Tone2 FireBird 2 VST synth now free

Free as a FireBird: get version 2 for free on PC.
Free as a FireBird: get version 2 for free on PC.

Tone2 has announced that FireBird, its acclaimed VST plugin synth, has received one final update and is now available for free.

"After seven years of faithful service, the time has come to set the bird free," says Tone2. "FireBird itself has become vintage, and even though it's no longer profitable to remain a commercial product, we feel that more people deserve an opportunity to enjoy this sometimes heavily underestimated synthesizer."

Based on Harmonic Content Morphing synthesis, which sees it waveforms being modified in realtime, FireBird 2 comes with a whopping 84 oscillator types and 437 presets. It previously retailed for $79.

You can download FireBird 2 as a Windows VST plugin from the Tone2 website. Check out the specs below.

Does it deserve to be include in our list of the best free VST plugins in the world today? Let us know what you think...

Tone2 FireBird 2 features

  • Very easy to program and easy to use
  • A unique sounding synthesis: Harmonic content morphing (HCM)
  • High sound quality: Warm, transparent
  • 437 hand picked presets included, over 1000 sounds available
  • 84 oscillator types containing 18,000 morphable waveforms
  • 38 different filter types
  • True stereo mode, 4x unison mode, and up to 8 oscillators per voice
  • Can sound like other synthesis methods - additive, subtractive, AM, FM, phase distortion, supersaw, vocoder, sync
  • Can sound like natural instruments like piano, brass, organs...
  • 23 spectral manipulations or "modifiers" can be applied to the oscillators
  • 21 arpeggiator types
  • 13 effect types
  • Skinable user interface
Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.