Best Free RTAS Plug-ins

[breaksguy]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I have to agree on the Waves stuff and I am back to them mostly because I ma used to them(creature of habit). I am trying to wean myself off of them as the WUP and constant paid upgrades is a pain and they are quite expensive to start. Massey is the only company(AFAIK) who's demo versions don't expire(but you do suffer with constantly restoring your settings). And there are some things that are simply worth paying for. For those on tight budgets, at least PT8 added a lot of solid stuff. I think the IK Classik verbs are a good deal and reverb is the one spot where Digi falls short. Dverb is okay when I need something "trashy" but I need better verbs. The stock compressors, EQ's and delays work great and I use them a lot. I think I could do most everything I need with the stock package, the IK verbs, the Pultec bundle and Massey's limiter if I had to.

well waves stuff isn't cheap. I am checking out the massey stuff now. they are very nicely priced

[cymbaline]

I see. Well, as you all know, Waves stuff is only priced for people with a decent income, and me personally, I cant afford it. I do audio for a living! Anyways, the PT stuff is OK at best, but I dont get the same results as I do using Logic's plugs. They hook it up, at a decent price too. PT of course wants you to buy all kinds of expensive packages. I cant afford the upgrades or packages. I have 7.1 and nothing extra really. I installed the Massey plugs and havnt gotten around to using them too much, but I did like what I found.

I do think it is rather surprising to see how little there is out there in free RTAS plugins, when there are litterally tons of VST and AU plugs out there for free! Whats the holdup? In any case, working in an audio-visual environment for as long as I have, I am seeing more and more pros moving away from a proprietary and expensive avid/PT system and getting into the FCP/Logic realm, where theres more bang for your buck, everything is compatible, you dont have to buy sub par proprietary outboard gear, and can choose your interface. Considering all of this, plus the immense wealth of plugs and virtual instruments Logic is offering, I wouldnt be surprised if PT gets phased out for it's "lack" of interest in helping out the little guys, which is too bad because I like using PT, it's just that aside from editing, it doesnt offer me much.

Any thoughts?

[tha]-[acksaw]

I think the reason for the laque of FREE RTAS stuff has to do with two things. First, its tough to put a nice budget into a product and then give it up for free. So most free RTAS stuff is not as well written as non free softs. They just can't spend the time to make it killer if they don't get money for it. The second reason is probably because RTAS is specific to ProTools, so if you wanted to make a plug, and have lots of people use it, then you wanna go with a plug formatt that is as useable as possible. Also, ProTools might have some say as to who can make RTAS stuff. Not sure about that though.

I also understand your frustration about laque of PT plugs. I was recording music with Sonar 4 Pro before I went to ProTools. Sonar was great cause they have TONS of nice plugs that come stock. I think the software cost me $500 at the time so I was damn happy to have all of that.

I really loved my Sonar, but all it took was one month out in Nashville and I realized why ProTools has the status they have. Its the editing. Sonar can't touch PT editing, and their software still goes for twice what PT goes for. I could never go back to Sonar. I tried once, when I needed to record more then 18 inputs at once. I recorded the whole track and then tried to do my editing in Sonar. Within 10 min I was importing all the audio into PT, just so I could do my work. Just so I could work at a rate that was acceptable.

I understand you might not need all that editing power if your not working on music constantly. And if you find you can make better mixes outside of ProTools without having to spend lots of extra money, then thats probably your best bet. I wish I didn't have as much as I do invested in RTAS plugs, but I do and they work great, sound great, and are easy for me to use. Does it burn me up that maybe someone with equal tallent could make a nicer mix then me using plugs from another software? It does! But at the end of the day I feel better about the fact that I'm using lots of the same stuff that Hard Core Professionals who work on stuff similar to what I work on. I feel better about the fact that I can take my PT session to just about any studio and have it work just the way it did him my studio. I feel batter about the fact that I can take my Waves Plugs that I own, and when I go to a nice studio, they have the same ones, so its less work getting back to where I had it.

Working audio is tedious stuff. Even if you love it, like I do. ProTools just takes a lot of the pain out of, for me. Its the absolute difference between, "well maybe I feel like firing up the studio", and "I can't wait to get up tomorrow, and start working in ProTools". I can sit there and chop, move, chop, move, all day long, and never feel frustrated, or out of control. Can't say I ever had that feeling with Sonar. As much as I did love it!

Thats my 2 cents!

Nick

[remute]

Originally Posted by cymbaline

How about we list the best free RTAS plug-ins we use, since PT doesnt come with much on its own, everyone needs to expand. Effects and virtual instruments welcome!

