KVR Audio

djanthonyw · Post by **djanthonyw** » Sat Jul 18, 2026 9:29 pm

Just checked this out and I'm surprised there's no thread yet. Sounds very good, comparable to many paid options.

Zeisner · Post by **Zeisner** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 6:54 am

No direct download. That's unfortunate.

jens · Post by **jens** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:42 am

Zeisner wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2026 6:54 am No direct download. That's unfortunate.

Nope, that's great - it a) means that they probably have a lot more planned, included commercial plugins and b) you automatically get informed immediately.

Edit: I see that they already have any number of plugins even though I have never heard of them - goes to show how important a marketing move this freebie might be.

@anthony: thanks for the heads up!

legendCNCD · Post by **legendCNCD** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 10:45 am

GUI's are very llm sloppish..

palle2 · Post by **palle2** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 1:50 pm

Finest hand-crafted vibe-coding since 1994 and 13 new plugins in 2026.

https://www.mmediasoftwarelab.com/
https://www.jeffmutschler.com/
https://github.com/mmediasoftwarelab

TheSweetSpot · Post by **TheSweetSpot** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 5:06 pm

They don't seem to make much of a noise here and at Gearspace but I love everything I have of theirs. Got this the other day, compared it to Slate VTM and felt it sounded as good if not better. Extremely low CPU hit too.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 6:58 pm

Not sure what you guys are hearing other than some rather harsh highs.. this is absolutely nowhere even remotely in the same ballpark as Slate VTM or Softube Tape or even close to the same universe as U-He Satin.

In my opinion of course. But yeah, I tested the freebie for about 15 minutes and then deleted it. Usability was horrible too as I couldn't find any way to link the gain knobs and everything else. Sound was really poor and nothing that I would associate with actual tape behaviour.

Maybe it is broken on my system.

Chicken Drummy · Post by **Chicken Drummy** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:18 pm

Sounds alright to me but I have better tape effects in my arsenal. Nothing I'd plonk money down on but I don't loathe it as much as bmanic. (Not liking the sound is one thing but comparing a freebie to plugs that cost $150 is silly.)

As it's free and I'm a plugin hoarder it'll remain in my arsenal for now, but I won't go round singing its praises to everyone I meet either.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:42 pm

I don't care if something is free or not. The whole notion of rating something higher just because is free is utterly flawed. The whole point is the sound and the usability. That's what I commented on. Now if it would cost 99€ or 199€ I would surely comment that it's overpriced because it just doesn't deliver on neither sound nor usability.. but that doesn't mean I give it a pass just because it is free.

I'm not at all a believer in "give gold medals to everybody just because they try". That mentality is IMHO so utterly flawed that it's ridiculous. You show respect and admiration when it's warranted. Otherwise it gets diluted into nothing and looses all meaning.

EDIT: Do note that this is of course MY opinion and like everybody else, it's purely subjective (though the usability can be objectively shown to be bad). I'm just one voice among everybody elses. If you like the plugin and love the sound, that's more power to you and my words should not take anything away from liking something.

.. and even within the free market, there are much better sounding and operating plugins out there. For instance the Chowdhury tape. Or the old legacy v3 version of Toneboosters Reelbus which I believe is freeware now. Or FerricTDS from Variety of Sound. etc. etc.

Chicken Drummy · Post by **Chicken Drummy** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:56 pm

And I don't particularly care whether you care if something is free or not. I said to me it's silly to compare $150 plugins to free ones. I do understand where you're coming from though, I get it. Anyway, I was simply voicing my own opinion. I respect your opinion even though I feel differently.

elxsound · Post by **elxsound** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 8:20 pm

Chicken Drummy wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:56 pm And I don't particularly care whether you care if something is free or not. I said to me it's silly to compare $150 plugins to free ones. I do understand where you're coming from though, I get it. Anyway, I was simply voicing my own opinion. I respect your opinion even though I feel differently.

But isn’t he comparing Free to Free? I think the payware mention is only because that’s in the OP.

Otherwise the site is a little suspect and I’d love to be wrong, but as they offer payware products, I would like to know they’re who they say they are before adding anything to my system.

TechHaus · Post by **TechHaus** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 8:31 pm

My new rule is at least 3 weeks between releases from a dev to show they even care about their products.

Chicken Drummy · Post by **Chicken Drummy** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 9:15 pm

elxsound wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2026 8:20 pm
Chicken Drummy wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:56 pm And I don't particularly care whether you care if something is free or not. I said to me it's silly to compare $150 plugins to free ones. I do understand where you're coming from though, I get it. Anyway, I was simply voicing my own opinion. I respect your opinion even though I feel differently.
But isn’t he comparing Free to Free? I think the payware mention is only because that’s in the OP.

Otherwise the site is a little suspect and I’d love to be wrong, but as they offer payware products, I would like to know they’re who they say they are before adding anything to my system.

Well Iron Deck is free while U-he Satin and Slate VTM both go for ~150$ so that's not comparing free to free. The OP made a general statement, "Sounds very good, comparable to many paid options." but he didn't specifically mention Satin or Virtual Tape Machines.

edit: I see now that SweetSpot was the one to mention Slate's VTM so that's why bmanic mentioned that one, so that's my mistake for missing it. I don't think Iron Deck is as good as VIrtual Tape Machines (and I'm not even a Slate fan!) and it goes without saying that Satin is better because, c'mon, it's u-he!

I know that the cost of a plugin isn't indicative of its quality. There are so many incredible freebies these days which rival or even surpass commercial ones. I have tons of free plugins that I'll often reach for before chosing a paid vst. U-he's free synths and effects are some of the best out there.

And yes, I can agree about the website! It does have a somewhat sketchy/scammy vibe to it.

I think their freebies are decent but I have no interest in purchasing anything from them.

I don't love Iron Deck or anything else from this dev, I just happen to think their free plugs are decent. But they're not worth defending in numerous comments and this isn't a hill I'm willing to die on. I like and use them, others don't, life goes on, etc.

Chicken Drummy · Post by **Chicken Drummy** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 9:17 pm

@TechHaus In this current vibecoding era, I think that's actually a pretty good rule to have.

elxsound · Post by **elxsound** » Sun Jul 19, 2026 9:24 pm

You're willingly ignoring the last of his post:

Which is comparing free to free:

"and even within the free market, there are much better sounding and operating plugins out there. For instance the Chowdhury tape. Or the old legacy v3 version of Toneboosters Reelbus which I believe is freeware now. Or FerricTDS from Variety of Sound. etc. etc."

Iron Deck - Free Tape Plugin