Vst Compressor Free

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Compression and EQ are the two most essential tools in mixing.

You’ll probably apply them on every single track in your session before the mix is complete.

See full list on hiphopmakers.com. HoRNet CompExp is a compressor-expander vst plugin designed by Saverio Vigni, the design is base on a commander chip designed for telephone lines and used to reduce noise on an electronic device. Achieving a well balanced and a commercial ready track/sound with a compressor tool is far more said than done, achieve a faster result with CompExp. For a free compressor VST plugin, ReaComp is jam-packed with amazing features. It offers feedback compression, soft-knee support, oversampling, auto-release and auto make-up gain modes, a sidechain input with filtering, and detailed gain reduction metering.

With such a key part of the music production process, you need to have tools you can rely on.

But choosing the right compressor plugin isn’t easy. There are thousands of compressor VSTs out there, and not all of them work well for every task.

Even so, it doesn’t have to be intimidating. You’ll always get the right tool for the job if you know what a compressor does, the different compressor types and where they work best.

In this guide I’ll go through each style of compressor, recommend a smart choice for every budget and show the best ways to use them in your mix or master.

What is a compressor?

A compressor is an audio processor that’s used in mixing to reduce the dynamic range of audio signals. Dynamic range means the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of a sound.

You’ll need to reduce the dynamic range of most signals you record so that both the loud and quiet moments are equally audible in the mix.

Check out our detailed guide to compressors if you need a more in-depth overview to get you up to speed.

The concept seems simple, but there are different ways to implement compression that have different sounds and uses in a mix.

Most of them come from the days of analog hardware. Those classic sounds are still in high demand today.

Plugin manufacturers have developed digital equivalents to bring those timeless tones to your DAW.

Let’s get started.


FET compressor plugins

FET compression is one of the most essential compressor sounds in music.

FET compression is one of the most essential compressor sounds in music.

It stands for “field effect transistor” and it’s the mechanism used in the all-time classic UREI 1176 compressor.

The 1176 has a long and illustrious history and is still used by virtually every professional studio to this day.

FET compression can be fast and aggressive while staying transparent enough to create extreme shifts in dynamics.

It has a pleasing vintage character with satisfying bloom and saturation when pushed.

FET compression is great on percussion, vocals and anywhere you need fast and aggressive yet stylish gain reduction.

Free plugin: Analog Obsession FETISH

Analog Obsession FETISH is an excellent free software 1176-style compressor.

Many independent developers are turning to new methods of distributing their software. Analog Obsesion dev Tunca has moved their entire plugin library to Patreon.

The plugins are still free, but consider getting a subscription if you use them often.

Cheap plugin: Plugin Alliance Lindell 7X-500

At just $29 USD (at the time of this writing) Plugin Alliance’s digital recreation of the popular Lindell 7X-500 series module is a charmingly inexpensive way to get started with FET compression.

This handy FET compressor packs all the snappy attack and analog warmth of the hardware and sounds great anywhere you might use an 1176.

Pro plugin: UAD 1176 Collection

UAD wrote the book on emulating the 1176 in software. Their take on its legacy is still widely respected as the best in the business.

The expanded 1176 collection includes several rare revisions of the original circuit modelled to perfection.

Optical compressor plugins

Optical compressors use photosensitive light cells to control the compression.

It’s one of the earliest methods of controlling gain reduction that’s often found in classic early units.

Optical compression has a particularly musical sounding action due to the physical properties of the photocell.

Optical compression has a particularly musical sounding action due to the physical properties of the photocell.

It’s a little slower and gentler than FET compression with a pleasing feel that works well on many different sources.

The legendary Teletronix LA-2A is an optical compressor with a tube makeup gain stage.

It’s probably the most well known optical compressor and many engineers all-time favorite for vocals.

Here are some great options based on the optical sound of the LA-2A

Free plugin: ADHD Levelling Tool

ADHD Levelling tool is a handy freeware compressor that will bring LA-2A style optical compression into your sessions without breaking the bank.

With additional controls for attack release and threshold, Levelling Tool isn’t exactly a direct clone, but the sonic inspiration is clear.

