11 Best Multi Effect VST Plugins For Musicians

Multi FX VST plugins are the Swiss knife and the playground for the music production world.

They elevate creativity and come in handy in many situations by combining various effects. Some units are so versatile, with almost limitless patching options, that they are more like a modular synthesizer than an effect plugin.

Most sound enthusiasts often go for compressors, EQs, and dedicated effect plugins and overlook the multi-effect units. The standard perspective is that if a unit does everything, the quality of the work is lower. But, many multi-effect plugins prove the opposite. I get inspired by Multi-Fx plugins, and I often incorporate them into my workflow, flipping samples more creatively or just adding spice to some elements of the composition. 

Today, I will delve deep into the world of multi-effect plugins. From standard modulation effects to experimental realms, many great options are on the list for every budget and need. So, if you want to sparkle up your following composition with some quality effects, keep on reading.

1. Baby Audio Transit 2

Baby Audio created this FX with easy workflow in mind, Transit 2 helps you create transitions between sections and individual parts in a track quickly and intuitively.

Transit 2 is a great multi-effects plugin that aims to ease complex transitions by eliminating many individual plugins for the effects and hassles with automation curves. With 6 different motion modes to control 28 effect modules, you can create any kind of movement to spice up your tracks.

You can easily create any transition with this plugin, whether sweeps, risers, beat drops, build-ups, or more. The 6 modes to move your mixes are Macro for huge sweeping transitions, LFO for rhythmic FX motion, Follower for building FX chains synced with dynamics, Sidechain for controlling the movement with a sidechain, Gate for triggering instant motion, and Sequencer for launching DAW-synced transitions.

I love how the unit helps you create transitions, but I also like the static effects it offers. It features 28 effects in total, including modulation, degradation, delay, reverb, multiple filter types, a synth oscillator, and a noise generator. Plus, it has 838 presets, which sounds quite decent as I tried.

I recommend Transit 2, especially to electronic music producers, as I can see this plugin being used in many scenarios. It is the ultimate transition designer, eliminating the painstaking automation process and giving you high-quality effects to work with. Its high value-for-price ratio makes it a great plugin to check out.

Baby Audio Transit 2 comes in VST, AU, and AAX formats for Mac and Windows users.

2. Arturia Efx MOTIONS

If you want a multi-effects unit that combines musical movement, mix dynamics, and creative audio tools, Efx Motions offers a lot with its versatility and intuitive design.

At the heart of Efx MOTIONS are 5 modules: Filter, Noise, Drive, Volume, and Pan. What I like here is that the unit gives you so much control for and in each module by allowing you to turn them on or off, create their order, finetune unique parameters for each, and create an almost limitless range of motions.

So, the user interface is really intuitive. You have the modules on top and a Motion Envelope in each module’s section to draw the motion you want. You can manipulate the motion and create the module order as you like, giving you limitless options to experiment.

Another great feature I love about the unit is the Beat Repeater. I think you can get creative DJ‑style effects using a step sequencer with this mode. It comes with 5 rhythmic ideas to work with, including Roll, Reverse, Pitch, Stretch, and Stop. These motions give way to glitch-like effects aligning with the step sequencer system. This section has two effect sections that you can choose from Ambience, Modulation, Distortions, Dynamics, and Filter/EQ options. 

The effects Efx Motions offers need an article on its own as this is a highly appealing and versatile unit, in my opinion. It is a bit pricey, but it offers high-quality, almost limitless sound manipulation options.

Efx MOTIONS is available for Windows and Mac in VST, AAX, Audio Unit, and NKS formats.

3. Lunatic Audio Narcotic

Those looking for a creative sound‑design tool with a straightforward interface and high capacity to turn the blandest sounds into something attention-grabbing should check out Narcotic.

Narcotic is created to add motion, movement, and pulse to tracks. With a powerful arsenal of 32 effects units, from which you can use 6 simultaneously, and endless modulation possibilities, you get a powerful sound design unit that can open the doors of new possibilities. 

What I found really cool about Narcotic was the GUI. It is a great-looking and pretty easy-to-understand interface. You have the preset on top, underneath are the 6 effect modules, and on the main part, you have a large X/Y pad and step sequencers for X and Y axis modulation. In each effect block, you have dedicated control over the effects. While everything is easy to navigate, the amount of sound design options and controls can sometimes be overwhelming as you have to for many trials and errors.

Without a doubt, my favorite part of the unit is the presets. The presets are pretty well done, as they can take a simple loop and change its sonic and rhythmic character to something totally different and really cool-sounding. There are presets for some catchy vocal chops and stutters, synth bass lines, DJ‑style effects for mix buses, and synth pad effects.

For me, the unit sits on a good balance between being intuitive and deep. For such a complex unit with so much flexibility, it does not overwhelm you fully to the point you get tired and lets you play with it while exploring it deeper. Also, the shroom magic, a randomizer, is quite fun to play as it creates odd sequences with the presets.

