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I guess you would have to agree with me that the best way to polish your vocal recording or a vocal sample is to sprinkle some effects, just like the way you would sprinkle a reasonable amount of ingredients on your food. If done right, it sounds delicious right, yum yum 😉

Vocal effects are no exception to the ingredient perspective, you need to add a reasonable amount of effects to make them sound lively, and enjoyable to the listeners.

Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t saying you should stack effects upon effects on your vocal samples, too much of everything is bad. That said, let us look at the best free awesome VST effects plugin in the music production scene.

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Let’s ride on…

Page Contents

• 5.) g200kg – KeroVee
• 10.) MGF – TimeWarp

1.) AegeanMusic – PitchProof

If you haven’t heard of PitchProof, then, you are definitely missing out, this is like the secret tool I use on Vocals but it wasn’t even developed for Vocal, it was actually designed to work on monophonic signals such as guitar solos, but I’ll give you a tip on how I have been using it:

You don’t want to apply it in realtime, what you should do instead is to first select the key of the harmony, then you turn the Blend knob all the way to the right; wet e.g:

Export the vocal result, add whatever effects plugins you gat on your toolbox (vocal, flangers, etc) to spice up the pitched vocal, and then stack it on top of the original vocal. Boom, you have something unique!

Note: You don’t have to always push it all through the wet side as this might cause artifacts, just experiment and stick with what works for you.

You can even export more vocal, and maybe this time, you can try by reducing the detune knob, anyways, experiment until you get your preferred test.

That said, let’s look at some of the features of PitchProof:

The Blend control knob would let you adjust the level of pitch shift, while the Pitch drop-down menu lets you select pitches like +7 or -7, or harmonies which are intelligent pitch-shift effects.

Moreover, there are also some options at the bottom of the PitchProof plugin which give you the option to switch between stereo and mono; mono could save your CPU, while the stereo option could cause a resource hog if used on multiple inserts.

Transient Fix can be switch on or off to spice things up a little!

2.) Auburn Sounds – Graillon

This is an autotune VST plugins designed and developed by Auburnsounds. This plugin is superb in the way it handles pitch correction.

It not only supports pitch correction but supports the generation of throat sounds, making octave sounds, enriching, and enhancing vocal expressiveness.

Also, there is a pitch shift parameter that transposes vocals up and down in octaves and semitones.

Features:

• Pitch Shifter cleanly transposes a voice up and down and has been optimized for voice.
• Pitch Correction module brings an immediate robotic sound, while the Bitcrusher addition softly adds sparkles to the mix.
• Freemium

System Requirements

• Available as VST, VST2, AAX, and Audio Unit plugin for macOS and Windows platform.

Download Graillion Auto-Tune Plugin

3.) JHudStudio – Vocal King

Vocal King helps glue the vocal in a mix, and it comes preloaded cool parameters, that could help in customizing the audio signal of a vocal track.

The Pres Compressor knob helps in bringing out the clarity of a vocal, so, by turning up the gain of the Pres Comp brings out the presence in the vocal along with giving it a smooth compression. On the other hand, the Low cut, Tighten, and the Bass knob compliment the Pres Comp in taking out muddy frequencies without the vocal sounding too thin.

I also love playing with the Crispy knob as it sprinkles some sparkles to the audio signal.

Features:

• Help vocals to stand out in a mix by giving them amazing presence, clarity, and compression. Can easily work on any other content.
• Acts like are preamp giving the signal a strong boost.
• Easy to use interface for fast results.
• Easy to read meters
• Very CPU efficient compared to other types of plugins.
• It can be used on many other audio sources as well.

System Requirements

• Vocal King supports MAC/Windows/32bit/64bit/VST2/VST3/AU. Supports MAC OS X 10.7 / Windows 7 and higher. Older systems may not work.

4.) Sonic Anomaly – Vola

Vola is a Voice Optimized Leveling Amplifier made for broadcast voice dynamics processing, it also works with different kinds of audio material, like drums, percussive instrument, and synth pads.

This fantastic tool is solely for cleaning up sound files but can be used for extreme compression effects as well.

Features

• Real-time Visual Metering for changes in dynamics
• Upwards & downwards compression, each separately adjustable.
• Stats Display and more compression settings

Download Vola Vst (Windows)

Download Vola Jsfx (Windows and Mac)

5.) g200kg – KeroVee

This is a pitch correction VST plugin tool and has strengthened to support natural pitch correction.

