Free Synth Software For Mac



This post is for the Mac users.
When it comes to Mac OS X, the number of freeware plugins is very low, compared to the Windows world.
The popular “Save as VST” softwares (Synthedit and Synthmaker) are Windows only.
The “upgrade” politic of Apple is a sort of nightmare for developers (and sometimes users!), so many old free plugins don’t work anymore…

  1. Free Synth Software For Mac
  2. Best Software Synths
  3. Free Synth Software For Mac Windows 7
  4. Free Synth Software For Mac Computers
  5. Free Synth Software Windows

Free Software Modular Synthesizer For Mac & Windows, Voltage Nucleus Cherry Audio has introduced Voltage Modular Nucleus, a free modular synthesizer for Mac & Windows. Here’s what they have to say about it. Synth1 is a VST & AU software synthesizer designed by Ichiro Toda – (戸田一郎). It is modeled on the iconic Clavia Nord Lead 2. Synth1 combines the common sound synthesis method of Subtractive & FM synthesis. It’s one of the most downloaded soft synth in the world, some say it sounds amazing, and it’s totally free!

I have searched for free MAC plugins over the web and then tested !
– only free synth (not effects), in VST and or AudioUnit (AU) format
– the OS used is Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion)
– i tested the plugins in Ableton Live 9 / Renoise / some free VST & AudioUnit host softwares (Pedalboard, the JUCE open source plugin host, VSTLord, AULab, Ugly VSTi Interface…)

It’s a selection with free virtual analog synths, organ emulations, epiano emulations, drum synth, bass synth, FM synth, emulation of Oberheim / NordLead / DX 7 synth, chip synth, guitar emulation…

and here a list of 25 free synth plugins for Mac OS X :

1. Synth1 AU/ VST

The must-have free synth plugin is available for Mac since one or two years, it is in beta state, it still have some minor bugs with the UI, but it’s usable and you can benefit from the incredible amount of presets created for Synth1, including these 😀
=>
https://blog.wavosaur.com/synth1-presets-chris-bank-volume-2/ &
https://blog.wavosaur.com/chris-bank-synth1-reup/
I had some problems for saving preset in Ableton Live.
Synth1 can do an incredible variety of sounds.
The most versatile Synth in this list

2. OBXD AU / VST

Free Synth Software For Mac

OBXD AU

The free Oberheim OB-X OB-Xa OB-8 emulation !
work without any problem in my AudioUnit / VST hosts on Mac.

3. Tyrell N6 AU / VST

http://www.u-he.com/cms/tyrelln6
DL here : http://www.amazona.de/amazona-de-freeware-synthesizer-tyrell-n6-v3/

U-He loves the Mac, don’t hesitate to have a look at the other freeware on the Website, all are working without problems in VST or AudioUnit format. I have also selected Triple Cheeze and Zebralette from the same developer. These plugins are good and full featured.

TyrellN6 plugin comes with a big amount of presets, and a deep variety of sounds. It’s powerful and easy to program. It’s rock solid stable and have a nice UI too!

4. FreeAlpha AU / VST

FreeAlpha AU

This freeware from LinPlug sounds very good, it has punch and is easy to tweak. It can do punchy bass, but also nice pads and clean leads. Despite its simple look, it’s powerful and funky!

5. Crystal AU / VST

The old Crystal Synth is still top, and one of the best synth for complex / evolving PADS, with its multipoint envelopes, and the complete modulation matrix.
One of the best virtual synth, for more than 10 years!

6. TAL NoiseMaker AU / VST

TAL Noisemaker

Like U-He, TAL has many freebees for Mac OS X.
I have selected Noize M4k3r and Elek7tro but you also have other interesting plugins.
The “Noise Maker” plugin has two osc + sub, a good filter and the famous Chorus “a la Roland”, so you have all you need for your fat bass/lead. Certainly more agressive than Crystal, it completes well the sonic arsenal.

7. Dexed FM VST

The famous free Yamaha DX7 emulation ! It’s VST only (no AU for the moment).
Use the cart / load / save button to browse or import presets.
It can read / write sysex files for and from the DX7.
Now all your FM needs are fullfilled: you can do pop ballad or Detroit techno, vive la FM !

