Autor: Producer Gang

The Retromulator controversy and the unwritten rules of open-source audio Earlier this week, discoDSP donated $1,000 to The Usual Suspects, the team behind some of the best free synth emulations out there. The Usual Suspects sent the money back. If you’ve been following the Retromulator situation on KVR, GearSpace, or in BPB comments, you probably already have some opinions. But I think there’s more to this story than the comments and forum threads covered, and it’s worth unpacking. I’ll try to explain the situation below as clearly as possible and without taking sides. My goal is not to say who…

Black Octopus Sound is offering BPB readers an exclusive 83% discount on the Leviathan Anthology Bundle I-IV. Leviathan Anthology Bundle I-IV normally costs $299 and is available for $49.99 with the coupon code BPDLevAnthology49 until April 10th. This is a big one! The bundle brings together all four volumes of the Leviathan series into a single collection with over 20,000 royalty-free samples, 575 Serum presets, and more than 20 GB of content. I’ve been a fan of Black Octopus Sound’s Leviathan lineup for a long time. I first came across their packs almost two decades ago when I was deep…

You can now snap up Relab Development’s LX480 Essentials verb plugin for $29, down from $99, in a 70% off deal at Plugin Boutique.  The deal expires on March 31, 2026.  LX480 Essentials is a 64-bit only release for macOS (VST, VST3, AU, AAX) and Windows (VST, VST3, AAX).  LX480 Essentials offers four reverb sounds based on the most essential presets from the Lexicon 480L.  The Lexicon 480L is a digital reverb and effects hardware unit that debuted in 1986.  It’s a classic known for its lush, spacious reverb that marked a high-water mark for digital reverbs, and helped define…

Evenant is currently offering its Evenant Engine, a cinematic library comprising 50 custom patches, for free as a limited-time offer. I didn’t manage to figure out how long this offer lasts, so my tip would be to get it asap. And please note that running Evenant Engine requires Kontakt by Native Instruments (paid). According to the developer, Evenant Engine is full of “trailer-worthy signature sounds, vast soundscapes, organic pads, earthshaking braams, and powerful synths.” It covers a wide range from acoustic instruments like cellos, flutes, and sitars to more analog and cerebral synth patches. While Evenant Engine seems like a…

InnerMono has released a collection of almost 30 free racks for Ableton Live. Like a hardware FX rack or a software rack that hosts multiple effects in a single plugin, Ableton Live racks provide a streamlined workflow for manipulating multiple effects from a single device (rack). From what I understand, Ableton Live has various rack types, including audio effects, MIDI effects, Instruments, and drums. I’m not an Ableton Live user, so those who are go a bit deeper on racks in the comments. However, I do know that artists and producers often sell signature racks to create another revenue stream.…

Developer Analog Obsession has released LAEA, a free vintage optical compressor emulation. There are a few names in the freeware community whose plugins enter our must-try category by default, and Analog Obsession is one of them. It feels pretty lucky to be talking about another new release just now, since we got RazorClip, a free analog-based clipper plugin, less than a month ago. But here we are with LAEA, an emulation of a rather famous solid-state optical compressor from the late 1960s. If the name hasn’t given it away already, we can look back at a previous Analog Obsession emulation…

Spectaverb is the second plugin by Plea Tech we’re looking at in one day, and it seems just as interesting as the first, Pure Amber. Pure Amber is a spectral shaping and resonance suppressor plugin for Windows, and it’s free for a limited time, so don’t miss it. Spectaverb is also a Windows exclusive, which rules me out, but I’m still excited to share this one because it seems like a small plugin that you could get a lot out of. Spectaverb isn’t a typical reverb plugin; it’s a multi-FX plugin featuring three distinct parallel effect chains. The three effect…

Pure Amber is a spectral-shaping and resonance-control plugin for Windows made by Plea Tech, usually priced at $9.99, but is now available for free for a limited time. You can now download it for free using the promo code “VI-CONTROL” for a limited time. I’m not sure how long the promo code will remain active, so grab it while you can. Pure Amber is available as a VST3 plugin for Windows. If you’re on macOS and looking for a spectral shaping plugin that’s a little bit different, check out Ewan Bristow’s ANINA. Pure Amber is Plea Tech’s answer to resonance…

BandMatrix by Kojima Audio is a multi-band dynamics plugin available for free on both macOS and Windows in VST3, AU, and AAX formats. The plugin has 6 bands that apply compression and expansion, like your run-of-the-mill multi-band compressor, but that’s not all. I’ve never heard about this developer before, but their concept delivers right out of the gate. What’s special about BandMatrix is its ability to drive each band from separate sources. It could be the internal signal itself, external inputs via the sidechain, or making any band drive any other band, which opens up a vast amount of creative…

Plugin Alliance currently offers Animate by Mastering The Mix for free (regularly $66). The offer lasts until March 24th and is limited to one license per user. If you missed our own Animate freebie offer a couple of years ago, here’s another chance to get it for free. Animate works on Windows and macOS in AU, AAX, and VST3 formats. So what does it do? Animate is a mixing tool that can be used on individual tracks, groups, or on the master chain itself. The plugin can do frequency-specific expansion, saturation, transient shaping, and widening in either mid/side or L/R mode.…