Professional Analog Mastering.
Professional Analog Mastering.
220K+ subscribers
I had heard about AirWindows for the longest time, but I always struggled to get the plugins running properly. Also, they’ve released hundreds of plugins making it difficult to know where to start.
However, Chris J, the developer behind the project recently released a consolidated plugin, which works incredibly well on newer operating systems and makes installing and accessing the plugins simple.
Not only does a single download and install get you access to a slew of free plugins, but you also get access to plugins that can’t be found anywhere else.
You get your basic filters, more or less traditional saturators, reverbs, and so on.
But then there are console emulations that mimic the voltage differences between analog channels and summing mixers, plugins that mimic how air molecules behave under intense sound pressure, a soft clipper that shifts the saturation point from the peak of the signal to a lower amplitude point in the waveform while retaining the peak.
They’re the type of plugins you didn’t know you needed until you start going down this rabbit hole of highly creative, one-of-a-kind effects.
If you download this plugin, keep in mind that the collection is set to “Recommended” by default. If you select all plugins, hundreds more plugins pop up.
As you may have noticed, the UI is incredibly simple. At most, each plugin has 4-6 parameters.
For example, the console plugins, which I’m a big fan of, only include 2 parameters - the gain or fader, and pan. Most of the unique processing occurs behind the scenes and requires a good deal of research to understand exactly what it does.
You may have also noticed that each plugin gets a massive description - some of these read like blog posts, but each has helpful information about the plugin, what it does, and what’s unique about it.
So far, I have 5 favorites I’d like to recommend - Mackity, which emulates a vintage Mackie mixer and adds truly impressive punch and distortion to a signal.
Console MC, which mimics an MCI console.
Mastering, which is a subtle drive, compression, and tone-shaping effect that I think improves the density of instrument buses.
Clearcoat is an ambient reverb effect that brightens the source in a realistic and pleasant way.
And lastly, Tube 2, is a tube emulation that has a realistic effect on the transients and introduces breakup similar to tube amps.
Let’s take a listen to this drum track - it’s an unprocessed track aside from some level adjustment and subtle bus compression.
We’ll start with the original, compare it to the same drums in which the subtle Console MC plugin was used on all of the tracks, then I’ll introduce the tube2 plugin, and lastly enable clearcoat.
Notice how these plugins don’t do too much most of the time, but cumulatively offer an incredibly pleasant sound.
Watch the video to learn more >
Analog Obsession, like AirWindows, is run by 1 highly dedicated engineer. Unlike AirWindows, Analog Obsession plugins are a bit more transparent in what they do - they often, if not always, emulate a specific piece of hardware.
These range from the well-known like the 1176, the LA2A, and Pultec EQs, to some of the lesser-known like TREQ, an emulation of a Trident Console’s EQ.
They even expand on some of these units by adding multiband versions, like with KolinMB, a three-band Fairchild compressor.
Sometimes they simplify things like with Poortec, a Pultec emulation that includes 2 filters for even easier tone shaping.
And every once in a while, they come out with something surprising like Mo-Ma, a machine learning-based saturator that imparts either even or odd harmonics along with unique shaping to dynamics.
My favorites include Tuba - a tube channel strip with a simple EQ section and some variable gain options like a pad and compensated lo-hi input values.
The aforementioned Kolin MB, which works incredibly well on drums since it achieves a sought-after thwack sound if that makes sense.
And Poortec, since when I’m using a Pultec EQ I don’t want high and low pass filters most of the time, I just want to gradually shape the lows and highs.If you were frustrated by how subtle some of the AirWindows plugins were during the last demo, you’ll be able to hear the effects a bit bet, since I’ll push them a bit harder.
So, let’s listen to the Tuba, KolinMB, and Poortec plugins introduced and in that order.
Watch the video to learn more >
Unplugred is, again, just 1 developer. She’s been making plugins for a few years now, and has a completely unique style, both sonically and visually.
Right when you pull up the website you’ll notice the early to late 90s aesthetic. If it was just a gimmick I wouldn’t mention it, but this emphasis on design is worked into each plugin, and done so really well.
For example, at first glance, this Crumble Delay plugin seems over the top, until you realize that each function is represented visually.
When I increase the delay time, the delay taps are spread out in tandem, and I can tell I have 3 taps.
If I increase feedback, more taps appear. The dry wet changes the opacity of the taps, and reverse inverts the color scheme of the plugin.
So you can quickly tell the current values of each function at a single glance, which is really smart - already this one developer understands how to make a comprehensive user interface that’s more engaging and insightful than the majority of well-established companies.
Similarly, Plastic Funeral, a distortion plugin, shows how the sine wave is being affected. Of course, how it sounds is most important, but if you’re getting acclimated to the plugin, knowing if it’s creating a square wave, if it’s processing the left and right channels separately and so on, is helpful.
Prisma is also impressive - it’s a 4 band distortion plugin that offers a wide array of options for the processing introduced. Each effect has a unique icon and color, again, making it easy to quickly tell the settings at a glance.
The crossover can be altered and is demonstrated up top. The bands can be muted, soloed, and bypassed, and importantly, it’s versatile.
It can be used subtly for bus processing, or used to completely destroy a signal, up to you.
The last one I want to cover is called SunBurnt - it’s a modulated reverb effect that gives you more control than any similar plugin.
For example, I can determine the envelope of the reverb by dragging these points in this ADSR configuration. If I want to add more points I can double click.
I can also change the envelope and behavior of other parameters - the default includes HP, Pan, LP, and a shimmer effect which alters the pitch. If I click the dot, more options appear - for example, I can modulate the density of the reflections.
Finally, UnplugRed offers a super simple and helpful oscillator. If you ever want to see how a plugin is wave shaping a signal, say maybe the Oxford inflator, run a sine wave through it, and put this plugin on the output.
So all in all, these plugins are super impressive - they’re not just unique in their design, the effects can’t be found elsewhere and are really worth having, especially for creative mixing.
Each one of these effects does a lot, so let’s combine just 2 of them. I’ll introduce some unique distortion with Plastic Funeral, and then heavily modulated reverb with SunBurnt.
Watch the video to learn more >
Tokyo Dawn Labs is a great developer that I wanted to include, but they haven’t released many free plugins in a while. Molotok is still a fantastic plugin, as are many of their other free plugins like Kotelnikov, but releases are pretty few and far between.
Also, Melda Audio offers a great library of free plugins - they’re simple and easy to use, with comprehensive output options and settings, but I see Melda Audio more as a traditional paid-for plugin company since most of their plugins need to be purchased.
Lastly, Toneboosters is an amazing company. I’m pretty sure these plugins are made by just one person. That said, they offer an endless demo for all plugins, but it never feels right to call their plugins free. I’d definitely still recommend checking them out though if you want FabFilter-style plugins that offer the same quality, but at a much lower cost.