PhoenixVerb and R2 are two new reverb synthesizer plug-ins from Exponential Audio’s Michael Carnes who designed Lexicon Pro’s 960L, PCM96 and PCM plug-ins.
PhoenixVerb ($199) produces natural and realistic room, plate, chamber and hall reverbs with presets arranged by keywords or categories. This arrangement lets you see different applications of the same presets within the range of multiple categories.
R2 ($299) is called an active character reverb because it is designed to add coloration—even quirkiness with its additional chorus and gate processor modules. I found the chorus to add a subtle touch of modulation to the reverb’s sound while the gate panel’s parameters work well for devising quirky reverb effects, sudden-gated reverb effects and unique or matching ADR environment treatments.
PhoenixVerb has become my primary go-to reverb when starting a new music mix in Pro Tools 11. Both PhoenixVerb and R2’s GUIs have complete sets of control knobs with individual parameter direct-entry windows. Wet/Dry Balance, Pre-delay and Reverb time are “center stage” in the GUI with controls for Early Reflection, Reverb Level and Output roll-off filter frequency—I especially like the stereo width control slider for setting the reverb’s image spread.
Both plug-ins are organized in a screen space-saving way with three parameter panes or panels for adjusting the basic character and nature of the synthesized reverb. You can rename and build your own categories or view a very long list of presets.
Both plug-ins are available for MACs and PCs in AU, VST, RTAS and AAX formats including AAX64. PhoenixVerb and R2 are must-have plug-ins. For more information, see http://exponentialaudio.com.
By Barry Rudolph
miniBio: Barry Rudolph is a recording engineer/mixer with over 30 gold and platinum RIAA awards to his credit. He has recorded and/or mixed: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and Robbie Nevil. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and also teaches recording engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. http://www.barryrudolph.
