Halo Reverb: the manual

Halo Reverb is an algorithmic reverb with eight spaces: Hall, Chamber, Plate, Room, Ambience, Cathedral, Nonlin and HALO. Four engine families give those spaces different behavior. Feedback spaces share a six-band decay contour drawn directly over the display; Nonlin instead shapes a finite tail window.

This manual covers Halo Reverb 1.1: installation, activation, the interface, session workflows and the reference controls. It was updated on 1 October 2026. For more techniques, visit the guides index.

The eight spaces, six-band decay contour and HALO regeneration each have their own section below. HALO adds granular pitched regeneration inside the tail, from subtle tuned air to a climbing shimmer wash.

Overview

The eight spaces run on four engine families. Hall, Chamber, Room, Ambience, Cathedral and the HALO base run an eight-line modulated FDN, tuned per space. Plate is the published Dattorro figure-eight plate topology. Nonlin is a gated and reverse engine in the classic rack lineage, built from 32 decorrelated taps per channel with no feedback loop at all. HALO adds the regeneration layer on top of the FDN: a granular pitch shifter feeding back through the reverb.

The display is the light field: the wet tail rendered as light across frequency and time, with the decay contour drawn over it as an editable curve. Freeze visibly holds the light; ducking visibly dims it. Switch spaces and the whole machine re-lights in that space's colour.

The plugin reports zero samples of latency and has no lookahead. CPU use depends on the space, settings, host, hardware and editor size. Every control carries a tooltip, switchable off in the options menu.

Installation and activation

Get the current Halo Reverb installer for your computer. Save your session and close your DAW, run the Windows .exe or macOS .pkg, then reopen the DAW. Rescan plugins if necessary.

Insert Halo Reverb on an audio track or bus. Use AU in Logic Pro, AAX in Pro Tools, or VST3 in a compatible host. AU is available on macOS; both platforms include VST3 and AAX.

Windows builds require Windows 10 or later, 64-bit. Mac builds require macOS 10.15 or later on Intel, or macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon. Your DAW may require a newer operating system.

Start a three-day trial

1. Open the plugin’s license panel and choose Start free trial. This opens the trial page for Halo Reverb with your product and machine code filled in.
2. Sign in using the link sent to your email. Check the product and machine code, then choose Email my trial.
3. Save the attached license file from your email. On the same computer, choose Load file in the plugin’s license panel.

Install first: the three days begin when the trial license is issued. Every feature is available during that window. Keep the computer connected for periodic internet verification. There is one trial per product, person and machine, with no payment details or automatic charge. At expiry, processing locks while the plugin keeps its saved project settings.

Activate a full perpetual license

Paste the VT-... key from your purchase email or account into the license panel and choose Apply license. Full perpetual licenses work offline after activation.

For an offline studio computer, use the license portal on an online device. Enter your key and the studio computer’s VTM1-... machine code, download the bound file, transfer it to the studio computer and choose Load file. The portal can also resend your active full-license keys.

A full license runs on up to three computers at a time. Deactivating does not open a slot on its own, because permanent offline files cannot be remotely erased, so when you replace a computer, contact support and we move the license to the new one for free. A trial is bound to its issuing computer.

Find the plugin after installation

Open the plugin from your DAW’s plugin browser. Check that its supported format was installed, restart the DAW, and inspect its rescan or failed-plugin list if the plugin is missing. The Mac package installs plugins, not a standalone application. Windows may also offer a standalone app under C:\Program Files\Vitric Audio.

If installation or activation still fails, send support the product version, operating system, DAW version, plugin format and exact error.

Interface tour

The window is resizable at a fixed aspect ratio, from 922 by 620 up to 1650 by 1110. The toolbar holds the eight-space selector, the preset menu with its section headers, A/B compare with a COPY button, FREEZE and BYPASS. Below it the light field fills the face, with the floating control bar, the tail-shaping strip and the utility strip underneath.

The eight spaces

Space changes are handled inside the engine so switching while audio runs does not click, and each space carries its own light family on the interface.

The decay contour

Six fixed regions are split at 150, 400, 1200, 3500 and 8000 Hz. Each ratio scales master decay from 0.25× to 4× in feedback spaces. Select a node to see its region and target seconds, then type an exact ratio or drag vertically. Left/Right selects a band; Up/Down adjusts its ratio, with Shift for fine movement. Double-click resets a node. These nodes do not move crossover frequencies. NONLIN retains the ratios but does not use the feedback contour.

Main and contextual controls

PREDELAY, SIZE, DECAY and BLOOM stay in the main section. TEXTURE holds the current space's texture controls. HALO adds a second page for REGEN SEND, REGEN DECAY, REGEN TONE and interval. Changing pages only changes the controls you see. Click a numeric value to type its displayed units; Return applies and Escape cancels.

