Arturia has released an update to its FX Collection, adding two new plugins and a trio of recent releases to the bundle.

The headline addition for FX Collection 6 is Efx Ambient, the next instalment in Arturia’s range of modern, creative effects, joining the granular Efx Fragments, Efx Motions effects shaper and Efx Refract unison effect.

Described by Arturia as a ‘dreamlike processor’, Efx Ambient is a plugin that combines elements of pitch-shifting, distortion and spatial processing, specialising in soundscapes and washed-out textures. This has six modes, named Reflect, Woven, Siren, Organist, Codec and Sunken, each of which is designed to generate a different form of ambience.

According to Arturia, these can create “novel, emotive textures through six expertly designed modes, using state-of-the-art spectral processing, and Feedback Delay Networks rendered usable by macros.”

On the surface level its controls are incredibly simple. Along with the list of modes, its basic UI has just Tone and Space parameters, which can be adjusted using an X/Y control surface, along with Dry/Wet mix. As is typical of Arturia plugins, an expanded Advanced view hides a variety of controls that allow for deeper shaping of the effect.

Here, users can access deeper controls for the plugin’s two main modules, along with a modulation section with a function generator LFO, as well as sequencer, envelope follower, macro and randomisation tools.

The second new addition is Pitch Shifter-910, a take on the classic Eventide H910 Harmonizer, which was launched in the mid-1970s and was known for being the first digital studio effect processor, used on countless releases across rock, pop and dance music.

The H910 was particularly popular for vocal production, due to its ability to create harmonies using pitch shifts set to specific musical intervals. The effect can also sound great on guitars, synths and drums.

Arturia’s take has both vintage and modern pitchshifting engines as well as a dedicated delay section that can be used to create pitched repeats. It also has a dual mono mode, which recreates the classic studio trick of using two H910s to have shifted versions of an audio signal panned hard left and right.

The remaining three FX Collection additions are Mix Drums, Tape J-37 and Bus Transient.

Mix Drums was first released last year, and was one of our favourite software releases of 2025. It is a multi-band processor that combines elements of saturation, compression, EQ and reverb, all specifically designed to finesse drums and percussion.

Designed in collaboration with producer Emre Ramazanoglu, Mix Drums' phase-coherent design ensures that parallel processing combining dry, distorted and compressed signals won't present any problems at the output, avoiding the phase issues that can occur when multiple signal paths are misaligned.

There's also automated gain staging at the input, along with a signal path clipper at the output stage, designed to boost perceived loudness and tame peak levels without introducing unwanted harshness and distortion.

Tape J-37 is modelled on the classic Studer J37 tape machine, and aims to impart the colouration and harmonic distortion that original machine is renowned for. It has four colour character modes to choose from. The advanced controls include EQ, delay, wow and flutter parameters.

Finally, Bus Transient is a transient shaper that offers control over attack and sustain stages across three adjustable frequency bands.

These five additions bring the full FX Collection package up to a total of 39 plugins, also featuring a variety of compressors, filters, delays, reverbs, distortions and more.

Along with the new plugins, FX Collection 6 also updates 24 other plugins, introducing 134 new presets in the process.

Although less established than its V Collection synth bundle, for our money the FX Collection is shaping up as the strongest part of Arturia’s software range. Considering both the breadth of tools on offer and the general ease-of-use that comes with its well-designed UIs, the FX Collection is one of the most appealing plugin bundles on the market right now.

For the first time, Arturia is also launching an ‘Intro’ version of its FX Collection, containing six ‘essential’ effects priced at $/€99. This includes the Plate-140 reverb, Tape-201 delay and Tape Mello-Fi tape emulation, along with Efx Fragments, Efx Motions and Mix Drums.

Naturally, this truncated selection is far less comprehensive than the full FX Collection – and what makes these six specific plugins more essential than, say, compressors or filters remains to be seen – but it’s still a good price point for a varied selection of impressive effects.

As for the full FX Collection 6, that’s out now priced at $/€499. Head to the Arturia site for more info.

What is it?

Ever since the concept of one box-mastering became an alternative to racks of equipment, the concept of mastering within the DAW has become a highly viable and desirable option, and one that is incredibly cost-effective. We don’t all have acoustically treated rooms in which we mix and master, so suites such as Ozone can be a useful extra pair of ears, designed to fine-tune your finished track to a level of perfection and fine sheen.

More recently, mastering plugins have started to appear as part of many DAW packages, so why spend more money on a suite such as Ozone 12?

iZotope has a strong reputation, which stands it in good stead. Apart from a host of other interesting plugins, Ozone is often regarded as an industry standard, used by enthusiastic amateurs and professionals alike, with a track record going back nearly 25 years. It now ascends to Ozone 12, superseding the previous version which came out two years ago, but what’s new, and is v12 a worthy upgrade?

Performance

The Mastering Assistant function is a much-used feature within Ozone, which employs AI to listen to the audio from your track, assembling a signal chain which it believes will improve your audio output. Ozone 10 tended to suggest this as more of a fait accompli, while Ozone 11 rolled back slightly, treating the AI’s suggestions as more of a starting point. With the upgrade to Ozone 12, iZotope have made this function customisable, with the ability to immediately apply or disable mastering modules, as part of this process. You can also indicate your style of music, and the amount of time you want Ozone to take while listening to your track. This can be extended up to a full minute; longer listening times often result in a better performance.

This might seem like a minor upgrade, but it’s fairly significant for anybody who wishes to have a little more control over the signal chain. The Mastering Assistant can sometimes overburden a track with processing, particularly music related to soundtrack or classical styles. This new facility makes it far easier from the outset, meaning that you don’t have to switch off modules after the AI has worked its magic. It’s also possible to save your preferences as a default, which is an enormously appealing timesaver.

Trio de force

In the full ‘advanced’ version of Ozone 12, there are now three new modules.

Stem separation tools are one area which is advancing rapidly. Ozone’s new Stem EQ allows you to audition and EQ individual stems in real time, from within the Ozone suite, without the need to separate stems manually beforehand. There are limitations; you can only apply this function to only four different stem areas, namely vocals, drums, bass, and ‘other’ which lumps together the remaining instrumental content.

For the most part, this is a very useful tool, particularly if working in mainstream styles. It’s an impressive feature, which we found exceptionally useful when working with bass and drums. It was debatably less useful for soundtrack style cues, lacking in vocals, and is unlikely to be a substitute for many composers who are already required to organise and deliver stems.

Bass Control is the second of the trio, which is designed to assist and fix particular issues in the bottom end. This goes far further than just balancing, particularly with commercial styles of music. We found that we could add plenty of punch to synth basslines, tightening up the whole bottom end along the way.

The Unlimiter is the last of the new modules in the trio, and provides a couple of excellent usage options. In the first instance, it can rein back instances where tracks may appear overly compressed. If you find yourself with a loss of transients in a track, it’s an easy process to bring back the punch, which can then be re-compressed further down the chain. It’s interesting to note that iZotope suggests that this is an industry first, and certainly appears to be the case within a suite of this kind, however we have seen this form of technology before, from Hugging Face, through their de-limiter web-based algorithm. It’s not quite the same or as advanced, but the concept has been around for a couple of years.

Verdict

As an overall unit, Ozone 12 continues to impress. There have been a number of improvements in the background, which seem to result in a more musical finished product. How you engage with Ozone arguably depends on your level of experience, and we certainly enjoyed using it alongside some of our other mastering favourites, applying third-party saturation and subtle EQ or compression. If you find yourself working in several genres, mastering can be a bit of a moving target as you switch from style to style, so Ozone 12 will always be useful in the final preparation of whatever you do.

With 20 modules included (also included as individual plugins), Ozone 12 is exceptional value for money, but it’s also not cheap! If you feel that it’s a little too much for your budget, iZotope does offer other reduced products in the Ozone range. Existing Ozone users get access to upgrade pricing, but you can also jump onto the Ozone bandwagon through the entry level Ozone Elements, for a mere £55. It represents excellent value, performing very basic mastering duties. If you are feeling a little more flush, the Standard edition is £209, and occupies the middle territory. All information can be found on iZotope’s website, where you can assess which version suits your budget and working.

Ozone 12 feels like a rite of passage, with a considerable number of enhancements that will make this a worthy upgrade, particularly if you are upgrading from before Ozone 10.

Hands-on demos

iZotope, Inc.

Alternatives

Specifications

Cyber Monday may be over, but there are still plenty of deals knocking around. Perhaps you've spent the past few days eagerly hunting the best deals on music-making gear. Or maybe you're utterly sick of hearing words like 'Cyber', 'Deals', and 'Black Friday' and can't wait for it all to end. Either response is entirely legitimate.

Whatever your outlook, though, there are still masses of Cyber Monday plugin deals to be had. Whether you want them or not.

Personally, what I love about these big music software sales is finding the real bargains. The plugins that are reduced right down into impulse buy territory.

Sure, 'Cyber Weekend' is a great time to grab a massive discount on a software bundle that will fully restock your hard drive with the latest virtual instruments and effects, but even at a bargain price, a purchase like that can be a substantial investment that needs to be considered carefully.

What interests me more are the discounted plugins that slide into that sub-$/£50 sweet spot. While that amount of money isn't negligible by any means, it's also unlikely to ruin your life if you buy something on a whim.

We're talking about the sort of money you might blow on an impromptu night out, or a Friday night pizza order.

At those price points, you can take a punt on an interesting synth or experimental effect that might not be solving an essential issue in your workflow, but could prove inspirational and creative in ways you weren't expecting. Or maybe not – at that price it's not the end of the world.

To that end, I've been scouring the Cyber Monday sales in order to round-up my favourite instruments and effects available for under $/£50.

There really are some truly excellent plugins to be had. Everything I've included here is something that I either use personally, or which comes from a trustworthy recommendation via my MusicRadar colleagues or our team of reviewers/writers.

Effect plugins

Instrument plugins

What is it?

We’re all used to adjusting our EQ levels on a spectral display, pinpointing the exact frequency we wish to enhance or reduce, and doing this at whatever precision levels we require. How about using that process style for other effects? Maybe add a touch of reverb to your hi-end frequencies while saturating the low end? Or adding lo-fi grunge to your mids and dub delays to your bass?

That’s the route that iZotope has taken with FXEQ; it’s not exactly reinventing the effects wheel – other plugins do allow you to process multiple effects across different frequency ranges – but it is making the process more intuitive and easier than ever before.

iZotope’s FXEQ – part of the company’s Catalyst series – is a five-module multi that utilises a brilliant display to make it easy to see and hear what each of its effects is doing, how much they are doing, and this is the key, where each is doing it. And it sounds the bomb. You can go crazy with it if you like, but subtle and not-so-subtle use could make FXEQ a go-to plugin at every point in the production process.

Performance

FXEQ’s five effect blocks are Saturation, Reverb, Delay, Modulation, and Lo-fi, each running in parallel through its own parametric EQ, and all shown on screen with a different colour per effect. Each of the five blocks has a central drop-down menu allowing you to access between three and eight effect modes, so you get chorus, doubler, flanger, and phaser modes within the Modulation block, for example.

The overall idea is to ‘paint’ the effects across the UI’s frequency spectrum with up to six nodes and four filter shapes per effect. And yes, it’s exactly like using a standard parametric EQ, only with five different effects, and you can just as easily increase the magnitude of the effect in any part of the range, and increase or decrease the width, as you would an EQ Q value, all with a simple mouse click and drag.

You only get a couple of controls in each effect section, but these carry out an effect’s main and most dramatic tasks. With its intuitive, colour-coordinated UI, you can clearly identify each effect, so it’s very easy to create, edit, and see your effect ‘painting’ as it comes together, and you’ll soon become as familiar with this UI and start to picture your mix or sound and as you do with your EQ.

Where FXEQ obviously scores massively and quickly in a hands-on mix is the ability to add one effect to part of a sound’s frequency range and a second to another. You might want to, say, add both lo-fi grunge and saturation to a bass part’s lower mids to give it a completely new character, all while lifting some of its high mid character with a gentle reverb, and add some delays to the mids while you’re there.

Sounds wise, a lot is going on, then, promoting FXEQ as a top design tool. Yes, use it subtly to add sparkly reverb shimmer to specific hi-end parts – great for strings and pads – or use it, as we did, on particularly bass heavy tracks where you can easily add gnarly character to distinguish one bassline from another. Used in full force, then, FXEQ adds another layer of sonic tweaking to your productions, letting you quickly and easily make those presets you used as guideline sounds into something that you can call your own.

Throw some automation into the mix and you can add more motion and emotion, and with five effects spinning around over different frequencies, the sky really is the limit. But while this is obviously great for creativity, it could also contribute to overcooking effects – you’ll probably end up considering combinations of effects that you might not have, simply because they are right there at your fingertips.

However, with its emphasis on the visuals and the clarity between effects, FXEQ also seemingly recognises this potential issue of overdoing effect processing – it’s easy to see where effects are stacking up, so even easier to do something about it. This could be particularly useful for avoiding low-end muddiness, for example, as you see exactly what is stacked up in that area.

Verdict

FXEQ allows you to do away with stacks of insert or return effects (and potential high processor loads) by combining five types – and over 20 sub categories – within one plugin, and that is almost worth the 49 dollars alone. But its key selling point is just how it presents them to you as a kind of ‘effects EQ’ – so that’s where the name comes from – and so gets you over any learning curve hurdles fast. So it’s easy to use, gets speedy results, is cheap and sounds great. A 100% winner then, right?

Well, you can’t replace or re-order the effects (yet), which is a slight limitation compared to some of our multi-alternatives. But they lack FXEQ’s simplicity, and with less options to tweak per effect, the resulting streamlined workflow is a definite advantage and will lead to slicker, faster mixing.

With so many mix options available in as simple – and recognisable – a way as is possible, FXEQ will undoubtedly increase your creativity and speed up your workflow, from creating weird and wonderful tracks, to shaping entire mixes. You can probably achieve similar results by stacking up your stock plugins and EQ-ing each one, but with FXEQ you can do five jobs in one and all on the same display. And at less than 50 bucks, it’s hard not to recommend it.

You might think it’s an EQ to start with, but really FXEQ is an entire strip of effects in one. The bonus is that it uses that EQ look and platform to achieve great results, and very quickly, all with iZotope’s seal of quality and at an excellent price.

Hands-on demos

iZotope, Inc.

Alternatives

Specifications

What is it?

Though primarily known for its exceptionally well-produced (and exceptionally hefty on the hard drive space requirements) orchestral suites, EastWest has widened its software offerings in recent years, with the company’s Opus engine now housing a vast array of smaller software instruments, vocal libraries and colourful effect toolkits, with generally pretty superlative results.

At just 22GB, Lo-Fi is EastWest’s latest drop in the latter category, and was released to mark an impressive ten years of its ComposerCloud+ subscription. On first glance, Lo-Fi sits within a fairly (perhaps suitably) old-fashioned looking GUI – housed within the now familiar Opus shell. But on closer inspection, its scope and abilities soon become readily apparent with even just the bare minimum of tinkering.

Dubbed a ‘distorted, gritty and mangled producer’s toolkit’, Lo-Fi brings a range of samples, textures and effects, all neatly organised by category.

The 350 instrument presets span sections for Bass, Drums and Percussion, Guitars, Keys and Synths, Leads, Textures, Orchestral, Pads and Vocals. Although you’ll notice straight away that some of the sounds appear quite different to what their tag indicates they should sound like, the patches have been grouped based on what the original starting point for the sound was.

The main UI (displayed under Opus’ Play window) is framed around a central X/Y pad, where four effect types (Stutter, Dream, Space and Grit) can be blended to shape sounds in all manner of bizarre, and unique, ways while the effect is in play. This foregrounds the happy accident-leaning approach to creativity from the off.

Surrounding the X/Y pad are individual control sections for broader effects such as Delay, Reverb, Auto Pan, Drive, Ring Mod and modulation controls for LFO, envelope or velocity to give the sounds more kinetic movement, as does a sturdy arpeggiator that can easily build out defined rhythmic patterns from the sonic palette on offer.

It’s these effects that are automatically manipulated once you start moving your X/Y control around the pad. For instance, selecting ‘Space’ then shifting the cursor up and down yields the Chorus and Delay effects to respond in turn.

Depending on your selected sound, different results are generated. For instance, selecting the Forgotten Pads preset then infusing a Grit effect on the X/Y creates a morphing, kinetic phaser effect which can be reined in or let to bleed to your heart’s content. But that’s just one of many nuanced, vibrant results you can achieve with Lo-Fi.

Performance

Starting with a leisurely swim through Lo-Fi’s instrumental presets, and it’s instantly clear that this source material has been distressed (or not, in some cases) with some chin-stroking consideration. The sounds range from the jittery and constricted to the lush and verdant – albeit often filtered beyond all recognition from their original source.

Despite the angle of Lo-Fi’s marketing, we were quite surprised by how clean some of the instrument sounds were, although it’s pretty easy to tarnish them beyond all recognition.

In terms of the satisfying selection of kits on offer, the more clean-sounding 808 and PE kits were unexpectedly hefty, and a surprising treat to find nestled among the gnarlier presets.

In textural terms, the assortment of Orchestral sounds is one of the most enticing. There’s some manipulated real instruments, and some expansive creative effects (Night Feelings and So Electric Orchestral to name but two). On the leads front, there’s a tendency towards the tape/Mellotron-esque aesthetic, and every lead we select soars atop most mixes without any additional mixing required. So, while tinkering and pitch wheel-riding is encouraged, there’s already the building blocks of some absorbing sonic textures ready to go from the outset.

Verdict

It’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into coating up this smorgasbord of sonics, but as we indicated earlier, some of the sounds on offer remain pristine enough for modern production purposes.

It’s indeed tempting to just stick with what’s provided here to use as the raw materials for a track, yet even a nudge of just one macro control can suddenly swing your starting point into a new direction.

Of course, if you want to get forensic you’re more than equipped. Lo-Fi brings lo and hi-pass filters, ADSR envelopes, LFO and step-sequencer options as well as robust MIDI Learn capabilities – it’s every bit as manipulable as a dedicated synth, albeit with a distinct flavour.

Though there’s a huge array of sounds on offer here, there is a notably ‘wonky’ flavour that might not suit everyone’s taste, but we’d argue it’s nigh-on impossible to believe, with the amount of control and shaping scope that EastWest has presented here, that any musician should not be able to find a brilliant new colour to add to a developing mix.

Hands-on demos

EastWest Sounds

Alternatives

Specifications

Brainworx has announced bx_pulsar, a new flagship delay with innovative but easy to use features designed to make it the perfect go-to whatever your delay needs.

bx_pulsar offers a sonic palette spanning from pristine digital delays to colourful emulations of classic hardware and otherworldly reverse echoes.

“Channel the aura of busted pedal delays, dusty tapes, and otherworldly echoes with bx_pulsar,” says Brainworx

At the heart of bx_pulsar are its five different delay modes, each bearing its own unique sonic fingerprint and introducing its own set of possibilities.

These are:

● Air: Which offers a clean, uncoloured sound for pristine reflections and delay diffusion.

● Circuit: Which is inspired by vintage ‘bucket brigade device’ delays and classic guitar pedals, offering authentic analogue grit.

● Magnetic: Which provides the much-beloved sound of analogue tape, reels, and cassettes, with rich modulation and degraded textures.

● Reverse: Which is a smooth reverse delay with added diffusion and compression for ethereal effects.

● Aether: And finally Aether supplies surreal and original delay effects designed to add sparkle, radiance and diffusion.

On top of the five modes the plugin offers an 8-step sequencer, allowing users to create complex delay patterns automagically without the need to fiddle with delay times and settings. There’s also a built-in ducking compressor creating automatic sidechains to the dry signal making it super-quick to fit within your busy mix.

Swing and Offset controls add subtle groove and timing shifts to your repeats making them less mechanical while Freeze and Clear Buffer give limitless options for capturing sounds and creating textures with infinite delays.

And on top of everything there’s low and high-cut filters, as well as low and high-frequency dampening for precise tonal sculpting of the delayed signal.

bx_pulsar is out now priced at $69, but you can pick it up for an introductory price of $49.99 until 30 October.

Find out more at Plugin Alliance, here.

What is it?

Neural DSP has developed an impressive product line of guitar amp modelling software and hardware, delivering a broad range of options including an excellent selection of artist-inspired plugins. However, its latest release moves away from the guitar, focusing instead on another key production component – vocals.

Mantra (VST, VST3, AU, AAX) is an all-in-one real-time plugin that delivers tailored and flexible vocal processing. In fact, a quick look at the feature list reveals pretty much every conceivable vocal process and then some. Spread across three main windows – Correction, Harmonies and Post FX – Mantra incorporates everything from standard EQ and compression to tuning, harmonising, reverb and doubling, as well as its analysis-based shaper, Sculpt.

The windows' layouts are tailored to their respective functions. For Correction you get seven modules on a scrollable panel at the bottom with related graphic display above. Meanwhile, the Harmonies page features a panorama display for panning and level, with detailed parameters below. Finally, the Post FX option divides the display into Delay, Reverb, Modulation and Doubler sections.

The plugin is topped and tailed with overall levels and an output Limiter. In the top bar you’ll also find access to over 200 presets and two global modes (Tracking and Mixing) that impact latency, quality and availability of some features.

Performance

Getting started with Mantra is pretty straightforward; that said, it’s worth mentioning a couple of things. Firstly, three of the modules (Tune, Harmonies and Doubler) are only available if the input is mono, and you’ll find a handy mono/stereo option in the top left. Secondly, the top bar also includes global key and scale settings. These influence both the Tune module and the Harmonies processor and options currently include chromatic and core major/minor scales, though not modes.

With seven modules (Tune, Gate, Sculpt, De-esser, EQ, Compressor and Saturation), Correction has a lot going on, and much of this is pretty self-explanatory. Let’s take a look at some of the important aspects. Tune is an easy-to-use real-time pitch corrector with speed (Attack) and sensitivity (Tolerance) alongside independent Formant and Pitch shifting. It follows the global scale set in the top bar and at present, you can’t bypass notes, although we understand this option may be added in the future.

Sculpt is one of the more interesting modules and starts by running an analysis pass on the audio signal. You then get a choice of nine target styles (Pop, Rock, Balanced and so on) with depth controls (0 to 100%) for the two processors – EQ and Dynamic. This is great for both overall sweetening and resonance reduction.

The De-esser module is reasonably flexible, with adjustable detection frequency, detection solo and three intensity options. The eight-band EQ, meanwhile, includes node-based and parameter editing, plus handy band solo, background frequency analyser and very useful overall EQ gain scaling (0 to 100%). The Compressor has three core modes – Tube, Stress and Multi – which cover gentle, aggressive and multiband duties. Available parameters are tailored to each style and we found them easy to use, although there are no truly deep parameters. All told, Correction achieves some great outcomes, although some flexibility to re-order modules such as dynamics and EQ would be very welcome.

Mantra’s Harmonies processor provides four stereo pairs of harmonies with up to +/- 2 octaves shifting and adjustable formant. You can set intervals manually or choose from a bunch of chordal presets, meanwhile, levels and panning can be set on screen or via the parameters section. Further parameters include a randomise amount for pitch and timing. The results are very usable when blended and we found it works particularly well for adding octaves or for bespoke thickening of single vocal parts.

Mantra’s final page, FX, is again pretty self-explanatory. That said, you get independent mix blends for the main vocal and the generated harmonies, which allows for much better finessing.

Verdict

Mantra is an ambitious plugin that goes way beyond traditional channel strip duties, and provides a quick solution for a wide range of vocal processing and beyond.

This kind of mega plugin may not suit everyone’s workflow, but you can of course pick and choose the modules you want to use and where to use them.

With that in mind Mantra clearly has broad appeal and offers decent value.

Hands-on demos

Neural DSP

Alternatives

Specifications

PLUGIN WEEK 2025: Ever since the fateful day that a guitarist turned up their amp just a little too much and discovered distortion, musicians and producers have been obsessed with applying colour, shape and degradation to an audio signal.

While this was a classic case of a ‘happy accident’, the resulting sound was gritty and crunchy - and the forerunner to the packaged distortion that we get today, in either pedal or plugin form.

Since the advent of music technology equipment, experimentation has been key, with some excellent examples of technology being shunted in a different direction, while accidentally creating a brilliant effect.

Take another much more up-to-date example of the over-extension of Auto Tune applied to a vocal; the shifting vocal line extends way beyond its original melodic intent, inducing trills and mordents, creating an effect which has become part of the R&B furniture.

While you may never be sure where your next interesting or experimental sound may come from, there are some great examples of plugins that are intrinsically designed to induce colour and chaos to your signal, sometimes with a quite surprising output.

Returning to the theme of distortion, it's long been a favourite of synthesists for creating overdriven lead and bass sounds, although not all distortions are equal.

One of the classic overdriven colours stems from the use of the original Roland TB-303. With its squealing filter circuit, and the addition of a suitable distortion pedal. Over the years, we have experimented with many examples, only a few of which have truly cut the overdrive-mustard when trying to replicate the original Acid House sound.

Thanks to the plugin domain, most distortion plugins present more than a single overdrive colour, and no plugin demonstrates this more eloquently than Decapitator, from Soundtoys. Employing five distinct saturation models (all culled from sonic adventures in the analog world) it garners an exemplary level of control across tone and application.

