dilla using the Minimoog Voyager on his legendary album cut, Donuts.
Download MiniMogue VA
TAL – Noisemaker
TAL-Noisemaker is arguably one of the best free VST plugins for logic pro x you can download. The synth includes a small effect section with a reverb, chorus and a simple bit crusher effect. TAL-NoiseMaker includes new filter types as the self resonating 6dB low pass and a notch filter. Its improved amplitude ADSR is very suitable for slow pads as for really fast envelopes.
Download TAL-Noisemaker
TAL U No 62
TAL-Noisemaker is arguably one of the best free VST plugins you can download. The synth includes a small effect section with a reverb, chorus and a simple bit crusher effect. TAL-NoiseMaker includes new filter types as the self resonating 6dB low pass and a notch filter. Its improved amplitude ADSR is very suitable for slow pads as for really fast envelopes.
Download TAL-Noisemaker
TAL U No 62
This one is a great free VST synth. TAL used a Roland Juno 60 as a reference for the oscillators and filters. The classic Roland Juno 60 synth has been considered by many to be one of the most important synths in popular music. Artists such as Mac Demarco, Tiesto, Disclosure and many more are fans of this classic.
Download Tal U No 62
Crystal Synth
Crystal is a great free VST and it’s been around for a while. Nonetheless, it is still capable of generating some great sounds. It was created by Glen Olander who later went on to create Spectrasonics Omnisphere.
Download Crystal Synth
From File Explorer, open the USB flash drive, then open Setup or setup.exe, which is in the WindowsSupport folder or BootCamp folder. When you're asked to allow Boot Camp to make changes to your device, click Yes.
Synth 1
Synth 1 is an emulation of the classic Clavia Nord Lead 2 (Red Synth). The plugin has a huge range of useable sounds. I’ve seen so many session players that still use Nord Lead for live performances and in the recording studio. It’s another must-have addition to your plugin folder.
Download Synth 1
Modulair Synth
It is a synth capable of a wide variety of sounds from great bass tones to pads and lead synth.
Download Modulair Synth
Another synth we’d love to add to this list is the Xfer Serum VST plugin. You can read our in-depth guide about Xfer Serum!
VSTInstrument Bundles
Next up I have put together a number of fantastic bundles to download, which include a huge array of sounds and all the best free VST instruments 2018 has brought us.
Native Instruments Komplete Players
This is an incredible set of free VST instrument plugins and sounds from our friends based out of Berlin, Germany. This bundle is available totally for free. It includes three virtual instruments with over 500 sounds to choose from. Komplete Players features everything from free piano, vintage Rhodes, Organ, Strings and some awesome inspiring sounds from Reaktor 6.
A version of Guitar Rig is also included which has a great AMP model and some really nice effects, delays, reverbs and modulation. Many engineers use guitar effects on a bus channel for vocals or drums. If you had to download one bundle, this would be the one I would recommend.
Download Komplete Start Players Bundle
Sampletank Custom Shop
Sampletank is another awesome bundle of high quality sounds for you to use entirely free. It includes 30 instruments from a free VST Piano, Violins, Flutes, Saxophones, Choirs, Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums and more.
Download Sampletankhere
Syntronik Free (Sampletank)
This is another great VST that is a must-have. They have sampled 38 of the most desirable synths. This version includes 50 presets which all use different sample sets. The sounds of this analogue style synth are incredible from great Minimoog to Jupiter sounds.
The possibilities are endless with this Synth as you can layer up to 4 presets on top of each other to create a new sound and then alter the sound with a huge range of effects inside the instrument.
Download Syntronik Freehere
Steven Slate Drums SSD5 Free
This is, in my opinion, one of the best free live drum VST plugins you can get. Steven Slate has created a name for himself producing some of the best live kits with world-class engineers like Chris Lord Alge. You only get one kit but you can tune it differently and use all the features of the SSD5.
Download Steve Slate Drums SSD5 Freehere
VST Instrument Bundles (Paid options)
If you have a few dollars/pounds to spare a month or you are working on a specific project for a brief I’ve decided to include some great paid monthly services that I think you should check out:
This would be a great option if you are working onmusic for a film score or TV series. The quality of the recordings in these sample libraries is simply fantastic and has been used by many top composers.
