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• Best Metal Guitar Vst Plugins
• Best Free Metal Guitar Vst Plugins
• Best Metal Vst Plugin
• Best Vst Plugins For Metal

The Cortex Amp Stack is a combination of two VST-plugins by Matthias Becker: the Cortex Guitar Amp and the OldCab (an amp cabinet simulator). The original VST's have long been out of development, in fact the creators website no longer exists, but now the VST plugins are back with an unrivalled sound quality and a modern and slick looking GUI. If you are looking for a drum sound apt for heavy metal, deathcore or extreme metal genres in your mix, look no further than Sean Pandy Drums which is one of the best free drum VST plugins on the market. Based on a sample pack made by heavy metal drummer Sean Pandy, this VST doesn’t disappoint one bit. 9) MiniSpillage. Steel guitar VST plugins can add an element to your music that offers the emotional value that is just what you’re looking for. The best part here is that you can either play a part or write it on directly into your DAW and then hear it.

It’s the end of the month, and your bank account is empty…

…again.

Oops.

And as much as you might feel like buying that new Waves plugin…

(You’ve had your eye on it for months, right?)

Best Metal Guitar Vst Plugins

It’s probably not a good idea.

But if you’re still looking to expand your plugin library, don’t worry.

Sometimes, the best things in life are free…

Here are 7 of my favorite free plugins. Each of them offers something new and unique (no boring EQs or compressors). Download them all to extend your sonic palette and ultimately, craft better-sounding tracks.

And if you’re looking to dive deeper, I also put together a list of five plugins I use on every mix. If you’re wondering which plugins I recommend, download the list below to make sure you’ve got my top tools for the job.

1. iZotope Neutrino

Neutrino is the baby brother of Neutron—iZotope’s newest channel-strip plugin. While Neutron has a number of innovative features, Neutrino spins off the best of them.

Neutrino tames undesirable resonances caused by poor room acoustics, cheap gear, and heavy-handed processing. iZotope calls the effect “spectral shaping,” and it can sound similar to gentle, low-ratio multiband compression. This can make tracks sound smoother and more polished—like sanding the rough edges off a freshly cut piece of wood. I find Neutrino particularly useful on electric guitar tracks, which often have lots of harsh resonances.

2. Voxengo SPAN

People say “don’t mix with your eyes.”

Meh.

The truth?

Tools that provide visual feedback, when used properly, can help you make better mixing decisions.

A spectrum analyzer is one of these tools. It plots the frequencies of sounds out on a graph, which allows you to “see” what tracks are comprised of.

SPAN is my favorite spectrum analyzer. You can control the ballistics and response of its graph, which makes it flexible enough for a wide variety of tasks. You can even route multiple tracks into SPAN and compare their frequency content.

(P.S. Voxengo has a few other free VST plugins. They’re worth checking out too, but SPAN is my favorite.)

3. Brainworx bx_solo

Bx_solo is a no-frills, stereo-imaging plugin. While it’s the least sexy of this bunch, it can still be pretty useful.

I like to add bx_solo to my mix bus. While I rarely push the stereo width past 100%, collapsing it to zero is an easy way to check for mono compatibility. The mid and side solo buttons are also useful. It’s great to have this one around—you never know when you might need it!

4. HOFA 4U Project Time

Mixing is a race against time.

The more time you spend on a mix, the more attached you become to what it sounds like. This makes it progressively harder to make good mixing decisions. Given enough time, even the worst mix will start to sound decent.

This is one reason I recommend mixing quickly and impulsively. You’ll get to the finish line faster, retain more objectivity, and ultimately, craft better mixes.

The first step towards more efficient mixing is to track how much time you spend doing it. Without this information, it’s easy to get lost in a black hole of endless tweaking.

Project Time makes this easy. Add it to a track, and it will start counting. The timer automatically stops when you close the session, and starts when you open it up again.

Keep an eye on Project Time, and you’ll train yourself to mix faster and more efficiently. It’s also an invaluable tool if you bill by the hour!

5. MeldaProduction MFreeFXBundle

MeldaProduction makes some great plugins. They’ve earned the praise of many notable engineers, including mastering guru Ian Shepard.

The MFreeFXBundle contains 30 free VST plugins. They range from workhorse tools like a compressor and EQ, to less common effects like a ring modulator, flanger, and oscilloscope.

