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11 Underrated VSTs

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Here are the synths and effects we think the world has been missing out on since their release. Get ready to discover some hidden gems in this list.

There are a lot of plugins released these days. Some are hyped, some are overhyped; some are instant hits, some creep up on the world after a while; some never get noticed, and others are used for a few weeks and then ignored forever more.

It’s very easy to miss some hidden gems that didn’t get enough of a first impression. In this article, we’re going to focus on the plugins that we think deserve more attention than they’ve been getting so far, as well as some underloved releases from a while ago.

Minimal Audio Current

Five sound engines, a suite of effects and loads of presets make this synth worth a second look.

This synth was originally launched as a subscription-only offering, but Current is now available with a perpetual license here on Plugin Boutique. For sound generation, there are five sources available: Two Spectral Wavetable Oscillators, a Granular Oscillator, Sub Oscillator, and a Sampler. As well as FM/AM modulation, you’re also able to access Minimal Audio’s effects (including some unreleased ones) within Current’s effects section.

Current is a powerful plugin, but if you’re not the type to spend hours tweaking every part of your sound, Minimal Audio have built in a cloud-based preset library called The Stream, which brings together presets from producers all over the world – meaning that Current might eventually have more presets than the rest of the synths in your collection.

Audio Damage Quanta 2

Granular specialist synth with some analogue flavour to back up the digital goods.

Granular synthesis is a technique that uses small snippets of a sound, played over and over, usually with multiple layers being playback at the same time in different ways, to deconstruct, stretch and generally transform the original sound. Quanta 2 gives you plenty of control over the processing of its grains’ playback, making for some really palate-expanding sounds.

Aside from the purely granular features, Quanta 2 brings two analogue-style oscillators into play, which you can also route into the granular engine for some mayhem. These more traditional oscillators will feel like safe territory for anyone who’s out of their comfort zone with granular techniques, as will Quanta 2’s effects and modulation options.

Excite Audio Motion Series

Hugely versatile effects that can do a lot from just a little movement.

If you haven’t checked out Motion: Harmonic or Motion: Dimension, do so now. We’ll wait for you to come back.

These plugins from developer Excite Audio are hard to explain but very original and creative. When used simply, one movement of a single node on the left-hand side of the plugin sets off a cascade of parameter changes behind the scenes, making for some very impressive effects. That movement can be drawn and automated, if you don’t even want to use your mouse.

For those wanting to go even deeper, you can affect how each part of that cascade works, and what your movements to the main parameters will mean. Motion: Harmonic processes distortion and filtering parameters, while Motion: Dimension takes on reverb and delay effects. Each also has a Lite version to get you started if you prefer to keep things simple.

Forever 89 VISCO

Drum sound design through the medium of slime? Yeah, OK.

Would you benefit from a different way to program and design drums? Get your hands on Visco. But have some wet wipes ready for afterwards.

Visco is a drum machine that does its thing very differently. A 2D plane is taken up by a blob of slime that represents the sound’s frequency content over time. You get to squish and move that slime (well, more importantly, the frequency content over time), to design anything from kicks to snares and claps to cymbals and hats.

This is a drum machine with a workflow that’s not to be missed – and it’s definitely not just a gimmick. Visco is a great way to come up with drum sounds that work, and there’s a raft of real sliders that get you more fine-tuning control over your sounds.

510k SEQUND

Is your DAW’s sequencer not cutting it for your musical needs? There’s a plugin for that.

Do you sometimes wish that every plugin could be controlled by a sequencer? If you’re secretly harbouring fantasies about controlling Phase Plant and Pigments with an 808-style workflow, you may not be the only one with that fantasy. Seqund is a MIDI plugin for sequencing in just this way, connecting to your destination plugin using your DAW’s MIDI routing, and functioning as an alternative to your DAW’s own sequencer.

Pattern or switch lanes include Gate, Hold, Chance, Pitch A and Pitch B, Octave, Transpose, Velocity and CCs, and there are parameters to control the movement and playback of the sequencer itself at the bottom of the UI.

