DSK Guitars Steel (VST / Windows / 32 bit) Spicy Guitar (VST / Standalone / Windows, Mac / 32 bit + 64 bit) Big Cat Instruments General Midi Soundset (has a guitar section / Kontakt) Free Electric Guitar Plugins. Now, let’s talk about electric guitars. Spitfire Labs: Peel Guitar. Format: VST2, VST3, AAX, AU; 32 bit + 64 bi t OS: Windows, Mac. How to Use all of the Plug-Ins in this Guide. All of the amp sims and plug-ins we compiled for this guide are typically offered in plug-in format for usage in DAWs, with the exception of perhaps a few standalone amp sims, but those typically have VST plug-ins to be loaded into DAWs along with the standalone applications.

1. Cubase Vst Plugins Guitar Plugins
2. Cubase Vst Plugins Guitar Tuner
3. Cubase 5 Guitar Plugins
4. Cubase Vst Plugins Guitar Plugin

1. These days, all you need is a killer VST plugin along with some impulses to achieve stellar results. In some cases, you don’t even need impulses. If that wasn’t awesome enough, you can even get some great sounding VSTs for free. That’s what we’re going to be looking at in this guide – free guitar VST plugins that sound ultra-realistic.
2. If I didn’t have VariAudio included in Cubase, I’d most likely be using Melodyne exclusively. It sounds incredible, and the workflow is so intuitive. So there you have it — my list of the best Auto-Tune/pitch correction VST plugins. Which one do you currently use in the studio? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments.

Whether you’re a home producer or work at a major recording studio, Autotune and other pitch correction software can help deal with a weak vocal performance.

In a hurry? I love Melodyne 4 Studio from Celemony. It’s sounds incredible, leaving little to no artifacts on vocals recorded in a treated space, but are in need of a little fixing.

But Autotune isn’t reserved exclusively for pitch correction. T-Pain popularized the hard-straightened pitch, even going as far as releasing an iOS app called “I Am T-Pain.”

Pitch correction software can also be utilized for other instruments as well. I’ve even used VariAudio (the “Autotune” built into Cubase) on bass guitar parts that were slightly out of tune. The result was surprisingly excellent, with little to no audio artifacts.

There’s a lot you can do with Autotune and similar software.

With so many options for producers, how can you decide on which one to use? Fortunately, I’ve had the experience working with many pitch correction plugins to weed out the good from the bad.

I’m going to include both free and paid options, so please read on!

Have an interest in virtual instruments? Don’t miss my other roundups!

Table of Contents

1) Antares Auto-Tune Pro (Paid)

Auto-Tune is the original pitch correction software. It’s so popular that its name is synonymous and is more of a colloquial term.

Antares gives you a couple of options to pick from depending on your needs — Pro, Artist, Access, or EFX+. As you’d guess, the price moves up the more features there are.

Auto-Tune is very hands-off. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s the most straightforward plugin for correcting pitch.

Pros

• Easy to use for beginners
• Lightweight on memory
• Great-looking user interface

Cons

• AUTO mode is limited
• Difficult for beginners to use GRAPH
• A little outdated compared

When using Auto-Tune on a vocal track in AUTO mode, set the key, the retune speed, and the amount of humanization. You should be able to hit the playback button now and hear hopefully great results.

Because it’s simplicity, I find that it doesn’t perform as well as others (when using the quick settings) that require more fine-tune vocal editing.

To fix an abysmal vocal performance, use the graph mode and hand tune each note to your liking. This process is much more complicated but yields a far better result.

I am not huge on Auto-Tune (I know many are), but it can deliver exceptional results. If you take the time to learn how to use it properly, you’ll have great-sounding vocals with ease.

Auto-Tune from Antares is available at Plugin Boutique.

2) Steinberg VariAudio — Cubase Pro (Paid)

Steinberg’s VariAudio is a pitch correction software included in Cubase Pro. It’s not a standalone plugin, so you won’t be able to use it if you don’t own Cubase Pro.

