# 2CAudio Breeze/Aether (Algorithmic Reverb) for Orch. scoring ?



## muziksculp (Sep 4, 2011)

Hi,

Anyone using 2CAudio's 'Breeze' or 'Aether' algorithmic reverb on their scoring/orchestral projects ? 

How do you like it ? Would 'Breeze' be good enough, or is 'Aether' the real deal ?

You feedback would be appreciated. 

Thanks,
Muziksculp


----------



## Christian F. Perucchi (Sep 4, 2011)

bump 8)


----------



## Justus (Sep 4, 2011)

I am using Breeze and it works very well for all kinds of projects.
Don't know how it compares with Aether.


----------



## Frederick Russ (Sep 4, 2011)

2cAudio Aether 1.5 - with Den's custom presets - are simply incredible for orchestral, hybrid and just about anything in between. I have those presets if you're interested in trying them out with the trial demo of Aether 1.5.


----------



## Ryan Scully (Sep 4, 2011)

I have been using Breeze for a few months now and it is extremely versatile.


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 4, 2011)

There's a LONG thread over at Gearslutz about these two, where you'll find Den's excellent presets and a few by yours truly, specifically designed for scoring. I also posted some audio comparisons between Breeze and a certain $1500 reverb plugin suite.

Personally, Breeze is one of my favorite reverbs at any price. Aether's great too but delves a bit more into sound design territory; if you just want a killer reverb that's not too complicated, it's hard to go wrong...

Just my $.02, and I get nothing from 2C Audio for saying so 

p.s. I'm happy to share my scoring presets with anyone here, and as Frederick has said you can try them in the demo version.


----------



## muziksculp (Sep 4, 2011)

Thanks for the positive feedback.

2CAudio has a special (Perfect Strom) pricing for the pair (Aether & Breeze) . 

This might be a good way to have both for ($349.95). 

imho, this is a pretty reasonable price, given the quality, and flexibility they offer. I think I will get the 'Perfect Storm' bundle. Especially when compared to other high-quality algorithmic Reverb plug-ins. i.e. lexicon,...etc. 

(Aether) looks like a great tool for creative sound-design applications, it will come in handy, even though it is a deeper and more complex plug-in to use compared to Breeze. 

http://galbanum.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=83&osCsid=d2a46e77cf4e852b9e7ad1f21349f692


----------



## Dan Mott (Sep 4, 2011)

I prefer Lexicon


----------



## Frederick Russ (Sep 5, 2011)

whinecellar @ Sun Sep 04 said:


> There's a LONG thread over at Gearslutz about these two, where you'll find Den's excellent presets and a few by yours truly, specifically designed for scoring. I also posted some audio comparisons between Breeze and a certain $1500 reverb plugin suite.
> 
> Personally, Breeze is one of my favorite reverbs at any price. Aether's great too but delves a bit more into sound design territory; if you just want a killer reverb that's not too complicated, it's hard to go wrong...
> 
> ...



Hi Jim, for a few rather scary Lexicon PCM native emulations, I have not found anything close to Breeze using some of yours and Den's custom presets (and this coming from one who owns Lexicon PCM Native) - same lush factor. The fact that it is true stereo also helps it dimensionally with a rather pronounced spatial 3D depth to it.


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 5, 2011)

Indeed Frederick... they are both eerily capable of nailing the Lex flavor IMO. However, they are incredibly versatile and can do lots of other stuff as well. For someone who can't afford the Lex price tag (or even someone who can and just wants some other flavors), they are really worth checking out. And I say this as an admitted Lexicon snob myself


----------



## windshore (Sep 5, 2011)

+1
as another happy user of Aether & Breeze.

I've been surprised that I now use Breeze a lot more than Aether. Breeze is quick, simple, sounds great, low overhead. I'm glad to have Aether because when you really want to tweak or use special EFX, it's a much bigger plugin than you would expect. ...and sounds great. 

One or both are very solid investments. They sound great and cover just about every style of production.


----------



## Gabriel Oliveira (Sep 5, 2011)

Frederick Russ @ Sun Sep 04 said:


> 2cAudio Aether 1.5 - with Den's custom presets - are simply incredible for orchestral, hybrid and just about anything in between. I have those presets if you're interested in trying them out with the trial demo of Aether 1.5.



