With the advent of technology, music composing by yourself became much easier. This has been facilitated mainly by the integration of software interfaces to make a digital audio workstation. Virtual studio technology (VST) is such an audio plugin primarily for the software interface. It quickly replaced the conventional techniques, mainly because of the advantages it had.
It’s important to know about the best 808 VST plugin that assists in music composition. Compared to traditional music composition, musicians now have enough freedom to explore new ideas and innovations. These techniques are helping them to produce a bass sound much easier than the former techniques. You are nowadays familiar with these VST plugins and the installation procedures.
Here are some of the top recommended 808 best plugins that aid in composing music. You can go through the pros and cons of various 808 VST plugins and can choose wisely as per your budget and requirements.
What is a VST Plugin?
A plugin is a kind of software that works inside another software to enhance the capabilities of that particular software. It doesn’t as such have a working on its own without another piece of software. A VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugin is used for enhancing the audio project by both a beginner as well as a professional artist.
A VST plugin processes the audio as the DAW is played and provides some effective audio effects to your composition. While you create the composition pertaining the elements of music, you will be able to clearly bifurcate between the elements and get engaging musical composition using this plugin. It basically records your composition and you can mix your tunes using this brilliant tool.
Best 808 Plugin for Composing Music
In this article, particularly five 808 VST plugins are taken into account. They are the Transister revolution MKII, Bigkick, Bass engine 2, Beat machine 2, Tramp sampler expansion, etc. You can arrive at the best option after analyzing its unique features, availability. These VST plugins revolutionized the techniques behind track creation.
1. Transister Revolution MKII

An automatic graphical interface is present in the single unified instruments of this VST and is highly suitable for the TR-808 and TR-909 front panel layouts. Kontakt 5 is used as a sampling engine to enable the recreation of sound from an analog drum machine. It has a scanning feature that plays sounds linked to the analog knobs in real-time.
A 16-track step sequencer, which is in TR style is also used along with the settings for syncing, shuffling, etc. We can easily regulate the volume of every drum sound with 10 track mixers. There are facilities available for studying different presents using a preset browser. The Pattern writes mode facility is an advanced technique that helps drummers to edit patterns even if they are performing in live shows.
Pros:
- Best for the systems like Windows 8 or 7
- Best for analog drum sound
Cons:
- Mac OS X 10.7 or 10.8 is needed particularly
2. Big Kick 808 VST Plugin

Big kick works best with drums and bass. The major features of a big kick is it has 110 presets in the library. In order to match the pitch with the bass line, there are kick drums that are tuned. It is easy to drop samples from the plugin to computers. The built-in EQ gives tuning. Sensible knobs have a significant impact on providing quick results.
There is 16 add on packs in the library of big kick. Some of the important features of this big kick are multiple outputs, auto play, overdrive, drag and drop export feature, etc. MIDI keyboard can also be operated to play the pitch of the kick drum. It’s pretty easy for the big kick to combine with those already existing samples in the library.
Pros:
- There are no such intricate envelopes to set
- Easy to use
Cons
- Supported only by plugin formats like AAX, AU, and VST 2.4
3. Bass Engine 2 VST Plugin

Bass Engine 2 can be used effectively in HipHop production. The modern version of Bass engine 1 adds 300 Hip Hop bass instruments including 808’s, Sub Bass, Vintage Bass, etc. There are built-in features for Volume, pitch, and ADSR controls. The CPU utility is very low so that it can be beneficial in many aspects.
Bass Engine 2 works well with both PC and MAC. The digital audio facility is accessible in this model along with the analog part. A vacuum tube EQ emulator has a substantial role in lending a very natural sound when it is passed through the emulator. The sub-bass energy can be boosted by the addition of presets. The soft, normal, and hard velocity modes are present in the bass engine.
Pros:
- Can easily Program the basslines manually using a MIDI/USB controller/keyboard/MPD
- Effective for Hiphop music production
- Works in both Microsoft and MAC
Cons:
- VST compatible DAW host is required
- MIDI controllers are required
4. Beat Machine 2 VST Plugin

Beat machine 2 consists of drum kits that encompass the full spectrum of Hip Hop. These drum kits have a 600 Brand new pre-mixed quality. There are 300 stereo kits functional in the best machine. The best feature is the built-in flexible pitch and drives controls along with the percussion volume and pan controls.
The analog-style reverb is assessed to be a very advanced user-friendly option available in this version. The CPU utility is very low in this VST. The 12-segment output level meter is also present in this option. Ultrafast patch loading is another distinguishable feature of the beat machine. You can use it on a laptop, tablet, or any PC/MAC. The beat machine expansion 2 mainly consists of live elements.
Pros:
- 50 brand-new Hip-Hop MIDI drum patterns
- Easy stereo options
Cons:
- The drum kit is giving more prominence in covering the spectrum of hip-hop
5. Trap Sampler Expansion VST Plugin

There are no filters available in this VST plugin. It mainly includes the integrated multimode lowpass, highpass, bandpass, and bandstop filters. The additional benefit of this plugin is the compound modulation matrix. The track can be easily built using 2 equalizers, chorus, phaser, delay, and reverb, etc.
The plugin boutique sampler is crucial for the system to work. It is completely free so it makes the system manageable. The intricate sounds are produced by this Sampler. The oscillators present in the plugin makes it a tone shaping tool. REX loop and SFZ are the 2 important file types supported by the plugin. The trap is considered as one of the nicest 808 VST. It has 128 Presets including 31 Drum presets, 33 Bass, 55 Music, and 9 Vocal Presets. It has a 181 MB file sizes too
Pros:
- The base is used to design the core
- Has numerous presets to choose from
Cons:
- Filters are unavailable
Conclusion
After analyzing the various inbuilt features of this 808 VST, you can easily find out the adequate option that helps you better. Transister revolution MKII, Bigkick, Bass engine 2 are evaluated as the best choices as they can function in all of the platforms. They are categorized as the best 808 plugins available now.
Beat machine VST is one of the best hip-hop bass VSTs. Bass Engine 2 is the best sub-bass VST among these options. The hip-hop simple pack is one of the best free VST plugins. The dope VST beat machine includes a huge library that includes some of the sounds produced by drums. If you are new to composing or learning music, then you can try out learning a beginner’s banjo.