bpb Freeware Studio: Best Free Multiband Compressor VST Plugins

Multiband compression is often regarded as somewhat of a dark art of mixing. The basic concepts of multiband compression are pretty easy to grasp, and the whole process can be very rewarding when used properly… but it takes lots of skill and experience to really become really good at it. If you need a kick-start with multi-band compression, I suggest you read this great SOS article by Paul White & Hugh Robjohns.

And whether you’re already good at it, or are just looking for some free tools to learn on, here is a list of the best freeware multiband compression plugins.

My favorite one from this list is ReaXcomp, a great freeware multiband compressor and part of the Cockos Reaplugs bundle. There’s no limit for the number of bands, and the large number of per-band controls makes this one of the best free multiband dynamics processors available.

Broadcast is a freeware multiband compressor VST developed by Jeroen Breebaart. It combines several concepts from Jeroen’s previous plugins, including the dynamics processing from the PC-2 compressor, spatial processing from OmniSone, and brickwall limiting from Barricade in a multi-band fashion.

C3 Multi Band Compressor is a freeware multiband compressor VST plugin developed and released by slim slow slider. Note that the same code was used in Fruity Multiband Compressor which comes bundled with FL Studio by Image-Line. Decent plugin, although it acts quirky in some hosts – make sure you give it a proper test on your machine before any serious use.

Lightweight Multiband Compressor is a freeware multiband compressor VST plugin by Christian Budde. It is based on Budde’s lightweight compressor algorithm and a set of Linkwitz-Riley filters.

MJMultibandCompressor is a freeware four-band multiband compressor VST plugin developed by Magnus. It uses the host program’s default GUI, but an alternative custom skin made by V’ger is available for download here.

Multiband is a freeware multiband compressor VST plugin by mda. It uses the host’s GUI, which means that there are no input/compression meters available. For tips on using Multiband by mda, click here.

Have fun mixing your tunes with these freeware multiband compressors and please don’t forget to share this page with your friends (you can do that easily by using the buttons below). Spread the word about BPB and help us grow!