SuperflyDSP has released four analog-style modulation effects in VST3 and AU plugin formats for digital audio workstations on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The developer has released four freeware plugins: Flying WahWah, Flying Tremolo, Flying Chorus, and Flying Flanger. All four products are available as VST3 and AU plugins. Both 32-bit and 64-bit hosts are supported, and the plugin works on all three major desktop operating systems.
SuperflyDSP’s freeware plugins are inspired by analog hardware, both in terms of functionality and their sound characteristics. The developer crafted a set of easy-to-use modulation effects that resemble the typical workflow and sound of early guitar pedals. There aren’t any modern features to speak of, apart from the host sync functionality that will synchronize the LFO rate to your digital audio workstation’s BPM.
The plugins have streamlined features and intuitive controls. All four products are generally easy to use. That said, some of the design choices are a bit uncommon, and they might take some time getting used to. For example, the sliders and the knobs instantly jump to the clicked position, which makes it a bit hard to fine-tune a specific parameter. Also, the GUI size is somewhat small, and it isn’t possible to resize the interface.
On the other hand, all four SuperflyDSP plugins sound quite good. They’re not ground-breaking audio plugins, but every fan of old-school analog modulation effects should check them out.
The plugins are available for direct free download from the SuperflyDSP website. You don’t need to sign up or activate the software. Extract the downloaded ZIP archive and move the included plugin files to the VST folder on your computer.
More info: Superfly DSP (32-bit & 64-bit VST3/AU plugin format for Windows, macOS, Linux)
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13 Comments
MRG
onDespite some very questionable UX choices, the sound is there (yeah, I think it still matters a bit, heh) and some interesting features to go with it, the artifact from the tremolo comes to mind. I would love a generalization of separate Dry and Wet levels instead of the dry-wet mix paradigm that is IMO an old useless idea, and not all those plugins have a mix anyway, humpff. The big Depth knob is too big and too different from other controls, it serves a cosmetic purpose, but that’s it. Slightly weird terminology is used, frequency instead of rate, Adsr triger [sic], … The Auto-Wah would benefit from visual feedback from the trigger, really. Nothing being a deal-breaker and easy fixes. Let’s just hope it happens. :-)
Tomislav Zlatic
onYeah, some unusual design choices for sure. But the plugins are cool in a quirky kind of way. So yeah, I totally agree with your comment.
Brenny C
onNah, you’re being way too nitpicky. Thee’s n&p Pothing wrong with different and quirky. Great set of plugins!
Brenny C
on*There’s nothing wrong….
MRG
onI like different, I love quirky. But I also like UIs that are easy to use. Try the host sync and set it to a round number… I’m sure devs prefer a tough but frank review. They’ll either agree or not, but at least they’ll know. Yes, great plugins, soundwise. I’m just trying to get them better. :-)
Brenny C
on“I’m just trying to get them better” Fair enough MRG and, after thinking it over a bit more, I agree with you. In time I do hope the dev makes some of the changes you suggested and you’re probably right that devs prefer honest helpful feedback and suggestions. In the meantime, though, I’ll enjoy them just as they are.
Michael
onNot sure if its worth mentioning, but Voltage Modular Nucleus 2 is going for $0 at PB
https://www.pluginboutique.com/products/5594-Voltage-Modular-Nucleus-2
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks for the tip! It will be featured on BPB this week.
superflyDSP
onHello Tomislav,
First of all thank you for your detailed review, your remarks are quite interesting. It will allow us to improve our effects. About Gui you are right and a resizable version should be available in some weeks. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere but you can finely adjust the sliders by pressing the Ctrl key while setting. I take in account your advice, from the 1.1a release when the mouse is over a slider this font will be increased.
Also I love your word “analog Inspired”, because what is a model? Short question, very very long answer.
About the MRG comments: You are right, I have to add a trigger level meter, it’s at the top of my priority list. Right also about the big knob.
But dry/wet mixers allows you to keep Loudness constant. By separating dry and wet, you will increase global loudness by adding wet and it could unbalance your mix. Dry/wet mix is more safe for the average user.
About “frequency” it is the ISO official word to measure periodic signal, I could use rate only in host synch mode.
Anyway thank you for your support, your helpful comments and thank you for using our plugins. A lot of improvements (sound,gui,cpu) are planned but I have my developer daily job too, so I’m not full time on superflyDSP. Thank you again for your kindness.
Regards
Tomislav Zlatic
onHello, thanks for visiting and for your comment! I’m happy to hear that the plugins will be improved in the future. The current release is already great. Looking forward to the version with a resizable GUI! :)
MRG
onOh hi! Yay for the trigger meter! ;-)
About terminology, there’s no right or wrong there. It all depends on preferences and on the UI. Some UI have a clear LFO section separated by a frame, so ‘frequency’ would seem as logical as anything else (speed, rate, zorglub…). Since there are no ‘sections’ here, maybe then go for “LFO Frequency”?
Having separate Dry and Wet levels is mostly useful in delays and reverbs (delayed treated signal), perhaps less on other types of effects (realtime treated signal, the ‘dangerous’ bit :p), but at least they provide more freedom, especially when using automation. Fade in/out the clean signal, keeping the fx steady and vice-versa without using busses/sends. Anyway, nice plugins.
PS: Can we have some info on the tremolo artifact thing? It’s mesmerizing :-)
SuperflyDSP
onHello, Sorry for the delayed response.
New version of flying plugins has been released (1.2a). GUI is now resizable, not fully because of the compatibility with some daw. Most bugs are fixed. Trigger leve-meter and modulation state Led have been added to the Auto Wahwah.
About Dry/Wet the main reason is I would like to limit the number of sliders to keep the Interface simple. About Artifact sliders it add a pseudo-random signal to the LFO and make it more alive, I’m glad you like it, thx :) .
Now I will try to addd some features (first lowering Cpu consumption by using SSE/AVX instruction) and achieve sound improvement on the Flying Wahwah.
Thank you again for your feedback.
SuperflyDSP
Atme
onGreat plugins, thank You very much. A Flying Reverb from SuperflyDSP would be really awesome.
<3