But, for those of you with Cubase who didn’t realize your DAW has pitch correction, rejoice!

I love VariAudio — so much so that I couldn’t imagine switching DAWs. I’ve been on Cubase for ten years, so I know my way around, but VariAudio is the one thing that will keep me as a forever customer.

Pros

• Integrated into Cubase
• Quick to edit any clip
• Very fast and no CPU

Cons

• Audio artifacts are very noticeable if not careful
• Limited cutting resolution
• Not intuitive at first

VariAudio functions similar to Melodyne and Auto-Tune’s graph mode. Double-clicking on a clip opens up the editor, where you can choose to enable VariAudio — no plugin required.

From here, it’s simple as using Pitch Quantize and Straighten Pitch on each clip. Cutting clips also helps pitch only individual sections of a waveform.

The newest version of VariAudio introduced some incredible options for adjusting pitch that make the software even more valuable.

I highly recommend considering Cubase Pro if you plan to switch DAWs — for VariAudio exclusively!

Steinberg’s Cubase Pro is available from Plugin Fox.

3) Celemony Melodyne (Paid)

We’re moving up the price ladder, but for a good reason. Melodyne from Celemony is one of the most utilized pitch correction plugins used by professional vocal editors and producers.

Melodyne offers (to my ears) the most accurate and musical sounding algorithm, leaving no tuning artifacts that are easily recognizable to the untrained ear.

Pros

• Incredible-sounding algorithm
• Tons of flexibility when vocals sound poor
• Zero audio artifacts in most cases

Cons

• Difficult for new users
• Rather expensive

The software has incredible note detection allowing for more accurate tuning. I find that in VariAudio, there are times that the software cannot understand individual notes, so they are omitted. It’s not too often this occurs, but Melodyne does it better.

Melodyne is available at Plugin Boutique.

4) Waves Tune (Paid)

Waves Tune operates similarly to Auto-Tune and Melodyne. Before you begin tuning, the software scans the audio track and displays audio waveforms.

The process of editing is quite similar as well, though the interface is slightly dated.

Pros

• Included in many of Wave’s plugin bundles
• Relatively lightweight on CPU

Cons

• Outdated
• Difficult to use

I have never enjoyed using Waves Tune but figured it needed a mention since Waves is one of the most popular audio plugin companies.

5) Waves Tune Real-Time (Paid)

While cheaper than the regular version of Tune, Tune Real-Time offers a quick and user-friendly experience for tuning vocals. I’d compare this plugin to using Auto-Tune on AUTO mode.

Note transition is iffy at best and artifacts are present throughout (at least when I used it). The plugin isn’t smooth sounding at all, and there aren’t many parameter changes available.

I’d recommend Real-Time for two different scenarios. The first being someone new to audio production looking to fix a vocal without technical knowledge of tuning vocals. You won’t get the most professional sound, but it will be acceptable.

The second scenario is for producers working with singers in the studio who struggle to sing on pitch.

Using a pitch-correction software can boost the confidence of the singer in the booth, though I can’t say for sure if this will lead to a better sounding vocal take.

Despite the marketing of Waves Tune Real-Time, claiming instant vocal tuning, I could envision latency becoming an issue in some home studio settings.

Free Auto-Tune VST Plugins

If you’re on the fence about which one to get or want to save a little cash, try some of these free pitch correction plugins I’ve listed below.

Things To Consider When Choosing a Pitch Correction Software Plugin

Despite all the choices I’ve laid out, you still may be confused on the correct option. Here are some things to consider before making a decision.

Does the software maker provide a trial?

If so, take the trial and check out the software! There’s nothing more frustrating than buying a plugin only to find out that it’s non-refundable.

Do you need graph editing functionality?

Graph editing, like seen in Melodyne and VariAudio, is for advanced vocal editors. If you need a quick tuning for a little enhancement of a track, you may not need to edit each note.

