GSi releases Easy Convolver, a freeware lightweight convolution effect in VST2 and VST3 plugin formats for Windows and Linux.
Convolver plugins are easy to overlook. In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve ever said the words; you must have this convolver plugin. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be handy.
See also: GSi Releases VariSpeed – Free Copicat IC400 Tape Delay PluginI think part of the reason they are overlooked, aside from not being the most glamourous plugins, is that they deal mostly with the impulse responses of reverbs and amplifiers.
For many, or maybe most people, it’s easier to grab a reverb plugin or amp emulator. With a dedicated plugin, you’d get more control too. Sometimes a lack of ability to tweak might be a good thing, and maybe that’s where something like Easy Convolver fits in.
Convolution technology takes a snapshot of an impulse response, for example, a church/cathedral hall reverb. It then combines that impulse response with your signal, like your vocals, to make it sound like you are singing in that space.
Again, a more regular reverb plugin will give you more flexibility than working with just a single snapshot of an impulse response applied to everything. Having control over only the dry/wet mix means that you get quite a distinctive sound from using Easy Convolver.
The distinctive sound might be even more true when talking about impulse responses from amps or other analog gear. Easy Convolver comes with some impulses sampled from real gear, and you can download different impulse responses online.
You can start with our list of free guitar cabinet impulse responses. Multi-platinum mix engineer Cenzo Townshend has a series of impulse responses available from Celestion Digital, too.
The GUI is expectedly basic, and it doesn’t really need to be anything else. You can drag and drop IR files or click and load a file from another location. One of the cool features of Easy Convolver is that it remembers up to 100 files. So, if you have some go-to impulse responses, you just need to select them from the list to activate it rather than reloading it from scratch.
Easy Convolver doesn’t come with an automatic installer. Once you download and extract the zip file, you have to move the .exe files to the appropriate locations.
It’s available in VST2 X64 and VST3 X64 for Windows and VST2 and VST3 for Linux.
More info: Easy Convolver
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