BruceJames.studio
PoloPolo
One shared reverb for a whole mix - Polo Send on every track, Polo Sum on the return
SEND / SUM / DISTANCE
- 01Overview and the core idea02
- 02How it works03
- 03Installation and authorization04
- 04Quick start - routing Send and Sum05
- 05Interface tour - Polo Send06
- 06Interface tour - Polo Sum07
- 07Parameter reference - Polo Send08
- 08Parameter reference - Polo Sum09
- 09The room-depth model, in depth10
- 10Tips and recipes11
- 11FAQ and troubleshooting12
- 12License and contact13
01 · Overview
One room, every instrument, each at its own distance
Instead of a reverb per track, Polo puts one shared room on a return bus - Polo Sum - and a lightweight tap, Polo Send, on each source track. Every Send publishes its track into that shared space, tagged with how far it sits from the listener. The result: every instrument lives in the same room, each at its own distance - a drummer at the back wall, a vocal up front, all breathing the same air.
Polo's name pairs with its sibling Marco (Marco… Polo), but the two serve different purposes. Marco is for soundstage placement; that is not Polo's purpose. Polo is for musical reverb management: Polo Send manages how each track feeds the shared reverb, while Polo Sum is the one hero instance where the room itself is designed.
In one line
Drop Polo Sum on a return, send every track to it through Polo Send, and musically manage each track's reverb distance, tilt, and level within one shared room.
Three ideas explain almost everything Polo does: one shared room instead of many, distance as the primary control, and how the two windows divide the work.
01One room instead of one reverb per track
Loading a separate reverb on every track gives every instrument its own, disconnected acoustic - a drum plate here, a vocal hall there. Polo takes the opposite approach: Polo Sum is a single shared reverb living on one return, and every track reaches it through Polo Send. Because every source shares the same tank, they all read as occupying one real space rather than a stack of unrelated effects.
02Distance is the primary control
Polo Send's main parameter is Distance: 0% sits at your face - the listener - with full pre-delay; 100% sits at the far wall, where the reverb arrives together with the dry signal. Tilt then biases that placement left or right, independently of the dry pan - it moves where the reverb image sits, not the dry signal itself. The three-band Source Tone section controls the low, mid, and high energy this source carries into the room. Cream dots show the Distance-based frequency and gain recommendations; Auto Follow keeps the pointers attached to them until it is switched off or a tone knob is dragged. High-frequency darkening supplies the strongest distance cue. The smaller Low and Mid moves are gentle mix-perspective suggestions, not measurements of a universal acoustic law.
03Two windows, one language
Send and Sum are different sizes for different jobs, but they read as the same product. Polo Send is a focused per-track view of position, level, and source tone. Polo Sum is the hero window, where the room itself is designed: its Type, its size, its decay, its output. Both use the same chassis, the same listener-and-source pad, and the same near→far vocabulary.
Send never touches the dry signal
Distance, Tilt, Send Level, and Source Tone all shape only what reaches the shared reverb. The dry pass-through on a Send's track is completely untouched - Bypass on a Send simply stops that track from feeding the room.
03 · Setup
Installation and authorization
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Polo Send and Polo Sum install together and run on macOS and Windows in VST3, AU, and CLAP hosts.
Install
- Close your DAW before installing so it rescans plugins on the next launch.
- Run the installer and accept the license agreement. It installs both Polo Send and Polo Sum together. On Windows the VST3 and CLAP builds install to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 and the CLAP folder alongside it; on macOS the AU build installs to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and VST3 to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3.
- Launch your DAW and let it rescan. If either plugin does not appear, trigger a manual rescan or add the folders above to your plugin paths.
- Insert Polo Sum on a return or bus track first, then insert Polo Send on each source you want to place in that room, sending to the same bus.
Authorization
Enter the license key from your purchase confirmation when prompted, in either plugin's settings menu. One key activates both Send and Sum on that machine. If you rebuild or replace a system drive, software activations are not part of a normal file backup, so you will need to reactivate; this is expected and not a fault in the plugins.