I'm interested, Fred


----------



## Frederick Russ (Sep 5, 2011)

Gabriel Oliveira @ Mon Sep 05 said:


> Frederick Russ @ Sun Sep 04 said:
> 
> 
> > 2cAudio Aether 1.5 - with Den's custom presets - are simply incredible for orchestral, hybrid and just about anything in between. I have those presets if you're interested in trying them out with the trial demo of Aether 1.5.
> ...



Here you go. (For Aether 1.5 or its demo only)


----------



## Gabriel Oliveira (Sep 5, 2011)

tnx Fred... i'll test tomorrow


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 5, 2011)

Here are the main ones I created for scoring; "Brass ER" is an early reflection I use for brass and the others should be self-explanatory.

Enjoy...

EDIT: put these here: HD > Library > App Support > 2C-Audio > Breeze > Presets > user


----------



## Frederick Russ (Sep 5, 2011)

whinecellar @ Mon Sep 05 said:


> Here are the main ones I created for scoring; "Brass ER" is an early reflection I use for brass and the others should be self-explanatory.



Still one of the best for Breeze Jim.


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 5, 2011)

Thank Frederick. I've been playing with the two main horizontal sliders lately (cross something & width? - not in front of it right now). Those can really make a big difference in imaging...


----------



## rayinstirling (Sep 6, 2011)

Thanks guys

I'll have a look at these presets later today. I've tended to do very little tweaking in both Aether and Breeze. 

Cheers

Ray


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Sep 6, 2011)

Aether and Breeze are amazing!

I think its best to get both of them and I am sure you wont be looking for another VST reverb for quite sometime!

I do think that CPU's are not always allowed to render reverbs and other plug ins corretly because they have to deal with so many other processes. 

For example in Cubase, an offline bounce sounds many times superior to real-time play back even when my ASIO meter is at 50%. 

I am now very seriously considering having a machine just to run reverbs and Mastering plug ins. 

Or I am planning to slowly invest in the classic Hardware Reverbs. They are very expensive so its not going to be easy. Since, each unit only gives one instance.

This is probably the primary reason why hardware Reverbs are still better. They have dedicated processors only for doing the Reverb calculations. 

A computer has to deal with a lot of other things going on at the same time. 

no matter how good a Reverb plug in is - if you dont give it enough juice, it wont be able to render good results. 

I have started feeling this recently. For example, I have noticed that a lot of times, my sound changes after an offline bounce. Simply because the computer has had time to do all the calculations. I can hear more of the room and the reflections - sometimes too much because I keep adding more reverb in real-time to compensate for the flaky sound at times. 

This is not the ideal way to work and so I am in search for serious solutions to my needs.


But if you are not running too many CPU intensive processes like me, then you should buy Aether in a Breeze! Bad one. But you get the point.



Best,

Tanuj.


----------



## Ztarr (Sep 6, 2011)

Nice info here. How is breeze as a "Send" reverb?


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 6, 2011)

I've used it on individual tracks, stems/buses as well as my main mix, depending on the project. Both Aether & Breeze are incredibly versatile. Seriously, try the free demos and see for yourself


----------



## jsaras (Sep 6, 2011)

I have Breeze, and it's a good reverb, but Valhalla Room has completely replaced it in all of my work. It's equally at home doing natural sounding spaces as well as vintage/surreal sounds. VRoom is all the reverb I'll ever need.


----------



## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2011)

jsaras @ Tue Sep 06 said:


> I have Breeze, and it's a good reverb, but Valhalla Room has completely replaced it in all of my work. It's equally at home doing natural sounding spaces as well as vintage/surreal sounds. VRoom is all the reverb I'll ever need.



Thanks for the feedback, could you elaborate on why you prefer VRoom to Breeze reverb ?

Have you compared Aether to VRoom ?


----------



## jsaras (Sep 6, 2011)

I do not have Aether. I found that Breeze reverb, when soloed, to be flatter dynamically, as if it were compressed. Also, I found that VRoom just blended in beautifully with the source material whether it was acoustic instruments, samples or anything in between. Regardless if the algorithm was extremely bright or extremely dark, it still sounded terrific on nearly everything. The problem will be not which algo works, but which one you enjoy the most. Getting the demo is a no-hassle affair. Sean Costello doesn't even ask for your email address. You will have a very difficult time not spending the $50!


