Free Alpha by LinPlug is a Virtual Instrument Audio Plugin for macOS and Windows. It functions as a VST Plugin and an Audio Units Plugin.

Product
Version

3.3

Product
Version

3.3

Tags:Synth (Analogue / Subtractive)Free Alpha LinPlug

Instrument
Formats

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None

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FreeAlpha is the small brother of Alpha, sharing the same engine but having fewer features. It's been around since mid 2000 and is free of charge.

It comes with a couple of presets to get you started and the manual of the full Alpha which covers FreeAlpha too.

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.30 from 10 reviews

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Free Alpha
Reviewed By rvltion909@yahoo.com
April 17th, 2007

4 3

Simply said this little guy has some GREAT sound quality. Its got a very basic interface with all the standard controls.

The thing that stood out to me right away was its sound quality. The filter got my attention right away. Its something you learn to appreciate after downloading loads of "freeware" products.

It comes with some great sounding presets. Props to Linplug for this gem! Straight to the point reliability and quality, not ground breaking but great promo product and one of THE best freebies I have.
end

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Free Alpha
Reviewed By Rabid
December 9th, 2003

1 2

This is one of the better free VSTi’s. Quality wise it matches up with Triangle I and Triange II, both of which are mono. If you want that LinnPlug sound and don’t have the money, try this synth. If you are not sure how the LinnPlug sound will sit in your mix and don’t want to create a song with demos, try this synth. I like it best for the softer pads. The simple architecture does not have the modulation matrix of Delta III or Albino, but it still sounds good for simple part, and not every part in a song needs to be a complex pad. I also believe in using the most basic synth for the part as to help with CPU efficiency, along with the efficiency of the person writing the music.

Pros:
Free
Decent sound.
Good for basic pads.
Easy to use and learn.

Cons:
None for a free synth that works well and sounds good.

Robert

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Free Alpha
Reviewed By Phaedo
July 17th, 2003

2 1

It's a crime that this thing is offered for free. You've got a polyphonic 2 oscillator synth with effects, LFOs, and more routing options than a MiniMoog. And they're using it just to promote their other products.

A warning: this review is critical. That's not to say it's a bad review. Actually, the product is great.

There's a couple of nastinesses about the user interface. The full waveform name isn't displayed. The knobs to my mind sit rather uneasily between a 2d and 3d look. The worst bit, though, is the preset manager, which fails to open in the correct directory. This is, of course, a matter of taste. I just don't much like it.
On the other hand, the interface is simple and easy to use (unlike plenty of other synths). In particular, the ability to octave-shift the oscillators is very easy to play with.

Is the sound that "classic analogue"? To my ears, not quite, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The presets don't necessarily jump out at you, but there's a lot of workman-like, usable stuff in there.

There are, however, a lot of waveforms, and the jewel in the crown: polyphonic note stealing. Human played pads sound wonderful with this (you can also achieve the effect through careful editing, obviously...) It's a pity none of the presets have limited polyphony to show this off immediately.

As you've probably gathered, I use this thing for pad sounds. Synth basses don't really interest me, and, good though it is, I think there are better free synths for leads.

Feature-wise, I'd say it was "just right". There's enough features to be useful and creative with it, but it doesn't have the kitchen sink and if you want more, you can go buy Albino...

Have to admit, I've never actually read the manual or used the technical support, so I've given them 10. I've never seen it crash either, so that's a genuine 10.

Value for money and value for time is excellent. I guarantee that if you download it and start messing around, it won't be an hour before you can find something to use on a tune. I wouldn't have Alpha dominate the tune but frankly, too many synths try to.

If you've got too many synths already, you really don't need another. On the other hand, if you're starting out, or you just want a different texture for one song, go get it, it won't disappoint you. This isn't one of those free synths where you get what you pay for. It's one of those that leaves you feeling like you've stolen from the developer.

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Free Alpha
Reviewed By Permanent4
May 23rd, 2003

0 1

If you have never worked with analog synthesis and want to learn the basics, or if you have fond memories of those old Roland and Alesis hardware synths from the 80s, FreeAlpha should be the first VSTi you download.

