Top 10 FREE Mixing & Mastering Plugins 2019
The never-ending quest for the best mixing and mastering plugins is back again, only this time we’re searching through the freebies. We scouted through many polls and forums to look for what the audio engineering community has to say about freeware mixing and mastering plugins. So here is our top 10 list of the best and brightest freeware mixing and mastering plugins in no particular order.
1 Youlean Loudness Meter 2 by Youlean
One of the most important aspects of proper mixing and mastering is monitoring. Both audible and visual. This is where Loudness Meter 2 by Youlean comes in to play. This is a freeware loudness metering plugin featuring four metering modes (LUFS, LRA, DR and true peak). It is a must-have visual tool for every producer and mixing engineer on a budget as it will help determine the proper amount of loudness without sacrificing the sound quality and dynamic range of the track. Compared to V1, it has a better-looking GUI which is resizable with reduced CPU usage and is more stable than the previous one.
2 Bitter Sweet V3 by FLUX
Klanghelm VUMT which is also known as VU meter plugin is fantastic to use on separate tracks, mix busses, or during the mastering stage. Similar to the free VU meter plugins above, Klanghelm VUMT emulates analog VU and PPM meters. You can calibrate ballistics and meters up to your liking or use the developers presets. Youlean Loudness Meter Free Version has everything you need to measure the true perceived loudness of your audio. Tested and calibrated, this plugin guarantees the great accuracy of the measurements. Loudness graphs come with the ability to go through history and this will help you to pinpoint the problems in your measurements. Download Freqs by Hornet Plugins Free Spectral Analysis, Loudness Meter VST3, AU, AAX Plugin. Win 64Bit, Mac 64Bit. Explore & download the best free Loudness Meter (VST, AU, RTAS, and Stand Alone App). Visit and discover thousands of pro audio and music freewares!
FLUX is a very well-known company with amazing high-quality plugins respected by many audio professionals. Bitter Sweet is their freeware audio sweetening tool. Basically, this is a tone and transient shaper plugin which can make your individual tracks go from biting hard to silky smooth. The UI is very simple to use and it features a large knob for controlling the amount of the desired effect.
By going to the sweet side you get very smooth transients and a silky tonal character, while going over to the bitter side you’re getting much more pronounced tonal characteristics and more aggressive transients. A must have for anyone working with percussive and rhythmic materials.
3 Stereo Buss by Minimal System Group (MSI)
We already talked about this plugin in a previous post about the best free VST plugins overall but we’re going to give it some more attention here again.
This is a Windows only plugin but even so it’s very special. Yes we know that there are many other free “mastering” buss compressor plugins out there, and sure they all give you that kind of final touch and glue to you mixes, but in all honesty MSI Stereo Buss does it better than most others plain and simple. For what it does and the fact that you’re getting it for free, it really is the best one out there at the moment.
4 SPAN by Voxengo
Voxengo are very well-known among the freeware VST users out there and they’re highly praised. Everyone needs a good plain simple spectrum analyzer for metering and in all honesty you really can’t beat Voxengo here. It is our favourite spectrum analyzer overall and it beats many analyzers out there that are paid-for.
You can control the ballistics and response of its graph which makes it flexible enough for a wide variety of tasks. You can even route multiple tracks into SPAN and compare their frequency content. It is a great addition to YOULEAN Loudness Meter 2. Everyone needs to have Voxengo SPAN in their collection.
5 Freeware Plugins by Brainworx
This is not an official collection but mainly our own pick of various freeware plugins by the amazingly talented people at Brainworx.
bx_solo is a powerful tool for working with M/S because it features the legendary M/S technology from their bx_control V2.
bx_subfilter is a subharmonic content processor. Basically it shapes your sub content and adds more oomph to your signal with body and punch. Highly recommended if you’re into EDM and trailer music production.
bx_cleansweep is an extremely powerful Hi/Lo-Pass filter using advanced Brainworx technology.
6 Wider by Polyverse Music
We’re re-visiting Wider for this list also as we have nothing but high praise for it. This is a simple freeware VST plugin that widens your stereo signal with a very unique ability to broaden the stereo width of the signal without causing phasing issues when played back in mono.
You can’t make it simpler than this because Wider features only one control parameter and that’s it. The slider affects the amount of stereo processing, but be careful when pushing it too far though because too much stereo widening can make your track sound as if it doesn’t exist in the same space with others in your mix. Treated carefully, this plugin is one of the best stereo wideners while keeping your mix compatible with any type of playback system.
7 Neutrino by iZotope
iZotope’s Neutron plugin bundle features a very unique technology and they scaled it down in order to present us with Neutrino, which is a freeware version with limited options. Even though it is limited compared to the full-blown Neutron, you can still achieve amazing results with it. Neutrino tames undesirable resonances caused by poor room acoustics, cheap gear, and heavy-handed processing. iZotope calls this effect “spectral shaping” and it can sound similar to gentle, low-ratio multiband compression.
The GUI is very simple to understand and use because it features only two knobs for controlling the effect and 4 buttons for selecting the sound source you are working with.
8 Limiter No.6 by VLADG/Sound
This is a rather cool and useful mastering plugin packed with features. Combined with the previously mentioned YOULEAN Metering and Voxengo SPAN, you get a free mastering power tool. Limiter No.6 features 5 separate modules mostly known as gain stages. A compressor followed by a peak limiter, high frequency limiter, clipper and the protection module.
The Protection module ensures that your output of the signal doesn’t go into clipping. Each module is controlled individually and you can turn it on and off separately. The plugin has a certain character when pushed hard but it produces a warm pleasing output. It’s a no brainer if you want to own one.
