Baby Audio; a software company that focus’s on creating stellar products that help producers create a more polished sound whether in they’re bedroom producer or in a professional studio. One of their most esteemed products Crystalline, is a modern reverb plugin for Windows and macOS.
I often hear people say we can never have too many plugins especially reverb plugins, and it seems Baby Audio would agree. The developer behind plugins like I Heart NY, Super VHS, and Comeback Kid also has a beautiful sounding reverb, Crystalline. A plugin which even nominated for Sound On Sound 2023 music awards.
A Reverb That Gives The Artist Freedom
Crystalline is a modern algorithmic reverb that aims to give the user complete control.
One of the biggest takeaways from this VST is at a glance, some features look like they came straight from a producer/engineers reverb wish-list. A clever notion because it offers the right tools to let you create whatever you want, rather than push you towards a particular sound like some other reverbs
It could be all smoke and mirrors however, but I’m cautiously optimistic/excited at first sight.
The GUI
The GUI has a clean, modern style with no menu-diving other than presets. Saving and loading user presets is easy, with buttons on either side of the preset menu. The (factory/contributor) preset list is massive if you want to be pushed toward a particular sound.
When it comes to the actual controls from the top left, the Reflections block has a simple Size control (choose between five) which is one of the most dramatic mouse tweaking options and obviously dictates the size of your space. Sparkle adds high-end shimmer or air which is especially pleasing on the usual suspects of vocals, but can also be great for drums such as snares or hats. Width fills out your spectrum according to how narrow your mouse makes the circle, up to an extreme ‘extra wide’ where it breaks in two. This is especially useful if you don’t want reverb enveloping your entire spread; keeping vocals in check but still effected, for example.
This is all great and simple, but beneath these, you get three less obvious controls. Resolution controls the level of the reverb algorithm so can cut down your CPU usage. A great feature for those working on lower end systems. Set it on Basic for light use and Pristine for heavy. Modulation is more of a pitch effect that can add a sense of swirling fatness and works great on keys, and more for a lot more presence. Shimmer grabs the higher frequencies of the effect and retains the effect with them for longer and we love BA’s description of it leaving an ‘angelic halo’ as it does leave a certain shimmer that can be rather ghostly. A sound thats a personal favorite of mine.
A super fun part is the third Clean Up section as, if you are like me, you will have max’d everything out so have a wall of sound which this section can reign in without hopefully lessening the best parts of the reverb’s impact. Damping simply filters lower and higher frequencies; Sides lets you set a frequency below which the sides won’t be effected by so keeps the low end unaffected and the higher end spread. Gate is another obvious one, allowing you to set a level by which the release kicks in as fast as you like.
Finally the Shape section contains Tone, an adjustable tilt EQ; Smoothing which makes the impact of the reverb less harsh and more subtle; and lastly, Transients is a great way of emphasizing either the attack or sustain parts of the sound for impact or atmosphere. This is obviously great to beef up drums or to leave any sound more washed out with less attack.
Like we say there’s a lot to play with here, much of it dramatic and fun.
Overall with a beautiful sound and GUI Baby Audio has yet again made an amazing plugin that, at only 99 USD would make an amazing tool to have in any artist arsenal.