Brainworx bx-rooMS - New Reverb Plugin

[pekbro]

Brainworx does tend to hype stuff out of proportion wherever possible.
My personal favorite, the "Monomaker" for instance, can easily be accomplished
with a high-pass filter on the side channel of an M/S encoded signal.

That said, this does seem a decent and efficient algo reverb. The reverb
tech coming from an IOS dev apparently. Although, I don't find anything
particularly stand-out against available (and more affordable) competition.
The M/S seems interesting, and I do personally consider the BX M/S encoders
to be among the best available.

For me, a bit too costly for what it offers. Maybe during a good sale I might
find it more attractive.

-Cheers

[kinwie]

Today most Voxengo plugins have built-in mid-side processing. But I think mid-side processing was never a big seller anyway.

I can agree with that!
From my experience lately, plugins that get used most is the one with less knobs/parameters and done the job quick and have great result!
For example, inserting OldSkoolVerb and very quickly tweak 2 or 3 knobs always result a fantastic sounding reverb!
Lately, clients demand for a quick good job for their demo/semi-mixed materials. They pay less money, but the job is very constant so overall amount will be pretty much the same as my income rate.
I think that's a better selling-point for devs to concentrate to

[vanielik]

Tried it yesterday

The Demo sounds on soundcloud I didnt find convicing - a bit on the "tin can side"...
The Reverb can sound like this, when the directivity knob is around 12h

I think its a smooth and versatile algorithm with a well desigend and easy to use GUI.
I like the quick access to Mono Maker, Stereo Width, Directivity (its like a dual engine crossfeed, but IMO they dont blend so well together, so I keep the parameter around 3-5h ).

The Modulation can get quite strong and can give some weird spacy FX.

I think some people will like this reverb a lot and it might be a good addition in the reverb pool.

Using the Valhallas, 2CAudio B2, Breeze, Aether, Phoenixverb, Relab VSR S24 (atm)
Comparing the bx-rooms didnt give me the feel that I need it - so I couldnt decide to buy it.
----
edit after testing a bit more.
Still have the feel that the Reverb is to much on the "tiny sound" side.
Not my thing.

[nicksohn]

But um...Elysia Alpha Compressor which is made by brainworx (i believe) is great compressor!
Recently I tend to use klanghelm's though.

[MarlaPodolski]

"..from leading m/s developer." How ridiculous is that? A process that is incredibly simple to achieve (anybody can do it with a real mixing desk or virtual channel strips in their DAW. It's been used for more than half a century and then these people come along and market it as something special.

Man.. I just loathe this company.

EDIT: And judging from the demo video, I'm not impressed. Granted, one needs to try the demo to give any final verdict but I don't think my Valhalla collection or Phoenix Verb is in any danger of being dethroned.

Well, they certainly didn't invent it but they were the first company which put it in a plug-in and keep it in all their Brainworx line so yeah, in some degree they're pioneers in m/s.

THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!

That's why I hate them so much. This such friggin BS that it makes me mad. Just because they ADVERTISED and kept lying about it has obviously changed the public perception but this is not at all true.

Voxengo had his MSED plugin out a LONG TIME before that. There were also multiple freeware plugins that included Mid/Side processing of one or another kind.

Holy hell.. seriously people? You believe the brainworx story now? They deserve zero credit for it and it pisses me off that they have been able to persuade you guys.

EDIT: I even remember calling them out on their bullshit when they released their first ever plugin with M/S processing, ridiculing them for the words they used and the obvious marketing of something that is completely trivial to achieve. It's almost like creating a synth and saying "For the first time a filter that cuts out high frequencies and is variable in it's cutoff.. we call it Low Pass Filter!".

I'm afraid I have to agree, not only with the facts presented by bmanic but much of his sentiment.

For me, the biggest hassle with Plugin Alliance and hence bx - Brainworks is that, in that entire line of plugins, I must buy a huge bundle in order to get a decent price on the half dozen or so of their plugins that truly are exceptional. And face it, a small handful in PA really are unmatched. Aside from coughing up the bundle price, I then have to put up with a large degree of the ridiculous and misleading hype from this company, first about how Mid Side is the best thing since sliced bread and then worse by having to read how most of their plugins are the very best of each kind. I really have come to the conclusion that bx has an unhealthy obsession over a rather minor feature of pro audio.

