Recording - March 2013 - 34

PLUG-IN OUTLET
2C Audio B2 Reverb
By Devon Brent
2CAudio labels this product as going well beyond the boundaries of
what’s normally expected from a reverb plug-in: “...a modular, dual-engine,
non-linear spatial processor featuring built-in harmonic distortion and flexible
dynamics [...] capable of both mind-bending creative effects that defy classification as well as stunningly lush reverbs.” Mike Metlay reviewed
2CAudio’s previous reverb plug-ins, the powerful Aether (October 2009)
and relatively processor-friendly Breeze (September 2011), and was suitably
impressed. The company’s third outing, called B2, is said to surpass the previous offerings. Just how good is it? Let’s find out.

handful of other graph types—for example, individual reflections (“taps”) over time rather than an
“overview” of graphs of reverberant energy. You
can look at reverberant behavior for one or both
Engines (A in blue, B in green) over time and frequency domains, and a third graph shows either
Attitude or Dynamics settings.
Below that are the Engine controls, using 2C’s
easily read colored knobs with centered parameter values. To the left are knobs for Pre-Delay Time
and Size—they work independently but symbiotically with the Geometry control to manipulate the
perceived ‘size’ of the space. Then, grouped
together for “Geometry”, are knobs for Range,
Random, Curve and Contour, and a drop-down
menu to control the geometry of the ‘room shape’.
Next are the Density and Diffuse knobs, that
work in tandem to control the buildup of the reflections over time. The Modulation Rate and Depth
knobs smooth out the reflections more realistically
over time and provide animation to reverbs. There
are knobs for Damp (cumulatively filtering the built
up reflections over time), EQ knob (to filter the
processed audio outside of the reflection feedback
loop), and finally the Attitude knob (that provides
harmonic distortion). Most of these parameters
also have drop-down menus for added detail and
nuance, for example different reverb Contour
shapes or “Natural” vs. “FX” Modulation rates.
Along the bottom are the controls for audio interaction between the two Engines: Balance (A vs. B),
Cascade (A into B), and Mix (wet/dry), followed
by meter levels and gain controls on the bottom
right-hand side of the GUI. The latter aren’t
labeled, and a set of buttons swaps their meters for
the parameters of the built-in Dynamics engines.
The Browser page is a full-page preset browser,
with the preset folder categories on the left and all
the available presets on the right, displaying one
category after another to fill the whole window.
Lastly, the Info page provides the various options
and preferences along with quality settings for realtime and offline processing of the processed audio.
In Use
When it comes to reverbs, the more high quality reverb plug-ins and hardware units I continue to
use over the years, the harder it becomes for me
to be impressed. Well, color this reviewer and his
audio impressed! B2 offers rich, thick textures with
a distinct lack of horrible metallic ringing that was
music (and musical) to my ears. From realistic
spaces to dense walls of reverberation, B2 nails
quality time and time again.
And with 672 presets to choose from in its clearly
laid out category system, it’s hard not to find something that just ‘works’ for your music. From drums to

The details
About that “modular, dual-engine” design: Each of the two fully independent engines, A and B, provides 30 eq filter types, 36 Damping types, 33
Attitude types (the above-mentioned harmonic distortion piece), with 4 routing possibilities, 12 Contour modes, four Density modes, two Modulation
modes with three Modulation densities, four Dynamics modes with two possible routings, two Spatial modes, and four Delay
Feedback modes. That’s a lot of control!
Delivery: Download only
The plug-in itself is divided into three main pages,
Format: 32/64-bit VST and 32-Bit RTAS (64-bit AAX planned) for
Main, Browser, and Info. The Main page is grouped
Windows XP/Vista/7; VST/AU/RTAS 32-bit (64-bit forth
into four basic areas. The very top of the GUI provides
coming as a free update) for Mac OS X 10.4+.
access to the three pages Main, Browser and Info,
Copy Protection: serial number
acts as the preset browser with dedicated
License: single user/single computer
forward/back buttons along with a drop-down menu,
Documentation: PDF
and enables switching between the A and B engines.
Price: $249.95
Below that top portion there are three graphs with corMore from: 2C Audio, www.2caudio.com
responding buttons along the left that can show the parameters of either one or both engines simultaneously, or a
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RECORDING March 2013

http://www.2caudio.com

Recording - March 2013

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