This tool is handy and can perform different and various types of voice effects, for example, a conversion of the male voice to a female voice and vice versa.

KeroVee comes bundled with useful parameters for the effectiveness of the auto-tuning process, Parameter includes:

• Scale Button: This is for specifying the scale you want to tune. Setting a wrong scale would result in an awful result, in a simple sentence, Know your scale before you go into this one
• TuneSpeed: This will allow you to set the speed of correcting the pitch.
• Nuance: This is one of the best and lovely parameters, you can use this to set a fine vibrato of the original sound, use this to create all sorts of weird effects.
• Amount: Set to zero (0) if you want no correction, setting to 100 will result in full correction of the pitch
• and many more parameters like Transpose option, master volume, etc.

System Requirements

• A compatible host program that supports the VST formats

6.) Martin Eastwood – Duet

Have you heard those natural double effects in some tracks! Do you wonder how those are created? I guess yes 😉

Let me introduce to you – Duet, a double-tracking effect designed to enhance your audio sample be it vocal or even instruments, Duet is well capable of sparkling them up. The way Duet work is by pitch-shifting both the left and right inputs individually using a novel synchronous overlap and add technique, allowing pitch to be manipulated in real-time while still maintaining the time duration of the audio.

One thing I love about Duet is the way it can accurately create the illusion of multi-voices and adds varied texture to the mix. Experiment with Duet to see how it works. /top-10-vst-plugins-for-fl-studio-2015.html.

Note: This is only available for Window

7.) MaxSynths – DSP-2

DSP-2 is designed with an intelligent Dynamic Processor, a 4-band equalizer fixed on vocal key frequencies, a saturator, and a room emulator based on the Schroeder reverberator. DSP is super simple to use and can serve basically all your vocal processing needs, again, experiment and keep experimenting to get the best settings that would soothe your need.

Features:

• Intelligent Dynamic Processor (IDP).
• 4 different automatic operative modes.
• Selectable compression ratio.
• Saturator with three different operation modes.
• EQ fixed on vocal key frequencies.
• Room emulator based on the Schroeder reverb model.
• Transparent increment of the perceived volume level.
• High precision input/output VU-meter.
• Low CPU usage.

8.) Distorque – Azurite

Azurite is a vocal effect by Distorque which is built for multi-voice chorus with a focus on rich sounds and versatile controls.

According To Distorque:

My goal in designing it was to make as flexible a chorus as possible without losing great tones and ease of use. The result is an effect that will be handy for producers, guitarists, and glitch lovers alike.

One of the great features of this plugin is the way you can create multiple simultaneous voices. Each of these voices can be further customized with their own delay line that is modulated by a separate LFO. Adding multiple voices leads to a thicker, smoother, and less wobbly tone. It also makes vivid stereo spreading possible with a mono signal.

The voice control helps you to choose how many voices you want for the chorus, e.g one, two, four, or eight.

Features:

• Stereo or mono operation.
• Colour control emulates vintage analog choruses.
• 2 band EQ.
• LFO tempo sync.
• Feedback control allows for flanger sounds.
• 27 built-in presets.
• Delay time from 0.2ms to 200ms.
• 7 LFO shapes: Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Ramp, Exponential, Inverse Exponential, and Random.
• Spread control for a stereo widening of a mono signal.
• Control randomizer.
• Other controls: Depth, Speed, Wet Mix, Output, Separation, Dry Delay.

Note: This is only available for Window

Download Azurite Win 32 VST / Win 64 VST

9.) TerryWest – EasyVox

EasyVox contains a bunch of tool for vocal processing, such as:

• Dynamic mono vocal compressor/limiter/enhancer
• Three bands equalizer
• Autogain and Pre-Limiter
• Auto Noisegate
• Auto Band-off
• Three EQ models
• Fine EQ option
• EQ activity/bypass LEDs
• Low-Mid-Hicut
• Vocal Doubler effect
• Pre in/Post out gain
• In/out/reduction meters

Donate To The Developer, It helps him to build more exciting plugins

Note: This is only available for Window

10.) MGF – TimeWarp

Last on our list is Timewarp by MGF, which is a vibrato effect with 2 LFOs which can pan the pitch modulation amount for a stereo effect.

