Top 10 Free Auto Tune Plug Ins

The birth, or shall we say the genesis of real-time pitch correction plug-ins started back in 1997 with Antares Auto-Tune which, like Melodyne, has been regarded as a gold standard in pitch correction. Over the last 20+ years Antares have continued to develop Auto-Tune with many great tuning features introduced within a simple to use GUI. Dec 18, 2019  50+ videos Play all Mix - Best FREE VST and AU Plugins (2019) Top 10 Free Plugins for FL Studio (any DAW) YouTube Best 10+ Free VST Must Haves & Techniques FL Studio Tips - Duration: 20:41. A new year, new free VST plugins for you guys! Here’s our list of the best free VST/AU plugins launched in 2019. If you’re looking for effects or virtual instruments and the budget is.

In the jungle of free VST plugins, there are many gold nuggets to be found, if you know where to look. Some of the free plugins out there hold such a class that they could easily go for several hundred bucks. And there are a lot.

Firstly, we would like to give a big thanks to all the VST plugin creators out there, who are willing to give out their amazing work for free. If you see a donation button anywhere on their websites, buy’em a cup of coffee, will you? Given how advanced and thought-out some of these plugins are, they probably live on the stuff.

So, let’s dive in. Here are our Top 10 Free VST Plugins of 2019. These definitely sets the standard of how good and thought-out a free VST can be. Our collection features some newer and some older. But with all great classics, they hold the test of time.

Let’s dive in!

1. Dexed (by Digital Suburban)

Modeled after Yamaha DX7, one of the best selling synths in history, this top 1 free FM-style VST synth is ready to get you cooking. Included are over a thousand classic DX7 presets, with sounds ranging from classic electronic pianos to powerful stabs and strings. You’ll probably recognize many of the sounds from your favorite 80’s tracks as this, again, was modeled after the go-to synth of that era.

Really, it started as a tool to be used with the original synth. However, this is such a good replica that stands on its’ own. With so many different knobs and options for customizability, this is a synth that you can tweak forever.

Easy, powerful and stable are three things that summarise this freeware goodie. Go get it.

2. MinimogueVA (by Voltkitchen)

Here we have another great emulation of a classic analog synth. This time, of the Minimoog. The Minimoog’s success was huge when it came out in the '70s. For starters, it was the first synthesizer created for the average consumer and the sound was just incredibly rich and powerful.

Used in tracks such as Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn”, Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”, and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”, it’s easy to see why this synth sound is loved by so many.

So, MinimogueVA. It’s an emulation but includes additional features not found in the original. To name a few, you now have a fully programmable digital delay, you can control the tuning of oscillator 1 (and fine tune oscillators 2 and 3) and have 3 overdrive sliders for each oscillator to make your sound even thicker.

This free synth sounds and behaves pretty much exactly like the original and is a must-have for every electronic producer. Deep, rich and yummy, and in our opinion best used for lead sounds and basses. Just beware that it might need some taming because of its’ power – the sounds take up a lot of space in the mix.

3. TAL-Elek7ro (by Togu Audio Line)

This powerful virtual analog synth has pretty much everything you’ll need as an electronic music producer. How about two oscillators (saw, pulse, triangle, and sine) with hardsync and PW/FM. One sub oscillator (saw and rectangle), one noise oscillator, wide-range LFO’s (0.1Hz up to 400 Hz) and a super user-friendly interface?

Users report a very analog sound from this synth, more than many of its’ competing virtual synths that comes with a price tag. So this free option will definitely satisfy you who wants to create rougher, analog, old school sounds.

The only thing really missing, in my opinion, is extra effects and an arpeggiator. But you can always use separate plugins for that, DAW-included or purchased.

All in all, a great, easy and powerful synth for electronic music production.

4. iZotope Vinyl (by iZotope)

You know that crackly sound from old vinyl? Or the electrical hum in speakers, when an audio cable is not fully plugged in? Well, it’s funny. Turns out those audio distortions are in again.

Commonly heard in triphop and retro synthwave-style music, some cracks, and noises can really bring a track to life. We don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about the warm crackle of vinyl. Is it nostalgia? A sense of analog? Making digital sounds more “human”?

