# Aether vs. Lexicon PCM



## kdm (Apr 26, 2010)

There was a question in another thread about a comparison between Aether 1.5 and Lexicon's PCM Native plugins (full, not LXP), so I ran a short comparison between them using customized hall settings, along with a 3rd sample just to give the blind comparison more weight. Note that it is difficult to match reverbs of this type, so there is some variation, but they are close - the point is to listen for quality more than perfectly matched sound.

Note which you prefer, and why. Fwiw, you are comparing good reverbs, so there is no "gotcha answer" here to embarrass anyone. This is just a simple violin pizz line to give an easily audible comparison of reverb tail, reflections, smoothness, etc, and is by no means an all-inclusive comparison, or a measure of how either verb will work for you in mockup scenarios.

And finally, some vocal samples (vocal from Tonehammer's Francesca library):

Vocal Hall 4A

Vocal Hall 4B

Yes, there is a method to this madness, and the reality that it takes time to match reverbs - and it isn't an exact science. These are more equally matched between Aether and the Lexi standard Hall. I will post the key later today.

------
New samples added - somewhat more accurate duplication of settings between the verbs. This sample uses the Lexicon PCM Concert Hall preset.

Reverb 2A

Reverb 2B

Reverb 2C

----

Original test:

Reverb A

Reverb B

Reverb C

These are all 44.1k/16 bit wavs.


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## kdm (Apr 26, 2010)

gsiblers - I don't have Altiverb, but have W2/W5. Not really a direct comparison though. A longer piece will have to wait as this week is just too hectic. 

For that reason I didn't have much time to setup this test - more or less to indulge my own curiosity - so some of the difference may be lost in the inaccuracy of matching reverbs. I'll see if I can get an even closer match tomorrow morning, and post as a secondary group.


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## gsilbers (Apr 26, 2010)

kdm @ Mon Apr 26 said:


> gsiblers - I don't have Altiverb, but have W2/W5. Not really a direct comparison though. A longer piece will have to wait as this week is just too hectic.
> 
> For that reason I didn't have much time to setup this test - more or less to indulge my own curiosity - so some of the difference may be lost in the inaccuracy of matching reverbs. I'll see if I can get an even closer match tomorrow morning, and post as a secondary group.



oh dont mind me, this is great. im able to listen to the same sound through different reverbs. im looking to upgrade my EOS but waiting for altiverb 7


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## kdm (Apr 27, 2010)

Added new samples in the first post. Same mundane pizz sample, but it exposes the character of the reverbs. I'll post the key soon.


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## Hannes_F (Apr 27, 2010)

Thanks kdm for this test. Downloading now.


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## kdm (Apr 27, 2010)

Fyi - I would just focus on the 2A/B/C test - it is more accurate, though there are still differences which I will talk about when I post the key.


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## Hannes_F (Apr 27, 2010)

Hi, this is what I hear:

B has more pitch modulation in the tail going on than A, that is why I like A more than B.

C has some treble ringing in it.


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## rJames (Apr 29, 2010)

Subscribing for the results...


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## kdm (Apr 29, 2010)

New vocal hall samples posted - matched by duplicating Lexicon's PCM Large Hall parameters in Aether, then tweaking a little. 

I will post the keys later today, along with my personal thoughts on the two.


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## Hans Adamson (Apr 29, 2010)

Pizzicato samples: In examples A and B the HF sustain tails are too long to be realistic. In example C the actual pizz playback sounds brighter but HF decays faster. There is a click in the immediate tail of example C that may contribute some extra HF. (o)


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## Hans Adamson (Apr 29, 2010)

Vocal Samples: The reverb tail of example A bounces around more and appear to have a slightly louder sustain. ~o)


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## Hannes_F (Apr 29, 2010)

Vocal samples: the reverb of A is substantially louder than that of B but I agree it is not easy to match settings exactly. Also A seems to have more midrange while B is more trebly. Then A has more modulation while B is more constant.

I think there is something in B that could bother me after a while, a certain signature sound, that is why I would probably be more happy with A (but reduced). Whether the difference is a 1000 bucks difference is another question.


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## kdm (Apr 29, 2010)

Here's the key:

Vocal Hall 4A: Aether (Hall 1, tweaked)
Vocal Hall 4B: PCM Large Hall preset

Pizz samples:
Reverb 2A: Aether on "Excellence" render mode
Reverb 2B: Aether on "Obsession" render mode
Reverb 2C: PCM Concert Hall (there is a bug in Concert Hall apparently, so it may have colored this test)

Here is what I see as differences: Hannes noted Vocal Hall 4A sounded substantially louder - really that's only the initial bloom of the reverb - the tails are pretty even in level mid way through as they decay, which is what I settled for there (getting out that initial volume was a combination of factors and I ran out of patience). 