Features:

• Sine, Triangle, Saw and random waves with control over the shape and smoothing.
• Optional 4x upsampling and a smooth modulation algorithm ensure clean sound with minimal aliasing. Normal quality
• saves CPU and sounds brighter but less silky.
• 2 different interpolation algorithms are available (ALG).
• Fast modulation settings possible and encouraged

That is it, Good luck and have fun with music!

You may face several scenarios while mixing and mastering which may include the use of an equalizer, having a transparent display to analyze what you are adding or subtracting with the EQ, multiple EQ bands, and proper CPU usage is what to look for in an EQ.

But with that said every piece of software and hardware alike creates and outputs a slightly different sound meaning they all have unique timbres and uses. Alongside that, there are some rather expensive plugins we may see online, which aren’t out of our reaches but we don’t know what we need until we need it right? Well, this is why its best to try some free EQ’s first to see what it is you like within an EQ and what it maybe you are looking for.

We become ever so comfortable with our stock plugins, they do the simple tasks for us (sometimes), they don’t run our computer into the ground, and they for sure are pretty basic. Well, this is the issue most people come to, they want a better EQ, or they want a change of visuals.

EQ History – ‘The first EQ was first used by John Volkman working at RCA in the 1920s”

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1. DDMF Colour EQ info & download
2. SPL Free Ranger info & download
3. Analog Obsession STEQ v2 info & download
4. TDR Nova Parallel Dynamic Equalizer info & download
5. Cockos ReaEQ info & download
6. Blue Cat’s Triple EQ info & download
7. Analog Obsession Merica info & download
8. TinyQ lkjb info & download
9. Sonimus SonEQ info & download
10. Ignite Amps PTEq-X info & download
11. Leftover Lasagne Pushtec 5+1A EQ info & download
12. lkjb QRange info & download
13. TDR Slick EQ info & download
14. Manda Audio 7Q info & download
15. Mellowmuse EQ1A info & download
16. Voxengo Marvel GEQ info & download
17. Kuassa BASIQ info & download

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• 64-bit processing
• Low-CPU Usage
• Customizable GUI
• Great warm sound
• 5 Bands
• Resizable Window

Features & When To Use:

Colour EQ is a 64-bit EQ plugin that offers 5 ”super parametric” bands to manipulate the frequency range. This is exceedingly handy when wanting to use more than one band in one instance; the intuitive gain knobs on the five bands allow for perfect mixing of these bands when mixing and mastering. /le456-vst-free.html.

Using the two different types of curves, Colour EQ offers a warm sound that you just wouldn’t get from your stock EQ.

Having a bright visual display helps you to craft and mould your bands to preference.

A great way to use this plugin is when you are not getting enough warmth in your low, mid/mids, Colour EQ will add a great sense of warmth throughout the selected bands. Another cool way to use this plugin is to use two different setups with two different curve types; you can use modified versions of the EQ for selected times in your mixdowns to add the feeling of a change in energy in a breakdown or drop.

Colour EQ is a great tool to have in your arsenal for mixing and mastering, plus you may find many uses in your day-to-day production.

Compatibility:

Windows VST (32/64 bit), Windows/Mac RTAS, and Mac VST/AU format (Intel, OSX 10.5 and higher)

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Four useful bands
• Volume knob
• Great sound
• Four buttons to switch between EQ settings

Features & When To Use:

With a sleek, minimalistic design Free Ranger is a powerful EQ.

With a mid-band (150Hz – 7kHz), fixed high (10kHz), low shelf (80Hz) SPL have kept things very simple so anyone can EQ with ease.

Free Ranger gives the feel of the world-renowned API 560 EQ but offers this all for free!

Free Ranger is a bodybuilder for your sounds while mixing and a gentle touch when mastering, this plugin makes EQing fun, quick and easy.

You may find yourself using the four different EQ settings and incorporate them into your mixdowns. Using them to create different feels and vibes can give your masters that final touch you’ve been looking for.

This is a must-have!

Compatibility:

macOS 10.9 through 10.15, Windows 7-10

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• mid-band (150Hz – 7kHz)
• fixed high (10kHz)
• low shelf (80Hz)
• Optical compressor knob
• Added preamp

Features & When To Use:

Simplicity is key with EQ work in the mix or master, and this plugin keeps that in mind through and through.

