Some good free audio plugins
A mastering chain usually includes expensive analog equalizers and compressors, along with selected digital plugins. Nevertheless, there are some completely free audio plugins that could be useful even in the audio mastering stage. Let's see some of them.
Let's start from left to right to show the main features of this digital equalizer.
The pre amp on the left is very useful, because it lets to obtain a very realistic tube sound. This is possible by increasing the input gain and decreasing the output gain with the same amount. With this setting, a realistic tube saturation effect occurs. This kind of saturation is characterized mainly by the second and the fourth harmonic presence; it sounds quite realistic and can add a nice warmness to the overall sound.
In the inferior section of the eq, it is possible to find a switch to narrow the mid bell; this is useful if you want to cut some specific and disturbing mid frequencies. There are also a high pass and a low pass filter. Both are very musical, and are characterized by quite smooth slopes, which can sweetly cut the ultra-low and ultra-high frequencies in a very natural way.
Coming to the bass section, there are two pots, one for boosting and one for cutting. They can be used together, to obtain the classic Pultec effect: for example, by setting the frequency to 30 Hz, and by boosting and cutting half way, the low frequencies become bigger without mudding the sound. This effect can be useful to make the kick sound deeper, overall in electronic music. The resulting sound is really amazing, with the low frequencies that sound huge and full but also smooth.
The mid pot, with the standard (large) Q, permits to boost and cut frequencies in a very natural way. It's quite unusual for a digital equalizer to be able to boost mid frequencies in such a smooth way, like this eq can do.
Boosting the high frequencies, on the other hand, can give even better results. In fact, it is possible to boost the highs on 12 KHz and to obtain a really sweet and natural sound, similar to the sound that you would get with an analog eq. I think that the developers here have studied deeply the phase behavior of analog equalizers. It seems that this eq is able to boost the highs with a small amount of delay respect to the original signal; this slightly out of phase effect allows to increase the brightness of the sound without enhancing too much the transients and the sibilance.
Activating the "Drive" switch, and properly setting the relative pot, allows to create even harmonics on low and low mid frequencies without boosting the original sound level. This nice feature brings warmth and deepness to the sound in a very natural way.
Finally, the "Woow" switch is an all pass filter; if activated, it increases the low and mid low frequencies impact, simply by manipulating the phase response.
In summary, this is a digital equalizer with a very analog sound. A great product considering that it's totally free!
Another completely free eq with a great sound is certainly the TDR VOS SlickEQ, from Tokyo Dawn Records.
This is a three band, semi parametric eq, with an HPF and other two interesting functions:
Unlike the Sonimus SonEq, this eq has a more "digital" sound, because it perfectly preserves the transients impact both when boosting and cutting. In other words, it lets you change the sound without soften it, but preserving the original impact of the micro dynamics. For this reason, it is suitable for precise and clean interventions; on the other hand, it is less capable to achieve the smooth sound of analog equalizers, which can be useful to treat some modern digital tracks, often characterized by strong transients overall on the mid and high frequencies.
This compressor presents a lot of interesting functions despite the fact that it's free. Indeed, it is possible not only to set the standard parameters (attack, release, ratio, threshold), but also additional ones like:
For achieving a very dense sound, I suggest the Density mkII, from VARIETY OF SOUND.
This plugin has less features than the previous one, but it's more suitable if you want to obtain a dense, soft and enveloping sound. I suggest to use it in stereo mode, with side chain on (to prevent an excessive pumping effect), and in the compressor (and not limiting) mode.
A certainly simpler and less-known limiter is the TLs 4032 Pocket Limiter.
This is an "old" plugin, built in 2005 by Daniel Lind, with really essentials controls. With this limiter, it is possible to achieve quiet high output levels. Indeed, with IQ and stereo link on, and with the knee at about 50%, it is possible to obtain a very high loudness while keeping the signal clean. The transients are compressed in a soft and pleasing way, with a slight pumping effect; this effect can be desirable overall when mastering EDM or techno tracks.
Finally, let's see another old but useful plugin, the GClip soft clipper by GVST.
This is a very simple soft clipper, without any time constant (zero attack and release times). It offers the possibility to set the softness of the saturation curve and its threshold. There is also a useful 2 x oversample function; this is suggested to minimize the harsh aliasing effect that may occur with digital soft clippers. This plugin is useful to smooth out the strongest transients in a soft and natural way; this is possible by setting the softness to about 80%. It can offer a slightly analog character to the modern digital mixes, sometimes characterized by very fast and annoying transients.
Equalizers
In many cases, paying high prices is necessary to obtain good products. This simple rule applies more or less on every aspects of life, audio included. Nevertheless, some surprising and welcomed exceptions exist; one of these is the Sonimus SonEq digital equalizer, that, despite its great sound, is completely free.
Let's start from left to right to show the main features of this digital equalizer.
The pre amp on the left is very useful, because it lets to obtain a very realistic tube sound. This is possible by increasing the input gain and decreasing the output gain with the same amount. With this setting, a realistic tube saturation effect occurs. This kind of saturation is characterized mainly by the second and the fourth harmonic presence; it sounds quite realistic and can add a nice warmness to the overall sound.