Early Access
This version runs with every DSP feature fully enabled while its Early Access profile is active. Polo refreshes a signed lease after 14 days and keeps a valid cached lease for up to 30 days if the licensing server cannot be reached. A purchased license always takes priority and remains fully authorized offline.
Demo mode
When Early Access for this exact version has ended, or a new installation cannot yet verify it with the licensing server, an unlicensed copy runs in demo mode. The interface clearly identifies the licensing state; access never changes silently.
Updates
Both plugins check brucejames.studio/version.txt and show a banner in the window when a newer build is available. Update checks are required while Early Access is active and can be disabled after authorization or after that version's Early Access period ends. Updates install over the existing version and preserve your presets and project state.
04 · Get going
Quick start
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Building a shared room, start to finish, in about five minutes.
Return / busPolo SumOne instance - the room itself
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Every trackPolo SendDistance + Tilt place each source
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SourceKick, vocal, pad…Dry signal untouched
- Insert Polo Sum on a return bus. Pick a Type - Hall is a musical, forgiving starting point - and leave Max Pre-Delay near its default; it sets the physical size of the whole room.
- Insert Polo Send on each track you want in that room, and route each one's send to the Polo Sum bus.
- Place the drummer at the back. On the drum bus's Send, drag the pad's dot up toward the far wall - Distance around 70–80% - so it reads as sitting deep in the room.
- Bring the vocal up front. On the vocal's Send, keep Distance low, around 15–25%, so it stays present and close while still sharing the same space as everything else.
- Nudge Tilt on anything that needs to sit off-center - a pad or a double-tracked part - without touching its dry pan.
- Try Auto Follow for a quick tonal perspective. It moves all six Source Tone controls with Distance. Switch it off, or drag any tone knob, whenever you want to keep a custom setting.
- Set each track's Send level to taste, and dial in Polo Sum's Decay, Damping, and Output until the room feels right for the whole mix, not any one part.
Recommended default patch
Polo Sum: Type Hall, Max Pre-Delay near default, Decay ≈ 3.5 s, Damping ≈ 0.5, Width 1.0. Polo Send: Distance 20% (default, front-of-room), Tilt Center, Source Tone shelves flat, Send to taste. A reasonable neutral starting point for most mixes.
05 · Reference
Interface tour - Polo Send
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The current 480 × 810 Send places its position pad, meters, Level, and Gate above a three-band Source Tone section. Low, Mid, and High Gain/Frequency pairs sit beneath the pad, with Shelf/Cut and Auto On/Off in the tone header.
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1Wordmark"Polo," shared across Send and Sum.
2BypassStops this track feeding the shared reverb; dry pass-through is untouched.
3Gear menuUI size presets, refresh rate, updates, and license. The window is fixed-size rather than drag-resizable.
4Send eyebrowIdentifies this window as the per-track tap.
5Position dotDrag to set Distance (vertical) and Tilt (horizontal).
6Listener glyphMarks the near edge - the mix's listening position.
7Level knobSend level into the shared reverb only.
8Gate knobThreshold below which this track stops feeding the shared reverb. Fully down = Off.
9Gate LEDTeal while this track is feeding the reverb, pink while the gate has closed it.
10ReadoutShows the hovered control, or the current position.
NewInput / Output metersShow pre-send input and the delayed dry pass-through; the input threshold line follows Gate.
NewSource ToneLow, Mid, and High each have sweepable Frequency and Gain. Cream dots are the Distance recommendations; Shelf/Cut changes the outer filter type and Auto Follow keeps the pointers on the dots.
06 · Reference
Interface tour - Polo Sum
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The hero window - one instance, where the shared room is designed. A header strip, the room-depth display, and three knob groups.
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1Wordmark"Polo Sum" - Shared Reverb eyebrow below.
2Type selectorRoom, Plate, Hall, Reflections - four distinct spaces.
3BypassRings the reverb out rather than cutting it hard.