Tube Preamp Vst

With a very easy to use GUI STEQ 2 has a powerful but simple way of delivering a small form factor EQ to your DAW.

This EQ gives off old school retro vibe, precise, clean, and adds a lot of detail to the mid-range.

STEQ 2 is excellent for tonal rebalancing due to the broadness of the three bands creating a pure blend between the frequency ranges.

Using this to add punch to claps and snares is also a good use. But be careful when adding to full bus groups.

This EQ from Analog Obsession is an excellent tool to keep at your disposal when thinking about doing some tasks during your mix, or why not change up those stock plugins for free.

Compatibility

WiN, OSX AU VST, VST3

More Info & Download

Specifications:

Great for:

Features & When To Use:

Nova is a parallel dynamic EQ; each band has a dedicated, dynamic section giving the user full flexibility.

Giving the option to drag and move bands in the visual GUI individually or group, this provides a natural form factor way to get results.

Using the multiband compression built into Nova your be able to manipulate your EQ even further, this will be displayed in the visual GUI with real-time feedback of the compression process. (subtly decrease the threshold to hear the difference)

In mix and mastering, you can use Nova to visually see where you may have audio issues to fix and makes it very easy to apply these changes with the drag and change feature.

The dynamic EQ is a handy tool to have in practice when mixing down full compositions – use it to bring down or up frequencies only when they reach a specific volume.

Nova is a heavyweight EQ with a lot under the hood all for free!

Compatibility:

Win XP SP2 or above, Mac OS X 10.7 or above.

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Low CPU & RAM
• Fast and highly configurable
• Portable – copy & run
• Resizeable GUI

Features & When To Use:

ReaEQ may look basic, but under the hood, there is a lot to offer.

Being able to have as many bands as you wish is a massive bonus, you also have the ability to change all of these bands to one of the following (shelves, bands, LPF, HPF, notch, bandpass, allpass).

With a stripped-back GUI, it keeps you focused on the task at hand, not over complicating things but giving you the power of an audio god at your fingertips.

With a tremendous real-time visual display, this gives you the eyes and ear focus that you need when EQ in the mix.

Phasing is a big issue when mixing, ReaEQ gives you a ‘Show Phase’ button which will show you in your display what frequencies are being affected by the band.

When mastering you may wish to keep all bands in one EQ patch, with ReaEQ you can do this.

Stripped back and powerful ReaEQ is a favorite among many producers across a wide range of genres.

Compatibility:

WIN 32, WIN 64

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Semi-parametric EQ
• +/- 40dB Range per band
• MIDI control and automation support
• Real-time display
• All sample rates supported

Features & When To Use:

The Triple EQ is a three-band semi-parametric equaliser.

With a simple and easy to read visual display of the frequencies in real-time, you will have a clear display of the EQ in front of your eyes.

Alongside the huge +/- 40 dB range, Triple EQ has a bandwidth of .01 to 5 Octaves!

An exciting feature with Triple EQ is that you can link two bands together using the ‘Link Channels’ feature. This will allow you to use them in unison; combine this with the automaton support to create quick and easy modulation. This is a great way to change an EQ while in the mix with complex automation.

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Using the linking feature to create movement and progression within your mixdowns makes Triple EQ a threat.

Fully customisable shapes make this a different tool when deep in the mix or master, you will find many uses for the dynamic bands you can create—having dynamic bands that you are able to manipulate helps when visually your EQ and how it may affect the whole frequency range.

Check this one out for a small form factor powerful EQ!

Compatibility:

Windows 7 to 10, Mac OS 10.7 or newer.

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More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Low & High Band – Shelf
• Mid Band – Proportional Q Peak
• HP & LP Filter – Constant
• Low CPU usage

Features & When To Use:

We have another FREE plugin from Analog Obsession!

This time is bringing you Merica an emulation of the API 550A console equaliser.

A simple three-band EQ delivers a lot of power to your mixes and masters. Selectively choose which frequency your band boosts or cuts with the option to the right of the knobs.

All bands kept simple and easy to get to grips with.

Meica also has a nifty and very much needed output knob, there will be no issues with clipping in the digital domain when mastering with this plugin.

A larger than appearing sound Merica is an excellent EQ plugin to use when in the mixdowns and masters.

Given that the EQ it emulates is an industry-standard plugin this small form, powerful, easy to use, and was coded by one man! Merica is a must grab for all audio creatives looking to upgrade their stock EQ plugins.