Klevgrand OneShot

Your new go-to drum companion.

“All your drumming needs in one place”, says the pitch for Klevgrand’s OneShot plugin. It’s a drum machine player that loads samples into full kits. It’s simple to load, simple to work with multiple velocity layers, has triggering options, and has effects to add as well. Sounds like they’re telling the truth, then…

It sounds simple and easy, but the real benefit comes when you actually start using the plugin as part of your regular workflow. At that point, “Simple” and “Easy” become a huge deal, as they help you get wherever you want to be quickly. OneShot can replace any kind of drum machine, and will usually lead to a simpler workflow when it does. One other huge draw is the presets, which have been curated to give you a large choice of sounds for most standard use cases.

United Plugins Cyberdrive

Mix and match distortion models then go even deeper to trash up your sounds.

Most distortion and saturation plugins offer you… you know, one distortion. Not Cyberdrive. This plugin forces your signal – ready or not – through three different distortion units, and then through a feedback processor as an exploding cherry on top.

If three different flavours of distortion weren’t enough for you, then never fear – Cyberdrive doesn’t stop there, it’s got even more processing options to finish things off with. Along the bottom, you’ll find a Dynamics module (IE compression), two Tone modules, a Motion processor, a Profile module (guitar speaker cabinets, for example) and a Space processor (reverb, most usually).

Dawesome MYTH

Creative synth designed to mimic the exploration associated with hardware synthesisers.

While a classic subtractive synth workflow involves choosing some oscillators then chipping away at their sound, Myth is attempting to cut a different path. Sounds you select to act as an oscillator source will be resynthesised, and new variations will be created. From here, you can experiment with variations on that theme, creating different ways for your oscillator source to alter, move and behave.

It’s not all advanced machine-learning-based synth technology, though – there are a few more comfortable features to cling onto if your production habits aren’t at the bleeding edge of technology. These include things like analogue-style filters, MIDI effects and MPE support, plus 700 presets to get things moving yourself.

Denise Audio Bass XXL

Get control of your low-end and make it apparent on small playback systems.

This plugin has a very specific remit: use Bass XXL when you want to increase your bass presence and power. Select where your bass part’s fundamental frequencies lie, and the plugin should be able to do the rest for you. With this set up, you can control sub bass, increase harmonic presence, elevate power, and do the all-important job of making more sure the bass part is audible over smaller speakers and earbuds.

There are lots more ways you can use the plugin to fine-tune exactly how your bass works, and that’s a very useful thing given how important an element bass is in modern music production. Bass XXL can be your secret weapon, and it’s not going to cost as much as many other plugins.

Pulsar Audio Mu

An analogue compressor that everyone should experience.

Based on a famous ‘Variable Mu’ compressor, this plugin has a character all its own, and one that should be useful to even the most native of digital natives.

You’ll recognise almost everything in Mu from most other compressors you’ve used in the past. Here though, it’s the response of the compression and the modelled circuitry that really do impart that ‘special something’ that the analogue sound is all about. Sure, Mu usually won’t be the right thing to use on a 4/4 kick drum, but for more musical material, it’s a must-try compressor.

One of the key features of this plugin is the focus on transient processing, which you can affect with the Transient knob. There’s also a quite comprehensive sidechain EQ, plus Mid/Side capability that goes further than the original hardware.

MNTRA Instruments BOREALIS

An animated reverb plugin that gets your whole space moving in time with your music.

Borealis starts off with a choice of 16 reverb algorithms, most concentrated on large, cavernous spaces that shimmer and ring. Expect frozen reverbs, warm halls, echoing churches and more besides. But that’s not the whole point of this plugin. The real idea here is to take those chilling, frozen, shimmering reverb sounds and shake them up – literally.

Borealis gives you deep modulation options, with traditional waveforms and envelope followers moving the key parameters of the reverb algorithms – all to make your sounds sway, pop and animate. Given that this is a reverb plugin, the modulation serves to animate the space, making for a more immersive experience that would be pretty much impossible from a real-life space. There’s plenty of presets to get things moving without too much headscratching, too.