I don’t know. But for those of you who want to achieve this to your mix, look no further than iZotope Vinyl. Rather than layering different vinyl scratch samples, this plugin is fully customizable and does the job extremely well.

Apply it to certain instruments or your whole mix, and choose the amount of the following parameters:

• Mechanical noise
• Wear
• Electrical noise
• Dust
• Scratch
• Warp depth

The last option, warp depth sets the amount of spin down applied from the 'Spin-Down' button below. That effect mimics what would happen to the sound of vinyl if you slowed it down manually until it stops. You know what I mean. But damn that’s cool.

You also have options for what decades you want to emulate, ranging from the 1930s up to 2000. There’s also an option for the number of RPM’s (of the “vinyl”).

Overall, a really cool plugin that can make the most digital sounds a bit more analog.

5. FerricTDS – Tape Dynamics Simulator (by Variety of Sound)

Looking for a great free alternative to the expensive tape saturators out there? Well, look no further. FerricTDS is it. Inspired to simulate the dynamics and warmth of high-end reel-to-reel tape recorders, this wonderful plugin does this in three steps.

Top 10 Free Autotune Plugins Ug Ins For Mac

Firstly, it controls the dynamics by gently shaping the overall dynamic response of the sound. Then it adds extra harmonics with its’ great sounding saturation and finally, the signal peak is controlled by its built-in limiter.

These three knobs are of course yours to play with as you wish, for a subtle or strong tape effect.

So, this plugin does a lot of wonderful things to your sound. Simply put, you can say that it warms up, controls and shapes. Like a compressor, saturation, limiting and a tape recorder emulator all in one neat package.

The plugin also won the KVR Developer Challenge of 2009. It’s ten years ago but its’ quality still holds with time.

6. TAL-REVERB III (by Togu Audio Line)

Introducing the TAL-REVERB III, the top of the free plate reverbs. This little gem will wow you with its’ beautiful non-BS interface and brilliant sound.

To break it down, the plugin has 7 dials. The low- and high cut dials make for easy reverb mixing. The room size dial controls the duration of the reverb. A stereo width dial for easy stereo control (mono to full stereo) and a pre-delay dial which goes up to one second. The last two are simply dry and wet dials. Easy peasy.

With 10 factory presets to choose from it’s also good to go from the start.

The sound of the TAL is fantastic, and their goal of creating a colorless, maximal diffused plate reverb without digital artifacts is really heard. It’s smooth, shimmering and nice.

For a free reverb plugin, this is good stuff. Check it out.

7. Synth1 (by Ichiro Toda)

Synth1 is another great synth that was made as a replica of the popular Nord Lead 2. The two actually sound quite similar, but being that the Nord Lead 2 is about $15,000, it’s not a great surprise that it beats a free plugin in sound quality.

But the Synth1 is totally free. It’s pretty cool that you can get at least half the quality of an expensive, top hardware synth just an easy, free download away.

So, what do we have in the Synth1?

For starters, we have 2 oscillators (sine, triangle, saw, and square) with FM and ring modulation, sync and a modulation envelope. 4 types of filters, 2 LFO’s and an arpeggiator. Included are also various effects, a tempo delay, and stereo chorus/flanger. You’ve got legato and portamento mode plus 16 notes polyphony. Not too shabby.

It’s optimized for extremely light CPU usage and is a fantastic starting point for any new producer who wants the learn the basics in sound synthesis. And the sound in this synth is great.

All in all, a great freeware synth that I think everyone should try at least once. It does have a few sound glitch bugs when changing the knobs sometimes. But generally, it's pretty stable and does the job. Very well.

8. BootEQ (by Variety of Sound)

BootEQ is another freebie who’s definitely up there competing with the big boys (top of the line, expensive plugins). It’s an SSL-style equalizer and pre-amp simulator, which “provides some nice and musical signal coloration effects” according to the product description.

The plugin is simple and easy to use with its’ four parametric and independent EQ bands and several classic sounding curves. You also have a drive-knob for saturation and two switches for vintage color and tube on or off. With a simple design, clear text and meter display, you can’t go wrong.

It colors the sound beautifully warm, but subtle and not over the top. To add some more life to dull life, or to fatten up sounds, this could easily be your go-to.

