User Guide
18.21. REVERB 268
18.21.2 Early Reections
These are the earliest echoes that you hear after they bounce off a room's walls, before
the onset of the diffused reverberation tail. Their amplitude and distribution give an
impression of the room's character.
The Shape control sculpts the prominence of the early reections, as well as their overlap
with the diffused sound. With small values, the reections decay more gradually and the
diffused sound occurs sooner, leading to a larger overlap between these components. With
large values, the reections decay more rapidly and the diffused onset occurs later. A
higher value can sometimes improve the source's intelligibility, while a lower value may give
a smoother decay.
Spin applies modulation to the early reections. The 2-D control accesses the depth and
frequency of these modulations. A larger depth tends to provide a less-colored (more
spectrally neutral) late diffusion response. If the modulation frequency is too high, doppler
frequency shifting of the source sound will occur, along with surreal panning effects. Spin
may be turned off, using the associated switch, with modest CPU savings.
18.21.3 Global Settings
The Quality chooser controls the tradeoff between reverb quality and performance. Econ-
omy mode uses minimal CPU resources, while First Class delivers the richest reverberation.
The Size parameter controls the room's volume. At one extreme, a very large size will
lend a shifting, diffused delay effect to the reverb. The other extreme, a very small value,
will give it a highly colored, metallic feel.
The Stereo Image control determines the width of the output's stereo image. At the highest
setting of 120 degrees, each ear receives a reverberant channel that is independent of the
other (this is also a property of the diffusion in real rooms). The lowest setting mixes the
output signal to mono.