Cheap Plugin: Waves CLA-2A

Waves CLA-2A has been on the scene for a while now, but it’s still a great option for the smooth optical sound of the LA-2A in your DAW.

Waves plugins are often available on extremely deep discounts from sales and offers.


It’s worth waiting for one to come around if you want to get your hands on the CLA-2A without spending a fortune.

Pro Plugin: Softube CL1B

Softube CL1B is based on Danish manufacturer Tube Tech’s tube-driven take on the optical LA-2A design.

Softube’s recreation is spot on and this pro compressor plugin offers all the weight, heft and tube warmth of the original.

Tube compressor plugins

There are lots of tube compressors out there, but like the LA-2A, not all of them create their gain reduction effect using the tubes themselves.

Creating compression with vacuum tube circuitry alone is possible, but it’s considered much more difficult and expensive than other methods.

That’s why true tube compressors (sometimes called “delta-mu” compressors) are large, bulky and expensive.

The tubes and transformers required to make these processors work are impractical for all but the most serious setups.

But all that iron and tubey goodness results in an incredibly powerful sound.

The most well known all-tube compressor is the vintage Fairchild 670. These classics are so rare and expensive (authentic units have sold for over $100K) that most producers will never even see one, let alone hear it on their tracks.

Luckily, plugin manufacturers have been creating digital recreations of the Fairchild and other beefy sounding tube comps since the dawn of digital.

Creating compression with vacuum tube circuitry alone is possible, but it’s considered much more difficult and expensive than other methods.

Tube compressors sound fantastic in many situations, especially any time you want to enhance the source material with pleasing colouration and saturation.

Free plugin: Klanghelm MJUC jr.

Klanghelm produces a suite of excellent analog modelling plugins for free. MJUC jr. is no exception.

MJUC jr. is the little brother of the highly regarded MJUC delta-mu style compressor. This completely free plugin will get you the tube driven compression tones of the larger version with ease.

It’s hard to imagine that a mixing tool this useful and musical could be available completely free…

Cheap plugin: Arturia TUBE-STA

This stylish delta-mu style compressor has the vibey look—and sound—of the legendary Gates STA-Level hardware unit that dates back to 1956.

This near mythical vintage comp commands the typical high prices of old school tube compressors and is famous for its ability to utterly squash the signal without unpleasant artifacts.

Arturia’s fantastic take on it gives you all the tube texture of the original.

Pro Plugin: UAD Fairchild Collection

UAD produces some of the most highly regarded digital replicas of analog gear.

With the Fairchild collection, they’ve gone all out, modelling each and every component down to its most idiosyncratic elements.

This is as close as you can get to a real Fairchild in your DAW—and that’s a wonderful thing.

VCA compressor plugins

VCA compressors came on the scene in the 70s with the introduction of integrated circuits (ICs) that could perform gain reduction cheaply and with more predictable results than earlier methods.

This technology gave rise to classic units like the DBX 160 and SSL Bus Compressor.

The SSL Bus Compressor in particular has become a secret weapon on the mix bus for many producers.
It offers a clear and classy sound that enhances punch and impact while providing the “glue” factor that makes a mix sound cohesive and integrated.

Free plugin: Ableton Glue Compressor

I’m cheating a bit here since this is a built-in DAW plugin. But if you’re an Ableton Live Suite user you already have access to an excellent VCA style compressor modelled on the SSL bus comp.

Glue compressor works great for providing that subtle sonic adhesive that holds individual busses and entire mixes together.

Cheap plugin: Cytomic The Glue

Cytomic’s The Glue is another great take on the SSL Bus compressor design.

It’s a lightweight plugin that will give you that classic VCA gain reduction without choking your CPU.

Pro plugin: SSL Native Bus Compressor

If you’re searching for the classic SSL sound, why not go straight to the source?

SSL’s suite of native plugins includes an excellent take on their classic VCA bus compressor design that can give you all the glue, punch and flavor of the original.

Digital Compressor plugins

The sound of analog hardware has an enduring appeal for most engineers.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t excellent compressors out there with completely digital DNA.

