AltiVerb 2.0 Supports VST, RTAS, and HTDMReal-time sampled acoustics processor for Mac G4
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August 1, 2002
Audio Ease has released Altiverb 2.0, a major update to their award winning reverb plug-in. Altiverb has been available to MOTU Digital Performer users for almost a year, it is now released as a VST plug-in and and in the Pro-Tools formats HTDM and RTAS as well. Altiverb requires an Apple Power Macintosh G4.
Altiverb is a sampled acoustics processor that offers realistic one-, two- and four-channel sampled acoustics of real halls, cathedrals, bathrooms -- and virtually any acoustic environment. Altiverb is the first reverb plug-in to take full advantage of Altivec, the 'Velocity Engine' co-processor that brings super-computer performance to Apple Power Macintosh G4 computers. The result is a reverb plug-in that exceeds the performance of outboard sampled acoustics processors that cost as much as $10,000. Included in the release are dozens of presets ranging from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to the back of a Ford Transit van, all of these can browsed online and downloaded from www.audioease.com/ir .
Altiverb provides mono-to-mono, mono-to-stereo, stereo-to-stereo, mono-to-quad, and stereo-to-quad effects, making it ideal for surround reverb and ambience applications. All processing is done in real time.
An Altiverb preset is called an 'impulse response', which is created by firing a starter pistol or by playing a sine wave sweep from a speaker in an auditorium, church, or other acoustic space. The resulting reverberation decay is recorded as a digital audio file. Using a process called deconvolution, the dry source signal is then extracted from the audio file, leaving behind the exact acoustic fingerprint of the space. The impulse response file is then placed in a folder, to make it appear as a preset inside the Altiverb plug-in, where it can then be applied to any audio signal as real-time reverb. The result is a true reproduction of the sound of the acoustic space. Unlike reverbs of the past, which attempt to synthesize decay characteristics, Altiverb captures the actual acoustics of a particular environment.
Altiverb includes the Impulse Response Pre-Processor software, which allows users to sample any acoustic space, hardware reverb, or other source to create their own Altiverb presets. In addition, users can take photographs of the place they are acoustically sampling, and place JPG images in the same folder. Altiverb then displays the JPGs as a slideshow when the preset is chosen in the plug-in. In addition, these pictures can show mic positions and other details of the sampled space.
Altiverb and its downloadable demos are available from the Audio Ease on-line store. Price is US$495.00 for the MAS-VST-RTAS bundle. The HTDM-RTAS-MAS-VST Bundle costs US$795.00
For more information, visit their web site at www.audioease.com. |
