Deelay

Deelay by Sixth Sample (developed in collaboration with Integraudio) is one of the most feature-packed free delay plugins. It offers five delay modes (Normal, Reverse Forward, Pure Reverse, Chaos, and Reverse Chaos). My two favorites are the Chaos modes, which produce granular-style textures that can turn a simple input into evolving ambient pads. The feature list is staggering for a freeware plugin. Deelay includes a diffusion control that smears echoes into reverb-like washes, eleven distortion types (from subtle tape saturation to aggressive rectify and lightning modes), tape emulation with wow and flutter, ducking with attack/release controls, modulation, high-cut and low-cut filters, ping-pong mode, and stereo spread.

There are also 100 factory presets, A/B testing, and a resizable interface. I was blown away by the quality of Deelay when I first tested it. The diffusion control combined with the Chaos mode can create cinematic soundscapes that rival what you’d get from Valhalla Super Massive, but with a completely different flavor. The delay time changes smoothly without zipper noise, which is a must for any delay plugin I use in production.

Deelay has been a community favourite for years, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a freeware delay plugin that competes with paid alternatives priced at $50–$100. The only minor inconvenience is that you need to submit an email address to download it. 9+), with support for Apple Silicon.