Soundevice Digital Pluralis

Developed by Soundevice Digital and marketed by United Plugins, Pluralis is a fresh twist on the familiar delay — it allows for the creation of effects that are not possible with conventional delays. All the common plug‑in platforms for Mac and Windows are supported, and authorisation is via a personalised key file that allows installation on multiple machines.

This plug‑in not only offers two delay engines, but also comprehensive filtering and modulation options, and each line can be fed from a ‘split’ version of the input signal. Splitting can be set by left/right, Mid/Sides, low/high frequency or by level. In Low/High mode, the crossover frequency can be set using the large centre knob, with the various mode settings positioned around its upper edge. In Quiet/Loud mode the centre knob becomes a threshold control.

The delays themselves offer the usual delay time (DAW sync’ed or free), level and feedback controls, but they also have a Colour control, to add some tape‑like saturation, and in the last two modes a Pan control too. The graphic area below shows the frequency spectrum of the signal, and the HP/LP sliders can be used to trim the highs and lows from the signal. Clicking the Feedback Filter bar places this filter in the feedback loop rather than across the delay’s input, so that each delay receives progressively more filtering. A Freeze bar allows the current delay tail to be repeated indefinitely. All this processing does, of course, demand a higher‑than‑average CPU load for a delay. But the results are impressive, and the code has been optimised to keep the CPU demand down to a reasonable level.

At the bottom of each delay section is a row of four controls under the heading Modulation, and these can make a profound difference to the sound. Level and Rate work as expected in adding a pitch modulation but then we find Feedback, which adds a flange‑like regeneration to the sound. Apparently this sends an adjustable amount of the phase‑shifted signal back into the phase‑shifting part of the modulation circuit. Dispersion then adds what sounds like a coarse reverb effect to further ‘shatter’ the delays, which makes it possible to create some unexpectedly dense textures, often adding a crystalline shimmer to the sound but without employing pitch‑shifting.

Master controls provide independent level adjustments for the dry and delayed sounds, with a master level control governing the overall output level. Clicking the Soundevice Digital logo takes you to a web page describing the product, and from where the manual can be downloaded.

It is possible to coax a very wide range of effects from just this handful of controls.

As expected, there’s a selection of presets to get you started and these demonstrate that it is possible to coax a very wide range of effects from just this handful of controls: plucked guitars and pianos can be turned into crystalline pads that stretch out forever, but there’s also scope for dynamic delays that change with playing volume, or delays that are very different in the right and left channels. In M‑S mode, the outer edges of the stereo mix can be treated with different delays to what’s happening in the centre. Splitting by frequency is also musically useful, as it allows one type of delay to be added to the lows and something quite different to the highs. Overall this is an easy‑to‑use plug‑in capable of some musically useful delay coloration that you won’t find elsewhere.