Plug-ins are an important part of your computer-based recording system and one of the features that sets it apart from your old tape deck. Plug-ins allow you to process the sound of your instrument in an almost unlimited variety of ways. These can range from basic effects — stuff such as reverb or delay — to tricks such as raising the overall volume of your track (called normalizing your track) or changing the pitch of an instrument.

1. Cheap Vst Plugins
2. Vst Plug-ins Demos

By using plug-ins, you can process your tracks in one of two ways: /free-reverb-vst-mac-ambience.html.

• Real time: Real-time processing means that your audio is processed as your song plays. This approach puts a load on your computer, so the number of plug-ins you can run at one time depends on how powerful your computer is. This is the approach you use when you actually mix songs and you want to add effects to your tracks.

NES VST PACK This next one is a Nintendo Entertainment System sound emulator pack with 3 different plugins. They are for creating pulse waves (NESPulse), triangle waves (NESTri), and white noise (NESNoise). Together, these really hit the mark when it comes to recreating the original sounds of the console. Size 30.1 MB / 30.3 MB / 37.6 MB / 37.6 MB Serpo is an extremely simple to use free virtual instrument packed with original sounds recorded by artist from all over the world. Commodore 64 SID. Product Description: Emulates MOS Technology SID of the Commodore 64; 3 Oscillators; 4 wave shapes: Square, Triangle, Saw, Noise; ADSR per oscillator. Igorski has announced the release of VSTSID, a free chiptune VST instrument for Windows and Mac OS, based on a web app by the same author. This plugin is the VST equivalent of WebSID, a Chrome app emulating the Commodore 64 synthesizer. It has been ported by popular request of those who wish to use the arpeggiated Commodore 64 sound within the comforts of their DAW. Conclusion: Free Vocal VST Plugins. Well, here are 50 free vocal vst plugins that give you a pro touch to your projects. Try them out and make some extraordinary soundtracks with them. I’m waiting to listen to your soundtracks created by these plugins. Comment below with your audio link, or join our Facebook page and RB group on Facebook. Size 0.27 MB / 0.71 MB Chip32 is simple wave table synthesizer. Wave table is only 8bit, 32byte.

• Offline: Using plug-ins offline means you process the audio when your song isn’t playing; you end up with a new audio file that includes your newly processed audio. This is common for some usual processing chores, such as normalizing, quantizing, transposing, and other new-fangled audio processing approaches. The ways you can process your audio offline depend on your audio recording program and the plug-ins you have loaded into your system.

Some audio recording programs, such as Apple’s Logic, have a freeze function that lets you apply your effect plug-ins (reverb, compression, and others) in a manner similar to that of the offline approach. The difference is that you can unfreeze your track, adjust your effect parameters, and freeze it again. This offers the advantage of leaving your processor unburdened by the weight of your effect as your song plays, thus allowing you to run more plug-ins in your song without having to get a faster computer.

Figuring out formats

Plug-ins come in many formats but follow only two different processing approaches. These facets of plug-ins are covered in this section.

When audio recording software programs were first developed, they each used their own formats for their plug-ins. Because originally no plug-ins were made by third-party manufacturers, this wasn’t a problem. As recording programs became popular, third-party plug-ins starting becoming available, and these third-party makers needed to make some decisions — including which format to develop their programs in. (Figuring out a catchy name for marketing purposes was also high on their To-Do lists.)

osx capitan iso download rescue disk The more popular plug-in formats are

• Audio Units: Audio Units (AU) is a format developed by Apple for OS X. This format is just beginning to gain a wider share of available third-party plug-ins; it’s used in programs that run on Mac OS X, such as Logic and Digital Performer.

• Direct X: Direct X (DX) is a format developed by Microsoft for Windows systems (sorry Mac users, you can’t use these plug-ins) and is employed in programs such as SONAR and other Cakewalk products. The DX format is one of the most common plug-in formats.

• MAS: The MAS format was developed by MOTU for Digital Performer. This plug-in format isn’t as common as many of the others, and Digital Performer now uses Audio Units in its program.

• RTAS: Real Time Audio Suite is Digidesign’s proprietary plug-in format used on Pro Tools LE software (and sometimes Pro Tools TDM). Numerous RTAS plug-ins are available.

• TDM: TDM plug-ins are Digidesign’s DSP-based plug-ins for the Pro Tools TDM system. (DSP stands for digital signal processing.) These plug-ins are host-based plug-ins, which means they run off of the DSP chips for Pro Tools instead of from the processor in your computer. This has a couple advantages:

• Your system isn’t stressed by these plug-ins. This is less of an issue now than it was, say, a couple years ago, because computer-processing power has improved a lot.

