Within a DAW, I'm trying to figure out how & where I'd ever use a noise gate.
 
My current DAW has one. My mixer/secondary interface has one.
 
But any noise or early unwanted signal can just be cut or at least muted until editing.
 
So where else would one be needed other than live?

jimusic
Within a DAW, I'm trying to figure out how & where I'd ever use a noise gate.
 
My current DAW has one. My mixer/secondary interface has one.
 
But any noise or early unwanted signal can just be cut or at least muted until editing.
 
So where else would one be needed other than live?

On reverb for the famous Hugh Padgham/Phil Collins drum sound

Since my drums are usually sampled, I don't use gates much. They're too fiddly. I'd rather use automation to chop things off.
 
But they can be great for special effects such as the gated-reverb effect suggested above. You can also use them for amplitude modulation, using a sidechain. Keep in mind that a gate needn't be used in a strictly off-on manner; it can also provide a subtle dip that, when keyed off a percussion source, can impress a rhythmic component onto a non-rhythmic track.

Ahh. Ok. Thanks Buds.

Okay Bit,
 
Got to try the Pro-G. Price is no object if the thing works.
 
My use is with guitars, since I compress everything to unuseable insanity. Always use a compressor first, hardware or software before some fuzz box, and pay the price with noise swell..
 
Part of my problem is not knowing where to effectively put a gate in the chain. Have always placed the gate after the compressor. Some folks put the gate on the input, and some as the last.
 
The gates in some of the suites (S-Gear, Amplitube, HeadCase, Guitar Rig, etc) work almost good.
 
Liquid Gate from Nomad is almost great.
 
Also, the free Melda MCompressor allows designer curves to set the signal to engage above the noise floor. This on top of being a beautifully colored comp.
 
Sorry, derailing this thread which is supposed to be about chorus.
 
John

My apologies too to the OP for drifting OT...
 
Check out Meldaproduction's MDynamics. I haven't used it myself, but on paper it's as close to a do-everything plugin you'll find. It can be a compressor, limiter, expander, or gate. You can define custom transfer curves. Ultra-fast attack times, parametric sidechain filter, parallel operation, RMS detection, variable-knee, auto-release, 2-16x oversampling, continuous channel unlinking, resizable UI - about the only feature it's lacking is M/S processing. Catch it on one of the half-price sales and it'll be only $64.
 
You'll get quite different results by placing the gate before versus after compression. Usually, it works better before, because the greater dynamic range makes it easier for the gate to distinguish between low and high levels. However, inserting it post-compression may be called for in some circumstances, such as when the compressor brings out excessive sibilance on a vocal.
 
Back to topic...Bedroom Producers has a list of free chorus plugins here. The #1 pick on their list is one that I tried a few years ago when it was made for the KVR Developer's Challenge (which it didn't win): Azurite. When I'd tested it back then, I remember being surprised by its extreme modulation capabilities. It did not, however, suit my own style and I've never actually used it in a project. But it satisfies the OP's main prerequisite - free - so it's worth taking a look at.

Gentlemen,
 
Have not yet had time to try Bit’s advice on gates, Melda and Fab Filter, but trust they will be up to speed.
 
Two notable plugs from this thread that were new to me and worth a trial if you have not already. Abstract Chamber reverb and Orange Chorus. Abstract doesn’t seem to have a wet/dry knob, so you have to rely on whatever DAW to fade out the effect, but way up there in quality.
 
http://www.signaldust.com/p-abstractchamber.html
 
http://www.onesmallclue.com/orange_chorus.php.
 
Thumbs up also for Acronis and the simple Tal chorus. Have an old Juno 6 hardware, and the emulation is exact to my hearing.
 
John

I like the Audio Damage Vapor and Fluid Plugs. Very simple with a differant take. Azurite is not a simple chorus but is a very good freebie.

Overloud's VKFX pro-channel chorus module available from the Cake store is pretty good. Goes all the way from gentle ensembles to seasick without sounding too digital or turning into an unpleasant flanger if fed a little distortion.

tlw
Overloud's VKFX pro-channel chorus module available from the Cake store is pretty good. Goes all the way from gentle ensembles to seasick without sounding too digital or turning into an unpleasant flanger if fed a little distortion.

+1 - the chorus and delay are my favourites but the entire collection as a whole is extremely versatile, low cpu, and great sounding. The fact that they all come together in both pro channel and standard vst formats makes it even nicer for Sonar users.