For a long time, it’s been easy to find a whole world of free VST and AU plugins on the web. But for users of Pro Tools – arguably the most popular professional DAW in the U.S. – pickings have always been a bit slimmer. Due to Avid’s exacting standards, fewer plugins have been written for Pro Tools’ proprietary RTAS, TDM and AAX formats than more open protocols like VST. But fortunately, the ones that are available for the platform are usually among the very best.

Despite a slightly greater barrier to entry when it comes to writing code for Pro Tools, there still is a healthy crop of free tools and toys for the program. Today we present you with a detailed and up-to-date list of some of the most functional free plugins available in RTAS or AAX.

7 of the best and most popular plugins for Pro Tools. These are the essential paid plugins that are most comonly used with the Pro Tools suite. An up-to-date rundown of the most functional free plugins available for Pro Tools, organized by category.

Some companies (most notably ) offer extremely generous demos licenses that border on free. But for this particular rundown, we’re looking at purely free software only. This is an evolving list, and we’ll be sure to remove plugins as they become irrelevant, and add new ones as they crop up. In the meantime, feel free to offer any of your favorites (and your own experience with compatibility) in the comments section below. EQs & FILTERS. Elysia niveau filter Plugin Alliance is responsible for four of the free downloads on this list. The first, elysia’s niveau filter, may be one of the simplest and most powerful free plugins around.

This EQ, which is culled from the innovative elysia mpressor, is essentially a semi-parametric Baxandall filter. Microsoft Visio 2010 Portable Free Download here. In other words: a high-octane take on the classic hi-fi “tone” control. The niveau filter is excellent for making broad, sweeping changes of EQ that still sound entirely natural.

This unique filter allows you to select a center frequency, and then simultaneously raise bass and lower treble above and below that point – or vice-versa. In practice, this EQ can lead to subtly or radically new frequency curves, without some of the artifacts of a traditional parametric. It may be free, but the niveau filter can be extremely useful. Another entry from Plugin Alliance, the brainworx bx_cleansweep v2 is a simple hi-pass and lo-pass filter combo.

Technically, it doesn’t do anything to the sound that Pro Tools’ built-in equalizer plugin can’t do. Instead, what makes this free tool so useful is its unique joystick control that encourages creative and decisive strokes. This simple and straightforward GUI also allows easy automation for time-based filter effects. Like the niveau filter, cleansweep is a simple, straightforward tool that’s surprisingly useful for reshaping sounds with elegance and ease.

Ohm Force Frohmage Frohmage is a filter of a different variety. This free plugin from Ohm Force has less to do with the fairly transparent EQ plugins already built in to Pro Tools, and a whole lot more in common with the dramatic resonance filters you might find on a classic analog synthesizer. This is a full-featured resonant low-pass filter that allows you to select your cutoff points by frequency or by musical note, and that offers detailed MIDI control.

It can even add distortion and delay to each band, making the Frohmage an efficient and inspiring one-stop sound mangler. Ohm Force warns that some users have reported issues with Pro Tools 10, but on my PT10 system, so far, so good. The DDMF ColourEQ is a pretty straightforward parametric EQ.

At first glance, it’s hard to tell why it would be worth a download, what with the flexibility of Pro Tools own EQIII, but DDMF has found reason to brag: “Not just another EQ,” the company’s marketing materials relay, “With its custom-made 4th order IIR filter, ColourEQ sounds unlike any other EQ you have ever come across. It comes with five bands of “super parametric” peaking filters, which means that there is one more parameter in addition to the traditional gain/width/frequency set that can influence the curve shape. These shapes cannot be reproduced by ordinary IIR equalizers.” Sounds fancy, but I have not been able to try ColourEQ myself as it is not yet compatible with Pro Tools 10.

If you have an older system, give it a shot and let us know what you think. Prosoniq’s North Pole is a free 4-band resonance filter with a built-in delay. It hasn’t been updated since 2011 and may not work for PT 10 users, but for those with older versions of the program, it’s worth a try. The third entry from Plugin Alliance is a great sounding, easy-to-use 8-band graphic EQ. Only 4 of those bands are enabled: 40 Hz, 150 Hz, 1.8 kHz and 16 kHz. It may not be as powerful as the first two PA plugins on this list, but the two low frequency bands on the FreeRanger can be very helpful in sorting out issues among competing bass instruments, and the upper bands sound about as good when boosting as any EQ can. UNCONVENTIONAL SOUND SHAPERS Softube’s Saturation Knob is easily one of the coolest saturators I’ve tried, and it’s free.

Like all of Softube’s tools, Saturation Knob has a distinctive, convincingly analog character, a beautiful GUI, and is endlessly fun to use. This simple and straightforward free plugin sounds full, rich and real at subtle settings. When it’s cranked up loud, Saturation Knob distorts like a real electrical circuit does – with squishy, ugly, satisfying grit. In addition to the eponymous knob, a single switch changes between three flavors of saturation. I’m a big fan of the “Keep Low” setting. This is one of the newest freebies for PT, and it is AAX only. Pro Tools 10 users rejoice.

Flux’s Bitter Sweet II is a transient-designer type of plugin, controlled by a single all-purpose knob. At its best on percussion instruments, Bitter Sweet allows you to enhance transients, or to soften them, helping you to shape the attack characteristics of drums and other instruments without the artifacts or dynamic-range squeeze of a compressor.

