Audiority Spatial D320 [WiN]

• Product: Spatial D320
• Developer: Audiority
• Version: 1.0.0
• Format: VST3, AAX, CLAP
• Requirements: Windows 7 or later
• Source: audiority.com/shop/spatial-d320/

Spatial D320 is a BBD-based spatial enhancer modeled on the Roland SDD-320 Dimension D, extending the original’s four fixed buttons into a continuous Dimension knob that crossfades between all four modes. The underlying circuit uses dual BBD delay lines driven by a trapezoidal LFO — the same architecture that produces spatial widening without the pitch wobble associated with conventional chorus. Added beyond the hardware: a Drift control for LFO rate, an X-Depth parameter that pushes the BBD parameters past the original hardware’s limits, a 12AU7 valve stage, an Aura ambience generator, a Focus highpass with intelligent mid/side routing, and a Width M/S processor. It answers the query: where do I find a Dimension D emulation with continuous control and a signal chain that extends the original’s spatial character without adding obvious modulation artifacts.

Key Takeaway

Engineers and producers who use the Dimension D as a finish-and-forget spatial insert on vocals, piano, and synth pads — where the effect is felt rather than heard — are the primary context for Spatial D320. The continuous Dimension knob, Drift, and X-Depth replace the four-button limitation with real-time expressivity and modulatable control. Spatial D320 is not a conventional stereo chorus with depth and rate controls producing pitch vibrato; sources expecting pronounced modulation movement or traditional chorus sweep will find that neither the hardware original nor this emulation operates that way. Engineers who already own UAD’s Dimension D or Softube’s emulation have direct competing reference points for the same source character.

BBD Dual Delay Lines and the Trapezoidal LFO

The SDD-320’s core mechanism is dual synchronized delay lines driven by a trapezoidal LFO, combined with compander circuits and pre/de-emphasis noise suppression. The trapezoidal LFO shape is the technical reason the Dimension D avoids the pitch wobble that defines conventional chorus — a sine or triangle LFO continuously varies delay time, producing continuous pitch modulation; the trapezoidal shape holds at peaks and troughs, producing periods of stable delay that the ear doesn’t register as movement. The spatial widening emerges from the differential between the two delay lines rather than from audible modulation of a single line.

Spatial D320 models this BBD circuit architecture and adds Drift — an adjustable LFO rate control that was fixed in the original hardware. At low Drift values, the behavior stays close to the original’s slow, imperceptible modulation. Raising Drift increases the modulation rate within the BBD circuit, introducing more perceptible movement that crosses from spatial enhancement toward conventional chorus territory at the upper end of the range.

Continuous Dimension Control and X-Depth

The original hardware’s four modes ran from Mode 1 — the most subtle — to Mode 4 — the most pronounced — with no intermediate adjustment available. Spatial D320’s Dimension knob crossfades continuously across all four modes, covering the full character range in a single control and enabling positions between fixed steps that the hardware couldn’t access. The transition between modes is the core expressive parameter — moving slowly from 1 toward 4 during a mix pass creates spatial evolution that the original’s click-switching couldn’t provide.

X-Depth pushes the internal BBD parameters beyond the original hardware’s operating range, simulating the effect of multiple buttons engaged simultaneously at values not achievable with the hardware’s physical buttons. At moderate X-Depth, this extends the spatial character into wider, denser enhancement than Mode 4 alone; at maximum values it produces a clearly exaggerated spatial effect that crosses the threshold of the original’s philosophy of enhancement without obviousness.

Warmth Stage and Aura: Two Routes to Spatial Depth

The Warmth control blends the clean Dimension D output with a modeled 12AU7 valve stage. The 12AU7 is a dual-triode tube associated with the harmonic character of preamp and buffer stages — the model adds even-harmonic coloration and a degree of compression to the post-BBD signal, shifting the spatial result from clean digital widening toward the warmer, slightly saturated texture of a hardware chain with tube gain stages in the signal path.

Aura adds a layer of ambience on top of the BBD processing — not a reverb tail with identifiable decay, but a sense of space and air that surrounds the processed signal. The distinction matters: Aura doesn’t extend the decay of transients or create a room simulation; it adds ambient density that makes the source feel further back in a mix without the obvious reverb character. Heavy Aura on a dry signal can produce an enveloped, roomy quality; light Aura on a Dimension D-processed vocal adds the background air of a room without pulling the vocal out of the mix.

Focus Filter and Intelligent M/S Routing

Focus applies a highpass filter to prevent low-frequency content from entering the BBD chain, where it would accumulate as low-end smearing in the spatial processing. Below 100% Width, Focus applies to the full Dimension D output — keeping bass content out of the widened signal and maintaining mono-compatible low-end. Above 100% Width, the routing shifts: Focus applies only to the side signal, leaving the mid channel full and unfiltered while tightening only the widened stereo content.

This routing change is automatic and tied to the Width control threshold rather than a manual switch. An engineer raising Width past 100% to extend the stereo field beyond the original signal’s width doesn’t need to reconfigure the Focus routing — the plugin detects the Width value and adapts. The behavior ensures that aggressive width expansion doesn’t create a wide but low-end-smeared result that collapses to mono inconsistently.

No Modulation Depth, No Vintage Wobble, No Dry/Wet at Zero

Spatial D320 models the Dimension D’s character faithfully enough that its limitations track the original’s. The SDD-320 wasn’t designed to create a drastic new sound but to enhance any instrument while preserving its own sonic qualities — an effect that’s felt rather than identified. At low Dimension values with low Drift, the spatial processing is so subtle that A/B toggling is the clearest way to confirm it’s active; this is the intended operating range for the original, not a shortcoming of the emulation.

The plugin has no conventional modulation depth control, no feedback control, and no stereo spread with arbitrary parameters. Engineers expecting a traditional chorus-style interface with separate LFO depth, rate, feedback, and delay time controls won’t find that architecture here — the BBD model is structurally different from a chorus effect and exposes different parameters. The Mix control blends dry and processed signal, but the Dimension D’s character specifically relies on its relationship between the processed and unprocessed paths; pulling Mix toward fully wet or fully dry changes the spatial enhancement behavior in non-linear ways.

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