What are the limitations in MConvolutionEZ ?

[Boone777]

I was wondering if there is a high quality setting difference with the paid option like true stereo or oversampling if that applies to reverbs.

[Boone777]

??

[werzel]

The MB version has modulators, multiparameters, the ability to run 2 'filters' (IR, reverb, filter) in either series or parallel, access to even more advanced settings per kernel, standard MB options, etc.
Oh yeah, and it makes a great cup of tea, as well!

[Boone777]

So there is no quality lost it makes true stereo right ?
To my knowledge it seems this little gem is the best possible free option for convo verb.
I have MTurboreverb and MConvoMB and a couple others I'm asking because I'm teaching mixing and I would like to know if this is the free option I can suggest to new students.

My options so far were Reaverb, Liquidsonic Reverberate LE or CM, Sir1 (old and 32bit).
There is OrilRiver and Riviera wich are cool and has Convo happening but can't load IR.

[Krakatau]

To my knowledge it seems this little gem is the best possible free option for convo verb.

+1

Very likely !

[dmbaer]

So there is no quality lost it makes true stereo right ?

I have been wondering about this as well. I'm pretty certain the documentation is silent on this point.

[sirmonkey]

I believe that your settings for "Smart Interpolation" has the quality issue covered. From the manual:

"The smart interpolation mode controls the maximum number of samples being processed before the parameters are updated. Minimal mode uses 2048 samples and rarely will do anything unless processing offline. Normal mode uses 256 samples and usually is enough to achieve good quality results. High mode uses 32 samples and provides perfect quality for most cases. It is also a good compromise between CPU usage and audio quality, so it is the default.
Very high mode uses 4 samples and you will rarely need it. Extreme mode uses 1 sample, which means that everything is updated after every single sample. This provides the highest possible accuracy and quality you can ever achieve, however it requires lots of CPU and it is very unlikely that you will ever need it. If you use this mode and still hear audio artifacts, then either what you are hearing is actually CPU overload, or you are doing something that is not physically possible."

I forget how to access that right now, but here's a screenshot from the manual:

[werzel]

After reading up on the 'true stereo' debate, it seems that opinions are based upon the perceived width of the final outcome based upon the right and left channels getting split and processed, with each pair then acting as either left or right in the final result.
MCEZ has a widening knob that expands the field based upon the mid and side signals. I don't know the particulars of the convolution processing but the plugin seems to do what it is designed for without any complaints from me.

As an aside (with apologies for the detour), I have never understood the debates of this nature. They remind me of audiophile vs musician, recognized brand instrument vs less 'reputable' brand instrument, 'professional' vs native plugins, etc. I try to judge my tools on the end result, not the programming under the hood, who is using them or how expensive or popular they are to purchase.

[werzel]

Smart Interpolation is on the bottom right after selecting the Settings that is on all Melda plugins.

[sirmonkey]

Well said by Werzel. And since MCovoEZ is free, there's nothing to lose by trying it. Also it does have high-pass & low-pass filters built-in, to reign in the sound. It even has mono-compatible stereo widening.
There are many categories of impulse responses included, each with many IR's within them. So between that and the filters, you have many, many options.
I bet you will be pleased if you try it.

[goldglob]

MConvolutionEZ doesn't do true stereo.
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... stcount=10

[masitito]

MConvolutionEZ doesn't do true stereo.
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... stcount=10

If it's not "true" stereo then which kind of "false" stereo does it offer?

And does it really matter for anyone who is learning mixing? Or for the listener?

Masi

[sirmonkey]

MConvolutionEZ doesn't do true stereo.
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... stcount=10

If it's not "true" stereo then which kind of "false" stereo does it offer?

And does it really matter for anyone who is learning mixing? Or for the listener?

Masi

I really wouldn't worry about it. I suspect that for very experienced, expert sound engineers, there may be something to gain with true stereo. But I bet that 95%+ of getting a good sound is all about learning to use reverb in general (how much, what type, on what tracks...eq-ing the verb etc...etc) I believe that if a person is good at mixing, excellent results can be had, true stereo or not.

[sirmonkey]

Having said that, I would recommend using the widening parameter of MConvoEZ, but not at 100% very often, and not all the time. The reason for this? Well, from the manual:

"Widening defines the broad-band stereo field widening depth. The algorithm is fully mono-compatible as it only extends the existing stereo field and no new signal is added. This parameter should only be used to control the existing stereo field.
Widening converts the audio into its mid (mono) and side channels, leaving the mid intact and applying a gain to the side channel, then converts the signal back to left and right channels.
As a result the stereo image becomes wider (for widening above 0%) or narrower (for widening below 0%). This method of widening the stereo image may initially sound pleasing, however it can quickly become fatiguing on the ear and often sounds unnatural, especially for larger amounts of widening. Use this parameter to control the existing stereo field and as a special effect. Use it to increase width only with caution.

(Italics and color added by me). Anyway, in short, automating the widening parameter seems like a great option. It's great that this reverb is mono-compatible...actually, that's more important (to me) than true stereo.

[MeldaProduction]

Just a little note - MConvolutionEZ doesn't support true-stereo IRs, it would only play the 2 channels, so stereo. You could do that by routing the stuff to another bus, exchange L and R channels using another instance MConvolutionEZ though. But it would probably be much easier to use MConvolutionMB to do that instead