9. ValhallaFreqEcho (by Valhalla DSP)

The ValhallaFreqEcho is many things, along with being a staple plugin you must have in your library. It's both frequency shifter and analog-style echo, which in combination makes for a very psychedelic, trippy delay effect that feels like it's going in and out of your head.

Frequency shifting the delay output makes for some very interesting results. Used subtly, it passes as your everyday light chorus/flanger or doubler but used in excess, you've created something entirely new and out of this world.

If you’re looking for an experimental effect to spice up your psychedelic production, or simply want something to get your creative juices flowing, get this. Right now.

10. VB-1 (by Steinberg)

The 4 voice polyphonic VB-1 is a plugin you either love or hate. It’s not the best sounding bass emulations out there, but it's not trying to be either. Its' strength comes from its' incredible ease of use. You basically have 4 knobs (release, shape, damper, and volume), a picture of a bass guitar and a pick you can drag left and right for different sounds.

On its' own, the VB-1 doesn't sound fantastic. But I've found great use for it in creating basses for trance music. It produces a nice, basic bass signal that is brought to life with the help of some extra plugins. Throw in some EQ, saturation and bass boost and it's suddenly kicking.

Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re into creating rolling trance basses.

/delay-dev-c.html. Thanks for reading!

Whether you’re a home producer or work at a major recording studio, Autotune and other pitch correction software can help deal with a weak vocal performance.

In a hurry? I love Melodyne 4 Studio from Celemony. It’s sounds incredible, leaving little to no artifacts on vocals recorded in a treated space, but are in need of a little fixing.

But Autotune isn’t reserved exclusively for pitch correction. T-Pain popularized the hard-straightened pitch, even going as far as releasing an iOS app called “I Am T-Pain.”

Pitch correction software can also be utilized for other instruments as well. I’ve even used VariAudio (the “Autotune” built into Cubase) on bass guitar parts that were slightly out of tune. The result was surprisingly excellent, with little to no audio artifacts.

There’s a lot you can do with Autotune and similar software.

With so many options for producers, how can you decide on which one to use? Fortunately, I’ve had the experience working with many pitch correction plugins to weed out the good from the bad.

I’m going to include both free and paid options, so please read on!

Have an interest in virtual instruments? Don’t miss my other roundups!

Table of Contents

1) Antares Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)

Auto-Tune is the original pitch correction software. It’s so popular that its name is synonymous and is more of a colloquial term.

Antares gives you a couple of options to pick from depending on your needs — Pro, Artist, Access, or EFX+. As you’d guess, the price moves up the more features there are.

Auto-Tune is very hands-off. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s the most straightforward plugin for correcting pitch.

Pros

• Easy to use for beginners
• Lightweight on memory
• Great-looking user interface

Cons

• AUTO mode is limited
• Difficult for beginners to use GRAPH
• A little outdated compared

When using Auto-Tune on a vocal track in AUTO mode, set the key, the retune speed, and the amount of humanization. You should be able to hit the playback button now and hear hopefully great results.

Because it’s simplicity, I find that it doesn’t perform as well as others (when using the quick settings) that require more fine-tune vocal editing.

To fix an abysmal vocal performance, use the graph mode and hand tune each note to your liking. This process is much more complicated but yields a far better result.

I am not huge on Auto-Tune (I know many are), but it can deliver exceptional results. If you take the time to learn how to use it properly, you’ll have great-sounding vocals with ease.

Auto-Tune from Antares is available at Plugin Boutique.

Free Autotune Plugin For Cubase

2) Steinberg VariAudio — Cubase Pro (Paid)

Steinberg’s VariAudio is a pitch correction software included in Cubase Pro. It’s not a standalone plugin, so you won’t be able to use it if you don’t own Cubase Pro.

But, for those of you with Cubase who didn’t realize your DAW has pitch correction, rejoice!

I love VariAudio — so much so that I couldn’t imagine switching DAWs. I’ve been on Cubase for ten years, so I know my way around, but VariAudio is the one thing that will keep me as a forever customer.

Pros

• Integrated into Cubase
• Quick to edit any clip
• Very fast and no CPU

Cons

• Audio artifacts are very noticeable if not careful
• Limited cutting resolution
• Not intuitive at first

VariAudio functions similar to Melodyne and Auto-Tune’s graph mode. Double-clicking on a clip opens up the editor, where you can choose to enable VariAudio — no plugin required.

