The world of audio production and mixing is ever-evolving, with technologies continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible. In the vast universe of sound, certain tools and devices stand out not just for their technical prowess, but also for the emotions and memories they evoke. Nathaniel Reichman takes us on a nostalgic journey back to his early days in a New York music studio, recounting his fascination with Eventide effects units. Fast forward to today, Eventide's latest plug-ins, Blackhole and Micropitch Immersive, emerge as revolutionary in the immersive audio landscape. Join Nathaniel as he delves deep into these tools, testing their capabilities, and sharing his insights on how they can reshape the future of immersive sound production.

In the ‘90s I was an intern at a music studio in New York City. After-hours, I would work on personal projects. I remember being transfixed by the sound of two rackmount effects units in that studio: the Eventide H3000 and Eventide H3500. I knew their reputation (going back to Laurie Anderson’s music and the original Tron soundtrack), but this was the first time I put my hands and ears on them. The sounds were huge. The pitch-shifting went from subtle to outrageous. Back then, there were more realistic sounding reverbs, but if you were looking for a synthetic, velvety reverb full of unusual character, Eventide had it. I went on to buy an Eventide DSP 4000 which featured the first version of the Blackhole reverb, and that device was the last piece of outboard gear I owned before switching to fully in-the-box mixing. Using Eventide’s new immersive plug-in versions of BlackHole and Micropitch take me back to those early days. But instead of being clones of old gear, these plug-ins sound better and do a number of more sophisticated things, with the most important being Dolby Atmos compatibility. Conventional plug-in EQs and dynamics processing for the most part can be used in immersive mixing, but conventional reverbs and delays fall flat in the immersive world (with clever exceptions devised by engineers like Steve Genewick). In 2023, there are very few true immersive plug-ins, which makes these releases from Eventide important to the industry.

Blackhole Immersive

Earlier this year, I produced and mixed an immersive album of solo double-bass pieces performed by the late Robert Black. Because this was recorded in the studio, artificial reverb was really important to the final product. Reopening that session, which utilized a few of the popular existing immersive reverbs, was a great way to put Blackhole to the test and compare it to what’s currently on the market.

Blackhole immediately filled my 7.1.4 room with rich, decorrelated reverb. The presets are well-thought out and inspiring, and the plug-in never sounds harsh. Even when it’s doing wild things, it has a smoothness around the edges that makes it fit into the mix. With some reverbs, I find myself fiddling with the low-pass cutoff or the damping factors to tame harshness, but with Blackhole it’s almost never an issue. I strongly recommend using 7.1 or higher sends to the plug-in so it accurately responds to the panning location of the input signal. The “Crossfeed” parameter is especially useful, as it controls how much signal is shared all around the room. A low Crossfeed value with a long decay time is especially useful because you can make an instrument sound quite wet in its immersive location, without mucking up the entire mix. It should be pointed out that Blackhole doesn’t actually have a conventional decay time control. The four parameters: Gravity, Size, Feedback and Crossfeed all contribute to the perceived decay time. I appreciate this arrangement, as it makes you think a bit more about what you want the reverb to achieve, rather than just being longer or shorter. Some of these parameters also have a “Tilt” control which weights them to the front or back of the room. Very useful.

While there are a number of presets that will be useful in post-production for putting dialog in simulated spaces (Carpeted Den, Empty Rehearsal Room, etc.), Blackhole’s strength is not in the simulation of real musical spaces. There are other plug-in reverbs to use if you want a convincing replication of Carnegie Hall. What Blackhole excels at are lush imaginative spaces with rich, resonant decays. It sounds completely different than the competing immersive reverbs, and if you’re mixing pop, EDM, hip-hop, new age or synth-based music in Atmos, this is a must-have. I know Alan Meyerson didn’t have this plug-in when he mixed the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, but I’m quite sure Alan will want this for his next sci-fi film. And if you’re in post-production and want to keep a ‘fade-to-white dream-sequence’ sound on an aux in your Atmos template, this is it.

Blackhole Immersive technical details:

• At the time of this writing, the 7.1.4 AAX version wasn’t ready for testing, so my review is based on listening to the 7.1.2 AAX version. Based on how well-crafted the 7.1.2 version is, I‘m confident the 7.1.4 version will only be better.

