Cascade

Reverb and diffusion with an experimental edge

Cascade Screenshot

Cascade is a versatile reverb and diffusion processor with an experimental edge. Designed first and foremost with expansive modulated supernatural spaces in mind, it features an extensive set of controls to explore other sonic territories such as stereo widening, transient smearing, hybrid delay/reverb and chorus/flanger/resonator-like effects.

At its core, Cascade uses a chain, or cascade, of 24 allpass delay (a.k.a. allpass diffuser) stages for each of the left and right channels. Each of these stages smears and diffuses the incoming signal a bit, and chaining enough of these together results in a lengthy and diffuse reverberation effect. A notable feature of the allpass delay is its ability to produce various kinds of non-exponential responses, which works great for out-of-this-world effects like blooming and super long reverberation.

Now, this structure can sound somewhat static if allpass delay times are constant, so Cascade employs a randomized modulation scheme where each of the delay times is modulated by a dedicated LFO that is purposefully out of sync with others, thus adding a sense of motion to the sound.

Last but not least, Cascade incorporates a feedback loop around the entire chain, making infinite reverb and delay-infused diffusion textures possible. The feedback loop is complemented by damping filters to modify the frequency response over time.

Videos

Cascade playlist (2 videos)
Cascade playlist (2 videos)

Features

  • Wide range of diffusion textures spanning from subtle smearing and widening to otherworldly reverberation
  • Lush randomized modulation
  • Infinity and Freeze buttons for never-ending reverb bliss
  • Mix Lock for switching presets while keeping the dry/wet mix constant
  • Freely resizable UI with light and dark color schemes
  • Cross-platform preset format for sharing across plugin formats and OSes
  • 30 factory presets to get you started

Demo

The demo version is identical to the full version, except that the effect fades into gentle noise and back every minute, and does not save presets or state.

Compatibility

macOS 10.13+

AU 64-bit, VST3 64-bit
Intel and Apple Silicon (Universal 2 binary)

Windows 8/10/11 (64-bit only)

VST3 64-bit

iOS 12.0+

AUv3, Standalone
Universal (iPad and iPhone)

Mentions

Version History

1.1

December 7, 2023
  • Added Clear Tails button for immediately stopping any reverb tails (also available as a parameter for host control).
  • Added Settings page.
  • When resizing, the latest plugin window size will now be used for new plugin instances (resettable using the Reset Size button in Settings).
  • The behavior where the plugin would reset tails when starting playback is now optional and can be disabled in Settings.
  • Moved color scheme toggle to Settings.
  • The Shift key can now be used for fine parameter adjustments, in addition to Cmd/Ctrl.
  • About screen UI tweaks.
  • Minor bug fixes.

1.0

April 28, 2023

Initial release