How To Get A Vst You Downloaded Into Logical
East West Composer Cloud
This service includes over 40,000 audio recordings, which includes everything from orchestral music to world music instruments and rock sounds. The subscription cost is $19.99 per month (around £16 in the UK & Europe)
Roland Cloud
Over the years, Roland has created some of the greatest synths and drum machines known to mankind. They have influenced modern music culture and inspired so many top artists and producers, especially in early Hip Hop. So it’s no surprise that their cloud service is very popular, they have made available their most iconic synths and drum machines on a digital platform, meaning you can now gain access to them all for around £18.95 a month.
This is pretty good value if you can’t afford to buy a vintage original 808 drum machine, for example. I believe that Roland also has some of the top VST plugins for FL Studio all in all.
Native Instruments Komplete
I think the updates and the overall quality of sound that Native provide is incredible. Komplete Select offer 7000 sounds and 45G of audio samples, all for the price of around £159. Which, if you work it out over the year you’re paying the same price as theEast West Composer Cloud, but you get to keep all the samples and instruments. Their FL Studio plugin expansion pack is especially neat.
EQ, Compression & Channel Strips
Most DAWs that you will use have amazing built-in digital EQ and compression plugins. These are great tools for cutting out unwanted frequencies in a boxy sounding acoustic guitar track or levelling out the volume of a vocal recording with a high-quality compressor plugin.
I’ve put together a list of my favourite EQ, Compressors and Channel Strips that add character to your mixes and help colour the sound in a specific way. Most of them are emulations or inspired by top mixing consoles or outboard gear you would find in some of the best recording studios from around the world.
Code Red Free – Shattered Glass Audio
This plugin takes inspiration from an early British console from the ’60s. So if you’re looking to give some of your tracks a 60’s over-driven sound this is the plugin for you.
EQ 560 – Red Rock Sound
This EQ is also another take on a classic EQ from 1967 it’s a 10 band graphic precision equaliser. This plugin can be used on anything from heavy drum breaks to soft acoustic guitar tracks. It is also one of the best free VST Plugins for vocals.
T Rack Classic EQ
This is another free product from ikmultimedia, this time in a 6 band EQ from T Racks. Its a nice sounding EQ on most audio material but I think it’s best suited to acoustic guitars and rock vocals. I would say it’s one of the best free vocal VST plugins 2018 brought us.
Ceil – Channel strip (Acustica Audio)
Ceil is based on a heavily modified British channel strip that we sampled at the end of 2017, during one of our official workshops held at a studio near the lake of Como.
This is a free plugin, but only until 14th February 2019. After this, it will be available at a price of $99 (around £79). So if you are reading this in time, sign up for an account to grab this channel strip for free. I’ve downloaded it, had a play and it sounds great on most audio recordings I’ve tried.
Logic Channel (windows only)
Inspired by the famous “nine thousand series” British console, the Logic Channel. Great sounding plugin it includes dynamics, EQ and gate. Sounds great on drums! Smack labs also do two other plugins inspired by the 5000 series British console.
SL532 EQ (windows only)
Compressor SL 543 (windows only)
Levelling tool Compressor – Audio Tools
This is a great sounding compressor taking huge influence from LA 2A compressor. If you are looking to add character and saturation to drum tracks, this compressor will do the trick. You can use this lots of different ways, from really driving the input to get an over-driven sound to using it on a bus for some parallel compression.
Download Levelling Tool Compressor from Audio Tools
The Sonnox Elite Collection contains seven powerful mixing plug-ins used by countless professionals all over the world. Sonnox Elite Collection OverviewThe Oxford Plug-ins have earned a world-class reputation for their high-quality processing, precision control and intuitive graphical interfaces. SubmitSonnox Elite Collection Free Download Latest Version r2r for Windows. It is full offline installer standalone setup of Sonnox Elite Collection Crack mac for 32/64. Sonnox oxford inflator pc crack.