4ReadoutName/value of the last control touched, or status.
5Gear menuUI size presets, refresh rate, updates, and license. The window is fixed-size rather than drag-resizable.
6Display legendRoom depth, Width, Decay tail, illustrative Send.
7Type tagConfirms the active space inside the display itself.
8Room-depth tunnelLive visualization - deepens as Max Pre-Delay rises.
9Room Depth readoutThe room's physical size, in feet.
10Space - Max Pre-DelayThe signature control: sets the whole room's scale.
11Shape - Decay, Damping, WidthTail length, HF absorption, stereo spread.
12Output - Low Cut, High Cut, OutputShapes and levels the reverb feed.
07 · Reference
Parameter reference - Polo Send
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Position, level, gating, and a six-control Source Tone section. Every tone value is automatable and affects only this track's reverb feed; the dry pass-through stays untouched.
Position pad
| Control | Range | Default | Behavior |
|---|
| Distance | 0–100% | 20% | How far this track sits in the shared room. 0% is at the listener's face, full pre-delay; 100% is at the far wall, where the reverb arrives together with the dry signal. This is the primary control - vertical axis of the pad. |
| Tilt L/R | 100 L – 100 R | Center | Manual left/right bias of where the reverb sits - it never touches the dry pan. Polo triangulates the two side-wall reflection paths: moving toward one wall shortens that side's pre-delay while lengthening the opposite side, within the room's Max Pre-Delay. Horizontal axis of the pad. |
Level and air
| Control | Range | Default | Behavior |
|---|
| Send | −60 to +6 dB | 0 dB | Level feeding the shared reverb only - never touches the dry pass-through on this track. |
| Low | 30–800 Hz · ±12 dB | 120 Hz · Flat | Sweepable low shelf. In Cut mode it becomes a 12 dB/oct high-pass and its Gain knob dims. Its recommendation moves from about 90 to 220 Hz and 0 to −2 dB across the Distance range. |
| Mid | 120 Hz–8 kHz · ±12 dB | 1.2 kHz · Flat | Sweepable bell boost/cut that remains active in both modes. Its gentle perspective recommendation moves from about 900 Hz to 2.2 kHz and 0 to −1.5 dB; this is a mix suggestion rather than strict distance physics. |
| High | 1.5–20 kHz · ±12 dB | 8 kHz · Flat | Sweepable high shelf. In Cut mode it becomes a 12 dB/oct low-pass and its Gain knob dims. This is the main distance cue: its recommendation moves from about 14 to 4.2 kHz and 0 to −9 dB. |
| Shelf / Cut | 2 modes | Shelf | In Shelf mode, Low and High use their ±12 dB Gain controls. Cut mode changes them to 12 dB/oct high-pass and low-pass filters, so their Gain knobs dim; Mid stays active. It never changes the dry signal. |
| Auto Follow | On / Off | Off | When on, all six tone pointers track their cream Distance-recommendation dots, including when the editor is closed. Switch it off or drag a tone knob to release the controls for manual adjustment. |
Gate
| Control | Range | Default | Behavior |
|---|
| Gate | −60 to +6 dBFS | −60 dB (Off) | Threshold below which this track stops feeding the shared reverb. While the track's level (a smoothed 10 ms / 250 ms envelope) is above the threshold it sends normally; below it, this track's own feed is muted at the source — with a fast 5 ms open, a 150 ms close, and 3 dB of hysteresis so it doesn't chatter. Only this track's contribution is affected; the shared tail and every other Send keep going. Fully down reads Off for a plain, ungated send. |
| Gate LED | indicator | - | Reads teal while this track is feeding the reverb and pink while the gate has closed its feed. |
Bypass
| Control | Type | Behavior |
|---|
| Bypass | A/B | Stops this Send from feeding the shared reverb. The dry pass-through on the track is never affected - Bypass only removes this track's contribution to the room. |
Why Gate exists
Quiet passages, bleed, and noise tails between phrases can wash a track's reverb feed into mud. Gate keeps a track out of the shared room until it's actually playing above the threshold, so only intentional sound excites the reverb — and because it acts on this track's own feed, it never touches the shared tail or any other Send.