Digital compressors are perfect whenever you want ultra-transparent compression that doesn’t affect the basic sound of the source material.

In fact, the lack of limitations in the digital domain gives developers the freedom to create some ultra high performance compressor plugins.

Digital compressors are perfect whenever you want ultra-transparent compression that doesn’t affect the basic sound of the source material.

Free Plugin: TDR Kotelnikov

TDR Kotelnikov is a legend of the free plugin scene.

This well-designed VST shows off the power of high-fidelity digital compression with a classy sound and deep control.

Cheap plugin: Klanghelm DC8C

Klanghelm DC8C is a chameleon of a compressor plugin that can cover a huge range of different sounds.

With extremely detailed control over nearly every possible aspect of the sound, the sheer flexibility of this compressor makes it a top pick to showcase the power of digital.

Pro plugin: Fabfilter Pro C-2

Fabfilter Pro C-2 is the undisputed king of advanced compression.

This top quality compressor plugin sounds gorgeous and features a user interface that makes even advanced compression features simple to use.

Deep dynamics control

Compressors are extremely important in music production, no matter what genre or style of music you mix or master.

Today there are more plugin compressors available than ever before. Having so many options is great, but sorting through them is a challenge.

Now that you know some different types of compression and what they’re good for, get back to your DAW and squash some signals.

BEST FREE VST COMPRESSORS

FREE VST COMPRESSOR PLUGINS

Below you will find a list of free compressors with links to the respective download sites. If you scroll down further you will find descriptions of the listed compressor vst plugins.

The vst plugins mentioned may be working either on PC or Mac or on both and a few are 32-bit only. However, by the use of a bit bridge and / or a plugin-adaptor (like jBridge, 32 lives, DDMF Bridgewize or Blue Cat’s Patchwork) you should be able to use these vst plugins in almost any DAW. In Klangheim Studio we use Cubase in combination with jBridge and that works like a charm without any hickups. You can read more about bit bridging in our article About Bit Bridging

MCompressor by Melda Production

DC1A by Klanghelm

MJUC Jr. by Klanghelm

Molot by VladG

Tan by Acustica Audio

TDR Kotelnikov by Tokyo Dawn Records

Vst

RoughRider3 by Audio Damage

ReaComp by Cockos

SAFE Compressor by Semantic Audio

Leveling Tool by AdHd Audio Tools

jsCompShaper by JS Audio

FRComp87 by eaReckon

Vst Compressor Free Download

GComp by GVST

LA Thrillseeker by Variety of Sound (Windows)

Density mkiii by Variety of Sound (high quality buss and mastering compressor) (Windows)

Thrillseeker VBL by Variety of Sound (Vari-Mu compressor – this is primarily a saturation tool but it also has a simple compressor that works very well on bass) (Windows)

Nasty VCS by Variety of Sound (channelstrip with opto style compressor) (Windows)

Older vst compressor plugins – but good:

Vst Compressor Free

Compressive Pro by Martin Eastwood (Windows)

FL4TT3RY 2 by platinumears (Windows)

Side Chain Compressor by slim slow slider (Windows)

Sidechain Compressor by Christian Budde (Windows)

dlm Sixtyfive by de la Mancha (Windows)

Kjaerhus Compressor by Kjaerhus (Windows)

Blockfish by Digital Fishphones

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MCompressor by Melda Production (Windows and Mac)

MCompressor is a very nice and very versatile vst compressor plugin. It has a good graphic user interface (GUI) that gives you good visual feedback about what you are doing both in terms of how you are compressing (soft knee, linear, or hard knee) and how much gain reduction you are employing.

You have full control over attack, release, ratio and threshold and you can target either the audio peaks or the average loudness (RMS) of the incoming signal – or set up the MCompressor to target the audio signal somewhere in between these two.

MCompressor also has a sidechain and a highpass and lowpass filter which makes it extraordinarily flexible. It comes with the Melda Free Bundle that includes quite a few other nice vst plugins. Highly recommended.

