Best Vst Plugins For Mastering Audacity
Mastering in-the-box plugins combine many useful effects that you need to achieve that professional feel for your tracks. Speaking of which- these days, audio producers have more than enough options for the job. If you are looking for one or two reliable picks for in-the-box mastering needs, below are some fantastic VST mastering plugins worth. 12 of the best VST/AU metering plugins By Computer Music ( Computer Music ) 04 January 2019 If you really want to see what's going on with the levels of your mix or master, you're going to need one of these.
Info from Trebor, triaged by Gale, that can be incorporated into this page (add those plugins not already listed).- The JS series & MDA series of VST plugins, (which are old) , wouldn't work properly with Audacity 2.1.0 , see https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1083 for status, it is DEVEL-FIX MADE now.
- The “Antress modern” series of plugins, http://antress.blogspot.co.uk/ do work , but since implementation of real-time-adjustment , you have to stop then start playback for any adjustments to the controls to take effect. This is not on Bugzilla, so needs testing but it could have already been fixed by the fix for https://bugzilla.audacityteam.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1084 .
Working with virtual studio technology (VST) plugins is tremendously convenient, but a lot of the best VST plugins out there are very expensive. If you're looking to expand your library of VST instrument (VSTi) plugins, or tweak your mixes with some great effects or MIDI effects VST plugins, you can do it for free.
- Free VST effects I have on my machine right now, which I use regularly, so I know are working OK on Audacity 2.1.0:
- Marvel GEQ.dll http://www.voxengo.com/product/marvelgeq/https://forum.audacityteam.org/download/file.php?id=13343]A graphic equalizer
- ANWIDA Soft DX Reverb Light.dll http://www.anwida.com/product.asp?pid=7, http://www.anwida.com/dc.asp?file=http://www.anwida.com/progs/asdxrl20.zip&pid=7
- BC Chorus 4 VST(Stereo).dll http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_Chorus/
- Gmulti.dll , Ggate.dll , Gsnap.dll http://www.gvst.co.uk/downloads.htm [ compressor, gate, autotune ].
- SPITFISH.dll http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5 [ a basic de-esser ].
- TB_Sibalance_v3.dll http://www.toneboosters.com/tb-sibalance/ [ a sophisticated de-esser ].
- DtBlkFx.dll http://rekkerd.org/dtblkfx/ A spectral-processor [ capable of weirdness like nothing else ].
- 'Acon Multiply' https://acondigital.com/products/multiply/ It does chorus & stereo effects . It has presets, so is simple to operate : ideal for newbies who wants to add effects to vocal / guitar recordings.
This page describes support for VST (Virtual Studio Technology) effect plug-ins in Audacity; VST instrument plug-ins that generate audio are not supported. A list of VST effects known to process correctly in Audacity on Windows is given here.
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Related article(s):
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- 3List of functional VST Plug-ins
VST support in Audacity
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VST effects are displayed with full GUI interface (where provided by the plug-in), and without need of the VST Enabler. This has been made possible by use of an open source VST header.
For instructions on how to load new VST effects into Audacity please see this page in the Manual.
The overwhelming majority of VST effect plug-ins should display and process correctly. If an incompatible VST plug-in does cause a problem, click the Manage button in the effect's dialog then choose 'Best Vst Plugins For Mastering Audacity Plugin
Options..'. In the dialog that appears, try reducing Buffer Size, disabling Latency Compensation or disabling graphical display. See VST Effect Options in the Manual for more information on these choices.- To report a plug-in that is problematic in current Audacity, please report it on the Audacity Forum.
Installing VST plug-ins in Audacity
The process and file location is different for each operating system. See the following pages in the Audacity Manual:
List of functional VST Plug-ins
Instructions for adding plug-ins to the list:
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- The majority of plug-ins will be for Windows only unless OS 9 or OS X is stated.
- Classic Mac OS plug-ins will only work under OS 9 and previous. Mac OS X plug-ins with a .component file marked as 'PowerPC' will only work on PPC Macs (they might work on Intel Macs with slow performance under Rosetta but Rosetta cannot be used on OS X 10.7 or later).
