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Table Of Contents
122 Chapter 10 Convolution Reverb: Space Designer
Note: If running Space Designer in a song at 96 kHz (utilizing an Impulse Response
originally recorded at 44.1 kHz), you may want to reduce the IR Sample Rate to 1/2. To
do so, use the Sample Rate Slider in Space Designer. Make sure the Preserve Length
function is enabled. This cuts CPU power consumption by about 50%, without
compromising reverb quality. There is no loss in reverb quality, because the Impulse
Response—originally recorded at 44.1 kHz—will not benefit from the higher song
sample rate of 96 kHz.
Note: Similar adjustments can be made while running in Synthesized IR mode. Most
typical reverb sounds don’t feature an excessive amount of high frequency content. If
you were running at 96 kHz, you would need to make use of some deep lowpass
filtering to obtain the mellow frequency response characteristics of many reverb
sounds. As a different approach, you are better served to first reduce the high
frequencies by 1/2 or even 1/4 using the Sample Rate slider in Space Designer, and
than apply the lowpass filter. This conserves a considerable amount of CPU power.
Length
This parameter determines the length of the Impulse Response (sampled or
synthesized).
All envelopes are calculated as a percentage of the overall Length automatically, which
means that if this parameter is altered, your envelope curves will stretch or shrink to fit,
saving you time and effort.
Note that the Length parameter value can not exceed the actual length of an IR sample.
Also note that longer IRs (sampled or synthesized) place a higher strain on the CPU.
Preserve Length
Activating this button preserves the length of the Impulse Response when the Sample
Rate is changed. If the Sample Rate is halved, the Impulse Response will be doubled in
length. To avoid this, make use of the Preserve Length function. Having said this, feel
free to manipulate these two parameters as you see fit, as it can lead to a number of
interesting results. In any case a lower sample rate will save CPU power.