In this article Audrey Martinovich mixes the same track twice, once with free and stock plugins and once with her ‘first call’ premium plugins. Find out how she got on and hear the mixes…
A debate that I see come up often in the audio world is about accessibility. Gear and software can get expensive really quickly and some people can be discouraged from making music because the cost is a barrier. If you’ve been engineering for a while, you probably already know about some great free plugins, but for the newer music-makers, I wanted to prove that a good mix is more about your ear, style, and creativity than about how much money you spent on that one compressor. So I decided to do two mixes of the same song; one with only free plugins and one with only paid plugins.
Mix Method and Philosophy
To do this mix comparison, I loaded up my laptop (Macbook Pro, aka my Science Project) with all the free plugins I could find, with my paid plugins already being installed on my studio computer. I recorded this song, “Losing my Mind,” with Chloe Louise and the Heartbreak Club at my studio and saved one Pro Tools Session to my laptop to mix using free plugins, and one to my studio computer to mix with our premium plugins.
My goal definitely isn’t to be able to say that “free plugins are just as good as premium ones,” but to show that there are some fun tools available that are accessible to anyone which can result in a good mix. I’m not trying to replicate a mix done with high-end plugins with free plugins either. For each of these mixes, I just used the tools I had at my disposal to do what I thought needed to be done to each track. In both cases, I did a first pass to clean up any problems and then got more creative on the second pass adding reverb and effects.
What Free Plugins Did I Use?
On the Production Expert website, there is a menu at the top called “Free Plug-ins” where you’ll be able to find tons of stuff listed in alphabetical order or go here for Pro Tools Users: Free Pro Tools Plugins - Get Them Now
I downloaded almost all of the EQs, compressors, and reverbs from the list. I wanted to make sure the plug-ins I was using were actually free and not just free to demo so I did this mix over a couple of weeks to make sure I ran out any demo time, leaving me with only software that was actually free or included with Pro Tools.
TDR Nova by Tokyo Dawn Records
Leveling Tool by ADHD
Supercharger bu Native Instruments
MConvolution EZ by MeldaProduction
MAutoPitch by MeldaProduction
Freq Echo by Valhalla
Blue Cat Chorus by Blue Cat
Blindfold EQ by AudioThing
Kotelnikov by Tokyo Dawn Records
Convology XT by Waves Arts
Baby Comeback by Baby Audio
Dyn3 De-Esser
Dyn 3 Expander/Gate
What Premium Plugins Did I Use?
These are all paid plugins that I used for the “premium” mix.
AutoTune EFX+ ($199)
Waves CLA-76 ($59.99)
SoundToys Echoboy ($199)
SoundToys Little Plate ($99)
SoundToys Decapitator ($199)
Waves L1 Limiter ($29.99)
Melodyne 5 essential ($99)
Fabfilter Pro MB ($199)
Waves MV2 ($29.99)
Waves Q8 ($29.99)
Waves Renaissance Axx ($29.99)
Valhalla Ubermod ($50)
Valhalla Vintage Verb ($50)
Paid Plugin Total = $1,273.95
So Are Paid Plugins Worth It?
In doing this project, I realized I was spending a lot of time trying to get the free plugins to sound like the paid ones I normally use. It kind of shed a light on just how much each plugin adds its own flavor to the mix beyond just “boost this frequency” or “add this much compression.” I struggled with finding a reverb that I love as much as Valhalla’s Vintage Verb or Cinematic Rooms by Liquidsonics. However, while I plan to mostly stick with my paid stuff, there were a couple of free plugins that I found really intriguing.
If you’re in need of an easy to use and good-sounding EQ, check out TDRNova by Tokyo Dawn. It’s a 4-band parametric EQ with each band including a dynamics processing section. While I wish it had more bands, TDR Nova is a handy plugin to tame a sibilant vocal.
I also enjoyed working with Blindfold EQ. Blindfold EQ is an EQ plugin inspired by a quote by Matt Wallace from the book Recording Unhinged by Sylvia Massy. Blindfold also has 4 bands like TDRNova, but with no indicators or numbers to show frequency, gain, or Q values, forcing you to…wait for it…use your ears.
Let us know in the comments which mix you liked better and if I used any of your favorite plugins, as well as if there are any other free plugins you think we should know about.