KVR Audio

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 8:41 pm

Tappistry wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 8:16 pm
excuse me please wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 1:52 pm Free list sounds very familiar, hehe I only miss Limiter №6 and OilRiver.
Did not know Airwindows. Thank you for the suggestion. But when it comes to brass, I won't use freebees.
What's to "miss" about Limiter 6? It's still out there for download iirc.

I'm pretty sure he meant he's missing it on the List made by the OP.

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:07 pm

There is a huge difference between surpass and be good enough.

excuse me please · Post by **excuse me please** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:38 pm

Yes, my post got lost. But Lim 6 and OilRiver are free.

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:06 pm

Did any of the free plugins in the OP's post even come out in 2020? None of the ones I recognized looked new at all. So by definition, I don't think 2020 is the year freeware surpassed commercial plugins. Also...if the OP uses more freeware than payware. Whatever. That's fine. I don't know why this keeps coming up as controversial.

TDR freeware is better than most commercial plugins. They're the exception, not the rule IMO.

The Logic plugins are darn good DAW plugins. Although, they're locked to Logic and not free unless you own Logic. So they're not freeware.

Air Windows? I appreciate that Chris is out there doing his thing, but I can't be assed to explore the world of weird designs with 5 revisions which all sound different, that do a portion of a job, with no GUI. "ToTape6 paired up with FromTape2 with WowandFlutter16 and Dither259RevB sounds awesome on drums!" There might be some great sounding stuff in there, but it's like exploring the Guided by Voices catalog. Rob Pollard can shit out 60 songs a year, and some are absolute gems, but between lofi recordings, the loose takes, lack of structure, it can be hard to find the time to obsess in order to find the truffles among the turds (so to speak - I'd kill for a tenth of that guy's talent). I feel that way about Air Windows. I'd love it if the plugins were more polished, less R&D tinkering and more complete, had GUI's, and there fewer (but more complete) revisions. So do Air Windows compete with commercial plugins? Not in my opinion they don't, but others can disagree.

For me, part of what makes the better commercial plugins so good is the fact that they're not so esoteric and feel more polished (preset browsers, resizable, multiple formats, oversampling options, cross platform, support, etc.) and generally just work. I think the best minds in DSP still generally want to be compensated for their work, and that's also reflected in the quality of the sound of excellent commercial plugins compared to freeware (TDR, again, being the exception).

But is there great freeware? Yes. Does it matter if someone uses more freeware than other plugins? Nope. Most of audio is about the ears of the person making the mix, and their skillset. The tools are ancillary. If Air Windows and the Ignite Pultec work for the OP, and the OP and/or their clients are happy with the mixes, then who cares. I see a lot of pros like Scheps using plugins I don't like and doing way better things with them than I could ever do with any of the best gear.

Passing Bye · Post by **Passing Bye** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:08 pm

excuse me please wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 6:18 pm Anyway the Airwindows plug are free FYI

They aren't really
https://www.patreon.com/airwindows
these ones are actually free
https://www.airwindows.com/category/free/

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:10 pm

Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:06 pm Did any of the free plugins in the OP's post even come out in 2020? None of the ones I recognized looked new at all.

The way I read it he is saying in the year 2020 freeware surpasses payware.

I don't get the sense that he's claiming those plugins were released in 2020.

plexuss · Post by **plexuss** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:50 pm

Free plugins are great if you dont have the money, for sure. But like everything, you get what you pay for. There's really nothing else to say.

I'd love to hear a mix/master from someone who only uses free plugins on their work, including DAW built-in plugins. Let's hear it!

melomood · Post by **melomood** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:40 am

Came here hoping I might catch the names of some good freewares I don't know about but just found myself nodding me head at the list 'yep,use that one....and that one....and that one'
There are some paid ones I go to but the list isn't terribly long

DJErmac · Post by **DJErmac** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:40 am

OK. What free reverb SURPASSES the best commercial reverbs ?
If you find one, maybe it's time to change your monitors, earphones or ears.

fairlyclose · Post by **fairlyclose** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:41 am

plexuss wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:50 pm Free plugins are great if you dont have the money, for sure. But like everything, you get what you pay for. There's really nothing else to say.

I'd love to hear a mix/master from someone who only uses free plugins on their work, including DAW built-in plugins. Let's hear it!

looking forward to the free vocalign pro, melodyne, zynaptiq gear etc etc. For simple mixing ... maybe

DJErmac · Post by **DJErmac** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:47 am

This is insane. A couple of free plugins are indeed on a commercial-level quality (TDR Kotelnikov...), but that's reversing the logic.
Most of the commercial plugins are way above the freeware plugins. The ones that are not are a shame.

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:50 am

DJErmac wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:40 am OK. What free reverb SURPASSES the best commercial reverbs ?
If you find one, maybe it's time to change your monitors, earphones or ears.

As I was saying earlier some freeware plugins are better than some payware.

The one that comes to mind is the free OrilRiver reverb versus bx_rooMS.

OrilRiver just destroys bx_rooMS which is still listed at a ridiculous $199. I got my license for $9 and it's not even worth that.

Is OrilRiver the best reverb out there ? No of course not but it's miles better than the payware bx_rooMS.

I imagine you could find a freeware EQ that's better than some payware EQ's and so on.....

melomood · Post by **melomood** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:53 am

Considering how badly reverb gets abused I think it will be a perpetually unsettled argument

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:56 am

plexuss wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:50 pm Free plugins are great if you dont have the money, for sure. But like everything, you get what you pay for. There's really nothing else to say.

I'd love to hear a mix/master from someone who only uses free plugins on their work, including DAW built-in plugins. Let's hear it!

Layzer is pretty close to only using free level plugins and his stuff is pretty darn good.

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:10 am

ATS wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:56 am
plexuss wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:50 pm Free plugins are great if you dont have the money, for sure. But like everything, you get what you pay for. There's really nothing else to say.

I'd love to hear a mix/master from someone who only uses free plugins on their work, including DAW built-in plugins. Let's hear it!
Layzer is pretty close to only using free level plugins and his stuff is pretty darn good.

Exactly! I've never listened to his music but I'd point out...

Composition. Arrangement. Songwriting. Performance. Production. Mix. Master.

...none of that stuff is dependent on payware tools.

This is the second thread in about a month about the controversial opinion that you could produce great music with freeware (the other was in the instruments forum). Look, I like buying plugins even MORE than the next guy, but that's because I like to play with new toys and probably have more income than talent at this point in my life. That said, I feel like I've got enough years experience under my belt that I'd get good results if I needed to stick to freeware only. I wouldn't want to, but it's more about the experience than tools.

I wouldn't say there's "no difference" or "freeware is better" but I definitely wouldn't say "you need to spend money on commercial plugins to produce good music."

In 2020 Free Plug-Ins Surpass Paid Ones?