About Raèld Space
Raèld Space is a studio reverb with sixteen algorithms, each built as its own kind of space (halls, plates, rooms, a chamber, ambience, a cathedral, gated, reverse, shimmer, a spring and more). Each can sound like three generations of hardware (VINTAGE, CLASSIC, MODERN). It knows your song's tempo, so pre-delay and decay can land on the beat. It listens to your vocal and suggests settings that fit. And DUCK keeps the reverb out of the way while you play and lets it bloom in the gaps.
Version 2.0 is a free update for Raèld Space 1.0 owners, with the same license key. Sessions saved with 1.0 open in 2.0; see Good to know.
Installing
- Close your DAW.
- Unzip
Raeld-Space-2.0.0-Windows.zipfrom the download page or your purchase email, runRaeld-Space-Setup.exeand follow the steps. The plugin goes intoC:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3, and a standalone app is installed too. If Raèld Space 1.0 is installed, 2.0 replaces it. - Open your DAW and rescan plugins. DAW plugin lists show it without the accent, as "Raeld Space", so type "raeld" in the plugin browser.
Requirements: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) and any VST3 host, or the standalone app.
Quick start
- Put Raèld Space on a vocal, instrument or bus (or on a send with KILL DRY on).
- Turn ALGORITHM to choose the space. Turning it keeps your other settings; press DEFAULTS to load the algorithm's own suggested settings.
- Set DECAY (how long the tail rings) and MIX (how much reverb).
- For a vocal, turn up DUCK so the words stay clear and the reverb fills the gaps.
- Not sure? Press SUGGEST and click a card: it's applied at once and is one undo step.
The main controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| DECAY | The reverb time (RT60): how long the tail takes to fall 60 dB, 0.1 to 30 s. With its SYNC on, it is the note the tail ends on (1/16 to 4 bars, straight, dotted or triplet), and it follows the song's tempo. On Gated it sets the gate length, on Reverse the swell length. |
| MIX | Dry/wet, equal power. KILL DRY removes the dry sound for a send/return. MIX LOCK keeps your MIX when you load presets. |
| PRE-DELAY | A gap before the reverb starts, 0 to 1000 ms, so the dry sound stays clear in front. With SYNC: a note value. |
| SIZE | How big the space is: the length of every path in it. |
| ALGORITHM | The kind of space (see the algorithms). |
| ERA | The generation of hardware: VINTAGE (early digital, grainy, darker), CLASSIC (late-80s/90s, smooth), MODERN (the cleanest, full bandwidth). |
| DUCK | How far the reverb steps back while the input plays (up to 24 dB). See DUCK. |
| SUGGEST, DEFAULTS, ADVANCED | The suggestion cards; the algorithm's own settings; the drawer with the extra controls. |
Character (the lower strip, left)
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| EARLY/LATE | The balance of the early reflections and the late tail. |
| EARLY DIFF, LATE DIFF | How smeared the start is (low: distinct echoes); how dense the tail is. |
| MOD RATE, MOD DEPTH | The tail's gentle random movement: it removes metallic tones; high depth gives a chorused sound. |
| ATTACK | How slowly the reverb builds: 0 starts at once, higher swells in. |
| WIDTH | 0 mono, 100% natural, 150% extra wide (still safe in mono). |
Tone (the lower strip, right)
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| LOW CUT, HIGH CUT | Remove low end or top end from the reverb only (off at the ends). |
| BASS MULT, BASS X-OVER | How long the lows ring, as a multiple of DECAY, below the crossover. |
| HIGH DAMP, HIGH FREQ | How long the highs ring, as a multiple of DECAY, above HIGH FREQ: below 1 the tail darkens as it fades. |
| TILT | Tilts the reverb's tone around 1 kHz, ±6 dB. |
ADVANCED
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| DUCK ATTACK, DUCK RELEASE | How quickly the reverb steps back when you play, and how long it takes to come fully back when you stop. |
| SHIMMER, SHIMMER AMT | For the Shimmer algorithm: the interval (an octave up, a fifth up, an octave down) and how much of the tail is pitched. |
| SATURATION | Warm saturation on the tail only. |
| EARLY SIZE | The size of the room the early reflections come from. |
| FREEZE | Holds the tail forever; new sound no longer enters it. |
DUCK: clear while you play, lush in the gaps
A long reverb under a vocal can wash the words out. DUCK listens to what you put in and decides, moment to moment, whether you are playing. While you are, the reverb sits down by up to 24 dB (DUCK at 100%). The moment you stop, it blooms back in and the tail rings out in the gap.
