Advent Day 10

Day 10 of our BOOM Library SFX Advent Calendar brings you our third 72h SIDE RAFFLE (besides the BIG RAFFLE for the Grand Prize that runs the whole 24 days).

Today we’re raffling off one copy of the amazing SOFTUBE TSAR-1 REVERB plugin which brings you a fantastic easy-to-use high-performance reverb plugin.

(The winner will be announced on Monday, Dec. 14th on Facebook).

How can you win?
Just join our BIG RAFFLE that we announced on day 1 (click here) and you’re in for all side raffles. Join the raffle by liking, sharing, commenting our Facebook Page AND the Raffle-Post on Facebook.com/boomlibrary, following us and retweeting our Raffle-Tweet on Twitter/bomlibrary and by subscribing to our newsletter here on www.boomlibrary.com. Each action that you take will increase your winning chances. If you’re already following us or you’re already a newsletter subscriber, then you’re automatically participating in the raffle.

Of course, we have tested the plugin in advance. Here’s our review:

SOFTUBE TSAR-1 Reverb Plugin – by Patrice Börding

There is plenty of reverberation software on the market, generally there are two types: Convolution and algorithmic reverbs. Convolution reverb is based on impulse responses that capture the reverb attributes of an either realistic or virtual space and it is particularly used for post production. The algorithmic reverbs are great for music and also available as an emulation of classics like Lexicon, Eventide or TC Electronics. But lately there are also true stereo algorithm reverbs. One of them is a plug-in from the Swedish software company Softube. It is based on a new, so called “True Stereo Algorithm Reverb“, short TSAR. It’s not an emulation of hardware but it looks and feels like one. Functionality is the main argument you get with this product. It is very easy to use and helps you out with fast accessibility for great sounding reverberation.

FIRST STEPS:
First of all I listened to some presets to get an overall impression of the plug-in, but when you start using it you will soon notice that presets are not necessary to quickly get the results you want, because of the simplicity of the user interface. Let’s have a look at it.

TSAR-1 You’ve got five sliders, three knobs and three switches. All the controls you need to shape your sound to create a great hall, plate or room and more.

THE TSAR-1 ON A SOFTWARE INSTRUMENT:
I started off by using it as a send effect on a software instrument. Everyday when I come home from work after I have filled my stomach, I play piano. I always used a convolution reverb for that to create a nice reverberation. Putting the piano into a big space like a church is really relaxing me :-). From now on I think that I am also using the TSAR-1 for that, because it just sounds brillant right from the start. No need to adjust complicated settings, just turn it on, select a preset and you’re ready to go with some exquisite reverb. Listen to the following audio examples with ascending reverb time settings.
For best audio quality, you can download each audio file in 96kHz via the soundcloud player download button

FOR SOUND DESIGN:
Next I was using it for work, thus for sound design. You can easily make big tails for e.g. impacts or hits. Especially the ‚Tone‘ and ‚Density’ sliders are great for shaping the sound. As source I used mono files and the TSAR converted them into impressively good stereo sounds. Listen to some samples here:
For best audio quality, you can download each audio file in 96kHz via the soundcloud player download button

But what I liked most was creating small rooms, for example when using it as an insert effect with the following settings:

You get some nice early reflections that you can alter with the knob ‚ER Mix‘. Examples of usage are for example voices in a motorcycle helmet or indoor car sounds. I got a little claustrophobic while trying it.

Generally it is a good addition to your go-to convolution reverb and I especially like to use it for voice processing. By the way: if you click on any parameter shown on the display you undo the last change and get the exact previous setting. That is very nice for comparison and very helpful for the workflow.

Besides the TSAR-1 there is the TSAR-1R. This is the little brother with less parameters for even more simplicity and faster usage, but soundwise totally equal.

TSAR-1R Just two sliders, two knobs and one switch for quick results.

Three things that would make this an unbelievable awesome plug-in would be a bit less CPU load and the possibility to automate more parameters at the same time. To be fair, I’m demanding very much here, because the TSAR-1 works with four separate reverb engines at a time that feed into each other in a complex manner. This enables a very nice feature a
convolution reverb is not able to do. If you have a sound that is much closer to the one side, the TSAR-1 can respond to the panning of that sound.

Lets get back to the automation. Don’t get me wrong here, you can automate some of the parameters like the ‚Time‘ and ‚Dry/Wet’ parameters, but not all of them. At a certain point, if you automate too much at the same time, parts of the reverb plug-in will be muted to avoid artifacts and clicks. For Sound Design this can be unhandy in some situations.

The last thing that needs to be improved is that I can only see and use the preset menu in ProTools, Nuendo and Twisted Wave. In addition to that I tested it in Ableton Live 9, iZotope RX4, and Audio Finder, but the preset menu doesn’t show up every time. I looked this issue up on the internet to be sure I’m not making any mistakes and I directly found something about it. On www.gearslutz.com there is a tip from Softube how to get rid of this issue. You just have to use the vst version in Ableton Live 9. Unfortunately this trick doesn’t work in iZotope RX or Twisted Wave.

One last point I want to mention is the outstanding user manual plus the online resources on the Softube webpage. This is interesting for all people, even those who do not have the plug-in but want to learn something about acoustic spaces and reverberation in general. You can read the articles and download the manual here:

Pre Delay and Diffusion
Density
Creating a Sense of Distance
Creating a Sense of Space

All in all the TSAR-1 is a very useful and great sounding true algorithmic stereo reverb. A good addition to a convolution reverb and a really nice price in addition to other products in this category.

Synopsis:
– High CPU load
– Parameter automation
– Presets menu not available in some programs

+ Fast accessibility
+ Good stereo image
+ Undo option
+ very good price/performance ratio

Thanks Patrice.

Join our ADVENT RAFFLE and win a copy of the SOFTUBE TSAR-1.