If you want to draw in the notes physically, a more advanced pitch correction software will be necessary.

Further features you may desire are formant control, MIDI input (for vocoder), and note straightness. These types of effects are often essential in a lot of today’s popular music.

Does your DAW already have pitch processing?

Mine does — that’s why I’ve included VariAudio in this list. Digital audio workstations like Propellerhead’s Reason and MOTU Digital Performer also come with their native pitch correction software.

Wrapping Up

Which one do I like most? If I didn’t have VariAudio included in Cubase, I’d most likely be using Melodyne exclusively. It sounds incredible, and the workflow is so intuitive.

So there you have it — my list of the best Auto-Tune/pitch correction VST plugins. Which one do you currently use in the studio? I’d love to hear from you down below in the comments. Thanks for reading!

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 3% 3% 9%;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-left” style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-center man”]VST PLUG-INS[/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][x_raw_content class=”p-about” style=”max-width: 800px;margin: 0.925em auto 0;”]

Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is a software interface that integrates software audio synthesizer and effect plugins with audio editors and recording systems. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware in software. Thousands of plugins exist, both commercial and freeware, and a large number of audio applications support VST under license from its creator, Steinberg.

[/x_raw_content][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_image=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/bg-city-gray.jpg” bg_color=”#c9c9c9″ parallax=”true” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”false” marginless_columns=”true” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 6.5%;background-color: rgba(168, 165, 153, 0.75);vertical-align: middle;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”false” class=”man” style=”color: #e4e1d0;”]Standards[/x_custom_headline][x_raw_content class=”mts” style=”color: #fff;”]

Though Steinberg pioneered VST plug-ins there are certain other plug-in standards such as AU, AXX or ASIO developed by other DAW companies.

[/x_raw_content][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 6.5%;background-color: rgba(97, 144, 162, 0.75);vertical-align: middle;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”false” class=”man” style=”color: #e4e1d0;”]Compatability[/x_custom_headline][x_raw_content class=”mts” style=”color: #fff;”]

A DAW plug-in needs to support the range of standards, e.g. Guitar Rig supports Stand-alone, VST, Audio Units, ASIO, Core Audio, WASAPI, AAX Native (Pro Tools 10 or higher) .

[/x_raw_content][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 6.5%;background-color: rgba(67, 79, 91, 0.75);vertical-align: middle;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”false” class=”man” style=”color: #e4e1d0;”]Plug-ins[/x_custom_headline][x_raw_content class=”mts” style=”color: #fff;”]

Cubase Vst Plugins Guitar Plugins

Plug-ins can provide a wide amount of additional software to a DAW environment. Most notably virtual instruments or effects, for a large plug-in forum visit www.kvraudio.com

[/x_raw_content][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-left” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 9% 3%;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-left” style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h1″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-center man h-about”]OVERVIEW[/x_custom_headline][x_raw_content style=”max-width: 800px;margin: 0.925em auto 0;”]

VST plugins generally run within a digital audio workstation (DAW), to provide additional functionality, though a few standalone plugin hosts exist which support VST. Most VST plugins are either instruments (VSTi) or effects, although other categories exist—for example spectrum analyzers and various meters. VST plugins usually provide a custom graphical user interface that displays controls similar to physical switches and knobs on audio hardware. Some (often older) plugins rely on the host application for their user interface.

VST instruments include software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizers and samplers. These typically emulate the look of the original equipment as well as its sonic characteristics. This lets musicians and recording engineers use virtual versions of devices that otherwise might be difficult and expensive to obtain.

VST instruments receive notes as digital information via MIDI, and output digital audio. Effect plugins receive digital audio and process it through to their outputs. (Some effect plugins also accept MIDI input—for example MIDI sync to modulate the effect in sync with the tempo). MIDI messages can control both instrument and effect plugin parameters. Most host applications can route the audio output from one VST to the audio input of another VST (chaining). For example, output of a VST synthesizer can be sent through a VST reverb effect.

