Quantum Room Simulator | Legendary Reverb Sound from Savant Audio Labs

[jens]

I have their Yardstick emu which I thought I'd love (so I purchased it without even testing) but now I don't know what to do with it... it just doesn't really seem to fit for anything I try it on...

Oh, that's actually not entirely correct - credit where credit is due - I occassionally use it (sparcely) in front of other reverb plugins - as kind of a reverb-primer if you will...

[savantaudio]

Huh. Do people love this one? I listened to the hardware comparison video and my take-a-way was that while I couldn’t tell the two apart, I also didn’t like the sound of it.

If you would like to hear a wider range of examples, there are a number of different audio demos on the main product page:
https://savantaudiolabs.com/product/qua ... simulator/

There are also some useful comparisons between the new Quantum Room Simulator and many other software and hardware reverbs posted recently by another user here:
https://recording.de/threads/reverb-ver ... st-3266115

Again, I'm not trying to convince you to like this reverb, but these examples might be useful in showing the reverb in different contexts.

[martiu]

it sounds great on those examples

[zerocrossing]

Huh. Do people love this one? I listened to the hardware comparison video and my take-a-way was that while I couldn’t tell the two apart, I also didn’t like the sound of it.

I have their Yardstick emu which I thought I'd love (so I purchased it without even testing) but now I don't know what to do with it... it just doesn't really seem to fit for anything I try it on...

I assumed I'd love the (more vintagy) QRS more, but listening to the video I have basically the exact same reaction to it as you have.

It's weird: my most used algos right now are Palace and the shorter Sonsig ones, which are all Quantec-based, but the real Quantec stuff appears to be dramatically overrated to me now.

Probably just a matter of taste after all - but it seems cold and artificial and lifeless to me, for lack of better words. (It's as if it wants to be especially realistic and dramatically fails for the same reason.)

I think like anything else, it can fit the period of when it was made, but it’s silly to think that any digital device built in the 80s is some pinnacle of quality. That reverb is the Aquanet big hair of reverbs, and now that time has passed.

[chagzuki]

To my ears it's a different evocation of space from other reverbs. In A/B tests it feels like being immersed in a space, a breathing ambience, and other reverbs seem like looking at a detached space as if it were a picture. For example, Cinematic Rooms Pro has a sort of depth to it, the reverb kinda recedes and people often describe it as 3D, but it's still a space that's out in front like a TV screen.

[jamcat]

QRS has an interesting stereo field of depth to it.
But it's also really really metallic and resonant.

It can sound a lot cleaner than a 224, for example, but those resonances can really be overwhelming.

[briefcasemanx]

Crazy to me that people somehow can't hear what a plugin is doing because it cuts out or has white noise. I've never ever had a problem telling if a plugin sounds good and is worth buying because it cut out once in awhile.

[martinjuenke]

Crazy to me that people somehow can't hear what a plugin is doing because it cuts out or has white noise. I've never ever had a problem telling if a plugin sounds good and is worth buying because it cut out once in awhile.

People love to whine and are actively seeking reasons to complain in public.
It's called the Mini-Want-To-Whiney Complex.

[kritikon]

Oooh, I'll have to demo this. No access to studio currently and no way my laptop speakers are good enough to demo any kind of reverb, let alone a tasty one. But hopefully I'll be home in 3 weeks & try it out. Very nearly bought the other one but ended up not - I don't think I'll be able to resist this one.

[kritikon]

I think like anything else, it can fit the period of when it was made, but it’s silly to think that any digital device built in the 80s is some pinnacle of quality. That reverb is the Aquanet big hair of reverbs, and now that time has passed.

I doubt anyone thinks it's the pinnacle. But some old stuff just sounds good and is still very worth using. E.g. I know full well there are many modern synths, such as Serum, that are capable of all kinds of magic and technically far supercede older synths. But give me an OSCar any day of the week over Serum - OSCar can sound way gruntier, characterful and deeper as opposed to the basic wavetable sound of Serum which is quite metallic and bland to me (though the superb FX make it much, much better). I mostly dislike Serum TBH, but it's obvs a far deeper synth. I'm absolutely sure many VST reverbs have infinitely more variations and in-depth parameters, wider spectrum etc but I really don't care when/if a QRS actually sounds better in the track I'm making. I won't dismiss old gear just because it's old. I'll dismiss it if it sounds crap, which some old gear does. I haven't demoed it yet but somehow I doubt this QRS sounds crap, and TBH I couldn't care less if a modern reverb can make an identical simulation of a 3x4m room carpeted with yak's wool and tiled with Brazilian marble. My music wasn't made to sound like it's in a 3x4m room carpeted with yak's wool and tiled with Brazilian marble. Lexicons can sound extremely artificial but I still like 'em. My Quantec impulses are amongst the best reverb impulses I have, so I'm hoping this emulation of old gear sounds just like that, only better...

[zerocrossing]

QRS has an interesting stereo field of depth to it.
But it's also really really metallic and resonant.

It can sound a lot cleaner than a 224, for example, but those resonances can really be overwhelming.

Agreed. I dislike that metallic resonance vibe.

[zerocrossing]

To my ears it's a different evocation of space from other reverbs. In A/B tests it feels like being immersed in a space, a breathing ambience, and other reverbs seem like looking at a detached space as if it were a picture. For example, Cinematic Rooms Pro has a sort of depth to it, the reverb kinda recedes and people often describe it as 3D, but it's still a space that's out in front like a TV screen.

I personally feel like Cinematic Rooms Pro is the nicest sounding digital reverb I’ve ever heard, including hardware. I totally disagree that it sticks out as a separate element in a mix.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Things like this really depend on taste. Do you want your reverb to be transparent and realistic? Or do you want something a little more sacharrine and processed? I tend to lean towards the latter, which is where I'd say QRS falls. Cinematic Rooms definitely falls into the former camp for me. Both are good.

[chagzuki]

QRS has an interesting stereo field of depth to it.
But it's also really really metallic and resonant.

It can sound a lot cleaner than a 224, for example, but those resonances can really be overwhelming.

Agreed. I dislike that metallic resonance vibe.

I've wondered about reverbs sounding like crap in isolation, and yet working when blended. I'm guessing that the metallic quality might be somewhat necessary in evoking a diffuse ambience when dialled down to low levels. Because the sense of space is strong with QRS it can be felt when it's really quiet, so you end up with clarity of the source plus a strong feeling of ambience, the complete opposite of a character reverb.

[chagzuki]

I personally feel like Cinematic Rooms Pro is the nicest sounding digital reverb I’ve ever heard, including hardware. I totally disagree that it sticks out as a separate element in a mix.

I was saying that the soundstage it and most (stereo) reverbs create is more like a picture in front of the listener, rather than an immersive ambience. CRP seems to me to sort of melt into the source, and due to its smoothness recede away.