Compatibility:

VST Win, VST3 Win, VST Mac, VST3 Mac, AU Mac

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Four bands (20 Hz to 20 kHz)
• Small form factor (ability to make larger if wanted)
• High & Low cuts range is 6 and 48 dB/octave
• Included frequency analyser

Features & When To Use:

TinyQ is a small form factor EQ.

Giving the user a stripped-back interface TinyQ offers a solution to a simple job.

Having too many settings can become overwhelming; TinyQ does what it says on the tin and doesn’t make your job any harder.

Keeping things simple when mixing down whole groups is essential – finding yourself using CPU heavy EQ, or a stock plugin just might not cut it for you. TinyEQ is excellent for doing those necessary but straightforward EQ tasks!

With the recent addition of built-in frequency analyzer, it makes EQ even easier when getting stuck into your mixes or masters.

Create awesome sounding band curves.

Great emphasis on keeping things simple goes a long way with TinyQ; the team has made a great EQ that does everything it needs to in one small package. With four bands plus high pass/low pass filters, you won’t be looking any further for your day to day EQ needs.

Compatibility:

Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.7 or later (both 64 bit)

More Info & Download

• Three-band Equalizer, Low, Mid, High.
• 2 Musical Filters, High-Pass Low-Pass.
• Preamp stage with a bass booster.
• 64-bit floating-point precision.
• Up to 192kHz sample rates supported.

Features & When To Use:

SonEQ has 3 bands, low (20 Hz – 100 Hz), mid (150 Hz – 4 kHz), high (6 kHz – 15 kHz). Combined with a high pass and low pass filter, plus a ‘Mid-high Q’ this means when it’s on your band its narrow and when deactivated will cause it to be wider. This indicated by the red light.

Giving the user a lot of ways to EQ but keeping things user-friendly is what SonEQ does best.

Having the volume meter is very hand when mixing with any EQ, it gives the visual display of when things are getting a bit heated for your output.

SonEQ also gives you the full control of your input and output levels. This comes in handy when you are mixing your tracks with heavy effects, causing the overall levels to become louder than 0.0dB; this is where adjusting both the input and output parameters will solve the issue.

With this plugin being free for all to use we don’t see any reason why this shouldn’t be ready to deploy at the click of a finger, whether it’s beefing up the mix with the built-in bass boost preamp staging or adding a touch of colour to the highs this plugin has you covered.

Compatibility:

Mac OSX 10.6 or newer – Windows XP or newer

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Three equalisation modules
• Stereo/Mono switching
• Four different tube types
• Global input/output level control

Features & When To Use:

PTEq-X is a digital emulation of three famous vintage EQ.

Equipped with three EQ modules comprised of mid-range (2kHZ – 7 kHz), low-frequency (20Hz – 150Hz), high-frequency (3kHz – 16kHz).

Using the mid-range module, you can use the low, mid parameter (top left) to effect the lower mid frequencies. Alternatively use the high mid setting (top right) to cause-effect to these frequencies.

Moving down the EQ, we have our second module, which is PEQ1A EQ (Low & High). This comes with a bunch of parameters to mould your EQ patches perfectly to your source.

Finally, this is all topped off with the HL3C module; this is a low-cut accompanied by a high-cut.

You can also use the ‘Oversampling’ feature to reduce aliasing.

Use the “Tube” switch to apply or deactivate the tube amp.

Using the input and output levels will give you the ability to control any nasty peaks brought in or out of the EQ.

PTEq-X is a combination of some of the best analogue EQ’s to exist, plus its FREE!! We recommend this one for a great addition to your EQ arsenal.

Compatibility:

Windows 7 – 10 32 and 64 bit. OS X 10.7 64 bit

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• 6 Band mid-range EQ
• Presets built-in
• Algorithms based on famous analogue gear
• Designed for mixing and mastering

Features & When To Use:

Pushtec 5+1A is a versatile mid-range program EQ that has mixing and mastering at its heart.

This plugin offers six bands, all offering a fantastic sounding boost through all parameters.

A vast selection of plugins makes it easy for users to start with something super effective and tweak to their liking.

“B/W” stands for bandwidth, this allows you to tweak the selected band and adjust to your preference.