[/x_raw_content][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 9% auto 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_accordion class=”man”][x_accordion_item title=”History” open=”false”]Steinberg released the VST interface specification and SDK in 1996. They released it at the same time as Steinberg Cubase 3.02, which included the first VST format plugins: Espacial (a reverb), Choirus (a chorus effect), Stereo Echo, and Auto-Panner.

Steinberg updated the VST interface specification to version 2.0 in 1999. One addition was the ability for plugins to receive MIDI data. This supported the introduction of Virtual Studio Technology Instrument (VSTi) format plugins. VST Instruments can act as standalone software synthesizers, samplers, or drum machines.

Neon was the first available VST Instrument (included with Cubase VST 3.7). It was a 16-voice, 2-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer. The VST interface specification was updated to version 2.4 in 2006. Changes included the ability to process audio with 64 bit precision.

VST 3.0 came out in 2008. Changes included:

Audio Inputs for VST Instruments
Multiple MIDI inputs/outputs
Optional SKI (Steinberg Kernel Interface) integration
VST 3.5 came out in February, 2011. Changes included note expression, which provides extensive articulation information in individual note events in a polyphonic arrangement. This supports performance flexibility and a more natural playing feel.

Vst megaphone effect free. In September, 2013, Steinberg discontinued maintenance of the VST 2 SDK. In December, Steinberg stopped distributing the SDK.[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title=”VST Plug-ins” open=”false”]There are three types of VST plugins.

VST instruments generate audio. They are generally either virtual synthesizers or samplers. Many recreate the look and sound of famous hardware synthesizers. Better known VST instruments include Massive, FM8, Absynth, Sylenth1, Reaktor, Gladiator, Vanguard and Omnisphere.

VST effects process rather than generate audio—and perform the same functions as hardware audio processors such as reverbs and phasers. Other monitoring effects provide visual feedback of the input signal without processing the audio. Most hosts allow multiple effects to be chained. Audio monitoring devices such as spectrum analyzers and meters represent audio characteristics (frequency distribution, amplitude, etc.) visually.

VST MIDI effects process MIDI messages (for example, transpose or arpeggiate) and route the MIDI data to other VST instruments or to hardware devices.[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title=”VST hosts” open=”false”]A VST host is a software application or hardware device that VST plugins run under. The host application presents the plugin UIs and routes digital audio and MIDI to and from the plugins.

Software

Many VST hosts are available. Not all of these support VST 3 plugins.

• Ardour (open source)
• Audacity (version 2.0 was the first stable version to display full VST graphical interfaces) (open source, Windows and Mac platforms only^[8])
• Digital Performer (version 8 or higher)
• LMMS (open source)
• Acoustica Mixcraft
• Psycle (open source)

Stand-alone dedicated hosts provide a host environment for VST plugins rather than use the plugins to extend their own capabilities. These are usually optimized for live performance use, with features like fast song configuration switching.

VST plugins can be hosted in incompatible environments using a translation layer, or shim. For example, FL Studio only supports its own internal plugin architecture, but an available native “wrapper” loads VST plugins, among others. FXpansion offers a VST to RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) wrapper that lets VST plugins run in Pro Tools, and a VST to Audio Units wrapper lets VST plugins run inLogic Pro.[/x_accordion_item][/x_accordion][x_gap size=”2px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/2″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_accordion class=”man”][x_accordion_item title=”Hardware” open=”false”]Hardware VST hosts can load special versions of VST plugins. These units are portable and usable without a computer, though some of them require a computer for editing. Other hardware options include PCI/PCIe cards designed for audio processing, which take over audio processing from the computer’s CPU and free up RAM.

