Freebies you actually use/never used

[Magic Russ]

Even if you got it free, it isn't a deal if you never use it.  You lose time downloading, space storing it, and often end up with another person spamming you.

Over the years I have gotten a fair amount of usage out of Triangle II, Synth 1, Crystal, etc.  Some of the Cymatics freebies have, if not found my way into projects, have provided the basis for inspiration.  Various freebies from Arturia and NI over the years have also proved useful.  Some other freebies such as OGrady's Wurli have seen action as well.

On the other hand I have six years worth of Heavyocity holiday freebie packs I haven't used.  Similar with the Ghosthack samples I have downloaded during their advent calendars.  I don't think I have used any of those freebies from Acustica either.  This is not to say these aren't quality products, I just haven't found use for them yet.

So what are the freebies that have been worth it and which haven't?

[Larry Shelby]

I consider them LITERALLY "files" and I "file them away" until a particular need arises.
THEN I can go through my "Files" and find what I'm looking for!  Yep, it takes disc space,
that's why it's pretty important to keep the files "organized", but on the other side of the
coin, if I didn't have those "Files" then I'd have to go hunting on the net for something to
"fill the need", and MAY have to spend money to get it!  I've got TONS that I'll probably NEVER use,
but, if the NEED should ever arise, I DO already have them!  I try to familiarize myself with the
Plugin/Instrument once I get it, so that I have a mental reference point, so that when I'm doing something,
and I think of a particular sound, then I can reference "Hey, I've got "X" that has that sound", or I've got "Y"
that might have something similar to what I'm looking for...

IDK...to each his own.  I consider them Archives, and, if I NEVER touch them again, they only
take up virtual space, and  I also periodically "house clean" to get rid of "Older stuff"!
And if you get them, you can decide ex post facto to keep or discard them!  But, if you
don't get them, and later on regret that decision, you may not be able to get them again
"Free"!  And sometimes those "Free" Products give you a discounted upgrade path!

There are far too many GREAT freebies out there!  In fact, other than buying a DAW,
or getting one for FREE (like Cakewalk), you would NEVER have to buy anything else
if you really "wanted" to go that route, but I would also recommend buying Kontakt Full, as
most samplers with DAW's really "don't cut the mustard" per se, and Kontakt is second to
NONE when it comes to scripting, and there are so many GREAT Kontakt Freebies out there
that it's a pretty WISE investment, not to mention the ABUNDANCE of SPECTACULAR "paid"
Kontakt Libraries!

So, just like music, it's all up to the "Musician" to decide what works best for him/her!

[Brian Lawler]

The best freebies that I continue to use are plugs that are normally sold, and were a limited time giveaway, like NI Rahm & Replika, or I<3NY compressor from Baby Audio.  As far as samples, I collect them by the gigabyte, but I don't really know how many freebies I have used vs paid, since they are all in the same bucket.  Probably my most used free app (besides the obvious Cakewalk BBL), is ADSR Sample Manager.  I actually sprang for a subscription to LoopCloud when they offered me a deal a couple months ago, but I keep going back to ADSR.  I agree that "cut down"  free versions of sample based libs just are not worth the effort.  They all end up getting deleted eventually.  I HAVE gotten a lot of use out of the Sonokinetik "12 Days" freebies, however, but those too are in the "regularly sold" category.

[Brian Walton]

In terms of instruments:

Decent Sampler

Spitfire LABS

Melda Piano

 

Honeslty I've gotten to the point where I don't use any free effects with any regularity.  Not that there are not good ones, but are there any that are better than the paid options I have?  Perhpas not, other than arguing something like Airwindows TAPE is way more CPU efficient than IK Multimedia.   And something that gets used once every 50 projects like Acon Multiply for chorus.

I'd put the Melda Free Effects on the list, except for the fact the "paid" version of the free ones is worth it, and therefore I consider them paid.  Then there are also Computer Music effects/instruments that again are not technically free to anyone.  You have to buy a magazine or get it through a library.  

I should be clear that I'm also only talking about truly free products.  I've gotten many "free" for a limited time things or free with purchase that were worth it and get used.  But the you can get this any day for free stuff, typically doensn't make it after all these pandemic timeframe hording purchases.

Me 5+ years ago would use free products more often.  

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Brian Walton

[Shane_B.]

1 hour ago, Magic Russ said:

So what are the freebies that have been worth it and which haven't?

I've used a few but most I only ever try out then never use again. I love downloading the free synth's and tinkering with them. I've used a few on recordings but most I never touch again after trying them out. I leave them on my system so I know which ones I've tried and which ones I haven't. They take up very little room. I have all my free stuff in a single folder and point Studio One and CbB to it and that's how I keep track of them. And I never install things that require an install.exe. I only use them if they have a .dll I can drag and then quickly delete if it gives me any trouble.

Here's a list w/links of free stuff I use on almost every project:

Auto Double Tracker (Best used as an FX Send.)

Bass Professor Mark 2

Blue Cat's Free Chorus, Flange, and Phaser.

There are more free synth's out there than you could ever use. I've used several on recordings to fill in for what I couldn't get out of the included synth's with CbB and Studio One but I can't recall their names. I got 99.9% of the free synth's from Plugin's 4 Free.

[BassDaddy]

I pass on most freebies lately for the exact reasons Lars stated. IMHO, Audio Damage Rough Rider comp is a top notch freebie. This is a very good comp free or not.

www.audiodamage.com

[paulo]

KLANG

KLANG

KLANG

........yep.....