• Decay. 0.1 to 60 seconds of master reverb time. The contour scales this value per band in feedback spaces. In NONLIN, the control reads WINDOW and sets the finite tail length from 0.1 to 1.2 seconds, which SIZE scales 0.5 to 2 times. A longer decay set in another space is kept, and plays as 1.2 seconds in NONLIN.
• Size. 50 to 200 percent, scaling the space's internal geometry; short decays can cap the effective size. In PLATE it reads ER SIZE and controls early reflections.
• Predelay. 0 to 500 ms free, or synced to the host tempo from 1/32 to 1/4 including dotted and triplet values via the sync selector beside it; a synced predelay is capped at 500 ms. If usable host tempo is unavailable, the stored manual predelay remains active.
• Bloom. Density build-up rate, from tails that speak immediately to the late swell of a large hall. In Nonlin the same knob is relabelled SLOPE and sweeps the envelope from reverse through gated to decaying. PLATE does not use BLOOM and retains its setting.
• Diffusion. Input diffusion amount, 0 to 100 percent.
• Mod Rate and Mod Depth. Tail modulation, 0.1 to 5.0 Hz and 0 to 100 percent. NONLIN retains these values but does not use tank modulation.
• Early/Late. Balance between early reflections and the tail: 0 is early reflections only, 100 is tail only.

In the HALO space the per-space panel carries the regeneration controls: Halo Bloom, the Interval choice (octave up, fifth up, octave plus fifth, octave down, detune), Halo Decay for the regeneration feedback, and Halo Tone, a tilt inside the shift path. At low bloom the effect reads as tuned air behind a vocal rather than an effect; pushed, it is the full climbing shimmer wash.

The era switch

Three voicings of the whole machine, on the utility strip. The tabs read MODERN, CLASSIC and VINTAGE, and they are bandwidth and modulation choices with honest numbers rather than marketing decades:

• MODERN. Clean, full bandwidth, colorless modulation.
• CLASSIC. A 15 kHz bandwidth cap with noisier modulation.
• VINTAGE. A 10 kHz cap, darker and noisier modulation still.

The bandwidth caps apply to every space. The modulation change applies to the feedback-network spaces; Plate and NONLIN take the bandwidth cap only.

Freeze

FREEZE fades new input out of the late tail while early reflections remain live. Feedback spaces can hold the existing tail; tone, width, ducking and mix remain available. NONLIN has no feedback loop, so Freeze closes its tail input without turning the finite window into an infinite hold. In FDN and Plate spaces, decay-related settings can still affect diffusion limits during Freeze. In the HALO space the pitched regeneration pauses while frozen, so the held tail keeps its level.

Ducking

Built-in ducking follows the dry signal, with amount, attack and release controls. Attack runs 1 to 100 ms and release 20 to 2000 ms; at full amount the wet signal ducks by up to 24 dB. Attack and release remain stored while amount is zero. The reverb leans back while you sing and swells back after, and the light field dims as it does.

Tail shaping

The wet path carries a low cut from 20 to 1000 Hz and a high cut from 1 to 20 kHz, plus two tone shelves: Lo Tone at 150 Hz and Hi Tone at 6 kHz, each running from -12 to +12 dB. Cuts fence the tail in; shelves tilt what remains.

Width, mix and output

• Width. 0 to 200 percent on the wet signal, mid/side based and mono compatible at every setting.
• Mix and mix lock. Dry/wet balance with a lock that holds your mix while browsing presets, so a send at 100 percent wet stays a send.
• Output. Trim from -24 to +24 dB.

Presets and A/B

43 factory presets in six banks, plus the Default host program: Vocals, Drums, Guitars, Keys and Synths, Mix Bus, FX and Sound Design. Preset values follow documented engineering conventions, so the vocal plate sits at 1.5 seconds with 25 ms of predelay, the snare plate at 1.2 seconds, the drum room at 1.0 second and the scoring stage at 2.2 seconds. A/B holds two complete states with instant switching and a COPY button, and mix lock is honoured through preset changes.

Saving and recalling your own presets

1. Open the preset menu and choose Save preset..., then type a name.
2. Your presets appear under User at the end of the same menu, after the factory banks. Choose one to recall it.
3. Rename preset and Delete preset manage the list, and Show preset folder opens the folder the files are saved in.

