Vintage Digital Reverb
HD Cart is a recreation of the rarest expansion cartridge for a seminal digital reverb – taken to a whole new level! Experience classic digital reverb in surround with the convenience of a modern plug-in.
Originally only available in quad and 5.1, but now upgraded for 7.1 and 9.1.6 for Atmos compatible period-authentic reverbs, HD Cart is the ideal route to heritage spaces and rooms with instantly recognisable feel and vibe when your projects calls for contemporary surround workflows.
HD Cart has a low memory and CPU footprint, alongside a wealth of useful improvements including luscious chorusing, flexible dynamics, classic gating and greatly expanded filtering capabilities, making it an ideal workhorse reverb when heritage spaces are an essential part of the mix.
””HD Cart has beautifully captured that classic reverb sound we all know and love, breathing life into recordings in the most musical way possible. I'm able to use a ton of surround instances without moving the CPU needle. Truly fantastic!”
Scott Michael SmithGrammy winning mixer: The Revenant, The Handmaid's Tale, Minions: The Rise Of Gru, Moon Knight
A Unique Heritage Reverb
One of the first ever surround algorithms ever to consider the effect of early and late reflections in a quadraphonic field, this pushed the dual-board design of the original hardware to the limit in a way not heard anywhere else.
Included in this recreation are not only the original high density stereo modes, quadraphonic and special 5.0 routing configurations, but further extensions for even higher density stereo and 9.1.6 surround support all while staying true to the original algorithmic and control concepts.
Experience unique early reflections like no other, with spin and wander creating a truly dynamic spaces that come to life with level, filter and timing control for the surround regions.
In surround modes the reverb can be pushed towards the front, left in the centre for highest reflection density, or moved towards the rear of the simulated space.
””The HD Cart verb has incredible personality and depth. I fell in love all over again with the sounds on this - and having it able to run as a surround or Atmos reverb return really is the full package!”
Jason LaRoccaMusic Producer and Mixer: Morbius, Dune, Cyberpunk 2077
Space Control
The full complement of controls available on the original unit have been recreated in HD Cart, with some areas receiving extensions and improvements.
Spread provides powerful room enveloping control to ensure reverbs give the source the space they require. Size and reverb time allow you to make adjustments to the perceived room size and reverberation length.
Early and late reverb roll-off controls have been extended with modern additions of 12, 18, and 24 dB slopes in addition to the usual 6 dB/oct to allow you to create rooms with bright reflections with much more realistic late reverberation properties than were possible before.
The classic spin and wander effect was meticulously studied and reproduced, and now you can supplement this with independent reflection and reverb chorusing for rich and complex modulation sequences with evolving sonic textures.
Modern plug-in essentials including full parameter locking and pre-delay DAW tempo sync are included.
”“HD Cart has very quickly become an indispensable part of my effects toolkit. It works great on everything from punchy percussion to deep ambient effects, all with its own interesting character. All that and being surround-compatible makes it a no-brainer.”
Chris FogelThe Mandalorian, Oppenheimer, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Dynamics & EQ
Dynamics
Ducking a reverb is often used to avoid a reverb swamping the dry signal, allowing the verb to be tucked away until there is space in the mix for it to fill the space between phrases. Often this will improve intelligibility. By ducking only the reverb (not the reflections) one retains the spatialisation effect of the early room without compromising intelligibility with excessive reverb tail fighting with the dry. HD Cart allows you to duck the reverb, reflections, or the combination of the two.
The dynamics module can also be switched into compression mode for treatment of the reflections, reverb, wet or input signal.
Gate
A reverb gate is used to rapidly reduce the level of the reverberated signal when it falls below a threshold and was a staple of 80s production technique on drums / snare, but also has many uses in contemporary production styles.
EQ
The EQ allows you to apply those finishing touches to the mixed reverb, with low, high and mid-band control.
””HD Cart sounds so great! I used it today and it was fantastic. It took me just a few seconds to find something that was perfect for the song I was mixing.”
