So you don’t have a spare £3000 to lay down on an original Roland Tr808 drum machine. Well, fear not, there are plenty of great 808 plugins that will give you that full ‘on-screen’ 808 experience without the hefty price tag.

In this rundown, we check out 5 great examples to help your tracks punch through and shake dancefloors in a way only the 808 can do.

Nepheton 2 – D16 Group

Nepheton’s 808 offering is the perfect combination of authentic 808-modelled sounds with the enhanced modern features that producers have become accustomed to. The full sonic oomph of the original unit is very much present helping your tracks to cut through in the mix. But where the Nepheton 2 truly excels is in its 2 effects busses and extensive routing options. For example you can choose to effect individual hits or even just the highs or lows of a sound. Great for custom tweaking those iconic deep sub bass notes. Add to this a simple step sequencer but with added midi features and you have the best the original unit has to offer with much more to boot.

Revolution – Wave Alchemy

While this option is not strictly an 808 emulator it does include all the classic 808 sounds along with 25,000 other vintage drum samples. It is therefore by far the most extensive and versitile option on this list. The sound-shaping capabilities of this device is what truly sets it apart from the competition. Revolution offers 3 separate drum elements; Drum, Transient and Layer and each can be independently manipulated and then combined using an intuitive X/Y tab system. It also offers a wide selection of reverbs and effects for further tweaking. The potential for limitless vintage drum sound design is immense. This is certainly the tool for you if you want to create drum tracks that capture the essence of an 808 while adding your own original twist.

808 Studio 2 – Initial Audio

While the 808 was originally designed purely as a drum composer, with the advent of trap music it has become the melodic repurposing of the 808 kick as a bassline that has given this iconic unit a whole new relevance. And let’s face it, it was already probably the most influential and relevant piece of vintage kit ever! Check out our article detailing the most influential pieces of vintage kit ever for further proof of this.

And it is the sub-bass and only the sub-bass that this VST by Initial Audio seeks to celebrate. The level of control available to manipulate your 808 B-Lines is comprehensive. You can shape and add modulation to your bass notes with ease. Like many of the examples in this list it allows you to target specific frequency regions with effects and processing. There’s also an inbuilt sequencer that’s very much geared towards creating trap esc basslines – i.e you can easily program classic trap pitch glides between notes.

So if your main goal is to create rumbling 808 basslines that shake speakers, this is an obvious choice and worth checking out.

TR-808 Software Rhythm Composer – Roland

If anyone is going to nail a convincing 808 emulation it’s going to be Roland right? Well, their software equivalent certainly does excel in faithfully recreating the experience of using an original. Unlike other software 808 emulations on the market, Roland have the right to use the same original design and layout. It may be a placebo effect but there’s something magical about the heritage that this visual representation encapsulates. Combine this with Roland’s use of proprietary circuit modelling technology and you are probably going to get as realistic an original 808 experience as possible in 2D form. Roland’s software take on the 808 also includes added workflow enhancements such as advanced multi-lane sequencer, panning and individual articulations.

So if you are a purest and want the real thing (sort of) then this is certainly worth your consideration.

BD-808 – Synsonic Instruments

And finally, a free offering that, like the 808 Studio 2 centres on the iconic trap-inspired 808 bass line. The BD-808 VST by Synsonic Instruments offers a specialist solution for beatmakers who are serious about bottom-end and B-Line creation. According to Synsonic the original circuitry has been analysed and modeled to create a faithful representation. While the Bd-808 doesn’t offer quite the expansive editability of our other contenders it does feature adjustment over Tune, Fine, Accent, Level, Decay and Tone. It also includes the all-important glide function for those classic trap slides.

So if you are on a tight budget but still want some tight bass then definitely check out the BD-808.

---

Remember – RouteNote Create subscriptions start from as little as $2.99. You also get 10 FREE credits to spend on samples along with access to our FREE sample pack bundle when you sign-up!