FOAM by Carbonated Audio is a $49 ducking reverb that lowers its own tail by up to 36 dB while the dry signal plays, then blooms in the gaps, on macOS and Windows.
Plugin comparison
Carbonated Audio FOAM vs Valhalla VintageVerb
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which effect to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
Contenders
The side-by-side
9.2Essential
Valhalla VintageVerb is an algorithmic reverb plugin offering 22 reverb modes and three vintage color modes emulating different eras of digital reverb.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Carbonated Audio FOAM | Valhalla VintageVerb |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49 | $50 |
| Dubspot Score | — | 9.2 |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX, macOS, Windows | VST2.4, VST3, AU, AAX |
| Type | Ducking reverb | — |
| Ducking | Make Room, up to 36 dB, recovery in note values or milliseconds | — |
| Detector | Internal by default, switchable to an external source | — |
| Room | Size and Bloom XY field, ten factory spaces | — |
| Tail Shaper | Four points (Onset, Build, Body, Decay) on a tempo grid | — |
| Tempo sync | Decay, Pre-Delay, and Recovery, with manual BPM fallback | — |
| Routing | Send (reverb only) or Insert (equal-power dry/wet) | — |
| Latency | Zero samples, no lookahead | — |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX on macOS, VST3 on Windows | — |
| System | macOS 11+ universal, Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) | — |
| Reverb modes | — | 22 (Concert Hall, Bright Hall, Plate, Room, Chamber, Cathedral, Nonlin, and more) |
| Color modes | — | 3 (1970s, 1980s, Now) |
| Plugin formats | — | VST2.4, VST3, AAX (Win/Mac), AU (Mac); all 64-bit |
| Current version | — | 4.0.5 |
| Mac support | — | macOS 10.9 and later; Intel and Apple Silicon (M1-M5) |
| Windows support | — | Windows 7/8/10/11 |
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