• The makers are insured against piracy. Because these plug-ins require a computer chip to run, they can’t be copied. This has resulted in some very high-end plug-ins being developed in this format.

The problem is that you need a Pro Tools TDM system (which is expensive), and these plug-ins are much more expensive than their non-host-based counterparts.

• VST: Developed by Steinberg (the maker of Cubase and Nuendo, among other programs), VST plug-ins are used on both Mac and Windows computers. This is by far the most popular plug-in format and as such you find lots and lots of options.

You can find special adapters known as wrappers that allow you to use one format of plug-in in a program that runs on another format. For instance, many people who used Logic or Digital Performer before OS X (myself included) collected a huge array of VST or MAS plug-ins for their work. When making the switch to OS X, these plug-ins suddenly became useless. That is until the fxpansion VST to AU wrapper was introduced. Now all you have to do is install the wrapper and you can run your VST plug-ins in a program that requires an AU plug-in. This relatively inexpensive option saved many people from having to throw away their old plug-in collections.

Peeking into processing approaches

Plug-ins come in two varieties: those that run off your computer’s processor (native) and those that have their own DSP chip to run from (host-based).

Native plug-ins

Native plug-ins are those plug-ins included in your audio recording program and those that you get when you download or buy them as software. Native plug-ins run off the processing power of your main computer. This used to limit both the quality of the plug-in and the number of plug-ins you could run at one time. Because computers are getting more powerful, this isn’t much of limitation anymore.

Host-based plug-ins

Host-based plug-ins are plug-ins that run off a dedicated processor. Until recently, unless you had a Pro Tools TDM system you couldn’t take advantage of plug-ins that ran on their own processor chips. Now, with the help of some savvy third-party manufacturers, no matter what types of audio recording software you use, you can use plug-ins that don’t put stress on your computer. Currently, two options are available:

• TC Powercore: The TC Powercore is available as a PCI card that you put into one of the PCI slots in your computer or as a FireWire unit that you plug in to a FireWire port in your computer. (The latter approach lets you use the Powercore with a laptop.) This unit has lots of good plug-ins. The reverbs stand out as some of the best available. Visit TC Powercore to find out more.

• Universal Audio UAD 1: The UAD 1 is available only as a PCI card at this time, so this option can’t be used unless you have a free PCI slot in your computer. The UAD 1 is known for having some dynamite dynamics processors, including a great limiter and compressor. Check out www.uaudio.com for more information.

Host-based plug-ins are always sold with some sort of processor chip and can’t be used without the host processor. These plug-ins often sound very good, but you pay more for them because you’re buying hardware as well as software. After you have the hardware in place, though, you can often buy more plug-ins to run on your host’s processor, making this option expandable.

Having the right Chiptune VST plugins can be of huge help when you're making chiptune!
However, finding the Chiptune VST best suited for you and your needs can sometimes be a tough task.
The internet is full of information, and, while that’s a good thing, it can also be a little overwhelming when you try to find an amazing chiptune VST.
What you’ll soon realize in this search is that there are many factors to consider.
What starts off as a simple task can turn into one that stretches for days or even weeks.
So, to save you from sorting through them all, we’ve crafted a list of the top 10 Chiptune VST plugins to help you find the perfect one for you.
But before we get into it, what exactly makes a VST ‘the right’ one?

Features To Consider

In this modern day and age, computers are much faster than ever before, but processing power continues to be an issue.
One important thing to consider before purchasing or committing to any VST is what the processing power needs are. Can your computer handle the software that you’re using?
If yes, great! But if it can’t, no worries! You may instead want to look for a more lightweight VST that can do as good of a job as a heavier one.
Aside from processing power requirements, simplicity is another important factor when choosing a great VST to suit your needs.
Do you want to hit the ground running and make chiptune music right away? Or do you prefer to get neck deep in the settings and customize each and every last detail of your sound design process?
Some VSTs will be simple enough to allow you to ‘plug n play,’ whereas others will require a lot more education on your part in order to master chiptune sound design.
When factoring in simplicity, it’s also important to consider the user interface (known as UI). Simple VSTs often have an easy-to-use interface, while the more complex VSTs might be a lot harder to grasp.
This is crucial to keep in mind, because UI can affect creativity, which is extremely important to music production. This is because creativity is influenced by everything you hear, feel, do, or see (UI). So, if you don’t like how your VST looks, it could slow down your efficiency when producing chiptune music.
Lastly, emulation specificity is another big feature to consider. Chiptune music originally was created from gaming systems, such as the NES or Gameboy, with each of those systems producing different types of sounds.
With that in mind, chiptune VST plugins have been created with the capacity to emulate sounds created by certain systems. Knowing what type of sound you want to create will greatly speed up the VST selection process and ensure you use something that you’re happy with.
With these features in mind, let’s get started.

