Best Audio and MIDI Software - 2025 KVR Readers' Choice Awards Winners

We're pleased to announce the winners of the KVR Readers' Choice Awards 2025 as KVR readers reward developers for work well done. These awards are intended to represent the preferences and opinions of the musicians, producers, and enthusiasts who use and appreciate various software tools for music production and sound design. In fact, we're happy to say that 2025 has seen largest number of voters since the awards were first announced, and we thank you all for that. Stay tuned for a special recognition page for Hall of Famers.

The envelopes please...

Favorite Developer

Arturia was chosen by KVR members as the new Favorite Developer, succeeding u-he (now in the Hall of Fame). Arturia is a long-standing leader in music technology, being one of the first to create software music plugins. For over 30 years, they've built a huge and loyal following. This success shows Arturia's dedication to new ideas, high quality, and making tools that help musicians globally.

Honorable mention goes to KV331 Audio.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-20065-vcollection11pro}

Most Innovative

The Most Innovative goes to Xfer Records Serum 2. 2025 has seen a massive, free-of-charge update for existing users, and its fundamental shift from a wavetable synth to a multi-engine hybrid instrument.

For the second year in a row the honorable mention goes to Bitwig 5.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-9422-serum2}

Favorite DAWs

With Steinberg's Cubase entering the Hall of Fame, Cockos Reaper has snatched up Favorite DAW this year. Known for its remarkable efficiency, customizable interface, and low cost, Reaper offers a powerful and flexible production environment. It is valued by its dedicated user base for its rapid development, small installation size, and support for almost any audio task, from recording and editing to mixing and mastering.

Honorable mention goes to Ableton Live, but...

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-2277-reaper}

Ableton Live has taken up residence in the Hall of Fame, and Bitwig Studio has stepped up as KVR's Favorite Software for Performance. Its design inherently supports live situations, thanks to features like the Clip Launcher, non-linear arrangement tools, and deep hardware integration (particularly Eurorack by way of their Connect interface).

Honorable Mention goes to Deskew Technologies Gig Performer.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-5397-bitwigstudio5}

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-30377-bitwigconnect412}

Taking Notation

No surprise here for the Favorite Notation category. Steinberg Dorico produces elegant, clear sheet music and streamlines workflows from simple lead sheets to complex orchestral scores. Its automatic rhythmic spacing, deep MusicXML import/export, and seamless handling of advanced notations make Dorico the preferred tool for musicians demanding fast, professional results. Steinberg is wholly committed to the product, which is good news for the people who need it.

PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-17358-doricopro

Favorite Audio Editor

With iZotope's RX taking a back seat this year, fitting well into the "give someone else chance" category is Celemony Melodyne Studio. It pioneered the distinctive note-based approach to editing pitch in audio files, allowing users to manipulate individual notes as "blobs" instead of traditional waveforms. It is quite remarkable how well it works.

Honorable mention in this category was Steinberg's SpectralLayers Pro.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-3124-melodyneeditor}

Favorite Mastering 

FabFilter Pro-L steps up to fill iZotope Ozone's shoes as the KVR community's Favorite Mastering plugin. It is a go-to limiter for countless producers, valued for its ability to achieve transparent loudness while preserving the punch and dynamics of a mix. The plugin combines several advanced limiting algorithms with clear, precise loudness metering. This pairing gives producers the control and detailed visual feedback needed to create professional, polished masters that translate well across all sound playback systems.

Honorable mention, again from our friends at Steinberg, was WaveLab Pro...

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-4673-prol2}

Favorite World/Ethnic Virtual Instrument

The winner for Favorite World / Ethnic Virtual Instrument is, for the 3rd year in a row, UVI World Suite 3 (World Suite 2 won in 2022 & 2023). Housed in their free UVI Workstation instrument, or their flagship sampler, Falcon, it contains 65,000 samples and 370 instruments covering instruments from all 5 continents and a few island groups in between. Each instrument is meticulously recorded, capturing the nuances and subtleties of traditional performance techniques, which help the user produce more realistic cultural music. It's a fun and rewarding way to explore and integrate global music elements into projects, enhancing a user's creative potential across a variety of genres. 