If you’re looking to fill some holes in your plugin library, this is a great place to start.

6. Flux BitterSweet

BitterSweet is among the best transient shapers out there. It can produce results on par with studio mainstays like SPL’s Transient Designer and Waves’ Trans-X.

This simple plugin can achieve a wide variety of effects. Turn the knob to the right to add punch to drums, enhance the pluck of an acoustic guitar, or boost the consonants in a vocal performance. Turn the knob to the left to soften tracks and push them back in the soundstage.

7. iZotope Vinyl

Sometimes a little crackle is a good thing.

Vinyl will make tracks sound like they’re being played on a turntable. You can vary the intensity of the effect by controlling the volume of different types of noise, the degree of wear and tear, and the decade your sound is from. The results range from subtle filtering to Edison phonograph.

This plugin is great for special effects, like filtering down a vocal or making an intro sound tiny.

Moving Beyond Free Plugins: My Favorite Plugins

I hope these 7 free plugins help you craft tracks that sound fresh and unique.

If you’re looking to dive deeper, I also put together a list of 5 plugins I use on every mix. If you’re wondering which plugins I recommend, download the list below to make sure you’ve got my top tools for the job.

Before you go—what’s your favorite free VST plugin? Share your pick in the comment section below.

Bonus: 3 More Free Plugins for Mixing

3 Free Plugins I Use in Every Mix

It’s the end of the month, and your bank account is empty… …again. Oops. And as much as you might feel like buying that new Waves plugin… (You’ve had your eye on it for months, right?) It’s probably not a good idea. But if you're still looking to expand your plugin library, don't worry. Sometimes,

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This review is all about the best drum VST plugins of 2020. Drum VSTs come in all shapes and sizes. Finding the right drum VST for you depends largely on your goals musically. We will look at some of the most advanced and expensive drum VSTs, as well as some smaller free ones.

It’s worth pointing out that it’s perfectly possible to get up and running right away with a basic drum VST and in many cases these come at no charge whatsoever. If you consider yourself a bit of a nerd when it comes to an authentic drum sound then you’ll find our rundown of the top drum VSTs essential reading.

As with all VSTs, it’s important to have a suitable setup with which to run them on. Many of the higher budget drum VSTs are quite heavy on resources and so will require fast computing speeds with lots of free disk space. If you plan on connecting controller kits such as electronic drum kits to the setup, it’s advisable to have a good low-latency sound card or audio interface. So, let’s crack on with the review.

Here are the best drum VST plugins 2020:

1. Toontrack Superior Drummer 3

First up on our list of the best drum VSTs is Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 3. This plugin is a behemoth when it comes to sound and detail. Toontrack have equipped this VST with practically everything you will need to create your own real-sounding custom drum tracks. There’s everything here, from thousands of acoustic drum samples to a host of vintage drum machine sounds.

Toontrack enlisted the help of musiclegend George Massenburg when putting together this catalog of drums. Georgerecorded the sounds at Galaxy Studios in Belgium, which is known for having oneof the best live rooms in the world. He has previously worked withinternational superstars such as Earth, Wind & Fire and Linda Ronstadt.He’s also credited with inventing the parametric EQ, so he’s bound to know hisstuff when it comes to getting a good sound.

In total there are 230 GB of samples onboard the Superior Drummer 3 VST. That will give you some insight as to the level of detail which is available here. Some of the drum kits used are from world leading brands such as Ludwig, Ayotte, Gretsch, Pearl, Premier and Yamaha. There are also 350 classic drum machine and vintage sounds to play around with should you wish. But with Superior Drummer you don’t just get one sample per drum or cymbal. Each instrument is played with several different drum sticks, from regular hickory sticks to mallets, brushes, blasticks and rods. Adjusting the velocity of the stroke will in turn change the response of the sample sound.

Mic placing is also catered too. With Superior Drummer 3 you can choose where you want to position your microphones about the drum set. There’s also the option to set the level on mic bleed. This is an extremely useful feature for increasing the realism of a drum track. Mic bleed is a natural occurrence in studio and live drumming and something that usually is impossible to replicate with a standard drum machine.

