Favorite Freeware FX Thread

[abacab]

1 hour ago, Starship Krupa said:

Oh, and Glitchmachines' Hysteresis, for utter madness.

Yup, that one will keep you entertained for sure! Feed it ordinary sounds, or even a basic drum pattern, and see a result that sounds nothing like the original sound!

Edited March 17, 2023 by abacab

[John Vere]

I just downloaded 36 free delay based effects from  https://plugins4free.com/       

There was a bunch I didn't download only because the GUI were just a little bit too simple, which I know is not a valid complaint, but they also got negative reviews. Not that many of the reviews on the site are worth reading either. But I felt these are probably the better ones any how. So now I will install them to my office computer and start testing and making notes. Here's a basic outline of what I will do.   Anything I'm missing please do comment. 

1. Easy to install

2.Manual 

3.Easy to use as basic Delay = Time, Feedback and Wet/dry 

4.Sync 

5. Readout for time ( ms) if sync is off. 

6.Analog toggle, in other words option to choose clean or harmonic content. 

7.Midi learn for controls

8.Special features  - multi tap, reverse, LFO etc. 

9. Hi or lo pass filters

10.CPU hog or friendly , not sure how to test this yet, ideas?  

And I know there's more out there so I'll keep looking but any input is welcome. The one I did on compressors took me 2 months.  https://youtu.be/PLBxSGozIwo

 

Here's what my download folder has. I even re down loaded ones I already have so I can keep an alphabetical list somehow.    I think there's a few reverbs I grabbed in here as well for my next project free reverbs. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by John Vere

[Starship Krupa]

4 hours ago, John Vere said:

10.CPU hog or friendly , not sure how to test this yet, ideas?

You could put a dozen instances of it in a project and watch Cakewalk's Performance Module.

I finally just broke down and bought DDMF's Plug-in Doctor.

A delay feature you didn't list but I find essential is modulation of the delay time. That way it can be used for chorus or flange.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Starship Krupa

[Max Arwood]

Does plug-in doctor check CPU?

[Starship Krupa]

10 hours ago, Max Arwood said:

Does plug-in doctor check CPU?

It has a "Performance" test, which measures the processor's "efficiency."

To best understand what Plugindoctor does, this review by our own @bitflipper is the best way to understand the product (in addition to demoing it).

I'd consider it a must-have for anyone curious about what their processors are actually doing. Especially in cases of vintage hardware emulation, you can instantly objectively compare and see that for multiple products that claim to be emulating a piece or hardware, it's amazing how far off they really are.

For people doing round-up reviews, very helpful to gain technical insight.

[John Vere]

4 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

It has a "Performance" test, which measures the processor's "efficiency."

To best understand what Plugindoctor does, this review by our own @bitflipper is the best way to understand the product (in addition to demoing it).

I'd consider it a must-have for anyone curious about what their processors are actually doing. Especially in cases of vintage hardware emulation, you can instantly objectively compare and see that for multiple products that claim to be emulating a piece or hardware, it's amazing how far off they really are.

For people doing round-up reviews, very helpful to gain technical insight.

That was a very interesting read. I'm in. Going to purchase it. For testing compressors I had to use things like M Oscillator and that didn't tell you as much as this does.  This tool I think is defiantly worth it for people who use free plug ins. We are sort of taking a chance and can only use our ears. 

People blindly slap  those little Tape emulators and one knob dials that promise analog vibe to their mix without really knowing what is actually happening. My personal quest is mostly for plug ins that are Clean. 

[Starship Krupa]

2 hours ago, John Vere said:

People blindly slap  those little Tape emulators and one knob dials that promise analog vibe to their mix without really knowing what is actually happening. My personal quest is mostly for plug ins that are Clean.

Spoken like a Meldaphile. That was one of the things that made me sit up and take notice of what Vojtech was up to all those years ago (seven years it's been). He posted on the Meldaproduction forum some of his philosophy about why he wasn't interested in baking "analog mojo" into his processors. He said that if there's noise or distortion, then the processor is deliberately adding a flaw to the sound. If someone wants that, they can add noise and distortion themselves (using a couple of the freeware bundle FX), but he wasn't going to design it in.

