Some of the most expensive items in any studio are the software. Obtaining high-quality instruments and effects can cost up to thousands of dollars — all for stuff that doesn’t make your set-up look any cooler. And many free synths and effects simply don’t deliver — the sound is cheap and the functions are limited. It certainly isn’t easy finding a decent plugin among the plethora of freeware in the vast expanse of cyberspace. Fortunately, we’ve done a bit of that looking for you and compiled a list of some of the best free virtual instruments and effects you can find around the web. Take a look at these tools you can add to your arsenal.

Izotope Vinyl

Izotope vinyl is a vinyl emulation tool that you can use to add vintage character to your mixes by making things sound like it’s coming from an old record player. The plugin allows you to add artifacts such as crackling and hissing that you’d hear in a true vinyl record. Its versatile controls allow you to create sounds that are reminiscent of a variety of eras from old-school to modern. The website includes a few demos of how the plugin can be used in various applications. The sound of Vinyl is authentic and timeless.

NI Komplete Players

The Komplete Players collection is an absolute must-have set of plug-ins created by arguably one of the best music production software developers out there. This bundle includes the Reaktor 6 player —  a synthesizer platform that is used to power some of their most acclaimed instruments like Razor, and Spark, and Kontakt 5 — A powerful playback engine for sampled instruments. The bundle comes with 500MB worth of free sounds, but you can always buy more from the NI website whenever you feel like adding more to the collection.

MeldaProduction MFree FX Bundle

This is an all-in-one effect bundle that will have everything you need to get your mixes sounding great. EQ, Compression, and even some pitch correction. You can download this package on MeldaProduction’s official website.

Softube Saturation Knob

The developers at Softube describe Saturation Knob as “a modeled output distortion that can be used anywhere you need some grit.” You can use this effect to fatten up baselines or to add crunch to your drums. Try using it on some vocals to add a warm vintage fuzz. Read more about this awesome plugin, and download it here.

GSi MrRay73

MrRay73 is a Rhodes Mark I emulation. The layout is straightforward and the sound is rich and jazzy. It is the perfect mood-music synth. This plugin can be found in the GSi Legacy Bundle, which includes a few other decent plugins like ORGANized trio — a tonewheel organ synth, and MrTramp — a wurli-like electric piano.