Contemplations on the Art of Music Production

Free Impulse Responses: 4 Reverb Packs To Download

I am a big fan of convolution reverbs. I love exploring different free impulse responses. Doing that often sends me off to completely unexpected creative paths. You can even create a trademark sound of your own based on impulse responses alone.

It can be sometimes hard to find good free impulse responses. Here’s a little resource with some great free reverb impulses to explore. First, I’ll give you a quick introduction to convolution reverbs. If you’re already familiar with the topic, feel free to skip the intro.

What is a convolution reverb?

Convolution technology can be used to capture ambiances and then reproduce them on the computer. An impulse file is a short burst of audio recorded in a real space or through a hardware reverb unit. A convolution reverb plugin uses this impulse file to determine the properties of the reverb. It applies those properties onto any sound you are feeding into the plugin. Convolution technique can be applied to just about to anything from reverbs to EQ’s, compressors and preamps. But we’ll stick with reverbs here.

With convolution, you can get the sound of some super expensive hardware units inside your computer for free. What’s the catch? Flexibility.

Convolution technique is somewhat rigid as it is based on recorded samples of the original source. A convolution reverb doesn’t allow the extent of programming you get with normal algorithmic reverbs.

Most convolution reverb plugins have some editing capabilities. But it’s usually a good idea to keep the edits small. Editing tends to destroy the integrity of these fragile impulses. Of course, you are free to experiment. But in my experience, with convolution reverbs it’s best to look for an impulse that works as it is, with minimal to no editing. This preserves the integrity of the source.

It’s good to understand that convolution is still only a reproduction of the real thing. The quality of the outcome very much depends on the execution. However, convolution can sound pretty damn good when done right.

Many DAWs these days come with some kind of convolution reverb plugin. If you need one though, check out the free Convology XT plugin. It works on PC as well as Mac.

Bricasti M7 impulses by Samplicity

Bricasti M7 Reverb

The Bricasti M7 is a revered modern unit that offers fine classic reverb sounds. It has been called “the future of reverberation”. The price of the basic unit is around 4000 EUR  (4500 USD). And that’s without the remote which costs another couple of grands. Now there’s something to think about.

This collection of free impulse responses by Samplicity includes 136 presets from the M7. These are traditional reverb sounds that sound very smooth and realistic to me. These sounds work well on many kinds of material.

You know sometimes you like a particular reverb sound but it doesn’t seem to sit well in the mix? With the M7 that doesn’t happen as often. Of course, you still have to find the right presets. But my experience with these impulses is that they are very usable and just seem to blend effortlessly in the mix while providing heaps of depth and dimension. Try them out.

Link: Bricasti M7 free impulse response pack by Samplicity.

EchoThief Impulse Response Library

EchoThief Impulse Response Library

The EchoThief impulse response reverb library consists of more than a hundred real-world spaces sampled from around North America. A great collection of detailed and rich impulses. The sampled spaces are quite interesting – here are a few examples:

  • The last covered bridge in Wisconsin.
  • An abandoned coastal artillery battery.
  • The Batcave from the original 1960s TV series.
  • A Yup’ik subterranean communal qasgiq.
  • The Béton Coignet of Cleft Ridge Arch.
  • The stream bed beneath Byron Glacier.
  • The Cathedral Room of Shasta Lake Caverns.
  • An indoor racquetball court.
  • The Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park.

Link: EchoThief free impulse response reverb library

Lexicon 480L free impulse responses by Housecall

Lexicon 480L

The Lexicon 480L came out in 1986 and at the time they cost more than some cars. Come to think of it, they probably still do.

For a long time the 480L was the standard by which all other processors were measured. These sounds are the classics of the classics, used on countless of popular (and not so popular) records. They are brighter and a bit more aggressive than the Bricasti for example. Draw for the 480L reverbs when you need something that strikes out.

A couple of my favorites:

  • “Wild spaces/Inside Out” – great pumping when the tempo is right.
  • “Random hall/Random Well” – another very nice pumping reverb.

Link: Housecall Lexicon 480L free impulse response reverb pack

Lexicon PCM 90 impulse responses by Zidee

Lexicon PCM 90 free impulse response reverb library

The Lexicon PCM 90 is an another classic reverb unit. It’s newer than the beforementioned 480L. The pack contains lots of great sounding reverbs.

There are many gems inside this pack. For one, you have to try the “Inverse Drums” preset found in the Room pack!