You can't even open any bx manual to find out the plugin's details without having to wade through page after page of this ridiculous nonsense. A few of their manuals have much more about how great MS and the plugin in question is than any real, detailed info about what the stupid thing does.

I also conclude that they seriously mislead the uninitiated and newbie type by making out like they did indeed invent MS, but even worse I think the suggestion that MS is going to fix somehow every conceivable musical mess that novice created. Whether deliberately misleading or just from over-hyping everything about their products, I think it is extremely unprofessional and certainly uncalled for. To read any bx manual, you would think they were selling dietary supplements or laundry detergent. They are doing neither.

My poppa said his staff was using Mid Side back in the '70s, and even then, and without plugins galore, it was a very simple matter. And, he said, not all that important and not even all that necessary. He said the few times some new chap came round the studios spouting all this "MS talk and similar follies" of knowledge, he knew they had a real non-pro among them and was quickly shown the door.

[Kindred]

I wish I could provide useful feedback on this, however opening in Cubase is an instant crash without fail. First time I have ever seen a plugin do that on my system.

The Sandman however, is nothing short of spectacular if you like mangling stuff up like I do...

[e@rs]

For me, the biggest hassle with Plugin Alliance and hence bx - Brainworks is that, in that entire line of plugins, I must buy a huge bundle in order to get a decent price on the half dozen or so of their plugins that truly are exceptional.

What's your 'decent price'? I got 2 of their most expensive ones for $74 each.

You can't even open any bx manual to find out the plugin's details without having to wade through page after page of this ridiculous nonsense. A few of their manuals have much more about how great MS and the plugin in question is than any real, detailed info about what the stupid thing does.

Just opened 2 of their most recent ones (digital V3 an rooMS). No annoying facts for me. They're quite well written if you ask me.

[Examigan]

For me, a bit too costly for what it offers. Maybe during a good sale I might
find it more attractive.

It's on sale right now for 50% off, how much lower did you want them to sell it for?

[pekbro]

It's on sale right now for 50% off, how much lower did you want them to sell it for?

Heh, quite a bit less than that... Anyway, what it all boils down to, is
I don't really need to spend $100 bucks on another reverb right now.
Especially one that doesn't offer much more over the other 20 or so reverb plug-ins
I already own. Out of those, I think the only one I paid that much for was sparkverb,
which is IMO a much better algo reverb. Oh and Rematrix, I believe I paid $100 for that as well.

Thats just me though. If it works for you, more power to you.

-Cheers

*Id have probably bought it for half of that. I'm a big fan of $50
reverbs.

[xx JPRacer xx]

I just hate it how people can take a very simple and thoroughly used and known concept and decide: "I invented this" and then get the masses to actually believe it.

You must really hate Apple then!

[Examigan]

I'm a big fan of $50 reverbs.

I am guessing Valhalla reverbs?
They do sound nice, that's for sure.

[c_voltage]

Tried demo, seemed to me quite interesting, exact as FX\shimmer. I would even say very good.
Cpu usage quite acceptable, but would not bad if will a slight decrease (hope to just recent birth).

[c_voltage]

Btw, maybe someone noticed, dry\wet works slightly strange, the processed signal start to appear only after about 50%, unusual mix behawior it seems.

EDIT
But Also, about price (even intro), as mentioned above, i can agree, difficult choice.

[Scotty]

Why would you expect to blown away by signal processing? I hear this phrase "blown away" time and time again. This is a respectful question. I truly don't understand people's expectations... I don't expect to be blown away by an Eq curve, preamp profile or a reverb. Workflow and thoughtful design can make me say "ahhh, now that is well thought out" but I don't expect to be blown away.

Hmmm... I've listened to all the demos on their website. Honestly, I'm not blown away (and I usually love their stuff).

[chris.r]

Why would you expect to blown away by signal processing? I hear this phrase "blown away" time and time again. This is a respectful question. I truly don't understand people's expectations... I don't expect to be blown away by an Eq curve, preamp profile or a reverb. Workflow and thoughtful design can make me say "ahhh, now that is well thought out" but I don't expect to be blown away.

That is what most of us call "blown away"