08 · Reference
Parameter reference - Polo Sum
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Grouped as they appear in the plugin: the room, the space, the shape, and the output.
The room
| Control | Options | Behavior |
|---|
| Type | Room · Plate · Hall · Reflections | The reverb algorithm - four distinct spaces, shown as flat icon segments rather than a dropdown. Sets the identity of the whole window, including a subtle tint in the display. |
Space
| Control | Range | Behavior |
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| Max Pre-Delay | 0–250 ms (default 80 ms) | Sets the size of the whole room - the ceiling every Send's Distance maps into. The readout shows the room's physical depth in feet, computed at the real speed of sound, so a Send at 50% is literally halfway into this depth. |
Shape
| Control | Range | Default | Behavior |
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| Decay | 0.50–12 s | ≈3.5 s | Reverb tail length. |
| Damping | 0–1 | 0.5 | High-frequency absorption of the tail - the tail darkens as this rises. |
| Width | 0–1 | 1.0 | Stereo spread of the reverb itself. |
Output
| Control | Range | Default | Behavior |
|---|
| Low Cut | 20–500 Hz | 100 Hz | High-pass on the reverb feed - keeps mud out of the tank. |
| High Cut | 1.2–20 kHz | high | Low-pass on the reverb feed, for a darker or brighter tail. |
| Output | −24 to +12 dB | 0 dB | Overall output level of the reverb. |
Character - coming soon
A Musical ⇄ Realism switch is planned for a future update, once real impulse responses ship for the Realism path. Until then Polo Sum runs in its Musical character by default - there's nothing to set.
09 · Deep dive
The room-depth model, in depth
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Max Pre-Delay and Distance are the same idea seen from two windows. Understanding how they line up makes placing a whole mix intuitive.
Reading the tunnel
Polo Sum's display draws the shared room as a tunnel in perspective: a near frame at the listener's position, guide rects at 25/50/75% of the room, and the far wall itself, all scaled by Max Pre-Delay. The big centered readout converts that setting into feet, at the real speed of sound - raise Max Pre-Delay and the room visibly deepens.
Room depth
90 ft
◂ Listener
Far wall ▸
Room depth - scaled by Max Pre-Delay
Width - stereo spread arcs at the near plane
Decay tail - count and color follow Decay and Damping
Send - an illustrative marker, echoing a track placed partway back
Schematic. The real display is driven live by Type, Decay, Damping, Width, and Max Pre-Delay.
Why the two plugins never need to talk
There is no live link between a Send and the Sum it feeds - only a one-way audio path. But because both use the same near→far percentage metaphor, the concept holds without any data channel: if Polo Sum's room is set to 90 ft and a Send's Distance sits at 50%, that track is understood to be roughly 45 ft back, even though neither plugin computed that number for you. Setting Max Pre-Delay first, then placing each Send against that scale, keeps every distance in the mix physically consistent.
Set the room before you place tracks
Because every Send's Distance is a percentage of Polo Sum's depth, changing Max Pre-Delay later re-scales every track's placement at once. Settle on a room size early, then place instruments against it - rather than the other way around.
10 · Practice
Tips and recipes
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Starting points, not rules. Set the room first, then place tracks against it, then trust your ears.
01The default shared room
Polo Sum: Type Hall, Max Pre-Delay at default, Decay ≈3.5 s, Damping 0.5, Width 1.0. Send every track through Polo Send with Distance near its 20% default, Tilt centered, and Source Tone flat, then spread instruments out from there. Handles most mixes before you touch anything else.
Type HallDecay ≈3.5sDistance start at 20%
02A drummer at the back wall
On the drum bus's Send, push Distance to 70–90% so the kit reads as sitting deep in the room, anchoring the back of the mix. Keep Tilt centered unless the kit itself is panned.
