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Slate Digital Releases FREE Fresh Air Plugin (iLok Cloud)

By 50 Comments4 Mins Read
Slate Digital Releases FREE Fresh Air Plugin (iLok)

Slate Digital has released Fresh Air, a FREE (for a limited time only) exciter and dynamic high-end processor plugin. A free iLok Cloud user account is required to activate the software.

Fresh Air was announced last week, but it wasn’t clear if the plugin will only be available for paid Slate Digital subscribers.

Slate Digital released the plugin today, and now we know all the details. Fresh Air is free for all users, but you can only get it for free for a limited time.

Also, Fresh Air requires an iLok account for activation purposes. You don’t need the USB dongle, though. You can sign up for a free iLok user account and use the iLok License Manager application to activate Fresh Air on your computer.

Here’s how Slate Digital describes the new plugin:

Add smooth, crisp top end to your vocals, beats, samples & even full mixes in seconds without a single ounce of harshness. Once you hear the difference Fresh Air makes, you’ll never want to go without it. And the best part? You can get Fresh Air FOR FREE! But only for a limited time, so get yours now!

The plugin is free to download for a limited time only. It’s not yet clear when the free download offer will expire. Sign up today to register Fresh Air to your Slate Digital user account.

Slate Digital Fresh Air – Overview

So, Fresh air is a dynamic exciter plugin design for delivering smooth high-frequencies. It’s intended for boosting the top end without introducing harshness.

The plugin can be used for adding air and clarity to individual tracks like vocals and guitars. You can also use it to brighten up the entire mix. 

According to Slate Digital, the newly released Fresh Air plugin is based on vintage exciter circuits (classic Dolby-A noise reduction modded exciters), combined with advanced dynamics processing. The result is modern, transparent high-and processing with a vintage shine.

Fresh Air by Slate Digital.
Fresh Air by Slate Digital.

Fresh Air features two main control knobs (Mid Air and High Air), a link switch (for linking the two control knobs), a bypass switch, and a trim knob. It comes with a set of presets that cover some common mixing scenarios (Vocal Air, Mixbus Sparkle, etc.). The user can save custom presets for later use, too.

It’s worth noting that you can still download the recently announced six free sample packs from Slate Digital. It is a versatile collection of royalty-free drum samples, especially for those who need EDM drums and drum machine hits.

Slate Digital Fresh Air – Free Download

So, how do you get a free copy of Slate Digital’s new Fresh Air plugin?

First, visit the product page linked below and click the GET IT FREE button. After that, sign in to your Slate Digital user account (or register a new one) and agree to the terms. Once a Fresh Air license has been added to your account, you can download the installer and use the iLok License Manager to activate the software.

Please note that you won’t receive a license key from Slate Digital. The plugin is activated via iLok Cloud (requires an active internet connection).

Fresh Air is available in VST, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin formats for digital audio workstations on PC and Mac.

More info: Slate Digital Fresh Air (47.4 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE installer, 64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX plugin format for Windows & macOS)

More articles:

Tomislav is a music producer and sound designer from Belgrade, Serbia. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief at Bedroom Producers Blog.

50 Comments

  4. EYECLOUD

     on

    Same here, iLock – Cloud only! No way to activate on my machine? It just says Dongle or Cloud, which then needs permanent inet – connection?

    Reply

    • Michal O.

       on

      Thanks for the info. I will not bother getting this effect, if it requires constant connection to the net.
      Last year there was similar situation with a limited time free plugin offer. After the release users asked for more activation options. A few days went by and developer changed iLok Cloud to PC authorization as well.

      Reply

      • Michal O.

         on

        I’ve just checked which plugin it was exactly – Nembrini Audio NA Lo-Fi. Released on 19th of March 2019. At first it was only 1 license available through iLok Cloud Session. With feedback from multiple gearslutz forum users, developer changed it to 2 licenses and added machine authorization = no constant internet connection needed. I was only wrong about “a few days”. It actually took 3 weeks for the authorization change to happen. Still, it was one of a kind situation for me personally and for many other users I suppose.

        Reply

    • Tomislav Zlatic

       on

      After getting the plugin in your Slate Digital user account, it should prompt you to connect your iLok account and then use iLok Cloud to activate. In other words, there’s no activation code.

      Reply

      • Caleb Curtis

         on

        just a hypothetical… what if ur really stupid and u click no on the ilok cloud thing, how do u activate the plugin after that

        Reply

  7. Boobo

     on

    Received my activation code after 10 hours – and it had already expired. Requested another but can’t since it says I needed to confirm my email via a link which has expired….

    Long story short – waste of time and ill will garnered by this – don’t offer a conditional freebie and then fail to uphold your end of the ‘transaction’.

