SMR Live Reverb
The design brief was to create the right sounding reverbs with the ideal parameter control and layout for the Live sound application.
SMR Live is a Spatial Modelling Reverberator featuring 4 fully configurable complex spatial models Classic, Hall, Room and EMT. Each of these models employ different reflection and decay algorithms to provide natural sound spaces ideal for Live sound.
SMR provides top layer controls essential in a live scenario. These never change position. In addition there are scrollable ‘Expert’ pages, which are easily navigable and don’t hide the top layer controls.
LF Cut 0 to 400Hz, 24dB/octave high pass filter to control input spectrum.
HF Cut 2kHz to 20kHz, 24dB/octave low pass filter to control input spectrum. The input filters are critical for reverb bandwidth control adjustments to the sound space.
Predelay The delay prior to the reflections and decay.
Decay Time Broad spectrum decay control. RT60. A major control in setting the reverb.
HF Decay Turn over frequency of the high frequency decay attenuation.
HF Slope HF decay attenuation slope. HF Decay and Slope are both essential for HF decay spectrum adjustment in a live space. Setting HF Decay and Slope low creates a natural sounding HF decay. Setting HF decay and slope high creates a dramatic decay.
Expert mode – 5 fine adjustment pages:
Page 1 Reflections - Source Diffusion, Size, Shape, Ref Detail.
Dedicated to reflection control. Keep source diffusion and detail low to help intelligibility. Small sizes are not typical for live applications. ‘Shape’ is only available in the Plate model.
Page 2 Echoes - Echo1, Echo1 level, Echo2, Echo2 level.
Dedicated page for user defined echo reflections. The engineer can insert main reflections to create Echo reverb sounds. Echo1 goes to left Echo 2 goes right. Echoes may be layered over the reverb.
Page 3 Decay Texture - Body Diffusion, Tail diffusion, Mod depth, Mod speed.
Separate body and tail diffusion controls can help prevent metallic decay through too much diffusion. Modulation depth and speed increase reverb density and add chorusing, effective on percussive program but not as useful on piano and vocal.
Page 4 Decay Spectrum - LF decay, LF XOver, Colour, Colour Freq.
Separate LF decay control with crossover frequency and decay time, useful for live work. Colour is a tunable element in the decay. High Freq colour settings can enhance ambience, although can sound metallic with some programme.
Page 5 Reflection/decay level - Reflection level, decay level.
Dedicated to balancing reflection and decay to improve intelligibility.
Spatial Models
Classic Emulates high quality plates. Shape tailors the reflection pattern. Min position for fast attack, mid position for rounded early reflections, and max position for separated early and late reflection patterns.. Adjusting shape/size/predelay with decay can result in some great Hall reverbs. Small size settings not very useful in live sound applications.
Hall Emulates a real Hall reflection model. No shape control, reflections are controlled with Size, Source diffusion and Ref detail with rich deep decay spectrum.
Room Accurately emulates a characteristic complex room reflection pattern.
EMT Classic plate emulation. A great plate with good tonal balance for live use. Decay setting around 2 seconds typical.
Preset Name is displayed in the simulated LCD window. Touch and scroll using the TouchScreen encoder for live update. This is a way of live auditioning all library presets for this module (factory, user and USB). Settings are recalled live as you spin the rotary. For spot controlled changes to a particular preset use library recall.
Rack Send Name (input source) is displayed top left below the title ‘SMR Live’