It can be used to subtly warmup a master output of an entire mix, dirty-up a drum track, or go full tilt into distorted mayhem, for bright bass lines and leads.

Just ask Jon Hopkins, who paired this plugin so successfully with the aggressive tendencies of the Korg MS-20, on his Mercury nominated album, Immunity.

Of course, it is possible to re-create similar effects using the included distortion and overdrive plugins, available within your DAW, but you might be advised to look left-field for the best options.

One highly praised example of a superb stock plugin is the Bitcrusher, included as part of the Logic suite.

Apart from its ability to reduce all of your tracks to pseudo chiptune proportions, it introduces interesting harmonic content, through the downsampling of the sample rate.

The resolution control allows the reduction of the bit depth, substantially reducing the points on the amplitude curve, via each incremental shift downwards. Try this on drums, and you'll end up with something similar to a classic gated drum kit. Eat your heart out, Phil Collins!

If we swing back to our concept of experimentation, a very simple point for experimentation stems from the order in which you place your plugins in the channel strip.

Consider using a synth pad or strings, which you liberally apply with a long reverb.

If you add distortion after the reverb, you'll get a very interesting sound. Better still, apply some form of bit crush plugin, also after the reverb, and as the reverb tail fades, the crushing effect will apply a certain magic to the signal, resulting in all sorts of interesting colours and stuttering dynamics.

There are many ways to saturate and colour an audio signal, and much like distortion, many hark back to technology from a previous age.

One of the reasons that we like analog technology (or plugins that simulate analog technology) is because of subtle distortions which are introduced into the signal, which we interpret as impurity and warmth.

No style of plugin personifies this more than the category known as tape simulation.

Recording to an analog reel-to-reel tape machine induces second harmonic distortion, alongside noise, hum, and degrees of pitch fluctuation, entirely dependent on how recently the tape machine was serviced!

Thankfully, you don't have to go to the trouble of buying hardware anymore, as there are many on-screen devices that will do the job for you.

Universal Audio has long been the guardian of the analog-inspired domain, with a number of excellent solutions ripe for recommendation.

The Verve Analog Machines suite supplies immediate analog and tape-based colour, in an exceptionally useful and easy to use plugin format.

This is an ideal solution for a number of different working scenarios, from individual channels to your main output or master. With 10 colouration variations available, it represents incredible value for money, especially if purchased during one of the ubiquitous UA sales!

If you want to escalate by a notch or two, take a closer look at the Ampex ATR-102 or Studer A800 plugins, also from Universal Audio.

Both of these plugins provide extended tape-based control, with the ability to dial in wow and flutter, as well as noise and hum. The 102 is often described as the analog glue, that melts everything together in a mix.

However, there are also considerable trends for lo-fi production, so you might prefer a plugin that goes to the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

The Cassette plugin, from Wavesfactory, exhibits similar facets to the UA designs, but with a far greater capacity to degrade your signal, as though you are using a well worn cassette tape. Nice! Apart from the obvious degrading of sound, the interface is heavily laced with childhood reminiscence.

All of these plugins provide a beautiful set of colours, but we do have to just issue a small word of warning: It is very easy to oversaturate instrumentation or an entire mix with too many similar or contrasting colours.

Many of these tape simulations can be driven to an extreme, and you should always question how far you wish to push your sound. Going to the outer limits may feel terrific initially, but see what your ears tell you the next day.

Don't be afraid to pull back the mix or noise blend. Your ears will thank you for it later.

While we’re talking about noise, another company that has taken this to the extreme, is AudioThing.

Alongside a healthy batch of quirky colouration plugins, AudioThing has also produced instrument plugins that generate a number of different noises. In fact, ‘Noises’ is the name of one of the company’s plugins, which supplies a set of banks, each equipped with their own set of noises.

Through the use of modulation, these noises can be used as instruments in their own right, or serve alongside existing instrumentation, to add another interesting and quirky layer to your music.

If you want to switch to a more musical methodology, you could try adding notes to existing lines in a track.

The technology of building chords from a signal is relatively well trodden, but there are some excellent examples that go beyond the norm.

Eventide’s Octavox specialises in adding up to eight notes to an incoming signal, but can be done in a way that extends beyond the original concept of harmonisation.

Each of the eight notes can be assigned to different pitches and timing, resulting in the notes playing out across a bar or two. Moreover, you can specify where these notes appear in the stereo field, and at what dynamic level. It might take you a small step closer to sounding like Jacob Collier, which given the nature of his extraordinary talent, would be no bad thing for any of us!

While the Octavox provides capacity to organise your harmonies succinctly, the legendary Crystallizer, from Soundtoys, exhibits musical greatness too.

Billed as a ‘Granular Echo Synthesiser’, applying this to the most basic of signals, such as a felt piano track, will instantly add a layer of endearing complexity. It has become a firm favourite in the soundtrack world.

Another area that could be positively harvested for interesting quirkiness, is the delay plugin, particularly those simulating tape delays.

One of the neatest tricks that we can pull off with any delay plugin is the capacity to feedback the signal to a frenzy.

This feedback element induces all sorts of colour and overtones, which can then also be pulled back from the brink of overdrive and destruction.

Of course, this is exactly what guitarists used to do with the original hardware - but we can do the same in the plugin domain.

It is however worth experimenting with automation within the DAW, as this will allow you to tame the signal, so that it doesn't become overbearing.

One of the most cloned units is the original Roland RE-201 Space Echo. Unlike the original hardware, many of the software versions operate in stereo, with capacity to sync its delay amount to your DAW project tempo.

One of our favourite and most cost-effective reproductions comes from Cherry Audio.

The Stardust 201 captures the sound and spirit of the original unit, alongside a host of additional features, making it very useful indeed.

If you prefer to have even more control over your delays, try the Eventide Ultratap. This incredible plugin can operate in the usual delay-line sense, but allows for total control over the number of repetitions, and the way that these reproduce. It's a wonderfully clever plugin, that is well worth getting to know.

But if you want to take your delays to the very next dimension, you can't go far wrong with Output’s Portal. This is another plugin that veers toward granular, but does so in an incredibly engaging style, thanks to its inviting interface.

Bountiful effects can be created, shifting pitch and time simultaneously, with simple capacity to blend the original signal with the processed signal, allowing automation as you go.

Experimentation in any form of music is essential if you want to create something genuinely original.

We can certainly learn from the pioneers, but there is so much to learn by exploring how effects plugins can re-shape our sounds

The common DAW provides so much processing power - the sonic world is literally your oyster, and that world is often enhanced by the addition of quirkiness and colouration.

Be bold in your experimentation, but don't be afraid to wind it back. Your listeners may not always agree with you, and striking a balance is likely to always be the best prerogative.

PLUGIN WEEK 2025: Cableguys is the name behind some of the most incisive sonic manipulation tools in our libraries. Always innovative, frequently surprising, they come at music from a different angle, producing effects and sounds that simply aren't available elsewhere.

To find out more, last year we spoke with the company's founder Jakob Rang and he opened the box, lifting the lid on ShaperBox, FilterShaper XL, MIDIShaper and more...

Firstly, there's ShaperBox 3.5, the latest iteration of your suite of powerful rhythmic and mixing tools. Can you talk us through the new features that were added in this latest update, and just what makes it different?

“Our aim with ShaperBox is to make it easy for any producer to get complex- sounding results, all in one plugin. That’s why you’ll find there’s no modulation setup, no routing matrix and no automation systems that you have to deal with.

"Instead, you add one of up to 10 effects – from volume ducking, filtering and distortion to phasing, reverb, panning, temporal manipulation and more – and draw the shapes you want to hear.

“Our LFO drawing system is powerful enough to handle any effects movement you can imagine. But it’s fast and fun, too, with lots of presets for all of the common use cases. Advanced features like multiband processing, audio/MIDI triggering and flexible envelope followers are there when you need them – but you don’t have to learn them to use ShaperBox by any means.

“This gives you a plugin that works for everything from quick rhythmic inspiration and ‘instant sound design’ to sample-accurate mix tweaks and deep sonic explorations. We like to think that these factors combined are what make ShaperBox stand out.

“The ShaperBox 3.5 ‘analogue warmth’ update adds features and algorithms first seen on our FilterShaper XL dual filter plugin. There’s new Smooth Clip distortion, adjustable filter Resonance Distortion inside the filter circuit, a Hard Dist option for edgier tones, and filter self-oscillation. It’s tons of fun to play with, giving you the feel and sound of real analogue gear pushed to the limit.”

We loved FilterShaper XL too. What motivated you to reboot the original FilterShaper plugin, being that it preceded and laid the groundwork for the resulting Shaper series in many respects?

“FilterShaper has always been our most capable plugin for advanced filtering, with its dual filters and ability to ‘modulate the modulators’. The interface was feeling a bit dated alongside ShaperBox, though, and it did not include our latest LFO editing either.

"Since we were updating it for compatibility anyway, we decided to address those issues too... And while there, why not put in juicy new Drive stages and make the filter DSP even better? The result is FilterShaper XL.”

ReverbShaper is a superb rhythmic reverb, re-imagining reverb as a dynamic, creative effect. What are some of your personal favourite things that it’s capable of?

“We’ve had so many requests to do ReverbShaper over the years, and of course, it just makes sense to put a rhythmic reverb inside ShaperBox – so we did! Our favourite feature has to be the Clear Tails mode that resets the reverb in the pattern you program, or even with each note played. You can create massive reverbs that never overlap and become messy, even with complex chord sequences! Our other favourite uses include ducked reverb and chopping the reverb rhythmically.”

How long does the development of one of your plugins typically take, and do you have an ‘it’s done when it’s done’ policy, or do you stick to a set of tight release schedules?

“We are usually working on several plugins at once, so it’s not possible to give a straightforward answer here. HalfTime is our fastest so far – it took three months of concentrated effort from inception to release. Other projects are ongoing, spanning multiple years!

“And here’s a secret: all the current ShaperBox Shapers – including the new ReverbShaper – started life as pre-release prototypes for the original ShaperBox 1. That gave us a clear roadmap for the evolution of ShaperBox, and let us discover early on which effects would work best as Shapers.

“Of course, developing the real DSP algorithms, coming up with specialised features and graphics, refining parameter ranges, and so on, takes time, about a year for each Shaper. But we’re very happy with the results of this quality-over-quantity approach. We use release deadlines to bring focus and motivation to a project. But we’ll absolutely move those dates if the plugin needs more work. Again, quality first!”

Can you take us right back to the formation of Cableguys? What were the company’s guiding principles back at the start and how have you changed and developed since those early days?

“It all started because I was curious if drawing oscillator waveforms made any sense. I think it did, and I released a free v0.1 of our synth, Curve, as a hobby project in 2005. Then I had the idea of a public preset sharing system for Curve – which was kinda innovative at that time.

“I was convinced that everyone would love and use it. A good friend joined me, and Cableguys got started as a company. While working on Curve 1 (which only got released in 2010), we realised that drawing waves for modulation was very useful, too, and the result was VolumeShaper 1, which we released in 2007.

“When Curve 1 came out, it turned out that our expectation for the preset sharing system was very wrong – nobody cared about it, except for a handful of very skilled preset designers. Luckily people liked Curve for other reasons, for its sound and for its directness of control. That’s a principle we had since the beginning: we always try to do useful things in a very easy-to-use way. As our friend BT puts it: ‘ShaperBox is a masterpiece of simplicity of use and complexity of sound.’

“We’re in the luxury position that we do not have to rush things. We care a lot about details, both for sound and UI, but also for the videos that my colleague Joe does. We care that the sound is just ‘right’, that no unwanted artefacts are introduced, gain staging works, etc, that all elements in the UI make sense and that the videos are straight to the point. While it was just two of us in the early days, we’re now a team of very motivated people.”

How many people now work at Cableguys, and how often do you speak to producers and artists to get feedback on how your tools are being used?

“There are six of us at Cableguys: three on the development side, based in Germany, and three on the marketing and support side, in the UK. Feedback from producers and artists gives us vital insight into what is actually important to professional music- makers. What works for the world’s top names is usually best for the rest of us too.

“Our pro users include household names like David Guetta, Armin van Buuren and Darude, as well as “producers’ producers” like Khaliq Glover (Prince, Justin Timberlake) and Mick Schultz (Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson). And our Kickstart plugin, made in collaboration with producer Nicky Romero, has been a huge success.

“Of course, feedback from regular users is just as valuable, and we sometimes conduct in-person testing sessions with local musicians. Seeing how users interact with a plugin for the first time really helps us ensure that a plugin ‘just works’ in an intuitive way.”

What’s next on the agenda for Cableguys, and can you give us any indications of what we can expect next from the company?

“We are currently finishing work on an updated MIDIShaper. MIDIShaper gives you ShaperBox-style LFO control over any other MIDI CC-driven plugin, and even external MIDI hardware like synths. We’ve given it a brand-new interface, improved compatibility, and it’ll be a free update for all existing owners.

“Beyond that, we’ve got some improvements for ShaperBox in the pipeline, and are working on a very much improved Curve – it will take a while before release, though.”

What is it?

Long before the era of digital dominance, tape was the be-all and end-all of recording technology. It was the principal format on which everything was recorded, stored and edited. But, being a fundamentally physical mechanism, the clunky character and technical quirks of the mechanical machines used would often be audibly present (for better and for worse) on the final recordings.

It’s a quality that many people point to when discussing the ‘superiority’ of analogue over digital. That being the presence and sparkle (or dirt, depending on who you ask) that added a certain tangibility.

As we’re now living in a digital age, the only way to achieve the same results today is via a pricey emulation (or hitting up auction sites for any good deals on an antiquated tape machine!).

French software guru Arturia is a dab hand at modelling vintage tech, particularly when it comes to synths (its blinding synth anthology V Collection is case in point). It has now firmly turned its attention to the tape emulation domain with Tape J-73 – its first dedicated reel-to-reel reproduction.

Tape J-37 is an exacting model of the vacuum tube-driven Studer J37. It was the very first true multi-track recorder and was a fixture of the hallowed halls of Abbey Road, regularly relied upon by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and many other luminaries of recorded music. A real J37 – once owned by legendary French producer Eddie Barclay – was sampled during the making of the plugin.

Performance

The Tape J-37 brings that classic, tape-reel aesthetic firmly into the centre of its UI, with a moving visualisation of an original J37 putting you into the classic mindset straight away. If you’re already familiar with Universal Audio’s top-tier forays into tape emulation, you’ll be on familiar ground, but if you’re new to working with (virtual) tape, then let’s dig into that UI and just what Tape J-37 can bring to the table.

Firstly, there’s the J73’s particular warm sound – a combination of the aforementioned vacuum-tube stages, and the machine’s hard-wired EQ curve and compression, as well as the crispy saturation that is part and parcel of its physical mechanism.

These particular quirks have been beautifully bottled here, but – being Arturia – some ultra-modern expansions of that core sound can be achieved.

The UI is pretty straightforward, with just four major control areas. Firstly, there’s the ‘Color’ section, comprising four distinct tape/EQ curves as well as a ‘Modern’ mode.

These are finely-tuned variations of factors such as tape specification, dirt level, age, wonkiness and overall ‘warmth’, spanning from ‘Pristine’ to ‘Dirtiest’. Cycling through these gives an immediate feel for the gulfs of tape-quality Tape J-37 can span – from a subtle coat to outright crunch.

The ‘Modern’ mode surgically excises the original machine’s in-built EQ mode, yet allows you to retain its particular colouration – something impossible to do with an original unit.

At the centre of the UI, we find the central Drive knob – this can be cranked up to reveal some truly delicious levels of saturation and stressed-out distortion.

Speed controls on the right of the UI can have a big bearing on the overall effectiveness. Switching up to 15 ips can give a more frequency-wide fidelity, while 7.5 ips results in much more analogue simplicity and warmth. The latter is great for daubing atop vocals, lending them an authentically vintage quality. The former notably enhances synth pads and can squeeze further harmonic juice from digital lead sounds.

Further tape-wrangling can be achieved by switching between the two Transport buttons to the left of the Speed controls. These can affect the rate at which the audio slows when pausing and playing the tape machine. The number of bars the resulting slowdown/speed-up spans is selectable from a drop-down. Manipulating this area can be a really cool way to achieve some classic-vibe vocal manipulation, building up transitions between song sections, or even slowing down an entire mix bus.

There’s much more to get stuck into here too, including some more 21st-century-angled advanced controls which include a dedicated EQ section, a delay visualiser and the ability to implement a high- and low-pass filter, should the authentic button-based switch-controls not give you enough to work with.

So, while Tape J-37 gives you (more than) complete mastery over this tape legend, for our own tape-quality imparting purposes, simply cycling through the array of pre-designed presets – neatly tagged and categorised into distinct sections (Delay, Distortion, Tape, EQ etc) present numerous routes to gracefully inject just enough authentic grit and harmonic girth to our developing tracks.

Verdict

Tape J-37 has a fantastic sound, especially when compared to its pricier competitors. Everything about the interface and general user experience is designed to push your sensibilities back into a simpler age, while just beneath the surface lie some much more complex sonic-sculpting tools. It can also harmonically open up (or degrade) your audio sounds in creativity-triggering ways.

Hands-on demos

Arturia

Alternatives

Specifications

Sometimes we find that regular EQ and dynamics processors are unable to deliver the focus or flexibility required. One popular and flexible option is dynamic EQ.

As the name suggests, this provides a dynamic or level dependent approach, applying a band specific EQ cut or boost based on the input signal level. This allows us to be far more focused in our frequency processing.

Thanks to Tokyo Dawn Records and their plugin team, Tokyo Dawn Labs, a particularly good dynamic EQ is readily available and it’s absolutely free. TDR Nova (VST2, VST3, AU, AAX) is a multi-function processor that works as a parallel 4-band EQ with high and low pass filters, a wide band regular compressor, and most significantly a dynamic EQ.

Download TDR Nova from the Tokyo Dawn site.

It’s not only packed with features, but also makes the transition from regular EQ to dynamically controlled EQ very easy to understand and implement.

Bands on the run

Nova’s plugin interface looks very much like a regular parametric EQ. It has a node based display with background frequency analyzer at the top, and classic knob style control below, and you can of course use it as a regular parametric EQ.

To that end each of the 4 bands includes curve shape (low shelf, bell and high shelf), Q width, frequency (10Hz to 40kHz for all bands), and gain (+/- 18dB). Additionally the low and high pass filters are activated and adjusted on the left, and once active become available in the display.

You’ll see the bands (I to IV) can be selected and bypassed in the middle activation row, and further options here include Band Solo for auditioning individual bands, and also Order By Frequency, which is a handy feature that renumbers the bands if you don’t create them in frequency order.

As mentioned Nova’s dynamics options are twofold. First up, there is a regular wideband compressor. To access this make sure none of the 4 parametric bands are selected in the activation row. Then use the Threshold button to switch on the compressor and activate the compression settings on the right.

Next up, and of particular interest to us, is the band specific dynamic EQ. This is integrated into the settings for each regular EQ band, and by default these are bypassed.

Once again, all you need to do to get started is activate the Threshold. Note, you can use the EQ, the band specific dynamic EQ and wideband dynamics all at the same time. You can also link the compressor settings between each band and the wide-band compressor using the WB button.

One further hidden option called Sticky mode (ALT + click on the Threshold button) allows you to remove individual bands from the wideband compression.

Before we move on, it’s worth noting that Nova has some excellent handy options and global features. Just below the main Bypass is GR Delta. This allows you to monitor just the gain reduction and offers useful insight into the effects of the processing.

Just below this is a global Dry mix control, for blending the dry signal back in. Above this is EQ Gain. This applies a static gain compensation based on any EQ gain settings, and is designed to assist A/B comparisons.

Finally in the top menu bar you’ll find preset browser, undo/redo, processing quality, channel processing mode, side chain options and bubble help. Meanwhile the settings menu accesses parameters such as screen scale and mouse behaviour.

Applications: How to use dynamic EQ

Nova’s compression is a soft knee design with flexible attack and release, and is ideal for applying musical dynamic control to specific frequency ranges. What’s more, with a full range of ratios above and below 1:1, it can apply both downward compression and upward expansion to cut or boost the audio. Let’s take a look at how we might use it.

Dynamic EQ provides a great way to reduce the level of specific frequency ranges but only when they become too dominant. This can be ideal for vocals, and the most obvious use case is de-essing, but the approach is perfectly valid for curtailing other harsh frequencies or resonances.

Sibilance is a burst of high frequencies and there are two ways we can reduce this using Nova. The most focused way is to use a peak shaped band. Here we’ve activated a single band at about 5kHz, setting it to a peak shape with a narrow Q.

To get things started, set the Attack and Release reasonably fast (we’ve set them to about 20ms each) and the ratio at 4:1. Activate the Threshold and adjust it to achieve some gain reduction - you’ll notice both the display and the yellow halo on the Gain knob indicate the amount of reduction.

Now to pinpoint the required frequencies activate the GR Delta and adjust the band frequency until the problem region is audibly reduced.

As an alternative, swap the band shape to a high shelf. The dynamic EQ will now influence all the frequencies above the frequency setting. This is more drastic, and here we’ve adjusted the Threshold to achieve less gain reduction.

Next up, blended sounds. When we have a complex and dynamic full frequency range sound, such as drum overheads or a beats loop and we want to process different aspects of that sound, a dynamic EQ is a good option.

Here we have a drum loop with two issues to address. A prominent ride sound in the upper mid frequencies and an unsuitably fat snare sound. Activate two of Nova’s bands and then use the Band Solo option to help zone in on the relevant frequencies.

We’ve found that these are 150Hz for the snare and 3kHz for the ride. In both cases we’ve chosen peak shaped filters and then set the Q width to taste, adjusting the individual Thresholds to achieve the correct amount of gain reduction.

Once again the GR Delta option is very handy, particularly for tweaking the Ratio and the Attack and Release times.

Let’s take a look at a couple of other things we can do with Nova. First up, as mentioned ratios can be below 1:1. If we stick with our beat loop, switching the higher band to a shelf shape and setting the ratio to 0.7:1, we now have a boost to the high frequencies when their level exceeds the Threshold.

With some tweaking of the Frequency (we’ve set ours to about 6kHz) and Threshold this provides a good way to dynamically enhance highs.

Nova can be controlled by an external side chain, and a good application for this is getting the bass and kick to work together. Here we’ve inserted an instance of Nova on our bass track, and selected our kick track as the external key source, activating the Ext SC option from Nova’s top bar.

The idea here is to reduce the main kick frequency in the bass but only when the kick plays. The dynamic aspect follows the changing dynamics in our kick. If you’re struggling to pinpoint the correct frequency, use an analyser on the kick track.

Here we’ve set our Nova EQ band to peak at about 150Hz, with a medium to narrow Q (2.5), adjusting the Threshold, Attack, Release and Ratio to taste.

Once again the GR Delta option provides a handy way to check the settings and in this case is particularly handy when setting the Release time.

And finally...

Tokyo Dawn Records (TDR) is a long established music collective that’s involved in both music releases and plugin development. The latter, which operates under the Tokyo Dawn Labs title, has a broad stable of processing plugins that also includes a good core kit of freebies.

If you like TDR Nova, then you might want to check out Nova GE - Gentlemen’s Edition (€60). This more feature rich version has 6 parametric bands and a whole host of extras including more filter slopes, equal loudness features and smart operations with input signal analysis.

For more information head over to the Tokyo Dawn site.

What is it?

SpaceBlender could well be a revolutionary new reverb, and one that lends itself especially well to ambient music, anything else requiring atmosphere, and a lot more besides. It moves away from standard reverb techniques to explore both space and time, but unlike the TARDIS in Dr Who, you don't need some kind of sonic screwdriver to use it – it is as intuitive as it is cutting edge. Nor, if you are reading this before 22 May 2025, will you need any cash.

SpaceBlender is/was free until 22 May, so if you are quick enough, you can be smug and download it now. If you are reading this post 22 May, then you'll need to manipulate space and time yourself to get it for free, or shell out a not unreasonable $99 for it instead.

Either way, SpaceBlender is a great reverb tool. However, is it – and we've been waiting to use this phrase for as long as you've been expecting it – as 'out of this world' as its name implies?

What is SpaceBlender?

SpaceBlender claims to be a completely new type of reverb that veers away from standard feedback/delay and convolution reverbs in favour of another type of algorithm that is, according to Soundtoys, "inspired by swarm synthesis". This type of synthesis creates its results by utilising swarm behaviour, as in how a group of insects might achieve massive results collectively by doing very simple tasks individually.

In audio this potentially gets you richer results as you have so many individual elements, or agents, at the start of the process. Think of it as delivering the massive sound of a swarm of bees, each one singing one note. Kind of. As complex as this potentially is, Soundtools has made SpaceBlender easy to grapple with, thanks largely to its central Visualizer. This shows you how your sound enters the reverb and is affected by it over a time, which you can set from 100ms to a huge 60 seconds using the Time dial.

A cursor allows you to shift the SpaceBlender processing area left or right – for bloom-style, gated, reverse, or standard decay reverbs and more – while a cursor controls the amount of the effect both in terms of time and magnitude. As Soundtoys says, you're effectively controlling a reverb's time and space – how it evolves over time and by how much – and the company even refers to it acting like a "time tunnel" where the reverb can just stop to give you a gated effect, or act in any way you care to shape it.

