Mirror

Name: Mirror
Price: 59 USD
Author: United Plugins

by United Plugins · Delay · Reverse negative delay

Not rated yet

Mirror from JMG Sound (sold by United Plugins) is a reverse delay and reverb that uses DAW latency compensation so reversed effects play before the original sound.

Ghost Snares and Reverse Reverb modes give swells without manual audio editing; $78.

Best for: Vocals, Drums, Keys & Synths, Guitars, Sound Design. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: reverse, vocals, electric guitar, snare, drums, samples & loops, corrective, mixing, perpetual licence, smooth, sound design, thin.

What it does

Mirror is a JMG Sound plugin, sold by United Plugins, that the developer calls "the world's first reverse negative delay." It reports latency to the DAW so the reversed sound lands before the dry note, giving reverse reverb swells without bouncing and flipping audio by hand.

Negative Delay mode: the default. The reversed effect plays ahead of the source, kept in time by the DAW's latency compensation.
Standard mode: an ordinary reverse delay where the wet sound follows the dry, with no added latency, so it suits live playback.
Time: tempo-linked buffer lengths of an eighth, a quarter, half a bar or a whole bar set how long each reversed block is.
Verb and Blur: Verb blends reverb into the reversed audio, from fully dry to 100% reverb; Blur adds diffusion to soften transients.
Shaping: Soft smooths transients, Trim tames the harsh attack at the end of the reversed sound, Extend lengthens the effect, and high- and low-pass filters thin out the swell.
Levels: independent wet and dry controls, so you can print only the reversed sound.
Typical uses: reverse reverb on vocals, "ghost" reverse snares and swells for transitions, drum loops and guitars.

It comes with free lifetime updates. Processing is 64-bit at any sample rate including 192 kHz, and there is a 15-day trial with no limits or watermarks.

Source: United Plugins product page

When to use it

Mirror is the better pick when you want true reverse-reverb swells that rise into the note, set up in seconds. Compared with EchoBoy and Valhalla Delay, whose reverse modes place the reversed repeats after the source, Mirror uses latency to put the swell ahead of it. It is far narrower than those delays, though: there are no tape, analog or modulation styles, only reversed blocks with reverb, diffusion and filtering. Compared with doing it by hand, it is quicker but block-based, so Sound On Sound found it does not exactly match real backwards tape reverb.

Best for: reverse swells on vocals, snares, guitars and transitions without editing audio.
Genres: pop, electronic, hip-hop, rock and cinematic.
Look elsewhere if: you need a general delay or low-latency tracking; EchoBoy or Valhalla Delay cover far more ground. Logic Pro and Bitwig users may hit latency limits in Negative mode.
Tip: in Logic, Sound On Sound found the quarter-note setting runs fine at 120 bpm or above; otherwise, print the wet-only signal to a new track and shift it earlier by hand.

What producers say

Reviewers see it as a real time-saver for reverse effects, with some caveats about timing and DAW support.

Sound On Sound (Paul White, 2022) said it "really takes the hard work out of" reversed effects, praising the wet/dry and filter controls and results on drum loops, guitars and vocals.
Criticisms: Sound On Sound noted the block-based approach is not quite genuine reversed tape reverb, results can be unpredictable on loosely played drums, and Logic Pro and Bitwig limit the latency it can use.

Sound On Sound review

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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