RO-140

VocalMix Essentials

VocalMix Essentials is a cutting-edge plate reverb emulation plugin that brings a vintage touch to modern audio productions. This plugin features six material options along with classic dampening and pre-delay controls, making it an excellent choice for enhancing drums, vocals, guitars, and even for sound design purposes.

Overview of the RO-140 Plate Reverb

The RO-140 plugin is meticulously modeled after legendary hardware plate reverbs while maintaining the distinctive characteristics of a Black Rooster Audio original. Its innovative plate simulation allows users to capture the authentic sound and feel of analog units, while also incorporating unique twists that exemplify Black Rooster Audio's commitment to quality.

Historically, audio engineers have experimented with various materials, including foil and metal plates, to recreate the effect of expensive reverb rooms since the 1950s. Despite the great sound these methods produced, they were often time-consuming and costly. However, plate reverb quickly became a staple in many iconic songs from the 50s and 60s.

While the initial goal of plate reverbs was to mimic natural reverberant spaces, the hardware units themselves gained legendary status. The difference between vintage hardware like the EMT 140 and modern impulse response-based plugins is significant, which is why Black Rooster Audio has physically modeled not just one, but six distinct plate reverbs within the RO-140, ensuring a high level of authenticity while integrating contemporary features.

Features of the RO-140 Plate Reverb

Material Options: The plugin offers a stunning range of reverb tones, allowing users to select from six different materials: gold, silver, steel, aluminum, bronze, and titanium. Each material possesses its unique tonal nuances, enhancing the overall sound experience.

Dynamic Plate Size Control: Users can adjust the size of the plate dynamically, providing a virtually limitless array of sound possibilities. This flexibility enables audio professionals to fine-tune their reverb characteristics according to their specific production needs.

Vintage 3-Band EQ: Optimize your sound using a classic three-band equalizer, which allows for precise control over the tonal characteristics of the reverb.

Output Modes: The RO-140 includes three output modes—mono, mono to stereo, and stereo.

• Mono Mode: Sends the signal through a plate with a single electrical transducer and one pickup.
• Mono to Stereo Mode: Uses one electrical transducer and two pickups located at different parts of the plate, creating a stereo image from a mono source.
• Stereo Mode: Sends each channel into two identical mono plates, each equipped with one electrical transducer and one pickup.

Enhanced Control Features

Classic Damper Control: This physically modeled control allows for precise adjustments to reverb decay times. Users can select from ten damper positions to tailor the sound to their preferences.

Classic Pre-Delay Control: Positioned after the plate reverb emulation, this control allows users to adjust the delay between the dry and wet signals, enabling modulation of the reverb tail with DAW automation.

Adjustable Gain Staging: The plugin provides control over both input and output gain levels, facilitating optimized sound processing before and after reverb effects.

Performance Optimization: The plugin is built with SSE2 optimized code, ensuring high-performance operation even during complex digital signal processing.

HighDPI/Retina Support: The user interface supports high pixel density displays on both Windows and Mac OS systems, providing a visually appealing experience for users with high DPI displays.

System Requirements

To ensure optimal performance of the RO-140 plugin, the following minimum system requirements are necessary:

For Mac:

• SSE2 compatible processor (Intel Core CPU recommended)
• 1GB of RAM
• Mac OS X 10.9 or newer (note that Big Sur 11.x is not yet supported)
• A compatible host running VST, AU, or AAX (64-bit)
• Display resolution of 1280x1024 pixels or higher

For Windows:

• SSE2 compatible processor (Intel Core CPU recommended)
• 1GB of RAM
• Windows 7 or newer
• A compatible host running VST or AAX
• Display resolution of 1280x1024 pixels or higher

Compatibility with Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs)

Black Rooster Audio plugins, including the RO-140, are compatible with all major digital audio workstations (DAWs) and many additional platforms. Some of the supported DAWs include:

• Avid ProTools
• Presonus Studio One
• Steinberg Cubase
• Reaper
• Bitwig
• Adobe Audition
• Ableton Live
• Apple Logic Pro
• Digital Performer
• FL Studio

Conclusion

The RO-140 plate reverb plugin elevates audio production by offering detailed customization options. It successfully captures the sound of sought-after hardware classics while providing a wealth of possibilities for sound design through its combination of plate materials, sizes, dampening, and pre-delay controls.

About Black Rooster Audio

Founded in 2016 by André Kirchner and Reimund Dratwa, Black Rooster Audio is renowned for its meticulously designed vintage gear emulation plugins, crafted for the production, mixing, and mastering of audio. Based in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany, the company is committed to blending the best of vintage analog sound with modern technology to create exceptional audio experiences.