Monster Extreme Dynamic Processor
This compressor is one of the most versatile compressors on the list. Again from Slate Digital, I’ve used these compressors in many projects and really like the sound of them. You can use them on drum tracks to get a really aggressive sound or on a vocal track and even on a master bus for a mix.
It can also work as a great free vocal mastering VST plugins. This is a must-have in my opinion. You need to sign up for an Ilok 2 account but its worth it.
Download Monster Extreme Dynamic Processor
Amp Simulation
I have a few bundles I’d like to point you towards.
Guitar Rig 5
The first is Guitar Rig Free which I mentioned earlier. It can be downloaded separately and the full version has been used by top recording bands such as Nine Inch Nails.
Ignite Amps
They are making some fantastic products for guitarists and bassists, from amp simulations to great sounding distortion pedals.
Download Ignite Amps
Amplitube Ik Multimedia
They offer a free version of Amplitube 4 which has 4 amp models and lots of effects.
Download Amplitube
Reverb
Smarteletronicx Ambience Reverb
This is a convolution reverb that can compete with some of the best reverbs in the market. It sounds great on strings and lovely using it on an upright piano that worked really well.
Download Smarteletronicx Ambience Reverb
TAL Reverb-4
This is a great vintage sounding reverb.
Download TAL Reverb 4
Ambient Reverb Stone Voices
This one is fantastic for long reverbs and spacey soundscapes if you’re creating ambient music. It has 100 second reverb time which is mad! Great on long notes/drones.
Download Ambient Reverb Stone Voices
u-He Protoverb
Natural sounding reverb with a variety of different room settings.
Download u-He Protoverb
Voxengo Old Skool Verb
This is another great vintage style reverb, very good on vocals, pads and piano.
Download Voxengo Old Skool Verb
Delays
Voxengo Tempo Delay
Tempo delay is a good delay plugin for adding movement to synth or bass sounds and lines, percussive grooves and vocals. In fact, great when mixing vocals and create harmonies in conjunction with a pitch shifter. It’s one of the free vocal harmony VST plugins I would most recommend.
Download Voxengo Tempo Delay
Wat Kat
If you’re a guitarist you will need to download this. It’s an emulation of the Wem Copy Cat tape Echo used by countless top guitarists. If you’re looking for a great 50’s rock n roll or rockabilly sound, this is a killer piece of software!
Download Wat Kat
Tal Dub Delays & Various FX (Chorus to Vocoders and Filters)
They offer three delay plugins from vintage tap echo to classic delay.
Download Tal Dub
Tal has a great chorus, reverb and distortion fx that is worth adding to your collection.
Download Tal Dub Products
Various FX
Dead Duck 25 Effect Bundle
This includes everything; compressors, delays chorus etc.
Download Dead Duck 25 Effect Bundle
Revival
This is an interesting effect. It adds low end or high end to the signal. I know it sounds boring, but trust me it’s not. It warms up the signal as if it were running through an old tube preamp or tape. Great for acoustic guitars and drums!
Download Revival
Izotope Plugins
Vocal Doubler
This is an effect the emulates double tracking.
Download Vocal Doubler
Vinyl
This one is a great effect for adding a lo-fi vibe to your songs. It can make your song sound like it was created in the 1920s! I know that artist Just Blaze has used this plugin before!
Download Vinyl
How To Get A Vst You Downloaded Into Logic 1
Mfree FX Bundle
This has everything from autotune, pitch corrects, reverbs, compression eq and analysers. Deadmau5 is a fan of these plugins so you can’t go wrong downloading this bundle.
Download Mfree FX Bundle
Last but not least some plugins from Xfer Records
Download Xfer Records Bundle
OTT Compressor and the Delta Modulator (a bit crusher)
My Recommendations
Before I finish up here are my favourite plugins from each category:
– For Synths it has to be the Syntronik free, it’s incredible! I have lots of hardware synths in the studio and the guys at ikmultimedia have done a great job recreating classic synths.
– EQ wise it has to be the EQ 560 console emulation. This is very very close to many commercial plugin emulations.
