Sound Design - How to Use 3D Reverb

True 3D reverb creates original 3D sound during playback, as long as impulse responses are available for all required audio channels. The IR1 Impulse Response Set from Avosound includes a variety of genuine and new 3D convolution reverb elements.

All 3D setups are compatible with 5.1 surround sound; thanks to the 3D configuration of the Auro-3D® 11.1 surround sound system, each 3D setup has two 5.0 surround sound reverbs. By recording all the 3D channels simultaneously, all 3D reverbs sport two complete 5.1 surround sound configurations that sound different because of the two sound layers. Although recorded in the same room, the acoustic differences between the sound levels is sometimes considerable - which offers you a 'natural' alternative to the impulse responses.

Impulse responses that were recorded with 11 audio channels offer a variety of configurations. Starting with the 5.1 and 5.0 system levels, each level has its own surround sound configuration. In addition, various stereo configurations (gathered from the front and rear channels of the surround levels) are available for both layers. More configurations are possible by configuring other layers in relation to each other (see illustration at the top of the page).

Further information about reverb configurations of impulse responses and convolution reverb can be found here in our extensive tutorial on impulse responses and convolution reverb.

Plug-ins with convolution reverb are good tools for creating reverb for 3D sound systems. Convolution reverb is created with a so-called impulse response, which can be thought of as an audio fingerprint of a room. To understand how convolution reverb works and how impulse responses are created, please read our detailed tutorial.