• Given how popular Avid’s S-Series control surfaces are, I always look to see how well-arranged the default mapping is to the surface. Blackhole is pretty good in this regard. When I’m mixing, I rarely ever control plug-ins with the mouse. All of Blackhole maps logically onto my Eucon surface.

• The original Eventide hardware units would make a wild gliding sound when switching between presets with very different parameters. The plug-ins do the same thing! I have a dim memory of an Eventide engineer explaining to me that this was necessary to keep the delay lines from grinding during parameter changes. I suppose this is preferable to the grinding and snapping some plug-ins make, but if you’re into snapshot mixing, you might find yourself riding the return down during a snapshot change. Or you might automate the “Kill Wet” button. I wish every reverb plug-in had that button.

• The Morph parameter is very similar to the old GRM Tools superslider and is much-appreciated in Blackhole. You can easily glide between two different presets with Morph.

Micropitch Immersive

I think the name of this plug-in might make someone underestimate its power. Imagine some of your favorite multi-effect pitch, delay, and filter resonance plug-ins. But now imagine those sounds coming at you in three-dimensional Atmos space. I have some favorite slap delay plug-ins, but it would take me a long time to set up a bank of them that would convincingly fill the large canvas that is Atmos. Micropitch fills the canvas effortlessly. Unlike Blackhole, it seems most useful as an insert. But in Pro Tools that brings up a curious routing issue: if you instantiate Micropitch as a mono>7.1.2 insert, you won’t have a pre-plug-in panner, which is absolutely necessary. So Micropitch is better addressed as a pre-fader send, or as a send from a channel sent to a dead-patch. That will give you a panner before Micropitch, and the results will be much more satisfying. Ceiling effects will sound like ceiling effects.

Micropitch’s pitch processing has that unmistakable Eventide sound. For years, engineers have relied upon Eventides for the classic vocal and solo electric-guitar thickening tricks that small amounts of pitch-shifting and panning can achieve. Those sounds are here and better than ever thanks to the immersive Tilt and Crossfeed parameters. There are some delay and modulation presets in Micropitch that sound pretty similar to popular plug-ins from the competition. But as I wrote earlier, you would have a hard time keeping the (stereo) competition from sounding flat in Atmos space.

And like Blackhole, this is a dream plug-in for those in post-production who might be working on a science-fiction or something similar. As a re-recording mixer, I’ve been asked by directors more than once to “make it sound like the voice is coming from everywhere!” Micropitch is designed for this request.

Micropitch might actually have a slightly different set of musical strengths compared to Blackhole. The thickening presets will be very appealing in rock ‘n’ roll, country and pop. And the more sci-fi elements will work perfectly in EDM and to a certain degree hip-hop. Disappointingly, there’s no need for Micropitch on my classical double-bass album.

These aren’t the first plug-ins Eventide has released. But I think they are the first immersive plug-ins. Blackhole and Micropitch get a big thumbs-up from me.

Micropitch technical details:

• At the time of this writing, the 7.1.4 AAX version wasn’t ready yet, so my review is based on listening to the 7.1.2 AAX version. Based on how well-crafted the 7.1.2 version is, I am sure the 7.1.4 version will only be better.

• Like Blackhole, the out-of-the box Eucon mapping is good.

• There is less wild gliding between presets than Blackhole. This might simply be due to the nature of the processing.

• The Morph parameter is very similar to the old GRM Tools superslider and is much-appreciated in Micropitch. You can glide between two different presets with Morph.

Final Thoughts

The advancements in audio technology are astounding, and Eventide's new offerings are a testament to that evolution. From the Blackhole's immersive reverb capabilities to the three-dimensional magic of Micropitch, these tools are set to redefine immersive sound mixing and production. As I reminisce about my early days while exploring the intricacies of these plug-ins, it becomes evident that the journey of sound is not just about technology. It's about the stories we tell, the memories we cherish, and the emotions we evoke. Eventide's Blackhole and Micropitch are not just tools; they are gateways to a universe of sonic possibilities. And as we move forward, it's essential to remember the roots from where we came and to keep an open mind about where we are headed.