Read more / download: Blue Cat's Chorus is a vintage chorus effect. From a light ensemble to a deep destructive modulation effect, Blue Cat's Chorus can just do anything, for free! The Chorus effect was originally designed to simulate several voices, just as if several persons were playing together the same notes, but with a variable delay.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve added new entries to our directory of freeware VST plugins. Well, the standstill ends today. This article features a list of the best free chorus effects in VST and AU plugin formats for Windows and Mac-based digital audio workstations, and it marks the revival of our free VST directory, which will be updated with the latest and greatest freeware tools in the weeks to come.
I’ve picked only the very best of the best chorus effects for this list, and you’re welcome to leave your own suggestions in the comments section below if you think that the list should be updated with another plugin or even multiple plugins. Your support has been incredible so far, dear readers, and you guys have often sent me links to various brilliant freeware plugins that I’ve never seen or heard of before. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions so far, it really means a lot!
Azurite by Distorque (Windows)
- Apr 13, 2020 The last chorus effect plugin on our list is the Blend by Sinevibes. The blend is a multi-voice chorus effect plugin that comprises of up to 16 separate layers. Each layer is a chorus effect on its own, with a dedicated modulation generator and a feedback loop.
- Grab the best free Chorus VST plugins available from our free plugins library! Free Downloads. DAW Templates Plugins. Samples & Loops. Kontakt Instruments.
- DLYM is a free chorus, and flanger effect VST/AU plugin for Windows, Mac and iOS. DLYM is a free chorus, and flanger effect VST/AU plugin for Windows, Mac and iOS. Windows 10 or higher, compatible 64 bit host DAW which supports VST plugin format, plus a.
If you asked me to recommend a single chorus plugin, which I think is the absolute best choice in this category, then Azurite would definitely be my pick. The plugin is incredibly versatile, and it manages to offer a broad palette of possible settings without being too complicated to use.
The included factory presets cover a wide range of chorus effect types, ranging from subtle chorusing, which is suitable for use on guitars or vocals to some crazy modulation stuff, and even some short slap-back delays. You can use the factory presets as the starting point for your own settings, but they’re all entirely usable, and I’m sure that merely browsing through presets and finding the right one will do the job most of the time.
To sum it up, Azurite is my favorite free chorus effect in the world. Why? Because it’s a real modulation workhorse (loads of possible settings) with an incredibly simple workflow. The CPU hit is relatively low, and I’ve never had any instability issues with the plugin. The developer Distorque also offers a nice range of virtual guitar distortion pedals, so check out the rest of their site while visiting to grab your free copy of Azurite.
Mac OS will be disappointed by the fact that the plugin is Windows only, but on the bright side, it does support both 32-bit and 64-bit DAW applications on Windows. Our next entry is Mac-compatible, though, and it’s one of the best freeware plugins released so far in 2014!
Download:Azurite(32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows)
+ Versatile modulation effect
+ Amazing sound
Multiply by Acon Digital (Win & Mac)
Winner of the recently held KVR Developer Challenge 2014 contest, the brilliant Multiply plugin by Acon Digital is a modern chorus effect that uses phase randomizing filters on each of the six voices to avoid unwanted comb filter effects. The plugin includes a simple equalizer for controlling the frequency response of the processed audio signal, as well as a pre-delay section, which can be used to create echo effects.
The interface is absolutely brilliant, it looks spotless, and it’s easy to grasp right away. One of my favorite features of the plugin is the A/B testing switch, which makes it possible to test different settings against each other without running multiple instances of the plugin on the same channel.
Most importantly, the plugin is capable of producing some great sounding chorus effect. It works fantastic on electric pianos and guitars. However, I’ve also found that it can work very well for fattening up lead vocals without smudging them or making them sound artificial.
Download:Multiply(32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin format for Windows & Mac)
Blue Cat’s Chorus by Blue Cat Audio (Win & Mac)
Those in search of a super simple and great-sounding freeware chorus shouldn’t look further than Blue Cat’s Chorus. The plugin has been around for almost a decade as part of Blue Cat Audio’s freeware suite. Still, it’s continuously updated and improved to stay compatible with modern-day systems.