9 MFreeFX Bundle by MeldaProduction
MeldaProduction are well-known for some great plugins and they have earned their keep in many pro audio engineers’ plugin collections. This bundle contains 30 completely free plugins which span from bread and butter tools like compressors and EQs to some not so common effects like ring modulator and oscilloscope. If you’re starting out your path to becoming an audio engineer, or if you’re a student with no budget this is a must-have for you.
10 NOVA EQ by TDR
This is a rare sight to see when it comes to freeware plugins. NOVA EQ is a real Swiss army knife when it comes to fixing those problematic frequencies. It is very easy on the eye with its rather sleek looking GUI.
Each EQ band features a dedicated dynamics section which allows the EQ to cover a wide range of frequencies. The sound is very transparent.
What are your favourite free mixing and mastering plugins?
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Youlean Loudness Meter helps you find the true perceived loudness of your audio and prepares it for TV or streaming services release.
Join the thousands of recording studios that already use it.
DAW plugin and app
Works in almost any DAW: FL Studio, Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, Ableton Live, Reaper, Cubase, Pro Tools…Available as application, VST2, VST3, AU and AAX plugin formats, Windows and macOS operating systems.
Measure loudness
Helps you comply with strict loudness requirements for the Film and TV industry.
Helps you get the correct loudness levels for upload to Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Apple Podcast, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, Netflix, HBO, and Disney+.
Measure dynamics
Prevent your mix sounding crushed and unprofessional.Get the most out of your mix, make any track sound great on all streaming platforms!
Youlean Loudness Meter was the winner of KVR Developer Challenge 2016.As one of the prizes, the plugin was presented on NAMM Show 2017 in Los Angeles.
Youlean (Julijan Nikolic) is also part of the FL Studio alpha team, and many of his work like Patcher presets and ZGameEditor Visualizer effects are already part of FL Studio.
“Once I learned about loudness metering using LUFS, I was really fascinated. The problem was that the plugins for measuring it were (and still are) really expensive and there were no free ones that can get you started.So, I have decided to create a free loudness meter that will be even better than the most expensive ones.”
Julijan Nikolic – Youlean
*Youlean Loudness Meter presentation at NAMM 2017, Los Angeles
Make sure to sound great on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Apple Podcast, Tidal, Deezer, Netflix, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Music, HBO, Disney+, or when streaming by using AES, or EBU R128 S2 loudness preset.
GUI too small or too large?No problem, freely resize or scale the plugin!
Experience insane plugin size customization.
If you find graphs too distracting you can always switch to mini mode.Youlean Loudness Meter
Fit precisely for your workflow.
Inspect what exactly is going on with the audio dynamics.Using the dynamic range algorithm you can detect squashed or not correctly compressed mix.
Get a quick and complete analysis by dropping an audio or video file on the plugin.Get results in just a few seconds!
Easily export PDF, PNG or SVG of all your measurements.In combination with system time coding, pinpoint the loudness problems in live events, or just make a wall poster of your favorite song!
The plugin is calibrated and tested against ITU-R BS2217 testing materials.It satisfies all requirements defined in ITU-R BS.1770 document.
LUFS
This measurement is basically like RMS but with a twist. It takes into account how humans perceive loudness and it is currently the most accurate way of measuring loudness. The main difference compared to RMS is that LUFS uses filters to shape the sound before processing in a similar way to how we hear the sound.
LRA
This measurement will give you an idea of the difference in volume between the verse, chorus and other sections of your track. If there is a big difference in loudness between the various sections of your track then your loudness range will be a higher number and vice verse.
DR
Dynamic range metering will show you the levels of the compression in audio. The algorithm is based on a difference between true peak and short term loudness. The current implementation is improved version of the “PSR” algorithm which has problems measuring dynamics in audio that has fast changing quiet and loud sections.
TP
Knowing the true peak value is really important since it indicates the true maximum level of audio after conversion to analog or different digital form such as conversion from WAV to MP3. If your audio goes above 0dB TP you might get clipping in converted audio.
Every PRO User gets lifetime FREE updates!As new upgrades roll on, plugin price might jump accordingly, so why not take advantage of lifetime FREE updates right now…
“I love audio software, and there are some really cool companies and really cool plugins, but man, there is no worse feeling in the world when you need to PAY for the bugfixes i.e. updates. I really hate that, and I really hate that this is the way most of the audio companies do the business.This is not how I want to sell the software and that’s why I guarantee the lifetime free updates.”
Julijan Nikolic – Youlean
- Film, TV and Gaming presets
- LU, INT, TP, LRA, PLR, DR readouts
- Resizing, scaling GUI
Mini view - Custom true peak alert threshold
- True peak and loudness graph
- Loudness distribution graph
- Automatic loudness overdub
- Mono, Stereo, and 5.1 channel
- Low CPU consumption
- Never expires
- Everything in FREE, plus
- Streaming presets
- Dynamics graph
- PDF, PNG or SVG export
- Saving custom presets
- Text scaling
- Dark and light theme support
- A/B save states
- Drag & drop analysis
- Lifetime FREE updates
- 30 days money back guarantee
Let us explain, in more detail, all the benefits you get after upgrading to PRO version of Youlean Loudness Meter.
Hessischer Rundfunk broadcast stations in Germany use Youlean Loudness Meter.
Educational institutions that use Youlean Loudness Meter in their educational courses.
Can I install Youlean Loudness Meter on multiple computers?
Free Lufs Vst
This option is not applicable to companies, organizations or schools, they need to purchase a multiple license version.
Can plugin alter the audio so that it fits the selected standard?
This feature might be added in the future though.
Yes, if you are a student or a teacher you can qualify for an educational discount of 30%. You need to contact me before the purchase.Contact me HERE.
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