Valhalla Supermassive

[caulixtla]

If the Space Station is classic, basic and 'primitive' (still useful tho) , the Valhalla one is modern, expansive and futuristic .. really cool!

SC has a lot to say about the Ursa Major Space Station comparison: He doesn’t see Supermassive as having a Space Station sound, but thinks Valhalla Delay can get really close

In terms of using R2/Nimbus/R4/Symphony reverbs, I think Michael Carnes is a brilliant reverb designer, I like how all his reverbs have surround sound support, and I think he has every right to protect his intellectual property with iLok, but for my setup, an iLok doesn’t make sense. Also, Carnes comes from a “one perfect algorithm” mindset; Costello comes from a “dozens of different algorithms” mindset. Both are good mindsets, but I prefer the larger number of algorithms Valhalla products have.

[GaryG]

If the Space Station is classic, basic and 'primitive' (still useful tho) , the Valhalla one is modern, expansive and futuristic .. really cool!

SC has a lot to say about the Ursa Major Space Station comparison: He doesn’t see Supermassive as having a Space Station sound, but thinks Valhalla Delay can get really close

If it's the Space Station people are after then I think Audioritys Polaris is much closer to it, based on that single delay line topology.

[Smapti]

I have deep respect for Sean's sound design, both in his taste and technical ability (the latter is nothing without the former!) Here is my first look at it going through some of the presets and giving my first impressions.



 

Nice tones man. I would love a Valhalla guitar pedal to put on my board.

 

Thanks! I totally agree...Valhalla hardware would be great.

 

There actually is Valhalla hardware, although maybe not in a form that's useful for guitar -- he created some reverb algorithms for the Tiptop Audio Z-Dsp:
http://tiptopaudio.com/zdsp-ns/

[Synthient Sound]

I forgot about the Z-DSP, but it would be nice in a form for (keyboard) synth and guitar.

[3ee]

I never said the Space Station compares in terms in sound with ValhallaSupermassive, I just pointed out that they are similar ‘conceptually’ , of course the later is more modern and complex, not comparable in terms of sound although you can see some resemblance with some settings

[Ah_Dziz]

Sean is always on point. Thanks for the awesome freebie.

JJ

[.jon]

I was excited to test this, but unfortunately VSM falls somewhere between Lagrange and Diffuse, and does neither style as well. Or tbh even sound as good. Anyway, freebies are always cool and welcome so thanks Valhalla, this one didn't quite make the cut.

Hmmm, listening to your ambient music

I can see where you come from. I get a definite Klautrock vibe in this ambient track you did, and I can see why Supermassive would not work with this kind of sound (it’s a little too clean and pure for that vibe). Excellent ambient music, by the way.

Thanks for having a listen and for the kind words!

The way I see Supermassive is that it has two tricks setting it apart from a regular delay and a reverb- first is the Warp, achieving interesting random, scattered delays, and second the transition from discrete delays to a reverb. Now while Lagrange is a granular delay aka different under the hood, I find it does the scatter delay effect with much higher sound quality, and offers more flexible controls to tailor the sound. Diffuse does the other trick, a smooth transition from delays to reverb and back. It also offers quite similar delay variants to SM.

I do these comparisons between plugins in order to limit the number of plugins in my setup, I prefer to keep only plugins with distinctly unique functions or benefits... and I already have 3 delay units I will explore SM some more, maybe there is a thing I missed?

[ssl4000]

I find it funny that it's called "Supermassive" and it is quite a similar thing to Eventide's "Black Hole"

[Sampleconstruct]

I find it funny that it's called "Supermassive" and it is quite a similar thing to Eventide's "Black Hole"

Blackhole can't produce delays in that sense, only very diffused ones when “Gravity“ is set to negative values, but VSM is nothing like Blackhole.

[cron]

This is a future classic freebie. A simple UI concealing a lifetime's worth of experimentation. It's a great effect to play like an instrument, especially with the instant buffer clear. Currently addicted using it as a drone machine because it can move between phaser, reverb, and glitch in the smoothest way. Diffuse reverb coalescing into a 'stuck buffer' effect is something I've never heard before. Instantly memorable.

[ssl4000]

Blackhole can't produce delays in that sense, only very diffused ones when “Gravity“ is set to negative values, but VSM is nothing like Blackhole.

To be honest, I never tried Blackhole, but I've read here and there about similarity of these two, I guess we can't trust people on internet and my reply just adds to it And it made sense to me, because of how these plugins are named

[Sampleconstruct]

They're both plugins so that makes them similar enough.

[Dirtgrain]

To be honest, I never tried Blackhole, but I've read here and there about similarity of these two . . .

Well, Valhalla Shimmer has a setting called, "Blackhole," so there's that

[PatchAdamz]

As far as free plugins goes, this is one of the better ones.

[SteveWZ]

Here is an example of Valhalla Supermassive using automation techniques to change the characteristics of the reverb and delays as the piece evolves.

There are 2 instruments and 2 instances of Valhalla Supermassive.

We are viewing the automated track which is on all the percussive instruments.
No other reverbs or delays are being used.