Inspirata is a new reverb which takes a new approach. The headlines on this “reverb workstation” are surprising, particularly the download size of 135Gb! Our first thoughts were that for a data payload of that size this thing better sound pretty special. When we heard it we found that it does.
What Is Inspirata?
Inspirata is an immersive reverb which isn’t a convolution or an algorithmic reverb. Inspired Acoustics, the Hungarian company behind it, describe it as a computational reverb, which uses sampled reverbs but adds flexibility allowing the user to design the space rather than the reverb, a subtle difference which throws up interesting possibilities.
Inspirata was developed by practicing acoustic consultants and this different starting point led to this different approach. It samples 37 spaces (more spaces will be added over time) from cathedrals to bedrooms at an unprecedented level of detail.
Inspirata excels at creating a convincing acoustic by interacting with and manipulating the space more directly than a conventional reverb, no doubt because of the background of this product’s designers. For example, when an acoustic consultant wants to address a lack of clarity in a space, they might install reflectors near the sound source to change the relative levels of early versus late reflections. Changing controls on Inspirata makes the changes in the simulated space which would result in the desired outcome in the same way as adjusting the arrangement of materials in the physical space would.
The idea behind this approach is that mixing is achieved by the acoustics itself and if something is not to your taste, you directly adjust the the acoustics to get the right sound. The reverb includes an element of time variance so it doesn’t suffer the lack of variation standard convolution reverbs are known for. It presents some unfamiliar parameters such as Sound Clarity (C80), Apparent Source Width (ASW) and Listener Envelopment (LEV) and Inspirata supports sampling frequencies up to 384KHz and the flagship Immersive edition supports immersive formats up to 22.2.
Why Is Inspirata So Big?
The library size is striking. Convolution reverbs tend to be large compared to algorithmic but Inspirata is huge. This is a consequence of how it does what it does. By taking a huge number of measurements all over the space being sampled, and all captured as a 3D sound field it is possible to place sound sources at any head height point in the virtual space. The measurements were restricted to all points in the space but measured at head height for practical reasons as the library size would have become unmanageable if measurements were taken floor to ceiling. Even so this level of measurement is remarkable.
Inspirata is available in AAX, AU and VST3 for both Mac and PC in 4 different editions:
Lite - 2 Channel Stereo, 2 sound sources
Personal Editions - 2 channel Stereo, 2 sound sources
Professional Edition - 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos, 16 sound sources
Immersive - 22.2 Dolby Atmos, 48 sound sources
Pricing details are TBC at the time of writing but the Professional edition is $699 and the Lite version is free for a limited time.
Update: On some Macs downloads are stuck at 0%. This is due to permission settings preventing the download from starting. Inspired Acoustics are aware and are making an updated IA Connect and that will resolve this issue. It affects only a small proportion of Mac users. Most Mac downloads and Windows works fine. If this issue is affecting you please try later.
Update Updated: The Mac issue should now be resolved. Those having trouble with starting the app are advised to go to the Inspired Acoustics website and grab the DMG installation files.
Inspired Acoustics are seeing a lot of concurrent downloads and are adding extra capacity to help speed things up.