SoundCloud Artist subscriptions get much more affordableMoney is almost always tight for most musicians, and SoundCloud has launched an affordable yet robust Artist subscription tier that acknowledges that.
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The Elektron Digitakt was the best-selling piece of electronic gear on Reverb in 2024Reverb has published its annual round-up of best-selling gear – and a certain Swedish synth brand has been dethroned.
After five strong years at the top of Reverb’s Best-Selling Electronic Gear list, Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 is no longer Reverb’s best-selling piece of electronic gear. And the renowned synth and workstation has taken quite a tumble down in favour this year, dropping from #1 four places to a still-respectable fifth place.

READ MORE: This beatmaker is going viral for proving that music production has no age restrictions

Rather than another synth taking the OP-1’s place, Elektron’s drum machine and sampler, the Elektron Digitakt, stole the crown.
The Elektron Digitakt’s success could be due to the release of the Elektron Digitakt II earlier this year – a marvellous upgrade on the original that MusicTech awarded 9/10. The Digitone II synthesiser also hit the market, so Elektron has arguably been one of the hottest brands of 2024.

The Ableton Push 2 Controller secured the #2 spot, with Roland’s SP-404MkII creative sampler and effector coming in at #3.
Reverb has also shared its annual list of best-selling brands. Roland secured the top spot, with Korg being awarded silver for its #2 spot. Yamaha scores a respectable bronze at #3.
The company also revealed the best selling eurorack modules, with Make Noise Maths module selling the most units this year. ALM/Busy Circuits’ ALM017 Pamela’s New Workout master clock and modulator was the second best selling module, and Make Noise placed yet again at #3 with its 0-Coast.
Here’s the full top 10 list of the overall best-selling synths & electronic gear to have been sold on Reverb in 2023:

Teenage Engineering OP-1
Elektron Digitakt
Ableton Push 2
Roland SP-404 MKII
Korg Drumlogue
Teenage Engineering OP-1
Teenage Engineering EP-133 K.O. II
Arturia MicroFreak
Arturia Keystep
Elektron Digitone

To see a full breakdown of the most purchased used and new products on Reverb in 2024, head to Reverb.
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Stop the TICKET Act before it’s too late: FixTheTix Call To Action!There is new movement in Congress to pass devastating ticket legislation as part of a year-end Continuing Resolution (CR) and the FixTheTix coalition has issued an urgent call to action to stop the Ticket Act before its too late.
The post Stop the TICKET Act before it’s too late: FixTheTix Call To Action! appeared first on Hypebot.

Win $1,000, a high-profile cypher placement, and a trip to Paris via our beat battle with SNIPES Soundbooth
We're partnering with SNIPES to find the soundtrack for the next 'Exchange' cypher.

Members Media review: Brian Hazard tests the music marketing platformMusic promo expert, Brian Hazard (aka the Ralph Nader of musician services) does the testing and shares a music marketing platform Members Media review.
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Why Komplete 15 is Native Instruments’ most creative sound library everAd feature with Native Instruments
There are no small updates to Native Instruments‘ Komplete. Each new iteration of the essential music production library brings ever more breadth and depth to an already sprawling collection. With the release of Komplete 15, however, you might have noticed a certain theme.
Rapid-fire ideation and in-depth sound sculpting now hold centre court. There are new additions for busy composers with the Session series and Action orchestral instruments getting new members, there’s innovative looping and songwriting tools for producers, but there are also some daring oddities like Conflux that exponentially widen Komplete’s scope for sound designers.
All of these goodies slot into a new version of Kontakt that’s been refreshed with a streamlined UI and a suite of powerful features for music-making.
“At its core, Kontakt is three things,” says Tim Adnitt, Native Instrument’s VP of products and sound design. “It’s an instrument player, a sampler and an instrument-building platform. For Kontakt 8, we wanted to zone in on what creativity means in the context of each of these.”
Image: Native Instruments
What does ‘zoning in on creativity’ look like in practice? Really, it’s all about kickstarting the music-making process and keeping up the momentum till you play that final note. One way it achieves this is through some nifty tricks with MIDI.
‘Tools’ takes incoming MIDI notes and transforms them to generate musical ideas. There are currently two flavours to choose from: Chords and Phrases. As the name implies, Chords comes with over 130 ready-to-go harmonic progressions – each sequence features seven chords and these are played by pressing a single root note on your keyboard. If you’re unhappy with a chord then a single click can generate a new one, or you can manually play in your own version to quickly customise sequences.
TRY IT: Get 50% off full versions of Komplete 15 Standard, Ultimate, and Collectors’ Edition or 20% on upgrades from previous versions
‘Phrases’ applies a similar concept to melody generation. There are almost two hundred melodic lines to spark ideas, and with the ability to assign each pattern a custom starting point, to invert notes for different voicings, and to drag sequences out as MIDI regions for further manipulation, there’s a lot of nuance in how Phrases can be used.
Image: Native Instruments
“Awesome!” is how producer and songwriter Khris Riddick-Tynes describes the new Kontakt features. Despite winning a Grammy and working with some of the biggest names in music, Riddick-Tynes, like many successful artists, has no formal training in music theory. This makes Tools even more relevant to his process. “I came up in the ‘learn by ear’ camp,” he says. “So, having a plethora of chords and phrases at my fingertips that feel authentic speeds my workflow up like crazy.”
This is no accident. As Native Instrument’s senior product manager, Ilay Bal Arslan, points out, Tools is purpose built to be accessible across a wide range of skill levels.
“If you’re just starting out, they’re a great way to explore chord progressions and experiment with melodies, helping you discover new ideas and learn as you go. For seasoned pros, the Tools offer deep customization, letting you fine-tune harmonic ideas and customize phrases to match your vision.”
Probably the best place to see all this in action is on the new Alicia’s Electric Keys instrument, which samples the artist’s original CP-70 electric piano in exquisite detail.