Distance 70–90%Tilt Center
03A vocal that stays up front
Keep the lead vocal's Send Distance low, around 15–25%, so it shares the room's air without losing presence. A touch of Send level is usually enough - resist pushing Distance back just to "add space."
Distance 15–25%Send light
04Widen without smearing the low end
Raise Polo Sum's Low Cut so bass energy never reaches the tank, and keep Width near 1.0 for spread on everything above it. Individual Sends still control how far back each part sits.
Low Cut upWidth ≈1.0
05Keep bleed and quiet tails out of the room
If a track's between-phrase noise, mic bleed, or ringing tails are washing into the shared reverb, raise that track's Gate until only its intended notes cross the threshold (watch the input meter's threshold line and the Gate LED). Below it, only that track's feed mutes - the shared tail and every other Send keep ringing.
Gate raiseSend unchanged
11 · Support
FAQ and troubleshooting
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Do I need one Polo Send per track, or one for the whole mix?
One Polo Send per track you want in the shared room. Each Send publishes just that track's contribution, tagged with its own Distance and Tilt, into the single Polo Sum instance on your return.
Can I use more than one Polo Sum in a project?
Yes - some mixes use two, for example a close ambience and a distant hall. Just be sure each Send routes to the room you intend; there's no automatic pairing between a given Send and a given Sum.
Why doesn't moving Distance change my pan?
By design. Distance and Tilt shape only the reverb send - the dry signal's pan is completely untouched. This is what lets you push a track's reverb further back without moving where it sits dry.
How is Send's Source Tone different from Sum's filters?
Source Tone affects only the selected track before it enters the shared room. Polo Sum's Low Cut and High Cut affect the combined reverb output from every Send. Use Source Tone for source-specific perspective and cleanup, and the Sum controls for the room's overall tone.
Does Distance really change the Mid band?
Auto Follow currently makes a small Mid move: its recommendation sweeps from about 900 Hz to 2.2 kHz while dipping from 0 to −1.5 dB. Treat that as an optional mix-perspective suggestion. High-frequency loss is the more reliable distance cue, so leave Auto Follow off or drag Mid to release it whenever the suggested contour does not suit the source.
The Character switch isn't in my copy of Polo Sum.
Character (Musical ⇄ Realism) is planned for a future update pending real impulse responses for the Realism path. Polo Sum currently runs in Musical character with no user-facing control - this isn't a bug.
What does the Gate LED mean?
Teal means this track is above the Gate threshold and feeding the shared reverb. Pink means its level has dropped below the threshold and the gate has muted this track's feed. Only this track's contribution stops - the shared tail and other Sends are unaffected.
If I change Polo Sum's Max Pre-Delay, do my Sends need re-placing?
Not necessarily - every Send's Distance is a percentage of the room's depth, so raising or lowering Max Pre-Delay re-scales every track's placement together, keeping their relative distances the same. Only re-place a Send if you want to change where that one track sits, not the room overall.
Neither plugin appears when my DAW scans.
Confirm your host has rescanned after installation and that the VST3, AU, and CLAP system folders are in its scan paths. Some hosts need a manual rescan or a restart.
Polo asks for activation again after a system rebuild.
Software activations are not part of a normal file backup, so replacing a drive requires reactivating. This is expected and applies to both Send and Sum under the same key.
12 · Legal
License and contact
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License
Use of Polo Send and Polo Sum is governed by the end user license agreement included with the distribution as license.txt. Please refer to that file for the full terms. Your purchase authorizes installation of both plugins under the conditions described there.
Included files
The distribution archive contains the installer along with readme.txt for installation notes, changelog.txt for version history, and license.txt for the agreement. The readme is the canonical source for installation details.
Before you write in
Including your DAW, its version, your operating system, and which of the two plugins (Send or Sum) you're asking about helps support resolve issues faster.
Polo
One shared reverb for a whole mix · macOS and Windows · VST3, AU, and CLAP
Generated for Polo 1.0.5 - verify controls against the plugins.