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Thoughts on Slate Digital's Verbsuite?

Gerhard Westphalen

Mastering Engineer (occasionally Scoring Mixer)
He anyone tried it? I'm interested in it for the Bricasti. Seems to have some official backing from Bricasti. I'd like to learn what one sounds like and use but can't afford one anytime soon so I'm looking for the closest thing possible. I don't want to establish it as the Bricasti sound in my ears if it turns out to not be all that "authentic." Is anyone who owns a Bricasti able to compare it with the plugin?
 
It's the same engine used in https://www.liquidsonics.com/software_reverberate.htm (LiquidSonics Reverberate), but with a simplified GUI. It's proprietary Fusion-IR technology is impressive to hear, and captures the evolving characteristics of time-varying reverbs as apposed to just a static convolution snapshot. If you have Reverberate, you can https://www.liquidsonics.com/software_fir_archives.htm (grab their Bricasti M7 Fusion-IRs here). Those will be the same Fusion-IRs used in VerbSuite when it's released. I love the Boston Hall A preset. It's definitely stunning to my ears!

OvCGJfA.png
 
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I haven't used it, but when the newest version on Reverberate came out people were saying it sounded very close to a real Bricasti. Keep in mind that is is convolution based, so although the tech is new and sounds closer than normal IRs, it still has limitations. You can't adjust a lot of the parameters like a real Bricasti, but of course it doesn't cost nearly as much.
 
I have Reverberate 2 &beta tested the Slate version. The Bricasti's are the best M7 IR's available IMO. The Fusion technology he uses gives them an algo type vibe rather than static convolution.
 
It's the same engine used in https://www.liquidsonics.com/software_reverberate.htm (LiquidSonics Reverberate), but with a simplified GUI. It's proprietary Fusion-IR technology is impressive to hear, and captures the evolving characteristics of time-varying reverbs as apposed to just a static convolution snapshot. If you have Reverberate, you can https://www.liquidsonics.com/software_fir_archives.htm (grab their Bricasti M7 Fusion-IRs here). Those will be the same Fusion-IRs used in VerbSuite when it's released. I love the Boston Hall A preset. It's definitely stunning to my ears!

OvCGJfA.png

So you're saying that the Bricasti from LiquidSonics would sound exactly the same as the Slate? Is it that much better than the convolutions available for free (i.e. worth the price of admission if the Bricasti is all that I'm after)? I'm curious as to why Alan Meyerson isn't using it. I believe the R2 is the closest thing he found to his Bricasti which he can use on individual tracks rather than being limited to the 6 hardware units he has.
 
Not sure if they'd be exactly the same because it's not the same exact software although it uses the same technology & engine. Probably so or very close though, I don't think he did anything to the IR's.
 
I'm no expert on reverb, but I just installed the VerbSuite (I have the Slate subscription anyway) and tried it, to my ears it sounds beautiful, BUT I've never even touched a Bricasti before, so I'm just comparing it to other software plugins. But, anyway, I'm happy so that's good! :)
 
I haven't had time to download the update with the Verb Suite yet, but if I get a chance, I'll look into it's representation of the Bricasti and see if I can make some comparisons with my M7. I'll be quite interested as well.
 
Been fiddeling around it in my template for a bit and though I don't like the browsing through the menu I absolutely love the Briscati (for the record I am in no way a reverb guru). Created some presets for myself for orchestral music using different halls in the briscati and it adds in my opinion a lot of richness and depth to the sound. Less in your face and feels like much more space for the instrument. Only messed around with it for a bit and will have to test and adjust it indepth after the weekend, but so far so good in my opinion!
Untill now I have been using EW Spaces and sometimes the Hybrid Reverb from the Vienna Suite, so that's my comparission if you want to know :)
 
So you're saying that the Bricasti from LiquidSonics would sound exactly the same as the Slate? Is it that much better than the convolutions available for free (i.e. worth the price of admission if the Bricasti is all that I'm after)? I'm curious as to why Alan Meyerson isn't using it. I believe the R2 is the closest thing he found to his Bricasti which he can use on individual tracks rather than being limited to the 6 hardware units he has.

maybe alan meyerson just didnt try reverberate 2 just like alot of people. the product isnt as popular as for example altiverb, so this might be the reason. the m7 impulses sound alot better than the free ones you can get.

you can demo reverberate 2 and give it a try. iam no expert, but my ears never heard a better convolution reverb so far.
 