“Alicia Keys is one of the most iconic artists of our time,” remarks Arslan. “The rich and distinct sound of the CP-70 has been one of the cornerstones of her music, both in the studio and in live performances.” Working alongside the artist and multiple Grammy-winning engineer, Ann Mincielli, Arslan says the process of bringing this instrument to the Komplete library was “an incredibly inspiring experience.”
Crucially, Tools works across all 1,500+ Kontakt Player instruments that make up Komplete 15, and combining the ideas they generate with the preset patterns found in other instruments, such as the Session series, makes building up a full arrangement fast and frictionless.
These two initial offerings, Chords and Phrases, offer foundational ways to transform MIDI performances, but Adnitt also makes clear that this is just the start. “Now that Tools exist as an object in Kontakt, the possibilities are endless,” he enthuses. “The Tools SDK means that builders can dream up their own completely unique idea-generation Tools to sit alongside Chords and Phrases.”
When it comes to the new sample-based features, we have Leap. Drawing on Kontakt’s origins as a creative sampler, Leap takes that legacy and updates it for modern music creation. “We wanted to reimagine the Kontakt sampling experience,” states Eric Müller, who spearheaded the new feature as Leap’s Lead Product Designer. “Kontakt’s flexibility is one of its greatest strengths, but, let’s be honest, it can sometimes feel overwhelming when you just want to quickly experiment with loops or manipulate samples without diving into the depths of instrument building. With Leap, we set out to simplify this process by creating a focused environment tailored specifically for sampling and loop-based workflows.”
Each ‘Leap Kit’ is made up of tempo-synced loops and one-shot samples that can be triggered using the white keys of your keyboard. You can dynamically modify these samples as you play, with stutter effects, pitch shifts, reverse and speed controls all mapped to the black keys. This allows for intuitive, on-the-fly songwriting that feels more like a jam than hard work.

There are 12 ready made kits that come with the new Komplete 15, but users can also bring their own audio to the party. “Leap acts as a playground for all sample content,” says Müller. “Whether it’s from Maschine Expansions, Kontakt libraries, or your own personal collections. It enables users to quickly import, manipulate, and save their own sounds and kits”

If sound design or scoring for screen is your primary interest, then Komplete 15 also offers new levels of hands-on sonic sculpting. For the first time, the company has combined a sample instrument with the power of wavetable synthesis – the result is Conflux, a versatile hybrid that excels at evolving sci-fi textures.
“It merges the best of both worlds,” says Konstantin Hess, the company’s Associate Director of Instruments & Sounds. “The authenticity and richness of recorded samples with the flexibility and creativity of synthesis. Blending between these two sound sources opens up exciting new creative possibilities, enabling the design of unique and powerful sounds that were previously hard to achieve.”