I thought that was a refreshing attitude, especially back then. Nothing wrong with hiss, flutter, distortion or whatever, but the compressor doesn't need to be the thing supplying them. I have nothing at all against vintage flaws; I bought the industry standard effect for adding hiss, rumble, wow, flutter, etc., RC-20, just so that I could make my dialog samples sound crappy.

Apropos Freeware FX, Bertom EQ Analyzer is another great analysis tool. You use two instances of it, the generator and the listener. They automatically find each other and the listener displays the curve.

Here's an example of it taking a look at T-Racks EQP-1A with a traditional Pultec kick drum setting:

Bertom also have 3 other pay-what-you-want FX and utilities, including an "air" EQ, a stereo image tool and a multiband denoiser.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Starship Krupa

[John Vere]

Funny you mentioned Melda. After testing over 80 compressors the Mcompressor is my new go to trustworthy compressor. It is replacing the Sonitus. If you can’t get what you need out of the Mcompressor you need to take more lessons.
It actually has a built in tutorial.  

And it has the all important meters which most of those wannabe vintage ones don’t have. 
Between that and the CA 2A I’m covered.  
That took about 3 months so let’s see how fast I can seek out and find my go to Delay to also replace the Sonitus. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by John Vere

[Starship Krupa]

40 minutes ago, John Vere said:

After testing over 80 compressors the Mcompressor is my new go to trustworthy compressor. It is replacing the Sonitus. If you can’t get what you need out of the Mcompressor you need to take more lessons.

If the responses I got on Vi Control when I mentioned that MCompressor was  the compressor that lit the lightbulb of understanding about how compressors work are any indication, there are many people who had a similar experience. It's that display, with the vertical line bouncing back and forth. Simple, uncluttered, nothing that doesn't need to be front-facing.

Incredibly, it's the only compressor in the Meldaproduction line that features that display without also exposing a whole bunch of other stuff.

This is MDynamics, the flagship precision compressor in their lineup, as simple as I could make it:

It has the display we like, but all of the stuff at the left takes up so much real estate. TurboComp is similar.

I've been lobbying Vojtech off and on for years to replace or revamp or augment MModernCompressor, (aka The Forgotten Compressor) to be able to use that display instead of that distribution graph that nobody but him seems to understand.

Either that or create "MCompressorDeluxe" that has the Dry/Wet control and fancy detectors from MModernCompressor and the much-loved display and ability to design your own compression/expansion curves from MCompressor. There's a spot in the MeldaProduction line for a compressor at the $50 level (one that will sell and be used more MModernCompressor).

[Starship Krupa]

On 3/18/2023 at 5:46 PM, John Vere said:

Anything I'm missing please do comment.

The Dead Duck FX package has a delay, as does the Kilohearts Essentials bundle.

BTW, I'm interested to know what you find out when putting Acustica plug-ins to the Plugin Doctor performance test.

I tried some of their freebies many years ago, and they were such resource hogs that I've never touched them since.

Edited March 22, 2023 by Starship Krupa

[John Vere]

I went to purchase the Doctor. In Dave’s article it mentioned $20 which is my budget, but it is now $63 CAN.
However I can actually use the demo no problem You just have to close and reopen for each plug in.
 I played with it for a while and realized I have to read the manual before it will be of use to me. It might be over my head even thought I understand the terminology.  
The most important reading, the performance meter! might as well be a picture of a stick man waving his arms around! The only one I can make sense of is the Harmonic  Analyst as that like using M osilator and Span or M analyzer. 

if I can eventually figure it out I will buy it, but I’m grateful there’s a useable demo. 
 

I’m not sure I have any stuff by Acustica. ? I'll check...

OK now I remember, I have Tan, Coral, Titanium and Coffee the Pun. Those are the "bastards" that installed 3 of each just for skins, and then the VST2 and 3 versions. Low points for installation bloat.  That might be a good one to see what happens to the meters so I know what a hog looks like. My favorite HOG is the LP multi Band. Put that on the master and forget about editing in real time. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by John Vere

[abacab]

1 hour ago, John Vere said:

My favorite HOG is the LP multi Band. Put that on the master and forget about editing in real time. 