From here, it’s simple as using Pitch Quantize and Straighten Pitch on each clip. Cutting clips also helps pitch only individual sections of a waveform.

The newest version of VariAudio introduced some incredible options for adjusting pitch that make the software even more valuable.

I highly recommend considering Cubase Pro if you plan to switch DAWs — for VariAudio exclusively!

Steinberg’s Cubase Pro is available from Plugin Fox.

3) Celemony Melodyne (Paid)

We’re moving up the price ladder, but for a good reason. Melodyne from Celemony is one of the most utilized pitch correction plugins used by professional vocal editors and producers.

Melodyne offers (to my ears) the most accurate and musical sounding algorithm, leaving no tuning artifacts that are easily recognizable to the untrained ear.

Pros

• Incredible-sounding algorithm
• Tons of flexibility when vocals sound poor
• Zero audio artifacts in most cases

Cons

• Difficult for new users
• Rather expensive

The software has incredible note detection allowing for more accurate tuning. I find that in VariAudio, there are times that the software cannot understand individual notes, so they are omitted. It’s not too often this occurs, but Melodyne does it better.

Melodyne is available at Plugin Boutique.

4) Waves Tune (Paid)

Waves Tune operates similarly to Auto-Tune and Melodyne. Before you begin tuning, the software scans the audio track and displays audio waveforms.

The process of editing is quite similar as well, though the interface is slightly dated.

Pros

• Included in many of Wave’s plugin bundles
• Relatively lightweight on CPU

Cons

• Outdated
• Difficult to use

I have never enjoyed using Waves Tune but figured it needed a mention since Waves is one of the most popular audio plugin companies.

5) Waves Tune Real-Time (Paid)

While cheaper than the regular version of Tune, Tune Real-Time offers a quick and user-friendly experience for tuning vocals. I’d compare this plugin to using Auto-Tune on AUTO mode.

Note transition is iffy at best and artifacts are present throughout (at least when I used it). The plugin isn’t smooth sounding at all, and there aren’t many parameter changes available.

I’d recommend Real-Time for two different scenarios. The first being someone new to audio production looking to fix a vocal without technical knowledge of tuning vocals. You won’t get the most professional sound, but it will be acceptable.

The second scenario is for producers working with singers in the studio who struggle to sing on pitch.

Using a pitch-correction software can boost the confidence of the singer in the booth, though I can’t say for sure if this will lead to a better sounding vocal take.

Despite the marketing of Waves Tune Real-Time, claiming instant vocal tuning, I could envision latency becoming an issue in some home studio settings.

Free Auto-Tune VST Plugins

If you’re on the fence about which one to get or want to save a little cash, try some of these free pitch correction plugins I’ve listed below.

Things To Consider When Choosing a Pitch Correction Software Plugin

Despite all the choices I’ve laid out, you still may be confused on the correct option. Here are some things to consider before making a decision.

Does the software maker provide a trial?

If so, take the trial and check out the software! There’s nothing more frustrating than buying a plugin only to find out that it’s non-refundable.

Do you need graph editing functionality?

Graph editing, like seen in Melodyne and VariAudio, is for advanced vocal editors. If you need a quick tuning for a little enhancement of a track, you may not need to edit each note. Pitch correction in garageband auto tune.

If you want to draw in the notes physically, a more advanced pitch correction software will be necessary.

Further features you may desire are formant control, MIDI input (for vocoder), and note straightness. These types of effects are often essential in a lot of today’s popular music.

Does your DAW already have pitch processing?

Free Pro Tools Autotune Plugin

Mine does — that’s why I’ve included VariAudio in this list. Digital audio workstations like Propellerhead’s Reason and MOTU Digital Performer also come with their native pitch correction software.

Wrapping Up

Which one do I like most? If I didn’t have VariAudio included in Cubase, I’d most likely be using Melodyne exclusively. It sounds incredible, and the workflow is so intuitive.

So there you have it — my list of the best Auto-Tune/pitch correction VST plugins. Which one do you currently use in the studio? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments. Thanks for reading!

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