Komplete has always been an essential resource for producers, but, for Riddick-Tynes’ money, the new version of Guitar Rig is his standout. “I’ve been on a mission to push the boundaries of guitar sounds,” he says. “What I love about Guitar Rig is its flexibility; it’s not just about traditional guitar tones. I’ve been able to create unique soundscapes by layering effects, manipulating tones, and even blending in unconventional sounds.”
On the instrumental scoring side, there’s Kithara. Nominally, this is a string instrument built on balalaika, dulcimers, mandolins and other plucked or bowed instruments – but the real magic lies in Kithara’s innovative approach to sound envelopes. Each stage — attack, sustain, release — can be assigned a different sample, and this by itself can produce amazingly rich and complex textures.
The inspiration, says Kithara’s Lead Product Designer, Francesco Sabatini, came partially from the seminal soundtrack to The Last of Us which was defined by composer Gustavo Santaolalla’s sparse and emotive guitar lines. “We always wanted Kithara to be an instrument capable of evoking deep emotional moments through the vibrancy and rich musical colours of plucked instruments. Having four different layers empowers creators to achieve unconventional results by selecting different sources for the beginning, sustain, and ending phases of a sound.”
Beyond the instrument’s four layers, there are also deeper controls available for each individual sample and granular engine that can extend the instrument into the realm of sound design.

The ability to, in Adnitt’s words, take samples and “trigger them, twist them, bend them, and ultimately make them into something that is unique” has long been core to Native Instruments vision. But he also makes clear that the company’s new emphasis on workflow and idea generation took shape communally; through regular dialogues with producers, songwriters, and composers of all different styles and career stages. “Two things come up again and again,” Adnitt recalls of those discussions. “The challenge of the blank page, and the challenge of sounding unique – especially when working with samples.”
Taken together, the new features found in Kontakt 8, and the instruments added to Komplete 15, blast past those challenges and into new territory. As Riddick-Tynes puts it: “Having access to comprehensive creative tools and instruments like Komplete 15 is incredibly important. It not only enhances my creative process but provides a wide range of sounds and capabilities that can inspire new ideas and directions in my music.”
Image: Native Instruments
The key to Komplete 15 is that it’s not only relevant to professionals like Riddick-Tynes. With new pricing tiers and innovative features like Tools and Leap, it has the lowest barrier of entry in the series’ history, and this, in turn, lets ever more people experience the joys of music-making.
“These new features can act as a bridge,” Hess comments thoughtfully. “They enable artists of all experience levels to start their creative journey. By removing barriers, we’re not just helping people make music—we’re unlocking the potential for countless untold creative voices to emerge. Great art often comes from unexpected places and perspectives, and by empowering more people to embark on their musical journey, we’re expanding the range of ideas and creativity.”
Get 50% off full versions of Komplete 15 Standard, Ultimate, and Collectors’ Edition or 20% on upgrades from previous versions
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Denise Audio unveils Perfect Room 2 reverb plugin – featuring “enhanced clarity, greater fidelity and zero latency performance”Denise Audio has launched Perfect Room 2, the second edition of its reverb plugin that was released in 2019.
The plugin is the third in a series of major revamps to Denise Audio’s core plugin lineup following its acquisition by Baby Audio last October.

READ MORE: These are MusicTech’s favourite free plugins of 2024

Described as a “reinvention” of the original Perfect Room – a plugin that scored an impressive 9/10 in our review of it, Perfect Room 2 is said to improve on its predecessor with enhanced clarity, greater fidelity and zero latency performance.
“The sequel comes with expanded creative flexibility to let you dial in everything from invisible ambience to shifting sonic vistas that move with your track,” says Denise Audio.
Unlike most reverb plugins out there, there’s no need to scroll through dozens of IR files to find your sound. Instead, Perfect Room 2 lets you interact directly with the internal room simulation to create infinite variations of clean ambience.
Its Dynamic Room Response engine begins with a neutral acoustic simulation, enabling users to create ambiences without resonances, harshness and unnecessary coloration – ideal for tasks that demand transparency, detail, and fidelity to the source.
Perfect Room 2 can process up to 10 seconds of decay time; users can adjust the onset of the room response with the attack control. You can even flip the room profile entirely to hear the decay play out in reverse.
The latest version also boasts a completely revamped design, featuring a clean and intuitive user interface. Key controls like Pre-delay, Attack, Length, and Width (now with mono-compatible variation between the left and right channels in the simulated room) are easily accessible. Users can also tailor their simulated room’s frequency and decay characteristics via the Frequency and Decay Profile knobs.
In addition, Perfect Room 2’s time-based parameters can be synced to the host tempo for precise bar/beat divisions of pre-delay, attack and decay. Other notable features include mono-compatible pitch modulation and a unique Halo effect that lets you extend the decay of selected frequency ranges, providing further creative possibilities.
Perfect Room 2 is now available at an intro price of $39 (U.P $79). Existing Perfect Room owners can upgrade to the new version for $25.

