Sunset Sound Studio Reverb

Sunset Sound

Studio Reverb

Experience one of the world’s most iconic studios in your DAW

Few studios in the world have contributed as much to the sonic imprint of music culture as Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound Studio.

T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb lets you step inside Sunset Sound studios, capturing the sonic mojo of each one of these echo chambers, live rooms, booths, plates and springs, as well as the unique vibe of their custom consoles and classic mic collection.

It’s the closest thing to tracking your session in this hall-of-fame studio itself.

The sound of music history

Sunset Sound Recordings was opened in 1958 by Tutti Camarata, then director of recording for Disney Studios. The space’s slanted floor and uneven walls gave it ideal acoustics, and soon the studio was busy recording Disney classics like “Mary Poppins”.

By 1962, Sunset Sound was welcoming artists like the Doors, Joe Cocker, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, the Beach Boys, and Led Zeppelin. Since then artists from all genres have kept Sunset busy: Van Halen, Toto, Prince, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Whitney Houston, the Doobie Brothers, Miles Davis, Elton John, Alanis Morissette, Smashing Pumpkins, Sheryl Crow, Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Ryan Adams, Beck and more.

Today, the live rooms, vocal booths and echo chambers of Sunset Sound have become a part of the fabric of popular music itself. That’s why IK Multimedia and current studio owner Paul Camarata wanted to give all musicians the chance to add a little of Sunset’s magic to their tracks.

A complete studio complex in a single plug-in

T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb gives you a total of 12 spaces, with 3 echo chambers, 3 live rooms and 3 vocal booths, plus vintage EMT and Echoplate plate reverbs and an AKG spring reverb still in use at the facility today, giving you a full suite of reverb effects in a single plug-in.

All the rooms and equipment have been carefully maintained since their construction in the early 60s, so their sonic imprint has remained exactly the same as they were when Sunset’s iconic sessions were tracked.

Timeless gear, pristinely preserved

In addition to the rooms and chambers, T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb also offers two of Sunset’s vintage plate reverbs, an EMT 140 and Echoplate, as well as their AKG BX-20E spring reverb. IK chose the best-sounding of Sunset’s units, adding that classic, vintage hardware reverb sound and giving you a comprehensive set of reverb types in a single plug-in.

The sound of the hits, exactly as recorded

IK worked hand-in-hand with Sunset’s engineers, poring over decades of session sheets to recreate the mic positions and placement that ensure all of the rooms and spaces sound just as they did on countless hit records. We recreated the exact placement and options used in these sessions, making it faster and easier to dial in the sounds you want.

The deepest level of authenticity

To capture both the unique acoustics of each studio, IK used its unique Volumetric Response Modeling (VRM™), an advanced hybrid convolution technique, to deliver the highest-quality reverb effects possible, and ensure the results of T-RackS’s processing were indistinguishable from recordings made in the real rooms.

Iconic consoles for iconic spaces

Beyond using Sunset’s extensive vintage mic locker, IK used award-winning physical modeling to recreate each studio’s unique consoles (an API-based Sunset Sound custom, a Class-A-Discrete NEVE 8880, an API/DeMedio Sunset Sound Custom) preamplifier and signal path, to add the perfect harmonic content and sonic signature. This makes the reverbs sound completely authentic and will make you feel you’re behind the boards running a session yourself.

Convenient tone shaping

T-RackS Sunset Sound Studio Reverb offers all the necessary controls to shape your spaces including reverb time, width and frequency controls, microphone controls (left, right, or both) and accurate leveling/monitor of the mixed signals.

Features

• Captures the acoustics of the iconic Sunset Sound studios
• Includes each studio’s live room, iso booth and 3 echo chambers
• Includes two plates and one spring reverb, all original vintage units
• IK's proprietary Volumetric Response Modeling (VRM™) technology gives you ultra-realistic sound spaces
• Variable room dampening and multiple microphone positions
• Console preamp and signal path modeling add the exact harmonic content of the studio gear for warm, lush reverberation that goes beyond classic convolution reverbs
• Pre Delay & Decay Time controls, EQ and mic options
• Dry & Wet signal level controls with solo buttons

System Requirements

Mac® (64-bits)

• Minimal: Apple M1 or Intel® Core i5 Processor, 8 GB of RAM, macOS® 10.15 or newer (macOS 11 or newer required for Apple Silicon Processors). 9 GB of hard drive space.
• Requires an OpenGL 2 compatible graphics adapter.
• Supported Plug-in formats (64-bit): Audio Units, VST 2, VST 3, AAX.

Windows® (64-bits)

• Minimal: Intel® Core i5 Processor or equivalent, 8 GB of RAM, Windows 10 (64 bit) or newer. 9 GB of hard drive space.
• Requires an ASIO compatible sound card.
• Requires an OpenGL 2 compatible graphics adapter.
• Supported Plug-in formats (64-bit): VST 2, VST 3, AAX.

Important note: Internet connection is required as all of the Custom Shop operations are web based.