A saved preset holds the sound settings, FREEZE included, and is available in any project. Bypass, mix lock and the A/B slots stay with the session, and with mix lock on, recalling one of your presets leaves MIX where it is, as the factory presets do. The files live in ~/Library/Application Support/Vitric Audio/Presets/Halo Reverb on macOS and %APPDATA%\Vitric Audio\Presets\Halo Reverb on Windows. Saving and loading your own presets needs an unlocked plugin (a purchase or an active trial).

Workflows

Lead vocal

Start from the plate: 1.5 seconds with 25 ms of predelay is the documented convention, and the predelay keeps the consonants ahead of the tail. Set ducking so the reverb leans back during the phrase and swells after it, then pull the two low contour bands under 1x so the tail carries air rather than mud. If the vocal wants a halo rather than a room, switch to the HALO space, keep Halo Bloom low and choose octave up: at that setting the regeneration reads as tuned air, not an effect.

Drums

Nonlin is the drum space: gated and reverse tails in the classic rack lineage, click free by construction because there is no feedback loop. The SLOPE knob sweeps reverse through gated to decaying. For a realistic kit, use Room at a short decay instead and shape with the contour: keep the band below 150 Hz short so the kick stays tight and let the 1.2 to 3.5 kHz band ring so the snare blooms.

Sound design

In HALO, pitch the tail an octave up, allow a few regeneration passes to build, then use Freeze to hold the feedback tail. Tone, width, ducking and mix remain available. Try the tail-shaping filters and mix as performance controls, and automate Freeze for changes in texture. NONLIN does not offer an infinite freeze tail.

Mix bus and score

Cathedral or a scoring-stage hall, with the contour shaping length per region: long warm lows under short airy highs, or the reverse, is one curve. Zero samples of latency means the reverb sits anywhere in the chain without delay compensation, which matters on a print chain. Use the era switch to date the tail honestly: MODERN for full bandwidth, CLASSIC or VINTAGE when the arrangement wants the tail to sit behind a bandwidth cap.

Reference

What it does not do

The following limits apply to this version:

• Mono and stereo only. Bus layouts are mono to mono, mono to stereo and stereo to stereo; a mono output carries an equal-power fold of both wet channels. No surround and no Dolby Atmos.
• No external sidechain. The ducker is driven by the plugin's own dry input, not by another track.
• No latency modes. There is no oversampling switch and no lookahead. The unit is always zero latency.

FAQ

Is the HALO space a shimmer reverb? It contains one and goes further. A granular pitch shifter sits inside the tail's regeneration loop with five interval choices. At low settings it reads as tuned air behind a vocal; pushed hard it is the full climbing shimmer wash.

What does the decay contour actually control? It sets decay ratios across six fixed frequency regions in the feedback spaces, from 0.25× to 4× master decay. NONLIN retains these settings but uses a finite window rather than feedback contour processing.

How does Freeze behave in different spaces? Feedback spaces can hold an existing tail while tone, width, ducking and mix stay available. Early reflections remain live. NONLIN closes its tail input without adding infinite feedback. Decay-related settings can still affect diffusion limits in FDN and Plate spaces. In the HALO space, very high regeneration keeps building the frozen tail slowly.

What are the eras? Three voicings: MODERN is clean and full bandwidth, CLASSIC caps the tail at 15 kHz with noisier modulation, VINTAGE caps it at 10 kHz, darker and noisier still. The noisier modulation applies to the feedback-network spaces; Plate and NONLIN take the bandwidth cap only. Bandwidth and modulation choices with honest numbers.

Does it add latency? No. Zero samples reported and real, with no lookahead anywhere. It sits in a tracking chain as comfortably as on the mix bus.

Can I sync the predelay to the session tempo? Yes. Predelay runs 0 to 500 ms free, or host-synced from 1/32 to 1/4 including dotted and triplet values, capped at 500 ms.

Will presets blow up my send balance? Not with mix lock on. The lock holds your mix setting while you browse, so a send instance stays 100 percent wet through every preset audition, factory or your own.

What DAWs does it support? Use AU on macOS, VST3 in a compatible 64-bit host, or AAX in Pro Tools. Your DAW may require a newer OS than the plugin build minimum. Check the DAW's system requirements and supported plugin formats.

Can I try it before buying? Yes. Install the plugin, then choose Start free trial in its license panel or visit the trial page. The full-function trial lasts three days from license issuance and needs internet access for periodic verification. It is limited to one per product, per person and machine, with no automatic charge.

What if I get a new computer? Write to support and we move your license to it for free. A permanent offline license cannot be remotely erased, so deactivating in the portal does not open a slot on its own; support does the move for you.

Support

Questions, activation trouble, or anything this manual does not cover: support@vitricaudio.com. Every purchase also carries a 14 day money back guarantee, no questions asked, so the real test is always your own sessions.