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Waves Parametric Convolution Reverb
IR-1, IR-L and IR-360
User’s Guide
Waves IR-1 software guide page 1 of 40
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview Synthetic Digital Reverberation Sampled-Acoustics Convolution Reverberation The Perfect Hybrid The Impulse Responses IR Library Factory Presets Sampled Acoustics V2 Virtual Acoustics - Devices and Synthetic Import Impulse Response from File… Import Sweep Response from File… Tips for Sampling an Acoustic Space MEASURING VINTAGE PLATES, SPRING REVERBS OR ANY REVERB UNIT MEASURING HALLS, ROOMS IR-series plug-in channel components About the IR-360: IR
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LF damping Reverb EQ ER Buildup ER/TR-X Crossover IR-360 Controls Toolbar WaveSystem Controls Loading Impulse Responses Saving Importing Impulse Responses IR Info and Properties Notes on “Flat Points” or Unity Gain Settings for Controls System Requirements Notes CPU about Optimization IR-1 HTDM Waves IR-1 software guide page 3 of 40
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Introduction The Waves IR-1, IR-L and IR-360 plug-ins create extremely high quality replicas of acoustical spaces and synthetic reverbs. They also allow the user to alter many aspects of the sound of these reverbs. For the purpose of this Manual, when discussing attributes shared by the Waves IR-1, IR-L and IR-360 Parametric Convolution Reverb plug-ins, we will simply refer to them all as the IR-series. Overview The Waves IR-series are convolution-based reverb processors.
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Sampled-Acoustics Convolution Reverberation In math, the term convolution means an integral which expresses the amount of overlap of one function x as it is shifted over another function y. In the literal sense, it means to “roll together” or to “fold together”. A convolution reverb blends together an input signal with another type of audio signal called an impulse response. Sampled-acoustics convolution processors are a different type of digital reverb than the digital reverbs t
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The Impulse Responses Another major part of the IR-series is the Impulse Response (IR) Library. The library offers a set of high-definition IR’s. Waves paid special attention to this part of the product because it is the basic reverb sound of the IR-series reverbs. We established a special recording setup and method specifically for IR recording. This method provides exceptional signal-to-noise ratio, very low harmonic distortion, and a wide frequency bandwidth (20Hz-32kHz).
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Accessing these IRs is easy. Select the desired preset from the plug-in’s “Load” button, which will present the menu as follows: Factory Presets is the first section. It is available with the installation of the IR-series, even for demo purposes. The IR data for these presets resides in the folder "IR1Impulses V2" in a directory called Basic. The Path is: Waves Plug-Ins dir/IR1Impulses V2/Basic. The Custom Setup group contains presets that only have settings. These
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Sampled Acoustics V2 The presets in this section are based on samples of real places. The contents of the Sampled Acoustics V2 folder on the DVD have to be copied into the IR1Impulses V2 folder inside the Waves Plug-Ins folder. You can add or delete folders from this directory. Each time upon loading, the Plug-In will scan the directory and dynamically build its preset menu according to the folder hierarchy. Virtual Acoustics - Devices and Synthetic The presets in the Virtual Acous
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Tips for Sampling an Acoustic Space When sampling an acoustic space, a typical setup includes a multi-track recorder, an amplifier and speaker to play the sweep signal into the space, and one or more microphones (and mic preamplifier(s), if needed) to capture the sound. Ideally, the speaker, amplifier, microphone(s), and microphone preamplifier(s) used should be as transparent as possible, having flat frequency responses. A microphone of any polar pattern will work, although we re
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MEASURING HALLS, ROOMS The measuring procedure of a venue is slightly different than that of measuring devices. Measuring venues requires a larger setup, which includes a playback device, a microphone and a loudspeaker. We can use the same session we were using for the device recordings, only instead, we connect the output of our playback device to a speaker, and a microphone should be assigned to the input of our recording device. SET-UP: Connect the output of your source (HD c
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Mono to Stereo: 2 convolutions: 1 left, 1 right. Left Convolution Output Mono Input Right Convolution Output Efficient Stereo: 2 convolutions: Left in to Left out and Right In to Right Out. This component does multi-mono processing. • With Efficient Stereo, the added control for input channel Crosstalk can keep the channels separate, or sum the wet path input. This component is very practical for stereo-to-stereo reverberation. It provides beautiful reverberation
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About the IR-360: The IR-360 is the surround sound version of the IR-1. The IR-360 is HTDM for Pro Tools TDM Users. IR-360 owners will also receive an IR-1 included in the purchase. Supported channel configurations of the IR-360: Channel Configuration # of Convolutions Mono to 5 Channel Discrete Surround processor 4 or 5 Efficient Stereo to 5 Channel Discrete Surround processor
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Waves IR-1 software guide page 13 of 40
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Waves IR-1 software guide page 14 of 40
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Waves IR-1 software guide page 15 of 40
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IR-SERIES CONTROLS AND DISPLAYS The IR-series has a large main window with controls similar to those of a standard digital reverb. Most of the values are displayed as a ratio of the nominal value of the original IR. The IR-360 has the most adjustable parameters, followed by the IR-1 and then the IR-L. About the IR-L The IR-L is essentially an IR-1 with fewer adjustable parameters. It has the same high sound quality as the IR-1. The IR-L can be upgraded at any time to an IR-1
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Reverb Time The Reverb Time section includes these 4 parameters: CONVOLUTION START: Range: 0 TO 1 second; Default: 0 seconds The Convolution Start determines the starting point of the convolution process. It enables you to remove unwanted pre-delay at the beginning of an IR. CONVOLUTION LENGTH: Range: 0 seconds to 6 seconds; Default: Full This control sets the length of the process filter. By default it is set to Full, which means that the IR-L will convolve the inpu
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DRY/WET CONTROL: Range: 0 to 100% wet; Default: 100% wet This control sets the balance between the “Dry” signal and the convolved signal. A 50% Wet setting is the “natural” balance point. The IR-series lets you work either with the recorded Direct signal, or with the Dry signal (that is, the unprocessed input to IR-1). When the Direct signal is turned off, and Dry/Wet is set to 50%, the Dry signal will have the same level and relative delay as the recorded Direct signal, so the Dr
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DRY: Range: 0-30ms; Default: 0ms When working as an insert, the Dry latency control can be used to align the dry signal to the wet signal or even to advance it ahead. CPU MODE: Range: Full CPU or Low CPU. Default: Full CPU This control allows you to select between Full CPU (Central Processing Unit) or Low CPU. Low CPU presents an option to slightly compromise the resolution of the convolution process while saving up to 45% of the CPU cycles (depending on the IR length and Sa
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IR-1 AND IR-360 CONTROLS AND DISPLAYS (IR-L users can skip this section and resume reading at Toolbar Wavesystem Controls on page 30) THE IR GRAPH The IR graph shows dB level on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. The range of the IR display is from 0dB at the top to –90dB at the bottom. The display incorporates an envelope curve (in orange). The scaling of the envelope curve is different: its flat bypass point is two-thirds of the graph’s height and its ran
