Described by Baby Audio as ‘an evolution of classic 20th century studio reverbs - fully upgraded for today’ Crystalline follows in the tradition of classic algorithmic reverbs, but adds new features and higher fidelity thanks to modern computing power. The result is a hugely creative plugin for crafting lush and unique reverbs. Let’s dive into the details and all will become (crystal) clear…

BPM-Synced Start And End Times

Crystalline lets you hard-sync the reverb attack and decay time to your DAW’s tempo. This will generally result in cleaner mixes where the reflections are naturally in sync with the music. Prefer the classic way? Just hit the “Sync/MS” switch and Crystalline lets you set pre-delay and decay times in milliseconds instead.

Reflections Section

”Size” lets you set the room size from tiny to large. This control is detached from the “Length” control, meaning you can get any size/length combination you want, including esoteric settings like huge spaces with very short tails or tiny spaces with very long tails. “Sparkle” emphasizes high frequencies inside the reverb algorithm and ”Width” lets you set the stereo image of the reverb from mono to wide – and even further to extra wide.

Depth Section

“Resolution” sets the complexity of the algorithm from ‘basic’ to ‘pristine’. More complex settings will give you an ultra-clean reverb response, free of metallic artifacts – while the ‘Basic’ setting will give you an efficient CPU performance at a normal fidelity. ”Modulation” creates pitch variations inside the reverb algorithm for a richer sound that works especially well to fatten up synths, guitars and vocals.

Then there’s “Shimmer” which makes the high frequencies of the reverb tail decay slower than the rest of the spectrum, giving the reflections an ‘angelic halo’ effect.

Clean-Up Section

The Clean-Up section offers “Damping” – a dual filter control that lets you remove high and low frequency content from the reverb reflections to get rid of clutter and muddiness in your mixes. “Sides” is a high-pass filter that removes stereo information from the low end of the reverb, while keeping the mono-information intact. Finally, instantly recreate the classic 1980s gated reverb sound with the “Gate” control.

Shape Section

The Shape Section includes a “Tone” tilt EQ and a “Smoothing” control to mellow out harshness and give Crystalline a more subtle feel. This allows you to add a little more reverb without drenching your mix. “Transients” lets you shift the reverb algorithm’s emphasis to either the attack or sustain part of the incoming signal, a feature that works especially well for controlling reflections on percussive material.

Output Section

“Ducker” lowers the reverb signal when the dry/incoming track is playing. This gives you a cleaner mix, where you can turn up the reverb more without compromising the dry track. “Ducker Gentle” mode offers a slow and natural ducker setting, while the standard ducker mode has a more pumpy feel.

The Output Section also includes ”Reverse” and “Freeze” effects and more.

Pricing

Baby Audio Crystalline is now available for an introductory price of $49 (normally $99). The plug-in runs on macOS 10.7 or higher (including Apple Silicon) and Windows 7 or higher. It’s available in VST, VST3, AU and AAX formats.