Nugen Audio has released the latest addition to their software lineup. They describe Paragon as the world’s first 3D-compatible convolution reverb, offering full control of the decay, room size and brightness via state-of-the-art re-synthesis modelled on 3D recordings of real spaces. We have the details and take Paragon for a test drive.
What Nugen Audio Say About Paragon
Supports Up To 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos
With purity of sound at the forefront of this plug-in, Paragon reverb operates in up to 7.1.2 channels of audio, making it perfect for surround applications, including Dolby Atmos bed tracks. Further, it features individually configurable crosstalk per channel, unique technology for re-synthesis of authentic IRs, HPF and LPF per channel, and switchable LFE.
State Of The Art Technology
Using state-of-the-art technology developed alongside the University of York’s Dr Jez Wells, 3D Impulse Responses are analyzed, decomposed and re-synthesized to create new authentic spaces. This ensures a small digital footprint for the IR library and makes it possible to configure limitless combinations of spaces with just a few adjustments to the settings.
CEO of Nugen Audio, Paul Tapper told us…
“Different from any other convolution reverb on the market, NUGEN Audio’s Paragon reverb plug-in has been our best-kept secret, and we’re excited to now unveil it to the world. With Paragon, gone are the days of enormous IR libraries. This technology not only enables users to reduce the sheer volume of recordings, it also encourages a greater level of creativity. We’re grateful to all of our developers and beta testers who helped make this possible and look forward to hearing feedback from the industry.”
Very Tweakable
Paragon provides an unprecedented level of tweak-ability, with zero time-stretching, which means no artifacts. Additionally, Paragon features spectral analysis and precise EQ of the Impulse Responses (IR).
The IR panel also enables users to make changes to the frequency response of real spaces by EQ’ing the reverb model and altering the frequency-dependent decay rate. Unlike traditional convolution reverb, Paragon does not use static IR, which provides wider scope to transparently transform the sound of a space.
Additionally, Paragon’s crosstalk feature creates a sense of liveliness and interaction between channels and allows users to produce surround reverb from mono or stereo sources. It also offers the control and flexibility to determine how reverb from each channel interacts with another, which can be useful for dialog intelligibility.
Not Just For Atmos
In addition to its Atmos application, Nugen Audio’s Paragon reverb plug-in is well-suited to creating immersive reverb in mono, stereo and surround formats. It is ideal for recreating authentic sounds of real spaces and manipulating IRs while still maintaining true convolution characteristics.
Typical Applications
Creating immersive reverb
Atmos-compatible convolution reverb
Manipulating IRs whilst maintaining true convolution characteristics
Authentic sounds of real spaces
What Others Are Saying About Paragon
Nugen Audio Paragon Reverb Tested
User Interface
The main UI of the plug-in is very clean and concise and is familiar to users of other Nugen products such as Halo Upmix. The crosstalk control is something not many reverbs currently have and is a welcome addition, especially when using the plug-in in surround mode for film & TV sound post-production workflows. The IO page is similar to that of other Nugen plug-ins, giving full control over various parameters on a channel-by-channel basis, which is another very welcome feature.
Presets
When opening any reverb, the presets are a great starting point even though tweaking the settings is almost always inevitable. It provides a quick way to find a suitable reverb, especially on jobs requiring a quick turnaround.
Compared to some other reverb plug-ins I've used, the presets folder seems a little empty, but this is the first release of the plug-in, which makes this easier to understand. What Paragon lacks in quantity it makes up in quality, and the selection of presets, which are available are suitable for post-production as well as music. There are also three presets, which I haven't seen in a reverb plug-in before. These are Add presence, Add warmth, and Add width, which are things I would usually associate with other plug-in types such as EQ and saturation. However, I think these all have their place and certainly add something unique to this plug-in.
Examples
In the first example, I've used a recording of the English narration for an animated film, which was in a studio making it a pretty dry recording without much reverb. If this was actually being used on a production, I wouldn’t add anywhere near as much reverb as this, but to highlight the effect I’ve increased the Wet/Dry mix so the difference is clearly audible.
The second recording is of a clarinet duet recorded in a living room, so has a bit more reverb than the narration example but is still a relatively dry sound.
Nugen Audio Paragon System Requirements
Mac OSX 10.9 / 512 MB RAM
Windows (64 bit) Vista or above / 512 MB RAM
Support AAX, VST3, AU and AudioSuite, in 64-bit only.
Nugen Audio Paragon Price And Availability
Paragon is priced at $599
It is available to buy now from Nugen Audio and selected dealers.
Conclusion
Nugen Audio has done a great job with Paragon. To me, this was the missing plug-in from their product range, so I'm glad to see it added. Whether or not it becomes as an industry-standard in the world of post-production, like ISL2 and VisLM2 remains to be seen, but I will be using it regularly. If the number of presets available increases, that would be a bonus!