ab vortEx
Spatial Spacetime designer.
XY Pad with millions of unique combinations, from conservative to completely experimental results.
Viscosity control gives space/time transitions elasticity.
Near-to-infinite combinations for unique sonic colours.
Pre-delay with feedback control can work as a Delay line.
Perfect for sound designers and musicians.
Designed with a plug-and-play mentality: It simply WORKS!
Natively compatible with Mono, Stereo, and Ambisonics Signals*.
Spatial control for horizontal and vertical transformations.
Output compatible with Stereo, Surround, Binaural, Atmos beds, or any speaker-array configuration through Ambisonics decoding.
Compatible with all major DAWs*
Comes in AAX | AU | VST3 | AUv3 (X version)
Compatible with MacOS (M1 and Intel) | Windows 10+ | ab vortEx X available for iOS
Read | Features | ab vortEx X | Watch | User Guide | Specs || Top
An unique Spatial Spacetime designer
ab vortEx is an ambitious plugin aimed to completely takeover your sound with new colours - from conservative reverb/delay-like behaviours, all the way to completely out-of-this-world sound effects - everything with controlled flow thanks to its viscosity control.
ab vortEx comes with an XY-Pad that can generate completely new and unique results with one click but also puts all the cards over the table by having all the parameters available for you to manipulate or lock.
Six independent fine-tune controls help you colourise your reflections, allowing you to create unique atmospheric sounds by either using the XY Pad or manually adjusting each.
Four Modulators with speeds from a few milliseconds all the way to 20 seconds, as well as min-max boundaries, offer you the possibility to keep most of your controls always in motion.
ab vortEx is compatible with Mono, Stereo, and Ambisonics sources and will output Stereo and Ambisonics signals that can later be decoded to ANY speaker array possible. From Binaural, to Surround and even 7.1.2 that can be subsequently routed to your Dolby Atmos bed.
This means that even if you have a Monophonic recording, you can create a fully three-dimensional space that can embrace you in your Dolby Atmos mix, everything in a matter of seconds! Pretty cool.
ab vortEx’s internals work natively in Ambisonics, meaning you can apply spatial transformations to the sounds you create for accurate psycho-acoustic results… Have your spaces rotate towards any direction whilst you keep your source steady in the middle.
ab vortEx comes with a practical Preset system where you create your presets ONCE, and they are Cross-DAW and Cross-OS compatible! Meaning you can move your presets from Mac to Windows (or vice versa) and even share them with other users!
ab vortEx also comes with a ‘smart troubleshooting’ algorithm, which will check your signal chain and let you know if something is wrong with it.
ab VortEx X is a ‘light’ version of ab vortEx available for iOS as an Application and AUv3 (for iOS DAWs such as Garageband).
With ‘ab vortEx’ you can:
Work completely in Stereo whilst taking advantage of the psycho-acoustic characteristics sound takes when it’s being manipulated three-dimensionally.
Blow-up a Mono/Stereo sound source to Ambisonics, and subsequently to any Surround, Atmos or Immersive format out there.
Work natively with any Ambisonics signal (reflections happen at 3OA level).
Design sound and Mixdown any Ambisonics signals down to Stereo.
Automatic Input selection
Automatic Output Selection
No matter if your input audio is in Mono, Stereo or Ambisonics (1OA, 2OA, or 3OA), ab vortEx will automatically try to detect it. Regardless, you can also select manually.
ab vortEx will adapat the output signal to the width of your track automatically. Regardless, you can also select manually.
If your output is set to Ambisonics, you’ll be able to decode the signal to any speaker array configuration, from Stereo to Binaural, Surround formats (such as 5.1) and even Dolby Atmos (such as 7.1.2, 7.1.4, etc.)
A Universe of Sonic possibilities.
‘ab vortEx’ comes with a plethora of settings that can be manipulated automatically through the XY Pad, or even assigned to 4 Independent modulators.
Millions of unique reflection colours.
Aside from all the options available in the plugin, you can independently fine-tune the colour of the reflections with six controls - altering any of them, even if by 0.001, will completely change their colour. This means you have millions of different reflection colours at your disposal!
Space, Time and Viscosity Controls.
Further Controls for mean further customisation.
Four independent Modulators
Control the Space and Time independently as well as the viscosity of the transitions at which the changes flow! From instant all the way to slow and lazy.
Damp control to tame the high frequencies, a Predelay that can feed the signal back, Buoy control to expand the three-dimensional properties of the sound and a Definition control ties the sound to the middle.
Four Modulators can be assigned to almost any control of the plugin - motions from a few milliseconds up to 20 seconds, each one with its own minimum-maximum boundaries.
Spatial Control
Regardless of your Input or Output, the Designed Sound can be rotated three-dimensionally, helping you achieve complete immersion.
Universal Presets!
With our practical Preset system, you can Save your presets and they will automatically load in any format (AU, AAX, VST3). Additionally, you can even copy or move presets between Mac and Windows systems. And why not, even share them!
‘ab vortEx’ videos and Walkthroughs
User Guide
You can read an up-to-date User Guide by followig the button below.
A 'Light’ version called ab Vortex X is available for iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) as a standalone App or an Auv3 Plugin for iOS DAWs!
ab Vortex X is a ‘Light’ version of ab vortEx - available for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) and comes as a standalone application and AUv3 Plugin for iOS DAWs.
ab vortEx X supports Stereo signals and contains the most critical controls (Space, Time, Viscosity and Volumes) for providing quick ways to manipulate your sound.
As an App, you can simply open ab Vortex X, and use any Audio Device to route a Mic or an Instrument through your iOS device. Use your touch screen to manipulate the Spacetime reflections.
As a Plugin, you can use ab vortEx X as an insert in any DAW that supports AUv3 plugins (e.g. Garageband).
Technical Specifications
Silicon (native) | Intel
High Sierra+
Intel | AMD
Windows 10+
CPU: i7+
RAM: 2GB+
HDD: 100MB
Compatibility Notes
*This product is compatible with any major DAW in mono/stereo mode, for multichannel signals, a compatible decoder and DAW should be used. We recommend you check our ‘ab Decoder Suite’ or our ‘ab Decoder HOA’!
*This product is compatible with Ambisonics Signals from 1OA to 7OA, processing and reflections happen at 3OA level.
For working in Stereo, this product is compatible with all major DAWs.
For working in Spatial/Immersive/Ambisonics Audio, this product is compatible with the DAWs below:
Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate
Cubase Pro 12+ | Nuendo 12+
Logic Pro X
Studio One 6.5+
Reaper 6+
MaxMSP
DaVinci Resolve Studio 18.5+
