What's new

Are the stock Cubase Pro 11 plugins adequate for reverb, EQ and instrument placement?

Nigel Andreola

Active Member
Are the stock Cubase Pro 11 plugins adequate for reverb, EQ and instrument placement?

I've been using a combination of VST MultiPanner, Imager and Frequency EQ for placement and REVerence or Raum for reverb and Ozone Elements (that I got as a freebie from NI). Using these tools, it's tricky for me to get things to sound naturally placed and together. I'm unsure if I need simply need to spend more time learning the process or if I should be looking at buying better tools. I work with dry live recordings (cello and vocals etc.) and a mix of dry and wet virtual instruments.

Do you recommend options like VSS2 or SP2016 for placement and early reflections and a premium reverb option for adding a nice tail? There's a bunch of stuff on sale right now so I've been looking into it. I used the demo version of VSS2 which is super fast and easy to use, but I've seen people say to avoid it.

What do you sugjest I do?
 
Yes. With reverb, nine times out of ten, the problem is one of EQ. Rolling off the lows and highs going into the verb, and maybe a dip in the mids, fixes many issues (look up the Abbey Road trick). You could probably use the algo verbs in Cubase a bit more.
 
Yes. With reverb, nine times out of ten, the problem is one of EQ. Rolling off the lows and highs going into the verb, and maybe a dip in the mids, fixes many issues (look up the Abbey Road trick). You could probably use the algo verbs in Cubase a bit more.
Thank you! EQ is very powerful, and even slightest change can make a big difference. This does make it tricky to get right. I guess it's unavoidable when working with live recordings? Sampled instruments, I guess because they are already processed, I find don't need nearly as much work.
 
Thank you! EQ is very powerful, and even slightest change can make a big difference. This does make it tricky to get right. I guess it's unavoidable when working with live recordings? Sampled instruments, I guess because they are already processed, I find don't need nearly as much work.
If you have control of the recordings, see if you can improve at the source. Perhaps adjusting the mic position, using a different mic or a different room can avoid some problematic resonances.
 
Are the stock Cubase Pro 11 plugins adequate for reverb, EQ and instrument placement?

I've been using a combination of VST MultiPanner, Imager and Frequency EQ for placement and REVerence or Raum for reverb and Ozone Elements (that I got as a freebie from NI). Using these tools, it's tricky for me to get things to sound naturally placed and together. I'm unsure if I need simply need to spend more time learning the process or if I should be looking at buying better tools. I work with dry live recordings (cello and vocals etc.) and a mix of dry and wet virtual instruments.

Do you recommend options like VSS2 or SP2016 for placement and early reflections and a premium reverb option for adding a nice tail? There's a bunch of stuff on sale right now so I've been looking into it. I used the demo version of VSS2 which is super fast and easy to use, but I've seen people say to avoid it.

What do you sugjest I do?
Look into Exponential Audio Nimbus, it's currently going for 9.99$, it's definitely premium quality and very good if you're looking for a more natural sounding Reverb. It's a steal at that price!
It might look complex at first, but offers amazing control over the overall contour, including early reflections etc. You can download a trial and see if it's something you'd find useful.
 
Look into Exponential Audio Nimbus, it's currently going for 9.99$, it's definitely premium quality and very good if you're looking for a more natural sounding Reverb. It's a steal at that price!
It might look complex at first, but offers amazing control over the overall contour, including early reflections etc. You can download a trial and see if it's something you'd find useful.
Thank you for telling me about Nimbus! I bought it. It sounds heavenly. I've been trying demos of Cinematic Rooms, VSL MIR and some other stuff to place dry recorded cello and virtual piano together. I don't have control over the recording as it is my sister playing the cello at her place. I asked her for a dry recording so I can mix it however I want. There's something about Nimbus... It sounds like the reverb is responding to volume and timber in a way the others are not. For instance, there's less and softer ER and shorter tail when the cello plays quietly and than comes alive when the cello sores with an emotional loud part. When something plays quietly in a real room, you don't get as much reflections. Nimbus really does it well. With MIR I just couldn't get anything to sound right. It colors the sound a lot and makes things muddy. That might be what a real hall will do, but, isn't that what microphones and amps are all about? Bringing the instruments a bit closer to the audience and bringing out some detail? I don't think MIR is designed for chamber music, or I just haven't found the right space and settings that work for that yet. It looks like it would be really good for blending things into a symphonic orchestra.

Yes the controls of Nimbus look complicated and I'll need to study them. For now, I just used one of the many presets and adjusted the wet/dry balance.
 