Narcotic is available in VST, AU, and AAX formats and as a Standalone app for Mac and Windows.

4. Pitch Innovations Groove Shaper

Groove Shaper takes a different approach to sequencing with its Euclidian geometrical workflow to create sophisticated rhythms. Its elegant design, user-friendly interface, and instant playability set it apart.

The first thing I liked about this unit was the flexible GUI. It lets you see the sequencer as Euclidian shapes, bars, or notation. So, you can choose whatever works for you better and create a groove using the sequencer however you like.

You will have more control over the pattern when you click on a shape. You can mute notes, tie notes together, change the event’s velocity and/or duration, add note delay, or randomize any of these elements. Besides those, you also have the standard controls for the sequencer, which are swing, gate, velocity, and dynamics.

The sequencer has 16 steps, and shapes can be easily dragged, dropped, or moved onto those steps. I also found it handy to adjust the time signature and work with odd meter rhythms. The sequencer can have 1 to 4 bars to work with.

Another great feature, in my opinion, is the Magic Dice. It is a randomizer of the sound source to hear the sequence, such as bass, hi-hats, short strings, etc. You can hear the groove from different instruments to try out, and this is where the tweaking process starts. Also, the plugin has many presets if you don’t want to roll the dice and take control.

Finally, the Groove Shaper mode is one of the most appealing parts. Perform is for live playback with a MIDI device, which is a great advantage. DAW is the mode for syncing with the DAW playback. Auto switches from Perfrom to Daw and vice versa, and Shape Hold is used to start a loop from a MIDI note and play it until a new trigger comes.

I think this is a pretty intuitive and handy creative sequencer for most bedroom EDM producers that eases the workflow and puts some fun in it.

Groove Shaper is available in AU (Mac Only), VST, VST3, and AAX formats and as a standalone app.

5. AudioThing Lines

Having one foot on the multi-effects realm and the other on a feedback synth, Lines is a powerful and versatile unit for inspiring rhythms, pulses, and organic soundscapes.

I love how this plugin is labeled as a “creative mangler” which perfectly describes it. It is a complex plugin allows you to create great soundscapes such as crushing feedback, lush phasing, warm distortions, ring modulation, lo-fi effects, ring modulation, and frequency shifting. Lines also acts as an experimental feedback synth to create different rhythms and pulses.

I found the user interface to be complicated and overwhelming due to the high number of controls. The reason is that there are so many controls to shape the sound. But if you don’t have enough experience with these kinds of plugins, the learning curve can be a bit steep.

The unit features a frequency shifter, phase jitter, line selector, pulse sequencer, feedback control, noise with envelope, trip modulation, oversampling, a randomizer, and global controls to create your sound. That is why I recommend starting to tweak things from the presets if you are a beginner. There are factory presets called basics, rhythms, and scapes that sound pretty good.

Lines comes in AU (Mac only), VST2, VST3, AAX, and CLAP formats for Mac and Windows users.

6. Devious Machines Infiltrator 2

Infiltrator was one of the industry standard multi-effects plugins that set the bar for others around it. The updated version, Infiltrator 2, is the same but with even better features.

What sets this plugin apart for me, besides its 54 effects modules, 10 effects slots, user-editable multi-segment envelopes, and assignable macros is its capacity for real-time control. With the new version, you can now slow down, reverse, stretch the track, or create epic stutter effects with the looper. I love these additions as they give you many options for time-related audio playback manipulation.

Infiltrator 2 comes with 1500 well-made and well-organized presets. I know some producers find the preset use lazy, and I think that is why many plugins fall short on the quality and quantity of presets. However, Infiltrator 2 is not one of them, as it provides a wide variety of preset options with sequenced effects and straight-up patches. I recommend checking out presets like Bit Meddler, Future Announcement, and Slick Shifter to see what this plugin can do.

Although it sits on the pricey side, if you are looking for an all-in-all creative effects work, Infiltrator 2 is a hard-to-beat one.

Infiltrator 2 is available for Mac and Windows users in VST, AU, and AAX formats.

7. BLEASS BLEASS Motion FX

Motion FX is a great multi-effect VST plugin with its affordable price and versatile design if you are looking for a cost-effective, creative multi-fx tool.

As one of the newer plugins, Motion FX offers new workflow methods with 11 different effects and a versatile, easy-to-use motion sequencer. Every effect has one or more parameter automation in the sequencer section for ultimate sound design purposes. I really appreciated the versatility and ease of use of the sequencer section.

I found the GUI super user-friendly as you have the 11 effects on top and the sequencer-automation part on the main part in the middle. On the sides, you have the global controls for finetuning the sound, and that’s it.

My favorite part of this plugin was the sequencer, which can work with 4 to 16 steps. Each step has its own curve and value. Simply tapping the curve icon at the bottom allows you to set the curve and the value by touching or dragging the step. You have all the standard curve choices, including Step, Ramp Up-Down, Smooth Ramp, and more.