– One of my favourite compressors is the Leveling Tool Compressor. I’ve always liked the sound of LA2A compressor on a drum bus or electric guitars. I believe they used this compressor on many of the red hot chilli peppers guitar tracks.
– In terms of bundled instruments, I’d go with the Komplete Players as it includes the fantastic Guitar Rig and tons of sounds. I’ve been a fan of Native instruments products for years and use everything from Maschine to Traktor in a career. I’ve even used Guitar Rig live in a DJ set and works well.
– In terms of the Reverb, I really like Ambience which I’ve been using for a long time.
– The Wat Kat delay is a great sound for guitarists so for me at the moment that’s the best for me in the list.
– FX wise it would have to be Mfree FX as it has so many tools from autotune to delays and much more besides.
Free DAW Recommendation
If you are looking for free VST effects the chances are you might need a great free DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).
So in this regard, I would point you in the direction of the best free DAW available right now (In my opinion) Cakewalk by Bandlab.
Download Cakewalk
Bandlab by Cakewalk is essentially Sonar Platinum minus some bundled fx. Sonar was around $600 for the platinum version and now it’s available free.
It includes some excellent FX and a wide range of VST instruments with unlimited audio tracks. I think if I was looking to create music on a budget this DAW, together with the best free VST plugins effects above would give me a dream starting point for a home recording studio and plenty of scope to create great recordings.
Of course, there are plenty of DAW options on the market to choose from, Reaper, FL Studio 12, Cubase, Logic Pro X, Garageband for example, so do your research before you decide what’s best for your set up.
I hope you enjoyed this list and found it helpful, please share this with fellow friends and musicians. Spread the word, as they say. Thanks, Mark
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VST and AudioUnits (AU) are the two native plugin formats for Mac OS X. Although there are other DAW specific formats for plugins, VST and AudioUnits are more common and compatible across various DAWs like Cubase, Logic, etc. There is an abundance of VST and AU plugins for expanding your DAW and building your collection of effects. However, it can be difficult to know how to get those plugins running on your computer. Especially if they are free and do not come with installers or instructions. I'll help you get those files in the right places and make them appear in your plugin stacks.
Finding the Audio Plugins folder
The plugin folder is nested in the Macintosh HD Library. There are usually a minimum of two Libraries on your Mac, one in Macintosh HD and another in your user account. You should only place the plugins in the Macintosh HD Library so that it can be accessed by all users on the computer. The usual location of the folder should be:
Macintosh HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/
How to Install VST Plugins
- Unzip the downloaded file if it is an archive like .zip or .rar. You should only see a file with a .vst extension. This is the actual file required for the plugin.
- Move the .vst file to the VST folder in your audio plugins folder.
- If your DAW is running, close it and restart it. When your DAW starts up, it will rescan your plugins folder and detect your recently installed plugin.
How to Install AudioUnits Plugins
- Unzip the downloaded file if it is an archive like .zip or .rar. You should only see a file with a .component extension. This is the actual file required for the plugin.
- Move the .component file to the Components folder in your audio plugins folder.
- If your DAW is running, close it and restart it. When your DAW starts up, it will rescan your plugins folder and detect your recently installed plugin.
Other Plugin Formats
You might come across another folder labelled VST3, this is for VST3 plugins which are not as common as of yet. They can be identified with the .vst3 file extension. MAS is used for MOTU Audio System. HAL is Hardware Abstraction Layer and you should not be needing to change anything there.
Tips and Tricks
There some things that you can do to make managing plugins easier. If you have a huge collection of plugins but you do not use them all at the same time, you can waste a lot of time waiting for your DAW/host to scan all of them.
- Create a folder as seen in the picture above labelled Components (Disabled) or VST (Disabled).
- Simply drag the associated plugin to the respective ‘Disabled’ folder if you do not wish to load the plugin or have problems loading it.
- Restart your DAW if it is running. Your DAW will rescan and load the plugins in your Components or VST folder, and ignore the ones in the 'Disabled' folders.
Remember to check for updates for your plugin first if they are giving you problems. Updates could provide compatibility fixes for newer DAWs or operating systems. Keeping your plugins in check and trimming it down can make your music making experience more responsive and trouble-free.