    Reply

      • Theboo

         on

        I think the problem was the plugin didn’t appear in my slate user account. Due to … not me.

        I eventually managed to get this and had a play around – it works as advertised, seems pretty OK.

        But I think the time I spent making this happen was probably not worth it since it was about an hour of my life … maybe it will pay off in the long run …. but I doubt it.

        Reply

    • Michal O.

       on

      Sad but true. At least some developers still give us the option to opt out of background data sending. With others we need to rely on additional software, to tell us that a plugin is calling home.

      Reply

  11. PureFire

     on

    Thanks very much Tomislav, BPB & Slate Digital for this nice plug-in. I thought i’d let you know how i’m getting on with it so far this morning.
    Last night i signed up for a Slate Digital account.
    After i received the email to confirm my email address which took a little while, i created an iLok account, downloaded & installed the plug-in.
    After the plug-in was installed (i was still connected to the internet & logged into the iLok & Slate Digital accounts) i launched Ableton without first authorising the plug-in.
    Ableton asked if i wanted to download the PACE license manager (iLok) so i did that.
    While Ableton was opening, the plug-in connected to the internet at the start of my session, then it automatically registered itself in a few seconds.
    …
    I disconnected the internet while Ableton was still open just to see what happens.
    …
    So far i’ve found that if i leave Ableton open or minimised, then the plug-in still works without internet access, but i get a no internet notification after 5 or 10 minutes of disconnecting.
    …
    I’ve left my computer disconnected for over an hour so far after i finished making a test beat & the plug-in is still working & still sounding fresh.
    …
    If i quit Ableton, then re-open it again i need internet access again at the start for those few seconds for it to register itself.
    …
    So it only needs internet access at the start of a session until you quit Ableton or turn your computer off.
    I don’t know what happens if your computer goes to sleep, or if it automatically logs out of your account though, i don’t use either of those settings.
    …
    I personally have mixed opinions about this iLok security, but i can see both sides of the argument.
    Its not very good if you have a laptop with no internet, but its ok if you’re at home or if you have a desktop.
    I do like the plug-in though, it sounds really nice for adding some ‘air’ to audio that needs it & does a nice job of it too for an exciter plug-in.
    Thanks very much Tomislav 👍

    Reply

  12. Hikes Yikes

     on

    Ilok aka I’m locked is unfortunately not a user friendly protection scheme. It causes unnecessary stress and further complicates the whole music production process.

    Reply

  13. ex-brahma

     on

    I dont like that plugin at all. Unninstal! So much difficulties with cloud – its not wort it – every start, for what?

    Reply

  14. jelenadar

     on

    Can someone help me?
    I downloaded Fresh Air and also latest version of Ilok. I’m getting the message that activation code has been sent to Ilok but there’s nothing there. Same thing happens with SoftTube. Meanwhile I purchased Excalibur and it works, I got the activation code. Does anyone have same issue?

    Reply

  16. andy

     on

    does anyone else have trouble with slate products and the ilok? i downloaded this, cant get it to work, had the mnthly subscription, didnt work. but i have loads of other plug-ins etc that work fine the same way. and slate havent been able to help?

    Reply

  18. Jules

     on

    This failed my 1hour install timescale that I now stick too – so I really don’t care how good this is.

    I’ve wasted so much valuable studio time in the past trying to get new plugins to install and work, so I give it an hour now, and if not successful by then it goes in the bin !

    even having ilok isn’t good enough for these guys, has to be a cloud ilok, so means installing another version of ilok, which will probably fuck up the ones I have installed and activated.

    So its a big fat NO from me !!

    Reply

  20. Chris

     on

    The first impression after testing for a four (minus‽), the boxed solution does not reach the declared ultra high-end, there is a taste of”plastic porridge”. Still, it should be noted the expected usability of the app and pleasant visualization. It remains to hope that the algorithms will finish and there will be an update, freebies (°°) ～

    Reply

  22. Chris

     on

    upd_ four (minus‽) (4 from five ⭐)

    Flash Back 2016? o(*￣︶￣*)o

    Roth-AIR: A VST/AU plug-in mixing tool for easily adding airy, crispy presence to your audio.
    Click for free download (Win/Mac)
    System requirements:
    Windows 7 SP1 or later
    Mac OSX Mavericks 10.9 or later
    3W dot danielrothmann dot com

    Reply

  24. Real

     on

    Seriously? What the F%%$6% is this iLok managing thing asking my birthday, wanting my browser to accept cookies, asking me for as many questions as if I was asking for a loan? Sorry, but I’ll skip on this one VST.

    Reply
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