The official product page describes Blue Cat’s Chorus as a vintage chorus effect, but I wouldn’t necessarily limit it to the vintage category. While it’s capable of achieving that retro chorus sound, Blue Cat Chorus can also sound nice and modern with the right settings.
The plugin offers Windows and Mac support and is available in almost too many different plugin formats to count. One thing is for sure – you won’t have any compatibility issues with this little chorus unit. The plugin GUI is also fully editable, with loads of free skins available on the developer’s website. Here’s a free skin package designed by satYatunes.
Download:Blue Cat’s Chorus(32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX/RTAS/DX plugin for Win & Mac)
+ Vintage flavored chorus
+ Fully cross-platform
Magic Switch by BABY Audio (Win & Mac)
Magic Switch is a lo-fi chorus effect inspired by the classic analog ‘one-button’ chorus FX modules that were built into synthesizers back in the 80s. It is based on the same set of algorithms used for the “Magic” button in BABY Audio’s popular Super VHS plugin. The plugin instantly delivers that washed out and slightly out-of-tune chorusing effect reminiscent of 80s synth music.
If you’re inspired by the sounds of 80s movie themes, VHS tapes, and vintage music gear in general, the free Magic Switch chorus by Baby Audio is a must-have. It delivers the wobbly, dark, and intentionally unstable chorus sound that we’ve all grown to love while listening to 80s music. For a similar but more strictly modeled plugin, check out the excellent TAL-Chorus-LX by Togu Audio Line. It emulates the characteristics of the iconic Juno-60 chorus.
Download:Magic Switch(32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU/AAX plugin for Win & Mac)
Extended List (Alphabetical Order)
CH4D by Jovan Koncar (Windows) is an interesting four-voice chorus effect that uses an advanced LFO to modulate each delayed voice to achieve natural-sounding results. A worthy pick for Windows users who are looking for an easy to use chorus tool.
Dust Bucket by signaldust (Windows) is a bucket brigade type chorus effect. The developer’s goal (signaldust also has this brilliant freeware room reverb plugin called Tila, which is included in our round-up of free reverb effects) was to create a clean chorus effect, without any additional non-linear behavior. The plugin can also do some other modulation effects, such as flanger. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re looking for a clean chorus effect. However, keep in mind that the CPU hit is a tad bit high. Thanks to our reader Duckett for suggesting Dust Bucket in the comments section below!
Orange Chorus by One Small Clue (Windows) is the true successor of the legendary Classic Chorus by Kjaerhus Audio, one of my long time favorite chorus effects. Based on a similar streamlined architecture, Orange Chorus offers a great balance between great sound and fast workflow.
TAL-Chorus-LX by Togu Audio Line (Mac, Windows) is essentially the chorus module from Togu Audio Line’s brilliant Roland JUNO-60 analog synthesizer emulation called TAL-U-NO-LX. According to the audio comparison, which you can listen to on SoundCloud, the plugin sounds almost identical to the real thing. Featuring only three knobs and two buttons, this lovely vintage chorus is the most straightforward plugin on the list. I often use it to add a bit of movement and stereo width to synthesizer patches. Scroll all the way the product page to grab the previous version of the plugin, which, in my opinion, sounds even more beautiful than the new one.
In Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading our list of freeware chorus effects! Our regular visitors have probably noticed that the layout of this article is a bit different when compared to our older free VST articles. Do you like the new format with three of my favorite picks on top and the rest listed below? Let me know what you think, and once again, thanks for reading BPB!
Chorus is one of the members of a modulation effect, it occurs when similar sounds with approximately the same time, and very similar pitches, are perceived as one. An example of this is when a choir has multiple people singing each part, some may be single in Alto, and others Tenor, when mixed, it creates an effect that sounds like the vocals are being played simultaneously.
It doesn’t have to be a choir, chorus effects are also used with Instruments (e.g guitar, piano, etc), Vocals, Drums and whatever you can think of, as long as it musically blends with the rest of the elements in your mix.
