Arturia’s catalogue of effects has expanded rapidly in recent years and, for our money, the latest generation of its FX Collection bundle offers one of the most well-rounded software packages on the market right now.
While much of the FX Collection is built around software emulations of classic hardware, the company’s latest plugin is something more original.
Rev Ocean is a reverb that, as its name suggests, takes inspiration from the sea, supposedly resulting in a plugin that can turn “a simple reverb tail into a living sonic current” and “transform any sound into a fluid, ever-shifting sonic space.”
That description might sound a little New Age and vague – and the plugin’s UI design looks like it could be lifted from a flyer for your local aromatherapy clinic – but under-the-hood Rev Ocean features an interesting combination of reverb, pitch and modulation tools.
The plugin is built around a feedback delay network design with multiple stages of diffusion. It features three modes, labelled Abyss, Tide and Foam, which each offer a different combination of diffusion behaviour and modulation.
Abyss adds multiple reverse layers in parallel, with subtle pitch modulation used to spread these reverb tails resulting in, according to Arturia, “a harmonically rich evolving tail.”
Tide, meanwhile, introduces independent filtering of the left and right channels of the reverb output, to create ‘wave-like’ stereo swells.
Finally, Foam has a long, slow attack and cloud-like build up designed to destroy transients and create dense, washed-out effects that are said to be perfect for shoegaze-style guitars.
Beyond the modes themselves, Rev Ocean has controls for Decay, Size and Brightness. There’s also a high/low input filter, and controls for width, transient control, ducking and pre-delay.
Rev Ocean is available now priced at €49. Head to the Arturia site for more information and to grab a free demo.