Bittersweet - a free transient detector
http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/bittersweet2

FXpansion's Orca is a great little synth -
http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=45


SPL Freeranger EQ
http://www.spl.info/software/download/


Addictive Drums -
http://www.xlnaudio.com/?page=downlo...ge=demoversion


And best of all, IMO, NI Kore Player with the free soundpack
http://www.native-instruments.com/in...daycompilation

[cymbaline]

I think this has been a great discussion so far. tha]-[acksaw has a lot of good points, and I fully agree. However I think things are begining to change, and I dont foresee people being able to afford overly expensive plug-ins for much longer, since the idea of the big professional studio is slowly fading away. The fact is that a studio requires huge amounts of overhead and maintenance, and therefore must charge a lot to make any money. Clients see this and think:

"well, I can either pay $60+/hour at the studio for this one project, or I can go to Guitar Center and get an M-Box (or a better interface that will come with Cubase or Sonor) for a few hundred dollars, then I can do all my audio work for free and save in the end!"

I see more and more of this, and you know it's true because look at all the studios that have closed down in the Bay Area alone in the past several years. Outside of LA, New York and Nashville, the industry can hardly survive, only a couple of places can afford to stay put and in business. So we see a lot of larger studios closing down, and a lot of smaller facilities poping up, running LE units, and possibly not being able to drop $3000+ on a Waves bundle.

I used to live in Europe, and though PT was popular, the audio-visual schools I visited barely had a PT program, but had extensive Logic and Cubase programs. And a great number of studios I visited ran Cubase and Logic as opposed to PT. I asked around why this was, and the response was often:

"Why should I spend so much money and end up with a limited setup with a PT rig, or I can choose my gear, have all the FX I need come with my software, and have virtually unlimited tracking capabilities for only a fraction of the price?"

Dont get me wrong, I am a PT fan. I love editing and working in PT, and do for the simple joy of the ease of use. But again, I cant afford Waves, and when Im doing "salvage work" for people who thought theyde "save some money" and not hire a sound man on set, I can do nothing for them with the set plugs that PT comes with. So I'll do all my editing, and then export all tracks to Logic for the mix.

We see the same things happening with Avid. For the video editing world, people are saying:

"why spend thousands on a video editing software system with proprietary outboard gear, or spend a few hundred on FCP, which is compatible with the entire Apple suite, and comes with everything I need?"

Things are changing, and I think that the companys that are aware of this are going to be those that will survive. I dont think that PT can rely on it's past popularity for much longer, especially if other systems like Logic wize-up and include editing capabilities like PT. Once they have that, why should anyone use PT? Compatibility? No ones going to want to not be able to choose their interface for much longer, or have to pay a lot of money to get up to a grand total of 48 tracks, or get any decent plugs.

Thoughts?

[cymbaline]

Originally Posted by remute

Bittersweet - a free transient detector
http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/bittersweet2

FXpansion's Orca is a great little synth -
http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=45


SPL Freeranger EQ
http://www.spl.info/software/download/


Addictive Drums -
http://www.xlnaudio.com/?page=downlo...ge=demoversion


And best of all, IMO, NI Kore Player with the free soundpack
http://www.native-instruments.com/in...daycompilation

Thanks for these, I cant wait to try them out!

[Craig F]

I think Vinyl is the best freebie out there
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/

[NHH]

Originally Posted by remute

Bittersweet - a free transient detector
http://www.fluxhome.com/products/Freewares/bittersweet2

And best of all, IMO, NI Kore Player with the free soundpack
http://www.native-instruments.com/in...daycompilation

Good tip!

Downloaded this and the free Soundpack and it is excellent value for money (being free )

But dear me it's a CPU hog isn't it!!?

[Chromefree]

I'm jealous,

I just upgraded to PT 8, HD on Mac. I can't even get any RTAS plug ins to work!

TDMs perform fine.

What am I missing/doing wrong?

Confession: I have been away from PT recording for awhile; is there a setting I missed?

Appreciate all help,

Pete

[cymbaline]

The RTAS plugs probably arent compatible yet. Usually when a new software version or OS comes out, it takes a good 6 months+ for all the bugs to get fixed. Perfect example, PT 7.4 and Vista. My advice, get a system that works and dont do anything to it until it either doesnt perform up to speed anymore or is so obsolete that your projects arent compatible with anyone elses. Unfortunately for me, my PT 7.1 is getting there, and the fact that Im on M-Powered is rather limiting. I'm thinking of getting me an 02 or 03 rack somewhere with a PT upgrade to 7.4 (or 8 when the bugs are fixed) when I can afford it.

BTW, I'd be glad to take any RTAS licenses off your hands....I could really use Sound Replacer, or a good compressor....or verb/delay unit....