----------



## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2011)

Thanks jsaras,

I have not checked or even considered going with VRoom, I will take your advice, and do so. 

Cheers,
Muziksculp


----------



## germancomponist (Sep 6, 2011)

An interesting thread. So, are these reverbs better sounding than the Lexicon PCM`s?


----------



## jsaras (Sep 6, 2011)

The various "Dark" algorithms are loosely similar to vintage Lexicons (esp the 224). There will soon be another free update that will add even more algorithms.

FWIW, VRoom was created by the same programmer that created AudioDamage EOS reverb, though it doesn't sound similar.


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 6, 2011)

germancomponist @ Tue Sep 06 said:


> So, are these reverbs better sounding than the Lexicon PCM`s?



Well now, let's not get blasphemous  For my taste, my favorite algorithm EVER is Lexicon's Random Hall - at least in most orchestral contexts. If I had to choose the proverbial desert island reverb it would be the PCM bundle hands-down. But again, it's $1500. Well worth it, but you generally only get the Lex flavor.

On the other hand, Aether & Breeze are a fraction of the price, they can get so close to the coveted Lex sound it's insane, and they are capable of TONS of sounds you could never get from an actual Lexicon - especially Aether; it's a sound designer's dream.

Again, you'll just have to use your ears. All of them offer free demos - I'd happily point you to some comparisons between the Lex and Breeze that might really surprise you.

We're all winners with our choices these days...


----------



## Dan Mott (Sep 6, 2011)

I can't understand how anyone thinks that Aether sounds good. I didn't like it at all, but that's just my personal tastes. I liked Breeze much better, though I wouldn't ever use it on anything.

I have the Lexicon LXP Native and I love it's atmosphere. I tried a demo of the PCM and I thought that there wasn't a huge difference between the two to my ears. I liked them both, so I just went with the cheaper one. Although I use QL Spaces on most instruments now, I still use a bit of the LXP for sound design purposes.


----------



## ozmorphasis (Sep 6, 2011)

jsaras @ Tue Sep 06 said:


> I have Breeze, and it's a good reverb, but Valhalla Room has completely replaced it in all of my work. It's equally at home doing natural sounding spaces as well as vintage/surreal sounds. VRoom is all the reverb I'll ever need.



+1

I bought Valhalla, and am very impressed. I also like how it is both simple AND very controllable. You have some pretty cool ways of dialing in the early and late parts of the verb.

I downloaded the demo of Breeze, and while I like it, I am enjoying Valhalla more. Breeze has a clarity to it which is nice. Reminds of the TC verb sounds. Valhalla is somehow more buttery and warm. It has the charm of a great Plate verb, even though it can do a lot more.

I used it to add tail to a concert recording of my orchestral piece, and it did a great job. 

Really, these are all great tools though. Demo, and then pick your poison based on the feel and your ability to get to what you want as quickly as possible. As Piet said in another thread, and as Thomas J has said, if your orchestration is good, then all of these reverbs will do the trick just fine. 

O


----------



## muziksculp (Sep 6, 2011)

The September issue of _'Recording'_ magazine has an interesting article/review of the following reverb plugins :

* 2CAudio Breeze (Algorithmic)
* Audio Damage Eos (Algorithmic)
* Valhalla DSP ValhallaRoom (Algorithmic)
* EastWest Quantum Leap Spaces (Impulse Response)

The article starts on page 44.


----------



## jlb (Sep 7, 2011)

Does anyone know if Breeze has gone/or is going 64 bit anytime soon?

jlb


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Sep 7, 2011)

Dan-Jay,

You obviously need to spend more time with Aether and Breeze. They are right up there with the best.

jlb,

Breeze and Aether work fine inside my Cubase 64-bit sequencer. Never crashed. Not sure if they are 64-bit though. I think they are, but not sure.


Best,


Tanuj.


----------



## muziksculp (Sep 7, 2011)

Breeze is 64-bit for PC. 32-bit for Mac.


----------



## rayinstirling (Sep 7, 2011)

Dan-Jay @ Wed Sep 07 said:


> I can't understand how anyone thinks that Aether sounds good.