Cheap Vst Plugins

Option 01: Magical 8Bit Chiptune VST

Main Features:

• 5 waveforms - square, 2x pulse, pseudo-triangle, low-res noise

• ASDR envelope settings

• Pitch bend

• Velocity control

• Frequency sweeping

• 32 Voices

Note: For full specifications and download, visit YMCK.
Are you a fan of old, primitive 8 bit game consoles?
If you are, then the Magical 8bit Plug may be the perfect VST for you to make some old school electronic music!
This is because this VST allows for use of the pseudo-triangle or low-resolution noise, which are key when creating 8 bit or chiptune music.
Another important feature about the Magical 8bit Plug is that it focuses on simplicity, which makes creating great chiptune sounds quick and easy.
To top it off, the Magical 8bit Plug is lightweight and will work on both macOS as an audio unit and on Windows as a VSTi.
If you want to see what this VST can do for yourself, check out this awesome animated Youtube video featuring music made by Magical 8bit Plug. It’s set to what appears to be an old school video game.

Option 02: Chipsounds

Main features:

• Hybrid synth/sampling synthesizer

• Control/Modulation/Effects/Mixer tabs

• Arpeggiator

• Wave Sequencer

• Pitch and Amplitude Modulation

• Emulates 15 vintage 8-bit era sound chips

Note: For full specifications and download, visit Plogue.
Looking for something a little more robust than Magical 8bit Plug? Then Chipsounds may be the VST for you.
Chipsounds is one of the more popular chiptune VST plugins this year, and we can definitely see why.
The first reason is because it gives you a lot of control over your sound design process, which is huge when trying to set yourself apart from other producers.
Another cool feature is that Chipsounds can run on both Windows and macOS as a standalone application.
Additionally, it can also run as a VST, AU, RTAS, or AAX plug-in allowing for flexible usage with different systems.
To see this VST in action, check out Plogue’s introductory Chipsounds video.

Option 03: ymVST

Main features:

• Polyphony support

• 3 step arpeggiated chords

• Knobless UI

• Angel sync-buzzer effects

• SID effect

Note: For full specifications and download, visit preromanbritain.
If you’re a fan of the authentic Atari sound, then ymVST is a blast to the past…almost.
To the casual observer, the UI may look complicated. But it was actually made to replicate a traditional non-software music production setting with a more ‘authentic interface.’
This means there’s no knobs or sliders. Yet it also comes with all of the great chiptune quality sounds that can be made by the other more complex VSTs available on the internet today.
So, if you’re used to a more traditional method of chiptune production, ymVST may be right up your alley.
Unfortunately for Mac owners, ymVST is only available for PC users.

Option 04: basic 65

Main features:

• Monophonic synth

• Double arpeggiator

• Mod envelope

• (2) LFOs

• (3) Oscillators

Note: For full specifications and download, visit vst4free.
Inspired by the Commodore 64, basic 65 is a monophonic synth which takes the legendary SID chip from its hardware predecessor and adds more features to ‘take a step further’.
With a clean interface, this VST should be relatively quick to pick up and allow you to get started programming in your favorite chiptune sounds with ease.
Making it even simpler, there are over 128 presets available for you to choose from.
And with the basic 65 being an update to the already popular basic 64, you’ll know that you’re using a VST that has had a lot of prior problems solved.
However, similar to ymVST, the basic 65 is only available for use on Windows which makes that one key detraction in a production world heavily Mac reliant.

Option 05: Super Audio Cart

Main features:

• 5,500+ samples

• 1,200+ factory snapshots

• ‘Hold’ arp steps

• Modulate cutoff & pan with each step

• Use arp steps to modulate other parameters

• Free SNESVerb plugin

Note: For full specifications and download, visit impactsoundworks.
Super Audio Cart provides a revitalized take on an old-school chiptune production scene.
The interface looks modern which makes it similar to other software on the market today such as Omnisphere or iZotope Ozone. In other words, it’s easy to plug n play!
When purchasing, you’ll be capable of replicating sounds from the NES, FC, SNES, GB, 2600, C64, SMS, and GEN console systems. Add in the fact that you’ll receive over 6,000 samples and 630 unique sound sources and that makes purchasing the Super Audio Cart even more appealing.
However, it’s currently priced at $149 through impactsoundworksand also requires Kontakt to run, which can be a problem if you’re on a budget.
Not sure if this is right for you? Take a listen to some chiptune created by Super Audio Cart here to get an understanding of its capabilities.

