The Best Freeware Thread!

[Nav]

Lets talk about awesome freeware.

This is about both VSTs and VSTis.

The main difference between this thread and the rest? This is only about GOOD freeware, and you must tell why something is good! No payware, NO DEMOS, NO MAGAZINE EDITIONS, but you are allowed to use "light editions." Also, forum threads are more accessible than news posts.

I'll start this off with something I heard a while back at KVR: "There are two types of freeware: Ones that sound good, and ones that look good. To find both is a rare and beautiful thing." Well, it wasn't exactly that dramatic, but it was similar in meaning.

Lets find freeware that looks and sounds good. I'll start with a few of my favorites.

1. Oatmeal with the Maple and Brown Sugar Skin - This is a wonderful piece of freeware! It has so many features, its almost semi-modular. It has a great sound too, especially the unison module. Its one thing that REALLY makes a difference? Its got a waveform editor, similar to the one in ABSYNTH! Its really helpful for adding harmonics, etc! The skin does a great job at making it more usable.

2. Crystal - Is a complex piece of VST action. Its a semimodular FM/Subtractive VST, with many, many parameters. Programming it is not recommended for newbies. However, you can tell it rocks just by the presets. Supposedly, it's Solus' secret weapon. That should be good enough to make you want it.

3. W1 Limiter - Ever heard of Waves L1 Ultramaximizer and how awesome it was? Well, guess what? Someone coded a FREEWARE clone of it! :D Betabugs did the skinning, but there's an unskinned (default GUI) version here! Check it out if you're doing mastering or mixing, or just need a good mastering limiter!

4. Ferox - This tape simulator is great for adding that special analog warm distortion needed to get your track right! Warning, though, there is no internal limiter, so it can clip. Just turn the volume down! Ferox sounds great, though, so I do recommend it!

5. Izotope Vinyl - Described as the Ultimate Lo-Fi weapon/simulator, and its made by the guys behind Ozone Mastering thiny. 'Nuff said.

I hope this thread helps, post your own! :D

[glitchcore]

yMVST - An vital VST if you are going to create some melodic chiptunes. yMVST emulates the sound of the atari st yM2149 soundchip. Excellent for someone wishing to create 8bit/chiptunes.

reViSiT - like the oldschool tracker style programs such as impulse tracker/fast tracker? Can't get them to work on your OS? Or have you already spent $$$$$$$$$ on a step sequencer like FL Studio? Well reViSiT's here to help. Load in this nifty vst and it turns your sequencer into a MANLY vertical tracker!

[Nav]

At 5/14/08 07:05 PM, glitchcore wrote: stuf

Holy shi- both of those look awesome! Nice job! I hope for more posts like this!

[glitchcore]

At 5/14/08 07:11 PM, Nav wrote: Holy shi- both of those look awesome! Nice job! I hope for more posts like this!

sure thing

Peach -a very good vst if you are going to be making those classic video game sounds. Peach offers a wide range of tweakable nintendo sounds. Includes over 30 sounds that will send you into a trip of nostalgia.

Toad - need more 8bit style vst's to groooove up your sounds? Toad is for you! Toad offers alot of classic 8bit percussion sounds. Groovy!

TriForce - Triforce will be sure to make your 8bit or anytype of genre songs seem more melodic. With 3 oscillators with square, triangle, and noise including various effects and the ability to make arpeggio's , triforce will leave your ears screaming for more, more, more!

ill post more when i think of some

[Mrmilkcarton]

I've used all of these before.

VSTI -

Synth1 - This has to be one of my favorite VSTIs I have found to date. It has a weird layout but after turning a few knobs you learn how powerful of a sound you can get out of this thing. If you don't understand Japanese (I sure don't) no problem just go to the download section it has an English installer. Need more proof of its awesomeness check out this Demo Video.

DsK Music - This guy simply put has amazing VSTI's. Pianos, synthesizers, Chinese traditional sounds, Harmonica, you name it. He has been featured in magazines and the likes. I suggest checking out his DsKAcousticz and Oragze they are fun and look pretty nice.

Audjoo Helix - Confusing at first sight but once you get past that this thing can produce a synthe like none other. Just listen to the sample songs you will realize the power of this VSTI.

[Insomni]

Buffer Override which is just beautiful. a sound that is heard often enough but still is a great sound. it effectively takes short snippets of the sound playing into it and.. no i cant actually describe what it does properly. i head a story once that it was made for squarepusher by a friend, don't know if thats true but his album ultravisitor is coated heavily in it. hell, all of destroy FX are fantastic. for that matter smartelectronix.com has allot of fantastic things.

Camel Crusher i seem to use this on allot, compressor/distortion. its simple and it sounds good.

Sam Chip32 is, at the moment, the synth i use most. the best comadore64 chip music sound you can get without either having a comadore64 or spending a silly ammount on a sidstation. draw a waveform in which, because it only has 32 points (points?), it always sounds bit crushed in the most fantastic way.

Independence.... get this... now... i mean it.... native instruments kontakt: £449/EU399/£255. independence:nothing. just as good if not better. oh its a sampler

[Nav]

At 5/14/08 09:30 PM, Insomni wrote: Independence.... get this... now... i mean it.... native instruments kontakt: £449/EU399/£255. independence:nothing. just as good if not better. oh its a sampler

Well, it needs Kontakt and that costs money, so while Independence is technically freeware, it requires a purchase, so its useless.

[Insomni]

no it doesnt, i was compearing the two. independence is, well independent.

[Ch1ll]

Superwave P8 Great plugin for whatever! You can pump lovely sounds out of this one:) Has a lot of functions, like 2 Osc's, 2 filter's, 2 filter envelopes, 2 AMP envelopes, and a loooot more. It is a JP8000 emulation, but not A emulation, but THE emulation:D You'd pay a lot of money for a Vsti like this, but this one is free:) It's superwaves give a really fat sound, definetly give this a try!

[Androu1]

Basic64 - A VST made with samples of the Commodore 64.AWESOME for fast paced chiptunes.It's a great VST and you better believe it.

[SolusLunes]

At 5/14/08 09:50 PM, Nav wrote:

At 5/14/08 09:30 PM, Insomni wrote: Independence.... get this... now... i mean it.... native instruments kontakt: £449/EU399/£255. independence:nothing. just as good if not better. oh its a sampler

Well, it needs Kontakt and that costs money, so while Independence is technically freeware, it requires a purchase, so its useless.

Entirely untrue. I use Independence Free as a VST in FL. You can download it here.

[Nav]

At 5/15/08 09:19 PM, SolusLunes wrote: Entirely untrue. I use Independence Free as a VST in FL. You can download it here.

Yeah I noticed that after he posted. It looks cool.... I didn't get it because the site was in Russian.

[SolusLunes]

At 5/15/08 09:21 PM, Nav wrote:

At 5/15/08 09:19 PM, SolusLunes wrote: Entirely untrue. I use Independence Free as a VST in FL. You can download it here.

Yeah I noticed that after he posted. It looks cool.... I didn't get it because the site was in Russian.

There's an English version of the site :p

[Nav]

At 5/15/08 09:22 PM, SolusLunes wrote: There's an English version of the site :p

...That's how I figured it out! :)

[MaestroRage]

I will be putting this info on the page of ultimate free stuffz. Great stuff here guys, great stuff.