Pricing

• Until 22 May – Free
• After 22 May - $99

Performance

SpaceBlender is a joy to use simply because it's pretty obvious what is going on. Watch your notes enter in purple from left to right, and either disappear as quickly as you wish for, or hang around for a minute, while being affected over whatever period of time you specify.

The main controls start with Time determining that overall length (up to 60 seconds). A Sync button ties the effect to your DAW tempo in up to 32 steps, and a Warp button introduces frequency sweep-style effects by gliding to new Time positions when that dial is adjusted.

Moving right, the Color rotary could be seen as a deceptively simple tone dial – move left for an increase in bass; right for treble – but again, as this effect moves with time, it can make a significantly larger impact than its name promises. Just playing with the Time and Color dials alone results in some off-the-wall and often gritty flavours.

Next, the Texture dial is about adjusting the diffusion level, so dialling left lessens the density and you'll be able to hear more scattered delays; right and you get smoother and denser textures. The Mod dial is a chorus effect, introducing more depth to a chorus with a fixed rate and shape. It can be subtle and often more audible on bigger, sweeping sounds than percussive, for example.

Finally, the Mix rotary blends your wet and dry signals, and a Freeze option repeats the effect at the point pressed. But remember, that's not the end of it, as the time element of SpaceBlender means you can effectively drag the freeze effect for some great, evolving textures which can easily be controlled and edited with automation.

Using SpaceBlender on any sound can yield staggeringly atmospheric results, but also – perhaps surprisingly – lots of different repeat, gated or ducking style effects when the Time dial is set low. That makes it a more more versatile than you might think – it's equally at home adding punch, gate effects, and shifting and sliding echoes to a dry loop or kick pattern as it is ladling evolving atmosphere on a pad.

Verdict

Yet as wide-ranging as SpaceBlender can be, it is where it takes its inspiration from – those ambient artists who used tape loops and delays back in the '70s – where it shines, so you can expect atmosphere by the bucket-load whenever you dial anything to the right.

Reverb tails can be huge, long and surprisingly clean – unless you want to dirt them up, of course – and you can easily produce those sorts of effects that die away long after you've hit your DAW stop button. Need to lengthen your ambient masterpiece? Just take your Time… and then shift it.

As a mix effect, you're going to have to use SpaceBlender subtly, but as a huge, creative effect, it will drag out your inner Harold Budd/Brian Eno/John Foxx with frightening ease. So is it time to blend some time and space? It's a no brainer for free – and easily a five-star review – but SpaceBlender even scores well if you have to pay $99 for the time travel.

Hands-on demos

soundtoys

Alternatives

Specifications

PRODUCER WEEK 2025: Reverb is one of the most-used effects in the music producer’s toolkit. Indeed, it’s rare to encounter a song from the last 70 years or so that doesn’t involve reverb in some way. While it may seem straightforward on the surface - slap it on a track, instant vibes - there’s a lot more to it than just set it and forget it.

It’s true that reverbs can make pretty much anything sound better but only if you use it in a way that is appropriate for the track at hand. When used correctly, a good reverb can lift a song into the stratosphere, imbuing it with a sense of space, even grandeur.

But when used incorrectly, it can destroy a mix single-handedly. Think of reverb like a special sauce that you add to a dish. Applied in the correct amount, it enhances the flavours already there. Over do it though and your meal turns into a sloppy mess.

In this latest entry in our ongoing series for absolute beginners, we’re taking a deep dive into reverbs, breaking down what they are, what all the controls mean, and how to get the best results from them.

The best part is, if you have a DAW, you likely already have a few top reverb plugins at your disposal. So fire up your DAW of choice, open up a few reverbs, and let’s get wet.

Reverb: What is it?

What is reverb?

Reverb is what happens when sound waves emanating from some initial sound bounce off surfaces and then eventually reach your ear. Imagine clapping your hands together in a tunnel.

The wash of sound that your hear all around after the clap is the reverb. Think of it like an echo but instead of a single repeat, there are multitudes of them all overlapping each other.

Reverb as an audio effect began its history in a very physical way. Hoping to add some life to overly sterile recordings, producers and engineers began experimenting with recording spaces, piping audio into stairwells, bathrooms and (later) purpose-built rooms called chambers and then recording the resulting reverb with a microphone.

As technology progressed, so did reverbs, with mechanical reverbs appearing in studios. One such is plate reverb, a massive metal plate suspended by springs with a transducer and pickups attached to it. Spring reverbs - the same idea but with a metal spring instead of a plate - provided a much cheaper alternative.

In the late 20th century, as digital technology came online, companies began making digital reverbs. These could recreate both physical and mechanical reverbs, plus generate new ones never heard before, like Eventide’s ShimmerVerb , which adds pitch shifting to the reverb cloud.

Nowadays, plugin reverbs dominate music production thanks to their affordability and convenience.

Most plugin reverbs use algorithms to generate their spaces, which are generally called (in order of increasing size) room, chamber and hall (think concert hall, not corridor).

They can of course also emulate plates and springs. Another popular type is convolution reverb, which uses ‘samples’ of physical spaces or hardware called impulse responses (IRs) to generate reverbs.

Modern reverbs can have all many of controls on them depending on the whims of the specific developer, but common controls can be reduced to four basics: Size, Decay, Pre-Delay, and Early Reflections. Size controls what it sounds like: how large or small the reverb is.

This will usually also adjust how long it takes for the reflections to dissipate, but that could also be given its own, separate control called decay.

Another common parameter is Pre-Delay, which adjusts the length of time it takes before you hear any reflections at all.

This pause can be used to provide vocals or drums with some space to be heard before the reverb arrives. Lastly, early reflections refer to the first reflections that arrive at the ear and are generally associated with room reverbs. Using this correctly can help impart a sense of realism to sounds.

Why do I need to know about reverb?

Why do I need to know about reverb?

The use of reverb arose to give music producers more control over the sound of their recordings. By recording elements ‘dry’ and then making them ‘wet’ with reverb, they could place the musicians into any kind of space that they wanted, real or imagined.

Reverb is also an essential tool for mixing. Any good mix needs to have three dimensions, it’s often said, and reverb can play a big part in the feeling of depth. Sounds with more reverb tend to seem farther away, after all.

To get a feel for how to use reverb, try adding a reverb plugin to a track in a song that you’re working on. Any type of audio will do, drums, vocals, guitar, although bass can be tricky due to all of the low frequencies that can quickly build up and complicate a mix.

For now, it’s best to avoid basslines and kicks until you’re more comfortable with reverb in general (sorry, techno producers).

The first choice you have to make is whether to put the reverb plugin directly on the audio track itself i.e. as an insert, or on an auxiliary track available to the others via a 'send'.

The traditional benefit of placing it on a send is that you have control over the wet/dry balance, although most modern plugins will probably offer this feature within the plugin anyway.

Another plus for going with auxiliary tracks is that you can send more than one audio signal to the same reverb.

This can give your track a feeling of cohesion, as if all of the different elements are in the same space together. It can also keep CPU usage down, though that's becoming less of a concern as computers get ever faster.

Once your reverb plugin is in place, choose an appropriate ‘space’, for example, a room reverb for a snare sound or plate emulation for a vocal. Experiment with the size/decay.

Big reverbs can sound wonderful but can also swamp the sound - perfect if you’re making ambient, not ideal if it’s a traditional folk song. Use the pre-delay settings to place a pause between the sound and its reverb to increase clarity.

If rhythm is a big part of the track, try timing the pre-delay to land on beat. Lastly, experiment with early reflections to lend a feeling of realism to acoustic sounds with room reverbs.

Once you’re feeling confident, move onto the other controls like EQ and dynamics, if present, to shape the overall tone.

10 key tips for working with reverb

10 key tips for working with reverb

1. Choose the right reverb type for the job. Spend some time familiarising yourself with how different reverb spaces sound. There’s no rule that says you can’t use a drum room preset on a guitar but, unless you’re going for sound design experimentation, you’ll get the most realistic results sticking to tradition.

2. Do EQ your reverb, either with a separate plugin after or via the onboard low- and high-cut shelves. You may only want high and airy reverbs on that vocal rather than one full of lots of mid-frequency content or - even worse - low-end mud.

3. Ducking is a dynamics parameter that pushes (ducks) the reverb effect out of the way whenever the source signal is present. This way you can dial in massive reverbs without swamping the original sound and losing clarity. It’s the best of both worlds. No ducking control? Place a compressor after the reverb and sidechain it to the source signal.

4. After that big ‘80s drum sound? (i.e, Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight) You need gated reverbs. These reverbs have a noise gate built-in that clamps down on the reverb tail, chopping it off unnaturally and creating a huge sound. If your reverb of choice doesn’t have a gate, place your stock DAW gate after the reverb and set the threshold to engage at the best time.

5. Don’t be afraid to pair a reverb with another effect for a unique result. Modulation plugins like chorus or ensemble can add movement and work best on subtle settings. Although the standard order when using delay is to place the reverb second, try putting it first for ambient-style washes. For an aggressive lo-fi vibe, try sticking a distortion after the reverb.

6. Most reverb plugins will sound fine and get the job done with no issues, including your stock DAW ones. For higher quality reverb plugins with exceedingly realistic spaces, expect to pay in the hundreds of dollars. Going in the other direction, gritty digital reverbs inspired by budget ‘80s hardware are popular lately. Better yet, pick up an original hardware unit for about the same price as a plugin.

7. Using reverb on bass sounds is tricky but not impossible. To get massive techno kicks or neuro bass sounds, EQ is your friend. Scoop out as much low frequency information as you can from the reverb to keep the source signal clean and tight.

8. Try using automation to dynamically control the size of a reverb. Real-world spaces don’t expand or contract willy nilly, so setting your reverb to do so can create disorienting and psychedelic effects.

9. The only thing that sounds better than a massive reverb is a massively wide reverb. While it may sound amazing in isolation, too many wide stereo elements can cloud a mix. For a change of pace, try a reverb in mono. This works especially well with spring reverbs on percussion.

10. We’ve spent a lot of time telling you not to overdo it but sometimes you really should overdo it. Working with huge and long reverbs can be great fun, especially when doing sound design. Use extended reverbs to smear short sounds together and create chords for arpeggios, or gauzy sound beds and atmospheres from vocals or guitars.

MusicRadar Further Reading

Now you know how reverb works, we anticipate you're itching to get to work. If you want an external reverb, beyond your DAW's stock option (recommended) then here's what we'd suggest

If you're a guitarist looking for some creative reverb in pedal-form, or you just want to grab a hardware unit to integrate into your studio setup, we've got you covered here

Spoilt for choice? We talk you through how to choose the right reverb for the job

Need a little reminder on the basics? Let's explode the science and answer just exactly what's happening when we trigger reverb on our mix

If you're new to reverb, you might be a little baffled by some of the parameters. We talk you through the usual options here.

A really cool technique comes under the spotlight here, harnessing 3 reverbs in tandem to create something quite special.

Beyond applying reverb to instruments, you can create some pretty unique spatial effects using your reverb toolkit. We explain how.

Reverb goes beyond many effects in actually affecting the subconscious perceptions of listeners, read more here.

There's even more bitesize tips for manipulating space to be gobbled up here

And finally, a classic from one of our recent 'plugin weeks' a producer's guide to reverb which covers all bases.

What is it?

The number of processors that work dynamically on your audio – that is, by changing their impact or processing type according to the audio being played – has increased exponentially in recent years, thanks largely to the impact of faster processors and AI. The best use of their increased complexity and flexibility to make processing easy, whether that is applied to individual tracks and issues or entire mixes.

Waves Curves Equator is doing just that, able to home in on specific resonances and other issues and take action accordingly, or, even better, just slap it across your entire mix, and it will sound better. There’s ‘Learning’ too – whether AI or not, it doesn’t seem to matter anymore – where you can train the EQ with tracks or mixes, and it will apply a level-definable threshold curve to your audio.

It’s slick, looks the bomb, is relatively easy to use, and is currently very cheap. If you thought you didn’t need dynamic processing in your life, now might be the time to re-evaluate.

Pricing

• Full price: $79
• Special introductory offer $35

Waves announced the launch of Curves Equator in September 2024 and teased two more plugins under the Curves Spectral series, arriving in 2025.

Alongside the nearly half-price introductory offer, you'll find more multibuy offers on the Waves website.

Performance

A quick run over the UI and you have a central yellow/orange Threshold curve which is the focus of the plugin. Moving it down using the central bottom dial increases the effect on the frequencies determined by the curve. You can see the audio affected as blue on the top, which increases in depth as you lower the Threshold. Handily, a blue Delta triangle button to the right of this main dial allows you to hear what Equator is removing – as you move the Threshold down, this increases.

Other main controls include Sensitivity (low equals a gentle Equator impact and high means dramatic); Shape (morphs your curve into similar suggestive curves to offer a quick alternative); and Tilt (for instant brightness or warmth).

You use Curves Equator mostly in Adaptive mode, where you can draw your own curve with various Shape and node options or select from a large number of Waves and Artist presets according to function and instrument. You can do everything you can imagine EQ-wise and more, with descriptive names taking you straight to functions like ‘DeMud the Mid’ or ‘DeHarsh the sides’. Or get a wide range of artists and producers to ‘Tame aggressive synths’ or ‘Even out my bass guitar’.

However, as good as these presets are, the Learn function is also a fantastic mode and as easy to use as it implies – press it, start your audio, and it suggests a curve to apply to tracks or a mix. We had a better-sounding mix – with the impact easily adjustable with the main dial – in literally two minutes. That’s 40 bucks well spent in anyone’s book.

Side effect

One other ace up Curves Equator’s sleeve is the sidechain, which allows you to route anything via this side door processor and duck the rest of your mix accordingly by simply removing the same frequencies as those of the sidechained signal. If you need some vocals to stand out in a crowded mix, then this is your easy solution, although you might want to tweak the Threshold for the impact not to be too noticeable.

This brings us to the Advanced Controls which you can ‘reveal’ by hitting the bottom button. As we hinted at above, plugins like this do lend themselves to ‘processing without understanding’ – a common and worrying (depending on your stance) trend in mixing where we are getting great results but are not really sure how or why.

These Advanced Controls allow you to take control and home in on specific actions and sections – as the frequency range is split into four definable bands – and give you a greater understanding of Equator’s impact. Attack and Release options let you determine the speed of processing – just like a compressor – and a Precision dial increases the impact of the individual band processing. You also get Tilt Frequency (to set where the tilt occurs) and a Curve Smooth which does as it says, flattening out your Threshold Curve.

Verdict

Curves Equator is one of those lovely plugins that you didn’t know you needed until you tried it – and one therefore where we must berate Waves for only giving us a three-month licence with it for this review. It can easily transform parts, remove precision issues, or improve mixes, and it can do this as quietly or as loudly as you like. By this we mean it will get on with the job with or without your involvement, but you can jump in at any time to tweak, or simply pretend you intended its impact all along.

Yes Curves Equator is not original – as we said, there are many dynamic processors out there, and it certainly has our alternatives in its crosshairs – but it fixes your mixes and instruments, and does a great job at a great price.

Hands-on demos

Waves Audio

Alternatives

Specifications

As a special Valentine's gift, Universal Audio is giving away a free version of its classic 1176 peak limiter/compressor plugin. We have all the details here on how to get it and use it in your mixes!

Yes, you might consider roses, chocolates or expensive champagne as your ideal Valentine's gifts, but here at MusicRadar, we'd rather choose free plugins as the ideal gifts for our partners – which might explain why we're single – and there's none better than this special offering from Universal Audio: the mighty UA 1176 for free!

If you haven't experienced the magic of the Universal AudioA/UREI 1176 peak limiter/compressor, then now is most definitely the time. As a special Valentine's gift, Universal Audio is making a version of its plugin 1176 free for a limited time, and we have all the hands-on advice to make the most of this fantastic offer, and get some incredible 1176 magic going in your mixes.

First up, why is the original hardware 1176 so revered? Like a lot of vintage gear this happened almost by accident as the original unit was designed as a workhorse limiter/compressor, with no legendary status in mind. The original unit was released in 1968 by Bill Putnam, an expert in tube-based audio preamps and compressors, who was just discovering the joys of the all-new (for the time) solid-state transistor technology.

His new 1176 was a solid-state version of his original 175B/176 tube compressor – the '1176' name being a shortened version of the original. Unlike other compressors of the time it was loaded with extras like Attack and Release controls and four compression ratio options: 4;1, 8:1, 12:1 and 20:1.

These became the 1176's most famous feature when engineers discovered that dialling them all in simultaneously resulted in a steep compression and aggressive quality on certain instruments and mixes that became known as The British Sound.

This became one of the 1176's biggest calling cards, along with its fast and aggressive character, and the original hardware quickly became one of the most in-demand studio tools, with many famous users. These included engineer/producer Bruce Swedien who insisted on using 1176s when recording Michael Jackson's vocals for landmark albums like Thriller and Off The Wall, while Andy Johns certainly helped make that 'British sound' by dialling in all the ratio settings for both Led Zeppelin and Free recordings.

Putnam had interests in lots of early audio brands so used both the UREI and Universal Audio names on his gear – along with many others – so the 1176 was blessed with both names throughout its history, which turned out to be a remarkably long one.

There have been 11 versions of the 1176 released since 1968, the first three (A, AB, and B) known as 'Bluestripe thanks to their distinctive coloured facias. Versions C, D, E, F and G were called 'Blackface, with Revision C adding low noise circuitry, hence the '1176LN' name.

The 'Silverface' H was version 9, while Revision 10 is the current Universal Audio 1176LN model, and is used by such luminary producers as Tony Maserati (Beyonce, Alicia, Keys). Version 11 was a very limited edition (500 units) model that UA released the limited edition 1176 AE (Anniversary Edition) which has different ratios: 2:1, 4:1, 8:1, and 20:1; plus a slower attack time setting.

The original 1176 has become one of those legendary pieces of studio history that has an equally legendary price-tag. The latest revision 10 will set you back £3,000/$3.500 for a new unit, but if you want an original, you are going to have to start saving with the earlier the revision meaning the higher price tags. We've seen a Rev B for sale for £16,000/$18,000, while a Rev D is a snip at £7,500/$8,500!

The 1176 in software

Luckily, you don't need to pay top dollar for an original hardware version of the 1176, because you can now enjoy its magic as a plugin, and who better than the original developer's Universal Audio as the team behind it? The company's 1176 Classic Limiter Collection is hands-down the best way to get the 1176 sound into your mixes as it features not one but three versions of the original hardware: the Rev A, E and limited AE.

Well, when we say 'hands-down the best', there is – for a limited time only – one better way to get the 1176 sound, and that's with the free Valentine's Day version from Universal Audio. It has all the features of the original hardware and software versions, bar a couple of extras on the Attack and Release dials, which we explain below.

You simply set levels with the Input and Output dials, choose your compression setting, and it's easy to create dramatic or subtle compression effects on anything from beats to vocals.

We're going to show you how to recreate some vintage 1176 magic using this free version now, so head on over to the Universal Audio website and download it, install it and get ready for our tutorials!

Now you have it and, presumably have it installed, it's time to get dial up some 1176 magic.

Tutorial 1: The Dr Pepper Effect

In the 1960s, Dr Pepper ran an ad in the US saying that its drink should be enjoyed at the hours of 10am, 2pm and 4pm to keep yourself nicely topped up with its sugary ingredients. It was a good way of selling drinks but also – and heaven only knows who made the connection – those numbers made up some decent settings for the 1176, which became known as the Dr Pepper trick!

The first thing to note is that the 1176 has reversed Attack and Release controls compared to most other compressors, in that they give you the fastest setting as you dial right. In other words you get the slowest attack and release character dialling them left. With that in mind, set your first Dr Pepper setting at 10 o clock for the Attack dial. That's a value of around 3 on the dial (see above).

If you have a sugary-pop drink to hand, and it's 2pm your time, now is probably time to take a sip as we enter the second value in our Dr Pepper mode; that's 2pm on the Release dial, around a value of 5.

Take a final swig – feels good right? It's 4pm and that final boost of the day comes by way of the 4:1 ratio setting – 4pm, geddit? So we end up with the Attack at 10 o' clock, the Release at 2 o' clock and the Ratio at 4 o' clock.

You will have to balance your input and output dials to make sure that the gain settings are equivalent and that you can hear the difference. The end result is that the sound is more aggressive with these settings and it certainly allows instruments like the acoustic guitar and vocals to punch through the mix more, adding top end and ambience.

Tutorial 2: The classic 'All Buttons In' mode

The 'All Buttons In' setting or 'British Mode' on the 1176 was discovered by an engineer who accidentally pressed all the ratio buttons in on an original hardware unit. Clumsy, maybe – and what on earth were they doing? However, the result was worth it, as the end result was a lovely up-front sound. First up, press the 4:1 compression setting.

Now press Shift and click on the 20:1 ratio and all of the buttons should go in. Again, you might have to set up the Input and Output dials to keep the gain settings similar, so hear the impact of the 1176 before and after. Keep the Attack and Release dials in the middle to start with.

The result is that the overall compression works between 12 and 20:1, depending on your source signal, and the sound is very overdriven. While Dr Pepper adds a bit of bite, this is more of a colourful, pumping sound. On a drum break, for example, it is a 'smearing' effects where the transients become more blurred. Here we have the Rev A version of UA's 1176 with the Dr Pepper Settings.

Trying it on a kick and you an even more dramatic pumping effect, but experiment with the Release dial and Input level, in particular, to enhance it. It's a very distinctive effect that can add punch and character to pretty much anything – and is best used as a parallel processor – but is most evident on these percussive sounds.

Finally, if you push the Attack dial all the way to the right on an 1176, it is effectively switched off, forcing a ratio of 1:1 and meaning that the 1176 is simply used as a preamp and giving you a little magic colour. An 1176 is well worth trying just for this, although the free version doesn't have this option, so just push the Attack dial as far as you can to the right.

What is time? It's a question that has long bounced around the heads of philosophers and artists. In today's tech-dominated world, the idea of time, age and the effect that it has on all human beings that can be interrogated in increasingly fresh ways. For Japanese pop supremo Yumi Matsutoya, this meant harnessing Dreamtonics' Synthesizer V to re-mould her voice as it used to sound, decades ago.

For her 40th studio album, Yumi sought to explore the notion of time in more pronounced way than just via lyrics - Matsutoya wanted the idea of time and space coalescing to form a central part of how she presented herself, vocally, on the record.

Held in similar regard to singer/songwriters such as Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell in terms of her cultural impact and legacy in Japan, Yumi Matsutoya (known by many as 'Yuming') has become an institution in her homeland, with almost yearly-tours and album releases maintaining her status as a key household name in the Japanese pop music canon.

To push things to the next level, for album #40, Yumi worked with her producer (and husband) Masataka Matsutoya to build the 'Chrono Recording System' - an original technology the pair made specifically to build this new record.

This new approach relies heavily on Synthesizer V from Dreamtonics, which enables users to draw in melodies and adjust the tone and style of the input voice to suit different song styles. Dreamtonics' AI integration can smartly adjust the pitch or style, and re-mould it in a range of expressive ways.

Using this flexible technology, the pair re-built Yumi's voice as it sounded some fifty-plus years back, during the era of her 1973 debut record Hikō-ki Gumo and 1974 follow-up Misslim. A time when she was known as Yumi Arai.

Next, they combined these two voices, merging these two distinct eras of Yumi's career.

Masataka Matsutoya was first prompted to do this a few years ago, when unexpectedly digging out an unreleased demo of a song neither he nor Yumi could not remember recording.

The pair thought it still had potential, but efforts to re-record it floundered. It was then that Masataka learned of a small team working on turning vocal samples into melodies. Masataka got in touch. "I asked if I could sample Yumi's old voice and create a new melody, and she said she would give it a try," Masataka says.

"After much trial and error, the finished product was still far from what I had imagined, and it was only slightly similar. But I used parts of it to create a piece with the theme of going to meet my old self. The song is called Call Me Back. Yes, this is where it all began."

Matsutoya continues; "just a few years later, I learned about the existence of software called 'Synthesizer V' developed by Dreamtonics. The research that a certain national university was working on at the time had made astronomical progress, whether because of the development of technology in such a short time or the talent of the engineers."

With the rapid evolution of AI and the speed of vocal processing now much quicker, Masataka and Yumi could get to work on building a dedicated tool for taking Yumi's original voice out of time, and placing it in today's context.

"We were convinced that we could make an interesting album by successfully coexisting the voices we created with current voices, so we named Synthesizer V and our production process the 'Chrono Recording System'. It's like recording sound beyond time. Anyone who listens to it can hear the old Yumi, yet the results are strikingly new.”

The pair merged both Yumi's voice now with this synthesised younger voice, creating something entirely new - a voice that embodies the very time-based themes that Yumi wanted to explore.

The as-yet-untitled new album should be released later this year, and will likely further the discourse around AI's continued use not just as a disruptor to the industry, but as a door-unlocking, creative tool.

Though commercial voice models have proven controversial in terms of the rights issues and ethical implications, Yumi's example proves that this hotly debated technology - in the right hands - can be used to widen an artist's canvas.