When it comes to the microphones, Toontrack have used only the best. Some notable names include Neumann, Sennheiser, Ehrlund, Beyerdynamic, AEA, Sanken, and Schoeps. There are also 35 studio effects which you can use to further enhance your drum tracks. These effects range from classy reverbs and delays to studio standard compressors.

Navigating around Superior Drummer 3 is quite intuitive. There is a handy search feature which can get you up and running right away if, for example, you need to find a genre of beat or kit type. You can search and browse to choose import sounds from the vast 230 GB of files or simply tap to find the tempo and begin that way instead. Superior Drummer 3 is compatible with 3rd party samples too and has full MIDI support. It even has a cool audio to MIDI conversion tool which lets you rid MIDI drum parts from audio files.

There’s no doubt that Toontrack have knocked the ball out of the park with Superior Drummer 3. It has everything that a recording studio aficionado should need for creating professional sounding drums at the click of a mouse. It has full multi-screen support and is rock solid when it comes to stability. A great drum VST and there’s no surprise that it’s regularly top rated by users.

2. XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2

If you like the look of Superior Drummer 3 but find it a little out of your budget, you’ll be happy to know that this VST is just a fraction of the price. Addictive Drums 2 is aimed at home recording enthusiasts who need a database of high-quality drum kits on a moderate budget.

This VST has won awards and plaudits around the world for managing to create an impressive library of kit sounds. There are over 5000 drum beats and fills in total in Addictive Drums 2. This is a lot of drums, by anyone’s standards.

If you’re not the most technically minded when it comes to music you’ll find the numerous presets extremely useful. They’re laid out in a way which makes it easy to pick and choose what type of drummer you want. You can choose the genre and customize the beat and kit sound. On the other hand, if you prefer to take full control over the kit from the get-go, then you can import your sounds, bit by bit and build the drum track that way instead.

Addictive Drums 2 has lots of effects to play with too. There are EQs, reverbs, delays, compression, distortions and a few others. You also have mixing capabilities such as buses for any parallel processing.

For the money XLN Audio’s Addictive Drums 2 packs quite a punch. It’s one of the most popular drum VST plugins around. The spec says it will work with most setups on only 2 GB of RAM (although they recommend at least 4 GB). To put this in context, Superior Drums 3 by Toontrack requires at least 8 GB of RAM. This makes Addictive Drums more suited to amateur setups and also explains the pricing. It lacks a few of the elite features of Superior Drummer 3 but makes up for that with value for money.

3. FXpansion BFD3

BFD is a drumming VST which has been around for some years now. It’s widely considered one of the top drum VSTs around. BFD has a huge collection of drum samples and loops which you can incorporate into mixes at the click of a mouse. The main man behind the sound sourcing on BFD3 actually worked for 2 years with George Massenburg, who we previously mentioned with Superior Drummer 3.

In total there is 162 GB of sample sounds, but wait, just before you throw your arms up, the makers have managed to squeeze this down into a mere 55 GB. How they did that, we’re not quite sure, but it does mean that you can now carry this entire portfolio of drumming goodness around on a tiny 64 GB flash drive. This makes it super-convenient when working across different setups.

BFD3 contains grooves played by legendary drummers such as Steve Ferrone, Brooks Wackerman, Peter Erskine and more. They’ve added 12 new effects too, which brings the total up to 33. Some of these include DCAM overdrive, new reverbs and envelope shaping tools.

When seeking to get started with a drum track you can choose to build your own kit or pick from one of the finely crafted presets. There’s a fully editable groove engine with a very handy rudiments tool. This tool allows you to work with many of the standard drum rudiments in order to create drum fills. Each rudiment is further explained through drum notation.

BFD3 is an impressive drum VST. While it’s not quite as expensive as Superior Drummer 3, it’s not far off the price. It has many cool features which make it a pleasure to use, and lots of slickly edited samples and loop which are a breeze to work with. This VST works well along with a DAW or as a standalone. It also has full MIDI operational compatibility.

4. Steven Slate Drums SSD5

If you’re after a quick and convenient drag and drop type of drum VST then you may like the SSD5 by Steven Slate Drums. This VST comes with lots of different kit sounds which are split up into different categories and styles.

There are kits such as the Spicy Rock kit, Old ‘n’ Dusty, the Thick Metal kit, the Pure 60’s kit, Steven’s Oldie kit, the Savage kit, the Ribeye kit and more. You can probably tell from the names as to how these kits sound. It’s pretty straightforward. In total there are around 100 drum presets and a couple of cool features such as ‘Rimshot’ mode. This allows you to replace drum accents with rimshot hits for added attack.