KLANG

KLANG again (I'm thinking maybe too much ?)

Loudmax (for tracking purposes)

I can see me using the recent Arturia Mello tape thing at some point.

The rest.......I mostly play with for 10 minutes and then forget about them.

[Christian Jones]

I think the freeb I use most is Free G gain. Is that still free? 

[Yan Filiatrault]

Bandlab. But eventually I will probably.

[marcL]

I use quite a few, like Acon Multiply, TDR Kotelnikov (lately upgraded to the paid version),  Analog Obsession Varimoon, BlueCat Phaser/Flanger, DD Expander, Odin2, Obxd, Hofa 4U Meter, Klanghelm IVGI (until I bought SDRR2), PechenegTremolo, some of VarietyOfSound, a.s.o.

Though I agree with some of the comments above, I wonder a bit about the common statement! Like with free plugins I also hoarded a lot of paid stuff that I will probably never use in my life, because IMO it is pure rubbish! The only difference in this case is that I regret having thrown away some money! ? And there are not only small providers that I could list here, there are some plugins of the big actors that have no use for me!

[Fleer]

Talk about freebies. Just checked my Sonniss GDC 2015-2020 folder. That’s 150GB of pretty pretty good stuff. 

[LAGinz]

1 hour ago, paulo said:

KLANG

KLANG

KLANG

........yep.....

KLANG

KLANG again (I'm thinking maybe too much ?)

Loudmax (for tracking purposes)

I can see me using the recent Arturia Mello tape thing at some point.

The rest.......I mostly play with for 10 minutes and then forget about them.

Love the Klang, TDL/VOS, Blue Cat, Native Instruments, Acustica and  Arturia giveaways (in particular that Moog they gave away probably more than 10 years ago). Also like the Ignite Amps and TSE stuff, and some of the Voxengo and Sleepy Time tools. No more Loudmax for me due to it’s too small GUI. Also like OBXD, Dexed and a handful of other free synths.

Edited January 11, 2022 by LAGinz

[paulo]

13 minutes ago, LAGinz said:

No more Loudmax for me due to it’s too small GUI.

TBH I rarely even look at it. It's in a track template.

[kitekrazy]

If you started on Sonar and went elsewhere Bandlab is hard to ignore.

[Brian Walton]

15 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

If you started on Sonar and went elsewhere Bandlab is hard to ignore.

Cakewalk is the ultimate freebie.

However, some of us using Sonar for the past 20 years (has it really been that long?) and spent a fair amount of change along the way in the development of the product to get it where it is today don't exactly think of it as free (especially after paying for lifetime updates).  

But anyone paying for another DAW on Windows when Cakewalk is available, I don't quite comprehend it.  

[Craig Fowler]

The Hammersmith free piano from Soniccouture is probably the best of the free instruments that I've picked up, though I don't use it much. The Tokyo Dawn free versions are pretty spectacular!

[Fleer]

And that new free felt piano for Kontakt Player from StrezovSampling. 

[bitflipper]

Freebies I use fairly regularly:

• Loudmax 
• BlueCat Gain Suite
• Voxengo SPAN

Once in a while:

• MTremolo
• PanCake
• Voxengo Boogex
• Spitfire LABS
• OB-XD

The list of freebies I never use is too long to list.

 

[mumpfucious]

One freebie that has been a trademark synth for me has been Delay Lama.

 

[Starship Krupa]

1 hour ago, Brian Walton said:

some of us using Sonar for the past 20 years (has it really been that long?) and spent a fair amount of change along the way in the development of the product to get it where it is today don't exactly think of it as free (especially after paying for lifetime updates).

Hear hear.  I consider myself to have started with the initial CbB issue (after a 20-year break), and I am very grateful to those who invested in the product. And you're right, the topic here is about stuff we got for free. You get the updates for free, but that's what you paid for (an excellent investment).

Regarding the stuff I got for free (or as Plugin Boutique "with any purchase" deals) and use, the many A|A|S soundpacks (including Swatches), ObjeqDelay, TRacks FX, (especially the 670 copy), several Meldaproduction FX and Monastery Grand, BL Gain, Waves Element,  Orchestools ROMplers, multiple Plugin Alliance FX I got with no-minimum vouchers, Drummic'a (and Kontakt Player), Sampletank 4 (and Syntronik and Memory V), Voxengo Boogex, Mastering the Mix LEVELS (on every project), Valhalla Supermassive, Cymatics Origin, Slate Fresh Air, Cockos REAFir, Ozsoft Xpander, Boz Panipulator, Padspheres, Deep Jupiter, Drumazon, Sigmund, Combo Model V, Speedrum Lite, Surrealistic MG-1 Plus, luftikus lkjb EQ.

As for ones that I never use, I have so many plug-ins that I tend to keep them weeded out, so those are harder to recall. For years, I downloaded them while I was learning what I wanted in that type of plug-in and eventually found my go-to's. Mostly ones that I was psyched to get and then haven't used: Arturia Filter Mini, Soundtoys Little Plate (I know, an excellent plate, but I don't use plates), anything I've ever tried from Audiffex, AudioThing Things Texture, iZotope DDLY, Pulsar Smasher, and any number of amp sims, compressors and EQ's that I went through.

Getting MTurboEQ and MTurboComp ended my search for anything else in their categories. I don't need to try any more character EQ's or compressors.