- It decides playing or not playing; it doesn't follow your level. A soft syllable keeps the reverb down as much as a loud one.
- It holds through the short gaps between words, so the reverb doesn't pump.
- It learns the noise floor in the pauses, so hiss or room tone never holds the reverb down.
- Bass and rumble below 120 Hz don't count, and there is no latency.
- The display shows a DUCK meter while it works.
- DUCK RELEASE (in ADVANCED) sets how quickly the reverb blooms back: 300 ms is natural, longer is a slower swell.
Measured on a sung phrase with DUCK at 100%: −24.0 dB while singing, 0.002 dB of rise inside the phrase, and back within 1 dB 0.39–0.40 s after it. The same with the phrase 30 dB quieter, and with hiss at −60 dBFS.
Tempo and SYNC
The display's tempo panel shows the tempo in use and where it comes from:
- AUTO on, in a DAW that sends its tempo: the DAW's tempo (FROM THE DAW).
- AUTO on, with no DAW tempo: the tempo Raèld Space hears in the music (DETECTED, with its confidence). ½× and 2× correct a detection that's half or double.
- Otherwise: the tempo you type into the field, or tap with TAP.
With SYNC on, the decay is where the tail ends: pre-delay plus decay equal the note. The display draws the tail over the bars, with a line where it ends. For example, at 120 BPM a bar lasts 2 s, so a tail on the bar after a 1/32 pre-delay (62.5 ms) decays for 1.94 s.
Tempo detection, measured on 18 drum loops and songs from 70 to 174 BPM at 44.1 and 48 kHz: 28 of 36 within 1 BPM, and all 36 the tempo or exactly half or double it (half or double still lands every tail on the grid). A 104 BPM groove reads 104.03.
SUGGEST
SUGGEST opens cards with settings that fit your song's tempo and, if you choose Vocal as the source, the vocal it hears (the gaps between phrases, how fast the syllables come, how sibilant it is). Each card shows its algorithm, era, pre-delay and tail as notes and in ms, its size, why it fits, and a FIT score.
- Click a card to hear it at once; Ctrl+Z takes it back (it is one undo step).
- LOCK TO TEMPO (on by default) puts PRE-DELAY and DECAY on SYNC with the card's notes, so they follow tempo changes.
- Filter by category (TIGHT, GROOVE, LUSH, EPIC, VOCAL, SPECIAL), genre, source and length; the ☆ keeps a card in FAVOURITES.
- The list follows the song, but nothing changes the sound until you click a card.
The algorithms
| Algorithm | Sound | Decay range |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Hall | A concert hall: wide, balanced, natural early reflections, an even tail. | 1.2–8 s |
| Crystal Hall | A bright hall: open top, airy, quickly dense. | 1–6 s |
| Velvet Hall | A large dark hall: slow to build, deep low end, soft highs. | 2–12 s |
| Steel Plate | The classic plate: dense from the first instant, bright and smooth. | 0.5–6 s |
| Silk Plate | A smooth plate: softer attack, gentler highs, more diffusion. | 1–8 s |
| Studio Room | A real room: strong early reflections and a short, natural tail. | 0.2–2 s |
| Felt Room | A smooth room: soft walls, diffuse, no flutter. | 0.3–2.5 s |
| Stone Chamber | An echo chamber: hard walls, warm and present. | 0.6–4 s |
| Air | Ambience: early reflections and a whisper of tail; depth without wash. | 0.15–1.5 s |
| Drift | A random, diffuse space: scattered reflections and a very smooth tail. | 1–10 s |
| Neon | A chorused space: deep, lush modulation in the 80s style. | 1–8 s |
| Basilica | A vast stone space: very long, very dense, slow to build. | 3–30 s |
| Gated | The 80s gated burst: dense, loud, then cut dead. DECAY sets the gate length. | 0.1–1.2 s |
| Reverse | A backwards swell that rises out of every sound. DECAY sets the swell length. | 0.2–2.5 s |
| Shimmer | A hall whose tail is pitched up (or down) on every pass: halos and pads. | 2–20 s |
| Spring | The amp spring tank: drippy, bouncy, band-limited. | 0.5–5 s |
The decay range is where each algorithm is meant to be used; DECAY itself goes from 0.1 to 30 s on all of them. Changing algorithm or era while the music plays never cuts the tail: the old space rings out while the new one takes over. See all sixteen.