Romesh DodangodaGrammy nominated producer: Bring Me The Horizon, Motorhead, Funeral For A Friend
Classic Reverb In The Modern Era
The original release brought a vintage algorithm into modern DAWs. In 2022 HD Cart received its biggest ever update truly bringing a classic into the modern era. Best of all, this was made available for free to existing owners! The new features include:
- Support for modern Atmos workflows
- Mono, Stereo, LCR, Quad, 5.0 – 5.1.4, 7.0 – 7.1.6, 9.0.4 – 9.1.6
- Over 200 additional presets
- New chorus modulation type
- Pre-delay DAW tempo sync
- Dynamics (ducker, gate and compressor with external sidechain support)
- New EQ modes and master EQ section
- Visual refresh including scalability
- Comprehensive parameter locking
”“The refined algorithms that combine both engines sound particularly good. HD Cart sits perfectly in a music mix.“
Paul WhiteSound On Sound (June 2018)
Here are stereo audio examples of instruments used with HD Cart, each example shows the dry version as well as several examples of different presets. Many thanks to Nashville producer Dan Wheeler and Nashville singer/songwriter Kimber for making these available to us.
HD Cart is ideal for classical music mixing duties in stereo and Atmos surround, in the video example below Julian David shows you how HD Cart can be used to mix a string quartet recorded in a very dry small room to give it a much greater sense of space.
”"A 7.1.2 version of the classic 480 expansion card! This is going straight into my Atmos template session! Initially I'm really impressed by the rooms presets they add immediate energy and musicality."
Al RileyTricky, Coldcut, Soul II Soul
Available Free For 14 Days
The HD Cart trial is available for free on macOS and Windows.
Just enter the iLok code below in iLok License Manager and install the plug-in:
0285-8490-5098-6361-5071-4358-0817-30
After 14 days a full license is required to continue using the plug-in.
Purchasing and License Information
Available to buy from the LiquidSonics Store for $199 or click below to add to your basket. An iLok 2/3 dongle, iLok machine activation or iLok Cloud is required.
Documents and Installers
The Windows installer for HD Cart can be downloaded here.
Version 1.3.5
These installers are 64-bit only.
The macOS installer for HD Cart can be downloaded here.
Version 1.3.5
This macOS installer contains 64-bit Universal Binaries (Apple Silicon and Intel x64) for VST2, VST3, AU and AAX.
If you require 32-bit support please download version v1.1.1 or below from the change-log.
Version 1.3.5: 10 January 2025
- Fix for AudioSuite -20038 error in Pro Tools Studio
- For for A/B preset container session recall bug
- Enhanced protection compatibility with Apple M4 processors
- macOS installer signature refresh
Version 1.3.4: 4 October 2024
- Integration of a Pace supplied work-around for an incompatibility with AMD Zen 5 based Windows systems affecting products protected with iLok
Downloads: Windows
Version 1.3.3: 29 August 2024
- Support for additional 9.1.6 format in Nuendo 13
- Correction of Pro Tools surround formats session recall bug introduced in v1.3.1
Version 1.3.2: 28 August 2024
- Revert support for the additional 9.1.6 format in Nuendo 13 due to a Pro Tools channel issue in the updated framework
Version 1.3.1: 26 August 2024
- Add the facility to mute or pass through the LFE channel
- Support for additional 9.1.6 format in Nuendo 13 (standard edition only)
- Raised minimum system requirements to macOS 10.13
Version 1.3.0: 10 January 2024
- Support for dynamics sidechain signal source in AU, VST3 and AAX
- Fix for auxiliary outs in Pro Tools 2023.12
Version 1.2.7: 15 September 2023
-
Sonoma compatibility update
Downloads: macOS
Version 1.2.6: 7 August 2023
-
Support for 5.1.2 and 5.1.4 channel widths in Logic Pro
-
