KERN Audio Releases Open - Algorithmic Reverb That Listens To The Dry Signal (VST3 & AU)

The useful part

KERN Audio has released Open, an algorithmic reverb that measures the dry signal across 40 ERB bands and shapes its tail band by band, so the reverb makes room for the source instead of sitting on top of it. Two controls decide how: FOCUS sets how much the source is allowed to shape the tail. Three characters: ROOM (early reflections that keep the source's direction, then a short tail).

How it works

• FREEZE, REV (a reversed tail), sidechain ducking on the wet signal or the whole output, DELTA and M/S processing.
• K-weighted auto gain compensation for a level-matched comparison against bypass.
• Every build was compared with reverbs the developer owns and uses, at the same decay and matched level with the names hidden, and nothing shipped until it passed.
• Twenty-one numbered versions went through 27 sessions before the 1.0 release.
• Pricing & Availability Open is available now for $29 for macOS (10.13 or later on Intel, 11 or later on Apple Silicon) and Windows 10 or later (64-bit), as VST3, AU and standalone.

What to take from it

HALL (a longer space with its own reflection pattern). It is also part of the KERN bundle, which now holds five plugins (Smooth, Warm, Wide...

Example or evidence

Details worth keeping

Five knobs: DEPTH, LENGTH, FOCUS, BLOOM and TONE. Four-band tail EQ, drawn on the spectrum display. Open was built against a blind listening test.