8. MiniSpillage AU (Drum Synth)

MiniSpillage AU

Now that we have the FM synth, the Pad synth, the Bass synth and Lead capable synths, we need a DRUM synth. The Minispillage plugin has three dedicated algo for bass drum, wood drum and hihat.
I tend to prefer “Drumatic” but Drumatic is Windows only.

9. ComboF organ AU / VST

After all these synths, we now need an emulation of our prefered organ : the Farfisa combo organ!
ComboF gives you the sound of the Italian electric organ we all love. Available for Mac and windows, in AudioUnit and VST!

10. MrTramp 2 e-piano AU / VST

MrTramp2

After the organ emulation, we need the electric piano! MrTramp 2 is the best (free or not) emulation of the Wurlitzer electric piano. It’s raining again ! Now you can sound like Supertramp ! Breakfast in America !! There are not so much controls but you don’t need more, and the sound is excellent.

11. Cheeze Machine AU

A dedicated string synth plugin for Mac ! The Cheeze machine from Big Tick is a kind of Arp Solina emulation. It has this phaser / chorus creamy sound.
it’s AU only and should work with your favorite Mac host software.

12. TripleCheese AU / VST

TripleCheeze plugin

Free

Cheese again !
The U-He contribution to the first KVR Developer Challenge. It’s an original synth with unusual sound generation. Nice for plucked sounds. Works well on my Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Thanks to the comb filter, you can generate very original sounds.

13. Zr3 organ VST

We have ComboF for the Farfisa emulation, and for the Hammond B3 organ lovers, there’s Zr3.
It’s VST only and works nice in Ableton Live 9.
The only good free Hammond B3 emulation for Mac OS X.

14. TAL Elek7ro AU / VST

TAL Elektro

A perfect free synth for bass and perc sounds.
Don’t forget to check the other TAL plugins !

15. VST Speek AU / VST

Coming from here ! the funkiest text to speech in plugin format !
The best C64 Sam oldskool text to speech emulator, for all your techno voices.
Available in 32 & 64 bit, VST & AU

16. Zebralette AU / VST

Zebralette plugin

Coming with the demo of Zebra, the famous synth by u-He, Zebralette is a nice synth, with unusual sound, and powerful possibilities and plenty of special waveforms to play with.

17. Model – E VST

The antic VST from Steinberg, now free, and now available in VST format for Mac OSX.
It has been surpassed in all domain by many other synth (freeware included). But it can be useful and you can get some nice sounds out of it if you tweak it with love.

18. VB-1 virtual bass VST

VB1 bass

Another prehistoric virtual synth from Steinberg, this virtual bass plugin is free and available with Model E in the same package (see link above). Very simple sound, can be useful.
Freeware for Mac are rare so we take it!

19. MDA Piano ePiano DX10 & JX10 VST

NO GUI

These free VST work for Mac OS X, they don’t have UI, you’ll have to use the default interface supplied by your host.
– Piano & ePiano are sample based synth, the ePiano is very good, it’s a kind of Rhodes emulation.
– DX10 is a FM Synth, it has only two operators, but you can still get nice bell sounds out of it.
– JX10 is a very nice virtual analog synth, despite some bugs (the Windows version has the same), it can do some very nice leads.

20. 4Front R-Piano AU / VST

Another free electric piano emulation for your Mac!
It’s simple and has a nice clean sound. Perfect for deep house chords.

21. Chip32 AU

Chip 32 AU

This is the URL where you can also find the Cheeze Machine VST, and also the very good Clavinet emulation by Big Tick (TickyClav). Chip32 is a very simple plugin, perfect for your chip tune needs.

22. Spicy Guitar AU / VST

A free Audio Unit / VST emulation of an acoustic guitar ! It’s use a physical modelled synthesis, and is a great emulation. Here are coming the ukulele / banjo / Flamenco guitar !

23. Scythe VST

Scythe VST

A very simple VA Synth (VST only), with two oscillators, a filter, modulation envelope & some embedded effects : bitcrusher / phaser / chorus / delay.
It’s simple but efficient.
You can also generate random presets!

24. Automat AU

A virtual substractive synth with 3 osc, and filter for each osc, + many effects and modulations.
It’s audiounit only, and like Scythe, it has a random preset generator.