Learn more at Denise Audio.
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“The dance floor is like an organism”: Fatboy Slim drops new DJing tips to get your holiday party startedLooking to curate the perfect party playlist for the upcoming holidays? Well, grab your headphones and prepare to channel your inner DJ because we’ve got some sage advice from British producer and DJ Norman Cook AKA Fatboy Slim – the man who knows a thing or two about getting a crowd moving.

READ MORE: Drill producer EMRLD BEATS under fire for hating on boom-bap: “If you sampling a soul record, get that bullshit outta here” 

A true master of the dance floor, Cook tells The Guardian that it’s not so much about getting people dancing as much as it is about “unifying people”.
If you’re stepping behind the decks instead of letting a playlist run on autopilot, Cook advises starting by “narrow[ing] it down to 60 or 70 tunes that you think are going to be needed.” And if the dancefloor starts losing steam? “Just play something well known” to reignite the vibe.
“For me, if I really had to rescue a dance floor I’d play Right Here, Right Now or Praise You. They would be my get-out-of-jail records,” says the DJ.
“The dance floor is like an organism, and when it’s all working together, it’s lovely, but sometimes you lose the dancefloor,” he adds. “There’s sort of different pockets of people and they’re not really united. Or some people are dancing, some people aren’t, and it’s that feeling of bonding everybody together that you need to do, and recognition of a song that everybody likes is kind of that thing.”
Cook also says that unlike when you’re playing at a club, “nothing is out of bounds” when it comes to house parties. In fact, “all bets are off because it’s Christmas,” though “there is a limited palette of what I would play.”
“There is a fabulous drum ’n’ bass edit of Fairytale of New York that I might end a set with. I wouldn’t play a record like that on any other day,” he admits.
Elsewhere, the producer also shares that he doesn’t create as much music anymore due to the overwhelming amount of gear options out there – which can be paralysing at times: “Give me a laptop, but it’s got every single drum machine, every single synth sound, every single – potentially – sound known to man.”
“I just sit and go, ‘pfft, where do you start?’ I need to start with, you know, ‘I’ve just borrowed a drum machine off a mate, I’ve got it for the weekend, just get what I can out of it.’”
“I think the most inspiring times are when people had very limited equipment and it was what you could squeeze out of that,” says Cook.
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Kate Nash says UK grassroots venues are “almost at collapse”Kate Nash has recently emerged as a champion of grassroots music culture, while also highlighting how difficult it is for artists to survive financially in 2024.
The musician revealed last month that she was using OnlyFans to raise money for her UK/EU tour in a campaign called Butts For Tour Buses, emphasising that thanks to rising costs, working in music is becoming more of a “passion project” than a viable career.

READ MORE: UKF15 at Drumsheds — the worst-organised event at the venue yet?

Nash then took her “bum on the back of a fire truck” protest to the London offices of Live Nation and Spotify as well as the Houses of Parliament, where she said: “The industry is in crisis, the music industry has failed artists, and is completely unsustainable, and my arse is shining a light on that.”
In a new interview with NME, Nash has expanded on just how bad the issues in the music industry are.
“We’re almost at collapse,” she says. “It can only go on to be something we all complain about behind the scenes for so long until you start to see it crumble.”
“The reality is that touring is making losses, not profit. The grassroots is in absolute crisis. Venues are closing, festivals are being cancelled. People are thinking, ‘What’s the point in starting a band?’ and ‘How can I as an artist carry on?’
She continues: “It’s creating an impossible environment for working class people to be able to do this. I think about people going into their 30s and thinking about starting a family. How can they? It becomes an issue of gender, race, misogyny. It’s a very political issue. To exclude people and say ‘music is only for the rich and privileged’ is just really damaging and dangerous. Musicians are so loved by the world and considered so important to our lives. We need to start valuing them.”

