Convolution reverb supporting impulse responses longer than 12 seconds?

This forum is for discussing Reason. Questions, answers, ideas, and opinions... all apply.
Post Reply
User avatar
wikholm
Posts: 47
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Sweden

14 Jul 2019

While the RV7000 Mk2 has a nice convolution mode, page 1121 of the Reason 10.3/4 Operation Manual, says it truncates impulse responses to around 12 seconds, and I've verified that this limitation really exists. I would guess longer impulses would require more CPU.

As I'd like to use this https://mattgrayyes.bandcamp.com/album/ ... oil-tanks 78-second impulse response in Reason, what might my options be? I haven't found any other convolution reverb in the shop that can load an impulse response from a wave file, let alone one than handles that long impulse responses. Are there any useful RE:s I've missed?

A suitable VST likely exists, but that world seems quite messy and even a bit shady at times. I don't really know where to start looking. Via Google, I got, for example, this https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2019/0 ... reverb-vst list, but, as opposed to the RV7k, where I could look up its impulse response limit in the public manual, useful specifications seems more scarce in the VST world, and even "Free" plugins apparently tends to come with strings attached, so I still feel pretty lost.

As my sole purpose for working around the 12 second limit, would be to play with that one impulse response, just for fun, I can't invest too much time or money. I voluntarily paid a few pounds for the impulse response itself and I wouldn't mind paying something similar for a working plugin, as long as I can expect it to, just like the impulse file, work ten years from now, so it couldn't depend on some online licensing that might be gone tomorrow.

Native Instruments Reaktor can load as a VST plugin in Reason, so I tried this https://www.native-instruments.com/en/r ... /show/6841 ensemble, but it sounds jittery and cuts off the reverberation even sooner than the RV7k.

I would appreciate any suggestions as how to, as simply as possible, be able to use long impulse responses in Reason.

User avatar
Dante
Posts: 531
Joined: 06 Jun 2015
Location: Australia
Contact:

14 Jul 2019

Not sure if this fits your specs, but have you checked out the Eventide Blackhole ?

https://www.eventideaudio.com/products/ ... /blackhole

User avatar
wikholm
Posts: 47
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Sweden

15 Jul 2019

Hi Dante and thank you for your suggestion, much appreciated. To my delight, the user manual was available for immediate download.

While Blackhole seems to be a reverb capable of some huge sounds, I can't find any mention of an ability to load my own impulse response from a file into it, and as I'm currently trying to use the particular impulse response I mentioned above (which, by the way, comes from a British former oil storage facility), I don't think I can use Blackhole for that specific purpose. Also, while a quality plugin certainly can justify a $200 asking price, for my hobbyist budget, it's a bit steep, especially when the intended use would mainly be to play with a £5 impulse response. When I just want a "huge" reverb in general, I'm currently using the Synapse DR-1 Deep Reverb included in the Mix & Mastering Rig. It allows reverb times of 60 seconds, which is, usually, far more than I need. In this particular case though, I'd like to use that 78-second impulse, not because it's 78 seconds but because it's a 78 second impulse of a real space, as they tend to sound more interesting than most algorithmic reverb plugins, but thanks again for tip.

User avatar
selig
RE Developer
Posts: 11685
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

15 Jul 2019

I'm a fan and user of Reverberate, but I've never tried to load a sample that long into it. It's worth checking out if you're into convolution in general, and in taking convolution further (via Fusion IRs) and with other cool features.

https://www.liquidsonics.com/software/reverberate-2/
Selig Audio, LLC

User avatar
wikholm
Posts: 47
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Sweden

15 Jul 2019

Thank you for your suggestion. I have downloaded and read the user manual, and, while it doesn't say how long impulses are supported, it certainly seems like a capable reverb. I will have to argue a bit with my wallet, to see if I can allow myself to try out the demo. Should it turn out to manage this impulse, I'd probably want to get the plugin and, while $125 is very fair, it's still a bit beyond what I'd spend on something just for horsing around with a single sample, so, in that case, I'd have to convince myself that I could ALSO do things with this plugin that no other reverb I've already got would be able to do well enough.

I have learnt that Adode Audition (to nobody's surprise, really) can handle impulses this long, but that's not a real time process. It seems convolution costs more CPU the longer the impulse, so maybe ~12 seconds is pretty impressive after all. Tonight I've been cheating a bit by chaining multiple RV-7000s and loading them with different parts of the impulse response. Yes, that's fugly, but, well, I get a ~30 seconds reverb tail that sounds kind of like what I want. Maybe I'll leave it at that. We'll see. Thanks again for the suggestion.