Measured: the reverb time follows DECAY within 5% in every octave band from 125 Hz to 8 kHz (worst band −4.3% / +3.6%), for every decaying algorithm in every era. All sixteen are calibrated to the same steady wet level (0.0 ±0.1 dB at DECAY 2 s).
The eras
| Era | What it changes | Grand Hall bandwidth, measured |
|---|---|---|
| VINTAGE | Early digital: runs at 20 kHz inside, with whole-sample modulation steps (the grain of early units), 16 early reflections per side, a 14-bit converter and a darker top. | −2.7 dB at 8 kHz, −34 dB at 10 kHz |
| CLASSIC | Late-80s/90s: runs at 34 kHz inside, smooth modulation, 24 early reflections per side, a gentle top. | −1.8 dB at 14 kHz, −14 dB at 16 kHz |
| MODERN | The cleanest: runs at 48 kHz inside, 32 early reflections per side. | flat (±0.3 dB) to 20 kHz |
Presets, undo and compare
- Click the preset name for 38 factory presets in groups (Vocals, Drums, Guitars, Keys, Pads, Mix Bus, Cinematic, Vintage, Special FX) and your own. SAVE stores the current settings as your preset; < and > step through them.
- UNDO and REDO (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y) step through your changes.
- A and B hold two complete settings; COPY copies the current one to the other.
- The tempo settings (AUTO, BPM, ½×/2×) and MIX LOCK belong to the song, so presets don't change them.
- Mix is set for an insert; on a send, turn KILL DRY on.
Knobs and the window
- Drag up and down (or in a circle: the size menu has the option); hold Shift for fine moves; use the mouse wheel or the arrow keys; double-click to reset. The value shows while you adjust or hover.
- Stepped knobs (ALGORITHM, ERA, synced times) click into each position.
- The size button (100%) resizes the window from 75% to 175%; it remembers your size. You can also drag the corner.
- MONO folds the output to mono to check the mix; BYPASS crossfades to the dry sound.
Mono and stereo
Raèld Space runs on mono, mono-to-stereo and stereo tracks; your DAW picks automatically. On a mono-to-stereo track the mono source feeds both sides, so Raèld Space can turn a mono vocal or guitar into a wide stereo reverb. The MONO button in the header folds the output to mono, to check how a mix holds up on a mono speaker. It isn't saved in presets.
Good to know
- No latency, and MIX at 0 is the input, bit for bit.
- The tail length is reported to your DAW, so bounces and freezes include the whole tail (and FREEZE reports it as endless).
- Sessions saved with Raèld Space 1.0 open in 2.0, their twelve types translated to the nearest algorithm and era. Presets you saved yourself in 1.0 aren't translated.
Activation and support
Paste your Raèld Space license key, or your Raèld All Access key, into the activation window. A key works on 3 computers, and a Raèld Space 1.0 key unlocks 2.0. Without a key the plugin runs as a demo with a short dropout every 45 seconds. See support, or email info@raeldaudio.com.
Raèld Space's algorithms are modelled on the classic kinds of studio reverb (halls, plates, rooms, chambers, springs) and the generations of digital hardware. It isn't a copy of any other company's product, and Raèld Space is not affiliated with or endorsed by any other manufacturer.