Reverb is one of the most-used effects in the music producer’s toolkit. Indeed, it’s rare to encounter a song from the last 70 years or so that doesn’t involve reverb in some way. While it may seem straightforward on the surface - slap it on a track, instant vibes - there’s a lot more to it than just set it and forget it.

It’s true that reverbs can make pretty much anything sound better but only if you use it in a way that is appropriate for the track at hand. When used correctly, a good reverb can lift a song into the stratosphere, imbuing it with a sense of space, even grandeur.

But when used incorrectly, it can destroy a mix single-handedly. Think of reverb like a special sauce that you add to a dish. Applied in the correct amount, it enhances the flavours already there. Over do it though and your meal turns into a sloppy mess.

In this latest entry in our ongoing series for absolute beginners, we’re taking a deep dive into reverbs, breaking down what they are, what all the controls mean, and how to get the best results from them.

The best part is, if you have a DAW, you likely already have a few top reverb plugins at your disposal. So fire up your DAW of choice, open up a few reverbs, and let’s get wet.

Reverb: What is it?

What is reverb?

Reverb is what happens when sound waves emanating from some initial sound bounce off surfaces and then eventually reach your ear. Imagine clapping your hands together in a tunnel.

The wash of sound that your hear all around after the clap is the reverb. Think of it like an echo but instead of a single repeat, there are multitudes of them all overlapping each other.

Reverb as an audio effect began its history in a very physical way. Hoping to add some life to overly sterile recordings, producers and engineers began experimenting with recording spaces, piping audio into stairwells, bathrooms and (later) purpose-built rooms called chambers and then recording the resulting reverb with a microphone.

As technology progressed, so did reverbs, with mechanical reverbs appearing in studios. One such is plate reverb, a massive metal plate suspended by springs with a transducer and pickups attached to it. Spring reverbs - the same idea but with a metal spring instead of a plate - provided a much cheaper alternative.

In the late 20th century, as digital technology came online, companies began making digital reverbs. These could recreate both physical and mechanical reverbs, plus generate new ones never heard before, like Eventide’s ShimmerVerb , which adds pitch shifting to the reverb cloud.

Nowadays, plugin reverbs dominate music production thanks to their affordability and convenience.

Most plugin reverbs use algorithms to generate their spaces, which are generally called (in order of increasing size) room, chamber and hall (think concert hall, not corridor).

They can of course also emulate plates and springs. Another popular type is convolution reverb, which uses ‘samples’ of physical spaces or hardware called impulse responses (IRs) to generate reverbs.

Modern reverbs can have all many of controls on them depending on the whims of the specific developer, but common controls can be reduced to four basics: Size, Decay, Pre-Delay, and Early Reflections. Size controls what it sounds like: how large or small the reverb is.

This will usually also adjust how long it takes for the reflections to dissipate, but that could also be given its own, separate control called decay.

Another common parameter is Pre-Delay, which adjusts the length of time it takes before you hear any reflections at all.

This pause can be used to provide vocals or drums with some space to be heard before the reverb arrives. Lastly, early reflections refer to the first reflections that arrive at the ear and are generally associated with room reverbs. Using this correctly can help impart a sense of realism to sounds.

Why do I need to know about reverb?

Why do I need to know about reverb?

The use of reverb arose to give music producers more control over the sound of their recordings. By recording elements ‘dry’ and then making them ‘wet’ with reverb, they could place the musicians into any kind of space that they wanted, real or imagined.

Reverb is also an essential tool for mixing. Any good mix needs to have three dimensions, it’s often said, and reverb can play a big part in the feeling of depth. Sounds with more reverb tend to seem farther away, after all.

To get a feel for how to use reverb, try adding a reverb plugin to a track in a song that you’re working on. Any type of audio will do, drums, vocals, guitar, although bass can be tricky due to all of the low frequencies that can quickly build up and complicate a mix.

For now, it’s best to avoid basslines and kicks until you’re more comfortable with reverb in general (sorry, techno producers).

The first choice you have to make is whether to put the reverb plugin directly on the audio track itself i.e. as an insert, or on an auxiliary track as a send.

The traditional benefit of placing it on a send is that you have control over the wet/dry balance, although most modern plugins will probably offer this feature within the plugin anyway.

Another plus for going with auxiliary tracks is that you can send more than one audio signal to the same reverb.

This can give your track a feeling of cohesion, as if all of the different elements are in the same space together. It can also keep CPU usage down.

Once your reverb plugin is in place, choose an appropriate ‘space’, for example, a room reverb for a snare sound or plate emulation for a vocal. Experiment with the size/decay.

Big reverbs can sound wonderful but can also swamp the sound - perfect if you’re making ambient, not ideal if it’s a traditional folk song. Use the pre-delay settings to place a pause between the sound and its reverb to increase clarity.

If rhythm is a big part of the track, try timing the pre-delay to land on beat. Lastly, experiment with early reflections to lend a feeling of realism to acoustic sounds with room reverbs.

Once you’re feeling confident, move onto the other controls like EQ and dynamics, if present, to shape the overall tone.

10 key tips for working with reverb

10 key tips for working with reverb

1. Choose the right reverb type for the job. Spend some time familiarising yourself with how different reverb spaces sound. There’s no rule that says you can’t use a drum room preset on a guitar but, unless you’re going for sound design experimentation, you’ll get the most realistic results sticking to tradition.

2. Do EQ your reverb, either with a separate plugin after or via the onboard low- and high-cut shelves. You may only want high and airy reverbs on that vocal rather than one full of lots of mid-frequency content or - even worse - low-end mud.

3. Ducking is a dynamics parameter that pushes (ducks) the reverb effect out of the way whenever the source signal is present. This way you can dial in massive reverbs without swamping the original sound and losing clarity. It’s the best of both worlds. No ducking control? Place a compressor after the reverb and sidechain it to the source signal.

4. After that big ‘80s drum sound? (i.e, Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight) You need gated reverbs. These reverbs have a noise gate built-in that clamps down on the reverb tail, chopping it off unnaturally and creating a huge sound. If your reverb of choice doesn’t have a gate, place your stock DAW gate after the reverb and set the threshold to engage at the best time.

5. Don’t be afraid to pair a reverb with another effect for a unique result. Modulation plugins like chorus or ensemble can add movement and work best on subtle settings. Although the standard order when using delay is to place the reverb second, try putting it first for ambient-style washes. For an aggressive lo-fi vibe, try sticking a distortion after the reverb.

6. Most reverb plugins will sound fine and get the job done with no issues, including your stock DAW ones. For higher quality reverb plugins with exceedingly realistic spaces, expect to pay in the hundreds of dollars. Going in the other direction, gritty digital reverbs inspired by budget ‘80s hardware are popular lately. Better yet, pick up an original hardware unit for about the same price as a plugin.

7. Using reverb on bass sounds is tricky but not impossible. To get massive techno kicks or neuro bass sounds, EQ is your friend. Scoop out as much low frequency information as you can from the reverb to keep the source signal clean and tight.

8. Try using automation to dynamically control the size of a reverb. Real-world spaces don’t expand or contract willy nilly, so setting your reverb to do so can create disorienting and psychedelic effects.

9. The only thing that sounds better than a massive reverb is a massively wide reverb. While it may sound amazing in isolation, too many wide stereo elements can cloud a mix. For a change of pace, try a reverb in mono. This works especially well with spring reverbs on percussion.

10. We’ve spent a lot of time telling you not to overdo it but sometimes you really should overdo it. Working with huge and long reverbs can be great fun, especially when doing sound design. Use extended reverbs to smear short sounds together and create chords for arpeggios, or gauzy sound beds and atmospheres from vocals or guitars.

MusicRadar Further Reading

Now you know how reverb works, we anticipate you're itching to get to work. If you want an external reverb, beyond your DAW's stock option (recommended) then here's what we'd suggest

If you're a guitarist looking for some creative reverb in pedal-form, or you just want to grab a hardware unit to integrate into your studio setup, we've got you covered here

Spoilt for choice? We talk you through how to choose the right reverb for the job

Need a little reminder on the basics? Let's explode the science and answer just exactly what's happening when we trigger reverb on our mix

If you're new to reverb, you might be a little baffled by some of the parameters. We talk you through the usual options here.

A really cool technique comes under the spotlight here, harnessing 3 reverbs in tandem to create something quite special.

Beyond applying reverb to instruments, you can create some pretty unique spatial effects using your reverb toolkit. We explain how.

Reverb goes beyond many effects in actually affecting the subconscious perceptions of listeners, read more here.

Even more bitesize tips for manipulating space can be gobbled up here

And finally, a classic from one of our recent 'plugin weeks' a producer's guide to reverb which covers all bases.

Free plugins vary considerably in their capabilities, and more often than not are stripped back ‘lite’ versions of existing designs, with minimal support and no development. This is totally understandable, and if this generates interest in the design whilst directing users to more fully featured versions, then the process benefits both user and developer.

However, every once in a while a new freebie hits town that bucks this trend and when word got around that ValhallaDSP had decided to introduce a free reverb plugin, it was big news. The fact they have continued to develop, support and expand this plugin only makes the story more compelling.

Download Supermassive to follow this tutorial

The plugin is Supermassive (VST, AU, VST3, AAX), a delay line based algorithmic design that’s great for a number of tasks including, as the name implies, super big spaces.

Introduced just over four years ago, it’s based on algorithms designed by ValhallaDSP’s founder Sean Costello. However unlike some of his more task specific reverb designs such as Valhalla Room and Valhalla Plate, the algorithms are, in his words, more ‘unnatural’.

This makes Supermassive the perfect tool for creative tasks, or simply when you want something a bit different, and as we’ll find, it can be easily tailored to create a multitude of outcomes.

Super powers

Supermassive has the same utilitarian look as the whole ValhallaDSP range, and although this basic look may not offer much in the way of eye candy, it does make the plugin very easy to understand.

The interface is divided into 5 key zones. On the far left you have the output Mix and Width controls, and the Width also includes a negative option, which flips the left and right outputs. On the far right are the output high and low cut filters, which are gentle 6dB/octave designs with overlapping frequency ranges (20kHz to 200Hz and 10Hz to 2kHz).

The remaining three sets of parameters directly influence the effect. Delay is the main control and sets the longest delay line in the feedback delay network. Use the drop down menu below to choose between millisecond (0 to 2000ms) and tempo synced options.

Next to this is the Warp control and this affects all the delay lengths within the feedback delay network relative to the main Delay setting. If you set this control to zero, all delays are the same length based on the Delay control, so the effect sounds more like a regular delay.

But as you wind up the Warp control the delay timings become more spread out and settings beyond 50% sound more like reverbs. In this section you’ll also find the delay buffer Clear button, and this provides an easy way to quickly silence the effect.

In the next section we have two further key parameters. Feedback adjusts the internal delay feedback within the networks, and as you increase this control you’ll hear the overall effect decay becoming longer.

Meanwhile, Density affects the delay blending. At very low settings the delays are very audible, but as you wind up the control there’s more delay mixing and left / right blending, so the sound gradually becomes more like a conventional reverb effect.

Finally, you have a modulation section. Mod Depth and Mod Rate control the multi-phase sine wave oscillator and this modulates the delay length. The two parameters are somewhat interrelated as the depth is also dependent on the rate setting. As you might imagine, the effect modulation is far more obvious when processing sustained sounds.

That’s the basics and as you can see the simple controls actually deliver a lot of tweaking flexibility. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as the real magic is in the modes.

Selected from the drop down menu at the bottom left, each mode is a different algorithm, with its own attack, sustain and decay characteristics. If you hover your cursor just below the mode name, you’ll get a brief description of what these characteristics are.

Take a spin through a few and you’ll appreciate there’s quite a bit of variety. In the latest version of plugin (v4.0) there are an impressive 21 modes, and this has gradually grown from the eight modes original included. Rounding things off are a bunch of presets, and you’ll find these have been expanded over time in parallel with the additional modes.

Super & massive

To get a feel for the breadth of sound Supermassive has to offer, it’s worth spinning through the presets. These are organised into categories that reflect its key capabilities, namely echoes, modulations, reverbs and special effects.

You’ve also got folders for each update, dedicated to the new Modes added, and these expand the options across these 4 categories. The common thread across all presets is that they offer something away from the ordinary. For example, within the echoes category you have presets that swell, such as Reverse Cloud Of 8ths, alongside patches that create more chaotic clusters of delays, (Cirrus Major Synth Echoes) or simply just go on and on (Quarter Note Echo Pattern).

Meanwhile in the reverbs category delay heavy sounds (Best Ballad Vocal), are joined by expansive deep reverbs (Billions And Billions or Leo Bloom Ensemble) as well as tight spaces (Lunar Lander 1969). The sound effects folder takes these concepts to the extreme, with some highly transformative or weird options (Barnard 33 or Vger).

Let's take a look at a couple of applications. It should come as no surprise that Supermassive excels at big spaces, and there are a number of great effects we can achieve with this type of reverb.

One of our favourites is the drop boom. This mainstay of many club styles can be tweaked for all manner of music genres, but consistent throughout is a rich, low effect with controlled high frequencies that spreads to create a bed of deep reverb.

For this kind of spot effect where our track is dedicated to one specific sound, it’s easiest to load up the effect as an insert, and here we’ve added an instance of Supermassive following the other channel inserts. With Density set to max, Decay set to 500 ms, Warp set to 100% and a suitably selected Mode (in this case we’ve used Leo), we have the basics sorted.

We can then tailor the effect accordingly using the Feedback (ours is at about 80%) and the filters. Here we set the High cut to about 12kHz and used the Mix control to blend the effect to taste.

Using reverb to create textures, beds and drone effects is a classic technique and Supermassive is the perfect tool. To get started load up a regular pad or string sound and bypass any additional processing such as delay or reverb. Launch a fresh instance of Supermassive as an insert and select your favoured mode, we’ve chosen Pleiades.

Set the Warp setting to about half. Play a single note and try adjusting some of the key parameters in real time. Start with the Feedback and Density. Increasing the Feedback is particularly useful as it extends the decay time, but changing the Density also influences how obvious the delays are and can be used to control how smeared the sound is.

Adjusting the Mix control so you hear more or only the wet signal is also a good option.

For a bit more flavour, and this is something you may want to automate within your DAW, try making small changes to the Warp and Delay controls in real time. This introduces temporary pitch changes to the effect.

It’s worth mentioning that ValhallaDSP produces two further free plugins - Space Modulator and Freq Echo and you can find these as well as their paid-for processors such as Vintage Verb, Shimmer, Room and Plate at the ValhallaDSP site.

Native Instruments Komplete 15: What is it?

There's every chance that we have reviewed Native Instruments' Komplete bundle of software around 14 times since its launch – there's a Komplete Guide to the last version here. But for those new to it, and where have you been for the last 14 reviews?, Komplete is a huge bundle of Native Instruments plugin instruments and effects – now joined by those from iZotope, Plugin Alliance and more – which can cost well into four figures, but represents a huge saving over buying each title individually.

In fact, fact fans, the first version (2003's Komplete 1) had just nine products for $1,500. The biggest release of the latest Komplete 15 – and we detail all the versions below – has 165 apps for not a great leap up to $1,799. So on the one hand it's superb value, but on the other it's bloody expensive and too big. And the latest Komplete 15 is even bigger…

Suffice to say just listing all the Komplete products will use up all of our requested words for this review. As tempting as that is to do, NI has done it for you with this handy comparison of the top tier Kompletes, leaving us to focus on v15 highlights.

Native Instruments Komplete 15: Performance and verdict

The headline applications in all versions of K15 are now Massive X for your synthesis, the all-new Kontakt 8 for your sampling, plus Guitar Rig 7 Pro for your effects and iZotope Ozone 11 Standard for your mastering, these latter two added since v14. These are basically the cornerstones of your music production, all handled with four of the best titles out there.

Somewhat annoyingly (although expectedly) for us as reviewers, the number of other title additions for Komplete 15 depends on which version you buy into, these being Standard (£539/$599), Ultimate (£1,079/$1,199), or Collector's Edition (£1,619/$1,799).

There are 11 new instruments in total, then, but you only get all of these in the most expensive Collector's Edition, although these cover the entire musical spectrum and you get extra Play series instruments and expansion packs no matter which K15 option you opt for.

Highlights of the updates that ship with every K15 are Session Bassist Upright Bass, a nuanced and characterful double bass instrument with 20+ presets across three mic setups. Session Percussionist is another title with every K15 and includes 2,000 editable 'smart' patterns and five different players.

With K15 Ultimate you can add the fantastic Alicia’s Electric Keys instrument, every bit as good (and pink) as the famous player's acoustic piano. Acoustic Sunburst Deluxe is an excellent guitar library that we've been using as our go-to desktop guitarist for a while now, and Action Woodwinds gives you many Hollywood chase-style soundtrack options. Vocal Colors is a surprisingly varied (and beautiful-looking) vocal instrument, suited to both ethereal and rhythmic music, and finally (for K12 Ultimate and above) you get both the Schema: Dark and Schema:Light.

These 'melodic sequencers' combine various layers of sequences to great effects and it's very easy to change combinations, with a decent number of effects on hand to shake things up.

The top-end K15 Collector's Edition also adds Kithara for cinematic guitars and strings. This atmospheric guitar title is one of our favourite new inclusions, with everything from delicate flutters to dramatic pads and impactful strums, all with a good level of editing and effects that can beautifully degrade as well as they can enhance. With Collector's you also get Fables which is another cinematic title with less of a theme but just as atmospheric a sound, all from 16 different instruments – great if you want some delicate Sigor Rós-style inspiration. Lastly, you get the large Valves Pro brass instrument, although Ultimate does include the cut-down Valves for your brass needs.

With the instruments each costing at least £129/$139, these additions add serious clout to Komplete's already huge value proposition. This is delivered to the max with the fullest Komplete 15 Collector's Edition, which now has an incredible 165 instruments and effects and 150,000 sounds. To put that in perspective, when Komplete was first launched you were paying around £150/$160 per software instrument title as part of the bundle. With K15 Collector's Edition, that has dramatically fallen to around £10/$11 per title.

All four Komplete bundles – three variations of Komplete Select (£89/$99), plus the three others listed above – deliver similar massive savings, but our conclusions really are to reluctantly throw the ball back into your court. You won't need or want everything, so it really is a case of weighing up each bundle as the tyranny of too much choice could become a huge factor, not to mention the sheer data size of these bundles. The Collector's Edition, in particular, is beginning to feel quite unwieldy and will take up terabytes of space (we tried counting, but frankly life is too short, although it's stated as a 1.1TB compressed download). NI's Native Access tool does handle installation and other practical issues well though.

So while these are massively appealing bundles and the voices in our head are saying, 'you'll never need to buy another app again, nor have any monthly fees, and it's only – yes only – the price of a mid level Mac', choose 'karefully', and remember those great songs from the '70s and '80s that were recorded with one synth and a drum machine. OK, go on, we'll take the Collector's Edition.

MusicRadar verdict: At a tenner a title you can't argue with the value that Komplete delivers if you are brave and rich enough to buy in, and there are different levels to do this, each with rich seams of quality instruments and effects.

Native Instruments Komplete 15: The web says

"There are some really innovative features and instruments in Kontakt 8. The new chord and phrase tools allow creating new sounds and melodies out of every Kontakt instrument. Leap and Conflux also bring inspiring sounds and ideas to Native Instruments Komplete 15."
Gearnews.com

Native Instruments Komplete 15: Hands-on demos

Native Instruments

SweetScale TV

Sanjay C

Native Instruments Komplete 15: Specifications

• Komplete 15 Standard to the Collector's Edition: Number of instruments and effects: 95 to 165; expansions: 50 to 120; sounds: 50,000 to 150,000; studio effects: 5 to 11; creative effects: 14 to 17; sound packs: 12; Play Series instruments: 22; Massive X expansions: 16; system requirements: macOS 12, 13, and 14, Windows 10 or 11, Intel Core i5 or Apple Silicon, 4GB RAM (6GB recommended), 60GB hard disk space (1.1TB for complete installation); runs in 64-bit VST, AU, and AAX hosts.
• CONTACT: Native Instruments

Christmas is a time of giving, and in the music software realm it’s rapidly becoming the season of free plugins, with the likes of Arturia, Cherry Audio and UVI all embracing seasonal generosity in recent years.

One developer that we can always bank on for a festive giveaway is Baby Audio. This year’s freebie has just arrived in the form of Warp, an audio manipulation plugin lifted from Transit 2, the brand’s recent plugin collaboration with Andrew Huang.

Warp’s Speed dial is designed to speed up and slow down audio, which its creators claim it can do with “unprecedented clarity, free from the typical artifacts.” It also features a Stretch control, which allows users to manipulate the pitch of the audio independently from the time. The plugin's third and final control is a Mix dial that allows users to balance the warped and dry signals.

While this three-element setup is fairly simplistic, Warp has the capacity to be a powerful sound-shaping tool, ideal for creating either subtle tape-style wobbles or more extreme sound mangling effect.

Warp is one of 28 effect modules that make up Transit 2, Baby Audio’s recent collaboration with YouTuber and musician Andrew Huang. Transit 2 is a multi-effect that puts a lot of emphasis on movement, making it ideal for creating transition effects and bringing static loops to life.

Warp is available alongside other Baby Audio freebies including the Beat Slammer compressor and Magic Dice randomised delay/reverb. It comes in VST, AU and AAX formats for Mac or PC. An iOS version is also available on the Apple App Store.

Head to the Baby Audio site for more info.

When it comes to mixing plugins, FabFilter is one of the best developers out there. Honestly, I’m a big advocate for the idea that you don’t need to spend money on expensive plugins in order to make great music, but even I’ll concede that FabFilter plugins make it considerably easier to get a track over the line.

Of the range, EQ plugin Pro-Q 3 stands out as the must-have. Despite being five years old, it’s still up there with the most advanced EQ tools, with 24 bands of dynamic EQ, linear phase mode, an EQ match function and more. The Pro-R 2 is also rightly beloved for its rich and varied tone.

You can pick up both for 25% off at Plugin Boutique, along with other FabFilter tools such as the Pro-MB multiband compressor, Pro-L limiter, Pro-C compressor, and the rest of the company’s range.

Although the FabFilter is arguably best known for its mixing and mastering tools, it has a solid line in creative tools too. The virtual analogue Twin 3 is a brilliantly capable synth equipped with a clean and smart UI. The company’s Saturn distortion and Timeless delay are both handy go-to tools for creatively overhauling sounds too.

Discounts are also available on a variety of FabFilter bundles, which round up these plugins into a variety of packages. If you’ve been waiting to check out Black Friday deal in order to refresh or flesh out your plugin library, these bundles might fit the bill.

If you're in the market for new software, check out the best Black Friday plugin deals.

When it comes to reverb and delay, developer ValhallaDSP is up there with the best in the game. You’ll find its VintageVerb and ValhallaDelay plugins on the hard drives of countless pro producers, and at $50 a pop they’re something of a bargain too.

Valhalla’s greatest contribution to the music making world however, is its brilliant free plugin Supermassive. Now, as has become something of a pre-Black Friday tradition, that effect has been updated, hitting version 4.0 and adding a new reverb/echo algorithm named Pleiades.

First launched in 2020, Supermassive is a reverb/delay plugin that specialises in unusual and unnatural ambiences. The majority of its 21 reverb modes are designed to create extremely long and high-density feedback lines, which can create ethereal washes of ambience and long, swelling delay lines. (Pro tip: feed any sound source into its Planetarium preset to create instant ambient drones.)

Version 4.0 is something of a change of tack though. Whereas previous versions have specialised in reverb effects that are unnatural sounding by design, the Pleiades algorithm is tailored to more natural sounding ambient effects.

“Pleiades has a very fast attack, and a filtered exponential decay,” Valhalla explains. “The reverb structure is inherently dense without coloration, and the echo density can be increased by turning Density up to 100% without sounding metallic. The goal of Pleiades is to create transparent, open sounding reverbs, but it also excels at modulation effects and chorused delays.”

While it’s just one more mode to add alongside 20 others, Pleiades is significant in that it has the potential to further expand Supermassive’s usefulness beyond its remit as a go-to creative effect into more functional mixing territory. Given that flexibility, you might wonder why it’s still free.

“ValhallaSupermassive started out as a collection of weird algorithms that were interesting from a technical perspective, but not necessarily useful as standard reverbs,” the developer explains. “Supermassive has proven to be massively inspirational, not just as a product on its own, but in the development of new algorithm topologies that will be useful for future Valhalla products.

“There are certain internal limitations placed on the Supermassive algorithms: no more than 16 delay lines, a single quadrature oscillator, fixed lowpass/highpass filters shared by all delays, and so on. The limitations are useful for encouraging experimentation: how many ways can we snap together this limited set of Legos? We find these limitations inspiring, and look forward to upcoming Valhalla plugins where these limitations are removed!”

If you’ve made it this far without already heading over to the Valhalla site to download Supermassive 4.0, we highly recommend you do that now. It’s available for both Windows and Intel/M1/M2/M3/M4 Macs.

While our praise might sound like its verging on hyperbolic, given its balance of features and price, it's hard to think of another music making product we'd give such a full-throated endorsement. Hear the new sounds in action via the demos below.

Minimal Audio Ripple Phaser: What is it?

