It’s extremely light on the CPU and works on almost any OS and DAW.Īlso, if you’re interested in another high-quality synth, in fact, it’s one that Skrillex uses, then check out Native Instrument’s FM8. It features two oscillators and one sub-oscillarot, FM modulation, ring mod., synchro, 4 types of filters, distortion, two LFO, arpeggiator, and much more. Synth1 is modeled on the Nord Lead 2 Synthesizer and you can download hundreds of presets for it. This is one of those synth plugins that you should always keep in your arsenal since it sounds absolutely fantastic it’s right up there with Surge and Dexed, at least as far as freeware synths go. It’s even getting updated consistently, meaning that there will be bug fixes over time and the plugin itself will get better and better.ĭespite its old age, Synth1 is still extremely relevant today, and this is why I included it in this list, plus it works on both Windows and Mac OS on 32bit and 64bit systems. Surge used to be a premium plugin and sold for roughly $99, but now it’s free and opensource. In addition to this, it also features three oscillators per voice, 8 oscillator algorithms, two filter units in 8 different configurations, 12 LFO units (6 are per voice and 6 are global for the whole scene), 7 deformable LFO waveforms plus a drawable/step sequencer waveform, and more.Īs far as effects go, it features Delay, Reverb, Chorus, Phaser, EQ, Distortion, Conditioner (EQ, stereo-image control, and limiter), Rotary speaker, Frequency shifter and Vocoder. It is a hybrid subtractive synthesizer with a dual synthesis engine and each patch contains two ‘scenes’, which are separate instances of the entire synthesis engine that can be used for layering or split patches. Surge is an opensource Synth VST that sounds fantastic and used to be considered by many to be the best free synthesizer plugin currently available.

Surge by Vember Audio (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Related: Even though all of the plugins on this list are absolutely fantastic, you might also be interested in the best Premium Synth VSTs. This is a paid synth but it’s probably one of the absolute best ones available.

Lastly, the 144 engine parameters of this synth can be automated in the DAW directly from its front panel.Īn even better alternative to Dexed would be Massive by Native Instruments. You can access this directory by pressing the “Cart” button and then the “Show Dir” button. Let’s get started… Odin 2 by TheWaveWarden (Windows, Mac, Linux) Here’s a quick table with some the Synths that I consider to be the best ones and that should fit most people’s needs, but there’s definitely more on this post: Synth Name It’s worth noting that these synths aren’t really in any particular order since they each have their place in a production! So, just download them and have fun! In this article, I will be going over the best freeware Synth VST plugins currently available.

Free au plugins for mac