HEAR360 has modeled the Ecoplate I, a well-known analog plate reverb designed by Jim Cunningham in the ‘80s. At the time, it was not uncommon for producers and engineers familiar with the time-tested EMT 140 plate reverb from the ‘60s to prefer the original Ecoplate for its sweet high end and wide stereo image. With the plug-in version, that same impression holds true today!
Ecoplate’s GUI is very clean, with a large time scale dial harkening back to the original hardware controls with all the features and fixings you’d expect. It’s thoughtfully laid out to squeeze maximum functionality out of the plug-in. For instance, you can manage the plug-in’s input level, push it well past zero for more saturation and intensity, and/or engage variable low- and high-pass filters (pre- or post-effect). Additionally, there is a wet/dry MIX blend knob, PRE-DELAY control, a SYNC TO TEMPO switch, and finally, output gain. By clicking the MIX knob, you can turn it into LVL mode, which keeps the original gain of the dry material unmodified – ideal for maintaining original levels when inserting Ecoplate as an instance on a single track. To stay true to the sound Ecoplate users have come to love, HEAR360 has also modeled the imperfections of an actual unit via a small ANALOG switch on the lower left-hand side of the GUI. This feature reproduces the original noise profile while introducing saturation and color to the signal to create a little more vibe. A dropdown menu on the upper left expands to give you control of the amount of saturation and noise. You can independently set the gain of each from 0 to 100% and toggle them both on and off via the ANALOG switch. There is even a slider for the stereo image, which you can push to be quite broad. Also, at your fingertips are tone controls, which allow for shaping and sculpting to fit what you’re hearing. However, this plug-in isn’t really about features, so much as how exquisite it sounds.
HEAR360’s Ecoplate is sonically very tidy in that it doesn’t create lots of artifacts in the mids and low mids that build up in your mix as you introduce additional sources. I was surprised right out of the gate at how much of it I could add before feeling it was too much. It has, as one could imagine it should, a wide-open, sparkling ‘80s sound that we all know (and more often than not) love. It sits naturally in the back of a mix rather than requiring some fussing to get it to feel like it belongs. On few era-relevant projects it was right at home: on a snare it provided incredible space without needing much EQ, with guitars it provided a classic sounding sense of air and length without overly reacting to the low end, and on vocals it was quite flexible and huge. The ability to spread the image ultra-wide helped to create more depth, and perhaps separate the vocal reverb from the rest of the audio. Surprisingly, the extremely short reverb times also sound natural, creating a vocal booth or small room feel when I wasn’t expecting them to be particularly useful.
HEAR360 has absolutely delivered on reviving this classic unit, and while it may feel as though we’ve reached a point of excess in terms of reverb plug-ins, I strongly suggest downloading a free trial of Ecoplate to see if it’s right for you! HEAR360 distributes through their online marketplace.
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