Support for 5.x.2, 5.x.4 and 9.x.4 channel widths support in AAX and VST3
-
Workaround for AUs in Live instantiating in 9.1.6 channel mode
-
Fix for plugins not loading in GarageBand on Intel Macs
-
Adjustments for UI performance issues on macOS Sonoma
Version 1.2.5: 3 May 2023
- Support for VST3 and AAX track widths of 7.x.4, 7.x.6 and 9.x.6
- Right click lock menus can now be disabled
Version 1.2.4: 2 March 2023
- Correction for high CPU usage in Pro Tools at low buffer sizes
- Framework update
Version 1.2.3: 16 February 2023
- Correction for high CPU usage during filter smoothing
Version 1.2.2: 26 January 2023
- Correction for a bug affecting time signature detection
Version 1.2.1: 6 November 2022
- Fix for an issue in AAX bypass mode for mono tracks
Downloads: macOS | Windows
Version 1.2.0: 9 August 2022
- Surround 7.1.6 support added
- New ducker module added
- New gate module added
- New equaliser added (low cut, mid-band peak/shelf and high cut)
- Added 12/18/24 dB curves to the reverb and reflection roll-off
- New modulation options added to reverb and reflections (chorus)
- The user interface is now scalable in fixed steps (70% through to 200%)
- New factory presets added (Halls, Rooms, etc)
- Previously separately available signature artist presets are now included in the main package
Downloads: macOS | Windows
Version 1.1.7: 10 May 2022
- Fix for a VST3-only plug-in scaling issue in Steinberg hosts when using supplementary application UI scaling settings (Windows only)
Download: Windows
Version 1.1.6: 22 April 2022
Changes:
- Security and stability updates
Downloads: macOS | Windows
Version 1.1.4: 4 March 2022 (Mac only)
Changes:
- Apple Silicon support
Version 1.1.4: 29 June 2021 (Mac only)
Changes:
- Fix for macOS 12 dyld load crash
Version 1.1.3: Not released publicly
Changes:
- Internal changes in advance of future support for Apple Silicon Macs
Version 1.1.2: 14 November 2019
Changes:
- Fix for tail crop bug in some hosts
- Removal of the use of OpenGL in macOS following Apple’s deprecation of the API
- Removal of 32-bit builds
Version 1.1.1: 30 April 2019
Changes:
- Included 5.1 channel mode (LFE is not processed) for convenience when adding the plug-in to surround channel workflows
Downloads for the last 32-bit build: macOS | Windows
Version 1.1.0: 15 April 2019
Changes:
- Support for iLok Cloud
Version 1.0.8: 6 November 2018
Changes:
- Fix for a user preset menu selection bug when a large number of presets is present
Version 1.0.7: 5 November 2018
Changes:
- Expanded the information available when clicking the HD Cart logo
- Interactive assistance mode (tool-tip help) added
- A link to the manual online can be selected
- The reverb tail is now cleared when when bringing the reverb back online after being disabled (where supported by the host)
Version 1.0.6: 1 November 2018
Changes:
- Framework updates, no user facing changes
Version 1.0.5: 28 September 2018
Changes:
- Minor bug-fixes
Version 1.0.4: 7 June 2018
Changes:
- Minor bug-fixes
Version 1.0.3: 15 December 2017
Changes:
- Minor bug-fixes
Version 1.0.2: 23 November 2017
Changes:
- Now retains dry/wet value when changing user-specified presets in line with the factory preset behaviour
Version 1.0.1: 17 November 2017
Changes:
- Modified initial presets to better reflect the state of the original hardware for increased authenticity
- Fixed bug on manual entry of decay time
- Fixed bug relating to the low boost level (for low boosts ~128 region)
Version 1.0.0: 30 October 2017
- Initial release.
Additional Information
HD Cart supports DAWs meeting the following specification:
-
- iLok 2/3, iLok machine activation or iLok Cloud
- Windows 7 and above
- macOS 10.13 and above
- VST 2.4, VST 3, Audio Unit (AUv2), AAX Native
- Intel or Apple Silicon processors (native and Rosetta 2 supported)