Some hardware hosts accept VST’s and VSTi’s, and either run Windows-compatible music applications like Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, Logic etc., or run their own DAW. Other are VST Hosts only, and require a separate DAW application. Origin from Arturia is a hardware DSP system that houses several VST software synthesizers in one machine, like Jupiter 50/80 from Roland. Using appropriate software, audio data can also be sent over a network, so the main host runs on one computer, and VST plugins on peripheral machines.[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title=”Main VST host specification” open=”false”]The measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for hardware (or software) VST hosts for live, on-stage, application are:

• Low warm-up time
• Low time to switch between instruments, banks, patches, presets
• Low audio latency (less than 5 ms)
• Good sound quality (sample rate, low signal to noise, etc.)
• Low CPU use
• Sufficient memory capacity

[/x_accordion_item][x_accordion_item title=”VST plugin standard” open=”false”]The VST plugin standard is the audio plugin standard created by Steinberg to allow any third party developers to create VST plugins for use within VST host applications. VST requires separate installations for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The majority of VST plugins are available for Windows only due to Apple’s competing proprietary Audio Unit technology being used on OS X (Audio Units is a core part of the OS X operating system). The lack of a commercial environment for Linux means few developers target this platform.[/x_accordion_item][/x_accordion][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_image=”http://stsguitartuning.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/bg-bible-navy.jpg” bg_color=”#434f5b” parallax=”true” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 100px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h4″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”false” class=”man” style=”color: #fff;opacity: 0.25;”]Virtual Studio Technology[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 9% 3%;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-left” style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h1″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-center man h-about”]Presets[/x_custom_headline][x_raw_content style=”max-width: 800px;margin: 0.925em auto 0;”]

VST plugins often have many controls, and therefore need a method of managing presets (sets of control settings).

Steinberg Cubase VST introduced two file formats for storing presets: an FXP file stores a single preset, while an FXB file stores a whole bank of presets. These formats have since been adopted by many other VST hosts, although Cubase itself switched to a new system of preset management with Cubase 4.0.

Many VST plugins have their own method of loading and saving presets, which do not necessarily use the standard FXP/FXB formats.

[/x_raw_content][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#6190a2″ parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 9% 3%;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”2/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”false” class=”man” style=”color: #e4e1d0;”]Programming languages[/x_custom_headline][x_raw_content class=”mts” style=”color: #fff;”]

Steinberg’s VST SDK is a set of C++ classes based around an underlying C API. The SDK can be downloaded from their website.

There are several ports available, such as a Delphi version by Frederic Vanmol, a Java version from the jVSTwRapper project at Sourceforge, and two .NET versions – Noise and VST.NET; this open source project also includes a framework that makes creating VST plugins easier and result in more structured code. VST .NET also provides support for writing managed host applications with a managed class that allows loading an unmanaged Plugin. A notable language supporting VST is Faust considering that it is especially made for making signal processing plugins, often producing code faster than hand-written C++.

Cubase Vst Plugins Guitar Tuner

In addition, Steinberg have developed the VST GUI, which is another set of C++ classes, which can be used to build a graphical interface. There are classes for buttons, sliders and displays etc. Note that these are low level C++ classes and the look and feel still have to be created by the plugin manufacturer. VST GUI is part of the VST SDK and is also available as sourceforge project in http://sourceforge.net/projects/vstgui.

Cubase 5 Guitar Plugins

A large number of commercial and open-source VST’s are written using the Juce C++ framework instead of direct calls to the VST SDK, because this allows multi-format (VST, AudioUnit and Real Time AudioSuite) binaries to be built from a single codebase.

Cubase Vst Plugins Guitar Plugin

[/x_raw_content][x_gap size=”40px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”false” class=”man” style=”color: #e4e1d0;”]Interesting Links[/x_custom_headline][x_gap size=”30px”][x_button size=”x-large” block=”true” circle=”false” icon_only=”false” href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inScW4_RNgQ” title=”MIDI guitar sound” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”A technique using MIDI to create a guitar part (sound) in Logic” class=”x-btn-alt-light”]Programming MIDI Guitar Sounds[/x_button][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]