Modulation parameters are similar in these, but EQ is structured much differently in each. Aether has input, ER and LR EQ options (low, mid, high), along with a softening EQ option - getting the right balance between these to match PCM's EQ format is somewhat maddening, so I left these as is for sake of getting a general idea. The PCM has early and late reflection filters - low, high, 1 or 2 pole, etc, along with high cut and bass release times. Different enough to be very hard to perfectly match.

The pizz reverbs weren't matched as well - I left little/no modulation on the Aether samples just to hear the tail itself more easily. They are just there to hear the reverbs - not to sound realistic in context.

Aether has several quality settings for both realtime and offline render, including 1x, 2x and 4x oversampling. For whatever reason, 1x sounds more like the PCMs (and I believe oversampling isn't just about quality, it does alter the sound slightly, and that may be good or bad - so it's a judgement call). Interpolation on offline render can be set to Excellence, Perfection and Obsession (the latter taking quite a while to render).

On a quad core PC, Aether also uses way more cpu than the PCMs - about 13% on task manager at 4x (40% in Nuendo's VST meter, for what inaccuracy it's worth). One instance of a PCM hall uses 1% in task manager (VST 2% manager). No problem loading many instances of PCM reverbs.

Aether is $250, and the PCM bundle is $1500 (US). Aether wins on base price, but the PCM bundle wins on a per instance cost due to the significantly lower cpu usagò»R   Ïs.»R   Ïs/»R   Ïs0»R   Ïs1»R   Ïs2»R   Ïs3»R   Ïs4»R   Ïs5»R   Ïs6»R   Ïs7»R   Ïs8»R   Ïs9»R   Ïs:»R   Ïs;»R   Ïs<»R   Ïs=»R   Ïs>»R   Ïs?»R   Ï[email protected]»R   ÏsA»R   ÏsB»R   ÏsC»R   ÏsD»R   ÏsE»R   ÏsF»R   ÏsG»R   ÏsH»R   ÏsI»R   ÏsJ»R   ÏsK»R   ÏsL»R   ÏsM»R   ÏsN»R   ÏsO»R   ÏsP»R   ÏsQ»R   ÏsR»R   ÏsS»R   ÏsT»R   ÏsU»R   ÏsV»R   ÏsW»R   ÏsX»R   ÏsY»R   ÏsZ»R   Ïs[»R


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## Hannes_F (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks kdm, great test!


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## windshore (Apr 30, 2010)

thanks for posting!


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## Andrew Souter (May 5, 2010)

kdm @ Thu Apr 29 said:


> Here's the key:
> 
> Vocal Hall 4A: Aether (Hall 1, tweaked)
> Vocal Hall 4B: PCM Large Hall preset
> ...



So the summary from what I read is:

1) Everyone who voted based on blind listening preferred Aether
2) Everyone correctly noted that the examples are not perfectly matched preset-wise, and this is difficult to do since Aether is not trying to emulate Lex. Nonetheless, those who voted, voted for Aether.
3) Aether is $1250 cheaper, or let's say 1/6 the estimated $1500 price.
4) Aether is heavier in CPU usage. Lowest quality settings use roughly 2x as much as Lex.
5) Aether has variable quality settings and CPU usage is variable based on quality settings and other settings on the Main page GUI. Extreme quality settings require more CPU usage and highest offline settings push the limits of what is possible on todays CPUs.

Is that a correct summary? I guess this is a good result for us then?? :D 

"Price per instance" is sort of an odd metric IMHO since must people will never use more than 5 (or 10 in extreme cases) instances in a project. However we should note that if we compare base quality settings in aether we have 1/6 the price and 2/1 the CPU usage, so we actually WIN by a factor of 3 in "Price per instance" in this case. When extreme quality settings are invoked this can change depending on a users's hardware. But again, IMHO this is not an important metric really. Really I think what matters is the sound, and is performance good enough such that it does not interfere with your workflow. Beyond that, what does it matter if you can load 100, 200, or 400 instances if you really only need 5-10?? Am I right??

In terms of usabilty, Lex has great, well orgranized presets, this is definately true. However we have vastly expanded and improved our presets and our preset orgraniztion in 1.5, as described here:

http://www.2caudio.com/products/aether/presets.html

Our goal with these is:



> 2CAudio prides itself on being an innovative company, and deeply values creativity. This leads us to design maxmium flexibility into our products and avoid artificial limits on parameters. Aether therefore, allows more extreme parameter ranges than any other reverb on the market. Does it excel at FX-oriented presets and venture into territory that few other products explore? Absolutely! Is limited to FX-oriented presets? Hell no! To proove it to you we have initiated the development of Aether Preset Expansions. The primary goal of these products is to demonstrate just how versatile Aether is, and proove that is excels in all areas.



We will continue to expand in these areas and others as well.

Thanks for this test, and thanks for the feedback. We are always listening and searching for new ways to continuously perfect Aether.