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Nash thinks that major labels have significantly contributed to the problem, making millions while the grassroots sector is left to struggle.
“They’re earning millions… but the major labels have decided not to protect artists or value the work that they make, that people are listening to and that people are paying more than they ever have to go on see live,” she explains.
“The major labels should have protected us, and they didn’t. I’m a former major label artist, and they set the standard because they have all the catalogues, but did all their deals under NDAs. It’s all a secret, they’re making loads of money and they don’t give a shit.”
She then calls for the government to intervene – and it’s in their interest to do so when music contributes so significantly to the British economy.
“I think it will happen, and I think major labels are scared – and they should be. There’s a lot of investigation that needs to be done. It has to happen. It’s actually affecting the British economy. It’s not just about music and musicians, and that’s what politicians need to take note of.
“It was reported that one in ten songs that are streamed globally are by British artists, and only about one 30th of that money makes it back to the UK. You’re not just letting down musicians, you’re letting down the British economy. If we don’t have cutting-edge culture and music thriving in the UK, then what do we have to be proud of? You can’t just screw them (musicians) over constantly and expect it not to have an impact. It is.”
Fortunately, help appears to be on the way. The UK government recently backed calls for a £1 ticket levy to be introduced for gigs at arena level and above. Money raised will be used to help grassroots venues survive, similar to how the Premier League funds grassroots football.
A deadline has since been set for March for the music industry to take action before the government will intervene. While it’s a step in the right direction, it’s undeniable that urgent action was needed when 2023 was the worst year for UK venue closures on record. The recent budget hasn’t helped matters either, thanks to new premises taxes adding existing strain to venues.
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KIT Plugins unveil BB N54 plug-in BB N54 is said to deliver the unmistakable low-end weight and harmonic depth that made the Neve 2254 so popular. 

These are MusicTech’s favourite free plugins of 2024The quality and variety of free music making software on offer never ceases to amaze us. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite free plugins and tools from 2024 so you can craft amazing tracks without breaking the bank.

READ MORE: These are the best new plugins of 2024, according to MusicTech’s reviewers

Techivation – T-Saturator

Techivation has made a name for itself by releasing a range of powerful but focussed processing tools. T-Saturator is a level-independent saturation plugin that can be used to add anything from subtle warmth through to shrieking distortion.
As it’s level independent, you can easily add the same harmonics to the quiet and loud portions of your signal. You get tube, tape, clip and fold modes that all provide slightly different flavours of distortion. You can use the Crunch control to change the character and the Smash dial to shape how much the transients are affected. On top of this, there’s frequency range adjustment, a Mix dial, Mid-Side control, Auto Gain and up to 8X oversampling.
Download: Techivation – T-Saturator
Newfangled Audio – Obliterate

If you prefer your audio on the screaming and distorted side, then this free over-the-top distortion effect is for you. Obliterate started off life as a bug in the code, but Newfangled Audio decided to develop it further into a unique sounding resonant distortion plugin.
Obliterate can deliver extreme digital distortion that can destroy drums, create incredibly aggressive basses, or be used for intense horror sound design. There are two destruction algorithms to choose from, with built-in frequency and resonance controls. You get two resonant multi-mode filters that are morphable between lowpass, highness, bandpass, all pass and notch settings, plus the ability to control all frequencies and resonances at once.
Download: Newfangled Audio – Obliterate
RARE/DSP – Drumclone
RARE/DSP Drumclone. Image: Press
Although technically still in beta, this superb tool allows you to load in any drum sample to have it created in synthesis for you to further tweak and edit. You can even load in full track audio where the drums are buried in the mix and Drumclone will spit out a clean approximation of the original kick sound.
It works by isolating the elements of the original kick drum and spectrally breaking it down into several layers for the transient, noise and body of the sound. These are then fed into various re synthesis engines and recombined and processed to give a clean sounding final kick. Multi-segment envelope editors let you further sculpt the underlying layers. In theory, you could try this with other percussive one-shot sounds, but the current model is optimised to work with kick drums.
Download: RARE/DSP – Drumclone
Wave Alchemy – Magic7
Wave Alchemy Magic7. Image: Press
When it comes to pristine, high-end reverb, the hardware Bricasti M7 is up there with the best. Wave Alchemy has captured all 234 presets from the M7 and packaged them into this free plugin. It includes a range of styles, from clear ambiences and intimate rooms, to expansive cathedrals, nonlinear spaces and sublime plates.
You get controls for tempo-synced pre-delay, low and air EQ, a smooth control to reduce the transient, and a built-in ducker. It also has Flux or Ensemble modulation modes to add additional stereo spatialisation and pitch variation.
Download: Wave Alchemy – Magic7
Audija – OScope
Audija OScope. Image: Press
OScope is an incredibly useful tool that lets you see the waveform of your audio signal in real-time. You can set the length to zoom and show fine detail, or zoom out and show longer beat and bar sections. You also have the ability to freeze the oscillogram and zoom right in to check individual peaks or details alongside a dB scale.
This kind of tool has numerous uses, including checking peak levels of certain sections, and seeing the effects of processing in realtime. It’s particularly useful for helping to visualise what effects a compressor is having on the shape of the waveform as you tweak it, and we often use an Oscilloscope to make judgements when using clippers to shave off wayward peaks. The main version is free, but if you pay an extra €8 then you can add sidechain input. This lets you visualise two signals at once, which could be useful for refining a kick and bass relationship.
Download: Audija – OScope
Full Bucket Music – Broken Mini
Full Bucket Music Broken Mini. Image: Press
Full Bucket Music has made countless plugins based on old synths, but this new one is arguably one of its most unique free releases. Broken Mini emulates a classic Minimoog, but adds in a few surprises.
There are missing keys and knobs, certain dials don’t function exactly how you might think, there’s wonky tuning, unexpected hums, and the Oversample options go downwards from 1 instead of upwards. There’s even the sound of a radio when you use the Noise oscillator. It’s a bit like a fun puzzle, with little notes from the developer when you hover over certain controls. Although a broken synth might seem like an unusual choice, it could be a great way to come up with some unusual sound design.
Download: Full Bucket Music – Broken Mini
PSPaudioware – PSP Chamber