Option 06: Retro Boy

Main features:

• Subtractive emulator

• Single oscillator

Vst Plug-ins Demos

• Vibrato & decimation effects

• Polyphony: 1-4

Note: For full specifications and download, visit sbaud.
As you may be able to tell from the specs, Retro Boy brings you back to the past. For example, it’s extremely lightweight on the processor with only a single oscillator.
It’s a classic, subtractive chiptune VST synth with seven waveforms - 12.5% pulse, 25% pulse, square, saw, triangle, sine, and noise.
Because of its simplicity, most computers should be able to run Retro Boy easily enough making that one of the key highlights of this VST.
And although you could probably figure out Retro Boy’s capabilities quickly enough yourself…
You can also check out a demo before downloading by clicking here!

Option 07: ICECREAM

Main features:

• Dual oscillators

• 4 Octaves per oscillator

• Amp/Filter ASDR

• Harmonics switch

• Glide and glide rate

Note: For full specifications and download, visit vstplanet.
Are you thinking what we’re thinking? If you are, you’ll understand how cool (pun intended) this VST looks.
It comes with a pretty standard set of features: two oscillators with volume and octave controls, filters, a sequencer, and EQ.
However, what makes this VST stand out is the colorful interface.The playfulness of this interface and color scheme will definitely take you back to the days of playing Super Nintendo as a child.
And even if you haven’t touched a Super Nintendo, you’ll still feel like a kid playing the newest gaming system.
This might jumpstart your creativity and bring your chiptune music to the next level.
To take a listen to all of the creative possibilities that can come about from using the ICECREAM VST, check out this Youtube video.

Option 08: Nintendo VST

Main features:

• Simple UI

• Nintendo emulation

• Portamento

• Pitch bend

Note: For full specifications and download, visit mattmontag
If you want to create chiptune music in the vein of Nintendo using something simple, Nintendo VST may be what’s right for you.
Created by Matthew Montag, the Nintendo VST is lightweight and can quickly be picked up by anyone.
That’s because the volume, duty cycle, pitch, and fine pitch adjustments are easily made with a max of three knobs for each setting (LFO steps, loop point, step time, and tempo sync).
And if you want to understand how the Nintendo VST works, Matthew has you covered! He’s meticulously detailed much of his VST development process on his website.
To see how the Nintendo VST was created, click here.

Option 09: AdLibXRom

Main features:

• Replicates Adlib Music Synthesizer Card

• Two oscillators

• 40 Multi-sampled sounds

Have you ever heard of the AdLib soundcard? If you have, you may find yourself in love with this VST.
The AdLibXRom replicates the sound of the AdLib Music Synthesizer Card which was famous in the early nineties.
Featured within the soundcard was the YM3812 synthesizer chip which utilized FM and additive synthesis.
Today, the AdLibXRom brings things back with the option of using the main or noise oscillator.
Additionally, it features over 40 multi-sampled sounds making usage even more interesting.
Note: For full specifications and download, visit samplescience.

Option 10: 38911 Bytes

Main features:

• Single oscillator

• 4 Waveforms

• 3 LFOs

• 4x16 Step sequencers

To any producer not familiar with Chiptune production, this VST may look a little confusing.
However, if you’ve been around the Chiptune production scene, this may just make you feel at home.
The interface was designed to provide an old-school feel.
There is only a single oscillator, but it does come with multiple waveforms such as Saw, Triangle, Pulse, and Pitched Noise.
Another highlight is the 4x16 step sequencers which also come with 11 different BPM rates.
Has the visual design of 38911 Bytes caught your attention? If so, we’d recommend that you learn more here!

Conclusion

Finding the best chiptune VST to suit your needs depends on your situation and what you’re looking for.
We’ve highlighted some of the best chiptune VST plugins that we think you’ll find particularly useful, each with its own unique characteristics and features.
To reiterate, here are some of the most important features to be aware of when choosing the best chiptune VST for your music production needs:

• Processing power requirements

• Simplicity

• UI (User Interface)

• Emulation specificity

We’ve compiled some amazing VSTs for you to try out and now we want to hear your thoughts!
Have you had any experience using any of these chiptune VST plugins?
Are there any others that we should have mentioned or replaced?
Let us know in the comment section below!