Thanks to the rapid rise of processor speeds, audio effects have become massive modular multi monsters capable of just about anything you can imagine. Minimal Audio’s take seems to be to deliver all of the power you need but to make its effects approachable and easy to tame, and 10/10 releases like Morph and Rift have certainly done that.

Its new Ripple Phaser is something of a peak within that philosophy, delivering some astonishing effects, and modulation, all wrapped up within a delightful and creative interface that will have you wondering why you didn’t phase more before.

Minimal Audio Ripple Phaser: Performance and verdict

Phasing is where a group of frequencies’ peaks or troughs are swept across the spectrum, creating a kind of whooshing, swirling sound – very distinctive and popular in the guitar world, but equally applicable to any instrument, drums or even voice.

The number of these peaks or notches is the limiting factor, but Ripple Phaser weighs in with 24, which is probably way more than you need, but that’s just the start.

Blue and purple waves represent the left and right of the signal within the main window, and it’s their movement that defines how Ripple Phaser sounds, with a big modulation section or you manually controlling it.

You can use Ripple Phaser as a great-sounding filter if you keep this modulation depth to a minimum, but as you increase it, it’s often the case that the left and right waves move more out of sync with one another to create wild phasing effects, so this is one of the key Ripple Phaser elements. The controls beneath it act like an LFO, with Rate, Shape, Randomize and Offset dials to essentially control all movement, speed, and variation between the waves.

The centre of the UI beneath the main display has three controls: Bend, Center and Spread. These allow you to shift the main centre-point of the phasing effect around the entire frequency spectrum. The Bend controls the peaks around the centre-point, moving them either left or right, and the Spread dial increases or decreases their width.

To the right, a Stereo dial controls the stereo spread, and a Feedback control enhances the impact of the peaks, introducing even more extreme phasing effects.

Phaser modes

Ripple Phaser also has seven mode options to choose from in a drop-down menu to the right. These are Classic, Inverted, Clean, Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass and Disperse, and pretty much do as they say. It’s best to hear their differences by applying them to a single preset or a simple phasing effect.

Classic applies frequency peaks and notches across your frequency range as ‘normal’ with the modulation acting if required. Inverted flips the phasing with the peaks. Clean seems to flatten these peaks somewhat, but allows more precise and targeted phasing. The three high, low and bandpass modes add filtering to the phasing effect, heard more dramatically with the Dry/Wet slider. Bandpass mode is particularly effective when combined with the central dials to home in on a range. Turn Spread to a minimum and Feedback to a maximum to really accentuate the effect. Finally Disperse adds more growl, but all the modes add very different character in an instant.

Phase won

Ripple Phaser can sound like the ultimate swooshing filter, or can be more subtle, adding bite to bass, or zing to lead. But most often, it is all about the movement, with shimmering peaks synced to your tunes, sweeping left and right, with one side following the other or completely out of, well, phase.

Using it more subtly feels like you are not embracing its power, but actually some of its more controlled presets – cleverly sitting in movement and filtered categories – can help you emphasise certain parts of your music so can be used more as mix than creative effects.

But really, it’s the more imaginative sounds that grab the Ripple Phaser headlines, and you’ll be transforming synth leads, stabs and basses with it – as well as more traditional guitar sounds – easily making instrument presets your own.

Obviously the focus is on phasing and filtering, two very dramatic and distinctive effects, but while its brief is narrow in this regard, the overall sound really does stretch the definition and fill the bandwidth of these effects. And for just $49 (intro price of just $29 if you’re quick, or get it as part of Minimal’s All Access pass for $15/month), it is one of the best-priced phasers out there. Powerful, easy and straight to the point, with a very decent price tag. Another Minimal Audio winner then.

MusicRadar verdict: A great value phaser plugin with movement, powerful peaks, dirt and drama – a superb creative and swirling blast.

Minimal Audio Ripple Phaser: The web says

"A must-have phaser – even if you’ve grown fatigued of phasers. It can produce all kinds of punchy, resonant, animated dispersion and filter effects. And you get a fantastic preset library."
CDM

Minimal Audio Ripple Phaser: Hands-on demos

Minimal Audio

This Is Onesto

Alex Reid

White Noise Studio

Minimal Audio Ripple Phaser: Specifications

• macOS 10.9 or higher.
• Windows 10 or higher.
• Formats: 64-bit AU, VST, VST3 and AAX.
• CONTACT: Minimal Audio
• Buy from Plugin Boutique

iZotope Neitron 5: What is it?

Compared to its mastering suite Ozone and the post-production audio repair tools of RX, Neutron has always looked like the most accessible bundle in iZotope’s plugin line-up. This is, in part, simply because its tools are the ones with the broadest appeal. Unlike its more pro-focused counterparts, the EQ, dynamics and mixing tools bundled into Neutron have obvious uses for musicians of all stripes, from bedroom producers or guitarists recording demos to professional engineers, soundtrack composers and beyond.

Neutron is also accessible by design though. The software’s flagship feature is its AI-powered Mix Assistant tool, which listens to incoming audio and creates a custom preset specifically suited to the needs of whatever you’re working on. While this doesn’t produce perfect results every time, it can go a long way towards making Neutron’s varied options feel less daunting for new users.

Now version 5 is here, which aims to simultaneously expand the software’s capabilities, via the addition of three new modules, and improve upon that AI-assisted accessibility.

In total, Neutron 5 now features 11 plugins. 10 of these are component plugins that can be loaded as standalone devices, while the 11th is a ‘mothership’ host plugin, which can contain any combination of the other 10 within a single interface.

iZotope Neutron 5: Performance and verdict

Neutron 5’s three new modules are named Density, Phase and Clipper. The first of these, Density, is an upward compressor module. This works, as the name suggests, in the opposite direction to more common downward compression. Where a typical compressor will squeeze audio downwards after its volume level crosses a certain threshold, an upward compressor will instead raise the volume of audio that falls below the threshold line.

This isn’t uncommon – plenty of modern compressor plugins operating in both upward and downward directions, including the stock tools in many DAWs – but it’s a handy tool to have as a part of Neutron’s arsenal. Upward compression is particularly useful when dealing with vocals or acoustic instrument parts where the dynamic range can be quite variable and more delicate moments can easily get lost in the mix.

Phase, meanwhile, is an automated tool for sorting out issues with the phase of a target audio track. It works in two ways. The first, Rotation, adjusts the symmetry of a waveform while the second, Delay, can move the audio back or forwards in time to adjust phase positioning in relation to a side gain input. These can make use of a combined ‘learn’ function, which works by analysing the phase of both its main input and – if assigned – a sidechain signal, and then making the necessary corrections to optimise the phase of the audio.

Those working with multi-tracked drums or electronic producers layering samples will find this a godsend - an instant way to address phase issues that can weaken your sound and result in beats lacking transient punch.

Clipper is a soft-clipping peak limiter, designed to help preserve headroom in the overall mix as well as apply flattering saturation when pushed with particularly hot signals. While it’s another relatively conventional tool, it’s made exponentially more useful thanks to Neutron 5’s other major enhancement – the addition of mid/side and transient/sustain modes, which join the existing multi-band capabilities across various modules in Neutron’s toolset.

These modes combine to make Neutron far more adept at targeting specific needs or enhancements in a mix. Mid/side, for example, allows for the centre of a signal to be tightened up for a more present foundation, whilst leaving the side signals more dynamic and atmospheric. Transient targeting, meanwhile, is excellent when combined with Clipper’s soft clipping, in order to bring saturation to drums without losing transient punch.

The headline Mix Assistant functionality has been refined for this version too. Along with incremental improvements to the AI underpinning the functionality, the top-level Assistant View UI has been updated. This is essentially a simplified entry point to Neutron’s parameters, allowing users to refine the key processes of an Assistant-created patch without diving into the full UIs of the individual modules.

This view, first added in Neutron 4, is very handy. As with previous versions of Neutron, the Assistant can create impressive results, but certainly isn’t flawless. While this gets better with each iteration, what’s arguably more useful is how Neutron has gotten better at making it easy to adjust and refine the results when Mix Assistant doesn’t quite nail something right away. As with previous iteration too, it’s pleasing how the ‘AI’ aspect of Neutron’s design is something available to use should you wish, rather than being a compulsory part of the software’s workflow.

Somewhat related to this are the new Delta buttons available through the modules. These can be used to isolate the effect Neutron is having on your audio, making it easier to understand exactly what the software is doing, and as such, makes it easier for new users to unpick the workings of what Assistant is up to.

Verdict

Taken alone, Neutron 5’s three new modules, whilst undeniably useful, might not make v5 seem like a must-have, seeing as some of the functionality they offer is widely available in many DAWs. That said, Phase is particularly powerful for electronic producers, and all three devices are slick and well-designed.

The bigger selling point here is the addition of the mid/side and transient/sustain channel modes. These add a lot of power across the board, and for regular users of previous versions, these make the strongest case for upgrading.

There are also plenty of highlights that remain from previous versions too, including Neutron 4’s excellent Unmask module, which helps to get competing track elements out of one another’s way. This is one of the existing elements that benefits most from the mid/side and transient/sustain modes.

Neutron 5 isn’t the cheapest software tool, but considering its array of modules and functionality it feels like a well balanced and reasonable package. Its biggest asset is its ease of use though; thanks to smart design and AI assistance, Neutron is a deep and capable suite of mixing tools that feels useful for musicians from a wide range of backgrounds.

MusicRadar verdict: Neutron's suite of mixing tools are broad enough to work for musicians at all levels, but its accessibility for less-experienced producers is its strongest asset

iZotope Neutron 5: Hands-on demos

iZotope

iZotope Neutron 5: Specifications

• KEY FEATURES: Includes 10 modules and additional hub plugin. Modules: Equalizer, Exciter, Gate, Compressor, Unmask, Sculptor, Transient Shaper, Clipper, Density, Phase
• REQUIREMENTS: VST 3, AU, AAX. Mac: macOS Ventura (13.6.9), macOS Sonoma (14.6.1) Supported on Intel Macs and Apple silicon M-series Macs (native and Rosetta). Win: Windows 10, Windows 11.
• CONTACT: iZotope

Roland Space Echo RE-201 Plugin: What is it?

Back in 1974, Roland was still a relative newbie on the block, creating musical tools for home organists and guitarists alike, having only just released its first synthesizer the year before. But 1974 was also the year that the RE-201 Space Echo was released; a large wooden box, covered with Tolex, which went on to become one of the most highly prized tape echo/delays ever produced.

Upon switch-on you immediately heard the scratchy sound of a tape loop, being recirculated in the chamber located just underneath the lid. The sight and sound of a loop of brown magnetic tape performing a form of snake dance, still remains a thing to behold!

That was then, and this is clearly now, and quite a lot has changed in 50 years. Many companies have attempted to recreate the Space Echo in plugin form, which does make us wonder why it has taken Roland so long to get around to producing the Space Echo in software? The good news is, it’s now here, forming part of the excellent Roland Cloud family, and even better, it’s astoundingly good!

Roland Space Echo RE-201 Plugin: Performance and verdict

The original Space Echo, along with numerous other Roland variants, continues to be an in demand vintage product, with a price tag to match. Unsurprisingly, the software modelled by Roland is exacting in detail, while providing additional functionality, some of which is pretty basic, but welcome and overdue.

Graphically speaking, the interface is beautiful. It looks every bit as resplendent as the original unit, within a plugin window which can be easily resized. If it looks too good to be true on-screen, you do have the option to adopt an ‘aged’ look, complete with nicks and rips to the Tolex.

The front panel remains pretty identical, with just a couple of minor tweaks to the GUI. The ever iconic Mode Selector pot, which is used to select combinations from the three virtual tapes heads and reverb, remains the largest and most central component, with accompanying function settings to the right.

It arguably feels a tad archaic to control a plugin from a mode selector of this kind, but we can't begin to imagine the uproar that might have ensued, had it been omitted! There is a welcome drop-down, located on the top left, where presets can be saved and recalled.

In its default state, the reverberation sounds as dark and springy as it always did, true to the original, warts and all! It was arguably never the best reverb, but it can excel in certain production settings. Meanwhile, the tape delay free-wheels, with the instant ability to change the rate of delay and feedback, via the associated pots.

There are several basic but considerable enhancements, hidden away in a settings pane at the bottom of the window. Once revealed, you have the ability to tempo sync to your DAW, and switch to stereo mode. As the original unit was only a mono device, this is fairly groundbreaking, if not a basic requirement.

A number of controls adjust the condition of the tape, wow & flutter, and motor torque, as well as Tape Speed control via LFO. These parameters can induce some pretty insanely brutal effects, if liberally applied, or pulled back for subtle tone deviation.

Good company

They say that fashions go in cycles, but it feels as though the Space Echo has been part of a renaissance throughout its entire lifetime. There is so much love for the original unit that it arguably garners a wider fanbase than the most infamous of synthesizers, due entirely to its far-reaching usage possibilities.

It was an unsurprising hit with artists producing reggae, for those classic guitar-chop delays, but also became an indispensable part of the production tool-kit for bands like Radiohead. The delay element of the plugin entirely lives up to its tape-degraded and saturated roots, with signals repeating to points of total extremity, if required.

The wonderful thing about placing the Space Echo plugin under DAW control, is that those classic effects of feedback and pitch alteration, can be easily recreated and automated. Moreover, it is arguably easier to control, with the humanistic hit-or-miss quotient removed, by its placement in the DAW domain.

Verdict

It’s fair to say that we remain enormous fans of the Space Echo product line. We have owned the original, and been totally blown away by the stomp pedal variations that Roland has produced in recent years. This plugin is a natural progression and sounds just like an original, while being simple to use, and easy to control from within your DAW. The Space Echo is back, and frankly, it’s about time!

MusicRadar verdict: Everybody should have a Space Echo in their lives and we defy you not to smile while using it. Thanks to Roland, it's now affordable and equipped for the current production age.

Roland Space Echo RE-201 Plugin: Hands-on demos

RolandChannel

Roland Space Echo RE-201 Plugin: Specifications

• macOS 12.
• Windows 10.
• Plugin formats: AU, VST2/3 & AAX.
• CONTACT: Roland

UVI Tape Suite: What is it?

If there’s one thing that our ears like, it’s impurity. We live in an organic world and we simply cannot get enough of that sonic saturation. Thankfully, combining this ideal with modern production is no longer a tricky business. We have all seen the tape simulation plugins with their whirring reels, but what if you could have a suite of mainstream effects, all of which have tape built right into the heart of their processing?

This is where UVI has grabbed the baton, producing a compendium of four different effects, each with tape saturation built-in at source. UVI has a proven track record for production ready tools that are good-to-go, and Tape Suite falls firmly into that category.

UVI Tape Suite: Performance and verdict

This package is a modelled suite comprising Flanger, Delay, Color and Chorus. They are available in all the usual plugin formats, with each wearing their intentions very clearly on their sleeves.

The four plugins do appear very similar in styling, but that only accounts for the graphical element. While they all adopt different forms of tape reel, from a graphical stance, they each sound very different, in line with their effected designs.

Delay is the first plugin we audition; the 4 tape-head provision is immediately accessible from the front panel, through four level controls with accompanying panning, and a feedback amount. Unsurprisingly, Delay will snap to your DAW’s tempo, and be quickly switched to Ping-Pong mode, to take full advantage of a stereo soundstage. One neat feature relates to the feedback control, where you can select which heads you wish to feedback, although you can quickly instruct all to feedback simultaneously, if that’s your usual preference.

In common with all of the effects in the suite, there are controls for Gain in and out, as well as a wet-dry seesaw pot, and the all-important drive pot. This latter control is obviously vital to this suite, as this induces the tape-modelled saturation.

Right at the bottom of each plugin, a drop-down reveals additional settings which relate to the tape elements. Here you can control aspects of the simulation itself, alongside filtering and modulation. This latter mode of control is wonderful for creating thick textures, particularly on instruments such as pads. There is also a Compander section, which is specifically designed to mimic forms of old-school tape noise reduction.

The Flanger and Chorus plugins are also very classic affairs, but with the ability to saturate well beyond their usual remit, however the plugin that really caught our attention was Color. The clue is once again in the name, but this only gives us half the story.

Color is a plugin of two halves, with the aforementioned tape element working in conjunction with a series of impulse responses, generated from vintage devices. The process here is derived through a selection of Texture, coupled with a type of Speaker or reproduction device. You can choose anything from a Walkman to a VHS video recorder. It's a little like filtering, but far more fun!

Tape that! 

We have to say that we are quite sold on Tape Suite; it’s a terrific sounding suite which we think is a total bargain, not least because you get four great effects, which are all very different in their own way, alongside a ton of tape-based colour. Each plugin is packed full of presets to get you going, but you can't help but enjoy exploring these plugins, and if you like experimentation, they have an awful lot to offer alongside their more common mainstream effect elements.

MusicRadar verdict: Tape Suite is a pretty addictive set of effects, with use that ranges from the more commonplace, to experimental and avant garde. Great sounding and terrific fun to use!

UVI Tape Suite: Hands-on demos

UVI

MixbusTv

Nu-Trix The Synth Guy

The Sound Test Room

UVI Tape Suite: Specifications

• macOS 10.14 Mojave to macOS 14 Sonoma.
• Windows 10 - 11.
• Supported formats: Audio Unit, AAX, VST, VST3.
• CONTACT: UVI

ShaperBox developer Cableguys has just released its latest plugin, a collaboration with storied US producer Brian Transeau, aka BT. Named Snapback, this latest tool is designed to automate the process of layering sampled transients over drum hits.

Snapback features two modules. The first of these is named Transient, which is used for layering samples directly on top of existing drum sounds. Rather than editing the two elements together, Snapback works in real time to trigger playback of the transient sample based on an incoming audio signal.

Transients can be sourced from a library of stock sound featuring samples provided by BT, as well as others created by Goldbaby, Virtual Riot and Cyclick. An assortment of controls including envelope shaping, pitch adjustment and filtering help tailor the samples to fit over the input drums. Snapback also features a visual analyser that lets users see the waveforms of both layers imposed on top of one another, to help align them visually.

The second module is the titular Snapback element. Rather than layering transient samples on top of the incoming drum hits, this places samples just before the main drum transient. According to Cableguys, placing samples before your drums in this way is “a secret trick of pro producers for ‘living’ grooves”. The idea is that these subtle pre-transients can add groove and swing to otherwise static beats.

This isn’t BT’s first plugin collaboration. He’s previously put his name to iZotope’s BreakTweaker and StutterEdit. Cableguys, meanwhile, has previously partnered with Nicky Romero for its popular Kickstart ducking plugin.

Snapback is available now. The regular price is $49/€49, but it’s currently available for a launch price of $29/€29. Find out more at the CableGuys site.

DHPlugins LFO-EQ-1: What is it?

Contemporary EQ plugins tend to fall into two categories, either emulating classic hardware with all its idiosyncrasies or harnessing the power of software to deliver flexibility simply not possible in the analogue domain. LFO-EQ-1 is the latest version of DHPlugins’ modulation EQ, and falls firmly into the latter category, taking a regular EQ format and throwing in LFO and envelope control as well as four effects modules.

The core design is a 5-band EQ with three parametric bands joined by a high-shelf/low-pass filter and a low-shelf/high-pass filter. The middle band also gets an all-pass phaser mode. All five bands offer a full frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz) with +/-24dB gain, individual bypass and wet/dry mix. Parameters can be changed using the controls or via the graphic display nodes, and the display also has an optional frequency analyser.

DHPlugins LFO-EQ-1: Performance and verdict

LFO-EQ is perfectly equipped for many typical EQ tasks. However, where things get interesting is the integration of two LFOs. 

Each band gets LFO-related controls including parameter specific choice of LFO (1 or 2) and parameter specific LFO amount settings for frequency, gain, Q and mix. These tie in with the two global LFOs, which you’ll find on either side of the plugin window. Both LFOs offer free and DAW tempo-synced options, with a choice of core shapes, adjustable curve smoothing and invert. Each also includes a custom shape. You edit this in the floating window but you can also choose from over 70 further preset curve shapes and a random option. LFO1 includes one further option, Envelope, which switches it to envelope follower mode.

LFO-EQ-1 has a few further features dotted around the interface, including a full parameter randomiser, full parameter reset, global wet/dry mix, global output gain (with its own LFO amount and selector), and the global frequency knob, which collectively shifts all EQ frequencies. Meanwhile, its four effects (more below) are accessed and blended using the FX-1 and FX-2 controls at the bottom.

LFO-EQ-1 offers a powerful combination of controls, and with two separate syncable LFOs the potential for quite advanced filtering effects is obvious. Thankfully, it comes equipped with over 500 categorised presets that really showcase what it can do. Browser categories include instrument-specific examples (Vocal, Guitar, Drums) alongside qualitative types (Rhythmic, Complex and Subtle) and length-specific groupings (1 Beat, 1 Bar, 2 Bar, and so on). Preset names are also prefixed (E, L and S) to indicate envelope, LFO and static design, and tagged by feature (Pump, Flutter, Sweep, and so on). So, there are loads of ways to find the effect you want. What’s more, as you click through the presets, the Browser page also incorporates four macro controls (LFO1 rate, LFO2 rate, global frequency shift and wet/dry mix), so you can try out broad changes without leaving the page. 

We found some fantastic presets. Some are great for adding obvious rhythmic sweeping effects (One, Blessed or Cap, for example), but others deliver more subtle pulsing EQ effects (such as Shake It and Glooper Trooper). There are plenty of pretty frantic options such as Nanobots and Butterfly, and not everything is tempo-synced (Crystals). You can, of course, use it as a regular EQ, and you’ll find plenty of static presets in the instrument categories. Our favourite effects are the long-evolving effects found in the 8-bar folder. 

Special effects

To strengthen its creative credentials, LFO-EQ-1 includes four effects. These are split into two groups (FX-1 and FX-2), and their respective floating panels are accessed from the buttons at the bottom of the interface. 

The FX-1 panel features Drive and Chorus. The Drive effect includes two core settings. Both add odd harmonics, although the second one has more harmonics and sounds brighter. These options combine with Gain and low/high-cut filters for flexible sound shaping. You can also position the effect after the main EQ for further flexibility. Chorus is a straight-up modulation effect with Depth, Feedback, DAW tempo-synced Rate and low/high-pass filters. The FX-2 panel includes Delay and Reverb. Delay is a DAW tempo-synced design with Feedback and Colour. Meanwhile, Reverb includes Size, Damping and Width. Once again, both effects have low/high-pass filters. 

Rounding things off, each effect includes a mix blend at the bottom of the plugin window, so you can fine-tune each effect balance without opening the effects panels.

Conclusion

LFO-EQ-1 is a great idea that’s well-executed, and offers an excellent bridge between traditional EQ and auto-filter plugins. What’s more, the inclusion of effects further enhance its creative capabilities. It’s an excellent addition to the DHPlugins stable at a bargain price. 

MusicRadar verdict: LFO-EQ-1 is a highly creative design that blurs the line between EQ and auto-filter to deliver a multitude of ear-catching effects.

DHPlugins LFO-EQ-1: Hands-on demos

DC Breaks

DHPlugins LFO-EQ-1: Specifications

• macOS OSX 10.8 or later. M1/M2 ready.
• Windows 7 or later.
• AU / VST3 / AAX. 64-bit. 
• CONTACT: DHPlugins

SSL Module8: What is it?

The multi-effect has become something of the star of music production in recent years, thanks largely to the leaps and bounds made by computer processing. What were once humble effects, that just focused on single areas, are now multi-headed beasts capable of all sorts. Indeed these fully-featured multi-effects are arguably now equally as important as the shiny new softsynths in terms of their status in your sonic arsenal. However, the more features multi-effects cram in, the more complex they have become. 

SSL’s Module8 manages to walks the fine line between power and ease of use, though, packing in features, but not at the expense of practical use. The plugin offers some of the best hands-on sound design options, then, and all in a very easy to use package.

SSL Module8: Performance and verdict

As you might have guessed from the name, SSL’s latest multi-effect comprises eight modules. You get six of them lined up as interchangeable main units in the centre of the UI – just drag and drop them in any order you like – and a further two, ‘Lo-Fi’ and ‘Space’, available as effects returns beneath these.  

The main modules are Phaser, Flanger, Chorus, Tremolo, Vibrato, and Pan modulation effects, with each one controlled by an LFO with LFO Rate, Depth, and Shape parameters. The Rate can be set in Hz or sync’d to your DAW (via different note divisions), or a third option lets you sync it to a handy Global LFO. This is useful because you can control all six LFO parameters with just this one, should you wish. Other Global controls include setting both Input and Output level and Mix plus ‘Stereoise’ which gives you a pseudo stereo version of a mono input signal, and Width which lets you widen that stereo. 

A run through the individual effects and you can quickly hear why these deserve to have the SSL name on them; they are clean, dramatic when you need them to be, and very flexible. The highlights of the main six are Chorus which adds some superb thickening and texture, ladling on quite a lovely vintage feel on occasion. Vibrato and Tremolo can be a bit more subtle or wobbly, your choice, while Flanger is easily the show off of the group with its potentially OTT sonic flickering.

