Plugins Hall of Fame

Discover some of the plugins that shaped the history of music software – and get nostalgic without installing any wrappers or bridges

 

They grew out of a standard that was one of several, but history’s VST plugins have set the standard for an entire industry with its own conventions, conferences and – yes, even boutique websites. It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that, here at Plugin Boutique, we love plugins! And in this article, we’re going to highlight some of history’s most significant plugins for your nostalgic delights.

So, how did we select what makes it into this list? First, we’re choosing only plugins that have effectively finished their lifespan. It’s hard to choose when something’s “dead” in the software world, as there are usually copies that can be found and ways to run them. Some plugins in our round-up are still technically available from their manufacturers, but their glory days are far behind them. We’re also not forcing ourselves into strict chronological order for this article.

Also, we’re choosing plugins that we believe to be most significant and beloved, and we want to remind you that this is subjective – your exposure may have varied! There are lots of plugins that missed the cut quite narrowly. If you’ll pardon a giant leap of interpretation and opinion, come with us for a short tour through the Plugins Hall of Fame.

 

Steinberg Neon

The first VST instrument plugin, from the makers of the standard

Steinberg Neon – via KVRaudio

For the 3.7 update of Cubase, Steinberg did something big. So big, in fact, that today’s producers would expect it to be given its own full version update – complete with dramatic intro video, extended YouTuber face, and the word “revolutionary” scrolling across the screen several hundred times. For version 3.7, Steinberg introduced the VST Instrument standard into Cubase, and with it the first VST instrument, Neon.

It’s not much to look at these days – and yes, that’s how small it was, although pixels were much larger on the screen in those days – but Neon was a quiet revolution in plugins.

Actually, the VST plugin standard had been started back in 1996, but only with effects. Neon marked the launch of the standard’s move to instruments. If the rest is history, then here it is!

 

Native Instruments Pro-Five, Pro-52, Pro-53

From 1999, one of the earliest analogue models grew into one of the most popular

Native Instruments Pro-Five – via Vintage Synth Explorer

At the dawn of VST2, Native Instruments released Pro-Five (above), their plugin emulation of the Prophet-5 synth from the 1970s. It may feel unusual from today’s standpoint, but a plugin emulation of a real hardware synth was something very new back then, although Pro-Five had a rival for its vintage tones in the form of Steinberg’s own Model E.

The Pro-Five concept managed to stick with the times, with Native Instruments launching updates in the form of Pro-52 in 2001 and then Pro-53 in 2002. Pro-53 stuck around for a few versions of NI’s ‘Komplete’ collection, but was then retired.

Native Instruments Pro-53 – as seen in the manual

 

Propellerhead ReBirth

This absolute classic wasn’t actually a plugin, but we’re giving it a posthumous induction anyway

ReBirth – aka ReBirth RB-338 – via KVR

If the VST Instrument standard wasn’t available until 1999, then ReBirth, released in 1996, was actually ahead of the game. This ‘virtual studio’ took two emulations of a Roland TB-303, plus one each of Roland TR-808 and Roland TR-909 emulations, and stacked them together on the same interface, to play with in sync.

ReBirth was a smash hit, and the seeds were sewn for its makers to release the full DAW, Reason, two years later, bringing the best of the analogue studio philosophy into an even larger realm. That’s the impact size that ReBirth had, and it wasn’t even a plugin.

 

Synth1

This classic freeware instrument is a real legend amongst producers

Based on the Nord Lead synth, this synth by Ichiro Toda (operating as Daichi Laboratories) puts the second generation of the hardware into plugin form, boosts the polyphony from four to 16, increases the power of the onboard effects, and reduces the Red dial a whole lot!

For years, Synth1 was pretty much the best – and most talked about – free synth available, but in recent years its popularity has, understandably, declined. Given that this is freeware, it’s technically still possible to get Synth1, but compatibility is getting harder and harder to guarantee.

 

Antares Auto-Tune

The infamous vocal effect has been retired and reborn, but it’s a valid part of history

It’s not at all common for a plugin to become a household name, but that’s the level of fame – or indeed, infamy – that Auto-Tune has managed to pick up. Even ‘the normies’ and your extended family have probably heard of Auto-Tune.

As a pitch correction tool, Auto-Tune had its share of publicity with each artist who was caught using it, back when it was seen as cheating. But the Antares plugin also has its second, perhaps even more significant use case: as the vocal transformation sound behind Cher, T-Pain, and about a hundred thousand other artists through the 2010s. For a plugin to have influenced the sound of music once is huge, but to have done so twice is quite astounding.

Today, Auto-Tune is still available, and the “producer’s fave” retuning algorithm from Auto-Tune 5 has been brought back within Auto-Tune Pro 11 after being removed in the past. It’s this that helps us justify inducting Auto-Tune into the Plugins Hall of Fame even now.

Yes, it’s Neil deGrasse Tyson using Auto-Tune

 

reFX Vanguard

Although recently reborn in 2023, we still can’t resist putting the original Vanguard synth into this round-up

Between 2004 and 2016, Vanguard was one of the new breed of soft synths. The teething troubles of VST and plugins in general had been mostly dealt with, and developers were pushing the envelope as CPUs were becoming more and more able to deal with the demands of audio processing.

After a period of being unavailable, Vanguard was recently re-released for version 2, making one particular member of the Plugin Boutique team very happy.

 

Native Instruments Absynth

It was a cult classic that went through five versions, and now Absynth has run empty

Absynth is a line of physical modelling synths with something of a cult following. The synth made it from version 1 (2000) as a Mac-only synth initially, to version 5 (2009). When it was released, the synth had waveshaping and envelope settings that helped it lead the pack in terms of producing new and unheard-of sounds.

Absynth was a favourite of many, but it was finally discontinued in 2022. The original Absynth was released by the company Rhizomatic, which is now providing successor products cut from the same cloth.

 

Camel Audio Plugins

Here today, bought by Apple tomorrow, somewhat brought back in another form after ages later

Technically, you could say that the Camel Audio plugins still exist. When the company was bought by Apple in 2015, their Alchemy synth-meets-sampler and CamelPhat effect were two of the most beloved plugins by producers of all stripes. After what felt like a long absence, Alchemy resurfaced as part of Logic Pro, but CamelPhat seems to be lost at sea.

Camel Audio’s Alchemy was loved by producers of many genres

In a more positive end to the story, there are projects out there that have attempted to pin down the sound and processing behind CamelPhat, but whether they’ve managed successfully? It’s hard to say unless you still have the original on your system.

 

Sylenth1

A high-point in virtual analogue history 

What can be said about Sylenth1 that hasn’t already been said? This two-layer, four-oscillator synth was the go-to synth for many producers, and was something of a pinnacle for “virtual analogue” in the days when ‘that sound’ was still highly sought-after. 

Sylenth1 was only really unseated when Serum managed its explosive rise to the top. It’s still technically available to buy, but it’s by no means the top of the synthesizer tree these days.

 

More Hall of Famers

There are many more shortlisted and narrowly-missed plugins out there that we wanted to add to this list, but for now the first nine are selected. Perhaps over the coming months, we’ll revisit the Plugins Hall of Fame and add some new plugins in to join the ranks of legends. For now, sign up for the Plugin Boutique newsletter by registering for free as a Plugin Boutique member to get updates and more content announcements in your inbox.