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## Hans Adamson (May 5, 2010)

Andrew Souter @ Wed May 05 said:


> So the summary from what I read is:
> 
> 1) Everyone who voted based on blind listening preferred Aether
> 
> Is that a correct summary?


No. See my posts above.


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## Andrew Souter (May 5, 2010)

...but you did not actually say which you preferred. You mention differences, but not preference. So what I meant to say, was everyone who gave a preference and actually choose A, B, C, etc. actually voted for Aether. Correct?


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## kdm (May 5, 2010)

Just to be clear from my perspective in posting this test - it really points out that to "prefer" a reverb at this level has quite a bit to do with the specific application, not necessarily the "quality" of the reverb algorithm itself - both are very good there. 

None of the examples I posted were 100% perfect emulations of a PCM preset using Aether, and I really didn't intend for it to be a "A is better than B" comparison - but rather, what do you like/dislike in each, and if you had to guess, which is which (more to investigate our own perceptions of reverbs and personal preferences). 

The vocal sample is the closest, though getting closer to matching there was still quite difficult. What I found is that Aether really is a bit different in ER/LR and EQ relationships. To get the most of it, I find it best to tweak it to suit the material. Use what you prefer though. This is just here to give some rough, exposed examples. There are demos for each (PCM is a 7-day fully functioning iLok license demo; Aether is a no-save, 30 minutes per instantiation demo). 

Trying them is the best way to judge for yourself.


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## Andrew Souter (May 5, 2010)

...with regard to Hans Adamson's HF sustain/decay statement, I should mention that this is easily adjusted in Aether by lowering the "LR High" ratio control.

Hans Adamson brings up another interesting point actually: namely the difference between Decay and EQ. You note that Lex has a brighter EQ and more initò¾   Ð"Ü¾   Ð"Ý¾   Ð"Þ¾   Ð"ß¾   Ð"à¾   Ð"á¾   Ð"â¾   Ð"ã¾   Ð"ä¾   Ð"å¾   Ð"æ¾   Ð"ç¾   Ð"è¾   Ð"é¾   Ð"ê¾   Ð"ë¾   Ð"ì¾   Ð"í¾   Ð"î¾   Ð"ï¾   Ð"ð¾   Ð"ñ¾   Ð"ò¾   Ð"ó¾   Ð"ô¾   Ð"õ¾   Ð"ö¾   Ð"÷¾   Ð"ø¾   Ð"ù¾   Ð"ú¾   Ð"û¾   Ð"ü¾   Ð"ý¾   Ð"þ¾   Ð"ÿ¾   Ð# ¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#¾   Ð#	¾   Ð#
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## Hal (May 5, 2010)

Thx for the test
i like somthing in the A's tail it has some nice decay and natural fade or at least sweet fade


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## Andrew Souter (May 5, 2010)

DISCLAIMER: AETHER DOES NOT REQUIRE THIS KIND OF POWER FOR NORMAL USE!!

...but, in interest of exploring the bleeding edge as is the sign of a true gear/geek-slut =o , I have ordered two of these to test Aether 1.5 on:

Intel® Xeon® Processor X5680 (12M Cache, 3.33 GHz, 6.40 GT/s Intel® QPI) with SPEC Code(s) SLBV5

check it out:

PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End

(note that is for a single CPU... x2 for 2... (o) )

another comparison:

Supermicro X8DA3 : Geekbench Result Browser
Top Geekbench 2 Results : Geekbench Result Browser


http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/review/1596633/world-fastest-dual-core-xeon-5680-setup-benchmarked (World's fastest intel xeon 5680 setup benchmarked - The Inquirer)

I'll let you know how it goes... :mrgreen:


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## Andrew Souter (May 5, 2010)

FYI this is the single socket version for a more reasonable budget:

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=47932

The Core i7 980X Review: Intel's First 6-Core Desktop CPU - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Interesting to note, it is possible to get this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003I6Q6BU/ref=asc_df_B003I6Q6BU1103643?smid=A9B09ZK9BZJQ6&tag=pgmp-1585-01-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B003I6Q6BU

AND Aether for less than $1,500... :D :shock:


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## hbuus (May 5, 2010)

Great test, thanks kdm.


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## Andrew Souter (Aug 10, 2010)

you might like some presets made by a peer of ours named Den. He posted a bunch over at GS and people seem to really like them. We may include them in the factory presets in the next update.

various links on this page:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-prod ... 5-a-8.html

RTAS is getting very close now...


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## no3no4 (Aug 13, 2010)

I have lexicon PCM and it is good. Not good as PCM hardware. I also tried Arther which I think no comparision with PCM


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## gsilbers (Aug 13, 2010)

Don't forget to try relab's xl480


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## synergy543 (Aug 13, 2010)

gsilbers @ Fri Aug 13 said:


> Don't forget to try relab's xl480


How is the CPU hit with Relab480 as compared to Lexicon PCM Native and Aether?


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