Modern digital audio workstations usually come with some solid stock plug-ins and virtual instruments—many music software companies pride themselves in offering every tool necessary for professional audio production. In theory, a proper DAW could give you everything you need but in practice, you’ll quickly find that many third-party tools are industry standard necessities, offering the power and flexibility professionals need to compete in the market. In this guide, we’ll go over the best way to purchase and acquire audio software and some of the most powerful and popular plug-ins and virtual instruments on the market today.
Always Wait for Sales
When shopping for audio plug-ins and virtual instruments, you’re likely to come across some eye-popping price tags for what is essentially the license to use certain algorithms and lines of code. I don’t mean to discredit the hard work of these computer scientists and engineers—wrangling with the complex mathematics of digital signal processing and then writing efficient code is not an easy thing to do—but $200 for a single compressor plug-in? Five thousand dollars for the complete bundle?! Who can afford this?
The thing is, it’s an open secret that the outrageous pricing of this software is purposeful. The real monetization strategy for most plug-in retailers is to massively “discount” all their products regularly and frequently—oftentimes as much as 80% or more, especially during holidays to push product quickly and to grab unfortunate buyers who don’t know better. As such, I recommend you NEVER EVER buy a plug-in at full price (this is less true with virtual instruments and software synthesizers that go on sale much less often, if ever). Most audio software companies have sales events throughout the year so you won’t have to wait too long to grab that plug-in you’ve been wanting at a fair price.
There are plenty of ways of monitoring sale events and pricing, but the easiest way is by subscribing to email lists. While this is undoubtedly a strategy to inundate you with promotions and advertisements, it’s absolutely worth doing so if you’re planning on building a toolkit for your DAW.
Bundle Up
Music software companies will always sell their plug-in suite in a bundle at a significant discount compared to buying each plug-in individually, but be prepared to spend because these can cost hundreds or thousands (or tens of thousands!) of dollars. Another sales tactic these retailers engage in is offering customizable bundles giving you the option to pick several plug-ins of your choice for a fixed price. This is a great way to zero in on exactly what you plan on using, rather than buying a bundle filled with plug-ins you’re not interested in or aren’t useful for your work.
Unless it’s a specific virtual instrument or some specialized piece of software (like the products offered by Oeksound. For example, Soothe 2 is worth it by itself), save up your money a little longer to buy multiple plug-ins at a time and the savings will stack up fast.
Get Free Stuff
There are hundreds of fantastic plug-ins and virtual instruments that are absolutely free of charge and have no license requirement, no trial period, and (sometimes) no sign-ups. Take advantage of any free tools on offer, especially if you’re a beginner or are on a tight budget. There are plenty of powerful free synthesizers, EQs, dynamics processors, and effects that have been used in the production of massive records. I’ll be listing plenty in this article, but I recommend doing some quick research of your own to see what’s out there. I often check out producer streams on Twitch (particularly Ian Kirkpatrick dissecting his work with Dua Lipa) to get some insight into what processes and what plug-ins the pros are using. I discovered the free Analog Obsession RareSE EQ and OTT compressor from Kirkpatrick and they’re now both in my go-to bag of VSTs. We’ll go over some of my favorite free software later.
Virtual Instruments and Software Synths
There are countless software synths and virtual instruments on the market with more coming out each day but there are only a handful that have made it to the industry-standard level. Most software synthesizers can do just about anything. The choice lies in more of the workflow and construction of the UI layout of a synth rather than its power or sound quality. There are usually free trials or free editions of premier soft synths and virtual instruments, so you can play around with whatever you’re interested in and see what works best for you.
It’s a good idea to have a couple types of synthesizers in your arsenal such as subtractive, additive, wavetable, FM, etc., so you have access to the specific kind of tonality you may need. Many synths are hybrid or have access to multiple types of synthesis—some able to use multiple types simultaneously, such as wavetable/sample-based Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3 or X-fer Serum—both powerful and versatile synths that have found their way to the top of the market. Analog emulation synths like the subtractive U-He Diva recreate authentic analog sound with virtual circuit modeling—a CPU intensive process that outperforms the common wavetable-based synths when it comes to modeling classic analog sounds.
There are many fantastic options when it comes to generating authentic sounds of real acoustic instruments. Spitfire Audio has a massive collection of sample libraries that were used to enable their audio library’s authentic sonic realism, particularly useful for film composers. An enormous number of samples were recorded from real musicians in world-class venues, capturing all the nuance, imperfections, and articulations of each instrument, allowing for astounding realism.
Other virtual instruments like Spectrasonics Keyscape and IK Multimedia MODO BASS use sampling or specialized synthesis technology to deliver realistic facsimiles of acoustic instruments. These instruments are incredibly convenient and helpful, delivering realistic sound without the need for a mic to capture a real instrument. Sometimes, these alternatives are preferable to the real thing because of their flexibility, like the ability to change timbre and tonality in post.
There are some great free options as well. Vital is a free wavetable synthesizer that offers impressive and intuitive features and should be in everyone’s collection. Syntorial Primer 2 is a simple subtractive synthesizer designed as an educational tool, fantastic for beginners. The discoDSP OB-Xd is a software recreation of the OB-X, offered for free but without a commercial license—meaning you're not allowed to collect any profit from a project that uses it unless you pay the $100 fee (despite the lack of enforceability). SurgeXT is a free open-source hybrid synth that’s a quite bit more complicated than the others mentioned here, a good tool for experimenting with more complex and legacy engines and preparing you for the premier paid synths.
