I have looked around the web and tried a lot of delay plugins to bring you the best free Delay VST plugins.
So What is a Delay Plugin?
Delay and reverb are some of the most common effects on every track these days. I mean it makes a sound feel more pleasurable to hear.
The main difference between reverb and delay is that the reverb plugin creates reverberation or reflection of sounds from surfaces at varying times and amplitudes to create complex echoes.
Whereas, the delay plugin creates echoes but at very controlled and uniform timing. It’s time-shifted echoes of a particular signal.
I hope that made sense…
You could usually get away with the delay plugin on your DAW but sometimes you might need to try out the other wonderful free delay VST that is available.
The Best Free Delay VST Plugins in 2024
Glitchmachines – Hysteresis
This is more than just a delay plugin. It also allows you to create some unique glitchy effects for your tracks. The possibilities are endless.
From creating robotic sounds, tonal malfunctions, and glitch effects. The plugin can also be used as a classic delay plugin on sounds like vocals, guitar, drums, and synth.
Voxengo – Tempo Delay
Voxengo Tempo Delay is a free stereo delay plugin that comes with ping-pong stereo delay, filter delay effects, stereo panning, and much more…
Even though it’s a free delay plugin, it comes with almost all the features that a classic paid delay plugin would come with.
This free plugin supports both macOS and Windows. A must-have if you love a classic stereo delay plugin.
Stagecraft – Delay
Stagecraft’s Delay is a free plugin that doesn’t look like the traditional hardware turned into software. The free delay plugin comes with a modern spectrum that looks cool.
The stand-out feature of this plugin is that the visual spectrum, beat quantization, filter sweeps, and most of all it’s completely free.
If you are into EDM, Dubstep, or Modern POP and like to have some of the coolest delay sounds then you have to have this plugin.
Sanford Delay – Sanford Sound Design
Another beautiful and simple-to-use freebie from Sanford Sound Design that just does the job for you.
This Delay plugin is super lightweight on the CPU and can be also used on instruments, vocals, and samples.
As you can also tell from the picture above, it just has a simple left & right delay knob and filter. Tweak these and you get a high-quality FX.
You can head over to Sanford Sound Design’s website to download this freebie.
Sound Delay – Voxengo
Voxengo is a free delay plugin that you can get pretty technical or just use it as a regular delay plugin. You can input your delay entry in both milliseconds and samples.
This plugin is easy to use and download for both macOS and Windows. One of the best GUI for a free plugin.
Features:
- A/B Comparison.
- Mid & Side Processing.
- Stereo and multi-channel processing
- Free to download
- Easy to install
- Up to 3 seconds delay
Lagrange – UrsaDSP
This free Delay VST is a unique stereo delay system that has the ability to create some very trippy sounds and using your creativity you can make extremely cool sounds with this.
Regardless of the sounds you create, the output you make out of this plugin will easily sit on your mix and very pleasurable to hear.
It’s available for Windows and MacOS and pretty easy to install it.
Valhalla Freq Echo
Valhalla Freq Echo is a great plugin that is completely free and I am a big fan of Valhalla and their other plugins. I was surprised to find out that they are giving this amazing plugin for free.
Even though it pretty much is an Echo plugin, you can create some amazing and one of a kind delay effects with this.
This plugin creates smooth and versatile sounds. If you are looking to create psychedelic sounds in your track then this plugin is a must-have. Feel free to check them out.
Also Read: 11 Best Free Reverb VST Plugins
Features:-
- Simple Graphical User interface
- Analog Echo Emulation
- Frequency Shifter
- Easy to install
- Available for Mac & Windows
Listen to the demo:-
Delay Snapin
This plugin performs even better than how it looks. It can run on both free or tempo-synced. Has the most important controls for a delay plugin.
The plugin supports multi-platform and the produced output is of the highest quality without any cluttered sounds.
Features:
- Sync Mode
- Feedback Knob
- Pan Knob
- Ping-Pong
- Duck Knob
- Mix Knob
NastyDLA
NastyDLA is a free Delay VST plugin that can give you the classic chorus and delay effects for your productions.
It brings out the usual Tape-delay style feedback and saturation and so much more features that just means you should totally have this in your toolkit.
TAL-Dub-3
TAL-Dub-3 is a free delay VST plugin that is very easy to use and comes with some special features. Comes with a non-linear 6dB low pass and a 3dB high pass filter.
TAL has the best bunch of free VST software ranging from Reverb to delay etc. This plugin is available for both Mac and Windows and very straight forward to install.
Speculum Free by Decade Bridge
Speculum Free by Decade Bridge is a free delay VST plugin that is also a comb filter effect plugin. This plugin doesn’t have any unique features as it’s just a plain classic delay plugin.
Installing this or Downloading is pretty straightforward. This free plugin is available for both macOS and Windows.
Which is the best free delay VST? – Our Pick!
Each of those plugins has their own pros and cons but most of them do the job perfectly but one or two of these plugins actually stands out.
Check Out: Best Free AutoTune Plugin
So, our top pick for the best free Delay VST is the TAL-Dub-3 and NastyDLA.
But if you are looking for some other worldly sounds then it will be the Valhalla Freq Echo and Lagrange.