Flo’s Audio Plugins has released a suite of three freeware convolution-based guitar cabinet effects in VST plugin format for Windows and Linux based host applications (Mac OS support coming soon).
The plugins come with built-in impulse responses (loading external IRs is not supported) and a small set of useful on-screen controls for adjusting the tone and balance of the active impulses. A total of three individual plugins is available at the moment:
- Plugin for God’s Cab IRs
- Plugin for GuitarHack’s IRs
- Plugin for Kalthallen Cabs Free IRs
All three plugins feature similar user interfaces with cabinet position and distance controls. The included balance slider determines the volume balance between two active impulse responses. The God’s Cab plugin also features a dry/wet dial, a presence slider and a Tube Screamer emulation (frequency response only), whereas the Kalthallen Cabs plugin features a choice between tube and transistor amps, as well as different microphone models. Standalone use is also supported, in case you’d prefer to use these effects outside of your DAW.
See also: Best FREE Guitar Amplifier VST Plugins!For users who don’t enjoy tinkering with impulse response packs and IR loader plugins, a suite of all-in-one cabinet IR effects such as these is a rather convenient alternative. The plugins work just fine in windows, with the CPU hit hovering around 4% (on an Intel Core i7 processor, that is), which is perfectly fine for convolution-based plugins. The UI design is extremely basic but also very functional and easy to look at. The software is officially still in beta, although I didn’t experience any bugs or performance issues while testing.
Although the plugins only work on Windows and Linus at the moment, Mac versions are expected for release sometime soon. The developer is also accepting requests for new plugins.
The plugins are available for free download via Flo’s Audio Plugins (ZIP archive containing plugin files in DLL format, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows & Linux, standalone versions also included).