In this guide, I would be recommending you to some of the best Chorus effect VST plugins for music production, starting with…
1.) MeldaProduction – MChorusMB
MeldaProduction – MchorusMB isn’t just a mere chorus effect plugin, it is a sounding powerful multiband chorus plugin, meaning you can split into bands and adjust each band individually. Whether you plan on using it on Vocals, guitar tracks, or even percussions, it processes them intuitively with outstanding audio quality and an inspiring set of features.
One of the reasons I dig this plugin is the amounts of independent bands it gives you out of the box, you can configure 1-6 fully independent bands built on 3 perfectly transparent crossover algorithms (analog, linear-phase, and hybrid) with fully adjustable limits and input gains. Also, it Includes peak meters for all bands and the master.
While some chorus can only handle mono and stereo signals, MchorusMB can handle up to 8 channels of surround audio, making them ideal for audio production, movies, games, and whatever you can think of.
Chorus Vst Plugin Free Download
Key Features:
- Up to 10 voices with advanced adjustment
- 6 stereoizing algorithms
- 1-6 fully configurable independent bands built on 3 perfectly transparent crossover algorithms with fully adjustable limits and input gains
- Integrated tube saturation gives the sound a great vintage analogue feel.
- Up to 8 channels surround processing
- Adjustable up-sampling 1x-16x to minimize aliasing and get an even clearer sound.
- Very fast, optimized for SSE and SSE2 processors.
- Global preset management and online preset exchange
- Fully Automatable.
Free Vst Plugins Download
System Requirements:
- Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10 (32-bit or 64-bit) // Mac OS X (10.7 and newer, 32-bit or 64-bit)
- VST / VST3 / AU / AAX compatible host (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Intel/AMD processor with SSE2 support
As a general rule: Always use 32-bit plugins in 32-bit hosts or 64-bit plugins in 64-bit hosts!
2.) D16 Group – Syntorus 2
Syntorus is an award-winning chorus effect plugin that is built to emulate the analogue chorus effect, according to D16 Group, it is inspired by the revered effects found in classic synthesizers such as the Solina String Ensemble, Elka Synthex, and Roland Juno-106.
As you probably know that a classic chorus effect is created by mixing an audio signal with one or more delayed and pitch-modulate multiple copies of it. D16 Group did something different, they constructed an extremely precise model of a high-quality BBD (bucket brigade device) analogue delay line in the digital domain, which in turn results in an incredibly warm, musical sound with no unwanted digital artifacts.
Chorus Vst Plugin Download
Another interesting feature of the Syntorus effect plugin is the Filter and Tremolo, as you can see in the above image that each delay line has its own multimode filter and a tremolo effect built-in, both governed by the same modulation sources as the delay time.
There is also the cut-off knob, which you can use to create interesting automation.
Lastly, it perfectly synchronized with the host DAW, while you might face phasing issues with synchronizing in other chorus effect plugin, Syntorus 2 tackles that, and the phase would be perfectly synchronized to the play head position within your project, ensuring that your chorus always sounds exactly as it should at any point on the timeline.
Key Features:
- High-quality analogue BBD delay line emulation
- 3 delay lines, each one featuring: New Multimode filter, Tremolo effect, and a New Panning
- 3 LFO generators, each one featuring: 6 waveforms, Timeline-locked tempo sync, Independent phase shift controls for left and right channels with link option, and an Amplitude control with invert option
- 3 LFO-to-delay-line routing configurations
- Tag-based preset browser
- Three GUI scaling options
- 64-bit internal processing
- Over 100 presets
- and many more
System Requirements:
- Windows 7 / 8 / 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Mac OS X (10.7 and newer, 64-bit only)
- Windows – 2.5 GHz with SSE (Multicore system 2.8 GHz recommended)
- Mac – CPU Intel-based 2.5 GHz (2.8 GHz recommended)
- Win: VST / AAX compatible host application (32bit or 64bit)
- Mac: AU / VST / AAX compatible host application (64bit only)
3.) kiloHearts – Ensemble Snapin
Ensemble Snapin has a really simple and intuitive interface. The way it works is creating an illusion of multiple voices playing in unison. It creates this effect by playing delayed copies of the incoming sound. Another super sleek feature of Ensemble Snapin is the way it modulates the phases of each voice to create a silky smooth result without any metallic flanging. off course, this can all be controlled to suit your style.