Been fiddeling around it in my template for a bit and though I don't like the browsing through the menu I absolutely love the Briscati (for the record I am in no way a reverb guru). Created some presets for myself for orchestral music using different halls in the briscati and it adds in my opinion a lot of richness and depth to the sound. Less in your face and feels like much more space for the instrument. Only messed around with it for a bit and will have to test and adjust it indepth after the weekend, but so far so good in my opinion!
Untill now I have been using EW Spaces and sometimes the Hybrid Reverb from the Vienna Suite, so that's my comparission if you want to know :)
Did you muck around much with the predelay, attack etc? Or just load up a hall and enjoy the sound? I've used EW Spaces a fair bit and I found this new plugin gave me more of an instant gratification, I certainly was smiling as I lifted the faders on various types of instruments and heard it blend beautifully with the reverb. I am a novice with reverb though :)
 
Did you muck around much with the predelay, attack etc? Or just load up a hall and enjoy the sound? I've used EW Spaces a fair bit and I found this new plugin gave me more of an instant gratification, I certainly was smiling as I lifted the faders on various types of instruments and heard it blend beautifully with the reverb. I am a novice with reverb though :)

No I messed around with all the settings as well. The decay, the eq, attack, width, predelay etc and I agree it gives instant gratification, same here haha
 
So you're saying that the Bricasti from LiquidSonics would sound exactly the same as the Slate?

Yes. The same M7 Fusion-IRs are used. Reverberate has far more parameters and control to change the initial IR though. It's pretty deep when it comes to control.

Is it that much better than the convolutions available for free

Yes. I have the other M7 IR's out there and they are all static IR captures. The M7 Fusion-IR's captured the time-varying characteristics, hence one wouldn't be able to use the Fusion-IR's in other IR plug-ins. The M7 Fusion IR's are definitely stunning to my ears. The other free one's out there are good, but don't compare to the M7 Fusion-IR's.

I know the developer, so I'll see if he'll want to chime in here to answer more of the technical questions regarding both verbs.
 
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I haven't had time to download the update with the Verb Suite yet, but if I get a chance, I'll look into it's representation of the Bricasti and see if I can make some comparisons with my M7. I'll be quite interested as well.
Would love to hear some comparisons with our usual orchestral samples, and maybe even throw in a B2 or R2 to compare to also!
 
Hi, thanks Shane for the tip. I'll be happy to come and answer questions on the tech and the relationship between Reverberate 2 and VerbSuite Classics. In summary they use the same core convolution engines, so what you'd get on a basic Reverberate 2 patch using a Fusion-IR is going to sound basically the same in VerbSuite Classics. VS-C also uses the LiquidSonics chorus; the filters come from Slate Digital. A big difference is the focus of the plugin on usability and getting that high quality immediate sound without distraction, and that Slate Digital have taken the time to do some great samples of some classic devices that aren't usually easy to get elsewhere.

It's not so much an officially sanctioned by Bricasti (it isn't), it's just that if you put Bricasti IRs online they have to be free, not incorporated into a core product - so that's what we've done here. We are using the M7 Fusion-IRs that were made for Reverberate 2 and putting them into the hands of a lot more people. It's great to be able to reach an even wider audience through Slate Digital for the Fusion-IR tech, and so far reactions have been very positive.

If anybody would like to compare the Fusion-IRs to their own Bricasti, thats cool and I'll be interested in your take. If you're a fan you're going to tell the difference on an A/B I'm sure, but if you tell me you don't think it's pretty darn close I'll be surprised. The modulated vs static IRs are like night and day.
 
are there any new fusion ir coming in the future for reverberate 2? if i remember right it was discussed at another forum in the official release thread.
 
There will be but I don't have any timeframe for you. I'm currently very busy with development work and don't have time myself but am in discussions with somebody about having some done externally but we need to find the right devices to do it with.

I don't intend the last ever sets to be the M7 and FS-1 packs by any means.
 
Thanks for chiming in here Matt.

Are there any plans to release an IR maker plug-in/utility app to make our own Fusion-IR's? Are there any benefits to using the Fusion-IR process with real rooms and spaces?
 
A tool is also something I want to do, I want it to be point-and-shoot simple, but to get the best from Fusion-IRs there is a bit of trial and error on sampling strategy to go through so all of that needs to be built into a simple to use tool so the results are high quality. It's not a trivial exercise, maybe I will end up getting a contractor to do it, but it's finding the right person that owns some good reverbs and has the c++ skills.

I am not completely sure about the benefits on rooms or other types of reverb yet - let's just say it's an open question that I do intend to focus more on because some early trials were encouraging but I've not dug deep enough to really judge properly yet.
 
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