PATCH 40

Overview

PATCH 40 is a lush shimmer reverb built as a complete recreation of the legendary Yamaha FX500 “Soft Focus” algorithm — the sound that defined a generation of ambient and shoegaze records. Six processors work in harmony: a Dattorro plate reverb, a phase-vocoder octave-up shimmer, stereo chorus, a crossfeed delay, a mid-cut EQ, and a dynamic compressor — together they turn dry vocals, guitars, and synths into ethereal, harmonically-rich soundscapes. Dual routing lets you place shimmer before or after the delay for two distinct characters, BBD mode adds vintage bucket-brigade warmth, and tempo sync locks repeats to 18 musical divisions. Seven built-in themes plus a custom theme creator dress the modern WebView interface to match your studio.

Six processors. One iconic shimmer. Instant atmosphere.

Features

• Dattorro Plate Reverb — The industry-standard plate algorithm at the core, with decay, room size, feedback, and a low-pass filter for tails that range from tight rooms to infinite shimmer.
• Phase-Vocoder Shimmer — Smooth octave-up pitch shifting with minimal artifacts, fed back into the reverb for endlessly ascending harmonics.
• Crossfeed Delay — Independent L/R delay times with link mode and host tempo sync across 18 divisions, from tight slapback to vast ambient washes.
• BBD Analog Mode — Vintage bucket-brigade delay emulation adds warm saturation and natural character to every repeat.
• Dual Routing — Switch between Delay→Reverb and Reverb→Delay signal chains for two radically different textures from the same controls.
• Stereo Chorus & Compression — Wide, lush modulation plus an automatic dynamic compressor glue the wet signal into a cohesive, evolving wash.
• Themeable WebView UI — Seven built-in themes (Mint, Slowdive, Dark, Particle, White, Souvlaki, Crushing), a custom theme creator, and 80/100/120% window scaling.

What People Say

“PATCH 40 is cheating. I used to spend half an hour layering reverbs and delays to get that My Bloody Valentine wash — now it takes one knob twist. The routing toggle alone gives you two plugins in one.”

— Maya Chen, shoegaze producer