ClassicQlite, ZL Limiter, and simpleTapeStop: 3 Free Plugins Worth Grabbing This Week

PSP Audioware ClassicQlite: a free British-style EQ with real low-shelf options

PSP Audioware has built console-style EQs for two decades, and the company just gave the entry point away. ClassicQlite is a free equalizer modeled on early Neve-style British consoles, and the low end isn't an afterthought.

The low shelf has four frequency stops, from 35 Hz to 220 Hz, with a Hi Q switch that steepens the curve for a more pronounced lift or cut. Pair that with the built-in high-pass filter, adjustable from 20 Hz to 400 Hz, and you've got a usable subtractive EQ for a bass bus without a paid plugin. The midrange band sweeps 50 Hz to 1 kHz (or up to 10 kHz with the Hz x10 switch), and an Auto Q setting narrows the bandwidth as you push harder, which keeps a big low-mid scoop from turning into a hole.

The SAT control is PSP's second-generation saturation stage. It sits just under 0 dBFS and adds analog-style overdrive as you drive the output, which is a quick way to put a little grit on a bass that's reading clean but sounding thin. It can be switched off entirely if you just want the EQ.

Formats are 64-bit VST, VST3, AU, and AAX, for Windows 10/11 and macOS 10.14 and later (Intel and Apple Silicon). Getting it means creating a free PSP account plus a free iLok account with the iLok License Manager installed. No hardware dongle, three activation slots, but that's two accounts for a free plugin, worth knowing going in. The paid ClassicQ and ClassicQex add Class A preamp and output transformer emulation (ClassicQex also adds another low-mid band); ClassicQlite skips both and keeps the core EQ.

ZL Limiter: a free, open-source true-peak limiter with real metering

ZL Audio released ZL Limiter, a free, open-source true-peak limiter for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It's an early pre-release (0.0.1), but the feature set already covers what a bass-heavy mix needs before it leaves your session.

True-peak limiting runs up to 32x oversampling, which catches peaks that form between samples, the kind a sub-heavy kick-and-bass combo throws off more than most other material. Lookahead pulls a peak down before it lands, and Recovery sets how fast gain returns afterward, slowing automatically under heavy limiting. A second Attack/Release pair holds the level down across closely spaced peaks rather than just the first one, and a Stereo Delta control sets how independently the two channels get limited, from fully linked at 0 dB to letting them react on their own.

The metering is worth sitting with: momentary, short-term, and integrated LUFS, loudness range, true peak, and stereo correlation, plus a scrolling waveform and a delta-audition button to hear what's being shaved off. For anyone who's been eyeballing loudness on a stock meter, this is a real upgrade for free.

It installs with no account or email, just a direct download (5 to 6 MB) with separate Intel and Apple Silicon builds on Mac and x86-64/ARM64 options on Windows and Linux. Formats are VST3 everywhere, AU on macOS, and LV2 on Windows and Linux. Being a pre-release, the developer recommends testing it in an empty session first; the installers also aren't notarized on Mac, so expect a security prompt on first launch.

simpleTapeStop: a free, genuinely free tape stop and reverse effect

simpleSoundbank's simpleTapeStop does one thing: it slows audio to a stop and speeds back up to catch the beat, with a curve control running from a gradual drift to an abrupt brake. It's a transition tool more than a bass tool, but it's worth loading on a bass or sub layer for a stutter into a drop, since a slowed-down low end reads as a much bigger drop than the same trick on a lead or vocal.

Slowdown and spin-up times run independently from a few milliseconds to eight seconds, Sync locks the stop length to musical values from 1/32 to four bars, and a Reverse mode plays roughly the last ten seconds backward, with the shortest setting flipping direction instantly. It triggers from a button, automation, or sample-accurate MIDI, though for Ableton Live the developer recommends automating Stop instead of using MIDI.

Formats cover VST3, CLAP, and AU on macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple Silicon), VST3 and CLAP on 64-bit Windows, and VST3, CLAP, and LV2 on Linux. No account, email, or license key, just a direct download under 12 MB on every platform. The developer tested it in FL Studio, Logic, and REAPER; Ableton and Windows testing aren't mentioned, worth a quick check before you build a set around it.

If you haven't grabbed LEC's own free tools yet

Low End Candy also has four plugins that cost nothing. Ratchet and The Clap have been around a while, Preduck is a pre-transient ducker, and Glassbox is a free compressor built to show its own work: a live before/after curve, short-term LUFS and gain-reduction readouts, and a running coach that names the most useful true thing about your signal in the moment. All four are free forever, no trial clock, no account required beyond name and email for the download link.

Still, the three plugins above are worth the five minutes it takes to download them: a free British EQ with a real low shelf, a free limiter with real metering, and a free tape stop that actually sounds like tape.