PSP Chamber is a free reverb plugin that uses a single algorithm taken from its big brother PSP EasyVerb. It can be used to add depth and dimension to any audio signal, with rapidly developing, dense reverberations and a smooth, natural decay.
The algorithm itself has three variations, plus Small, Medium and Large modes. You then have controls for Decay, Damp, Predelay, Width, Mix and output volume. If you want to tailor the sound further, then there’s an EQ section with low and high shelf filters, plus an adjustable mid band.
Download: PSPaudioware – PSP Chamber
U-he – Zebralette
U-he Zebralette. Image: Press
Ahead of the long awaited release of Zebra 3, u-he has updated Zebralette with bug fixes, improved performance and plugin support, and new browser features. It also includes an experimental new Key Command function that lets you edit synth parameters using the qwerty keyboard.
These things aside, Zebralette remains an excellent free synth that has one powerful oscillator capable of morphing between 16 different waveshapes. It includes a waveform editor with four different drawing modes, plus 24 spectral effects, oscillator stacking, ADSR, 2 LFOs, a 32-stage MSEG, built-in chorus/phaser, EQ and delay effects, polyphonic aftertouch and 300 factory presets.
Download: U-he – Zebralette
AudioThing – Moon Echo

Now for something a little different. Moon Echo is an experimental frequency shifted delay effect that simulates the technique of bouncing radio waves off of the moon. It was developed alongside Berlin-based musician Heinbach, and can be used as a musical lo-fi effect with unique artefacts.
There’s a lot going on under the hood, but the front end has been simplified to make it easy to use. You have Input, Output and Mix dials, alongside a Doppler control, and Time, Feedback and Moon Dust dials to adjust the signal modulation. As a nice touch, if you’re online and click the Ping Moon button, then the plugin will attempt to contact NASA and get the exact distance of the moon, which will then set the delay time.
Download: AudioThing – Moon Echo
Venus Theory – Auras Series

Musician, sound designer and content creator Venus Theory has released a series of three exceptional cinematic instruments that load into the free Decent Sampler. This includes an A-B layer system, fine-tuned velocity settings and custom impulse responses.
The first instrument is called auras:polyscape, and it captures some rich and complex patches from Arturia’s PolyBrute 12, recorded through analogue tube preamps. The second is auras:volts, with recordings chaotically sampled from $200,000 worth of synths. And finally, there’s auras:eraphine, which includes ethereal vocal layers alongside a down-tuned ‘frost’ viola and an array of ornate granular accompaniments.
Download: Venus Theory – Auras Series
Baby Audio – Warp
Baby Audio Warp. Image: Press
Our last entry is the most recent and comes from Baby Audio, who have a history of releasing excellent freebies just in time for Christmas. This time round we have Warp, which takes a popular effect module from Transit 2, the recently released effects plugin that was co-developed with Andrew Huang.
Warp offers high-quality, artifact-free varispeed control to speed up or slow down your audio in real-time. Alongside the Speed dial there’s a Stretch control that affects pitch independent of the time, allowing you to do things like slowing down whilst pitching up. There’s also a Mix dial to balance the wet and dry signals.
Download: Baby Audio – Warp
The post These are MusicTech’s favourite free plugins of 2024 appeared first on MusicTech.

These are the best new plugins of 2024, according to MusicTech’s reviewers2024 was a bumper year for software releases. Some developers resurrected and recreated impossible-to-find hardware classics of yesteryear, while others tackled modern problems with algorithm-powered processors that can clean up mixes by removing frequencies you may not even be able to identify.