List of Plug-ins with download links
- Antares AutoTune Evo - Mostly works with current Audacity. Automatic pitch correction works, but to be able to draw pitch curves clock must be set to 'internal' and not 'host'. (commercial)
- Antress Modern Plug-ins including a number of compressors, a limiter, an expander, an exciter and a 'spacer' which could be used for creating 'fake stereo'
- ANWIDA Soft DX Reverb Light.dll for Windows and Mac (PowerPC only)
- Bo Johansen Plug-ins
- Bluecat Plug-ins
- bs2b.dll stereo to binaural
- Buzzroom CL 201 (Vintage Maximiser) - now shareware
- Gale 18Nov15: The Classic plugins below are discontinued. The links were pointing to Brothersoft which is a dubious site and now point to VST4free which is much less bad. Also you can get the complete bundle from http://acoustica1.cachefly.net/other/Classic-Effects-Installer.exe. The installer puts the plugins in %PROGRAMFILES%VST where (according to the Manual and VSTEffect.cpp) Audacity should not see them unless a registry key or VST_PATH environment variable points there. But Audacity does see them (on Win 10).
- Classic Chorus.dll
- Classic Compressor.dll
- Classic Delay.dll
- Classic EQ.dll
- Classic Flanger.dll
- Classic Master Limiter.dll
- Classic Phaser.dll
- Classic Reverb.dll
- Gale 17Nov15: Any other plugins are not listed because presumably no-one tested them. Yes, show a landing page with detail for the plugin if there is one. But if we have a table like I suggest we can link to the publisher and the plugin in a less confusing way.
- digitalfishphones plug-ins
- dominion v1.2.dll - a tool to shape the envelope of a signal, giving you total control of the signal's attack & sustain phase
- endorphin - dual-band stereo compressor
- BLOCKFISH - compressor for Windows and OS X (PPC only)
- FLOORFISH.dll - expander/noise gate for Windows and OS X (PPC only)
- SPITFISH.dll - de-esser for Windows and OS X (PPC only)
- normalizer.dll - a denormalization tool
- THD.dll - analog-style saturator
- DtBlkFx (FFT-based frequency and harmonics manipulation). Also supports OS X (Universal binary) but only Windows version tested.
- Extra Boy Pro removal and isolation of audio components (commercial, paid for)
- EZmix (commercial, time limited demo available). Also supports OS X but only Windows version tested.
- Freeverb Plug-ins
- Freeverb for OS X
- Freeverb2.dll for Windows
- FreeverbToo.dll for Windows
- GMulti Multi-band compressor
- iZotope vinyl for Windows and OS X
- JS plug-in pack - contains plug-ins listed below.
- JS 6 equalizer V1.0.dll
- JS Band Cut V1.0.dll
- JS Compresseur V1.1.dll
- JS Disto V1.0.dll
- JS equalizer V1.0.dll
- Humanizer v1.0.dll
- JS Limiteur V1.0.dll
- JS Magneto V1.1.dll
- JS Mini-sample V1.0.dll
- JS Noise Attenu V1.0 .dll
- JS Noise Filtre V1.0.dll
- JS Oscil resonne V2.0 .dll
- JS Oscil resonne V3.0.dll
- JS PanDelay .dll
- JS Resonnateur V1.0.dll
- JS Vibrato V1.0.dll
- jVSTwRapper-based plug-ins (on Windows, Mac OSX PPC/Intel and Linux).
- jVSTwRapper is a way of writing Java plug-ins using VST-based technology, enclosed in a wrapper that makes them compatible for use in VST, Audio Units and LADSPA hosts. Thus jVSTwRapper plug-ins can be run on all three platforms.