25. VOPM VST

VOPM VST synth

A VST emulation of the Yamaha YM2151 Chip that was used in many arcade games, and is similar to the chip in the Sega Megadrive. It’s a 4 operator FM synth, with 8 algorithm.
here’s a lot of preset for VOPM : http://truechiptilldeath.com/blog/2010/05/04/opm-patches-out-of-most-genesis-games/

26. Bonus tracks ?

1) there’s also kickmaker, a free kick drum synthesizer in VST and AU format : http://teragonaudio.com/KickMaker.html

and C700, that can load sample in aiff and wav format :
http://picopicose.com/software.html

2) I also tried other free VST plugins for MAC , but with no luck (no one working in any host on my Mac OS X Mountain Lion), i think these are too old plugins, or maybe ppc plugins (even if they were said to work on Mac OS X).
For example :
the Delay Lama ! http://www.audionerdz.nl/download.htm
AU303 & AirySynth : http://airy.andre.online.fr/AU/index.html#au303

3) I’m working on a port of Rave Generator VST for MAC, here you can find a beta (x64 only, VST only) :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/149376535107031/835302689847742/

3) I’m also working on a port of CreakBox (the TB303 plugin) for MAC OS X (i already have converted it to VST2.4 then to 64 bit), see link ( @ 6. and in the comments) :
https://blog.wavosaur.com/best-free-tb-303-emulation-sotware-vst-plugins-standalone/

4) i’ll do another posts with the free effect plugins for MAC ! It seems there are more effects available for free than synths.

Last Updated on August 14, 2020 by

Having a good drum sound in your mixes is essential, be it real drums, sampled drums or synth drums.

Not everyone has the luxury of having a drummer available to record whatever they need 24/7, so making your own drum tracks and getting them to sound good is a great way of doing things.

Luckily, there are many free drum VST plugins available that should get you sounding amazing in no time.

These are the best free Drum VSTs;

  1. MT Power DrumKit 2 (Windows, Mac)
  2. Drumatic 3 by e-phonic (Windows)
  3. DrumMic’a! by Sennheiser (Windows, Mac)
  4. Beatfactory Drums by BeatSkillz (Windows, Mac)
  5. MiniSpillage by AudioSpillage (Mac)
  6. SM Drumkit by SMM (Windows, Mac)
  7. EXD-80 by Third Harmonic Studios (Windows)
  8. Drum Pro by StudioLinked (Windows, Mac)
  9. TheDrumSource by Witech (Windows)
  10. REX 606 (Windows, Mac)
  11. Line of Legends (Windows, Mac)
  12. Sean Pandy Drums (Windows, Mac)
  13. Dub Turbo DrumTROOP (Windows, Mac)
  14. Single Cycle Vintage Drum Elements (Windows, Mac)

1. MT Power DrumKit 2 (Windows, Mac)

The MT Power DrumKit is a free sampler which offers high-quality samples of an acoustic, realistic drum kit.

The Samples come pre-processed which should make them sit nicely in any mix without any tweaking.

In addition to the incredible drum sounds that cut through any mix, it also has a fully pre-programmed groove library, which makes it extremely easy to set up a quick drum track for any song.

It also comes with a mixer where you can adjust the levels of each component, plus you can control the level of compression and panning.

Make sure to check out the official website here.

If you’re thinking about building a home studio, then make sure to read this entire post about the essential home studio components you need.

2. Drumatic 3 by e-phonic (Windows)

Drumatic 3 is a virtual-analogue drum synthesizer.
All sounds are 100% synthetic and allow for huge flexibility and variation.

It sounds pretty good, just remember that the sounds are nowhere close to a real drum, but that’s the whole point.

Sounds: Bassdrum, Snaredrum, Handclap, 2 Toms, Hihats and a Rimshot / Bell.

Features

  • Graphical envelopes for amplitude and modulation
  • Load / save presets for single sounds
  • Simple but effective effect section for each sound with distortion and bitcrusher and a filter.
  • 6 Stereo outputs, assignable for each sound.
  • All parameters can be automated (midi-CC not yet supported)

You can download it here.

Are you also looking for 20 of the best Free Orchestral VST plugins? As it so happens, I wrote an article about the ones I think are the best!

3. DrumMic’a! by Sennheiser (Windows, Mac)

This is a Free drum sample Software which loads inside of the free native Instruments Kontact Player. This one allows you to change between Sennheiser and Neumann Microphones, which will change the drum sound a bit.