Plug-Ins and Effects
Software Equalizers
The stock EQs found in most DAWs are plenty enough to get the job done. However, most stock plug-ins lack the more advanced features that most paid EQs will offer. Things like excellent real-time analysis both pre and post-EQ, a larger selection of EQ filters, and intuitive UI for frequency monitoring are the kinds of extra features and fancy proprietary processes premium EQs have.
Some Great Software EQs:
Paid:
- Fabfilter ProQ4
- UAD Massive Passive
- iZotope Neutron and Ozone EQs
- Soundtoys Sie-Q
- Slate Infinity EQ
- Any Pul-tec style EQ
Free:
- Analog Obsession RareSE
- TDR Nova
- Sonimus SonEQ
- Your DAW’s stock EQ
Software Compressors/Limiters
Each compressor will have a specific way of handling the job it’s meant to do—check out our guide to compressors to get an idea of the different methodologies that exist and what they’re best suited for. Many digital “in-the-box” compressors will have switchable modes between opto, FET, Vari-mu, and VCA types, so choosing one comes down to the features it has to offer and the character/distortion it naturally adds to the signal. Some compressors will add a lot of distortion at different orders of harmonics, and some will be effectively transparent. Expensive doesn’t necessarily mean more transparent, but high-end compressors will often have more transparency. The best thing to do is just try them out. Companies will often offer a free trial of their software, or you can find reviews by content creators breaking down its workflow and analyzing its effect on a test tone.
Some Great Software Compressors:
Paid:
- DMG Audio Compassion
- FabFilter ProC2
- UAD Compressor Collection
- Waves SSL G-Master Bus Compressor
- iZotope Ozone Compressor
- PSP Xenon Limiter
Free:
- OTT – Xfer Records
- LoudMax Limiter
- Frontier – D16 Audio
- Compressor V4 by Toneboosters (unlimited demo that disables saving presets)
- Your DAW’s stock compressor
Temporal and Spatial Effects
Reverb, delay, and modulation effects like chorus, flangers, and phasers are perhaps the most effective plug-ins to upgrade in your toolkit. Money spent on premium time-based and spatial effects processors will make more of a difference to your sound than with premium EQs and compressors. This is due to the complexity of the algorithms and impulse responses used to create these effects digitally, and companies invest a lot of time and money designing and obtaining authentic spatial effects. That’s not to say that there aren’t some great free time-based and spatial modulation effects, or that you can’t get great sound with your stock plug-ins, but the amount of control features, presets, and creative range you’ll get with a premium effect is markedly greater than the free options.
Some Great Time/Space Effects
Paid:
- Valhalla collection
- Soundtoys collection
- D16 Syntorus (Chorus)
- Sonible smart:reverb 2
- TAL reverbs and delays
Free:
- Valhalla SuperMassive, Space Modulator, and Freq Echo
- OrilRiver
- Panagment 2.0 Free Ediition
- Your stock plug-ins
Other Effects Processors
EQ, compression, and time/space-based modulators are the main tools of audio production, but there are so many more plug-ins that can do all sorts of things. We’ll go through some categories that aren’t quite as ubiquitous in this section.
Saturation and Distortion
Saturators and distortion effects add harmonic character to a sound and are fantastic for adding sheen to a sound or absolutely blowing it out for an abrasive intense effect. These effects include overdrive, bit-crushers, and amp simulators. The Softube Saturation Knob is a classic free distortion plug-in.
Pitch Correction
Everyone knows autotune, and some of us are even old enough remember a time when it dominated the airwaves in the mid-2000s. There are two industry standard plug-ins, Antares Auto-tune (better for real-time correction) and Celmony Melodyne (better for studio post-production). Melodyne Essential comes free with Pro Tools and Studio One.
Analysis and Metering
These plug-ins exist to make sure your mix is up to standard for mastering or for broadcast, tune your instrument, monitor stereo width, and deliver other kinds of information about your audio. This includes spectrum analyzers, loudness meters, oscilloscopes, tuners, and so on. The free YouLean Loudness Meter has been a go-to for producers, and the PSP Triple Meter is an inexpensive and versatile VU/RMS/PPM meter.
Imaging
These tools will take a signal and use a certain process to spread the signal throughout the image of your listening environment. These include stereo wideners, panners, tremelo, and mid/side utilities. Waves Brauer Motion is a good example of a catch-all imaging plug-in.
Vocoders, Suppressors, Drum Samplers, Misc
There are some plug-ins that don’t quite fit a description such as vocoders, granulators, glitch/buffer effects, etc. The iZotope VocalSynth 2 is one of the most popular vocoders in the market and the EVOC 20 PolySynth is a great free option if you use Logic. Oeksound Soothe 2 has become one of the most popular plug-ins for dealing with problematic resonances. There are a bevy of drum samplers from modeled 808s to completely bespoke methodologies like Modalics Beat Scholar. There are plenty of unique and unconventional plug-ins available on the market.
If you’re looking to make music at a professional level, or even as a hobby, the sooner you start collecting plug-ins and instruments, the sooner you will amass a set of tools that will break any preconceived limitation of your creative output. Always be on the lookout for sales. With discounts as high as 90% off, you will get buyer’s remorse and an empty wallet if you pull the trigger too quickly.
Products that never go on sale on their official website often go on sale at retailers like B&H, so be sure to check out what software we have available on our online storefront before paying full price at the main website!
