Best Saxophone VST Plugins 2024 – Free & Paid

*Keyboardkraze now has 24/7 chat service directly with me should you have any questions regarding keyboard/plugin choices!

The saxophone VST can be an important part of your music production library. It wasn’t until recently that you could find realistic sounding options that can actually be useful.

Today we are going to be taking an in-depth look at the very best saxophone VSTs that will help take your productions to the next level.

These saxophone VSTs can be used in any genre of music ranging from pop to jazz.

Quick Glance At My Favorite Saxophone VSTs

IMAGE PRODUCT DETAILS  
Editor’s Pick Vir2 MOJO 2
  • 13 Different Articulations Per Horn
  • Fully Customizable Horn Ensemble
  • Biggest Library By Far (100GB)
  • 9 Effects
Runner Up Jazz & Big Band
  • 16 Different Saxophones
  • Works With DAWs & Stand Alone
  • Large Library
Budget Neon Horizon
  • 1.38 GB Of Loops
  • Great For 80’s Music

So, why use saxophone VSTS? The answer is simple, finding a good player, a good room to record them, and having proper equipment can be difficult.

Now, I’m of the mindset that a great plugin can be exactly what your track needs, however, I don’t dismiss the fact that real players can add an amazing element that is hard to emulate.

Note: If you’re a fan of horn production, I recently put together a list of realistic trumpet plugins that I think are truly great.

The best saxophone VST is going to be a plugin that emulates the saxophone and all of its nuances. I have put together a list that consists of free & paid plugins to further your journey as a producer.

Best Saxphone VST

What To Look For In A Saxophone VST?

  • Sound: Fully listen to the sounds before you purchase anything. If the plugin doesn’t sound realistic to you, there’s no point in purchasing it and trying to get it to where it needs to be.
  • Price: This depends on how serious you are. Are you a full-time producer? If so, spending a little bit more money can benefit you, depending on what you need.
  • Size of the library: Be sure to look and see how big the library is that you are downloading. Some libraries can be pretty massive in size.
  • Requirements: Some VSTS will require that you have the purchased version of Kontakt and that it is up to date. Kontakt is easily my favorite sampler, but it is expensive. You also will need to have a moderately fast PC or Macbook if you want to be producing music.
  • Is it a loop or is it a VSTi? If it’s a loop, this means that you can’t play it like a real instrument. They’re pre-recorded parts. If it’s a VSTi, you can actually play it like a real instrument using a MIDI controller.

Best Saxophone VST Plugins

Mojo Horn Section – Most Expensive, Highest Quality

Best Overall Horn Section VST
Vir2 MOJO 2
4.5

This library is absolutely incredible. It's massive, has realistic sounds, and has an amazing interface.

View Price At Sweetwater View Price At Plug In Boutique
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

The Mojo horn section is easily the highest-quality sounds in my opinion. Big Fish Audio makes some crushing VSTs and this is another example of that.

This is a Kontakt instrument and you will need to have the most up to date version in order to run it.

The Mojo Horn Section plugin is used all over pop music today. With horns becoming more and popular, sax VSTS are finding a home quickly.

Over 1600 riffs are included and these can lead to creating a whole new song or finding the perfect part of your song. I personally like to use the riffs as they allow me to experiment and find some inspiration at times.

Overall

The Mojo horn section presents you with an absolutely massive library full of great pre-sets and the ability to tweak sounds to your liking.

Currently, a lot of people would argue that the MOJO saxophone VST is the best saxophone VST currently available.

Jazz & Big Band 3 By Garritan

Garritan Jazz And Big Band
4.0

This is a great pick for those on a a budget as it comes with its own sample player. I personally like the sound of the saxophones with Garritan as well.

View Price At Sweetwater
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

My personal favorite for the price is currently the jazz & big band 3 by Garritan. The best part of this library is that it is pretty large.

You get a bunch of different instruments that would be used in jazz. I personally believe that most of these sound great, especially the saxophone.

You will get to play with 16 different saxophones that all have been sampled and recorded meticulously.

If you don’t own a sample player, no worries, this comes with the ARIA Player. This is great as you don’t need to purchase Kontakt or other expensive sample players.

This gets my top pick for organic sounds that can be used for jazz production.

Overall

My personal opinion is that this is a great price. It may seem expensive, however, if you’re going to be creating jazz or songs that could use any of the instruments included, this is perfect. One thing to add is that you will need 3.5 GB of hard drive space available.

Iowa Alto Sax – Best Free Sax VST

As far as free options go, this is my personal favorite at the moment. This VST was sampled at the University of Iowa’s Electronic Music Studios.

If you’re not familiar with saxophone plugins, this could be a great pick to test the waters. Get familiar with production and get familiar with your DAW. There will be a learning curve, but using a free VST can go a long way.

Overall

Take a listen to some of the samples and then download it. I personally think it actually sounds decent. It’s not my favorite by any means, but you could easily get away with using this in your productions.

What Type Of Music Can I Use Saxophone VSTS With?

You can use these from pop music to jazz. Really any style of music that you feel them suited for.

There will be a number of time that you will feel the saxophone is appropriate in your songs, these will allow you to test it before you commit to using sax.

Why Use VSTS?

Saxophone VSTS allow you to test the part before you actually record it. With the advancement of technology, VSTS are also being used as the final product actually more than real instruments now. You save money, and you don’t have to find someone to record the part for you.

More Free Options

Here is a list of the best free saxophone VSTs. My favorite is currently the Iowa saxophone.

Conclusion

There’s a wide variety of uses for VSTS and I hope this list made it easier for you to find some great options.

I truly believe that this list we put together is the very best saxophone VSTs currently available.

If you’re looking to be producing full-time, I highly suggest checking out the Mojo horn section VST. The quality is seriously out of this world and I know that you will find use out of this.

Experiment with a bunch of different options and see if you can get any use out of the free options listed above before purchasing.

Do you have any experience with saxophone VSTs? If so, what is your favorite so far? Let me know in the comments below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like