It’s Black Friday season at LiquidSonics. Their plugins are worth checking out.
To my ears, their reverbs sound great, but one feature in their “pro” versions sets them apart - built in dynamics. You can do ducking within the plugin, and they’ve architected it so you can have a full early reflection while only ducking the tail, This is the key to a professional reverb sound. The early reflection provides a soundstage and character. The tail gives a full sound, but can muddy everything. By ducking only the tail, we get the works.
I own Seventh Heaven Pro ($$) , which is IR based. It has character and is somewhat tweakable. For live use, this is probably all I need. Every patch sounds good and can be dialed in to sound wonderful.
Cinematic Rooms ($$$) is algorithmic, and super clean. For big mixes and clarity, this would be the way to go. It has a chorus section, but it has limited intensity. It’s for subtle color, not effects. On isolated tracks in a quiet environment, it sounds pettier than 7th H to me, but that subtlety might be lost on live rock & roll. If I were doing live jazz mixes, I’d get it for sure.
Tai Chi ($) is the best bargain, and this would be my choice for sweeping synths. It’s algorithmic and has a stronger chorus effect for more creative sounds. I’d definitely get the full version ($99) for the integrated ducking, but the $29 lite version could be used with a compressor with sidechain (external ducking) on a budget. I plan to pick this up.
They all do surround, but don’t let that distract from the fact that they sound great for live stereo.
And definitely look into reverb ducking if you’ve never tried it. A dry, live mix can sound stark, yet in many venues it can also sound muddy as the reflections build up. Ducking is the perfect solution, adding clean, full character and placement in the soundstage.
The sale ends Dec 9.