READ MORE: These are MusicTech’s favourite free plugins of 2024

Soundtrack producers also found their arsenals bolstered with incredible sounds and orchestrator tools to help create authentic patterns and styles. Meanwhile, mastering in your home studio got more powerful than ever before.
As we wave 2025 into our plugin folders, let’s check out the plugins that impressed us the most in 2024.
Softube Model 77
Softube Model 77. Image: Press
Yamaha’s legendary CS-80 hardware synth has been modelled by such industry titans as Arturia, GForce and Cherry Audio. But what impressed us most about Softube’s Model 77 was that it takes three models – the 4-voice CS50, 8-voice CS60 and the 8-voice dual layer CS-80 with polyphonic aftertouch — and blends them together into a single interface. On top of that, it makes designing retro sounds wonderfully straightforward.
Drawing on its vast experience of developing high-end processing and synth plugins, Softube meticulously researched the original models and combined them, retaining classic features while also updating others to make them easier for a modern audience to get to grips with. We found it to be “a truly spectacular-sounding synth plugin that is incredibly easy to program”, offering warm, rich tones that work across any number of genres. Its depth of programmability came in for much praise as well as its usability – “a vintage approach to synthesis that doesn’t feel clunky or overwhelming”, was our conclusion.
Read our full review of the Softube Model 77. 
Oeksound Bloom
Image: Sam Willings/MusicTech
Oeksound’s team describe themselves as “a bunch of tech geeks” who search for new solutions to problems rather than replicating tools everyone already has in their DAW. Bloom is just such a product – an adaptive tone shaper in all major plugin formats that analyses sound in real time and lets you adjust the tonal balance without boosting or cutting frequency bands as an EQ would do.
Used on elements within a mix we found it helped greatly with shaping, compression and stereo control when aiming to balance a mix without using EQ and its unwanted frequency cuts and boosts. “Unpleasant build-ups are tamed and areas that are lacking can be brought to the fore, all while sounding smooth and natural” was our experience. While noting that it perhaps a little pricier than some people are used to for a shaping plugin, we acknowledge that Bloom defies easy categorisation and once you understand it, is likely to become a key weapon in your mixing arsenal.
Read our full review of the Oeksound Bloom. 
Baby Audio Transit 2
Baby Audio Transit 2. Image: MusicTech
Building off the success of the first release, Baby Audio in collaboration with Andrew Huang expanded the Transit multi-fx plugin to include a bunch more effect types and presets. Recognising how powerful it was for tempo-based effects, the team added ten effects for a new total of 28 over the eight slots which now include new motion modes to animate your sounds.
It’s all tremendous fun – the 830 presets cover all manner of crazy setups and everything is supremely easy to tweak, move and toggle. We found the plugin covered so much ground that it replaced a bunch of other plugs in our collection just for the sheer convenience of having all this stuff in one window. As well as the joy of playing with time-based multi fx while everything stays in sync we also loved the randomize and lock features for endless experimentation.
Our conclusion? “This is a tantalising multi-effect that you will get a lot of life from. Over-use is a definite danger, but even when used more sparingly Transit 2 creates engaging transitions, variations, bridges and groovy, complex effects.”
Read our full review of the Baby Audio Transit 2. 
IK Multimedia T-RackS 6
IK Multimedia T-RackS 6 master bus. Image: MusicTech
T-RackS was the first affordable software mastering suite and opened up the mastering process to anyone with a few hundred dollars. A couple of decades later, IK has kept it current with a ton of upgrades and now at version 6 it has a free version and three paid tiers with even the MAX version only costing $299 – peanuts compared to buying hardware.
In an increasingly cloud-based arena, T-RackS 6 keeps things local, providing up to 60 plugins, some modelling classic hardware, and a standalone mastering console with AI-powered Master Match that analyses a reference track to try to replicate its sound. Praising its versatility, our review notes “T-RackS’ plugins do a great job of meeting the current moment. Many creators prioritise accessibility, speed, and digital tools that ‘just work’ – at the same time, our continued fascination with vintage music hardware is alive and well. T-RackS 6 serves up the best of both worlds.” Those plugins all work individually in your DAW too, and while there is strong competition in the software mastering field, we believe T-RackS’ accessible pricing along with its superb sound makes it a must-have for producers.
Read our full review of the IK Multimedia T-RackS 6. 
Moog Mariana
Moog Mariana. Credit: Moog
Best known for its legendary hardware synths both old and new, Moog also makes numerous software instruments too and at a price that’s much more accessible than its hardware models. Mariana is two identical bass synths in one that you can play monophonically or duophonically, on your computer or your iPad. Moog is one of the more prolific developers of pro instruments for the iOS platform.
As well as its very accessible price – just £49 on the desktop – we praised the fact that Mariana isn’t necessarily what you’d expect from Moog, “leaning towards a slightly brighter and more aggressive sound than the more familiar Moog warmth – it’s nice that it has built a synth with that desirable Moog flavour but a slightly different, contemporary sound.” Virtual control voltage and multiple built-in effects make it an even more compelling package.
Read our full review of the Moog Mariana. 
Cherry Audio CR-78
Cherry Audio CR-78. Image: Cherry Audio
Relative newcomers Cherry Audio have wasted no time in regularly releasing hugely affordable software versions of both classic and unique synths, typically priced at under $50. The CR-78 is pretty simple compared to some of their other models, a recreation of Roland’s CompuRhythm CR-78 from 1978, widely regarded as the first drum machine. In addition to its tiny footprint of just 60MB we were impressed by its ease of use, the classic layout enhanced with a few newer features for even more flexibility like onboard effects, management of presets, sequences and patterns.
Our review noted that “Cherry Audio has struck a nice balance between going far beyond the very limited capabilities of the original hardware but also maintaining its feel and ease of use.” And that while the character and sound of the original is very much here, “there’s the feel of analogue sequencing but without the hassle” of multiple button combinations. A great addition to any sound set.
Read our full review of the Cherry Audio CR-78. 
EastWest Fantasy Orchestra
EastWest Fantasy Orchestra. Image: Press
Cinematic scoring is an area where advanced software instruments – often with huge supporting libraries – have completely changed the landscape in recent years. EastWest is a colossus of these scoring tools, producing industry-leading suites that are heard on the biggest Hollywood movies. Fantasy Orchestra, our review found, is “an incredibly powerful tool that streamlines key aspects of modern composing.” We were particularly impressed by its newly-written Orchestrator tool, which can “take in a few chords and give you back a near-finished scoring cue”.
With 145GB of content covering multiple instrument sections all designed to work together, its standalone cost of $995 is not inconsiderable though it is sometimes significantly discounted and can be cheaper as part of a subscription package. As well as sounding beautifully authentic, the addition of tools to help you compose and create patterns really sets this instrument apart. A heavyweight scoring tool for serious producers.
Read our full review of the EastWest Fantasy Orchestra.
Waves Curves Equator