A friendly and straightforward GUI keeps this EQ a smaller form factor but with a lot of power. Being designed for mixing and mastering be assured that this plugin delivers best when applied to a whole group or a master channel.

Giving instant sparkle to a mix or a very much needed bass boost this FREE plugin has you covered!

Compatibility:

Win 7 or higher only

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• 12 bands
• peak, shelf and cut filter
• Cut filters (12, 24 and 48 dB/oct steepness)
• Stereo/Left/Right/Mid/Side routing for each band
• A global gain for loudness adjustments
• Resizable GUI

Features & When To Use:

QRange is a very straight forward, user friendly, and effective EQ for mixing and mastering.

Giving the user an intuitive click and drag feature makes EQ work easy and more controllable.

With a choice of twelve bands, there is excellent room for doing additive plus subtractive EQ all in one plugin patch. Each band has. Selection of up to five different types (peak, low-shelf, high-shelf, low cut, and high cut).

Built into the frequency spectrum, you have the power to change it to pre or post. ‘Pre’ will let you see what the frequency range looks likes before the EQ is applied, whereas ‘Post’ will allow you to see it after the EQ has taken effect.

Offering the ability to users to save and load their own presets makes it easy to bring back some of your favourite patches while working on a mix or master.

It has to be said lkjb QRange is a must-have FREE EQ plugin.

Compatibility:

Win 7 or higher, macOS 10.7 or higher

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Specifications:

• Semiparametric EQ layout
• Three bands combined with 18dB/Oct high-pass filter
• Four EQ models: “American”, “British”, “German” and “Soviet” with optional non-linearity
• Five output stages: “Linear”, “Silky”, “Mellow”, “Deep” and “Toasted”
• Saturation algorithms by VoS (“Stateful saturation”)

Features & When To Use:

TDR’s Slick EQ provides a recognizable analogue sound.

Using three bands that bring together four different EQ models.

Both low and high bands are coupled with a cut and bell feature allowing for comfortable band changing.

Auto gain estimates the gain change caused by the current EQ settings; this makes it great to compare your EQ setting during the mix. There is also an ‘EQ Sat’ button; this will activate the saturator which is very intelligently paired to your EQ bands. This will add harmonics when boosting and remain passive when cutting.

Being able to save your favourite EQ settings for a later mix or master can be done within the plugin. Coupled with a undo/redo button you never miss that sweet spot for your bands, alternatively set up two different EQs with the A/B switch.

Slick EQ gives a very stripped back interface meaning you don’t get caught up with the visuals when doing equalising, providing a focus on what your hearing. This EQ shouldn’t be overlooked, with great coding, algorithms, settings, and excellent sounding types SlickEQ delivers more than you would expect from a FREE plugin.

Compatibility:

Win 32 bit VST2, VST3, Win 64bit VST2, VST3, AAX
Mac VST2, VST3, AU, AAX 64 bit

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Seven band EQ
• Highpass/lowpass
• Stereo/mono options
• Left/right options
• Output level

Features & When To Use:

Manda Audio brings us 7Q.

7Q is an emulation of the beloved ‘Classic EQ’ which became discontinued, the team came together and brought the community back a redesigned version.

7Q takes off all the fancy parts and gives you the bare basics; this is what gives this a place on our list. With 7Q giving you the ability to apply your EQ to the left or right or both channels, you can independently EQ both sides of the stereo field.

Each band can be additive or subtractive. Keeping easy to use format is what this plugin does best; it doesn’t over-complicate the task at hand but assists your needs along the way wether mix or master.

Low memory and CPU usage make it easy to have multiple instances in your projects without having your computer meltdown.

7Q is a nifty EQ that is awesome for giving your sounds a little crisp boost before running into your other plugins within the chain.

Compatibility:

Win VST 32/64 bit, AAX 32/64 bit
Mac VST, AU, AAX

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• HP: 10hz – 1khz / sweepable Q
• Low Shelf: 30hz – 500hz
• Low Mid: 70hz – 2khz / sweepable Q
• High Mid: 500hz – 6k / sweepable Q
• High Shelf: 1.5k – 18k
• Phase switch
• Output level
• 64-bit internal processing
• Formats: 64bit VST, VST3, AU and AAX
• Version: 3.2
• Legacy 32bit installers

Features & When To Use:

EQ1A is a FREE analog-style EQ with a clever algorithm giving you minimal phase coloration.

