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Description
Elevate your mixes with the Slate Digital Fresh Air, a dynamic exciter plugin designed to infuse your tracks with clarity and brilliance. This innovative software draws inspiration from vintage exciter hardware, offering a modern twist to enhance high-end frequencies with precision. Whether you're a seasoned producer or just starting out, Fresh Air provides an intuitive interface that allows anyone to add sparkle and depth to vocals, instruments, and complete mixes effortlessly.
Fresh Air's unique processing algorithm ensures that your tracks maintain their natural warmth, while effectively brightening them up. It's equipped with high and mid-air controls that give you the power to fine-tune frequencies and create a polished sound without introducing harshness. Compatible with major DAWs, this plugin is a versatile tool that can seamlessly integrate into your creative workflow.
Key Features:
- Dynamic exciter plugin inspired by classic hardware
- Intuitive interface for easy operation across skill levels
- Unique processing algorithm for natural-sounding enhancement
- High and mid-air controls for precise frequency adjustment
- Compatible with major DAWs for seamless integration
- Ideal for brightening vocals, instruments, and full mixes
Videos
SlateDigitalTV
FRESH AIR: The must-have, FREE high-frequency exciter | Fresh Air Plugin
FRESH AIR: The must-have, FREE high-frequency exciter | Fresh Air Plugin
SlateDigitalTV
Free Plugin for Mix Clarity - Fresh Air Sound Demo
In The Mix
Fresh Air on Vocals | Fresh Air Plugin | Free Plugin
SlateDigitalTV
another FREE one... || Slate Digital - Fresh Air
White Sea Studio
Andrew Wuepper demos Fresh Air
SlateDigitalTV
Fresh Air - Slate Digital (the best free plugin?)
Mastering․com
Fresh Air on your Mixbus
SlateDigitalTV
Using Fresh Air on Drums
SlateDigitalTV
Slate Digital Fresh Air vs Waves, Maag, Softube, Bax EQ
Czar
Slate Digital Fresh Air | Plugin Review
Home Recording Made Easy
Kostenloser Exciter Fresh Air von Slate Digital
Tim Heinrich - Musik & Sound
Free sparkle and shine for your mixes: Slate Fresh Air
Lanewood Studios
Reviews
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Slate Digital Fresh Air.
Features and functionality
Comparisons
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Users often compare Fresh Air to the Bertom plugin, noting that Bertom may sound better under certain conditions.
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Stock EQs can replicate Fresh Air's functions, questioning its necessity in a well-equipped plugin library.
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The plugin is likened to the Dolby Type A and GEM Dopamine, with some users finding it less smooth and natural but appreciating its simplicity and free cost.
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AudioThing's Type A plugin is praised for offering more control with adjustable dynamic compression across four bands, potentially providing a more transparent enhancement than Fresh Air.
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Kush Clariphonic is favored by some for a smoother top-end boost, seen as superior to Fresh Air despite being a parallel EQ.
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User experience
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It's been noted that overusing Fresh Air is easy, similar to adding too much salt or sugar to a mix.
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Fresh Air can reduce intelligibility on cheaper systems and in noisy environments, providing a false sense of clarity, especially on headphones compared to speakers.
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Users with TLM 103 microphones and Fresh Air may experience excessive high-end sizzle; a combination of Soothe and EQ can help manage unwanted harshness.
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Software and compatibility
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Some users experience issues downloading Fresh Air, raising concerns about its continued availability as a free plugin.
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Users express frustration with Fresh Air's online license verification, preferring offline solutions or physical iLok keys for flexibility across studios.
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Oversampling or bypassing pitch shift processing can alleviate unwanted artifacts when using Fresh Air on vocals.
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Use cases and applications
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Fresh Air is praised for adding clarity to vocals and is also used effectively on overheads, hi-hats, and the master bus with minimal high-frequency boost.
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It's noted for making mid to high tracks pop and sound cohesive, particularly beneficial for vocal chops and certain electronic music samples.
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Critic Reviews
4.5 out of 5
Based on 1 Review and 6 Ratings
546
Effective and simple to use
No wonder they gave this away for free, a while ago. It's a very simple plugin on the surface. You have essentially two EQ knobs that you can modify the volume of, that will make something sound more air-y, clarity, breath, high-end.
The thing is, that's pretty much all you're getting. It's nice, it works, but if you already have other tools you might not use it as much. Maybe if you just want an easy solution, it'll definitely work. You can try it out anyway, apparently it's still free as of writing.
Also, another down point for me, it relies on iLok Cloud. I don't have a problem with iLok per se, but the Cloud variant pretty much always requires an internet connection (or a dongle if you have one). That's up to you to decide if it annoys you too, or if it's just something you take for granted nowadays.
Artist usage
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During a Twitch stream titled "63/365: in the studio with Fred again.." hosted by plaqueboymax, Fred is seen using the plugin and/or has it in his library.
Lady Gaga uses Slate Digital Fresh Air, as confirmed by her engineer: "I used the DJM filter during the pre-chorus to filter everything into the chorus. I also used a plug-in that I've been working on called Fresh AIR. I started developing this and another plug-in while at Henson just to get back into C++ programming. Fresh AIR is a brightening EQ, and it was really handy in adding smooth top end to parts that felt too dark." (Source: Soundonsound, Inside Track: Lady Gaga 'Rain On Me')
In a detailed mix breakdown of Victoria Monét's "On My Mama," Grammy Award-winning audio engineer Teezio demonstrates the use of the Slate Digital Fresh Air plugin at the 21:02 mark. This evidence comes from a video titled "Teezio: Victoria Monét - 'On My Mama' - Mix Breakdown" published by EngineEars on YouTube, offering an exclusive insight into the intricate details and effects Teezio employs to achieve his Grammy Award-winning sound.
Album Usage
The Slate Digital Fresh Air has been featured on the following albums:
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Slate Digital Fresh Air, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
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