You can’t produce professional music and tracks using free synth VSTs, surely? You surely can. If your budget is tight or you just want to explore some new synth sounds without dropping a load of cash, let Headliner walk you through the list of ‘I cannot believe this is free’ synth plugins. Digital synth sounds, analogue emulation, wavetable, and FM synthesis are all covered. Get your creative hat on and let’s find the free synth VST plugin with your name on it.
DiscoDSP OB-Xd
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Free analogue emulation doesn’t get better than this
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Based on a hero of the synth world
This disco is free to attend. Based on the Oberheim OB-X synth, OB-Xd is a free synth VST plugin that delivers an excellent analogue emulation option, far too good considering it will cost you zilch to download. The user-friendly interface is lovely to use, unlike the typically clunky ones of most free plugins. It might not be quite as advanced as the paid-for hardware emulators such as the Arturia V Collection, but the point is how fantastic it sounds, rivalling some of the expensive big boys. Features including the filter design and voice controls will keep you busy if you don't need sound editing that’s too adventurous.
Logic Pro Alchemy
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Great starting point for Logic users
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Some top-tier presets can be found
Fantastic news for Logic users who aren’t keen to spend more money on top of their DAW investment — Apple’s flagship music software comes with a high-quality free synth VST plugin bundled. Note that, as is often the case with the free rather than paid synth plugins, it’s a case of working through the presets to find those diamond presets, instead of the entitlement of expecting every single sound to blow your mind. But you will find a sound that works with your music, and you can turn your music into gold with Alchemy.
The Usual Suspects – DSP56300 Emulation
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Truly, it should not be free
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Slightly clunky interface (normal for a free plugin)
How do you know a synth VST plugin is free? When you have to download it from a domain with WordPress in the title. But do not let that detract you from getting a synth VST that sounds far too good not to be a paid plugin, rather than just the links to donate to its creator via PayPal or (whisper it quietly) cryptocurrency. While some of the provided presets are analogue emulations, don’t let that fool you into thinking these are only old sounds. You can create some brilliant modern synth sounds with ease.
Surge by Vember Audio
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A much-loved free synth VST that is regularly updated
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Over 2800 excellent presets
It’s time for the free synth VST users of the world to surge forward! Vember Audio’s Surge is an open-source synth plugin that has had exciting updates throughout its lifetime. It has a great interface, rather than some of the Windows 95-looking ones free plugins often serve up, while also offering deep modular editing potential for those who want to peep under the hood.
In fact, Surge was once an acclaimed commercial synth which would set you back over £/$150, so make sure you download it with gratitude. With over 2800 professional-quality presets, as well as its own capable effects chain, this free synth VST could be the only one you ever need.
WINNER: Surge is an open-source software synth with over 2,800 presets and flexible modulation routing. Its dual engine design (subtractive, FM, wavetable) and continuous development by the community make it a powerful free instrument that rivals paid synthesizers. - Headliner Awards
Vital Basic
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Great introduction to a huge synth VST
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Nothing basic about the sounds on offer here
Our next claimant to the best free synthesiser VST title is the Basic edition of Vital. Don’t take that name too literally — there is nothing basic about the sounds and synth machine you’re getting an introduction to. Vital brings you ‘spectral oscillator warping’ and advanced wavetable synthesis. The Basic version comes with 75 presets, whetting your appetite if you ever decide to go for the Pro version, which has 400-plus mighty presets. You also get 25 of Vital’s wavetables, versus the 150 of the pro version.
U-he Tyrell N6
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Fantastic entry package from one of the synth world’s heavy hitters
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Top-tier analogue emulation for free
Here’s one for the vintage, analogue sound lovers out there. The name U-he is almost guaranteed to come up in any best synth VST conversation. While the focus here is on analogue emulation, as is often the case with analogue synthesisers, there’s always the big potential to craft the sounds to meet your own modern needs, should you need to. Tyrell N6 delivers a warm, punchy, and rich sound inspired by legendary hardware like the Roland Juno-60. Its intuitive, streamlined interface makes it incredibly easy to use for both beginners and experienced sound designers, offering two oscillators, a versatile filter derived from u-he's Diva, and a flexible modulation matrix to craft a wide range of tones from fat basses to shimmering pads.
U-he Zebralette
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Free version of one of the best synthesiser VSTs out there
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Covers cinematic, analogue, and even acoustic instruments
Next to their excellent analogue emulation plugin, Diva, one of the reasons U-he is so huge in this synthesiser VST world is thanks to Zebra, arguably the company’s flagship offering. This is your chance to take the plugin that Hans Zimmer used on both his Dune scores to craft his Oscar-winning sounds for a free spin. You’ll get to dip your toe in one of the best collections of synth presets available. And for those who like to really get into their sound design, there’s also FM and additive elements to get stuck into, albeit a more restricted version than the full package. But the fact that the one prescribed oscillator on this free synth VST version is this powerful rather than full Zebra’s four oscillators is food for thought.
Synth1 by Ichiro Toda
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Amazing option for digital synth lovers
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The most downloaded VST plugin ever?
Next up is a bona fide legend in the world of free synth VST plugins that’s been around since 2002, with Wikipedia stating it to be one of the most downloaded VST plugins of all time. Despite being around for more than two decades, it still sounds so fresh. Don’t expect much vintage emulation here — this is a digital sound-leaning synth VST, and does the job with aplomb. And while it packs in the value, it's lovely to know that this plugin won’t eat up too much of your CPU memory. It emulates the Nord Lead 2, and brings your music three oscillators, two LFO modules, an arpeggiator, built-in effects, and lots more. This could be the ‘1’ for you.
TAL Noisemaker
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Impressive range of effects
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Advanced synthesis features for a free plugin
Free synth VST plugins can’t be versatile, can they? Wrong! TAL’s Noisemaker has versatility in spades, thanks to dual oscillators, two LFO modules, built-in effects, and a multi-mode filter. The editable envelope module alone will leave you wondering, ‘Did I really download this for free?’ This is before mentioning the Juno-style chorus, and more excellent effects including reverb, bitcrusher, and delay. Vitally, the synth itself sounds fantastic and is ready for modern music production.
Dexed
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Based on one of the most pivotal synthesisers of all time
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The best free FM synth VST
Our FM synthesiser entry is Dexed, which emulates the digital FM synth that changed the game and pop music forever, the Yamaha DX7. In fact, if you fancy it, you can load original DX7 preset patches into Dexed via a patch editor and SysEx manager. Jargon aside, this is a free synth VST plugin that is worthy of the iconic synthesiser; it does such a wonderful job of emulating it — be prepared to get very inspired as you explore its sounds.
Free synth VST plugins vs paid plugins
If you’ve got to this point wondering: ‘can I get away with just using free synthesiser VSTs?’ — you’ll be pleased to hear it’s not the straight up ‘no’ that some people will have you believe. Some of the free synth VSTs above truly do rival some of the paid plugins from the big names.
That said, there are two factors the priced synth plugins offer in greater abundance than free synth VSTs: convenience and advanced features. That convenience comes in the form of presets immediately sounding amazing, rather than some of the above requiring a bit of patience to find what you’re after. The interfaces are invariably more contemporary and less clunky-looking, and the plugins are usually updated regularly.
But, ultimately, the ones above are free and are far too good considering that. In theory, you could get by on some of the above. Many people like using a combination of free synth VSTs while investing in a few, also, which is a great approach.