Best of the lot, though, are the Lo-Fi and Space Modules. Lo-Fi adds grunge and saturation, particularly by way of the Retro knob which can be overpoweringly noisy, but also adds nice, controlled dirt if you’re careful. Space adds some wonderfully ethereal reverb that gets nicely wonky when you bring the Modulation in. Individually these are great effects but put them all together, sync’d, they can be outstanding, as the presets demonstrate. This is a very easy to use and dramatic multi-effect.

Multiple presets with multiple effects

To demonstrate how powerful all eight effects are in combination, and also how they can be controlled by or swept up in modulation, SSL has assembled many presets over several categories covering instruments, rhythmic and producer-programmed areas. 

Best of these include the Drums category that adds some easy retro feel to your too-clean programmed beats to give them that vinyl loop feel. Some may be just a tad too crunchy for you but it’s easy to ease off. Loops also work well with the Rhythmic presets which can transform the feel of a loop by adding a pumping effect. The Keys section is also particularly good, letting you add subtle character to piano sounds or turn them into vintage ’60s flavours by layering on the modulating Tremolo and Vibrato. We also found that ignoring the categories and throwing, for example, beats at the vocal presets, worked particularly well, and that’s where Module8 works brilliantly, by letting you go off-road with ease.

Eight ways to Sunday

In a world where multi-effects are trying to be all things to all producers, and often becoming the stars of the production show, Module8 does its thing with no frills, but does it very well and puts workflow and ease of use front and centre. As well as being a great sound design tool for quickly shaping and creating sounds from scratch, it’s a fine mix tool that you could end up having on many an insert or Aux channel just to tap into, to enjoy its many effects individually or as great combinations. We’d certainly use it as a lo-fi grunger just to add some filth and as a straightforward reverb, and that’s before tapping into its combinations of effects. 

And with those, and as a creative tool, it really does come into its own. You’ll probably own versions of these effects individually, but with Module8, you’ll find yourself experimenting, re-ordering, and modulating with ease, just to try things out, and any tool that encourages that kind of sonic experimentation is a good one in our books.  

MusicRadar verdict: While your DAW might come armed with these effects, Module8 puts them all together under a big LFO umbrella to create an easy and big multi-effect with a lot of appeal.

SSL Module8: The web says

"Module8 by Solid State Logic redefines the boundaries of modulation effects, providing unmatched creativity and quality. Its comprehensive toolset stands as a testament to SSL’s legacy of innovation, establishing itself as an essential component in any producer’s arsenal. "
Magnetic Magazine

SSL Module8: Hands-on demos

SSLvideos

Production Expert

Amner Hunter 2

Elektronick Musick

SSL Module8: Specifications

• macOS macOS 11 Big Sur - macOS 13 Ventura. 64-bit only. M1 Mac supported.
• Windows 10 - 11. 64-bit only.
• CONTACT: SSL

Many of our tutorials focus on the more tuneful side of synth sound design – albeit hopefully pushing our soft synths to the extreme with everything from imaginative tweaks to full-on modulation madness. When it comes to using effects, though, our sound design world can expand everywhere, and we’re not just limited to using those oscillators as source material. 

Effects, of course, can be used on any sound, not just a VA, wavetable or FM synth. This means that if your sound design ambitions lie, say, in the field of sound effects for film, TV or video games – and not just music – then this is where it gets fun. 

The other brilliant news for you is that the world of plugin effects has become extremely exciting in recent years. Computer processing power has meant that plugin effect developers are going wild with options, which is obviously great for sound designers. Where synth developers might have been focussing on recreating instruments from the 1970s, plugin effect developers are looking to create effects from the 2070s! 

In fact, so good are plugin effects now that it’s hard to know where to start beyond those that ship with your DAW. So what exactly do you need if sonic manipulation and getting creative with your audio is where you want to be?

Focus on what you need

Rather than go into every single effect out there, it might be better to offer some broad pointers. Sound designers can easily argue the case for having a go-to delay and reverb. Time-stretching plugins are also a great option if your DAW lacks this (although most have this built in), and distortion plugins and bitcrushers are also a fantastic option. 

Another good way to think about what effects you’ll use is to take some leads (sorry) from the synths that we’ve been discussing. The best of these take the source signal from the oscillator and throw it through a fine selection of filters. They also come with an array of modulation sources and destinations that are well implemented and easy to use. They might also throw in a delay or reverb too. If only we could get effects that offered these multiple options. Welcome to the 2024 multi-effect…

The rise of the multi-effect

Yes, it’s almost like plugin developers have been secretly working away on all-singing, all dancing plugins tailored for sound designers, because in 2024 we find ourselves surrounded by some of the best – aka most crazy – multi-effects ever. Indeed the truth is, these are often more useful if you want to create weird and wonderful sounds from a single audio source than they might be for general music production. 

As we’ve already hinted, the popularity of the feature-packed multi-effect is largely down to the fact that computers can now handle their power. Now you don’t just get bitcrushers, for example, but bitcrushers with extreme modulation, like Cableguys CrushShaper, so you can add all sorts of rhythmic effects. And now you don’t just get filter options, but plugins like Polyverse Supermodal which has 27 models to choose from. Why go for one processor when you can have 54 as with Devious Machines Infiltrator 2?

So rather than choosing your sound design effect based on a single type, perhaps it would be best, in these days of bountiful choice, to choose them in the same way you would a great plugin synth, and go for a feature-packed multi-effect or two that has a character all of its own.

For the remainder of our effects section, then, we will reveal some top effects for sound design. And we’ll also present a tutorial or two on how to squeeze the sound design potential out of the effects that you already have to hand, namely the CM Plugin Suite!

Extreme delays with PSP CM Delay

PSP CM Delay, an effects plugin that comes free with every issue of Computer Music magazine, is great for getting an almost dubby distorted delay if you crank the Feedback to the max and keep everything in sync. Try the settings above with any audio, with the delay placed on an aux send. Adjust the filters for a nice tonal control over the resulting saturated effects.

For a more hands-on approach, switch off the Sync option, keep the Feedback control set high, the filters at their maximum values, and switch the delay into ping-pong mode. With the time set to 250ms, the feedback will build and you simply adjust the delay time until the delays become self-sustaining. 

Get granular with Inear Display Litote CM 

Granular processing is a great way to go extreme with your sound design and create some crazy effects. Litote CM is a fantastic processor in this regard and has several parameters, the most important of which is Grain Size – the larger this is, the more you’ll be able to recognise the input signal. Load in the preset INS_Divide to hear what the plugin can do to some vocals. 

If you put a longer vocal through the plugin now, you will hear that effect evolve; short stabs will be recognisable, less so if you reduce the grain size but you can still just about recognise the vocal quality. Now try experimenting with the Speed control to send the pitch either up or down.

You can get even more extreme with your sound design by heading over to the Timbre section and increasing both the Diffusion and Feedback parameters.

Finally, Litote CM also works well with a bit of DAW automation. Record changes to the Speed for pitch-bend effects, for example, or record variances in the Freq parameter for more atmospheric sound effects. 

Distortion and more with Klevgrand Stark CM

Distortion is the next great sound mangler, and fortunately we have you covered with a wide range of options in the CM Suite, including titles from around a dozen developers including Mercuriall, Audio Assault and NoiseAsh. And it might be one of the older ones, but Klevgrand Stark CM is right up there with the best. 

Just use it to add a bit of presence to whatever you are working on – the Ambience Room Size is not exactly reverb but combine it with the Presence control and Stereo dial and you can make a sound big, very quickly. 

But it’s the right-hand box where things get very interesting, very quickly. Just click and get a choice of 14 effects, for which you then get extra controls for each to tweak, as shown with the Phaser above. 

It might be simple but Stark lets you audition different effects with a sound very quickly so it’s a great tool for a sound designer after a fast fix. It also comes with a good range of presets cover three types of guitar, beats and synth. Overall you can use it for big distortions, subtle colour or anything in between. 

A touch (or a lot) of reverb with Hyperspace CM

Finally, as we said prevously, every sound designer needs a touch of reverb in their lives, and with JMG Sound/United Plugins Hyperspace CM - free with every issue of Computer Music magazine - you can have as much as you like. This algorithmic reverb features three modes, nine parameters to tweak and a wonderful X-Y pad to experiment with – perfect for sound design. 

There’s a lot to play with here, but the four dials on the right add a lot of drama and the Modulate fader is also a great source of action. Hands-down the best feature, though, is that X-Y pad. Record that with automation for some far-out effects. And that completes our quick tour of the CM Suite – something for all sonic tweakers.

Arturia FX Collection 5: What is it?

Arturia has long been known – in software terms – for its synth emulations, and its V Collection is still essentially the jewel in the company’s crown. For our money though, at this fifth iteration, Arturia’s effects range now represents the best of the company’s software output.

What started a few years ago as a handful of emulated effects has now grown into an incredibly well-rounded package, covering compressors, filters, EQs, reverbs, delays, modulation effects and more. The bulk of the collection is made up of emulations of vintage outboard, but of the four new additions for version 5, only one is based on real-world hardware.

Arturia FX Collection 5: Performance and verdict

That emulated effect is the Bus Exciter-104, a software version of the Aphex Audio Exciter Type C. These much-mythologised units were used to add hi-fi sheen to dull sound using harmonic distortion. Exciters typically work on high frequency sounds but, like the ’90s model it’s based on, the 104 also features a ‘big bass’ module for low end enhancement. It’s a nice addition to the overall collection, capable of adding life to in-the-box sounds and dull loops or samples.

For all that Arturia’s hardware emulations impress, the FX Collection often shines brightest when it breaks away from hardware influence, so it’s welcome that the remaining three additions here are all original plugins. 

The first is Bus Peak, a peak limiter and clipper that combines a very approachable workflow with a clear and responsive UI. As mastering and bus tools go, there’s nothing revolutionary here. There are separate Clipper and Limiter modules, high and low shelving EQs on the input and a variety of monitoring and metering tools. It’s exceptionally easy to use though, and capable of both transparent volume boosts with transient control and rich, pumping distortion. 

The other two additions for v5 – both of which were previously available standalone – are Efx Motions and Efx Refract. These join the line of modern and creative tools originated by the granular Efx Fragments, and cover similarly creative territory. Motions is a multiband, modulation-driven multieffect. It bears more than a little resemblance to Cableguys ShaperBox, albeit not quite reaching the creative heights of that tool. Still, it’s a very solid source of movement, width and ready-to-go transitions, and is useful to reach for when you hit a creative dead end and fancy experimenting.

Refract, meanwhile, is a unison effect that creates stacked layers of any incoming audio and processes the results using a range of effects, from distortion and filtering to chord-based resonators. It’s a lot of fun to use and is great for adding weight to cheap hardware synths.

Throughout the collection, Arturia’s interface design remains a high point. Interactive tutorials guide users through each effect, well-designed presets make finding treatments easy, and ‘advanced’ views let you dig deeper. There are other quality effects bundles out there, but for an all-round, capable bundle that avoids the dreaded subscription model, we think the FX Collection is now unbeatable. 

MusicRadar verdict: More excellent additions make Arturia’s effect bundle an unmissable and great value package.

Arturia FX Collection 5: The web says

"The new update brings four new quality plugins to the table. All four were convincing, with a solid feature set and good implementation."
Synth Anatomy

Arturia FX Collection 5: Hands-on demos

Arturia

Alex Reid

SumnSumnSumn HTK

Sanjay C

Arturia FX Collection 5: Specifications

• KEY FEATURES: Includes 34 effect plugins. New additions: Bus Exciter-104, Bus Peak, Efx Motions, Efx Refract.
• CONTACT: Arturia

Arturia EFX Motions: What is it?

It wasn’t that long ago that creating real-time effects, such as stutters, tape stops and even the humble pumping compressor, could be quite a chore to engineer in a track. Thanks to the progression of computing power, ever more ingenious plugins have made these processes simpler and more effective, but not always at the end-user level.

This is where Arturia hopes to capture your imagination, through a plugin which is as easy to use as it is rewarding to hear. EFX Motions is a multi-effects plugin, designed to operate in sync with your DAW. We’re not talking about reverbs and delays here, although these effects do form a very small part of the plugin’s makeup. 

Arturia EFX Motions: Performance and verdict

At the most simplistic end, it’s all about elements such as volume or pan, which may be laid against the timeline of your DAW, while engaging some form of modulation, via a drawn or imported wave shape. Arturia describes this element as the Motion Envelope, which undersells the concept enormously. It’s far more than ADSR, with an ability to draw complex and wild shapes for a given parameter or effect to follow. Imagine a reverse Saw wave shape, cycling every 1/4 note, and modulating volume; that would be your standard compressor-pump simulation. However, this plugin can go far wider than that, with complex and editable shapes which can control filtering, noise and drive, as well as volume and panning. 

Taking filtering as a case in point, there are a number of filter types and states, from clean and surgical, through to Arturia’s recreation of the Oberheim SEM filter and the exceptionally gnarly MS-20 filter. Add the various state options, which includes low, high, band and notch-pass filtering, and by applying the Motion Envelope you can go from basic filtered pump, to downright 303 acid-drenched style with comparative ease. 

While these effects and modulations might be considered the plugin’s primary focus, the back-end element of EFX Motions takes processing a stage further. The Beat Repeat section allows a number of highly impressive parameters to be applied to the signal, bearing in mind that there is already modulation applied prior this stage. The page layout looks sequential in design, much like a drum machine. Each step is assigned a function, which includes Roll, Reverse, Pitch, Stretch and Stop. 

It’s a relatively simple concept; if you want to alter the pitch of the audio signal, you merely activate the step and dictate the amount of pitch variation you wish to apply to this step. It’s the same scenario for the other elements, such as Stop, which mimics the classic tape stop effect. Meanwhile, the Reverse function also does what it says on the tin, while Roll creates stuttering effects, while maintaining the integrity of the track’s tempo. 

By Arturia’s own description, you can move seamlessly, “… from subtle repeating fills to glitchy Aphex Twin-esque mayhem”.

Advance to Macro

If the multi-layered capacity of EFX Motions inspires you to go further, there’s a greater degree of functionality hidden behind the Advanced button. This reveals the Macro elements, appearing at the bottom of the plugin window, and relating directly to the two Macro pots, which are located in the upper-left corner of the plugin. 

The concept here is that further levels of engagement may be programmed, before being dialled in as you require them, with the modulation amount specified by the Macro pot. It sounds simple enough, but the rules of engagement are dictated by three modulation generators, one of which is a Sequencer. This means that you can assign destinations for the sequencer to modulate, but under the ultimate amount control of the Macro pot. It’s useful as a driver to increase the intensity of a track, where the sustained looping movement of the plugin requires a momentary push over the cliff. The capacity is there, so why wouldn’t you use it?

Output layer upon layer

EFX Motions ships with a bundle of menu-curated presets. The nature of the plugin is no less impressive if placed in a simplistic guise alongside a pad, but apply it to a loop, such as the Amen Break, and chaos ensues quickly. It not only sounds impressive in all settings, but it’s easy to operate, at whichever level you wish to entertain. Creating your own modulations is easy and satisfying, while the Beat Repeat section takes a long-established concept, which has been explored by other companies, that hasn’t always been easy to employ at the user level. EFX Motions makes the process quick and effective, with results that can go from musically sublime to the impressively ridiculous.

MusicRadar verdict: Real-time effects modulation that’s as rewarding to hear as it is stylish. It makes complex time-based effects a total breeze.

Arturia EFX Motions: The web says

"A powerful creative multi‑effects processor with a slick GUI and a price that’s right — electronic music producers in particular will love it."
Sound On Sound

Arturia EFX Motions: Hands-on demos

Arturia

sonicstate

AreDoubleYou

Nu-trix The Synth Guy

Arturia EFX Motions: Specifications

• macOS 11+. 4GB RAM. 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost) or M1 CPU. 1GB free hard disk space. OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
• Windows 10+ (64-bit). 4GB RAM. 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost). 1GB free hard disk space. OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU. ARM processors not supported on Windows
• Formats: VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS (64-bit DAWs only).
• CONTACT: Arturia

iZotope Trash: What is it?

Trash 2, which iZotope first launched back in 2012, is one of those Hall of Fame plugins that, for much of the 2010s, was an essential addition to any self-respecting producer’s hard drive. With its combination of multi-flavour distortion, filtering and a customisable convolution module, Trash 2 let users flip a sound on its head and impart completely fresh characteristics to drums, synths, samples and much more besides.

Having retired Trash 2 back in 2022, iZotope has now rebooted the plugin with a slick new look and an emphasis on accessibility. It’s somewhat telling that this latest iteration is named Trash, rather than Trash 3. While this is undoubtedly a modernised version, those looking for Trash to expand on ideas of its predecessor will be disappointed. In fact, in several areas, Trash actually strips away features of its predecessor, rather than adding them.

iZotope Trash: Performance and verdict

Let’s cover off the basics first though: as with the previous version, Trash is a multi-band processor with distinct distortion and convolution sections. The former offers 60 distortion types, taking in a variety of vintage, analogue and stompbox inspired tones, among others. On the convolution front, Trash has 600 IRs available, which include straightforward reverbs and a wide variety of more unusual sources, from found sounds to reversed effects and vocal formants. Here, both modules are now configured via an X/Y grid that allows the user to assign four different flavours of distortion/convolution for each module and then blend between these or – to an extent – modulate the balance of sounds. The implementation of these modern pads is the best feature of Trash’s 2024 redesign.

Beyond this you’ll find an envelope follower – used as the plugin’s modulation source – with attack and release controls, a resonant ‘scream filter’ that adds an additional drive stage, and an output module with limiter, auto-gain and oversampling functions.

What the plugin doesn’t feature, however, are a number of Trash 2 features including delay, the ability to draw in custom distortion curves, dual filters or dynamics control.

This makes reviewing Trash an odd proposition. On the one hand, divorced from all external context, this is certainly a decent processor, capable of doing really interesting things to whatever audio you throw at it. Its stylish single-window UI is a joy to use, and has clearly been designed with a touchscreen in mind. Trash is available as an AUv3, and it’s undoubtedly in this context it shines brightest. For the most part it sounds great too – although we find the resonant ‘Scream’ parameter of the filter often unpleasant.

However, Trash doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The legions of Trash 2 fans will no doubt find the lack of depth or new ideas disappointing. What’s more, in the decade since the original arrived, rival plugins have done a lot to build on these ideas. The likes of Output Thermal, Arturia ColdFire or FabFilter Saturn 2 all offer more creative depth. In fact, users of the latest versions of Ableton Live or Bitwig Studio have better tools at their disposal from their DAWs’ stock plugins.

If you’re a Logic Pro for iPad user, Trash is a must-have AUv3 for mobile creativity. It’s harder to make the case for desktop use though. 

MusicRadar verdict: In its own right, Trash is a decent plugin. But in the wider context of the market and its own legacy, it’s hard not to feel disappointed.

iZotope Trash: The web says

"In many ways, this version of Trash is a downgrade from Trash 2. iZotope has removed, among other things, the ability to draw custom waveshapes, the Dynamics and Delay modules, and the super-flexible pre- and post-effect EQs."
MusicTech

iZotope Trash: Hands-on demos

iZotope, Inc.

White Noise Studio

Weaver Beats

Low End Candy

iZotope Trash: Specifications

• FORMATS: PC/Mac – AAX, AU, VST3, iPad – AUv3.
• CONTACT: iZotope
• Buy from Plugin Boutique

Bitwig Studio 5.2: What is it?

Until relatively recently, Bitwig Studio was playing catch-up when it came to audio effects. For all of the inspiring brilliance of its modular synth environment The Grid and the power of its flexible system of LFOs and modulators, the DAW’s effect offering felt somewhat vanilla – limited largely to functional tools that got the job done, but lacked the range of creative effects found in rivals DAWs. Recent updates have done a lot to address this, though.

Bitwig sells its DAW on a subscription plan model, the main implication of which is that the ‘point’ updates are often as noteworthy as the main iterations. Between versions 4 and 5, Bitwig began its effects expansion, adding characterful Flanger+, Chorus+ and Phaser+ effects along with fresh Convolution and Delay+ devices. In the two updates released since Bitwig Studio 5 arrived last year, Bitwig has doubled its dedication to creative processing.

Bitwig Studio 5.2: Performance and verdict

With v5.1, released back in at the tail end of 2023, Bitwig added what it described as ‘10 new characters’ for the DAW. What this actually amounts to is a range of modules that encompass a variety of filters and waveshapers. On the filter front are four new tools named Fizz, Rasp, Ripple and Vowels. Rather than offer standard multi-mode filtering – which is already well covered elsewhere in Bitwig’s toolset – the emphasis here is on creative filtering, touching on extreme resonance, comb-filter-like effects and formant filtering. The waveshapers, meanwhile, are essentially six different flavours of gritty analogue-style distortion.

Each of these tools is available as a module in Bitwig’s Grid modular environment, or semi-modular Polymer synth. However, the real highlight of 5.1 lies in the two new container devices designed to house these ‘flavours’ – Filter+, a semi-modular distortion/filter device, and Sweep, a dual-slot filterbank that allows any of the DAW’s filters and waveshapers to be routed in serial or parallel configurations.

Bitwig’s latest v5.2 update – available in Beta at the time of writing – turns its focus towards compression and EQ. Compressor+ is a significantly upgraded stock compressor that operates across four frequency bands. As with other Bitwig devices, this strikes a winning balance between depth and accessibility. For each band we get access to just two controls – timing and intensity – but these make it pleasantly easy to bring the right level of squash and punch to a multiband treatment. The device also comes with a range of vintage-inspired character modes.

The hardware influence carries across to the new EQs, two of which – despite a thoroughly modern look – take influence from vintage Pultec hardware. Focus channels the mid-range shaping MEQ-5 and Sculpt the EQP-1, with adjustable saturation types and the ability to capture the bass-boosting ‘low-end trick’.

Arguably, these two intermediary updates add more to enhance the DAW than the initial v5 launch, so it feels like Bitwig finally has a suite of unique, flexible effect tools to match its creative ambitions.

MusicRadar verdict: Bitwig’s ‘point’ updates continue to pay dividends, with 5.2 adding inspiring and slickly-designed new effects.

Bitwig Studio 5: What is it?

Bitwig Studio has always felt like the somewhat disruptive new DAW kid on the block. The truth is, that while it might be a little rebellious, it’s certainly not new. In fact, next year marks 10 years since Bitwig started and we’re already up to v5 of its flagship Bitwig Studio DAW.

If anything, this version sees the DAW find the clearer path that perhaps it’s always been searching for. Studio is now more about being a creative instrument as much as it is being a DAW. It’s found an identity amongst a sea of ‘me too’s and should be credited for that, but has it lost its beginner appeal along the way?

There’s a lot to pack in with the v5 update of Bitwig Studio, but if you’re new to it, here’s a (very) quick overview. When Studio came out, there were inevitable comparisons between it and Live – it had clip launching and some of the developers had worked for Ableton. But since then the software added a lot of its own ingredients, including comprehensive modulation – where essentially anything can be modulated by anything.

Then there’s The Grid – a kind of virtual modular environment for creating instruments, effects or whatever you like. Add these to an overall concept where the Launcher and Arrange Timeline can be side by side in the same tracks, and you have an instantly fresh approach to music production which, frankly, makes some other DAWs feel constrained by their more traditional approach.

Bitwig Studio 5: Performance and verdict

Version 5 focuses even more on modulation with some hefty additions to the software. First up is the MSEG (Multi-Stage Envelope Generator) system. What can come across as baffling is less so if you just think of these as envelopes that modulate in (many) different ways.

There are now five MPEGs: Curves, Segments, Scrawl, Transfer and Slopes. These essentially let you create modulation sources for custom envelopes, shapes and loop patterns. The first two can be straight modulators to use in all areas of the software, while all five are available as modules in the Grid, so can be incorporated into your creations there. (There’s more information on what each of the five MSEGs does in MSEG additions – defining the curves below.)

Slightly more confusingly, Scrawl and Segments can be used in the Polymer synth as oscillator and envelope modules respectively, effectively giving that synth a boost upgrade for v5 too. We say ‘confusingly’ but it’s not really, at least once you realise that Bitwig Studio’s main aim with this version seems to be for everything to work with everything else! So while the MSEGs can be used as modules in The Grid, they can also be modules or modulators elsewhere. And modulators work on everything, which brings us neatly to another upgrade.

Modulators can now act across project tracks so you can quite easily map them to control instrument, effect and channel settings, all at the same time. Just load them up and use Bitwig’s intuitive blue ‘wireless’ system to match each modulator with multiple destinations.

This really does open up huge scope for experimentation which we think is now Bitwig Studio’s main advantage over other DAWs. But the upgrades don’t end there.

There are now alternative launch options and legato, which allows for much greater creative freedom when performing live; you can go back to previous clips, change time signatures and a whole lot more.

Finally, we return to more modulation as you can set up eight remote control options per channel to bring whatever parameters you want on that channel to the fore, making previously hidden options more accessible and – guess what – easier to modulate. It’s yet more evidence to confirm that Bitwig Studio is an absolute monster of a modulating DAW and, as we hinted at the start, all of these options push it into being more of a creative instrument.

MSEG additions – defining the curves

The five new MSEGs in Studio 5 cover a lot of modulation ground. Curves is an LFO-based MSEG that focuses on patterns, so you can create curves that can be applied to a parameter or draw your own.

