smart:reverb is a hybrid plugin that combines the flexibility of a fully parametric reverb with the transparency and sonic integrity of convolution reverbs. Sonible’s A.I. automatic reverb creation quickly analyses the source material and creating a reverb from scratch. The user interface is lean and intuitive with as many visual aids as possible because sometimes making adjustments via parameter values is neither insightful nor intuitive.
Those familiar with Sonbile's smart:comp and smart:EQ 2 plug-ins will know the plug-in is equipped with a learning button, that lets you choose a profile that best fits your audio material, and if one of those isn’t relevant, then 'Universal' will work. Once you then start audio playback and click on the record button, smart:reverb creates a customised reverb within a few seconds, with the particle display showing the reverb’s anatomy.
Reverb Matrix
smart:reverb creates different styles of the reverb while it's analysing the input source material. Guided by descriptive properties its easy to find the style that suits without having to search through hundreds of presets. By dragging the thumb towards the desired effect character – similar to an XY pad - the reverb’s anatomy will modify as you move through the Reverb Matrix.
Intimate: An intimate reverb gives your sound a warm and personal touch. This is great if you are working with soft vocals or solo instruments, since it makes your signal sound like it’s been recorded in a relatively small, intimate location.
Rich: A rich reverb creates a full and multi-layered sound. Go for rich when you want to fully immerse your signal in a dense and vibrant reverb when, for example, working with synth pads or orchestral sounds.
Natural: A natural reverb sounds as if the reverberated signal was recorded in a real environment and the reverb effect is very cohesive and unobtrusive. Such a reverb will give your signal finishing touches without changing its character too much. It works very well on acoustic instruments or clean vocals.
Artificial: An artificial reverb does not try to simulate an actual room but rather plays with different reverb characteristics. Use an artificial sounding reverb if you want to intentionally change the character of a signal and make the reverb audible as a distinct creative effect.
Reverb Character
You can easily change the parameters for width, colour and clarity. High values for width will expand the perceived width of the reverb effect within the stereo field. Lower values for colour create a darker sound, whereas higher values lead to a brighter sound. Increase the clarity values when you want your reverb effect to be more transparent.
Reverb Time and Pre-Delay
smart:reverb’s processing does not automatically set the reverb time or pre-delay after the learning process since both do not directly influence the deep-structure of the reverb effect.
To give you maximum freedom in creatively shaping the reverb you can adjust the reverb time an pre-delay according to your acoustic vision.
Particle Display
This interactive representation of the reverb’s anatomy reflects all changes made to the reverb structure in realtime. You can adjust the behaviour of the reverb’s decay at different frequencies with the Spectral Shaper Grid - by dragging the lines or thumbs to change the decay and by clicking on the yellow line or Spread tab, to limit the Spread to a certain frequency range in the Particle Display.
Temporal Shaper
The Temporal Shaper allows you to modify the decay, spread and density behaviour over time. Each modification made here is also reflected in the Particle Display. You can activate any of the three layers by clicking on its respective temporal shaper line or on the tabs and modify any line by dragging either the thumbs or the shaper lines between them.
Decay: If you want a natural sounding reverb, make sure that the decay continuously decreases over time. If you generate a decay shape with a steep drop in the beginning and a boost later in the reverb tail, you will discover very interesting delay-like effects. And you can generate anything in between – so be creative!
Spread: A large spread ensures the reverb evolves nicely. Particularly when using long reverb times (e.g. >4 sec) it’s very interesting to play with increasing and decreasing the spread of the reverb. Please note that the spread is related to the global width parameter: If the global width is set to 0, the spread will have no effect on the reverb.
Density: Density allows you to make your reverb sound ‘sparse.’ If you want a natural sounding reverb, the density should quickly and continuously increase over time. If you use low values for density, the reverb will never become fully diffuse and you will always hear discrete reflections that sound like little “ripples” in the reverb tail.
Who Is smart:reverb For?
smart:reverb is perfect for beginners to help support them in achieving exactly the sound they are looking for, instead of relying on presets, and the Particle Display and Temporal Shaper provide the perfect visual aids.
But, it isn’t just for the newbie. For professionals, smart:reverb offers various options to modify the deep-structure of the reverb effect. In addition to smart:reverb’s A.I. features that significantly speed-up workflow, the time and frequency dependent decay controls as well as the option to adjust the temporal behaviour of spread and density are tools designed for achieving very precise results.
smart:reverb ensures that the reverb effect fits the audio track users are working on, and due to its A.I. processing that adjusts itself to the spectral and temporal characteristics of the source signal, typical problems such as disturbing resonances and muddy reverb tails are avoided from the very beginning.
Key Features
Automatic creation of custom-tailored reverb
Reverb matrix with a wide spectrum of different styles
Interactive representation of the reverb’s anatomy
Time- and frequency-dependent adjustment options for maximum decay control
Time-dependent spread and density control for designing the right sound
Creative features like Infinite and Freeze for layering sounds
Signal-adaptive controls for reverb width, colour and clarity
EQ pre-filter to quickly shape the signal
Dry/wet control, two layering effects, freeze and infinite, and a Pre-filter EQ.
Key Benefits
Reverb with no disturbing resonances or muddy tails in just a few seconds
No presets – intuitively navigable styles of the reverb at your fingertips
Particle display for more comprehensible modifications
Efficient and CPU-friendly graphic processing
Total control: All essential parameters and scopes are adjustable
Specifications
MacAU, VST2, VST3, AAX
WindowsVST2, VST3, AAX
Supported Sample Rates 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz
System Requirements
PC Windows 7+ MacOSX 10.7+
RAM at least 4 GB (recommended)
CPU at least intel DualCore i5 (recommended)
GPU OpenGL Support
Sonible smart:reverb costs €89,00 and currently has a 30-Day Free Trial.