Download link: MCompressor

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DCA1 by Klanghelm (Windows and Mac)

The DC1A compressor from Klanghelm is a simple yet powerfull free VST compressor plugin. If you are a beginner this could be a good compressor to learn by since it is very easy to tweak plus you are forced to use your ears and not rely on numbers.

The DC1A is resembling an OPTO compressor. Its attack and release timings are program dependant although you have the choice between a faster response (which is the default mode) and a slower response with the ”relaxed” mode engaged. It has a fixed threshold and the more you gain the input the more compression you will get.

Use the output knob to match the compressed level to the uncompressed. This way you will not be fooled by differences in loudness between the unprocessed and the processed audio.

The DC1A can add a nice saturation effect to the audio. The saturation is stronger with higher gain reduction. You will have less saturation when the ”relaxed” mode is enabled. If you use it for just a few db of gain reduction in ”relaxed” mode it will work in a much more transparent way.

On stereo tracks you can compress the left and right side separately by enabling the ”dual mono” mode and Klanghelm has also given us an internal sidechain high pass filter which comes in handy when you want to keep the low end more intact (for instance on the drum bus). Finally you have the option of using negative compression ratios.

So, even though the DC1A looks simple at a first glance it is quite surprisingly versatile and can work well on many different types of audio material from drums and percussion to vocals, guitars, and keyboards. It is a very good sounding free VST compressor and should you want even more flexibility you should check out its ”big brother”, the DC8A, which is a high quality compressor with a lot of tweakability for just a little more than 20 US Dollars.

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MJUC jr by Klanghelm (Vari-Mu compressor) (Windows and Mac)

Yet another simple but powerful vst compressor plugin by Klanghelm. MJUC jr is a scaled down version of the amazing MJUC compressor plugin by Klanghelm. However, the MJUC jr still gives you a little of the flavour that you will find plenty of in its bigger sibling. Both plugins are emulations of the Vari-Mu compressors type and thus they add quite a bit of tube coloration / saturation.

With just a few controls – compress, make up gain, and a choice between three time constants (fast, slow, and auto) – the plugin is very easy to operate and you may be surprised about how much you can get out of this scaled down version. If you need more control and would enjoy playing with a lot of extra parameters you can buy the full version for very little money.

Download link: MJUC jr

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TDR Kotelnikov by Tokyo Dawn Records (Windows and Mac)

TDR Kotelnikov is a free VST compressor designed primarily for mastering purposes. It can function in a very transparent way and will definitely also find it’s use as a channel compressor or a group bus compressor.

The developers have added control features that you will not find on many compressors such as separate control over peak and RMS release values and a way to balance the importance and influence of each of these release times on the processing (through the peak crest knob and of course through the peak release knob and the RMS release knob).

You can also control the stereo sensitivity and chose whether the compressor should work on the full stereo audio or on the mid (”sum”) alone or the ”side” (”diff”) alone. If you want to dial in both mid and side compression and control these individually then you can simply use two instances of TDR Kotelnikov.

TDR Kotelnikov offers an internal sidechain function which gives you the option of relaxing the way the compressor responds to low end frequencies. There is also a mix option for parallel compression.

Timingwise the TDR Kotelnikov is capable of very fast settings. The attack time can be as low as 0.02 milliseconds and the release time can be as fast as 10 milliseconds for the peak release and 20 milliseconds for the RMS release. Of course you can choose slower settings as well since the attack time is fully adjustable up to 250 milliseconds and the release time likewise fully adjustable up to 2 seconds. All in all a very versatile tool for transparent compression.

TDR Kotelnikov is a fabulous free VST compressor plugin and it is amazing that you can get this quality for free. For mastering it is one of the best free vst compressors around. Highly recommended.

Should you want even more options there is a ”Gentleman’s Edition” at a very affordable price.

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Thrillseeker LA by Variety of Sound (Windows only)

This is definitely one of my favorite free VST compressors and probably the one free VST compressor that I use the most. The Thrillseeker LA is a very versatile compressor. In many ways it works like an OPTO compressor but although some people on the internet describe it as a free version of the LA-2A it is much more flexible than that.

