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Airwindows Releases Consolidated, A FREE Multi-Effects Plugin

By 23 Comments2 Mins Read
Airwindows Releases Consolidated, A FREE Multi-Effects Plugin

Airwindows has released Consolidated, a free multi-effect plugin that combines 400 effects into one multi-fx plugin.

It is hard to think of a free plugin developer more dedicated to his craft than Chris Johnson over at AirWindows. You get constant regular releases, and it is evident the amount of passion and love that goes into each project is hard to match.

The only real issue is keeping track of the documentation and use cases of numerous free Airwindows plugins. That has completely changed thanks to Consolidated.

YouTube video

Consolidated is every single current and past Airwindows release in a handy plugin. You get instructions and documentation for each, and it is as smooth as butter.

I was delighted to see this one pop up because updating a single plugin certainly beats doing 300 to 400 and going over my usual spreadsheet method in the past.

Consolidated is comprehensive, giving access to over 400 effects in a single interface. Rather than do an exhaustive look at every single plugin contained, I thought I’d just mention a few of my favorites.

Mackity is a decent facsimile of the distortion you’d encounter on Mackie mixing consoles. It isn’t 1:1, but that’s forgivable. It sounds great if you’re doing sampled music.

ToTape5 and ToTape6 are some of my favorite subtle character plugins. They might not realistically saturate like tape, but they are pretty close to my ears.

I especially love how transients soften on sparser drums. I’m not a big fan of sharp hi-hats and cymbals, so bringing those more in line with my preferences is always a bonus.

Galactic is an absolutely expansive reverb with minimal controls. You can use it for ambient “faffery” or just for adding some depth and intrigue to your synth pads and arpeggios.

All of the Console plugins are great, especially if you’re looking for something that approximates analog summing in the box. Sure, it isn’t identical, but the character it adds across a whole mix is excellent, and it is much cheaper than Waves’s Non-Linear Summing.

If you’re running a Windows, Linux, or Mac, just download Consolidated. If you think it is worth some cash, which it certainly is, make sure to throw Chris a few bucks over on Patreon to support the fantastic work he does.

Download: Consolidated (FREE)

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Liam is a producer, mixing engineer, and compressor aficionado. When not mixing, he can be found pretending to play guitar, as he has been doing for the last 20 years.

23 Comments

    • Michael in South Korea

       on

      Hate to be a wet blanket…. but….. who the heck needs 400 plugins!!??? Would you even use a tenth of ’em??!!

      Sure…. maybe they’re great, but still……

      We all have more than we need already 😄

      Reply

  2. Rafael

     on

    It’s beyond wild that bundling all airwindows plugins in a single vst3 still only takes a little over 8 megabytes.

    Reply

  3. Johnny

     on

    Avast identifies it as “suspicious” and is taking a closer look at it. I’m sure it’s not an issue, but want to make others aware that it might pop up.

    Reply

  4. CoopMusic247

     on

    I downloaded this before I saw it here, but just for the descriptions and organization alone, it’s worth it. Absolutely incredible.

    Reply

  6. Greg Steel

     on

    Hi I just downloaded this and I’m very excited about it because it is accessible for the blind and I’m totally blind and I will be able to use it. This is so awesome! Why can’t more developers think about us blind people!

    Reply

  7. PureFire

     on

    Waves Bezerk Distortion is free at the moment, i just got it… Not sure how long is left, it was 48 hours but i’ve just see the info which was posted about 4 hours ago

    waves.com/account/free-berzerk-distortion-hyperbits

    Reply

      • PureFire

         on

        Yes i also see that the promo has ended unfortunately.

        I seen the info late last night / early hours and shared it straight away.
        Today i found the youtube video which was posted last night at around 19:00 PM BST but the link is not working there either.

        youtube.com/watch?v=-zPMFPe9y84

        Reply

  8. Brenny C

     on

    This was very unexpected but it’s so welcome in my VST arsenal. I did (begrudgingly) use a lot of them because there are so many gems, but I was no fan of having so many individual AirWindows fx bloat in my plugin folder. This is a much better system!

    If any of you download Consolidated, like it, and start using it regularly, please consider joining Chris’s Patreon to give back. The dude is generous and he seems to work really hard on all his free software.

    I’m not currently signed up for it at the moment as I’m between jobs and I don’t have much expendable cash, but as soon as I’m able I’ll be joining his Patreon too as I’ve used so many of the Airwindows plugins in my projects.

    Thank you Chris and BPB.

    Reply

  9. OK1

     on

    This is ingenious – will make it so much easier to use his plugins. So much easier.

    I am amazed – at the extreme efficiency of his code, with such a small size of download, for ALL those plugins.

    Amazingly efficient product. Definitely deserves a donation, from all of us.

    Reply

  10. al

     on

    the one issue I had with the Airwindows plugins was the fact they lacked a GUI and there were so many, I felt like it was kind of cluttered. This solves both those issues in one fell swoop- excellent!

    Also, a basic version of Octane has been released for free by Soundware

    Reply
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