There are quite a few emulations of the classic Lexicon 480 hardware reverb that was used on so many recordings in the 1980s, but not all of them model the optional Surround Cart that greatly extended its capabilities. HD Cart from Reverb Foundry is intended to fill that gap, recreating the cartridge and thus “the only algorithm to ever fully take advantage of its considerable dual-board processing capabilities”.
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Formats: Mac & PC VST & AAX, Mac AU
HD Cart is a high-density reverb plugin modelled after a legendary expansion for one of the most sought after and expensive reverb units of all time. It was next to impossible to walk into almost any professional recording studio in the mid to late 1980s – and for many years after – and not have one be in the room somewhere. The HD.CART reverb plug-in simulates distinct algorithms from an old and prized high-end reverb unit Source: Reverb Foundry. 199 and available in AU, VST 2.4, VST3 and AAX formats for Mac and Windows computers.
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As its name suggests, one of the features that the expansion in question added to the 480 was surround capability: the two engines could be split to give quadraphonic configurations, with a 5.0 routing option that created a centre channel from the left and right surrounds mixed to mono. Alternatively, both engines could be combined to create high-density stereo reverbs not available on the standard 480. In stereo modes the reverb can be moved to the front, centre or rear of the emulated space.
The plug-in has five control groups called Master, Character, Low Control, Advanced and Reflections, which are accessed using tabs below the meters and select different aspects of the reverb for editing. Master oversees the filtering and the relative levels of the various reverb components, while Character adjusts the behaviour of the virtual room in which the reverb is taking place. Low Control addresses the room’s behaviour at low frequencies, while Reflections relates to the timing and tone of the front and rear early reflections.
A large Reverb Time knob is always accessible, as is the wet/dry mix balance, while the smaller knobs address different functions according to which tab is open. All the expected parameters such as pre-delay, diffusion, stereo spread, filtering, modulation and so on are available, while the Advanced tab includes more unusual controls that affect the high-frequency decay, Recirculation (which circulates the front and rear reverb synthesis separately or feeds them into each other), front/rear Balance and Wander (modulation amount). Current values for the controls are displayed below them, and there are separate meters for input level, early reflections and reverb tail.
Though you have the option to use a faithful recreation of the original algorithm, the developers have also added a little magic of their own to extend its capabilities, including ‘enhanced recirculation’, which is designed to create a more spacious reverb, and additional filtering control for the early reflections.
When loading one of the factory presets, there’s the option to turn enhanced recirculation off if you want to get closer to the sound of the original at the expense of some reverb ‘richness’. There’s also a choice of front, rear or mid placement and whether or not the mix control is active or the reverb is 100 percent wet.
When it comes to signal routing, the mono option generates a mono output by summing all four outputs from both reverb engines, while the stereo-out modes sum the left and right outputs of each processor and the quad-output mode uses one engine to provide the front signal in stereo and the other the rear. Routing options provide for quad and 5.0 inputs as well as mono and stereo though, as noted earlier, the 5.0 mix is really a ‘trick’ mix of quad with an additional synthesized mid signal. Most users will probably use the stereo-out mode, and the refined algorithms that combine both engines sound particularly good. The tweaks the designers have added to the algorithm certainly do something very positive to the reverb as can be heard by comparing with the authentic ‘untweaked’ settings.
Even though the Lexicon 480 is positively ancient by digital processing standards, it definitely had a certain something and that is well represented here. Turn on the algorithm tweaks and the reverb quality stands comparison with far more modern reverb units, and though it might not be the best choice for emulating a specific acoustic space, HD Cart sits perfectly in a music mix. Whether or not you think it worth the outlay depends on what reverbs you already own, but if you revere the original 480 sound, you won’t be disappointed.
$199
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Reverb Foundry HD-Cart Reverb Plug-in
In fact many of the same configurations like the 480L are possible: including stacking the two reverbs for one massive stereo reverb; a stereo input produces a quadraphonic (4-ch) output or 5.0 via a routing patch; or driving both the HD-Cart engines with a single mono input signal and more. The HD-Cart plug-in instantiates as a: mono-to-mono, mono-to-stereo, mono-to-quad, stereo-to-quad, stereo-to-quad, quad-to-quad, stereo-to-stereo, and 5.0-to-5.0 configurations.
I liked the way the parameters are laid out in this plug-in with its two large, easy-to-grab main controls for Reverb Time and the Wet/Dry mix. All parameter knobs have their values indicated underneath them and you can type directly in any values. Next there are five submenus of parameters called: Master, Character, Low Control, Advance, and Reflections.
The Master submenu is for setting the reverberation level coming out of the reverb and if I turn that output off, all that is heard are the early reflections and modulation effect processing. This is a whole new set of effects!
Master also has Rolloff, a -6dB/octave roll-off filter; Gain is the output level of the entire plug-in and Reflections with Rolloff (another -6dB/octave filter) controls the amount and overall brightness and of the early reflections.
I like to use room reverbs in my Rock music mixes. I've always loved the Lexicon rooms and HD-Cart is a new winner for me! The Character submenu sets the room's basic nature and all the parameters of a synthesized space. Pre-delay is a delay in front of the reverberant room--up to 510ms.
Diffusion is a way to synthetically alter the reflectivity of a room's wall/floor/ceiling surfaces. Lower numerical values are simulating very reflective rooms such as tiled bathrooms or hardwood squash courts so you may hear actual 'slap back' echoes within the reverb.
Higher values are smoother reverbs with the echoes blending together. I use low diffusion when I want a noticeable reverb as an effect at almost 100% wet. The Character menu finishes with Size--how big the room is, The Spread control works with the Size control to add internal pre-delays to some of the reverb tails. Lastly, Spin modulates reverb something like a chorus effect and I thought it made the reverb more cohesive and fat sounding--especially when using and modifying the Cathedral factory preset. So it is fun to build a large room but with a very short RT60 decay time--as if you put your singer in an elevator shaft ten stories tall!
The Low Controls take care of the usually longer decay times most rooms have in the lower frequencies. For full bandwidth instruments, orchestra use and vocals, you may define the lower frequency decay time with the Bass Decay control--keep the reverb from getting 'muddy' yet use as much as you want.
In general, after setting the Reverb Time and Wet/Dry rough level, I went to the Advanced section to modify pre-sets. I liked the Front/Rear control as the finishing tweak. HD-Cart is a true stereo reverb so as the source moves or 'pans' in the stereo field, so does the synthesized reverb travel.
HD-Cart sells for $199 as a download and is available for both Mac and PCs and most Native formats. I tested in AAX in Pro Tools 2018.1 and found it to be extra warm-sounding in nearly anyway I set it--it didn't ever to get harsh or metallic sounding. I liked all the presets and especially liked tweaking the Small and Large Woodroom, Acoustisolo and BigFoot presets. I also found myself using HD-Cart as a dedicated in-line reverb on stereo tracks as it is easy to adjust with the two large knobs.
Highly recommended! Check out: reverbfoundry.com/hd-cart/.
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