Stone Voices has released Ambient Reverb, a high-quality freeware reverb effect in VST plugin format for 32-bit and 64-bit host applications on Windows. UPDATE (November 18th, 2019): Ambient Reverb is no longer free. It costs $20 with a 30-day free trial.
Ambient Reverb is a lush reverb effect optimized for use in ambient music. The fact that it allows for up to 100 seconds of decay time makes it perfect for simulating huge, unrealistic spaces. It can also work great for simulating the reverb properties of realistic large spaces like cathedrals, stadiums, etc. The freeze function is also included, providing the option to make the reverb signal last forever, literally. I’ve found that mapping the freeze parameter to a MIDI control can work as a great performance tool when playing synth solos or adding spice to drum tracks. For example, you can freeze the reverb on a snare hit for a second and then turn it off, resulting in something that resembles the classic gate reverb technique, but with a different flavor.
See also: Best FREE Reverb VST/AU Plugins!In addition to decay time and freeze, the interface also features controls for early and late reflections, left and right pre-delay time, the size and width of the simulated space, damping, dry signal volume, and a 2-band parametric equalizer. Although the GUI is not resizable, it is perfectly sized for use on modern HD screens. The control scheme looks fine and the design slightly resembles a guitar stompbox. It would be nice to see a modulation parameter added in a future version of the plugin as it would enable Ambient Reverb to emulate irregular spaces like caverns and pools, but this would probably require some drastic changes of the algorithm.
The most important feature of a reverb effect, though, is its sound. Ambient Reverb absolutely shines as a tool for simulating large spaces. The sound is lush, rich, clean, and natural. It is perfect for use in ambient music, or any other scenario where a large, spacy sounding reverb is required. It is less useful (and not intended) for simulating smaller spaces. The included factory presets cover some of the most useful settings, but you can tweak them further to suit your project using the provided controls. The CPU hit is more than reasonable for a quality reverb plugin.
This is the fourth freeware VST plugin released by Vasily Makarov, the developer behind Stone Voices. Check out the previously released Brandulator, Marazmator, and PolyGAS if you’re into slightly unusual instruments and effects. Just like its predecessors, Ambient Reverb is available as a Windows VST plugin only and will not work on Mac computers.
Ambient Reverb is no longer free. It costs $20 with a 30-day free trial.
Ambient Reverb is available via Stone Voices (4.06 MB download size, RAR archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST plugin format for Windows).