- Lisp level-independent sibilance processor
- Smartelectronix Plug-ins
- Ambience - reverb plug-in for Windows, OS 9/X (PPC only)
- MjCompressor.dll for Windows and OS XWindows version only has a tabular interface even in Audacity 1.3.8+
- REFLEX free - a regenerating delay plug-in, a mixture of stereo delays followed by a dense
- Robotizer for Windows and Mac OS X (PPC only)
- TAL-Reverb-2 - popular GPL licensed plate reverb
- TB Compressor (working demo) in Tone Boosters plug-in bundle - supports 'New York' or 'parallel' compression
- UpStereo.dll - stereo widener
- UpStereo for OS X(not tested)
- VOX_DoctorDemo.dll - De-Esser
- Voxengo - free VST plug-ins from Voxengo
List of Plug-ins with known problems
Instructions for adding VST effect plug-ins to the list:
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- JS plug-ins
- MDA VST's
- stereoizer.dll
| Plug-in | OS | Date | Audacity version | Symptoms |
| Auto-Tune | Windows | Dec.2012 | Audacity 2.0.1 | Tuning by MIDI input is not supported. |
| BlueCat | OS X | Sep.2014 | Audacity 2.0.5, 2.0.6 | In 2.0.5, the plug-in interface does not work, so you can only use default settings. The interface works in 2.0.6, but in both versions, saving a preset will lock out the main Audacity window, requiring to close Audacity from the Dock. |
| CM Vocoder | Windows/OS X | Sep.08 | Audacity 1.3.8+ | Does not appear |
| Effect Chainer DX and VST wrapper | Windows | Jan.08 | All | can't host any plug-ins |
| FFX-4 DX and VST Wrapper | Windows | Jan.08 | All | can't host any plug-ins |
| Freeverb2 | Windows 7 | Oct.11 | Audacity 1.3.13 | Only tabular interface, no preset support |
| GRM Tools | OS X | May 2014 | Audacity 2.0.6-alpha | Interface cannot be used (so the effects can only be used at default settings) or interface disappears completely when loading preset. The interface is likely to be available in 2.0.6 release, but attempting to save a preset in any Audacity version could lock out the main Audacity window. |
| GRM Tools | Windows | Sep.08 | Audacity 1.3.8+ | unspecified |
| GSnap | Windows | Jan.2014 | Audacity 2.0.6 | Tuning by MIDI input is not supported. |
| keFIR | Windows | Apr.08 | VST-Bridge 1.1 | has no effect on audio |
| kn0ck0ut | Windows | Sep.2014 | Audacity 2.0.6-alpha | Despite Audacity 2.0.6 or later supporting buffer delay compensation, the start of the processed audio has silence inserted and a corresponding length is removed from the end of the processed audio. This also occurs in Goldwave and Wavosaur so is probably a bug in Kn0ck0ut, but the VST version is no longer being developed, only an LV2 version. |
| Sonic Maximizer | Windows | Sep.2007 | VST-Bridge 1.1 | not in Effect menu |
| SoundSoap2 (discontinued) (see also SoundSoap3) | Windows, OS X | 2007 (various) | All | Audacity won't launch |
| Spectro | Windows | Nov.2014 | 2.0.7-alpha | No spectrum visible in plug-in window |
| String Studio | Windows | 2007 (various) | VST-Bridge 1.1 | Audacity won't launch |
| T RackS 3 | OS X | Dec.2009 | All | Audacity won't launch |
| VisualVOX VST | Windows | Jan.2008 | VST-Bridge 1.1 | No interface, just silences audio |
| Waves V5 | Windows | Dec.2012 | Audacity 2.0.2 | Hangs Audacity on launch |
| Waves V8 | OS X | Feb.2013 | Audacity 2.0.3 | Only tabular interface. Two entries (m) and (s) for each effect. GarageBand does not have either problem.(1) |
- (1) Audio Unit versions of Waves may cause Audacity 2.0.4 or earlier to freeze or crash on launch. In 2.0.5 or later, Waves Audio Units may cause a freeze or crash when the effect is chosen from the Effect Menu.
Article Content
It’s the end of the month, and your bank account is empty…
…again.
Oops.
And as much as you might feel like buying that new Waves plugin…
(You’ve had your eye on it for months, right?)
It’s probably not a good idea.
But if you’re still looking to expand your plugin library, don’t worry.
Sometimes, the best things in life are free…
Here are 7 of my favorite free plugins. Each of them offers something new and unique (no boring EQs or compressors). Download them all to extend your sonic palette and ultimately, craft better-sounding tracks.
And if you’re looking to dive deeper, I also put together a list of five plugins I use on every mix. If you’re wondering which plugins I recommend, download the list below to make sure you’ve got my top tools for the job.
1. iZotope Neutrino
Neutrino is the baby brother of Neutron—iZotope’s newest channel-strip plugin. While Neutron has a number of innovative features, Neutrino spins off the best of them.
