German developer Wolfgang Krumme has launched WOKWave, a brand new website where most of his old (free and commercial) VST plugins for 32-bit Windows hosts are offered as freeware, along with a set of bonus donationware packs.
Wolfgang was present on the VST plugin scene as one of the most productive indie developers ever since 2006. Over the years, he released dozens upon dozens of freeware and commercial VST plugins that were developed with SynthEdit. His products were often quite innovative in one way or another, or at least rather capable freeware alternatives to commercial software. Many of them are included in our top freeware lists, the latest example being Instretch which ranked as the #3 utility VST pick in 2014.
In early 2015, Wolfgang unfortunately had to stop developing new plugins after his stepson got seriously ill. The plugins became donationware, with the goal of trying to fund his stepson’s medical care. Even so, last Christmas, some of the plugins were offered as a gift for everyone who sends an email to this generous and talented developer. It became somewhat of a tradition over the years over at KVR Audio, sending a Chrismas email to WOK in exchange for a top notch VST plugin from his product arsenal.
Now, WOK’s awesome VST plugins return to the freeware scene once again on his new website called WOKWave. Most of the plugins are offered as free downloads, with a bonus set of donationware plugins. The products are sorted into three categories (effects, instruments and MIDI tools) and each category has its own Free and Extra (donationware) collection. The amount of free content available on WOK’s new website is nothing short of jaw dropping (for example, the free FX pack is a 227 MB download containing 51 VST plugins in total, a large number of which were previously commercial software) and you’re more than likely to find some useful freeware tools for your studio, as long as you’re running a 32-bit digital audio workstation on Windows, or own a tool like jBridge or 32 Lives.
It’s sad that brilliant developers like WOK and de la Mancha are no longer part of the freeware scene as they once were. But I am very thankful for their previous work and I’m wishing the best to them and their families. If you appreciate WOK’s plugins, do consider sending him a donation as a sign of support and appreciation of his generosity and talent.
More info: WOKWave
14 Comments
nay-seven
onTotally agree with you Tomislav, support Wolfgang the most you can !
Esol
onOh man. Wolfgang is very generous.
Tracing Arcs
onI’ve d/loaded the free versions to test out. And the files are unreadable, One is a .part file, both have no association with a format recognised by 7zip or windows. Any ideas?
Tomislav Zlatic
onTry renaming those files to *.zip (where * is the filename). That should fix the issue.
Misha
onI had the same problem of downloading =(
WOK
onI have divided the packs into smaller parts for more reliable download.
Every correct configured browser should identify them as .zip and save as this.
You’ll also need to clear the browser cache for a second attempt if a download has failed once.
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks for the info!
Bryan Lake
onHopefully, when life is slightly less complicated, Wolfgang can return to his great love. Until then, this is an enormously generous giveaway. Best wishes to him and his stepson.
Esol
onIm not getting any mail. Tried with both of my mail accounts. Hotmail and Gmail. Anyone have this problem aswell?
Paree
onFor those who are facing problems downloading, the plugins are now available in smaller packs!
Esol
onYeah :)
Tracing Arcs
onMany thanks for the advice. However suggestions did not work. So tried to d/load again. And just had failed/incomplete d/loads (using both FF or FDM – latest versions). I saw on KVR that there may be issues with the host, so will wait to see what happens.
But many thanks for the generosity from WOK.
Yogi
onWhen trying to reach the site I get a “forbidden” message … :/ (??)
home studois
ongreat