This little gem offers warm analog sound, excellent filters, a wide variety of waveforms to play with, and a very simple layout that practically explains itself. It also offers room for growth with its modulation matrix, which can produce some interesting results with a little experimentation. Beginning sound designers can tweak to their hearts content and find much potential here.

FreeAlpha is usually my first call VSTi for synth bass sounds and saw leads, but It's also quite useful for pads and square leads. The sound is full and rich, and it's as rock-solid stable a synth as I've ever used. It doesn't come with a wide array of presets, but really, with a synth like this, you'll be making your own in no time. It's top-notch, it's easy to use, and its free. What more could you want from a VSTi? Go click that Download button.

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Free Alpha
Reviewed By x_bruce
March 22nd, 2003

0 0

The freeAlpha is one of my favorite Juno/80's sounding synths. The feature set is actually substantially better than the Juno but it has a warm character that fits well in literally any type of timbre.

In particular synth strings, basses, synth swells and synth pianos are easy to program and have a certain 'rightness' to them. You have nothing to lose trying freeAlpha, it's free and a small download.

Although far from being a programming monster freeAlpha is fairly simple which is in it's favor. In a cluttered arena of analog-like synths and one synth does everything freeAlpha is refreshingly direct and highly effective for the style of sounds it was developed to create.

High marks because I turn to this over shareware and commercial synths.

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Comments & Discussion for LinPlug Free Alpha

Discussion: Active

bruhmannbd
27 September 2012 at 9:36pm

Hello Forum I'm newbie, I installed free alpha on my MacBook Pro and now Pro Tools wont work> Is there some setting I missed?

BlackWinny
1 November 2013 at 4:23pm

The new page for Alpha and Free Alpha is this one :

http://www.linplug.com/alpha.html

The choice among both is made using the tabs at the bottom of the page.

skotterz
3 November 2013 at 7:02pm

does anyone know if the alpha can work with other DAWs? So far in my research it appears Pro Tools is a requirement, but why would they limit it? I'm using Ableton Live 9.

BlackWinny
3 November 2013 at 10:20pm

Here at home:

with Cantabile Lite: no problem.
With Band-In-A-Box 2013: no problem.
With Magix Samplitude Music Studio 17: no problem.
With Mutools Mulab: No problem.
With SAVIHost: no problem.
With VSTHost: No problem.
With BigTick Zen: No problem.

Beware! Like many VST's Free Alpha is provided to be installed as 32-bit but also to be installed as 64-bit (in the case of FreeAlpha you must launch the same installer twice and make your choice each time).

32-bit VSTs must be used only with 32-bit DAWs.
64-bit VSTs must be used only with 64-bit SAWs.

So... always the same recurrent question which in 95% of the cases resolve the problem: are you sure that you try to use FreeAlpha 32-bit (named "freealpha.dll") with Ableton Live Lite 32-bit and that you try to use FreeAlpha 64-bit (named "freealpha 64.dll") with Ableton Live Lite 64-bit?

THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED

skotterz
3 November 2013 at 10:57pm

blackwinny, thanks very much for the reply. (I use Ableton Live 9 Suite, 32-bit, by the way.) I read the 'Read Me' system requirements for Alpha too quickly, misreading that ProTools was required for it to work. .. my bad - it works just fine. i'm trying out the free version as I'm keen to use its microtuning capabilities.

BlackWinny
17 April 2014 at 4:33pm

I've just found an old (2007) but good review here, with a rather deep description of this free edition (with even audiogram curves of the filters).

chris 444
4 September 2016 at 8:35am

unfortunately no recent link for download ?

ace89tony
19 September 2016 at 3:06pm

No So the company themselves are giving the plugin for free @.

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/free-alpha-by-linplug.

for now...................

NWSM
14 September 2017 at 3:18am

How to scroll the next Presets after "LD intrusive Lead 2 vv".

There is no scrollbar, cant drag and pull, mousewheel no function...

If i click the browser-button, in the wrapped alpha panel, in bitwig 2.1, i have more presets available...if i choose one of the not visible presets, the preset view in alpha itself jump to the first preset (Alpha !!! BT), but play sometimes the choosed preset not always. Its confusing.

dr0ppa
29 November 2018 at 11:11pm

I accidentally deleted my set of original presets that come with this plug-in... could someone re-upload the original stock presets that come with this?

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