This plugin has initially been paid to use the plugin, but the developers have decided to give it to us all for FREE!

EQ1A allows you to use broad bands to shape your sounds or outputs in a clean, crisp and phase-corrected way.

Being able to save you presets within the plugin makes it very easy to pull back that EQ you made on the last mix. 4-band parametric equalizer with an additional HP filter with variable resonance gives a wide range of settings to play with while keeping everything simple and user friendly.

EQ1A does what it says on the tin for FREE!

Using this within mixing or mastering may help you when wanting to add a hefty highpass or when looking to give some warmth to your mid ranges.

It has to be said with a great look, and low CPU usage EQ1A is an excellent addition to your plugins.

Compatibility:

Win, Mac

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• 16-band graphic equalizing
• +/- 12 dB gain range per band
• Channel grouping
• Preset manager
• Contextual hint messages
• Freehand drawing mode
• Stereo and multi-channel processing
• Mid/side processing
• Undo/redo history
• All sample rates support
• Linear-phase equalizing
• Internal channel routing
• 64-bit floating-point processing

Features & When To Use:

Voxengo is notorious for doing some excellent free plugins.

This addition is the Marvel GEQ, which is a fifteen band linear phase EQ.

There is a routing tab that allows you to affect the signals mid/sides independently. (orange slides)

Also giving full independence to the mid/side output level, becoming very useful when mixing and mastering.

Bypass feature makes it simple to hear what your EQ is doing to your sound source. Alternatively, decide between two EQ setups with the A/B mode.

For quick EQ drawing, you can hold ‘Ctrl or Cmd’ and click across the EQ drawing in your fader settings with the click of a mouse.

Having a stripped back form factor with enough controls to complement your mixing tasks this plugin has to be our list today.

Compatibility:

VST Win, VST3 Win, VST Mac, VST3 Mac, AU Mac

More Info & Download

Specifications:

• Three-band EQ
• High, mid, low
• Presets tab
• Output level
• Very simple to use

Features & When To Use:

BASIQ is a three-band EQ.

It keeps in mind that EQ work for mixing and mastering doesn’t have to be a headache or over complicated.

BASIQ is a design similar to the classic ‘Baxandall Equalizer’ which is knowns for its natural-sounding shelves and HiFi quality responses.

Adding a smooth, gradual shimmer or warmth instead of a surgical sharpness is what BASIQ does best. Use on groups or a master chain to subtly but significantly add character with the turn of a knob.

With some added presets you be able to get a quick change in tone with the click of a button.

The small form factor makes this BASIQ a powerful tool to be used within the mix or master.

Compatibility:

Win, Mac, VST, AU, 64 bit

With all of that said, grabbing all 17 plugins wouldn’t do you any harm, but we want to break down our top 3 picks!

In our top spot, we have Colour EQ by DDMF.

This plugin brings so many features that you would expect from pay to use plugins but all for FREE! Another fresh point is that the curves you can create with this cannot be done on other EQ plugins, giving Colour EQ a versatile approach.

Low-CPU – Usage Customisable GUI – Great warm sound – 5 Bands

Coming in second is Nova by TDR.

Parametric, dynamic EQ, and multiband compression are all built into an excellent looking FREE plugin.

Nova has a built-in dynamic EQ parameter when mixing, and mastering using a dynamic EQ is crucial sometimes. Having this all in one plugin for free is hugely commendable to the team who developed this plugin!

Parametric equalization – Dynamic equalization – Frequency selective compression – Multi-band compression – Wideband compression

And finally, our last top pick is ‘Triple’ by Blue Cat.

This awesome plugin has so many features you just wouldn’t expect a FREE plugin to have.

With a fresh interface and drag and click feature to make EQing even more natural Triple is a powerful EQ.

Semi-parametric EQ – +/- 40dB Range per band – MIDI control and automation support – Real-time display

Today we have covered a lot of great FREE EQs for mixing and mastering. Amazingly, we have developers putting out all of these plugins for producers/sound engineers to level out the playing field. As we have all seen these ‘not to name’ brands releasing rather expensive EQs that we just can’t fork out for, but with the way, music has progressed today in the digital domain it has become much more accessible for creatives to share their ideas and effects for free.

With that said, they all have their benefits and downsides, but with them all being free, there is no reason you can’t pick them up and use these in your mixes or masters today!