Best Free Plugins of the Year So Far: Tops and Flops
Freebies from Full Bucket Music, Klevgrand, Analog Obsession, and more.
4,8 / 5,0 | 
Best free plugins of the year so far · Source: Klevgrand / Full Bucket Music / UnplugRed / Morphoice / Analog Obsession / Tiagolr
What are the best free plugins of the year so far? We test them out and reveal our opinions.
Best Free Plugins of the Year So Far: Tops and Flops
If you’re like me, you’re probably downloading free plugins all the time. Every week, Lasse rounds up the best ones in his ongoing Free Plugins of the Week series. I read the roundup and download the plugins with every intention of trying them out – and then roundly forget about them. To rectify that, I thought we could take a look at some of the best free plugins of the year so far and see how they fare in this version of Tops and Flops.
Are these really the best free plugins of the year so far? Let’s find out.
Tiagolr RipplerX
One of my favorite forms of synthesis as of late is physical modeling. I love the idea of starting with something acoustic-sounding and then taking it to weird places. I’ve been playing with Multiphonics CV-3 by AAS lately and it’s had me hankering for Chromaphone. While I can’t afford that right now, I can afford this free version, RipplerX by Tiagolr.
A polyphonic synth, it offers dual resonators with parallel and serial coupling, with nine models: String, Beam, Squared, Membrane, Drumhead, Plate, Marimba, Open tube, and Closed tube. You can also get rough with inharmocity, noise and mallet generators, and other parameters.
Best of all, RipplerX sounds incredible. With up to 64 partials per resonator, it can sound really clean and powerful. The developer admits that Chromaphone is more feature-rich, but if you want a free way to get top-notch physical modeling sounds, look no further. One of the best free plugins of the year? Oh for sure.
- Tiagolr RipplerX download page
Analog Obsession Attractor
Analog Obsession is something of a genius. The developer makes free signal processing plugins often inspired by analog hardware. They’re all gorgeous-sounding and all free.
They also often offer functionality that you won’t find elsewhere. Take, for example, Attractor. A transient designer, Attractor splits the incoming signal into attack and release portions, with separate controls for each band, including high and low EQ, compression, saturation, and volume.
Being a transient designer, the obvious application is drums, so I tried running a full UK garage beat through it. While I normally do my transient designing with something more simple like Native Instruments’ Transient Master, Attractor had me doing things I wouldn’t normally do, like adjusting EQ and volume of the transient and tail. It also colors the signal in a pleasing and very analog way, as you’d expect from this developer. Definitely worth a download.
- Analog Obsession Attractor download page
Full Bucket Music Paralogy
Another developer whose work is all free, Full Bucket Music is probably best known for its Korg emulations. Its latest, however, is Paralogy, a software recreation of the Crumar Trilogy.
A paraphonic instrument from the early ‘80s, Trilogy offered three instruments in one: organ, string ensemble, and synthesizer. Paralogy recreates that three-tiered construction with an organ section with additive octave sliders, a two-oscillator synth with oscillator sync, LFO, filter and envelope, plus a string ensemble. You also get effects with a chewy phaser and delay.
If you know Full Bucket, you already know this is quality. The sound is a little on the thin side, but then again, the original probably was, too. I’ve never played a Crumar (my experience with Italian synthesizers is pretty much non-existent), but if you need something smooth and retro for your next Dario Argento disco soundtrack recreation, look no further. Can we call this one of the best plugins of the year? I think so.
- Full Bucket Music Paralogy download page
Morphoice Unstable
Morphoice’s Unstable is an emulation of the Yamaha CS-80. Well, it’s inspired by the ‘70s classic but “is in no way intended to be a CS-80 emulator.” Although the plugin will eventually cost money, right now, it’s in beta, so it’s free, meaning you can download it yourself and see how close you think it is.
I don’t know if I can say that it’s “closer to the real hardware than anything out there,” having played a real CS-80 a few times at Yamaha’s Innovation Road museum in Hamamatsu, Japan. However, Unstable is a nice polyphonic synth in its own right, with a feature set that closely mimics that of the hardware.
Would I pay money for Unstable? Probably not, seeing as I already have Arturia’s CS-80 V. I wish Morphoice good luck, though, and am excited to play with the upcoming Juno-6 emulation, Eighty Six.
- Morphoice Unstable download page
Klevgrand SyndtSphere 2.0
Klevgrand is the best. The Swedish developer consistently makes unique and great-sounding instruments and effects with often unconventional GUIs. It also does the occasional freebie, which is always appreciated.
SyndtSphere 2.0 is a refresh of the company’s 2017 freeware synth of the same name. Sort of a ROMpler with an unusual interface, you “surf” between presets arranged on a sphere in the center of the panel. Picking a point between presets will give you a blend of the sounds. You can adjust the amount of pitch bend and glide, and there’s a delay, but that’s it. Just surf and play.
I have to admit that I’ve never used a SyndtSphere sound in a song, although I do occasionally open the instrument up and drag the sphere around, looking for inspiration. That being said, I am happy it exists. And it just occurred to me: I wonder if you can modulate between presets? Looking at the automation lanes, you can! X, Y, and Z planes are all available. Well, that changes everything. Nice one, Klevgrand!
- Klevgrand SyndtSphere download page
UnplugRed Magic Carpet
Here’s a brand new one from independent developer, UnplugRed. Called Magic Carpet, it’s an experimental delay with three lines and a single feedback control for dense repeats. It’s also got a noise mode for getting really crazy with the feedback.
Magic Carpet sounds amazing, especially when paired with RipplerX. This is my first play with a plugin from UnplugRed’s Melody, and I’ll definitely be going back for more. Also, I love the website. It is indeed one of the best free plugins of the year so far.
- UnplugRed Magic Carpet download page
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One response to “Best Free Plugins of the Year So Far: Tops and Flops”
I challenge anyone to demonstrate that ANY Analog Obsession plugin sounds even remotely like the hardware he purports to emulate.
Geesh people, every plugin has the exact same thd/ harmonics.