Segments is an envelope MSEG with similar shaping tools but is triggered by note input and more about using parts of the envelope to modulate so you can loop (forwards or backwards) or hold (freeze).

Next up, Scrawl is a DIY oscillator with similar drawing tools to create your own waveforms. Transfer adds more flexibility with waveshaping, an all-in-one module that allows you to easily switch in a custom shape to transform incoming audio or other signals on The Grid.

Lastly, Slopes is a pattern sequencer for creating more time-based shapes. The curve you create in each MSEG is interchangeable with others – just save out the curve in the all new .bwcurve format and load it into another. Bitwig’s MSEGs combine into an extraordinary modulation system.

Blooming Extras

The upgrades and additions to Studio should not be understated. These are big enhancements to the DAW and Bitwig has truly listened to its users to come up with one of the most flexible and creative DAWs out there, of that there is no doubt.

The depth and variation of the modulation you have on display (and indeed off) is really quite remarkable, almost to the point where the software is now in a creative space that no other DAW is even close to. And that sums up why we’ve giving it maximum marks. Bitwig is being brave with v5 and really trying to take it down a path that no-one else dares tread.

But – and there’s always a ‘but’ – there is a caveat. Updating a DAW based on existing user needs will consequently end up in a situation where it won’t be catering so much to new users and that is now true here.

The main updates to Studio 5 are additions to already fairly complex systems; OK, not if you are an existing Bitwig user, but could be tricky to navigate if you are new to music creation. That means that Studio is no longer the beginner’s DAW that perhaps it was once upon a time (although the stripped-down 8-track is still a great entry point for that).

That aside though, it’s an unequivocal thumbs up to v5. For existing users and those not afraid of diving deep and experimenting with almost limitless modulation capabilities, you’ll find more than enough to meet their demands.

In fact, you get the feeling that with version 5, Bitwig Studio has become the DAW that Bitwig and its developers have wanted it to be all along. It’s certainly matured into something completely unique and creative, software that is fast redefining what a DAW should be, and all power to it for that.

MusicRadar verdict: V5 sees Bitwig redefining what a DAW actually is. Beginners might need 8-track; the rest of us can immerse ourselves in the most creative DAW out there.

Bitwig Studio 5: Hands-on demos

Bitwig

Mattias Holmgren

Alex Reid

Bitwig Studio 5: Specifications

• MacOS 10.14 or later (including Monterey). 64-bit Intel or Apple Silicon CPU. Minimum 4GB RAM. Minimum 12GB free disk space .
• Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit, Windows 11. Dual-core AMD or Intel CPU or faster with SSE4.1 support. Minimum 4GB RAM. Minimum 12GB free disk space.
• Ubuntu 20.04 or later, or any modern distribution with Flatpak installed. 64-bit dual-core or better x86 CPU with SSE4.1 support. Minimum 4GB RAM. Minimum 12GB free disk space.
• CONTACT: Bitwig

For a while now, Splice’s Create feature has been capable of picking a stack of compatible loops based on one of your choosing, but only from the company’s own catalogue of sounds. That changes from today, as you can now use your own loop as the sonic starting point.

Drag in a loop that you’ve been working on from your DAW (or anywhere else, for that matter) and Splice Create will quickly analyse its properties and use its AI powers to pull in a bunch of compatible sounds. The loops themselves are created by humans, of course - all the AI is doing is selecting ones that fit with what you’ve already got.

If you’re happy with what you’re presented with, you can export the stems to take back into your DAW so that you can develop the track further. If not, you can either swap out individual loops or add more on top until you’re satisfied.

“Splice AI delivers human-made sounds that are compatible with the creator's original idea, which remains at the centre of the creative process,” said Kakul Srivastava, CEO of Splice. “With this tool creators can start with their own sound, select a genre, and Splice's AI will surface sounds that fit perfectly in seconds. This sets the stage for the next generation of technology advances at Splice, putting powerful tools directly into our users' existing workflow.”

The new feature is being launched in partnership with Zaytoven, whose credits include productions with Usher, Gucci Mane, Future, Jack Harlow and The Weeknd. “It opened my mind up," he says. "It helps me spark ideas. I make so many beats. A lot of times I can make them start sounding alike because I make so many beats. This helps to expand and think outside of what I would've done normally."

The ‘Create with your own loop’ feature is available now to Splice subscribers.

Plugin Boutique Scaler EQ: What is it?

Scaler EQ could well be one of those ‘why didn’t I use that before?’ plugins. It’s an EQ that not only handles the boosting and cutting of different frequency ranges, like a regular EQ, but also the frequencies of notes that are in key with your song. It works out the song key and you boost note frequencies (or a selection) in that range, or attenuate those that are not. But does it make a big difference to your sound?

To answer that question up front – and indeed whether it’s worth it’s worth your while reading the rest of this review – Scaler EQ can make both subtle and more creative differences. You might not have thought you needed an EQ dedicated to scale in your life – and probably, like us, hadn’t even dreamt a thing like it even existed – but once you try it, it’s almost (but not quite) as revelatory as using a regular EQ. OK, it’s a little more je ne sais quoi than that, the results are definitely more musical, tighter and often less muddied. But it’s also a lot more creative than you might imagine – you can enhance particular sounds like drums in ways you might not have imagined, and stepping through its many presets can be inspirational. But before we get ahead of ourselves (OK, we already have) let’s have a look at how Scaler EQ works in practice.

Plugin Boutique Scaler EQ: Performance and verdict

First up, in order to understand the UI, it’s pretty easy. Just think of a regular EQ with its various nodes and apply those to notes rather than frequency. Actually, Scaler EQ does both, and its shapes are solid when applied to frequency, and ‘lined’ (for want of a better description) when applied to scales or notes. 

The plugin can detect the key of your tune – simply hit the very obvious button and play the song, and it does the job pretty quickly – and then you can simply boost the note frequencies in that key using six nodes across the range, or cut them, or indeed do both simultaneously. 

Dials let you alter the Frequency of the node, its Gain, it’s Width and Q – the steepness of its slopes. There’s also a Range dial which is less obvious, but applies to individual harmonic peaks within a Node range, so you can pinpoint exact note frequencies, or apply boost and cut to a wider range around each.

There are a lot of other features which we’ll cover below, but the thrust of Scaler EQ is boosting those frequencies in key and cutting those not. For the latter, we’re not really talking about misplaced notes, rather harmonic content that might exist around notes – ringing guitar strings, extraneous noise, stuff that muddies a mix without being obvious about it. 

It’s these elements that Scaler is attempting to attenuate and it largely does it well, which can be demoed using its many presets that are categorised by instrument type, Voice, Orchestra, Master or the looser ‘Sound Design’. These are a must to audition and in conjunction with the Bypass button, will give you a quick demo of why you need Scaler EQ in your life, and how creative it can be. 

Other Scaler EQ features and uses

Scaler EQ features include what are called ‘Magic shelves’ which apply shelf processing to the stereo signal. There’s both mid and side processing to maybe boost the harmonies of the sides or reduce those in the mid position of the stereo field. Talking of which, there is an overall stereo width dial, and also to the right of the main controls, a compressor and limiter. You can also override the detected scale with your own, or even reverse the process so you cut frequencies in key and boost those out of key – very Richard James.  

Scaler EQ perhaps surprisingly comes into its own matching drum loops with tunes, something we’re always told to do, but, hey, it’s drums so never obvious what the key is. Scaler lets you simply remove harmonic content of, say, a drum loop so that loop can be used in any song, or bring out the harmonic content so it can be matched easier. Overall, then, there are way more uses to having an EQ that focuses on scale than you (and we) thought.

On an ambitious scale

The acoustic guitar presets reveal Scaler’s ability to subtly lift mixes like an EQ does, but in a musical way. It’s more obvious with electric guitar where individual notes are brought out from a blurrier wall of sound. It is probably most at home with vocals, though, where tuning might be less obvious. Here you can reverse the process and boost inharmonic notes to really ID them; pulling them back is really dramatic and cleans the sound up considerably.

Scaler EQ is a bit of a shock to the system, then. It’s not dramatic enough to make us feel we’ve been mixing wrongly for years, but it does start to make us feel uncomfortable when not using it; whether tunes might be full of inharmonic content you just can’t detect. Of course, if that is the case it’s not the end of the world, but Scaler does make you think deeper about mixes and improves them. What more could you ask for? Great price, too.

MusicRadar verdict: Scaler EQ can make subtle harmonic changes or be a hugely creative plugin, but either way it makes your mixes sound better, and for a small-ish outlay.

Plugin Boutique Scaler EQ: The web says

"This plugin is not just another EQ in the toolbox; it’s a groundbreaking advancement in the world of audio engineering."
Song Mix Master

Plugin Boutique Scaler EQ: Hands-on demos

Plugin Boutique

Ave Mcree

Alex Reid

Plugin Boutique Scaler EQ: Specifications

• macOS 10.14 or higher. Natively compatible with Apple Silicon. VST, VST3, AU, AAX, Standalone. 64-bit compatible only.
• Windows 7 or higher. VST, VST3, AAX, Standalone. 64-bit and 32-bit compatible.
• CONTACT: Plugin Boutique

One of our favourite things about Ableton Live is its ability to integrate with Max, a visual programming language that tech-savvy music-makers can use to design software tools of their own to run inside the DAW via Max for Live.

The latest innovation to come out of the Max for Live community that's blown our collective minds is from software developer and electronic musician Alexander Panos. 

Color Transfer is a bundle of three Max for Live devices - Timbre Resynth, Cepstral Morph and Formant Shifter - for experimental sound design and creative effects processing, making use of innovative timbral manipulation techniques to produce some truly unique sounds and textures.

Panos' flagship device, Timbre Resynth enables you to "resynthesize" any sound with the timbre of another sound. Take two inputs - a vocal and a synth pad, for instance - and the device will analyze the spectral information of one signal and resynthesize the other using this spectral analysis. The frequencies contained in the vocal will be reconstructed using synthetic oscillators that reflect the timbre of the pad, creating an entirely new sound that shares qualities of both.

It's a complex process, but one that's best grasped by listening to the phenomenal sounds it can produce; watch Panos' tutorial below and the demo video above to get a sense of the device in action. Timbre Resynth is equipped with a variety of controls to fine-tune its output, including a polytuner that will quantize the analyzed frequencies to a set of pitches defined by the user, and an LFO that can be used to modulate the resynthesis in time with your project's tempo.

Cepstral Morph operates along similar lines, fusing the spectral content of two sound sources together by combining the spectral shape and pitch information of both input. The device is equipped with an XY pad to navigate the continuum between the two signals its blending, along controls for intensity, phase blending mode and FFT size. 

Rounding out the trio is Formant Shifter. The most conventional tool of the bunch, it works in a similar fashion to formant-shifting plugins like Soundtoys' Little AlterBoy, but unlike many of its kind, Panos' Formant Shifter is capable of handling complex polyphonic input, meaning you'll be able to formant-shift anything from vocals to guitar chords to an entire track, if you so wish. 

If you think Panos' Max for Live devices are impressive, it's worth checking out his music too - the 2022 album Nascent is an incredible piece of work.

Color Transfer is priced at $99 and will only work with Ableton Live 11.1 and up. To use Max for Live devices, you'll need to own Ableton Live Suite or have purchased the Max for Live add-on for Standard. 

Find out more on Alexander Panos' website.

Arturia has updated its renowned collection of effects plugins, bringing two new and two existing titles to FX Collection 5. 

The two new effects are Bus Peak and Bus Exciter, two processors designed to be used on your master bus chain. Bus Peak is described as a "pro-grade" limiter that combines tone control, clipping and limiting with loudness and True Peak metering. The plugin is aimed at helping you achieve optimal loudness in your mix while maintaining clarity and detail.

Bus Exciter is an exciter effect that's capable of enhancing both your low end and high frequencies via separate modules. The Exciter module will boost your high-end content to improve its perceived loudness, enabling you to dial in additional harmonics to bring texture and shimmer to the sound, while the Big Bass module adds body to your low-end. 

What's more, FX Collection 5 now features two existing Arturia effects, EFX Refract and EFX Motions. The former is a dual-stage, unison-based multi-effect that multiplies a signal eightfold then runs it through one of five effects, BandPass Filter, Comb Filter, Bitcrusher, Distortion and Harmonizer, each of which which can be added to those eight voices and processed individually before being summed back together. 

EFX Motions is another multi-effect plugin aimed at bringing motion to your mixes, combining five effects (Noise, Drive, Filter, Volume and Pan) and a Beat Repeat module with a variety of sophisticated modulation options that includes envelopes, step sequencers, envelope followers and randomizers. The plugin's capable of producing everything from subtly evolving sonic manipulation to glitchy, IDM-esque carnage.

Alongside these four additions, FX Collection 5 features 30 titles that you'll find in its previous iteration, covering a broad range of applications and including everything from analogue-modelled chorus and filter plugins to lo-fi tape emulators and savage distortion effects. 

Find a full list of the plugins in FX Collection 5 on Arturia's website.

Wavesfactory Equalizer: What is it?

Everything is ‘smart’ these days when it comes to music production. AI is doing more of its thing and we’re doing less of ‘our’ thing, but as dystopian as that sounds, when it comes to certain time-consuming mixing tasks, AI is welcome to them. Dynamic EQ processing is a case in point and there are plenty of ‘intelligent’ tools that are ready to continuously tweak EQ parameters as they go. 

Wavesfactory’s Equalizer – ‘we’ll get straight to the point with the name,’ they must have thought – aims to go one better. Or should we say, one faster. This EQ analyses your audio, shows you the adjustments it’s making, and you increase or decrease the processing with one knob, That’s not quite all it does, of course, but that’s the central philosophy, and it’s a great one. 

Wavesfactory Equalizer: Performance and verdict

Equalizer has 32 bands of processing, and it essentially analyses your audio in each band and boosts or attenuates the frequency at that point according to its smart thinking. What it is doing, then, is effectively taking your audio back to its source sound or, if you like, making it sound more natural. As Wavesfactory says, it “takes from where there is too much and adds where there is need. Put simply, it’s an Equalizer”. Fair enough. So if you have a muddy bass synth, for example, it will likely reduce lower frequencies up to around 500Hz, while often boosting the highs, effectively bringing everything back to zero – almost like it’s adding a calming influence on everything.

And we’re not just talking about individual tracks, as Equalizer will work on entire mixes too, so you can use it as possibly the simplest mastering tool ever. Whatever audio you apply it to, you get a lovely dynamic graphic showing you what processing is being done to each band in real time, with very obvious boosts shown above the central line and cuts shown below – it’s that straightforward. A central dial lets you push theses boosts and cuts, and at first we wondered why on Earth you’d want to do this, when Equalizer had already decided what was good. As it turns out, leaving the knob on the default 50% setting is usually ideal, but pushing it makes Equaliser a more creative effect.

There are more options to dig into if you don’t want to leave everything up to the AI bots, the main one being the ability to draw your own curves (we cover the rest of the controls below). Here, you can mouse-in and correct any boosts or cuts you are not happy with. We found this especially useful for reducing bass frequencies that Equalizer might have introduced, just to reduce the overall mud a single sound might contribute to in the overall mix. It’s a bit like having the ability to take over your self-driving car, so welcome and easy to do. 

We applied Equalizer to several sounds and it was more dramatic with those basses, but still added presence to leads and beats. We did find – as is always the case with EQ – that removing other processing on the track helps, but it genuinely does improve sounds with ease, either dramatically, or subtly. 

What else does Equalizer offer?

As easy as Equalizer is to use on a very basic level, and on top of the ability to draw in your own curves, there are several other controls on offer to help dig into your EQing. Cut and Boost simply determine the levels of each of those, but the more interesting options here are the Solo buttons for each. These let you hear the delta – the difference between input and output – so you can see and hear exactly what Equalizer is doing, a great feature that gives an insight into the Equalizer processing philosophy. 

Elsewhere, we have Attack and Release which determine how quickly Equalizer’s processing comes in and out, and pushed to extremes these can make the plugin quite creative. On the right hand side there’s a Tilt control that will have Equalizer process more of the highs for a brighter sound, or lows for a darker one. Finally, M/S delivers Mid-Side processing so you can apply Equalizer to the sides or mid part of your sound stage. By default (50%) it is stereo. 

A little help from an EQ?

We’ve seen plenty of intelligent plugins, and some do a great job but still require some intelligence from the user (a tall order, sometimes!). Wavesfactory Equalizer differs in that you can use it on any level you like. Let it do all the heavy lifting, or get involved and use it as your assistant. 

We were quite surprised at just how good it made overall mixes sound – used at sensible and subtle processing levels, that is. It made us feel like qualified mastering engineers just by dialing it in, albeit feeling slightly guilty that we hadn’t spent years studying on a Tonmeister course for the knowledge. For £85, this is one of the best ways to enjoy a little auto-intelligence, and as long as you don’t mind leaving your imposter syndrome at the door, is a great way to improve your sound with minimum effort required. 

MusicRadar verdict: A surprisingly capable and very easy to use EQ that you can go as deep with as you wish, but seemingly always delivers a better sound. What more could you want?

Wavesfactory Equalizer: Hands-on demos

Wavesfactory

White Noise Studio

Folia Soundstudio

palebluedot studios

Wavesfactory Equalizer: Specifications

• macOS 10.13 or higher. Intel and M1 natively supported. 64-bit DAW and OS.
• Windows 7, 8 or 10. 64-bit DAW and OS.
• CONTACT: Wavesfactory

Of all the ways that AI is going to affect the music production process, its ability to create ‘fake’ vocals is currently the most controversial. Artists don’t like the idea of their voices being copied, and we sense that most fans want to believe that what they’re listening to is the singing of an actual person (albeit one whose voice has probably been pitch-corrected and heavily processed).

None of which has deterred Sonarworks from creating SoundID VoiceAI, which is billed as “the first AI voice changer plugin for your DAW”.

This isn’t some upstart audio software company - Sonarworks is already known for its speaker and headphone calibration products. VoiceAI is something very different, though: it comes with 23 “highly realistic” singing voices, and 21 instrument models so that you can turn your humming or beatboxing into something more musical (a guitar, violin or drums, for example).

And then there’s the fact that it works as a plugin, which adds an extra level of convenience. The workflow requires you to load VoiceAI onto your vocal track and then play it back so that it can be captured - it’s then sent up to the cloud to be processed as required. 

It’s worth noting that VoiceAI won’t fix out-of-tune singing - all it does is change the sound of the voice. The plugin itself is free, but you have to buy tokens to process audio. €20 gets you 72,000 tokens, which equates to 120 minutes of processing time; 180,000 tokens (300 minutes) costs €40; and for €70 you can purchase 360,000 tokens (600 minutes).

If you want to hear the results for yourself you can sign up for a free trial, which currently comes with 36,000 tokens that have to be used within seven days. This offer applies until 21 May, after which the free trial will come with 9,000 tokens.

VoiceAI runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats. Find out more on the Sonarworks website.

Universal Audio has announced two new plugins that each have a number of retro saturation effects – or Machines – included. Vibe Analog Machines is the headliner but the support act, Vibe Analog Machines Essentials, might be the main attraction as it's free until the end of April.

With Vibe Analog Machines you get 10 'Machines', saturation effects of various colours that give creators everything from "subtle tape warmth and hi-fi tube saturation to full on distorted textures and more". It costs $199.

The cut-down Vibe Analog Machines Essentials includes four Machines but is just $99. However, both Vibe Analog Machines and Essentials are just $99 and free respectively until April 30.

The fuller Vibe Analog Machines features controls like Drive, Tone, and Tape Warble. The Machines are all analogue in nature (although obviously digital in delivery), all utilising the same kind of component level modelling employed in the rest of UA's plugins.

The 10 Machine effects are Sweeten (reel-to-reel tape machine), Edge (analogue console), Glow (harmonics via a tube preamp or channel strip), Warm (older tape machine), Thicken (lo-fi tape), Vintagize (old tape), Distort (driving analogue preamp), Overdrive (fuzzy tape tone), Fire (searing analogue tape), and finally Sputter (broken distortion).

Vibe Analog Machines Essentials is all of the above but with just four machines and has just the Drive control included (so no Tone or Warble).

"We really want people to get creative with true-to-life analogue tones," says Ryan Wardell, UA's Director of Software. "Vibe Analog Machines gives music producers and beatmakers a sleek, fun collection of machines to experiment with everything from gentle warmth to sonic obliteration."

You can get Vibe Analog Machines on the standard UA subscription ($19.99/month or $149/year) which gets you close to 40 UAD Spark plugin instruments and effects, most of which are pretty amazing.

Or buy it for a one off fee of $99 until the end of April, or (do we really have to say it again) download the Essentials version now for free while you can. Get it now!

You can do that, and grab more information on both Vibe Analog Machines bundles here.

Mastering the Mix RESO: What is it?

Mixing and mastering plugins have completely revolutionised how we produce music. But one of the most significant enhancements in mixing related plugins has undoubtedly been the rise of products which can assist you with troublesome elements, such as rogue frequencies.

If there is one company which is branded to do exactly what it says on the tin, it’s Mastering the Mix. It’s been producing popular plugins, designed for purpose since 2014. 

RESO is the newest addition, described as a Dynamic Resonance Suppressor. It reminds us of a similar technology that appeared some years ago, found in different devices but notably seen in Behringer’s Feedback Destroyer. 

The premise being that as a spike in frequency is detected, a feedback destroyer would quickly and efficiently create an equal and opposite spike, to alleviate the feedback, thus saving everyone’s ears from the nasty blast that would usually present. RESO operates on a similar level, but with a far greater degree of sophistication and subtlety. 

Mastering the Mix RESO: Performance and verdict

Our first tests involved using RESO on a Master Bus, which, to be fair, is one of the most logical places to entertain its deployment. Being plugin-based, there’s nothing to stop you using RESO at any stage; audio, virtual instrument, etc. But by using at the master output level, it allows us to get a thorough overview. 

Once it’s been loaded, RESO displays information in the time-honoured way, with frequency measurements labelled across the bottom of the plugin, from left to right. Once audio is detected, a wave dances across the window, providing visual clues about the frequency content that’s contained within, and associated dynamic levels. 

You are then invited to Calculate Targets via a click of the mouse, requiring a mere playing of your track while RESO listens to the incoming audio. This listening phase does seem to be fairly brief, at around five seconds. We have encountered various other plugins that take a listen to incoming audio, and listening times range from around 15 seconds to the entire duration of the track. It’s therefore quite a surprise that RESO can make such quick and informed decisions in such a short space of time. Once the frequencies have been targeted, RESO can be engaged to reduce the identified spikes. The differences are noticeable, as a mix becomes flatter without the presence of characterful, if unwanted, frequency spikes. 

RESO in context

We’ve been pretty impressed with the capabilities of RESO; throughout our testing regime, it performed beautifully across a number of different styles of music, highlighting both subtle and exaggerated extremes in frequency spike. 

We also tested RESO alongside other products, both within our included DAW package and other third-party plugins. It became pretty apparent to us that placing RESO alongside a channel EQ, with compression placed after RESO, provided an excellent and effective mastering signal chain, albeit at the more basic end of mastering business. This does not make it any less effective though. RESO could be particularly helpful to anyone working on a budget, especially if your monitoring location is not as you might like it. 

We did notice that just about all of our tests and examples concentrated on reducing spikes in the upper frequency bands, but suspect that RESO would adopt a fairly radical reduction should it detect a heavy duty spike in bass frequencies. Regardless of your signal chain, always use your ears objectively to obtain the best aural results.

Going manual

While the process of targeting and engagement is swift, literal and accurate, there is encouragement from Mastering the Mix to explore, using a degree of manual operation. The targeting plots are described as Nodes, as these can be engaged or altered very easily, on a node-by-node basis. There is also visual feedback, from a red graphic in the upper part of the plugin window, which demonstrates the amount of reduction being applied. 

RESO provides a useable springboard, allowing you to listen back to the reduced Node points, making an informed decision through audition. There is control over the Q range in each Node’s case, facilitating the widening of the effected band.

Thanks to an A/B toggle, you can audition your settings easily, while the Delta function allows you to hear the exact rogue frequencies that are being reduced. However, being pure and often sinusoidal in nature, you need to be careful if activating at volume, as it’ll wipe out your ears for the rest of the day!

As a second pair of automated ears for resolving resonant frequency conflicts, RESO is a surefire hit, but always be prepared to listen beyond the plugin’s interpretation to ensure best results. 

MusicRadar verdict: RESO adopts a very musical stance when analysing incoming audio, delivering accurate and very usable results in all stylistic scenarios.

Mastering the Mix RESO: The web says

"If troubled audio is frequently crossing your desk (or desktop), then you’ll be glad that you’ve got Reso around as a powerful and tidy way to whack down some nosy moles."
MIX

Mastering the Mix RESO: Hands-on demos

Mastering The Mix

White Sea Studio

Raytown Productions

Plugin Boutique

Mastering the Mix RESO: Specifications

• macOS X 10.15 or higher. 64-bit AU, VST 2/3 or AAX host. Apple Silicon Native.
• Windows 10 or higher. 64-bit VST 2/3 or 64-bit AAX host.
• CONTACT: Mastering the Mix

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb: What is it?