Vst Compressor Plugin Free

Yes, indeed, the Thrillseeker LA can work very much like an LA-2A but you have many extra options on this Variety of Sound plugin. First of all you have faster attack times (both attack and release times are dependant on the incoming audio material – just as is the case with the LA-2A – but you can tweak and control the timing to some extend with the attack and release knobs).

This means that it is possible to tweak the Thrillseeker LA to work very much like a dbx 160 when it comes to timing – or a Tubetech CL-1B as well as a Fairchild or an LA-2A compresor.

Variety of Sound has also given us control over the total harmonic distortion (THD) with the interstage section. Once you have found the right amount of compression and adjusted the attack and release to your liking you can turn on the interstage section and add 2 order harmonics. If you want to go further than that you can use the slider to add even more THD and obtain thicker saturation effects.

Finally you have the ability to colour the saturation effect to your needs and even switch on a transformer circuit simulation to fatten up the sound even more.

Thrillseeker LA has internal and external sidechain options and in the top left corner you will find a little knob that calibrates the plugin to a conservative (and advisable) mix level of -18 db.

In other words Thrillseeker LA can work as a clean compressor or as a more vintage sounding unit. It can work with much faster attack times than an LA-2A and it has its own little colour tool box in the interstage section.

You can use it as a channel compressor or indeed as a bus compressor. And last but not least: it sounds amazingly good. It proves that free plugins can sound as good as commercial plugins – and be more innovative than most of them! That is just one good reason to dive into free VST compressors and other free VST plugins. Highly recommended.

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SAFE Compressor by Semantic Audio (Windows and Mac)

The SAFE Compressor is special in the sense that it allows you to type in more intuitive or descriptive terms or words into the plugins textbox – such as for instance bright, warm, punchy etc. – and if the word or term is on the developers server the compressor will be set to parameters that can bring forward the wanted and described effect.

You can save your own suggestions for semantic terms that represent a compression effect and it can then be shared with other users via the server. In other words SAFE Compressor is a unique intuitive compressor that may be of special interest to beginners.

Download link: SAFE Compressor

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FRComp87 by eaReckon (Windows and Mac)

FRComp87 is a delightfully simple vst compressor plugin. It only has a few controls: threshold, makeup gain, and three timings (fast, medium, and slow). Finally, you can switch in a limiter to tame peaks after the compression. Because of the simplicity FRComp is very fast to use and may be just the right starting point if you are a beginner when it comes to compression.

Download link: FRComp87

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dlm Sixtyfive by de la Mancha (Windows)

The developer de la Mancha has created a really good free VST compressor plugin inspired by the dbx 165 A compressor. However, de la Mancha’s Sixtyfive gives you several extra options compared to the hardware which inspired his work.

If you are looking for a dbx-style compressor plugin Sixtyfive is a good choice. It sounds very good and adds a little, nice coloration and character to the audio material you run through it.

De la Mancha has given you extra features like a dry/wet knob which makes it easy to dial in ”New York” or parallel compression. While the fastest attack on the original hardware is 1 millisecond de la Mancha lets you dial in even faster timings. Like the dbx 165 A de la Mancha’s Sixtyfive also has an auto attack and release button which activates a program dependant attack and release response. It also features a peak stop option for hard limiting on the final output.

Sixtyfive is a soft knee compressor. You can tweak it to give you smooth, musical compression or to work in much more agressive ways. So if you need a vintage style VCA compressor plugin with extra features you need look no further.

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Ssl Compressor Vst Free

GComp by GVST (Windows and Mac)

With the GComp vst compressor plugin you have full control over attack, release, threshold, hard knee or soft knee or anything in between as well as dialing in the balance between how the compressor should react to audio peaks versus RMS (the average loudness of the program material). On top of that it also includes a limiter.

Vst Multiband Compressor Free

You can adjust the input and output volume and GComp gives you a good visual feedback of what is going on and how much compression you are applying.

GComp has a sibling called GComp2 with a few different parameters that you could check out as well.

Best Vst Compressor

Download link: GComp