Blackhole Plugin Tails Sound Muddy

[will.rasberry]

I just purchased the Blackhole Plugin and I am running the 64-bit VST under Window 10, using Cubase Elements 8. I have 16 GB of RAM and run off a Samsung EVO 840 SSD. I’ve also tried the plugin with the same hardware setup using Ableton Live 9 with the same results. 

First, everything installed just fine and I have no problems using the plugin. 

Here is my question:

Does the default resolution of my DAW have any effect now how this plug-in is rendered?

The tails for this plugin sound pretty muddy and I was wondering if it has anything to do either the space I am rendering it into (44/16 or 44/24 or 88/24 or 88/32 float) would provide a better sounding tails for this plugin if i selected a higher rendering space? 

Is there anyway I can make sure the plug-in is running at peak performance?

Is there any kind of log file this plugin generates?

I know audio perceptions are subjective. And I also know this won’t have the same performace as a dedicated piece of hardware with it’s own dedicated processor.

I love the Blackhole plugin, but the tails seem really muddy to me.

Lol, am I asking too much from this plugin or am I having legit problems? Anyone else run into this? 

 

Cheers!

Will 

Pensacola, FL 

[tlongabaugh]

Hi Will-

There shouldn't be any audible difference in the Blackhole plug-in between the different resolutions of your DAW. Theoretically, running at the highest sample rate/bit depth is most "ideal", but the fact is that (arguably) won't change how you hear the reverb tails. Blackhole doesn't generate any log files regarding its performance, and unfortunately in the plug-in world we are at the mercy of the DAWs processing schedule – but as long as the audio is being rendered in the allotted time, no problem.

I think the issue you are mostly running into likely has to do with the settings in the plug-in itself. If Gravity is set very low (near 0 on the positive side), you'll have a very dense decay, which might sound muddy. If the Low and High EQ settings are set in a certain manner, it might sound muddy. If you have Feedback up and Modulation down, the build up might cause a muddy sound. Etc Etc. Keep in mind that Blackhole isn't primarily intended to be a clean, natural sounding reverb, but rather other-worldy. That being said, does it always sound muddy to you, no matter the setting?

-Tom

[will.rasberry]

Tom,

I was starting to play around with my new plugin by trying to get the cleanest room sound from Blackhole first and start from there with experimentation. The gravity setting makes a BIG difference in clarity, and know what to expect from this plugin in fidellity, things are a lot better knowing that it supposed to sound that way. 

I will be checking out Stereo Room in the future for something a bit more pristine, but thank you for all the wonderful feedback. 

Cheers!

[tlongabaugh]

Yes, Blackhole excels at longer, spacious reverbs, and the Gravity setting is what will modify the density and clarity of the reverb the most.

2016 Stereo Room and UltraReverb are our natural, "clean" reverbs – though with some interesting twists.

[Author]

Posts