This one also comes with a mixer where you can adjust the volume of each individual component of the kit and also allowing you to EQ, Compress, add reverb and delay, pan, etc.

This is a fantastic option, especially because it’s free, check its official website here.

Related: I love free plugins, so I put together a list of the best Free Synth VST Plugins out there which you can check out here,

4. Beatfactory Drums by BeatSkillz (Windows, Mac)

Beatfactory Drums is a free drumkit/drum machine plugin which works in any DAW on Mac OS X and Windows 32/64-bit.

The kits included in the plugin were created using the MPC 2500 passing through high end outboard EQ, compressors, tube and solid state gear, for a gritty and punchy sound.

It’s a very fun plugin to use and it sounds absolutely fantastic!

Features

  • Sampled from MPC 2500
  • Created with High End OutBoard Gear
  • Volume and Pan for Each Sample Pad
  • ADSR Envelope for Shaping the Kit
  • 10 Kits Included
  • Built in REVERB

Here’s the to where you can download the Beat Factory Drums.

Best free synth

5. MiniSpillage by AudioSpillage (Mac)

MiniSpillage is a free professional quality drum synthesizer plugin featuring high resolution 64-bit DSP processing that includes 3 exclusive drum synthesis algorithms along with distortion effects and resonant filters.

Features

  • HD 64-bit Digital Sound
  • 3 Editable Drum Pads

You can Download it here.

Now, maybe you need some truly powerful Drum VSTs and the ones on this list won’t cut it; Here’s a post about the best Premium Drum VSTs out there.

6. SM Drumkit by SMM (Windows, Mac)

This is one of the best free acoustic drum sample packs available. The samples are from a Vintage Ludwig drumkit which just sound fantastic.

The intention behind this was to provide a sampled collector drum kit in an easy to use format (Kontakt) as well as the open WAV samples to map in your own samplers of choice.

To use in Kontakt, however, you will need the full version since the free version of Kontakt only allows you to use it for 15 min.

This Pack adds up to 3.7GB across 3614 samples recorded in 24 bits, and each piece has up to 64 velocity layers and up to 8 round robins.

Here’s a link to the official website.

If you’re looking for a Free DAW to use these plugins with, then make sure to read this guide I wrote on the best free DAWs available today!

7. EXD-80 by Third Harmonic Studios (Windows)

EXD-80 is a free 32-bit virtual analog drum and percussion synthesizer plugin for Windows.

It is a flexible drum synth that can produce a wide variety of drum and percussion sounds.

Free Synth Software For Mac

From emulations of classic drum machines to crazy, mangled glitch sounds – all synthesized, no samples here!

It is suitable for many EDM styles including electro, glitch, industrial, ambient, dubstep, drum & bass and hip hop.

Features

  • 8 Modules – kick, snare, open and closed hi-hats, 5 x percussion sounds
  • 4 Stereo output pairs
  • Each output pair has its own stereo effects section featuring a Granulator and Waveshaper
  • Supports VST host automation and MIDI continuous controllers
  • User definable MIDI note mappings
  • 128 User drum kit patches (comes with 16 preset drum kits)

Note: It’s only 32-bit.

Free synth software for mac windows 7

You can download it here.

8. Drum Pro by StudioLinked (Windows, Mac)

This is a fantastic drum machine plugin no matter how you look at it. The sounds you can get out of it are great and the ease of use is unmatched.

It is ideal for Hip-hop, Trap, EDM, etc.

Features

  • 20 drum kits.
  • Global ADSR / reverb.
  • 12 pads.
  • Volume and pan for each pad.

Also, you can add some paid expansion packs if you’d like.

You can download it here.

9. TheDrumSource by Witech (Windows)

TheDrumSource is a sample based drum machine with a built in browser and sequencer. It has a simple, very clean interface and very fast workflow which is ideal for beginners.

Features

  • support for many sample formats.
  • Sample preview.
  • Separate output channels.
  • Very fast sample browsing.
  • Resizable GUI.
  • 24 patterns.
  • 16/32/64/128 step sequences.
  • Each channel has pan, volume, pitch, length knobs and swing.
  • Formats (including 24-bit): WAV, AIFF, AIFC, AU, SND, RAW, PAF, IFF, SVX, SF, VOC, W64, MAT4, MAT5, PVF, XI, HTK, CAF, SD2, FLAC, OGG.
  • Sample pack included

You can download it here.

