The best free and paid-for plugins you need to know about this week

In music production, plugins are software add-ons that expand the capabilities of your DAW; these could be virtual instruments and creative effects, EQ and compressors, or tools that make editing a lot more manageable.

Below is a rolling list of the new plugin releases that we think you need to know about. We update this list every week, so be sure to check back regularly for the latest virtual instruments, effects, mixing plugins and more. If you want more info on free plugins and how to install third-party plugins, head to the bottom of this article.

Happy producing!

This week’s new and noteworthy virtual instruments, effects and mixing plugins

(Last update: 28 Apr 2025)

Cherry Audio Yellowjacket

Released in 1978, the EDP Wasp was a British synth oddity – cheap, cheerful, and wildly characterful. Cherry Audio’s new Yellowjacket faithfully captures the original’s charm and expands it into a full-featured software synth that’s just as sonically and visually striking as its predecessor. 

Yellowjacket recreates the Wasp’s beloved signature buzz through meticulous modelling of its digital oscillators and analogue filtering. There’s also a ‘multi voice’ mode for layered variations and single-finger chords, inspired by EDP’s innovative ‘Link’ system that predated MIDI. 

Cherry Audio has introduced some welcome updates alongside – 16-voice polyphony, stereo effects, and a powerful arpeggiator with probability and humanisation controls to name a few. 

Yellowjacket is available for $49 from Cherry Audio, with a preset expansion pack available for $9.99.

Antelope Audio HEAT

Antelope Audio’s new HEAT plugin is out to prove that analogue grit and digital precision don’t have to be mutually exclusive. A fully-loaded distortion and saturation suite, users can dial in everything from smooth vintage warmth to modern crunch to chaotic fuzz.

At its core are five distinct tube-inspired distortion modes with their own harmonic flavours. The Drive and Bias controls let you finetune the saturation response, while pre- and post-saturation 4-band EQs provide detailed, flexible tone-shaping. 

Other features include built-in cabinet simulation for instant amp-style tones, parallel processing for surgical mix integration, and handy timesavers like AutoGain.

HEAT is available from Antelope Audio as part of its Synergy Core Native subscription, which offers a 14-day free trial.

Spitfire Audio Ronroco

Spitfire has teamed up with Gustavo Santaolalla – the renowned Argentine composer behind scores like The Last of Us and Brokeback Mountain – to bring us its latest instrument, Ronroco.

Often described as the charango’s deeper cousin, the ronroco is a signature element of Santaolalla’s sound, often playing a starring role in his evocative, melancholic compositions. Now, the instrument’s distinctive voice has been brought to life as a Kontakt library with the samples performed by Santaolalla himself. 

Thanks to sophisticated programming and intuitive keyswitches, Roncoco delivers deep and detailed real-time playability through intelligent string selection, articulations including slides, vibrato, and ‘twiddles’, and chord and strum options. 

There’s also manual control of the roncoco’s signature octave-doubled third string, letting you easily write parts that sound highly authentic – even if you’ve never picked up the real thing. And as with other Spitfire libraries, a range of mic controls and effects provide even more tailored sound design. 

Roncoco by Gustavo Santaolalla is available from Spitfire Audio for intro pricing of £111 (full price £139).

Sampleson Predictor

Sampleson’s new plugin, Predictor, is a generative MIDI tool that promises to spark new musical ideas by learning from your existing MIDI files. Load in any MIDI file – or choose one from the bundled library of 600 sequences – and Predictor analyses harmonic movement, rhythm, note relationships, and more to generate new musical phrases on the fly. 

You provide the rhythm via mouse, MIDI controller, or even your QWERTY keyboard, and Predictor takes care of the notes, playing chords and melodies in real time based on what it’s learned. 

A key requirement of Predictor is an open and curious mind – not everything it generates will work, but that’s the point. Instead, it’s a simple and easy-to-use exploration tool that opens new doors and breaks creative blocks.

Predictor is available from Sampleson for intro pricing of $29 (full price $49).

Neumann RIME

With immersive formats like Dolby Atmos becoming the new standard, Neumann’s new RIME plugin (Reference Immersive Monitoring Environment) offers a sleek solution for mixers and producers looking to work with spatial audio without the need for a surround speaker rig.

Typically placed on the master bus, RIME transforms multichannel audio up to 7.1.4 into binaural sound while preserving surround and height channel information, allowing users to accurately monitor immersive mixes through Neumann NDH headphones.

To create the plugin, Neumann captured a purpose-built studio using state-of-the-art Neumann equipment. For NDH owners, RIME delivers a reliable reference room with highly realistic 3D imaging straight in your headphones.

RIME is available from Neumann for £85.

Last week’s best plugins

NI Electric Keys: Reeds Duo

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Native Instruments has unveiled the latest instalment in its Electric Keys series of instruments for Kontakt, developed in collaboration with Galaxy Instruments. This time around, you’ll get meticulously sampled renditions of two iconic reed-based electric pianos.