Key Features:
- Voices: Number of voices to play simultaneously.
- Detune: How quickly to modulate the delay for each voice, affecting how detuned the voices will be.
- Spread: Pans voices left or right for a stereo effect.
- Mix: The dry/wet mix of this effect. A lower value will let some of the unmodified signals through.
- Motion: Selects between different patterns for the modulations of the voices.
- Resize handle: The bottom right corner of all Kilohearts plugins is a resize handle for scaling the UI to any size.
System Requirements:
- Windows (7 or newer) or Mac OS X (10.7 or newer)
- CPU: 2 GHz or higher
- Memory: 1 GB or more
- AAX / AU / VST2 / Snapin
4.) XILS Lab – ChorX
The next chorus effect plugin on our list is the Chorx by XILS Lab. ChorX combines four types of Vintage Chorus effects (Synthex, CS-80 Dim-D and V+ 330 ), based on Bucket-Brigade Delay (BBD) emulation with a sophisticated True Stereo Dynamic Spatializer. The True Stereo engine can position all the signals in a stereo image. Whether you want to push the element in front of the stereo field or father, it’s well capable of that.
In short, ChorX give you the opportunity of controlling the space of whatever you are mixing, be it a lead vocal, instrument, etc. I mentioned that you can add a chorus to a percussive instrument above, but with ChorX, you can do it better as it doesn’t destroy the low end of your instruments, it will let you treat percussive material while leaving the transients dry, only adding chorus to the tail of the instruments, you get the idea.
The Chor’X 1.5 provides four standard chorus structures you can choose by clicking on the Synthex, Dim-D, CS80 or V+330 buttons. These choruses are built with special filters and compander (compressor-expender) emulations to get as close as possible to the existing old analog chorus unit.
Key Features:
- Easy and Fast workflow with the Legacy/Advanced mode
- Four Bucket-Brigade Delay emulations
- Four standard chorus structures (with special filtering and compander emulations)
- Two 2-D pads for easy parameters tweaking
- True Stereo Dynamic Engine
- Advanced Dry/Wet modulation with an impulse follower
- Advance Amount modulation with an envelope follower
- True stereo path with independent Right and Left Chorus structures
- Advanced preset management
- All parameters are MIDI controllable
System Requirements:
- Mac OSX 10.5 and later: VST, Audio Unit, RTAS (Protools 7.0 and later), AAX (32&64 bits, native)
- Windows XP, Vista and 7 & 8 ; VST, RTAS (Protools 7.0 and later), AAX (32&64 bits, native)
- 1 Gigabyte of RAM and a 1 GHz processor.
5.) Sinevibes – Blend
The last chorus effect plugin on our list is the Blend by Sinevibes. The blend is a multi-voice chorus effect plugin that comprises of up to 16 separate layers. Each layer is a chorus effect on its own, with a dedicated modulation generator and a feedback loop. Another fantastic feature of Blend is the three different interpolation algorithms, each giving it a slightly different sound character. It just doesn’t work as a chorus effect, it is super flexible in the sense that, you can create additional effects such as vibrato, tape wow, flanger, dissonance – even reverb – are just a few tweaks away.
Please Note: This software is Mac compatible only (Audio Units) and will not function on PCs.
Key Features:
- 16 chorus layers each with an individual feedback loop.
- Three selectable interpolation algorithms: vintage, character, modern.
- 16 sine wave modulation generators, one per chorus layer, with proportional phase offsets.
- Variable stereo width and low-frequency cut.
- Color-coded graphics with subtle animations.
- Fully hardware-accelerated rendering with support for retina screen resolution.
System Requirements:
- Mac compatible only (Audio Units)
- Works with any application that supports Audio Unit effect plugins.
- Supports OS X 10.6 or later running on 32 or 64 bit Intel Macs.