Overall, the SSD5 by Steven Slate Drums is a decent drum VST with a lot going for it. It’s easy to use and quite light on computer resources too.

5. GetGood Drums Modern & Massive Pack

For rock and metal fans we have a nice little drum VST without any additional fluff. GetGood Drums produce VSTs for the modern market and this particular pack is aimed at a bigger, punchier drum sound.

There is a nice selection of drum kits, all of which have been recorded at Middle Farm Studios in the UK. These kits certainly pack a punch, so if that’s what you’re after then this VST may be for you. It’s certainly one of the best-sounding acoustic drum VSTs around.

Best Free Metal Guitar Vst Plugins

In total this pack contains 9 snares, 6 kick drums and 2 sets of cymbal packs. This may not sound like a lot but it’s plenty to get some nice rock or metal demo tracks off the ground. If you need more options, GetGood Drums also do other ranges of kit styles which are of an equally high-quality.

6. Tony Coleman Drums

Tony Coleman is one of the most famous names in blues drumming. He has played with legends such as B.B. King, Albert King, Etta James and Buddy Guy, among others.

With this collection from Sonivox we get access to an entire library of the great man’s sound and feel. This VST is aimed at lovers of blues, pop and rock. All sounds have been captured at Ardent Studios using only the best professional drum microphones.

This entire collection is only 20 GB in size, so it’s not one of the more bulky drum VSTs out there. In that 20 GB you’ll find beats, fills and individual sample hits as played by Tony himself. This is certainly one for lovers of a great R’n’B groove.

7. DJinnDrum

The DJinnDrum VST is a nice little free drum VST plugin which has apparently been used by megastars such as Michael Jackson, Prince and Peter Gabriel. Listening to the beginning of ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ by Micheal Jackson will give you an idea of what this drum machine is capable of.

It’s very easy to use with 12 drum pads to play with. There are also slidable faders for the volume of each voice and knob controls to alter the sounds further.

Best Metal Vst Plugin

For the money we can’t argue with the DJinnDrum VST. It’s free to download so be sure to check it out. It lacks gigabytes of sample libraries but is quaint and fun to use. Definitely one to have in your collection of VST plugins.

8. DrumTROOP

If you’re looking for a VST with a few more drum sound options, then the DrumTROOP might fit the bill. This VST is packed with 20 free drum kits. These kits are largely digital-sounding drum kits and perfect for lots of genres from hip-hop to dubstep to EDM and pop.

The layout is clean and easy with lots of controls to alter the sample sounds. A very cool electronic drum VST.

Best Vst Plugins For Metal

DrumTROOPS is a cool little VST and is sure to help out budding music producers. Some users have complained about this VST being a little unstable on certain DAWs.

In order to avoid any unwanted crashing we advise that once you have created your beat on DrumTROOPS, then you should bounce it down to an audio file. Next import that audio file into your mix, disable the VST and you should find no further conflicts.

Conclusion

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this round-up of the best drum VSTs out there. Finding a good drum plugin can take time if you don’t know what you’re after or where to look. We’ve looked at acoustic drum VSTs as well as some electronic drum VSTs. Some of the more expensive options cater to both electronic and acoustic.

Whatever your preference, be sure to look at the spec and take note of the kits used in recording. There’s no point purchasing hundreds of gigabytes of pristine acoustic samples if you’re mainly going to be working in EDM. There are plenty more cheaper options out there, and as we’ve shown, some of them are free.

The spec of your setup matters greatly in how any particular drum VST will perform. A fast computer is essential in most cases, especially with the bigger drum VST plugins.

RAM is also important and it’s worth pointing out that you can upgrade the RAM in your computer or laptop in most cases. Some computers, such as certain iterations of the Mac Mini, do not allow you to upgrade the RAM, although the average PC will have no such issues. Having a fast system and plenty of RAM is always a good idea when making music on your computer. Processing will be quicker and you should notice a drop in any latency issues too.

Having a fast processor means that the VST and the DAW can work easily together and this means there will be less chance of your system crashing and you losing unsaved work.

Have fun on your quest for the best drum VST plugins!