The first, Jade, is akin to a Wurlitzer, delivering bright and punchy tones, while the second, Ivory, is a Pianet-style instrument with warm, mellow resonance and tube-driven grit.

Both pianos’ sounds can be endlessly tweaked thanks to a wide range of effects and signal routing, including amp sims, filters, modulation, and more.

Electric Keys: Reeds Duo is available from Native Instruments for £129.

Fuse Audio Labs Ocelot Upmixer

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Looking to widen the soundstage of your recordings? Ocelot Upmixer has you covered, transforming mono sources into expansive and natural stereo signals.

Whether you’re working with single-mic recordings or mono virtual instruments, Ocelot Upmixer can pristinely widen the sound while maintaining mono compatibility and without disrupting phase. A unique Tune control plus high- and low-pass filters let you further refine the tone, resulting in an easy-to-use tool for adding a greater sense of depth and immersion to your mix.

Ocelot Upmixer is available from Fuse Audio Labs for intro pricing of $29 until 10 May 2025 (full price $69).

Waves Curves AQ

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Touted by Waves as the ‘world’s first autonomous EQ’, Curves AQ is here to supercharge your mixing process with generative technology.

How does it work? Feed AQ your audio and it generates five original EQ curves – or ‘spectral targets’ – based on the signal. To match the desired sound, AQ automatically processes your audio using dynamic or static cuts and boosts, depending on what you require.

Other key features include precise global and per-band adjustment, Smart Tilt for intuitively reshaping the spectral target, and MixSense, a sidechain feature for eliminating conflicting frequencies between tracks.

Curves AQ is available from Waves for intro pricing of $49.99 (full price $129).

Baby Audio Smooth Operator Pro

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We scored Smooth Operator a 9/10 when it debuted, and now Baby Audio has released the Pro version — a significant upgrade to the acclaimed spectral balancing plugin.

Retaining the advanced processing of the original to resolve boomy build-ups and harsh resonances, the update introduces per-node control, stereo imaging tools, and enhanced correction modes. As a result, Smooth Operator offers significantly more precision than its predecessor.

Smooth Operator Pro is available from Baby Audio at introductory pricing of $79 (full price $129) or a $29 upgrade for existing customers.

Imaginando GRFX

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Imaginando’s new GRFX plugin harnesses the immense power of granular effects to warp your audio into something entirely new, from evolving textures and patterns to ambient soundscapes and washes.

The plugin is built around the ‘Harmonic Triangle’, a three-way pitch control that lets you tune grains into chords and arpeggios or detune them into atonal chaos.

A handy drag-and-drop modulation system makes it easy to add depth and complexity to your sound, while dedicated effects can enhance your signal. You can even add some unpredictability through probability-based grain routing, making GRFX a powerful tool for experimental sound design.

GRFX is available from Imaginando for intro pricing of €29 (full price €39) or rent-to-own for €7.80 a month.

Are DAW stock plugins good enough?

Most major DAWs these days will come with a perfectly capable collection of ‘stock’ plugins for music-making: Logic Pro’s software instrument library is rich and varied; Ableton Live’s synth engines cover additive, subtractive and granular methods, and the Pro Tools suite of mixing plugins is still widely used by pro engineers.

Third-party plugins are there to give you access to sounds and workflows that aren’t bundled in with your DAW. Maybe you want the sound of a vintage preamp — try a plugin emulation by Arturia or Universal Audio. Want to shake up how visualise your mixing and production? Try a plugin by Baby Audio or MIXLAND.

A good producer isn’t their plugin folder, but their ability to make good decisions. Increase your knowledge: instead of buying synth samples, learn about the fundamentals of synthesis; kick drum sounding too skinny? Learn to compress properly.

Where to download free plugins and VSTs

Looking for free plugins? Our freeware section is an excellent place to start; each month, we also compile round-ups of the best free plugins and samples to download.

The production community is full of passionate developers who’ve given away instruments, effects and other plugins as freeware. Some of our favourites include Valhalla’s Supermassive reverb, Apogee’s Soft Limit and Matt Tytel’s Helm polysynth. Remember, most developers also offer free trials for their plugins.

How to install VST and AU plugins on Windows, macOS and iOS

If your plugin came as a .zip file, and not an installer, you may have to manually install it. Here’s how:

VST3 plugins:

1. Unzip the plugin folder
2. Copy the .VST file to your default plugin folder (Windows default: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3, Mac default: /Library/Audio/Plugins/VST)
3. Start your DAW
4. Rescan your plugin directory

AUv3 plugins:

1. Download and install plugin from the App Store
2. Insert plugin in your DAW
3. Select the AUv3 plugin from the Audio Unit Extensions tab

The post The best free and paid-for plugins you need to know about this week appeared first on MusicTech.

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