Velvetverb

Modern algorithmic reverb

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Version 1.1.1 // 2022-05-27 // changelog
Available as Windows 10+ VST3 // macOS 10.14+ AU, VST3

Features

  • Four unique, flexible reverb modes - Velvet Room, Hall Effect, Plate Glass, and Dark Energy (described below)
  • Far-reaching control sweeps, from natural room sounds, to swirling soundscapes, to warbling resonances, to otherworldly washes
  • Larger-than-life stereo field impression, superwide responses to all input signals
  • Smooth, lively detuning and chorusing
  • Fine-grained control of reverb frequency response
  • Reverb ducking to get out of the way of the input signal
  • GPU-accelerated stereo field visualizer
  • Built-in presets to get you started

Reverb Modes

Velvet Room

  • The sound Velvetverb was created to make
  • Maximally decorrelated signals in each ear
  • Strong detuning modulation to break up resonances
  • Flexible, can sound great on just about any signal
  • Great for widening and livening up narrow, static signals like synths and electric guitars

Hall Effect

  • Slower echo density buildup, like a concert hall
  • Weaker detuning modulation, more like the real world
  • Twice as many delay elements as Velvet Room
  • Great for natural, organic sounds like pianos, stringed instruments, strong vocals

Plate Glass

  • Near-instantaneous echo density buildup - short main delays and immediate early reflections
  • Hard high-frequency rolloff
  • Diffuse allpass-based early reflections
  • Vintage-inspired sounds, but with the width and lively chorusing of Velvet Room
  • Great on drums, distorted guitars, whole mixes

Dark Energy

  • Unusual, experimental reverb, not based on our reality
  • Absorbs the input signal and releases it back slowly, for an evolving tail
  • "Size" parameter controls echo fade-in time
  • Interacts heavily with the shelf controls - try extreme settings for very unnatural echoes

Velvetverb Controls

Reverb Controls

Reverb section

  • Time - control the length of the main reverb tail. More specifically, this is RT60, or the time for the reverb to decay to 60dB below where it started.
  • Size - independent of the decay time, control the size of the simulated "room." At 100%, each reverb mode will simulate the size of room it was designed for. Lower values will result in faster echo buildup, and higher values will yield a sparser early signal. Very low values will start to sound metallic, with easily audible resonances.
    • In the Velvet Room and Plate Glass modes, turning the Size knob will smoothly pitch-shift any signals already in the reverberator. We consider this to be more desirable than the impulse-like artifacts introduced by turning the same knob in other reverb effects.
    • The control works the same in Hall Effect mode, but will not turn as smoothly. This is a result of the tradeoff between number of delay lines, smoothness, and CPU usage.
    • In Dark Energy mode, this knob has a different function - it controls the fade-in of the reverb tail.
  • Mod - control the depth of pitch modulation in the reverb tail. This simulates real-world small Doppler shifts caused by wall absorption, thermal dispersion, and moving air, and is important for achieving a natural reverb sound. At 0% it is completely off, and will sound like an ice planet. At 100%, chorusing will be clearly audible, like a digital dreamscape. Somewhere in between will sound natural - that specific setting will depend on the input signal. For example, drums can handle a large amount of reverb modulation, but a piano will sound strange with too much detuning.

Output section

Output Controls
  • Width - fade out the side channel, to tame the reverb signal in a crowded mix.
  • Early - amount of early reflection energy in the output signal. Its decay rate is controlled by the "size" parameter, to ensure a smooth fade into the main reverberator. The density of the early energy is affected by the Reverb Mode, again to smoothly transition into the different late reverberation tails.
  • Dry/wet - smoothly fade from only the input signal to only the reverberation tail.

Shape section

Shape Controls
  • Predelay - time before the first reflections arrive from the reverb, useful for changing the perceived size of the space.
  • Duck - controls the amount of sidechain compression on the reverb signal. Turning this knob up will both increase the compression ratio and decrease the threshold, for ease of use.
  • Duck Time - release time of the ducking compressor. Higher settings may be necessary for stacatto sounds that end abruptly.
EQ Controls

EQ and feedback section

  • Combined graphic equalizer that controls both the relative decay times of different frequencies, and the overall output response of the reverb.
  • Blue EQ - low and high shelf controls that shape the evolution of the reverb's frequency response over time. Values are percentages relative to the Time control.
  • Gray EQ - controls the overall output frequency response of the reverb. Includes variable-Q low shelf, midrange peak section, and high shelf. The high shelf also controls the cutoff frequency of a gentle 6dB/octave lowpass filter.

For information about installing Velvetverb, and what platforms it supports, please see the FAQ.


Velvetverb includes open-source software written by third parties. For more information, see the acknowledgements.



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