Neutrino tames undesirable resonances caused by poor room acoustics, cheap gear, and heavy-handed processing. iZotope calls the effect “spectral shaping,” and it can sound similar to gentle, low-ratio multiband compression. This can make tracks sound smoother and more polished—like sanding the rough edges off a freshly cut piece of wood. I find Neutrino particularly useful on electric guitar tracks, which often have lots of harsh resonances.
2. Voxengo SPAN
People say “don’t mix with your eyes.”
Meh.
The truth?
Tools that provide visual feedback, when used properly, can help you make better mixing decisions.
A spectrum analyzer is one of these tools. It plots the frequencies of sounds out on a graph, which allows you to “see” what tracks are comprised of.
SPAN is my favorite spectrum analyzer. You can control the ballistics and response of its graph, which makes it flexible enough for a wide variety of tasks. You can even route multiple tracks into SPAN and compare their frequency content.
Best Vst Plugins For Audacity
(P.S. Voxengo has a few other free VST plugins. They’re worth checking out too, but SPAN is my favorite.)
3. Brainworx bx_solo
Bx_solo is a no-frills, stereo-imaging plugin. While it’s the least sexy of this bunch, it can still be pretty useful.
I like to add bx_solo to my mix bus. While I rarely push the stereo width past 100%, collapsing it to zero is an easy way to check for mono compatibility. The mid and side solo buttons are also useful. It’s great to have this one around—you never know when you might need it!
4. HOFA 4U Project Time
Mixing is a race against time.
The more time you spend on a mix, the more attached you become to what it sounds like. This makes it progressively harder to make good mixing decisions. Given enough time, even the worst mix will start to sound decent.
This is one reason I recommend mixing quickly and impulsively. You’ll get to the finish line faster, retain more objectivity, and ultimately, craft better mixes.
The first step towards more efficient mixing is to track how much time you spend doing it. Without this information, it’s easy to get lost in a black hole of endless tweaking.
Project Time makes this easy. Add it to a track, and it will start counting. The timer automatically stops when you close the session, and starts when you open it up again.
Keep an eye on Project Time, and you’ll train yourself to mix faster and more efficiently. It’s also an invaluable tool if you bill by the hour!
5. MeldaProduction MFreeFXBundle
MeldaProduction makes some great plugins. They’ve earned the praise of many notable engineers, including mastering guru Ian Shepard.
The MFreeFXBundle contains 30 free VST plugins. They range from workhorse tools like a compressor and EQ, to less common effects like a ring modulator, flanger, and oscilloscope.
If you’re looking to fill some holes in your plugin library, this is a great place to start.
6. Flux BitterSweet
BitterSweet is among the best transient shapers out there. It can produce results on par with studio mainstays like SPL’s Transient Designer and Waves’ Trans-X.
This simple plugin can achieve a wide variety of effects. Turn the knob to the right to add punch to drums, enhance the pluck of an acoustic guitar, or boost the consonants in a vocal performance. Turn the knob to the left to soften tracks and push them back in the soundstage.
7. iZotope Vinyl
Sometimes a little crackle is a good thing. /vst-plugin-for-studio-one.html.
Vinyl will make tracks sound like they’re being played on a turntable. You can vary the intensity of the effect by controlling the volume of different types of noise, the degree of wear and tear, and the decade your sound is from. The results range from subtle filtering to Edison phonograph.
This plugin is great for special effects, like filtering down a vocal or making an intro sound tiny.
Moving Beyond Free Plugins: My Favorite Plugins
I hope these 7 free plugins help you craft tracks that sound fresh and unique.
If you’re looking to dive deeper, I also put together a list of 5 plugins I use on every mix. If you’re wondering which plugins I recommend, download the list below to make sure you’ve got my top tools for the job.
Before you go—what’s your favorite free VST plugin? Share your pick in the comment section below.
Bonus: 3 More Free Plugins for Mixing
3 Free Plugins I Use in Every Mix
It’s the end of the month, and your bank account is empty… …again. Oops. And as much as you might feel like buying that new Waves plugin… (You’ve had your eye on it for months, right?) It’s probably not a good idea. But if you're still looking to expand your plugin library, don't worry. Sometimes,
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