Steedus
Competition Winner
Posts: 1009
Joined: 31 Aug 2015
Location: Melbourne, AU

16 Jul 2019

Audiothing's Fog Convolver might suit you and it's a bit cheaper at USD $65

https://www.audiothing.net/effects/fog-convolver/

Plus you can easily download it and use it fully in demo mode. It will just emit silence every 45 seconds or so in demo mode.

I can't see anything in the manual which mentions response time limitations, but it's easy to try it out.

karimmopa8000
Posts: 2
Joined: 16 Jul 2019

16 Jul 2019

wikholm wrote:
15 Jul 2019
Thank you for your suggestion. I have downloaded and read the user manual, and, while it doesn't say how long impulses are supported, it certainly seems like a capable reverb. I will have to argue a bit with my wallet, to see if I can allow myself to try out the demo. Should it turn out to manage this impulse, I'd probably want to get the plugin and, while $125 is very fair, it's still a bit beyond what I'd spend on something just for horsing around with a single sample, so, in that case, I'd have to convince myself that I could ALSO do things with this plugin that no other reverb I've already got would be able to do well enough.

I have learnt that Adode Audition (to nobody's surprise, really) can handle impulses this long, but that's not a real time process. It seems convolution costs more CPU the longer the impulse, so maybe ~12 seconds is pretty impressive after all. Tonight I've been cheating a bit by chaining multiple RV-7000s and loading them with different parts of the impulse response. Yes, that's fugly, but, well, I get a ~30 seconds reverb tail that sounds kind of like what I want. Maybe I'll leave it at that. We'll see. Thanks again for the suggestion.
Not sure if this fits your specs, but have you checked out the Eventide Blackhole ?

User avatar
wikholm
Posts: 47
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Sweden

16 Jul 2019

Excellent!

AudioThing Fog Convolver was blissfully uncomplicated to download, unzip and install as a demo. Yes, it shows up in Reason and YES, it handles that 78 second impulse response just fine. None of the factory bank content showed up (I guess the "no save" demo limitation prevents it from even saving its own configuration files), but I could just drag and drop that 78 second impulse response and it just worked.

On my a few years old Core i7-6700HQ laptop, Reason 10.4 with an empty rack draws 2-3% CPU. Adding a Radical Piano (for example) increases the load to 5-10% and adding Fog Convolver with THAT impulse response, made it rise to 15-18%, which I must say is impressive. It's much better than what I got from my home brew hack with multiple RV7000, both in terms of CPU and sound.

Now, I'm seriously considering spending €65 on it. Yes, I'd get some included responses, but the main motivation would be to be able to run whatever sound I like through one of the Inchindown, Royal Navy Fuel Tanks of Invergordon, Ross-shire, Scotland. Didn't see that one coming when I sent Matt Gray £5 for a copy of the impulse response. I will have to make myself another cup of tea and think things trough. Many thanks for the tip.

Steedus
Competition Winner
Posts: 1009
Joined: 31 Aug 2015
Location: Melbourne, AU

16 Jul 2019

Good to hear! If you can wait a few months they might do a black friday sale or something similar. I've bought some of their plugins during a previous sale.

User avatar
wikholm
Posts: 47
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Sweden

18 Jul 2019

I might do that. Thanks for the hint. As this is purely a hobby for me, I'm mostly only allowing myself to buy discounted toys nowadays, partly to get a bit more out of my budget and mainly to dampen the Gear Acquisition Syndrome. When something is REALLY awesome, I might make exceptions. I'm not quite sure yet if this is one such case, because, dang, this might be the most atmospheric reverberation I've ever heard.

User avatar
wikholm
Posts: 47
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Sweden

27 Nov 2019

Well, just as Steedus suggested, I decided to wait and see. Now, the Black Days are here and, indeed, AudioThing has a sale, on which I just picked up Fog Convolver at a 40% discount. Microsoft ate my AudioThing account activation e-mail, before my own spam filter had a chance to clear it, but I just sent their support an e-mail with the relevant details, and they activated my account without a problem. So, now I'm playing some (Parsec) Piano rreeealllyyy sllloooowwwlllyyy through an impulse response of 78 seconnnnnndssssssss...

Steedus
Competition Winner
Posts: 1009
Joined: 31 Aug 2015
Location: Melbourne, AU

27 Nov 2019

:thumbs_up:

(I promise I don't work for them - just a fan)

Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot] and 20 guests