After covering numerous free VST plugins so far in the bpb Freeware Studio, now would be the right time to take a look at the best free VST host applications currently available.
Various different types of VST host apps were included in the list, from fairly basic ones useful for plugin testing, to modular DAWs, trackers, and some full-featured live performance hosts.
Follow the links for screenshots & download info:
- Aodix [Tracker] by Arguru Software (Windows)
- Ardour [DAW] by Ardour (Linux, Mac)
- asHost [Live Host] by Asseca (Windows)
- BeRoTracker [Tracker] by Benjamin Rosseaux (Windows)
- Buzz [Tracker] by Jeskola (Windows)
- Cantabile Lite [Live Host] by Topten Software (Windows)
- DarkWave Studio [DAW] by ExperimentalScene (Windows)
- HostX [Live Host] by MTsoftware (Mac OS X)
- Jost [Sequencer] by Jucetice (Linux)
- KRISTAL Audio Engine [DAW] by KristalLabs (Windows)
- LiveProfessor [Live Host] by ifoundasound (Windows)
- LMMS [Sequencer] by LMMS (Windows, Linux)
- Macaw [Sequencer]by Robin Holmes (Windows)
- MiniHost [Live Host] by Tobybear Productions (Windows)
- MuLab FREE [DAW] by MuTools (Windows, Mac OS X)
- MultitrackStudio Lite [Sequencer] by Bremmers Audio (Mac, Windows)
- Music Studio Producer [DAW] by Frieve (Windows)
- OpenMPT [Tracker] by ModPlug Central (Linux, Windows)
- Pedalboard2 [Live Host] by Nial Moody (Windows)
- Podium Free [DAW] by Zynewave (Windows)
- Psycle [Tracker] by psycledelics (Windows)
- Qtractor [DAW] by Rui Nuno Capela (Linux)
- Rack Performer [Live Host] by LiveFactory (Windows)
- Rax’n'Trax [Sequencer] by Nassen Software Development (Windows)
- Reaper v0.999 [DAW] by Cockos (Windows)
- Rosegarden [DAW] by Rosegarden Project (Linux)
- SAVIHost [Live Host] by Hermann Seib (Windows)
- Samplitude Silver [DAW] by MAGIX (Windows)
- Tunafish [Sequencer] by Bram Bos (Windows)
- Usine Free [Live Host] by Sensomusic (Windows)
- VstBoard [Live Host]by CtrlBrk (Windows)
- VSTHost [Live Host] by Hermann Seib (Windows)
- VstSeq [Sequencer] by PQN AUDIO (Windows)
People often mention Reaper as a free VST host, but please note that Reaper is actually commercial software with a 30-day trial period. Although the actual software installation never expires, you should purchase a licence if you use it longer than 30 days (there is however Reaper v0.999 which is still available for free, many thanks to vian for sharing the info in the comments!).
MuLab FREE is my favorite freeware VST host application. Even with the 4-track limit of the free version, it is still a very powerful modular VST host which will let you create some crazy FX and instrument chains using your favorite VSTs.
Podium Free is without a doubt your best choice if you’re looking for a full-featured freeware DAW. The only serious limitation of the free version is that it uses a single CPU core, but the amount of features available at no cost is simply insane. It is very stable, perfectly designed, and definitely worth checking out (as well as the Pro version).
Podium FREE by Zynewave.
Usine Free, LiveProfessor, Rack Performer, VstBoard and Cantabile Lite are VST hosts suitable for live use, Usine currently being the most popular one.
Psycle is a free tracker which also works as a VST host. I must admit i’m not very experienced with trackers, but I know there are many people who don’t use sequencers at all and go for trackers instead, so this one’s for them.
SAVIHost, MiniHost and VSTHost are lightweight and easy to use VST host applications, perfect for quickly testing new VST plugins.
KRISTAL Audio Engine is an interesting 16-track sequencer which can load VST effects, but unfortunately doesn’t support MIDI, hence no VST instruments can be used.
Feel free to leave comments suggesting other free VST host applications I may have missed and I’ll include them in the list.
Many thanks to Ronnie for suggesting LMMS, a free cross-platform VST host application which is a great alternative to commercial loop-based programs like FL Studio, Greg for suggesting Jeskola Buzz and DarkWave Studio, two pretty awesome free VST hosts, bonzo for suggesting OpenMPT, Alex_HS for suggesting Macaw, and gropkcor for suggesting Rax’n'Trax! And a big thank you to satt for suggesting Tunafish, a lovely old school sequencer!
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This article is part of the bpb Freeware Studio series. Each article in the series features a selection of the best freeware VST instruments/effects, or other audio related software in a certain category. Feel free to suggest your own favorites in the comments section below. Enjoy!
Nice list, but no LMMS? http://lmms.sourceforge.net/
wow, i completely forgot about LMMS. i’ll add it to the list now, thanks Ronnie!