Native Instruments East Asia followed up in second place.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-29589-worldsuite3}

Favorite Keyboard Virtual Instrument

Native Instruments Noire earns the spot as Favorite Keyboard Virtual Instrument for its deeply evocative and atmospheric sound. Based on Nils Frahm's unique concert grand, Noire gives users two distinct personalities: a Pure version for clear, high-end piano tones, and a Felt version that provides a much softer, intimate, and moody character.

Honorable Mention this year goes to Spectrasonics Keyscape.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-21305-noire}

Favorite Guitar/Fretted Virtual Instrument

This year, the honor of Favorite Guitar/Fretted Virtual Instrument goes to Ample Sound AGT. ​​​Based on the sound of a Taylor 714CE acoustic guitar, Ample Guitar T (AGT) provides a detailed and playable virtual instrument. It includes three separate sample libraries: Finger, Pick, and Strum and is designed to handle a wide range of articulations, such as sustain, palm mute, natural harmonics, and various slide techniques. It also features a "Strummer" mode for creating strummed patterns and includes the Riffer 4 engine, a MIDI editor built for guitar-specific parts. It should be noted that Ample Sound placed 5 different products in the top 10 of this category. Clearly they're doing something right.

Special mention goes to UJAM Virtual Guitarist SPARKLE 2 in second.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-7348-agt}

Favorite Orchestral/Cinematic Virtual Instrument

This year's winner in the Favorite Orchestral / Cinematic Virtual Instrument category is the same as last year, and the year before and the year before, etc. Spitfire's BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) is an exceptional orchestral sample library renowned for its realistic, high-quality sound and intuitive design, making it an ideal choice for composers and producers seeking an authentic orchestral experience. As one would expect the BBC Symphony Orchestra offers meticulously sampled instruments across all sections—strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion with a comprehensive range of articulations and dynamic layers.

BBCSO also includes a simple interface that makes it easy for users to access and shape the instruments. Moreover, the library's balanced sound and careful attention to tonal detail make it great for any level of film scoring, classical compositions, and even modern genres.

Honorable mention goes to The Orchestra from SonuScore and Best Service

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-21303-bbcsymphonyorchestracore}

Favorite Synth

The Instruments Forum is KVR's most popular, KVR readers know their subject, and Arturia's Pigments has again snapped up the Favorite Synth award for the third year in a row. Pigments seamlessly merges wavetable and virtual analog synthesis, opening up a vast sonic playground. The extensive library of wavetables and analog-style oscillators provides a rich palette for sound design, from classic analog warmth to futuristic digital textures. The ability to seamlessly blend these synthesis methods sets Pigments apart in a crowded market. 

Not so far behind this year was Kiloheart's Phase Plant.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-16016-pigments6}

Favorite Drums/Percussion Virtual Instrument

With Toontrack Superior entering the Hall of Fame. XLN Audio Addictive Drums gains the title as the Favorite Drums/Percussion Virtual Instrument, remaining a favorite for producers seeking fast, high-quality results. Its popularity comes from its combination of excellent-sounding, mix-ready kits and a large, built-in library of MIDI grooves. This allows users to quickly find the right beat and sound for any genre. The straightforward interface, along with a powerful mixer and effects section, makes it easy to shape the drums to fit perfectly in a track. 

Honorable mention goes to Wave Alchemy's Triaz.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-9195-addictivedrums}

Favorite Sample Platform

With Native Instruments' Kontakt moving into the Hall of Fame, UVI Falcon is stepping up as the Favorite Sample Platform. Falcon is a powerful hybrid instrument that functions as both an advanced synthesizer and a comprehensive sampler. It provides a wide array of tools for sound design, allowing users to build complex instruments by combining various synthesis methods with deep sample manipulation. The new Falcon 2026 update has seen the inclusion of numerous new modules including new effects and granular synthesis capabilities.