Look into Exponential Audio Nimbus, it's currently going for 9.99$, it's definitely premium quality and very good if you're looking for a more natural sounding Reverb. It's a steal at that price!
It might look complex at first, but offers amazing control over the overall contour, including early reflections etc. You can download a trial and see if it's something you'd find useful.
These reverbs are legacy EOL products….hence the last ditch attempt to claw some $ back from Izotope.
 
These reverbs are legacy EOL products….hence the last ditch attempt to claw some $ back from Izotope.
I'm looking for suggestions for other good reverbs to try. Nimbus sounds nice to me, but probably not as "real" as other options. But than, what's better; something that sounds real, or something that sounds good? What sounds good to me, might sound bad to someone else. Something that sounds real will probably be accepted by just about everyone even if I don't like it as much.
 
Last edited:
These reverbs are legacy EOL products….hence the last ditch attempt to claw some $ back from Izotope.
What exactly will happen with these? Are they going to just stop updating it or are they going to completely remove it and make it not available?
 
What exactly will happen with these? Are they going to just stop updating it or are they going to completely remove it and make it not available?
I'm hoping that even if they stop sales and updates, it will work for the next several years at least. It was updated in 2019 and does support VST3.
 
I'm looking for suggestions for other good reverbs to try. Nimbus sounds nice to me, but probably not as "real" as other options. But than, what's better; something that sounds real, or something that sounds good? What sounds good to me, might sound bad to someone else. Something that sounds real will probably be accepted by just about everyone even if I don't like it as much.
Cinematic Rooms (Pro). BIG price differential, though, even on sale. If you find an online course on using Nimbus, I bet you can do quite well with it and make it even more realistic sounding.
 
I'm hoping that even if they stop sales and updates, it will work for the next several years at least. It was updated in 2019 and does support VST3.
I had to uninstall R4 and Nimbus after they started crashing Studio One earlier this year, and then also almost deafened me with very painful, massively loud digital glitches/screeching (muting only the reverb stopped the problem) not just once, but twice weeks apart. I've not seen other people report the second issue, so maybe I was just "lucky". I have read of a few others that had their DAW crashing because of the plugins, though.

Your mileage WILL vary.
 
I had to uninstall R4 and Nimbus after they started crashing Studio One earlier this year, and then also almost deafened me with very painful, massively loud digital glitches/screeching (muting only the reverb stopped the problem) not just once, but twice weeks apart. I've not seen other people report the second issue, so maybe I was just "lucky". I have read of a few others that had their DAW crashing because of the plugins, though.

Your mileage WILL vary.
How do they load into Studio One? I noticed it installs as several different package types. I'm using VST3 in Cubase 11 and haven't had any issues with them. I have issues with other plugins, but not Nimbus or R4, at least, not yet.
 
How do they load into Studio One? I noticed it installs as several different package types. I'm using VST3 in Cubase 11 and haven't had any issues with them. I have issues with other plugins, but not Nimbus or R4, at least, not yet.
I tried both VST and VST3, and both were problematic. There's a fair chance there's an odd interaction with the DAW, but the fact that the reverbs are no longer developed turned out to be a problem for me sooner than expected (I paid about $150 for the both of them just 2-3 years ago). It means I can't contact the developer for them to investigate and consider fixing.
 
I tried both VST and VST3, and both were problematic. There's a fair chance there's an odd interaction with the DAW, but the fact that the reverbs are no longer developed turned out to be a problem for me sooner than expected (I paid about $150 for the both of them just 2-3 years ago). It means I can't contact the developer for them to investigate and consider fixing.
I'm sorry about that. There was an update in 2019 it looks like. Stinks they didn't address the issue with Studio One. Still, it could be something unique to your setup that is causing the plugin to act up. I guess it is possible it is unstable for a lot of people and too much of a conundrum to fix and that's why it is so heavily discounted and discontinued.
 
Are the stock Cubase Pro 11 plugins adequate for reverb, EQ and instrument placement?
Yes. There's a very nice selection of reverbs and EQs that come with Cubase Pro.

If you have doubts, compare them to the demos of products you're interested in. That's what I did and didn't see a reason to change. But your experience may be different.
 
Yes. There's a very nice selection of reverbs and EQs that come with Cubase Pro.

If you have doubts, compare them to the demos of products you're interested in. That's what I did and didn't see a reason to change. But your experience may be different.
This is good to hear as I am hoping to upgrade Cubase and not worry about getting too much stuff on top of it.
 
Top Bottom