Best Free Saturation Plugins

Saturation

Klanghelm MJUC jr.

MJUC jr.

Saturation

Variety of Sound ThrillseekerLA mkII

ThrillseekerLA mkII is a freeware optical compressor by Variety of Sound (Bootsy), built around the behavior of LA-style hardware but with a far more aggressive saturation algorithm than the original…

Saturation

VladG Molot

Molot by Vladislav Goncharov (VladG) is the original character compressor from the early 2010s, with a GUI styled after a Soviet military instrument and a sound to match. It’s not an emulation of any…

Saturation

MeldaProduction MCompressor

MCompressor by MeldaProduction is a flexible freeware compressor with one feature I haven’t seen in any other free plugin: a freely drawable compression curve. Most compressors let you set a…

Saturation

Lens Free

Lens Free is a free multiband compressor by Auburn Sounds. It’s based on the full version of the Lens compressor but lacks its expander section.

Saturation

SGA1566

by Shattered Glass Audio

SGA1566 is a hardware preamp emulation designed like a two-stage 12AX7 tube preamp. It can add a lot of life and fatten up tracks recorded digitally or through solid-state gear.

Saturation

TDR VOS SlickEQ

TDR VOS SlickEQ is a user-friendly mixing and mastering equalizer with exceptional sound quality. It offers three bands of EQ control (low, mid, and high) and four different EQ modes to shape your…

Saturation

PTEq-X

PTEq-X by Ignite Amps is a free emulation of the legendary Pultec EQs. It captures all the nuances of vintage passive program equalizers and enhances them with modern-day convenience and…

Saturation

Rare “BPB Edition”

Rare “BPB Edition” is a special version of Analog Obsession’s free Pultec EQ plugin, created exclusively for the Bedroom Producers Blog. It offers 4X saturation and a few other workflow enhancements…

Saturation

Hollace Krunch

Krunch is a freeware that combines filtering and saturation. It is available for macOS and Windows in AU and VST3 formats.

Saturation

Auburn Sounds Couture

Best for ultra-precise, level-independent attack/sustain sculpting. Couture takes a slightly different approach to transient processing.

Saturation

Seed To Stage Transient Shaper

Best for Live users who want mapped macros and parallel transient tricks Seed To Stage isn’t a plugin. It’s a macro-controlled Ableton Live rack that shapes transients using Live’s stock devices.

Saturation

LUNA

LUNA is Universal Audio’s free DAW for macOS and Windows. The free version gives you unlimited tracks, analog-style console summing, tape emulation, and built-in channel strips.

Saturation

FerricTDS mkII

Variety Of Sound releases FerricTDS mkII, the updated 64-bit edition of the tape saturation effect in VST2 plugin format for Windows. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.