TAL Software's TAL-Sampler is the runner up.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-10986-falcon}

Favorite Creative Sampled Virtual Instrument Favorite EQ / Filter

KVR readers have once again rewarded FabFilter for Pro-Q 4 in the Favorite EQ / Filter category. FabFilter Pro-Q is an outstanding equalizer plugin celebrated for its pristine sound quality, intuitive design, and unmatched flexibility. Its highly visual interface allows users to precisely shape sound with ease, offering up to 24 EQ bands and an advanced spectrum analyzer that provides clear, real-time feedback. Key features include dynamic EQ options, Mid/Side processing, and customizable EQ shapes and slopes, which make it a go-to tool for both music production and audio engineering. Pro-Q’s zero latency, linear phase modes, and natural phase options ensure it meets a variety of mixing needs, delivering professional-grade results across applications. With smooth workflow enhancements and a highly responsive interface, Pro-Q stands as one of the best EQ plugins on the market. 

The honorable mention goes to Plugin Alliance and Three-Body Technology's Kirchhoff-EQ.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-4179-proq4}

ereh​​​​​​

In the category of Favorite Vocal Effect Celemony's Melodyne is the winner again. There a lots of pitch correction products in the marketplace, but Melodyne stands above with the KVR audience. When creating a pitch-correction and time-manipulation tool is ALL you do, you will become very good at it and Melodyne is the best because of Celemony's loving focus on it. Melodyne's artifact-free results with both pitch and especially time shift are truly remarkable. It's a must have for any musician recording engineer or producer, because, contrary to what some people think, nobody is perfect.

Honorable mention goes to iZotope's Nektar 4 Advanced.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-470-melodynestudio}

In the newish category of Favorite Saturation / Distortion the winner is SoundToys Decapitator. Taking inspiration from vintage and modern hardware from the likes of Neve, API, Ampex, EMI and Thermionic Culture, the plugin provides users with a versatile range of tonal options, from subtle warmth to aggressive distortion.

Honorable mention goes to an old staple, PSPaudioware's VintageWarmer.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-4103-decapitator}

Fabfilter is back on top in the Favorite Dynamics category with Fabfilter Pro-C 2, which, utilizing multiple compression models coupled with Fabfilter signature UI and streamlined workflow, makes for an incredibly versatile mixing tool. With its signature UI and workflow, various compression styles, side-chain options, and superb sound quality, Pro-C is a go-to tool for producers seeking precise and musical dynamics processing.

Honorable mention goes to Tokyo Dawn Labs TDR Kotelnikov GE

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-2888-proc2}

Favorite Guitar Effect 

Native Instruments' Guitar Rig moves to the Hall of Fame and hands the reins to IK Multimedia's Amplitube 5 Max for Favorite Guitar Effect. Featuring an enormous collection of modeled stompboxes, amplifiers, and rack effects, Amplitube 5 gives users a powerful set of tools for tone shaping. The flexible signal chain and built-in mixer provide even more control, whether it's used as a plugin or a standalone practice tool. Judging by the number of artist endorsements, IK if fully committed to the product and the people who use it.

Honorable mention goes to Overloud TH-U Premium.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-21317-amplitube5max}

Favorite Reverb / Delay

This years Favorite Reverb / Delay sees ValhallaVintageVerb move to the Hall of Fame, only to be replaced by ValhallaDelay. Skillfully combining classic delay emulations, such as tape and bucket-brigade (BBD), with modern and unusual modes like Ghost and Pitch shifting, ValhallaDelay's true power lies in its ability to blur the line between effects. The powerful Diffusion control allows users to smear delay repeats into smooth, dense washes of sound, turning a simple echo into a rich, atmospheric reverb. This versatility makes it an indispensable tool for both conventional delays and creative sound design.

Honorable mention this year goes to Native Instruments' Raum.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-17587-valhalladelay}

Favorite Multi FX Virtual Effect Processor is CableGuys' ShaperBox this year again. It is no surprise either considering the wealth of new features added over the last year, the latest being their new PitchShaper module which joins the ranks of ReverbShaper, VolumeShaper, TimeShaper, NoiseShaper, LiquidShaper, DriveShaper, CrushShaper, FilterShaper Core, PanShaper and WidthShaper. Each of the shapers is displayed over a timeline that adds additional editing capability along with audio triggers and sidechain support.

