That invaluable reverb/delay we’d probably buy if it cost money, except it’s free, has gotten yet another landmark update. Leo and Virgo rising: it’s the densest yet and the sparsest yet.
Valhalla DSP’s Supermassive remains one of our favorite all-time plug-ins. It’s the reverb/delay to use when you’ve got no cash. It’s the reverb/delay to use when you need a free plug-in so you can share projects with friends. And it’s just one of the lushest, largest, most open-ended reverb/delay tools around, full stop.
Version 3.0.0 remains free, across both Windows and Intel/Apple Silicon macOS. V3 adds two new algorithms, which for me bring it into some territory I can’t quite match even with some of the other reverbs and delays in my toolkit.
Leo is the “most super massive-est” yet:
- Long decay with Density and Feedback
- High echo density with balanced modulation
- Interleaved high and low EQ filters in the reverb network for a range of timbral controls
(Or, for another explanation of Leos, check here.)
Virgo is the “most sparse,” which means you can also use it as a delay with a complex network:
- Fast attack, sparse model
- Stereo delay with low Density;
- Grainy reverb with high Density
So let’s review: V2 has Aquarius and Pisces as “echoverbs” plus Scorpio and Libra as “generalist” reverbs that are “good on everything.” Add that to the various models in V1, which introduced lots of the lush, spacey, sparkly, shimmery goodness kids nowadays crave.
And I think it is a decent idea to think of this as both a reverb and a delay – not least because it’s based on a delay network, but because with the sparse models, you can just use it as a delay, without the usual repetitiveness of a lot of typical delay models.
Here’s a quick play with the two models, using AAS’ Chromaphone for a nice impulse (with its internal decay and reverb turned down).
Blog entry (yeah, sorry, Sean, I cribbed your notes, but it’s a Sunday):
Valhalla Supermassive Updated To Version 3.0.0. Two New Modes: Leo and Virgo!
Download – scroll down past the demos. (or check out the demos, they’re also great!) And don’t forget to grab Space Modulator and Freq Echo, too, while you’re there, for two more excellent Valhalla plug-in freebies!
This isn’t the only Valhalla plug-in that just got an update, either. ValhallaRoom got some major improvements, too, in V2 – a free upgrade for existing users.
Space takes ValhallaRoom into space-ier dimensions – the territory you’d normally associate with Supermassive – in a lovely way:
The Space control controls the amount of feedback around the predelay and early reflections. By turning up the Space control, you can dial in diffuse and modulated echoes, early reflections with a more realistic short decay, metallic early resonances, realistic small spaces, and lush modulated reverbs that are markedly different than what ValhallaRoom could do in the past.
Plus there’s a new Lo Cut to tame that bass:
ValhallaRoom Updated to 2.0.0. New Space & Lo Cut Controls!
And if you’re an Ableton Live user, you’ll want to check out Elisabeth Homeland’s wrappers for all the Valhalla plug-ins. That just got updated for the new ValhallaRoom, and I imagine we’ll see a refresh for the new Supermassive shortly, as well:
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Valhalla plugin wrapper for Ableton Live