Link: Zidee’s Lexicon PCM 90 free impulse response reverb library

Tips for working with impulses

  • Make custom presets of your favorite impulses. This way you won’t have to look for the impulse files on your hard drive every single time. I kick myself for not realizing I could do that for a long time.
  • Don’t worry if the sample rate of the impulses is different than the sample rate of the project you’re working on. Your plugin takes care of the conversion.
  • Try using small ambiences and room sounds for creating a trademark sound for your music. I find convolution reverbs often excel with this.

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41 responses to “Free Impulse Responses: 4 Reverb Packs To Download”

  1. clerk Avatar

    i got my hands on some 480L iR’s a time ago, using them with the built in iR reverb [reverance] in cubase. i like convolution reverb in general cause it sound authentic and if you build custom rooms, you have like a trademark room-sound of your own. thanks for the links!

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Thanks for the comment. Creating a trademark room sound for yourself is a great idea! It’s easy to forget that reverb can be such an important piece in how we perceive things.

      1. clerk Avatar

        absolutly – i have some presets that i use again and again cause the work with certain sounds and just need little tweaks to fit them. its also a workflow thing, having pre-build reverbs that you can play with.

        1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
          Ilpo Kärkkäinen

          Yup all about finding those gems that become a standard part of your workflow!

  2. X Nation Avatar

    Thank you very much Ilpo. I’m now looking forward to playing around with some convolution reverb as it’s something I’ve shied away from before!

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Great! This is what I love to hear!

      What I like to do when testing new verbs is take a relatively sparse drum pattern, and try all the different verbs on that same pattern. That helps you learn the differences in character. Minimal techno drum patterns are great tools for that.

  3. Tobias Avatar
    Tobias

    Big thanks for this info Ilpo, ive found its given me a fresh outlook on the overall mix and fx on sounds….im still yet to sit down and hunt out my favourites but seem to be getting good results from majoirty of impulses im trying.

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      My pleasure – good to hear.

  4. david Avatar
    david

    what reverb impulses do you like specifically for clean/distorted guitars and for drum bus?
    thanks

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      I rarely work with guitars myself but I would say the Bricasti pack is a great all-rounder that seems to blend in nicely in almost any situation. I use it a lot on drums as well.

  5. david Avatar
    david

    which ones are your favorites in the bricasti pack?

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      It depends a lot on the type of music and sounds I’m working on. My normal process is to just try different ones and pick the one that sounds best with the material I’m working on.

      The Bricasti ones are pretty smooth “bread & butter” type of reverbs that really try not to stand out I think. So I don’t really have a favorite one, I just pick what sounds good for each occasion. If I need something flashy then I usually go for something else like the Lexicon ones.

  6. Paschalis I. Avatar

    It really depends on the source file. There’s no right or wrong in mixing as long as it sounds good 🙂

  7. Rolfie Avatar
    Rolfie

    Hi,
    Thank you for great information and links! I am still quite a beginner using Logic, and this might absolutely also have saved some quite unnecessary investments at this stage.
    (also totally new in this forum, found this great site this afternoon:-)
    Saw that e.g. Bricasti uses separate left and right impulse files. Have not found out way to pick more than on file at a time to use in Space Developer (that I also just recently started to dig into that one). but am I right in that it are actually 2 identical stereo files in practice? (Why using one of them works as good in this case)?

    Also takes a chance to ask around about “positioning on stage impulses” (similar to Altiverb). Was a little impressed by the promotion video describing how several positions were recorded. I could guess some extra cpu might be required to run several reverbs in parallel to achieve these. If I have got it right.
    Anyone seen something similar – “impulse file recordings” possible to download??
    (maybe it is already included in some..:-/)

    Thank you in advance!

    Kind Regards Rolf

  8. guest Avatar
    guest

    Try these:

    http://www.tomkinmastering.com/content.php?c=ams-rmx16-ir&l=e

    AMS RMX16 – great 80s reverb!

    They sound fantastic!

  9. Sebastian Avatar
    Sebastian

    Right on. Some great units in here by the looks of things, like the personal touch with recommendations. Will give them a blast when possible.

  10. Liran Ziv Avatar
    Liran Ziv

    do i have to pay first ? cant i just test these before i decide ?

      1. Liran Ziv Avatar
        Liran Ziv

        really? i must be blind cant find how to download them could be the area country or whatever ? thanks man but how do i download them ?

        1. Liran Ziv Avatar
          Liran Ziv

          after choosing the set i want, i am taken to the purchase download link that leads to paypall page. this is not free at least not where im trying from . rrrrrrrr

          1. Ilpo Karkkainen Avatar

            I have just tried all the links and it looks like the Eventide, TC and Lexicon aren’t working properly anymore. I’m sorry – the post is over 3 years old. However the Bricasti one still works. Just click the link and download the impulses.

