Many free options exist, but one of the best belongs to Tokyo Dawn Records. These indispensable tools are great for individual tracks as well as bus compression for drums, or even the mix as a whole. The plugin also has a convenient wet/dry blend knob to help you dial in the perfect amount of coloration for your mix’s vibe.Įvery engineer needs a good compressor. To drive the preamp harder, you can use the input knob to increase the level and get some tasteful clipping. Since the plugin also gives the sound of the REDD preamp, these two pieces combined can give you all of the 60’s tone you need for you track(s). Featuring high and low shelf bands and a peak mid band, the onboard EQ can help shape your track’s tone and improve your mix. This plugin is a recreation of the preamp and EQ that helped make these consoles famous.

The Code Red Free plugin is an emulation of the REDD consoles that graced the studios at Abbey Road back in the 1960s. Some of these emulations can cost hundreds of dollars, but then Shattered Glass Audio came along. There are many plugins that attempt to create a vintage tone or vibe through emulation of vintage gear. One great way to improve your mix is to give it vibe.

Here’s a list of some free plugins that can help improve your mix. Lucky for us, there are all sorts of free plugins that can help improve a mix. While many engineers dream of owning racks of gear and endless plugins, the reality is, we often only need to start with a few pieces of equipment and some free plugins.

Best free mastering plugins 2018