Waves adds to its huge library of mix plugins with another affordable model in the form of Curves Equator, the first in a new family of advanced EQs. Promising to improve any full mix, vocal or instrument by removing problematic frequencies, fixing resonances and balancing inconsistencies, Curves Equator is part of a growing trend in plugins that have a ‘fire and forget’ element to them instead of needing endless setup. To that end, it’s also able to learn from your tracks and create a personalised suppression curve.
The idea of “uncovering” mixes by automatically having problem frequencies removed – perhaps the result of imperfect mixing environments – is compelling. We hope to see more great things from the future members of this plugin family.
Find out more about the Waves Curves Equator at waves.com.
Native Instruments Komplete 15

Native Instruments continues in its quest to provide every sound and processor you need in a single package – or, at least, a version based on the amount of content, from £269 for the Standard to £539 for Ultimate, with upgrade pricing also available. The company’s Kontakt platform powers both acoustic and electronic instruments ranging from pianos and orchestras to guitars, drums and cinematic and sound design tools.
The sheer breadth of the instruments on offer is truly impressive and represents a vast saving compared to buying even a fraction of them individually.
While the initial outlay might pinch slightly, the reality is you’re getting a huge amount of stuff here that will benefit any kind of music you are making. A bunch of plugin effects and sound pack expansions are the icing on the cake.
Find out more about the Native Instruments Komplete 15 at native-instruments.com.
Wavea Flite
Wavea Flite. Image: Wavea
Newcomers Wavea have a rich history in the industry, with its founder Sharooz Raoofi having created the Astra soft synth, and also founding music brands Audaire and Sample Magic. Flite is a plugin sample player / FM, virtual analogue and wavetable synth for macOS and PC priced at $99 that cleverly blurs the boundaries between different kinds of audio generation.
With multiple synth types and four multi samplers with full control over every parameter, the instrument has plenty of effects, filters, LFOs and much more to help you create advanced sounds and sequences. Its sound library is taken from Sharooz’s personal collection of vintage hardware instruments and Principle Pleasure Studios and includes the Roland Jupiter 8, Oberheim OB-8 and LinnDrum among many others. It’s a serious music creation tool created by serious people.
Find out more about the Wavea Flite at wavea.co.
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