Honorable mention goes to Kilohearts Snapheap.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-19721-shaperbox}

Scaler Music Scaler 3 takes the award for Favorite Utility. It is a comprehensive music theory workstation that helps producers find, explore, and build musical scales and chord progressions. A key feature is its ability to detect the key from incoming MIDI or audio, simplifying the process of finding compatible notes and chords. Scaler 3 provides tools to experiment with different progressions, voicings, and rhythms using built-in sounds and serves as both a powerful compositional aid and an accessible educational tool.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-30578-scaler3}

Devicemeister's Stepic follows in second.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-30578-scaler3}

Who doesn't love free...

The tug of war between Matt Tytel's Vital and Surge XT over Favorite Free Instrument continues with Vital, a wavetable synthesizer with impressive modulation capabilities, snatching the win this year. Vital allows users to create complex and evolving sounds with ease and offers an intuitive user interface and a range of built-in effects, making it a favorite among music producers and sound designers alike.

Open source coded Surge XT landed the second place position with u-he Zebralette 3 making a strong effort in the voting this year.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-20186-vital}

And the winner for Favorite Free Effect is again Valhalla DSP, this time with their ValhallaSupermassive, which has been designed to produce massive combinations of massive delays and massive reverbs and "blow your mind and your music to massive new levels of consciousness and experience." Here's what KVR community member shmackydoo has to say: 

Honorable mention for the second year in a row is Kilohearts Kilohearts Essentials bundle.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-19882-valhallasupermassive}

And now for some hardware

Unless one is relying exclusively on artificial intelligence (don't get us started on this...), it's quite hard to make music without various plastic and metal devices attached, so this year we decided to add a few hardware categories. Up first is...

Favorite Hardware Audio Interface

The Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen wins Favorite Hardware Audio Interface. The Scarlett line of interfaces has proven immensely popular with producers far and wide, with the 18i20 being hailed for its mic preamps and extensive line and digital I/O, including dual ADAT ports for future expansion. This generation adds practical workflow features like Auto Gain and Clip Safe as well as a re-engineered Air mode, now with both a Presence and a Harmonic Drive setting.

The RME Fireface UFX II came up in second place.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-30263-scarlett18i204thgen}

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-32885-firefaceufxii}

Favorite Hardware Controller

The Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol Mk3 Series wins Favorite Hardware Controller. Its core strength lies in it's integration with NI's Komplete software and NKS browsing, alongside the high-quality Fatar keybed, which is now standard with polyphonic aftertouch across all models (semi-weighted for the S49/S61 and hammer-action for the S88).

Honorable mention goes to Novation's Launchkey MK4 49/61

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-21307-kompletekontrolmk3seriess}

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-30114-launchkeymk44961}

Favorite Hardware Electronic Instrument

The Arturia Minifreak was heralded as the Favorite Hardware Electronic Instrument, offering a compelling hybrid synthesis experience. It combines two digital sound engines, featuring everything from virtual analog to wavetable and granular, with a polyphonic analog filter for each voice. A significant part of its workflow is the included Minifreak V plugin, which mirrors the hardware and allows producers to use multiple instances of the Minifreak within a DAW for convenience.

Surprisingly, another hybrid digital synth, the ASM Hydrasynth Explorer came up in second place.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-25177-minifreakv}

Favorite Hardware Recording and Outboard FX

No surprise that the Eventide H90 Harmonizer snapped up Favorite Hardware Recording and Outboard FX, because Eventide has been making harmonizing devices for as long as there has been the category. The H90's core strength lies in its powerful architecture, which allows two separate effects algorithms to be run at the same time in series or parallel. This dual-engine design gives users access to a huge library of studio-quality effects, from iconic Eventide reverbs and delays to advanced polyphonic pitch-shifting.

Honorable mention goes to SSL's Fusion processor.

{PRODUCT-HEADER-STANDALONE-31256-h90harmonizer}

Because we're having so much fun

The entire staff at KVR sends our heartiest congratulations to the companies and developers who have produced these magnificent products. We also congratulate all of the nominees, who were chosen by KVR Readers from thousands of products in the various categories. Finally, we extend a hearty thanks to all of you who took the time to vote.

Check out the winners page at www.kvraudio.com/readers-choice-awards/2025 Read More