Dead Duck Software has released the Dead Duck Effects Bundle and Dead Duck Synth Bundle, two collections of audio effects and virtual instruments in VST plugin format for Windows.
The synth bundle consists of two virtual instruments, DDX10 and DJX10. One is a simple FM synthesizer whereas the other is a bit more advanced subtractive synth. Both instruments are nicely designed with clean, modern looking interfaces and easily readable labels. They come with a small but useful selection of factory presets to help new users get started with patch programming.
The effects bundle is much larger, consisting of sixteen different FX units in VST plugin format. These are mostly bread and butter effects that every producer needs in his arsenal, covering everything from basic delays and modulation effects to compressors and channel strips. All plugins share a uniform look which is nice to see and they’re definitely among the nicer looking freeware plugins I’ve seen recently.
What’s particularly interesting is that the virtual instruments are almost identical, both in terms of nomenclature and available features, to the freeware plugins posted by MDA of Smartelectronix ages ago. And this is no coincidence. The Dead Duck Synth Bundle instruments are based on the original MDA plugin code and this is clearly stated in the included license file. I’m glad to see that these classic virtual instruments are now available for use on 64-bit Windows systems and even enhanced with modern GUIs.
On the other hand, the effects are completely original creations and they seem like a very useful collection of tools for mixing and music production. I still haven’t tested the lot in my studio, but I’ll make sure to do it later tomorrow.
Dead Duck Effects Bundle and Dead Duck Synth Bundle are available for free download via Dead Duck Software (ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows).
18 Comments
Esol
onYeah! :)
Tomislav Zlatic
onYup! :)
AMFG
onReally good stuff!!! DD Comp, DD EQ, DD Limiter.
You must try it!
Tomislav Zlatic
onI tried them today and I agree, they are quite good! Will do more testing this week.
Kirill
onThanks! Also free amp simulator ROLLAMP from Analog Obsession (costed 29$) is now FREE.
Tomislav Zlatic
onInteresting, I’ll look into it. Thanks for the info!
Andy
onAlso, there’s a free FET compressor there. Called “FETISH” (lol). I tried it and it seems quite buggy to me….I would like to hear your opinion about it.
Tomislav Zlatic
onI haven’t had the time for an in-depth test yet. So much freeware getting released nowadays that it doesn’t leave much time for properly testing everything I feature on BPB.
Manuel
onCakewalk Sonar Pro sadly fails to add the fx plugins, without any error message, it just says “Checking DD Channel….” forever and never adds the plugins. How to fix?
Sergey
onI have tested effects in my Tracktion 5 (Win 8.1, 64-bit), but DAW crashes :(
c+
onHope an AU version for Mac ;)
Len
onI used the old verison of the plugins a lot some years ago. and sometimes also today. great to see them back with a nice gui. thanks to the guy who made this.
ALBiON
onI have to say the effects bundle is fantastic. Really good quality. Loving the channel strip especially.
Top work Dead Duck, and as always thanks for the heads-up BPB!
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks for visiting!
Unsign
onNice and portable :)
I like new design
Bob Campbell
onPut them in reaper…Worked great for a week…Now when I load a project containing the plugins..Reaper says they are unavailable…Why?
Lucas
onThe link leads to a blog that’s now been removed/deleted, but the download links can be found at KVR
https://www.kvraudio.com/developer/dead-duck-software
and the github site now hosts the info blurbs and online manuals for the plugins, at
https://deadducksoftware.github.io/
Tomislav Zlatic
onFixed, thank you.