Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb

There are so many reverb plug‑ins for Mac and Windows DAW software now that, in order to stand out from the crowd, a new one needs to offer something a little out of the ordinary. Supporting all the mainstream plug‑in formats including AAX, Minimal Audio’s Swarm Reverb does exactly this by combining a fairly conventional algorithmic reverb with modulation and an assertive ducker that, at extreme settings, can produce a slow fade‑in of the reverb. A graphic of the early reflections is shown in the centre of the GUI, and the Size knob adjusts their spacing from short and tight to long and grainy. An Attack control adjusts the amplitude of the various reflections, giving a normal decay at its minimum setting, but a slow build‑up at longer settings. When modulation is added, the delay timing of the early reflections moves in opposite directions in the left and right channels. The modulation range goes from a gentle slow chorus, via weird caves to a swarming hiss at faster rates and high depths. A mouse‑over tooltip mode explains the controls, which is helpful.

There are level controls for both the input and output, as well as high‑ and low‑pass input filters that affect only the wet sound. A separate low‑cut diffusion filter with adjustable gain and frequency is applied to the early reflections diffusion generators. Most reverbs feature a pre‑delay to offset the start of the reverb, and here we get a full 500ms of delay range, with adjustable feedback and a tempo‑sync option, making this feature more like a conventional digital delay than a simple pre‑delay.

For the late reflections or reverb tail, there are controls for Decay and Damping as well as a Balance control that adjusts the mix of early reflections and tail. The ducker is adjustable for both rate and time, and it’s very effective in killing the reverb until the input level drops, then allowing it to swell back in, creating a convincing bowing sound. At lower settings the ducked effect can really help to keep the sound clean, by gently reducing the amount of reverb being added when the dry level is high. Finally, there’s an output limiter that can either be off, gentle or punchy. These limiter modes can be useful but can also sound a bit dirty on some material, in which case it may be best to bypass them. A horizontal fader sets the master wet/dry balance.

The modulation, delay section, ducking and attack parameters make it possible to conjure up a wide range of reverb treatments.

Characterful

Despite there being only a single reverb algorithm, the modulation, delay section, ducking and attack parameters make it possible to conjure up a wide range of reverb treatments that go from vintage algorithmic spaces to otherworldly special effects. By comparison with reverbs that aim to sound very natural, Swarm Reverb is undeniably more coarse‑sounding — but that’s precisely what gives it such an endearing character. It probably wouldn’t be my first choice for drums and percussion, but for other instruments and voices it can be supremely effective, especially if you want to stray outside the more obvious reverb treatments.