IZotope Vinyl iZotope’s Vinyl is a classic freebie that has been around for years. To iZotope’s credit, they have continuously updated it, and I’m happy to report that it works flawlessly for me on Pro Tools 10. This plugin models the natural degradation and quirky EQ curves of real records, and you might liken it to an audio version of Instagram.

In the “1990s” settings, the affects are subtle yet meaningful, but crank that dial down to the “1970s” or below, and you can reshape your sounds and make your tracks lo-fi in a natural and organic-sounding way. You can even add mechanical noise, dust and record scratches if you’re so inclined. I can’t begin to tell you what this free plugin does. All I can say is that it has one of the best GUIs in the known universe, and one of the coolest-looking installers I’ve ever run. As for the sound?

Suffice it to say that with Cohmpost, yours will never be the same. REVERB & DELAY PSP’s PianoVerb emulates the reverb sound of the inside of a grand piano. You can adjust decay time, damping, and even the key of the sustain and the accuracy of the virtual piano’s tuning.

I’ve recently jumped on for mixing. I’ve only worked with VST/AU compatible hosts before (Logic, Ableton Live). Now with Pro Tools I’ve been introduced to a new plugin format, the AAX.

The plugin fiend I am, I’ve been scouring the internets for the best free AAX plugins to add to my fresh Pro Tools setup. I’ve posted about before and now it’s time to take a look at what’s available in AAX. And boy do we have some goodies on offer! Now, this post is not an extensive listing of all free AAX plugins. There are many more available, and without a doubt I’ve missed some cool ones (please let me know if you think so).

In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I focus on quality. I’ve hand picked the top of the crop for you here. What is AAX format? AAX is Avid’s own plugin format which was introduced a couple of years back. Pro Tools 10 supports 32-bit AAX plugins. The newer Pro Tools 11 version only supports 64-bit AAX format (and no other plugin formats).

Why another format – we already have VST and AU? Avid says: “In order to create a 64-bit version of Pro Tools, it was necessary to develop a plug-in architecture that supports 64-bit processing. AAX was created for the future, and will pave the way for Pro Tools technology advancements down the road.” Makes sense to me if it adds stability and future-proofness.

My experience is that host crashes are often related to 3rd party plugins. Of course there’s probably politics involved as well; I will leave that to someone else to muse about. I was initially afraid of not being able to use some of the VST and AU plugins I own in Pro Tools 11. However I was quite pleased to find out that most of these plugins also do come in AAX versions by now. There are a few that will be missed though, but it looks like most plugin manufactures are on the case and in the process of porting their products to the AAX format (if they haven’t already). OK – enough of the format. Let’s dive in. How To Install Kaspersky Antivirus On Netbook.

The Best Free AAX Plugins (2014 edition) Softube Saturation Knob This is a great sounding and delightfully simple plugin that has the potential to transform entire mixes. Use it subtle or drive it hard, the choice is yours. Sounds great either way! Info & download here Metric Halo Thump Thump synthesizes low end based on what it’s hearing. It looks both at the pitch as well as the dynamics of your audio. You can tweak it quite a lot too and tune it very precisely.

HOFA 4U Pack HOFA offer three free plugins in this bundle. The highlights for me are the loudness meter/fader/m-s pan plugin and the goniometer & correlation meter plugins. BOZ Panipulator A cool utility plugin to put on your master channel. Allows you to check your mix in mono, invert phase and swap L/R.

BOZ Bark of Dog The Bark of Dog is a beast of a plugin! I am already finding myself drawing for this one a lot. It puts some smack on your low end.

Be careful of the bowel movement. BX_Solo Stereo width control and Mid/Side solo. BX_Cleansweep V2 This is an useful little plugin for cleaning the low end of your mix without causing problems. TDR VOS SlickEQ This is a plugin that I have been raving about, and there’s no way not to include it in this article. A great, great EQ for coloring and mastering situations.

They also recently released the paid version, which is even more awesome. TAL Chorus LX This chorus plugin is the definition of fat. The stereo width control and dry/wet mix adjustment make it perfect for beefing up many kinds of things. It’s modeled after the Roland Juno 60 chorus.

U-He Zebralette This is a great sounding synth! Comes with a demo of their paid Zebra 2 instrument. Flux BitterSweet V3 BitterSweet is a transient designer tool and a very useful one. I have been using it a lot on drums.

Even if you have other transient processors, I recommend downloading this because there are differences in behavior between different processors. I often find myself trying different ones and seeing which one gives me the best result in each situation. Blue Cat’s Freeware Plugin Pack II This is an excellent pack of plugins, but for me there is one here above the rest: the FreqAnalyst spectrum analyzer. Ample Guitar M Lite I am not much of a guitarist myself but this plugin is sounding great to me and lots of fun to play around with. It’s a very advanced emulation of acoustic guitar – I am quite impressed by the quality and features of this plugin! Some of the features are locked though and only available in the paid version.

It is an unusual plugin but fun to check out and could come handy in some situations! Acon Multiply Last but not least, a plugin that Dave Pensado tipped me off with (thanks!). If he uses this, so should probably you. Acon Multiply is a versatile chorus effect with plenty of settings.

You can use it for all kinds of things from creating multiple voices to doing special FX and spatial work. There we go – enjoy the plugins and please do let me know if you think there are some good ones missing! If you enjoyed this article, I would appreciate if you shared it by tweeting, through Facebook or whatever happens to be the most convenient way for you – thank you!