Replika is a free modulation effect released by Native Instruments, featuring three different delay algorithms paired up with a resonant filter and a classic phaser effect. The plugin will be available as a free download until January 1st, 2015. Native Instruments have also released a collection of 10 free remix sets for Traktor and they are offering an additional $25 coupon code to all visitors.
Getting fantastic Christmas gifts such as Replika has become somewhat of a tradition when it comes to Native Instruments. Last year they surprised us with Supercharger, a capable compressor effect which sounds absolutely great on the drum bus. The year before that, they gave away the surprisingly versatile resonant filter and distortion combo effect called Driver.
It’s worth noting though that their freebies don’t actually remain free forever. These are commercial plugins which are offered for free download during the first couple of weeks of their release. The price usually jumps to $49 after the New Year’s eve. I’ve received quite a few emails and comments from people who have missed these offers, asking if there’s still a way to download these holiday items for free. Unfortunately, this is not possible, so make sure to grab your free copy of Replika while you still can!
But there’s a catch. The Native Instruments website seems to be down at the moment, probably because they are getting tons of traffic. I’ve submitted my email address in order to receive a free copy of Replika, but it still hasn’t arrived. Once I get the download link, I will write a brief review on this page and also create a demo video, so stay tuned!
Apart from the free plugin, Native Instruments have also released 10 free Traktor remix sets and a $25 coupon code which can be used on any downloadable item available in their online shop (this doesn’t cover bundles and upgrades). The download link for the free remix sets can be accessed directly from the freebies page linked below, however the download isn’t working. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit more until we can grab this year’s goodies from Native Instruments!
UPDATE: The Native Instruments website and download servers are back online, so hurry up and download your free copy of Replika and the other holiday goodies. You’ll find all the links and other info on the page linked in the download section below.
The Review
OK, so I’ve managed to download Replika and install it on my machine. This thing is a BLAST. Do not… and I repeat… DO NOT miss the opportunity to download this effect while it’s free. It is really, really good.
You can watch the demo video below for a quick and dirty 9 minute showcase of the plugin’s features, however I’ll write down my most important impressions for those who prefer reading. OK, so the first thing which I really liked about Replika is how versatile it is. I’m a big fan of delay effects and I have at least fifteen freeware delays installed on my machine, yet only one of them (and that one is NastyDLA by VOS) can be compared to Replika in terms of flexibility and sound quality.
Replika can sound modern, it can sound old and dirty, it can be used as a saturation device (if you drop the delay time to 0 ms and set the mix to 100% wet), it can be used as a phaser effect, a huge lush reverb, or a simple HP/LP filter combo. It is a freaking Transformer.
The other awesome thing about Replika is that is very easy on the CPU, at least on my machine (taking less than 1% on a single core processor). I honestly did not see that coming. My prediction was that it would use between 3% and 5% processing power on my DAW. So, there’s another nice surprise!
In conclusion, download this plugin and register it to your Native Instruments account while it’s still free. This is, without any doubt, one of the best free delay effects out there. And it will only be free for the next couple of weeks, so hurry up!
Demo Video
Check out the Replika demo video:
Download
Replika is available for free download via Native Instruments (42 MB download size, EXE installer, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & Mac).