In the inferior section of the eq, it is possible to find a switch to narrow the mid bell; this is useful if you want to cut some specific and disturbing mid frequencies. There are also a high pass and a low pass filter. Both are very musical, and are characterized by quite smooth slopes, which can sweetly cut the ultra-low and ultra-high frequencies in a very natural way.
Coming to the bass section, there are two pots, one for boosting and one for cutting. They can be used together, to obtain the classic Pultec effect: for example, by setting the frequency to 30 Hz, and by boosting and cutting half way, the low frequencies become bigger without mudding the sound. This effect can be useful to make the kick sound deeper, overall in electronic music. The resulting sound is really amazing, with the low frequencies that sound huge and full but also smooth.
The mid pot, with the standard (large) Q, permits to boost and cut frequencies in a very natural way. It's quite unusual for a digital equalizer to be able to boost mid frequencies in such a smooth way, like this eq can do.
Boosting the high frequencies, on the other hand, can give even better results. In fact, it is possible to boost the highs on 12 KHz and to obtain a really sweet and natural sound, similar to the sound that you would get with an analog eq. I think that the developers here have studied deeply the phase behavior of analog equalizers. It seems that this eq is able to boost the highs with a small amount of delay respect to the original signal; this slightly out of phase effect allows to increase the brightness of the sound without enhancing too much the transients and the sibilance.
Activating the "Drive" switch, and properly setting the relative pot, allows to create even harmonics on low and low mid frequencies without boosting the original sound level. This nice feature brings warmth and deepness to the sound in a very natural way.
Finally, the "Woow" switch is an all pass filter; if activated, it increases the low and mid low frequencies impact, simply by manipulating the phase response.
In summary, this is a digital equalizer with a very analog sound. A great product considering that it's totally free!
Another completely free eq with a great sound is certainly the TDR VOS SlickEQ, from Tokyo Dawn Records.
This is a three band, semi parametric eq, with an HPF and other two interesting functions:
- The possibility to saturate the signal, but only when boosting
- The possibility to keep a steady perceived output level while changing the settings
Unlike the Sonimus SonEq, this eq has a more "digital" sound, because it perfectly preserves the transients impact both when boosting and cutting. In other words, it lets you change the sound without soften it, but preserving the original impact of the micro dynamics. For this reason, it is suitable for precise and clean interventions; on the other hand, it is less capable to achieve the smooth sound of analog equalizers, which can be useful to treat some modern digital tracks, often characterized by strong transients overall on the mid and high frequencies.
Compressors
Another completely free product from Tokyo Dawn Records is the TDR Kotelnikov compressor.
This compressor presents a lot of interesting functions despite the fact that it's free. Indeed, it is possible not only to set the standard parameters (attack, release, ratio, threshold), but also additional ones like:
- Knee, which determines the softness of the compression ratio
- Side chain HPF and its steepness, to achieve a compression effect which is less influenced by the low frequencies movements
- Stereo sensitivity, useful for setting how much the compression should be the same in the left and right channel, to preserve the stereo image integrity
- Crest factor, which sets the incremental threshold at which the release speed applied is the "release peak" instead of the "release rms". This functions allows to apply for transients the "release peak" (usually set at 50 - 100 ms), and for rms signal the "release rms" (usually longer, like 500 - 1.000 ms)
- Dry / Wet pot, which let to obtain the "parallel compression" effect
For achieving a very dense sound, I suggest the Density mkII, from VARIETY OF SOUND.
This plugin has less features than the previous one, but it's more suitable if you want to obtain a dense, soft and enveloping sound. I suggest to use it in stereo mode, with side chain on (to prevent an excessive pumping effect), and in the compressor (and not limiting) mode.
Limiters and soft clippers
A good and free limiter is Limiter N° 6 from vladg sound, a very complex plugin characterized by 5 consecutive sections:- Compressor
- Limiter
- De-esser
- Soft clipper
- Hard clipper
A certainly simpler and less-known limiter is the TLs 4032 Pocket Limiter.
This is an "old" plugin, built in 2005 by Daniel Lind, with really essentials controls. With this limiter, it is possible to achieve quiet high output levels. Indeed, with IQ and stereo link on, and with the knee at about 50%, it is possible to obtain a very high loudness while keeping the signal clean. The transients are compressed in a soft and pleasing way, with a slight pumping effect; this effect can be desirable overall when mastering EDM or techno tracks.
Finally, let's see another old but useful plugin, the GClip soft clipper by GVST.
This is a very simple soft clipper, without any time constant (zero attack and release times). It offers the possibility to set the softness of the saturation curve and its threshold. There is also a useful 2 x oversample function; this is suggested to minimize the harsh aliasing effect that may occur with digital soft clippers. This plugin is useful to smooth out the strongest transients in a soft and natural way; this is possible by setting the softness to about 80%. It can offer a slightly analog character to the modern digital mixes, sometimes characterized by very fast and annoying transients.
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