It must be a northern hemisphere thing........ spirals and all :lol: spooky actually


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 7, 2011)

vibrato @ Wed Sep 07 said:


> You obviously need to spend more time with Aether and Breeze. They are right up there with the best.



With much respect for Dan-Jay (he's good a good set of ears from what I've heard!), Aether & Breeze didn't do much for me when I first heard them either. I'm SO glad I gave them a few minutes of my time though! I think it took stumbling on Den's presets and then doing some tweaking of my own - I was hooked.

Few (if any) reverb plugins have ever dropped my jaw immediately other than the Lex PCM/LXP bundle; any satisfactory results I've gotten were because I tweaked them. And yeah, if you already have one of the Lex bundles and that's your gold standard, this is a moot point. If you don't though, the 2C stuff is definitely worth the time to explore. I stand by my statement that they can totally hang with the Lex stuff - amazingly so.

Over & out,


----------



## Mahlon (Sep 7, 2011)

This is all good and useful information because I'm one of those who can't afford @$1500 for reverb at the moment and have to look at alternatives. From the demo, I do really like the Lex PCM reverb, and if Breeze can get close to that then it's a great alternative for someone like me. So thanks for the info. Now to download the trial.....

Mahlon


----------



## whinecellar (Sep 7, 2011)

Mahlon, my points above are really aimed at your scenario. Be sure to download my presets above and compare them to the Lex bundle - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!


----------



## windshore (Sep 7, 2011)

I also wasn't super-impressed when I first downloaded Aether, but then with the 1.5 update there were a lot more presets as well as other improvements, and Den's presets really are the clincher.


----------



## Udo (Sep 7, 2011)

As I just said in another thread:

"On issues like this, it should be mandatory for people to include with their opinion an audiogram of their hearing ability  "

You'd be surprised by the wide variety of hearing ability/peculiarities reflected in audiograms of people who believe they have good hearing (and I'm not just talking about the age related reduction in frequency range).


----------



## Dan Mott (Sep 8, 2011)

It has nothing to do with hearing abilities. People have different tastes. I can't understand why people love Aether (I've tried it alot of times to make sure), and some people can't understand how I cannot love it. You know when you like something the moment you open it up and start playing with it and that's what I've found with anything. On the other hand, if you open up a reverb and spend hours trying to get a sound you like, where it would be using the presets or making your own and still not getting what you are after, then that's when I move on and try something else. I played with the Lexcion demo and straight away I just loved it and I prefer that sound. I could go on and on about why I didn't like Aether, but that doesn't matter I suppose.


----------



## muziksculp (Sep 9, 2011)

What about VSL's new 'Hybrid Reverb' ? 

Any experiences with it ? What do you think about it ? and how does it compare to Aether/Breeze, and the other Algorithimic reverbs currently available ?


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Sep 10, 2011)

Aether and breeze are quite different than vsl hybrid.

I don't think Hybrid can do what Aether can do form example and plus they are two different kinds of reverbs.

It's best to download the demos and hear for yourself.

Despite what many have written here, I really feel that all of these Reverbs:

Aether, Breeze, Hybrid and Lexicon are really high quality. The only difference is, hybrid is part convolution and is different than the other "algo" bunch.

However, far more important than reverb is many other technical requirements that are many time completely overlooked.

For example having a good acoustically stable room to work in. Without a good room, I am sorry but you really cannot hear a lot of things. Of course, it does not have to be 
your room, like in my case. I work in other pro studios all the time, so I get to hear my sound in proper environments.

A typical problem is that of not hearing the reverb because it gets muffled in the room response. So you keep adding more. Later when you listen back in a decent studio, you realise there is just too much reverb.

This is contrary to popular belief that if the studio has a very short decay time you will 
add more reverb. Actually most of the time, in an untreated or poorly treated room, you tend to add more reverb.

You also need to have good gear and a clean signal path with decent cables.

You also need really good, balanced monitoring that has a good frequency range.

While it's good to invest in these products, I have to kind of agree with Pete here. If you arrangement, orchestration and the basic balance is good with skilled programming and good dynamics, you can achieve a very good sound even with your stock DAW reverb.

I also doubt that getting an "x" reverb will suddenly just change your sound. At the same time, if all the above are good and you have already got a decent sound going, a great reverb will really add a beautiful space to your sound.

Best,

Tanuj.


----------