It is an easy multi-fx plugin to work with, which I think would be great for bedroom producers and inexperienced multi-effects unit users. 

Motion FX comes in VST3 and AU formats for Windows and Mac.

8. Eventide Physion Mk II

Thanks to its unique Transient-tone separation, Physion Mk II offers professional-quality effects and controls for practical mixing solutions and creative applications.

There are some things about this plugin that I am a big fan of Its great digital effects algorithms and the ability to quickly edit and adjust the sound by splitting it into Transient and Tonal sounds to create new and unique effects.

You can edit the sound in both the transient and tonal sections before putting it back together. I love this idea as it opens the doors for totally new sounds. You can edit the transients with delays, gates, reverbs, EQs, and more, while you can go to the Tonal section for more effects like pitch shifting and chorus. With the sub-effects and parameters of all the effects added, the versatility of the plugin goes over the roof.

With more than 500 presets, seven main transients, and eight main tonal effects, Physion Mk II is one of the most versatile multi-fx plugins.

Physion Mk II is available for Mac and Windows users in VST, AU, and AAX formats.

9. AIR Music Technology Sprite

Sometimes, simple plugins without bells and whistles are all we musicians need. Sprite’s strongest point is its simplicity, which allows for a faster and easier workflow.

Sprite is a highly straightforward multi-effects plugin that is super beginner-friendly thanks to its 5 main controls and great presets. The Performance mode has 5 different effects with amount and mix parameters. Distortion, 2 Modulation Rotaries, Delay, and Reverb effects are there with their own controls. So, it is super easy to create your tone and move on. However, I would have liked to have the option to change the signal order, which Sprite does not offer.

I also appreciated the Edit Mode, which is more for control freaks like me. It adds more parameters to control for each effect. For instance, hi- and lo-pass filtering and control to smooth out the input signal are added to the distortion module. 

The presets of the plugin are great points for starting to tweak things, and Sprite actually encourages you to do that. Every effect has style options, while the presets offer great combinations.

Sprite is a more limited plugin than the others on the list. Still, its easy, effective, and fast workflow makes it a highly handy multi-effects plugin for beginner producers as well as some specific projects for experienced ones.

Sprite is available for Mac and Windows users in AU, VST2-3, and AAX formats.

10. XLN Audio RC-20 Retro Color

If you are a retro enthusiast like me, check out the RC-20 Retro Color multi-effect plugin with its old-school tonal offerings for wobbly, wonky, fizzy tones to make anything sound retro.

As the music world again returns to the analog warmth with record players coming back and much old-school retro-style gear on the market, RC-20 Retro Color brings back the analog and retro-digital character to the mixes. The unit has 6 modules with their dedicated controls, including Noise, Wobble, Distort, Digital, Space, and Magnetic.

The Noise is for adding nostalgic noise to the sound, like subtle vinyl crackles, tape hiss, and ambient studio noise. Wobble is for creating pitch inconsistencies, Distort is for adding analog distortion, Digital is for emulating old-school samplers with bit rate reduction, Space is the reverb module, and Magnetic is for creating wear, tear, and volume loss.

I admire the realism of the plugin’s artificial aging processes and effects. It is an easy-to-use plugin with handy features like the Magnitude slider, which controls everything in the master section. Although the reverb section is not the best in this plugin, I love the simple and fun user interface, great old-school tones, and realistic aging effects. You can use it with guitars, drums, keys, and full mixes.

RC-20 Retro Color is available for Mac and Windows users in AU, VST, and AAX formats.

11. Sugar Bytes Effectrix

For those looking for a creative and intuitive effects tool for jamming and live performances, Effectrix offers high-quality effects with a built-in sequencer.

I must start by saying that this is probably the best plug-in on the list for glitch, IDM, or any experimental genres and live performances. With its grid-based sequencer, 14 effects with adjustable parameters, and the ability to activate them in different steps, it is a joy to use this one with real-time processing. 

Besides the simple and familiar GUI, my favorite part of Effectrix is the Modulator tracks. Every effect of the plugin has 2 assignable ones to parameters. In every step, modulation is created on the track. You can activate the Smoothing to prevent any odd changes. There is also the Random option to create random patterns in the section if you need some inspiration.

In short, Effectrix is a great plugin for electronic music producers who often perform live. Its intuitive and powerful Modulator Tracks section makes it easy to get inspired and create great effects on the go.

Effectrix comes in Audio Unit, VST2, VST3, AAX, and Standalone formats for Mac and Windows users.

Last Words

So, all these multi-effects plugins are great tools to enhance your workflow. They come from different budgets and have advantages and disadvantages in different areas. Feel free to try out and find the most suitable one for your workflow. Hope you enjoy these plugins and use them in your projects.