          2. Liran Ziv Avatar
            Liran Ziv

            thank you very much for your attention, ive already downloaded the bricasty and i really would like to hear the eventide and the 480l , is there any other way to get them ? maybe a web transfer link ? i will be sooooooo thankfullll !!!! thanks anyway for your reply

  11. Liran Ziv Avatar
    Liran Ziv

    although im not a cat the curiosity is killing me. i really like to try those ir’s but it is asking me to fill paypall fields before the downloading starts . can anyone suggest something ? maybe a link to dropbox if it is not too over-the-line-request

  12. Guy Eastwood Avatar
    Guy Eastwood

    Hopefully of interest, I’ve just created an impulse pack for the Yamaha SPX90ii which has over 1100 impulses across all reverb and ER types.

    You can find out more and check some demos at impulse.surefyre.com

  13. Rastko Petrovic Avatar

    Thanks for this. It seems Lexicons sound the best even when sampled and resampled. Amazing stuff.

    I’m trying to learn room acoustics with the help of REW software. It’s a free Java application. It also is able to create impulse responses. I really want to learn how to make proper ones. (with kr 0 budget)

    I think that the electro-acoustic feedback is the essence of all things.

    I can only imagine studios in Finland. :))

    So far I’m playing with Freeverb Impulser (I have a theory that usefull software is free, and not-so-usefull software is not)

    I play in Pd a lot too. Miller Puckette is a god in software world.

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Yeah Lexicon is great. I have used their PCM plugin bundle too for many many years, and still draw for it in most projects (even though I have tons of other options available, Lexicon has something the others don’t).

      REW is great too! I’ve used it for more than 15 years to measure the room when I’m working on the acoustics. Very useful.

  14. Gert Avatar
    Gert

    Really I love the samples from the 480L? Love the drum plate and guitar plate.

    I’ve I a question about IR’s from reverb units:

    Is it permitted (copyright) to use the IR’s in musical projects? (Hobby-project on Youtube or professional use)

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      They’re really great, right?

      There is no universal answer to your question. You have to check with each individual impulse response pack under what terms you are allowed to use them.

  15. glenesis Avatar

    Hi! Here’s an archive.org link to the Zidee impulses. All were downloadable from this link when I checked today.
    http://web.archive.org/web/20190104002901/http://homepage.hispeed.ch/zidee/
    Thanks for this excellent blog post! There were some here I hadn’t heard of. Have a great day and stay well!
    – glenesis in Rochester, NY, USA
    2021-08-08
    OH! Happy 808 Day!

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Thanks! Updated the link. 🙂

  16. glenesis Avatar

    Here’s a working way back machine link to the Samplicity library of Bricasti M7 impulse response files…
    https://web.archive.org/web/20190201211631/http://www.samplicity.com/bricasti-m7-impulse-responses/
    All links work but the archive is very slow to response, so click once on each link, and WAIT. It’s worth the wait.
    Cheers!

    1. Ilpo Kärkkäinen Avatar
      Ilpo Kärkkäinen

      Thanks a lot! I have updated the link in the article.

  17. […] the most famous concert halls in the world to indoor and outdoor places from the web. A place like ReSound is a good place to […]

  18. Peter Roos Avatar

    Hi,

    Thanks very much for mentioning the Samplicity Bricasti IRs.
    The download is available again from the original domain, there is no need anymore to use a web archive link.

    All the best,
    Peter, from Samplicity

  19. Peter Roos Avatar

    Hi Ilpo,

    I should have mentioned the new link:

    https://samplicity.com/bricasti-m7-impulse-response-files/

    Can you maybe update the link in the article?

    Thanks and kind regards,

    Peter Roos – Samplicity

  20. Annabelle Avatar
    Annabelle

    I wonder if you have any impulse responses of airports. I’m wanting to make a believeable version of custom airport announcements, and I want to include the captured acoustics of the terminals.

  21. Joachim Avatar

    Thanks for the great post and the links. I found another one with some well recorded spaces in an old dockyard in Kent, UK. The IRs were made for a research project of the University of Kent.

    https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/free-impulse-responses-excellent-for-sound-design-and-post-production

    The download links are at the end of the article.

    I like the texture of IRs of real spaces, especially on drums!

  22. […] for more? Here are four more interesting downloads to check out from the Resound Sound […]

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