I’ve also put together a list about the top Free Bass Amp VST Plugins which is definitely worth checking out!

10. T.REX 606 (Windows, Mac)

The T.REX 606 is a rompler of classic 606.

It’s got a vintage and Modern GUI Design featuring 7 Classics Sounds and knobs for Main Volume & Simple Reverb.

It’s really straight forward to use, very simple and intuitive. The sound quality isn’t the best, but you should definitely try it out since it’s free.

It works both on Windows and Mac OS.

You can download it here.

11. Line of Legends (Windows, Mac)

Line of Legends may look extremely simple to you, but don’t let it fool you, it’s a great plugin

It features high quality drum samples from the eponymous free sample pack released by realdrumsamples.com.

The interface is divided in 8 sections (Kick, Snare, Clap, Snap, Toms, Hi hat, Ride and Crash).

Best Software Synths

Each section uses its own individual output for an easier handling in a productive environment.

Features

  • 47 high quality samples.
  • 8 individual outputs.
  • Punch knobs for attack sculpting.
  • Release and Pan knobs

Important Note: Some people have reported that in order to get sound you might need to set up the output channels in your DAW.

You can download it from the vst4free website.

12. Sean Pandy Drums (Windows, Mac)

Sean Pandy Drums is a VST/AU drum rompler plugin with Kick, Snare, 4 Toms – and a Sub Blower.

Every drum consists of 6 velocity layers and up to 10 random-robin samples, which means that you should get no machine gun effect even with fast repetitions.

This plugin sounds pretty nice to be honest, on the official website you will find two songs that have been recorded using this drum plugin and it surprised me, so make sure to check it out.

Free Synth Software For Mac Windows 7

Also, it comes with a reverb, but it sounds a bit metallic, so go easy on it.

You can Download it here.

13. Dub Turbo DrumTROOP (Windows, Mac)

Ok, this has to be one of the best free drum machines available, it’s just capable of doing way too many things and it does them far too well.

DrumTROOP is a great alternative to constantly creating kits from scratch or messing around with bloated on board functions in most drum vst’s.

Features

  • 20 free drum kits.
  • 16-20 sounds per kit (some kits are full = 100+ samples)
  • 128 triggers on every kit.
  • 16 outputs.
  • 32x/64x – mac/pc – vst/au
  • Universal drum placement on the first 8 pads
  • Vol, Pan, Attack, Release per pad.

You can download it here.

If you’re looking for a high quality guitar sound without investing in gear or even software, then make sure to check out my article about the top Free Guitar VST plugins available!

14. Single Cycle Vintage Drum Elements (Windows, Mac)

Vintage Drum Elements is a virtual drum machine featuring the sound of the Yamaha RX5.

The 12 pad interface is super intuitive and easy to use, making it an ideal choice both for beginners as well as experts.

The preloaded samples are of top-notch quality.

The plugin drum machine comes with 4 drum kits, 1 FX set and 4 instruments featuring;

  • Yamaha RX5 Kit 1
  • Yamaha RX5 Kit 2
  • Synthetic Kit
  • Ethnic Kit
  • FX
  • DX Bass
  • DX Clavecin
  • DX Marimba
  • DX Orchestra

The plugin is available as a VST & AU instrument for Mac & PCs both in 32 bit and 64 bit.

Here’s the link to the official website.

Learn how to Produce music

If you want to learn how to produce music at home the right way and without making too many mistakes, then I’d recommend that you read these posts;

If you need real drum sample sounds, then I’d recommend either the MT Power DrumKit 2 and DrumMic’a! by Sennheiser.

If you want to create some hip-hop music, then the Drum Pro by StudioLinked is a good starting point.

Special Deals at Pluginboutique!

Free Synth Software For Mac Computers

Get up to 99% off of Premium Plugins!

Is EZ Drummer free?

EZ Drummer is not free.
However, you can try it for free for 10 days before having to purchase it!

What is a drum VST?

Free Synth Software Windows

VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology, and there are different kinds of VSTs.
As far as drums go, there can be VST libraries, beat machines and drum Synthesis, and they all work in different ways.