Best new plugins this week: paid and free highlights

This roundup highlights the best new plugins this week and focuses on recent releases across both free and paid formats. The coverage summarizes notable entries including Rast Sound’s Soren 1.5, Devious Machines’ Duck 2, Time Off Audio’s Dime[mb], Grainferno, and CodWaves’ EelDrive. The article also notes available freeware and trial offerings such as Valhalla’s Supermassive reverb and Matt Tytel’s Helm polysynth. Pricing, introductory discounts, feature updates and per-plugin trials are detailed for several releases.

Rast Sound’s Soren 1.5 is offered at an introductory price of €149 until 15 April, with the 1.5 update provided free to existing owners. Soren 1.5’s Mix Agent analyses premaster mixes to suggest adjustments including resonance reduction and tonal balancing, and Devious Machines’ Duck 2 is priced at £29.99 while adding a three-band multiband section with unique envelopes and a Trace Envelope feature. Time Off Audio’s Dime[mb] splits the signal into five frequency bands with per-band VST3/AU loading and an intro price of €49, Grainferno is presented as a granular synthesizer discounted to £59, and CodWaves’ EelDrive is described as inspired by the Boss SD-1 and priced at €9.99 with a seven-day trial.

Rast Sound’s Soren 1.5 is offered at an introductory price of €149 until 15 April, compared with a usual price of €249, and the 1.5 update is provided free to existing owners. These pricing terms were included in the article’s weekly roundup of new plugins, where Soren 1.5 was listed among current paid updates and limited-time offers. The report places the promotional pricing and the free-update policy alongside feature details for the updated Soren release.

The 1.5 update introduces a Mix Agent that analyses premaster mixes to suggest adjustments such as resonance reduction and tonal balancing, with the Mix Agent cited explicitly as part of the new feature set. Soren 1.5 also includes a Smart Reference Library that contains 27 built-in references, and the article lists that library as a bundled resource within the update. Both the Mix Agent and the Smart Reference Library are presented in the article as key elements of the Soren 1.5 release.

Devious Machines’ Duck 2 is listed at £29.99 for new purchasers, and existing users are offered a discounted upgrade price. The update introduces a three-band multiband section that provides separate processing and control across three frequency ranges. Each of those bands includes unique envelopes that allow independent shaping of dynamics and modulation across the three ranges. In addition, Duck 2 incorporates a Trace Envelope feature described in the report, which operates alongside the multiband envelopes. These pricing details and the described feature set were presented in the article’s roundup of new plugins, alongside other release notes and upgrade information.

Time Off Audio’s Dimemb plugin introduces advanced multiband processing, allowing users to split audio signals into five distinct frequency bands. Each of these bands can be customized individually with VST3/AU loading per band, offering precise control over the sound shaping process. This functionality makes it versatile for mixing and mastering tasks, as users can apply different effects and processing techniques to specific parts of the frequency spectrum.

The plugin is available at an introductory price of €49, a discount from its regular price of €69. This pricing strategy provides an accessible entry point for new users while highlighting its value as a sophisticated audio tool. These details reflect the features and pricing terms presented in the article’s roundup of this week’s new plugins.

Baby Audio’s Grainferno is presented as a granular synthesizer with a drag-and-drop modulation workflow that simplifies routing and modulation assignment within the plugin’s interface. Its modulation suite comprises three envelopes, three LFOs and three random generators, enabling layered and stochastic modulation sources for granular parameters and textured sound design.

The plugin is offered at a 39% discount, priced at £59 compared with a usual price of £99, as reported in the weekly roundup of new plugins. The article lists Grainferno’s modulation features and promotional pricing among this week’s new free and paid releases. The entry is presented alongside other highlighted tools in the roundup, with modulation capabilities and pricing called out.

CodWaves’ EelDrive is inspired by the Boss SD-1 and is presented with three controls: Drive, Tone and Level, which are listed by name in the plugin announcement. The release also specifies two selectable operating modes, Studio Mode and Pedal Mode, and lists those mode names without additional elaboration.

Pricing for EelDrive is given as €9.99, and the product page includes a seven-day trial period for users to evaluate the plugin. These items are reported together in the weekly new-plugins roundup among other entries, with the announcement combining the stated inspiration, control layout, operating modes and trial and pricing information as published.

This weekly roundup details the best new plugins this week, presenting both paid releases and free or trial options. The article reports updates and new products from multiple developers, including new feature sets, modulation tools and multiband processing implementations across the listed plugins. It also compiles stated pricing and promotional information alongside upgrade and trial availability for the releases covered.

The coverage groups product highlights with brief feature summaries and stated commercial terms, noting instances of introductory pricing, discounts and trial periods. Freeware and trial offerings are mentioned alongside paid plugins in the roundup, as part of the article’s survey of recent plugin releases.