Free VSTs
Thought I’d start a thread on free VSTs for those just starting out, or those wanting some great VSTs on the cheap. Did a search and couldn’t find a thread on this.
So, here goes. Please contribute your best free VSTs.
Ignite Amps makes a great Pultec emulation: PTEQ-1a. They have a number of other freebies - more aimed at amp sims and guitar, but good stuff nonetheless.
TDR makes a number of freebies. My favorite from them is Nova - a dynamic EQ, but SlickEQ is also a great “character EQ.” Their Feedback and Kotelnikov compressors also have free downloads.
Klanghelm makes some of the best, cheap dynamic and saturation plugs out there, but offers freebies for some of them. MJUCjr - a vari-mu compressor gives you a taste of what the full blown MJUC can offer. (if you have the ching though, MJUC is a great comp) DC1A is a very nice compressor as well, based on a less-character oriented EQ. The full version is a very versatile, clean comp. IVGI is based on the SDDR saturation plug. If you’re looking for saturation on the cheap, this is a great way to go.
Soundtoys saturation knob is another easy way to get saturation on your sounds. Unfortunately, it requires a soft iLok account I believe.
Acustica Audio - the makers of Nebular, do a great job of emulating hardware. The Acqua plugins are I believe based on Nebula technology, but slimmed down to not require the craziness of a Nebular server, etc. They offer Ochre and Red EQs for free, and they’re great freebie EQs. I’m not sure how they do it, or what they do, but their plugs seem to provide a very realistic hardware emulation and a better sense of 3D space when you go through them. Unfortunately, the registration process is um, rather tedious.
TAL - TAL makes a number of great effects from verbs to chorus, etc. Basically download anything TAL has for free, including TAL Bassline and U-NO-62. Great emulations of very popular hardware synths back in the day. 
u-He - u-He makes some of the best analog emulation synths out there, but they’re nice enough to often offer freebies of many of those synths as well. Tyrell and Zebralette are probably the two most popular. Zebralette being the mini version of Zebra.
Dexed by Digital Suburban - want a somewhat functional FM synth for free? Dexed is the one for you. Emulation of the infamous Yamaha DX7, and ability to import and export patches for the DX7.
Acon Digital’s Multiply - need a nice chorus to fatten up your sound or give a bit more stereo to a “boring” mono sound? Acon Digitial’s multiply is a nice little chorus that should do the trick.
Trikit Krush - a bit crusher with drive, filter and modulation capabilities that actually sounds great.
There are obviously many more that I’ve not listed here as I’ve not downloaded/used them or downloaded them and didn’t really like them. I know there’s a freebie delay from Valhalla that gets a lot of love. Anything Valhalla does should get a lot of love. As I said, please contribute your own favorite freebies to the list. Would love to hear about them and spread the love to the music making lovers out there.