I’m afraid Revisit is actually a VST plugin enabling to use the tracker interface inside a ‘conventional’ VST host. The real tracker host in your list is Psycle — and it’s a genuinely great piece of software! Highly recommended, even if it still has some features missing (not that much for a freeware application though)
ok, fixed that now! thanks for letting me know, i do make such silly mistakes from time to time. :/
Reaper 0.999 [the ancient version of Reaper. scary, eh :D] is still Free.
the info is here: http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=324450&postcount=5
you can download it from here: http://www.reaper.fm/download-old.php?ver=0x
my favourite is Cantabile Lite for live performing and MuLab Free for composing.
LMMS is quite cool too. with all that 8 bit built in plugin.
:D
whoa, didn’t know about the old version of Reaper being free. i’ll check it out, thanks! do you use it?
i use it until i found Mulab.
i only use it for composing, but Reaper 0.9 is quite good for mixing. i know coz my friend mix his music with it.
:D
cool, i’ll add a note about this to the post!
Great blog – read it regularly.
Other free hosts I’ve stumbled upon:
Buzz
http://www.buzzmachines.com/
Experimental Scene Darkwave Studio
http://www.experimentalscene.com/software/darkwave-studio/
vstBoard
http://vstboard.blogspot.com/
vstPlayer
http://www.tocca-music.com/vstplayer.htm
Whoa, great suggestions Greg, thanks! I’ll add Buzz and Darkwave studio to the list right away and also check out vstBoard and vstPlayer.
There’s Rax ‘n’ Trax too!
Completely free & very flexible – looks like (if it is stable enough) it could be used live.
thanks gropkcor, added it to the list! it seems like i’ll soon have to rearrange the list by splitting into trackers, sequencers, live performance hosts, etc.
How about Tunafish from brambos? http://www.brambos.com/archive.html
wow, thanks so much for the suggestion! completely forgot about Tunafish somehow. cheers!
Few more…
OpenMPT (http://openmpt.org/) IMO best tracker out there.
Chaotic (http://chaoticdaw.com/) free recently (http://chaoticdaw.com/talks/index.php?topic=602.0) it’s a bit buggy and gui need some more work.
SKaletracker (http://www.skale.org/) this is how trackers used to and should look like =)
thanks for the great suggestions! i’ll check ‘em out today.
Another free DAW in collection – Macaw (formerly called Oscillastation, Rocktave and DeltaSP) is
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/Macaw/
http://code.google.com/p/macaw/
thanks, i’ll check it out!
Ardour isn’t really a VST host by default. You have to compile it manually to get VST support, but it’s still unstable and buggy.
By the way I can suggest you to add Linux to your list as greatest audio platform ever! Even commercial DAWs can’t get you so amasing performance and freedom in audio related tasks. You can run most of VSTs as simple standalone applications using fst and FeSTige, connect them to any multitrack host using JACK server without any limitations and automate them via MIDI. With session handler tools like LADISH and Claudia you can save all running applications and plugins and their routings in one single session file like popular windows all-in-one DAWs. You can run any applications together synchronized with JACK transport. JACK is network compatibile, so you can do it even on different PCs connected together via netjack. Take a look at Linux audio applications list, try Ardour3, OpenOctaveMIDI, Hydrogen etc… Using JACK transport you even can bounce offline mix of all running applications without any limitations like as some cubase or sonar does but you can’t use more then one ASIO application at once with most PRO drivers. Using realtime kernels you can gave ALL your PC resources to audio applications.
And all those amasing features are FREE.
Mulab is the one I started with. It is especially comfortable for rookies…Fancy exspensive softwares can learn much about some great concepts inside of Mulab (sequence on a track does’t have to be send on same chanel as that track etc.)…
qtractor becomes more and more useful DAW with VST support.
i enjoy this post greatly. ill be coming laterfor future readsthanks.
So I want a host simply to run a mastering plug in like ozone…. Any ideas?
if you want to use Ozone to master a pre-rendered WAV file, then perhaps Wavosaur is your best bet. it’s an audio editor (not a sequencer like a DAW) with a VST rack.
Thanks alot it works like a charm!
hello,
great list some i didn’t know and are incredibly good as liveprofessor and cantabile.
You might like also:
Bidule: http://www.plogue.com/products/bidule/ (modular audio)
AudioMulch: http://www.audiomulch.com/ (modular audio)
energyXT: http://www.energy-xt.com/ (VST host)
Renoise: http://www.renoise.com/ (tracker)
not all are free as some on your list, but they deserve a look
thanks for the tips! XT Software has recently announced that the Core version of energyXT will we available for free for a limited time.
I was able to d/load a free version of Samplitude Silver Soundcloud edition last year from the apps section at Soundcloud. Comes with vst effex etc, and seems pretty comprehensive (with limitations ) for a freebie.
http://soundcloud.com/apps/samplitude-soundcloud
The free version of Anvil Studio, version 2012.01.01, now hosts VST-Instruments.
cheers for the tip!
I’ve been using SynthFont, which is more focused on Sound Fonts and samples, but it can also host VST instruments and effects http://www.synthfont.com/
I use LMMS but it doesn’t let you record while you change the settings on a vst effect plugin – it only lets you change the settings and then record. And I was wondering if anyone knows of a sequencer that allows you to record while adjusting effect settings? Thanks
not sure, i’ve only used LMMS a few times in my life. have you tried asking on their forums? that’s often the best solution (if it’s not covered in the manual).
i usually use SAVIHost for testing