Minimal Audio has developed quite a nice niche with its effect plugins, aiming for a space where creative applications meet with ease-of-use and accessibility. The likes of the company’s flagship Rift distortion, Fuse multiband compressor and Cluster Delay all specialise in modern, powerful effect processes, but delivered in ways that make them usable even if you don’t want to interrogate the intricacies of what’s actually going on.

Minimal’s latest, Swarm Reverb, also fits into this category. Described as a ‘creative dual-stage reverborator’, this is an algorithmic reverb plugin that’s particularly good at pumping, rhythmic ambiences and tempo-synced spatial effects, created by pushing its various features into unnatural territory.

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb: Performance and verdict

The plugin UI features four main sections. The most important of these is the main reverb control, which has five dials for tailoring the early and late reflections (ie the dual stages of the reverb). The first control here is an Attack dial, which alters the impact of the early reflections, and can sound delay-like or reversed at extreme settings. This is joined by a Size control, altering the early reflections, and Decay, controlling the length of the late reflections. A Balance control is used to blend these elements, while the final dial applies damping to the high frequencies of the late reflections.

This section also has numerical controls to set the width of the overall reverb, as well as a diffusion amount that alters the spaciousness of the overall effect. This latter element can be tailored further in the Diffusion Filter module, which can apply a variable low-pass filter to the feedback loop used for diffusion.

Above this sits an input module containing high- and low-pass filters along with controls for the pre-delay. Pre-delay can be set up to 500ms in length, can be synced to project tempo, and includes a feedback control, all of which can be combined to create some interesting over-the-top rhythmic effects.

The final element is a modulation section with two elements. The first of these is a simple unsynced LFO used to modulate the reverb, which is capable of some nice chorus and detune effects, depending on the depth. The second modulation element is a ducking tool, used to duck the wet effect out of the way of the dry signal, accompanied by a timing control that adjusts the speed of the effect.

There are certainly deeper reverb plugins out there when it comes to all-round versatility, but Swarm Reverb sounds great, is well-priced and is thoroughly approachable. Pushed to its extremes, it can do some nicely weird things, too – which is well-demonstrated by the stock of varied presets.

MusicRadar verdict: There are more capable all-round reverbs out there, but Swarm is nicely immediate and fun when pushed to its extremes.

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb: The web says

"Minimal Audio’s Swarm Reverb is an intuitive, great-sounding and ultimately fun-to-use reverberation plugin."
MusicTech

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb: Hands-on demos

Minimal Audio

JA MUSIC TV

saucy moon

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb: Specifications

• KEY FEATURES: Dual-stage reverb plugin. 
• Formats: Mac/PC, AU, VST, VST3, and AAX. Included in MA’s Current All Access subscription.
• CONTACT: Minimal Audio

L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio: What is it?

L-Acoustics’ spatialisation tech has been around for a little while and started with a strong forward foot, but when the likes of Brian Eno and Bon Iver start adopting a technology it makes sense to investigate what the draw is for them.

In essence this tool, under the name L-ISA, is a piece of software that allows the user to place audio elements in space, creating audio experiences for the end user that completely outperform the traditional pair of speakers. L-ISA sits as its own software but can communicate with most DAWs, so no matter where you feel most comfortable you can continue creating the way you have been. 

On top of that there is no necessity for extra outboard gear or sound cards, as L-ISA has an audio bridge that deals with the routing of audio through your system. It’s a doddle to set up too, taking just a few clicks to sync your Logic/Ableton/Pro Tools channels with L-ISA. Once that’s done you can easily swap between L-ISA and your DAW to work on your project.

L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio: Performance and verdict

So, what does L-ISA actually do? Well, it allows you to mix your project in a truly immersive way, sending channels to anywhere in space with complete freedom. Consider each element of your project to sit in a room, where you can pick each at will, moving it around until it sits exactly where you want it, as close or as far, in any direction, up and down. It’s basically surround sound on steroids, and is so intuitive that to use it really is like child’s play. 

The GUI has a few modes but the magic happens in the 3D view, where the listener is represented in the centre of the space, with the audio surrounding them. Navigating this space is easy, as is moving the audio around. What’s really neat is that you can playback these immersive experiences and mixes from your computer, even with headphones. If you have head-tracking cans, you can sit and move your head to find where in the space you are.

L-ISA must be working some kind of magic behind the scenes as the process of mixing like this is so simplistic. It works equally well for studio recordings as it does for stage shows, or even audio installation pieces, such as Brian Eno’s Garden at the Serpentine Pavilion.

What was already a really engaging process takes things even further by allowing you to create animations for each and every audio object, so your projects can evolve over time. This opens up some possibilities that you may not have considered before. What’s really cool is that the L-ISA DAW plugin (which comes as a VST, AAX, AU and AAXDSP) means you can bring these audio object movements into Logic, for example, and have them recorded and played back, just like other automation tracks.

L-Acoustics produces some exceptional audio tools, both hardware and software but we have to say, working with this latest version of L-ISA is a real joy. Being inspired by a tool is a rare pleasure. It’s lovely to have a tool work with you, rather than it being a battle, so kudos to L-Acoustics for delivering such fantastic results with such a minimal learning curve.

MusicRadar verdict: It’s mind-blowing to experience the placement of audio elements quite so clearly. L-ISA is a surefire hit for spatial audio.

L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio: The web says

"The creative possibilities here are deep, hugely worth exploring and offer a glimpse into our future listening habits. L-ISA is stunning, educational and well worth the free demo period to explore."
MusicTech

L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio: Hands-on demos

L-Acoustics

L-Acoustics L-ISA Studio: Specifications

• KEY FEATURES: Hyperreal sound, Binaural, 5.1, Atmos support and more. Audio bridge removing need for external sound card. Object based audio. 
• PRICING: Enterprise monthly – €79, Enterprise annual – €790; Individual monthly – €29, Individual annual – €290; Free forever – limited feature set.
• CONTACT: L-Acoustics

BLEASS Fusion: What is it?

The primary driver behind the decades-long effort to develop digital audio technology was the promise of pristine, super-accurate audio recordings, free from the hiss, noise and distortion caused by even the most highly spec’d analogue equipment. It is therefore ironic that, upon reaching those longed-for sunlit uplands of sonic perfection, we took one look around and said, “Oh, isn’t it bland! Can we have our distortion back please?”

There are of course many different varieties of distortion – tape saturation, valve overdrive, transistor overdrive, bit crushing – each with its own distinctive personality, colour and tone. Covering all possible distortion bases in a single plugin is therefore tricky, but perhaps not for Fusion, the innovative new plugin from BLEASS.

BLEASS Fusion: Performance and verdict

Most of us are familiar with the concept of wavetables, which are essentially palettes of digital waveforms that a synth oscillator can reproduce and morph between. 

You will likely have come across waveshaping as well, a technique that applies a mathematical function (in other words a waveform) to a signal in order to distort it, with the details of the function (ie, the shape of the waveform) determining the colour and strength of the distortion effect. 

With Fusion, BLEASS has combined the two technologies to create a waveshaper distortion generator that derives its shaping function from wavetables. This gives a plugin with a ludicrously versatile and varied repertoire of distortion flavours, as well as the ability to morph seamlessly between different distortion tones. 

It isn’t only the wavetable waveforms themselves that enable such versatility: further waveform variation can be achieved through wavetable folding, a process that compresses or stretches a waveform along its time axis, either asymmetrically from one end of the waveform to the other, or symmetrically around the waveform’s centre. Folding has a major impact on the resulting distortion’s tone and intensity and, when combined with the ability to morph through the wavetable’s waveforms, allows for a staggering amount of colour and tonal variation even from just a single wavetable. And the plugin comes with 67 of the things as well as the ability to import custom wavetables!

Control over the tone of Fusion’s distortion comes courtesy of a pair of filters. The first of these offers a choice of high-pass, bell and notch filtering, the second low-pass, bell and notch, and each can be placed either before or after the waveshaper processor itself. When in the pre position, you can influence the tonal response of the waveshaper by boosting or cutting particular frequencies that will then be more or less distorted overall. Post-waveshaper filtering, in contrast, is ideal for modifying the overall tone of the distortion – cutting away fizz and/or boom, for example. 

Many modulators

BLEASS Fusion comes loaded with a number of different modulators, each able to drive your choice of up to two plugin parameters. Ideally we would have liked a bit more flexibility in the number of modulation destinations.

The first modulators are a pair of LFOs. The normal selection of LFO waveforms are here – sine, triangle, saw, etc – but there’s a couple of nice additional features too: Time Shape and Smoothing. The former applies a ramping curve to the rate at which the LFO moves through its waveform; the latter limits the maximum rate at which the LFO’s output value can change. An envelope follower provides an ideal tool for making Fusion react dynamically to changes in the incoming signal level.

Finally, there’s a (up to) 16-step sequencer with randomisation and output smoothing, and this is perfect for creating rhythmic distortion effects. The only downside is that the sequencer is locked to the host DAW’s tempo and transport and so only runs when the DAW is running. This makes sense, but we would have liked to see some sort of freewheeling mode too.

Familiar style

Also worthy of mention is Fusion’s GUI, which sticks with BLEASS’ trademark design in order to give intuitive operation whilst maximising visual feedback. The styling will be familiar to any who use other BLEASS plugins, and even some of the discreet processing stages will be familiar: the wavetable engine is a direct lift from the Megalit synth; we’ve seen the filter design, with its large interactive cutoff graph, many times before too. All of which means Fusion is super easy to work with, whether on desktop or tablet, and whether using mouse pointer or finger. 

Fusion is extremely affordable, and would be worth its price even if it were only half as good (and we think you’ll find it to be twice as good as you expect it to be!). The sound is impressive, the depth of versatility remarkable and, thanks to custom wavetable support, the possibilities are literally limitless.

MusicRadar verdict: A hugely pliable distortion processor with the potential to create any and every conceivable character of distortion.

BLEASS Fusion: The web says

"The most remarkable thing about BLEASS Fusion is that it can run this entire distortion gamut, from smooth valve saturation to hard-edged transistor trashiness, from subtle colouration to full-on frequency frying, and from the lightest sprinkle of fizz to the most depraved depths of sonic destruction."
MusicTech

BLEASS Fusion: Hands-on demos

BLEASS

DATABROTH

Gavinski's Tutorials

The Sound Test Room

BLEASS Fusion: Specifications

• macOS 10.9 and later (64-bit only) including macOS 11 Big Sur and M1 processors. VST3 (64-bit). Audio Unit.
• Windows 8 and later. VST3 (64-bit).
• CONTACT: BLEASS

LANDR Mastering Plugin: What is it?

AI is sticking its nose further and further into the world of music production, the latest trend being AI-driven mastering tools that seek to replace the highly specialised skills of mastering engineers. 

The majority of these tools are offered as online-only subscription or pay-as-you-go services, but LANDR has wrapped its own online mastering AI into a one-time-purchase plugin that runs in your DAW. 

LANDR Mastering Plugin: Performance and verdict

The thing that sets LANDR Mastering Plugin apart from the various online services we’ve tried (including LANDR’s own service) is that the plugin’s AI-generated results are just a baseline the user can then hone to their own specific taste. 

The first thing the plugin has to do is listen to and analyse the mix you wish to master. As well as measuring obvious elements such as dynamics and frequency balance, the plugin’s AI also assesses the genre of music, a very important consideration when mastering. After all, you wouldn’t master a jazz quartet piece in the same way as a speed metal track!

Analysis is usually completed within around 45 seconds, leaving you with three different mastering ‘styles’ that you can switch between. The names for these are reasonably self-explanatory: Warm softens high frequencies for what is described by LANDR (but not by us) as a ‘vintage’ sound, Open is punchy and forceful (wouldn’t ‘Punch’ have been a better name?), and Balanced sits in between the two.

The differences between these styles can be significant, although this does depend upon the source material. Annoyingly, switching between styles during playback causes a few moments of nasty garbling that messes with your ability to hear clearly the differences between the styles. A short mute whilst switching would be far less distracting.

Alongside its three mastering styles, the plugin offers a good selection of familiar mastering controls. This starts with a three band Equalizer section that gives broad-brushed control over the low, middle and high frequency ranges. Upper-mid frequencies can be further modified with a separate Presence control, whilst a single De-Esser is provided to deal with any nasty sibilances. The 3kHz to 12kHz range of the de-esser is typical, but mastering engineers will at times use a de-esser as a means of taming resonances at lower and higher frequencies than this, something that isn’t possible with LANDR Mastering Plugin. 

The stereo field can be widened or narrowed, and the dynamic character of the mastering can be tuned using Compression, Character and Saturation controls. It’s possible to hear, when adjusting these controls, that there’s more going on than just an adjustment to a compression threshold or ratio, with the impact being different across the frequency spectrum – this demonstrates a well-detailed underlying compression model. 

Missing tools

All of these controls are very welcome, and allow a lot of human input into the AI-generated sound, but there are some surprising omissions from the tools on offer…

Mastering engineers often have to deal with overdone very low and very high ends in a mix – ie, those frequency ranges that are only revealed accurately by expensive monitoring systems. The tools for dealing with this are low- and high-cut filters, but LANDR Mastering Plugin does not expose such filters, and nor does it appear to be applying such filtering under the hood.

Of equal importance is control over true peak signal levels. The plugin keeps these below 0dB-FS, of course, but there’s no way to set a target peak level. In contrast, many mastering engineers leave around 1dB of peak headroom because doing otherwise can cause problems on lower-quality playback systems, especially when the overall loudness is high.

This brings us to the plugin’s Loudness control, a commendable inclusion that is missing, unforgivably, from most online services. The plugin often needs it too, with the AI-generated baseline settings tending towards very high loudnesses, although this is highly dependant on the source material.

Heavy duty (cycle)

There’s no doubt that LANDR’s AI can set a very good starting point to work from – the frequency balancing is particularly impressive – but this comes at the cost of a CPU overhead. In our testing this was around two to three times more than demanded by even our most elaborate chains of mastering-grade plugins. 

Another factor – not a problem but worth considering – is that by the time you have analysed a mix and honed the AI’s results, you could also have configured an all-in-one mastering processor such as bx_masterdesk Pro, which allows a lot more human creativity to seep into proceedings too.

Can LANDR Mastering Plugin match the efforts of an experienced mastering engineer with a well-stocked processor arsenal? It’s a very subjective judgement containing many ifs, buts and maybes, but on balance we think not. That said, not everyone can afford to hire an experienced mastering engineer, and LANDR Mastering Plugin offers a simple and affordable solution to that problem.

MusicRadar verdict: Provides an easy, reliable and affordable means of creating pro-sounding masters but omits some important tools.

LANDR Mastering Plugin: The web says

"If you’re producing a lot of music and don’t have the budget for hiring a mastering engineer on every project, an investment in the LANDR Mastering plugin will pay for itself quickly."
MIX

LANDR Mastering Plugin: Hands-on demos

LANDR

Audio Tech TV

Creative Sauce

Make Pop Music

LANDR Mastering Plugin: Specifications

• macOS X 10.14 or higher. Apple Silicon Native or Intel. (VST3, AU, AAX).
• Windows 10 (64 bit) or higher. (VST3, AAX).
• CONTACT: LANDR

D16 Drumazon 2: What is it?

Some software updates are a surprisingly long time coming – we’re thinking NI’s Massive, for example. But D16’s latest Drumazon update is probably a record breaker in terms of the time it’s taken to leap to version 2 – a full 16 years! And it’s only another bloody 909 drum machine, right? So how can it possibly be worth that length of waiting time? 

Well, Drumazon 2 goes back to basics, updates the concept and comes up with a software instrument that doesn’t just leave the original hardware in its wake, but is totally the 909 for the 2020s and could well be the drum machine of this decade. 

D16 Drumazon 2: Performance and verdict

Yes it’s packed with huge amounts of sounds, patterns and drum kits, but it’s what you can do with them, and how simple it is to make a pattern totally unique to you, that are what sets Drumazon 2 apart and above other drum plugins. If you were to rate a product based on how quickly you are inspired by it, then Drumazon 2 scored a 10 within about 10 seconds of booting it up. But let’s not get too carried away, too quickly. Deep breath.   

Like the original – although it was such a long time ago, we had a hard time tracking down the review – you get both Sound Control and Sequencer sections of the UI, but updates within these are so many and varied and such a long time after the original, we might as well focus on 2 as a new instrument and run through its features, of which there are many. 

The Sound Control section firstly offers 11 drum sounds and main parameters on each one to tweak, including level, tuning and decay. 

Where it gets hugely interesting and completely flexible is in the Strips section. You start by selecting your drum sound from the 11 on offer, and can then tweak its decay, tuning, filter and compressor setting. Then (and this is the best bit) you get to direct any or all of these drum sounds into one or both of Drumazon 2’s effects engines. Each of these has five slots running in series from left to right but, importantly, these can be reordered, with any slot dragged into a new order, or even sent to the other engine. You can even drop a drum sound into a different slot – 3, for example – to bypass previous ones. And you have this flexibility on each drum sound. 

By this point we had already customised not only some of the amazing patterns on offer but customised the sounds with effects too. D16 might have done the hard work programming them, but a few tweaks in and these patterns felt totally unique to us, with pretty minimal effort. 

But that’s not everything. Once you are happy with your pattern, you can pass it through a master effect section (via Master) and set up different keys to trigger the sounds. There are random features and you can set velocities and different articulations. All of which ties up with the very able and intuitive sequencer which is just like any other click and play sequencer.

We’ll detail the sounds more next, but by now you should understand that this is no standard 909 emulation, more the peak of what the 909 has become in 2023.  

‘Just’ a 909?

So it’s a 909 for the 2020s, right? But is that enough for you? Certainly if you are a fan of the original 909 – the one used in every dance genre related to house and techno – then everything you need and a lot more is right here. The words ‘a lot more’ are key here though, because the level of effects at your disposal, tied to the other ways you can tweak sounds, take this way beyond the 909. 

You get hundreds of hits over the 11 909 kit sounds but the amount you can stretch them takes the overall sound out of the typical 909 territory and beyond. The two effects engines and their five components each offer the greatest number of possibilities, but just playing with the main Filter under this tab will have you creating sounds for more experimental genres. 

Add a bit of automation to your tweaking and you can go pretty much anywhere you please. Don’t expect acoustic drums, of course, but this is as broad an electronic palette as you can get from pretty much anywhere. 

Drumfounded?

You can probably tell already that we like Drumazon 2 a lot. Just the ability to focus on different drum sounds and stretch them massively in any direction will change the way you program your beats. The speed at which you can do it is almost terrifying and the ease at which you will create your own loops might well mean you turn to your sample libraries much less for those easy breaks and loops. 

Drumazon 2 is inspiring, simple, powerful and flexible. We can’t really ask for more in a drum machine. It’s back to basics in many ways, focussed purely on creating great beats and fast, but it does it so brilliantly that it feels like the 909 reborn.

MusicRadar verdict: Drumazon 2 has kicked out every other drum machine and 909 emulator we use, and cut down our reliance on sampled loops and breaks. It’s brilliant.

D16 Drumazon 2: The web says

"Drumazon 2 is a no-brainer if you have even a little thirst for some 909."
CDM

D16 Drumazon 2: Hands-on demos

MusicRadar Tech

d16group

MusicMarketingTV

adrenakrohm

D16 Drumazon 2: Specifications

• Mac OS X 10.13 to macOS 14. Intel x86 / Apple Silicon. VST2 / VST3 / AU / AAX compatible host application (64-bit only).
• Windows 7 or newer. Intel x86 / AMD x86. VST2 / VST3 / AAX compatible host application (32-bit or 64-bit).
• CONTACT: D16 Drumazon 2

Who is Soundtoys?

RECORDING WEEK 2023: Soundtoys was founded in 1996 by the the same engineering team behind the legendary Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer and DSP4000 line of signal processors. They used their extensive engineering knowledge to create Soundtoys, a music production plugin company dedicated to bringing colour, character, and creativity to the world of digital audio. 

Designing audio processing plugin classics such as EchoBoy, Decapitator, FilterFreak, PhaseMistress, and Devil-Loc Deluxe, Soundtoys is at the forefront of creative professional audio effects, with a long list of professional mixers, sound designers, producers, and artists using and relying on its products daily. 

High profile engineers and producers who love Soundtoys plugins include Dave Tozer (Kanye West, John Legend, Justin Timberlake), Tom Elmhirst (Adele, The Black Keys, Cee Lo Green, Florence & The Machine), Ryan Hewitt (Red Hot Chili Peppers, We Are Scientists, Sum 41, Avett Brothers) and Dave Pensado (Rick Ross, Macy Gray, T-Pain, Michael Jackson).

About Soundtoys 5

Soundtoys 5 brings together the entire range of 22 Soundtoys audio effects into one super-powered collection. 

You can create luscious and expansive reverberation with the latest addition, SuperPlate – see more on this below. Or go wild and saturate, compress, or distort with Decapitator, Radiator, and Devil-Loc. Or why not get a virtual history of echo and delay hardware with EchoBoy and PrimalTap? It's also incredibly easy to transform your vocals with Little AlterBoy, or recreate classic studio pitch, chorus and widening effects with Crystallizer and MicroShift. Finally, you can take modulation to new levels with the beat-synced rhythmic effects of PanMan, Tremolator, FilterFreak, and PhaseMistress.

All of Soundtoys plugins are proven, powerful tools, trusted by professional mix engineers, musicians and sound designers everywhere. But Soundtools 5 presents them all to you in the Soundtoys Effect Rack for what is the ultimate effects collection.

About SuperPlate

SuperPlate is Sountoys' latest reverb plugin and newest addition to Soundtoys 5. SuperPlate includes vintage emulations of original hardware plate reverbs including an EMT 140, EMT 240, Audicon, EcoPlate III, and Stocktronics RX4000. 

SuperPlate was largely developed because Soundtoys owns some of the legendary reverbs and simply wanted to bring the distinctive sound of this collection into the world of modern audio. 

Now SuperPlate has joined the Soundtoys 5 family, you can combine its incredible plate reverb sound with a full suite of effects including analogue-modeled saturation and distortion, tape echo, filtering, EQ, and modulation. 

With SuperPlate in Soundtoys Effect Rack, you have even more power to create complex soundscapes, unique textures, and dynamic sonic movements.

Contact Soundtoys

Facebook: @soundtoys
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Twitter: @soundtoys

Reverb, the world's biggest online marketplace for new and used musical instruments, have revealed their best-seller lists for 2022, and - perhaps unsurprisingly - the Teenage Engineering OP-1 has snagged the top spot for the fourth year in a row.

TE's iconic hybrid synth/sampler topped the list of best-selling electronic gear released in 2022, a category that includes synths, drum machines, samplers, and Eurorack modules. Reverb note that this may be due to the fact that the average used price of an OP-1 has been decreasing since early 2021, a decrease spurred on by the announcement of the new OP-1 field earlier this year. Though the OP-1 field is absent from Reverb's top 20, they claim that it's also been selling well, observing that "despite its high price tag, the feature-rich mini workstation has outsold more limited, budget-friendly gear like Roland's AIRA compacts (the J-6, T-8, and E-4) and Behringer's "Modded Out" TD-3."

Following the OP-1 in second place is the Elektron Digitakt drum machine and sampler, followed by Ableton's Push 2 controller, Native Instruments MKIII Maschine, and the Arturia MicroFreak. Coming up in sixth place is a new entry to the list, the Roland SP-404MKII drum machine, the manufacturer's successor to the legendary SP-404. Released late last year, it's reportedly been "a consistent best-seller month after month ever since", placing in second on the list of best-selling drum machines and samplers. 

Reverb have also shared a list of the best-selling gear released in 2022, in which the OP-1 field places fourth. Taking the top spot is the Syntakt, Elektron's drum machine/synth announced in April, followed by the Polyend Play, Korg Volca FM2, and 1010 Music Nanobox Lemondrop. It's a strong year for Elektron, as they top the list of best-selling drum machines and samplers with the enduringly popular Digitakt. 

In the modular (and semi-modular) world, last year's champions - Make Noise Maths and ALM/Busy Circuits Pamela's New Workout - have landed in first and second place for the second year in a row. Make Noise have thoroughly dominated this year, with four bits of gear in the modular top ten, and the Maths module coming in at seventh place in the overall list of best-selling gear.

One final observation to note is that while the best-seller lists are dominated largely by products released over the past decade, Korg's affordable and vocoder-equipped Microkorg synth - released 20 years ago - has demonstrated some serious staying power, as the only instrument on the overall best-seller list to predate 2010. 

Find out more on Reverb's website.

Strymon's acclaimed Big Sky reverb pedal is now available as a $199 / £209.99 plugin with 12 unique algorithms, including its benchmark Shimmer. 

The BigSky's reputation is such that it's widely regarded as the world's best reverb pedal; an incredibly richly featured piece of hardware that's inspired players for years. Its launch as a plugin opens its potential to even more musicians. 

It's available to US customers through the Strymon site and Sweetwater, GB Music in Canada and Gear4Music in the UK. 

Once again we're sorry to see British customers find themselves falling foul of the current exchange rate with a £209.99 asking price compared to $199 in the US.

For the substantial asking price you'll get a direct digital port of the BigSky pedal with Room , Halls, Spring and Shimmer reverbs and the more experimental Swell, Bloom, Chorale and Cloud models.