FYI, the LP MB has a "non-linear" precision mode that works for mixing. See the "Expert" button for the settings...

The linear modes are really just for mastering, after the editing is done.

[bitflipper]

7 hours ago, John Vere said:

In Dave’s article it mentioned $20 which is my budget, but it is now $63 CAN.

Note that the article was written in 2018. Since then they've added a VST version and the ability to load up two plugins for analysis without needing 2 instances of Plugin Dr.

Last Black Friday they were selling it for $38.

[Starship Krupa]

6 hours ago, John Vere said:

I went to purchase the Doctor. In Dave’s article it mentioned $20 which is my budget, but it is now $63 CAN

I believe the Dr. goes on sale periodically. If it were anything over about $30 US, I wouldn't have bought a license.

Really, for the performance meter, I just use it for comparison and trust that the scale on the left is some indication of the performance. It's the scale on the left that I think you should concentrate on when using it. And make use of the ability to load 2 plugs at once.

6 hours ago, John Vere said:

The only one I can make sense of is the Harmonic  Analyst

I bet you can also figure out the Dynamics analysis. Important note: there are two modes. One applies a rising amplitude and shows the curve, the other applies a pulse and shows you an interesting graphic that makes it easy to see what it's doing as far as attack and release. Really, with the help of those two graphs, I'm pretty confident I could make approximations of a lot of "vintage" compressors using a versatile one like MCompressor, using the draw-your-own curve.

One interesting thing I learned regarding MCompressor: It's not as "precise" as I thought. According to Plugindoctor, after it kicks in, its default curve goes through a change at the top end. This may contribute to how well-liked it is.

 

[bitflipper]

That's a fairly typical curve for an 1176 emulation. 

[John Vere]

36 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

That's a fairly typical curve for an 1176 emulation. 

My head is already too full of audio geek trivia so I’m not sure I can squeeze that one in but I have a feeling it will.  I think I’ll hire someone to cut my lawn this summer so I’ll have more spare time for this.  

[bitflipper]

My belief hope is that every bit of tech trivia that I shove into my head forces out something else that I didn't need anyway. 

[Starship Krupa]

22 hours ago, bitflipper said:

My belief hope is that every bit of tech trivia that I shove into my head forces out something else that I didn't need anyway. 

If only.

The registers in my brain that get accessed and overwritten a lot like "location of key ring" started to develop bad sectors as early as high school. At this point in my life, most of the "location of [item needed in everyday life]" sectors seem to be nearly shot.

It's said that if you want to know what is really important to you (vs. what you say  or even believe is important to you), look at the activities you spend the most time doing every day. By that criterion, what is most important to me is "looking for my other sock," "looking for my other shoe," and "looking for my phone."

The phone is down in 3rd place only because it has an app that allows me to command it to beep from multiple other devices.

Other life passions include "looking for something to write with," "looking for something to write on," and "looking for my reading glasses."

It's good to have many things that drive you.

[bitflipper]

I once smoked some weed that was so ridiculously OP that I forgot how to put on socks. No kidding. By the next morning, however, that particular skill had returned to me.

My father, his sister, his mother and my mother's mother all died from Alzheimer's, so it's a real concern that I may have a genetic ticking bomb in my brain. I panic any time I forget a song lyric, thinking "oh sh*t, this is how it starts".

The other day I spent hours fretting that I couldn't remember the word "curate". I tried to console myself by reminding myself that it's not a word I use every day - but then freaked out all over again when I realized that I could not remember the last time I'd used it, or even in what context. Maybe if I used it in a song lyric...it does, after, all rhyme with many easy-to-remember words such as oblate, satiate, inundate and exfoliate.

I take comfort in the fact that my maternal grandfather, who everyone says I'm a carbon copy of, died suddenly from heart failure. In lieu of a meteorite, that would be my preference.

[jackson white]

25 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

but then freaked out all over again

no worries, paranoia is a common side effect. 

26 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

some weed that was so ridiculously OP

the cause. and the cure.