The "Reverb" thread

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by Wrighty

I have Seventh Heaven (basic) which I think is an M7 clone - it’s very good.

I'm currently very into the basic Seventh Heaven myself. That Sunset Chamber preset is pretty darn sweet..

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Hi Barry, I'll post a couple for you. In general, I think it is pretty hard to make any decent demo of reverb on solo guitar. For my taste, at least, I don't want to notice the reverb. It's kind of like cooking a meal for someone - if they say "wow, that's really great salt you added!", then you probably overdid it. And just like tasting raw salt, listening to raw solo'd reverb doesn't always tell you how it will sound in the mix. Anyway here's my examples, I just added several different reverbs to a short clip from my recent preamp shootout. The 1st 5 are fairly light, tho since I'm trying to show the reverb, they're probably a bit heavier than I'd normally do. The final 2, I cranked the reverb up by about 6 db, so it's totally obvious and overkill. The 2 that I most often actually use are the UAD EMT 250 and the Bricasti, usually the Vocal Plate preset. I'm checking out a trial of the LiquidSonics plugin, which seems very nice.

Here's the cuts in order.

1 UAD EMT250
2 LiquidSonics Cinematic Rooms, Amethyst Hall preset
3 Briscasti M7, Vocal Plate preset
4 Logic's Space Designer, Piano Hall impulse
5 UAD Capitol Chambers, "The One"

6 Bricasti M7, Sunset Chambers, much heavier reverb mix
7 LiquidSonics Cinematic Rooms, Hall preset, much heavier reverb

On my laptop with HP's, there are all very usable. I forget do you typically use the reverb in parallel on its own track ? It could be just bias on my part as an M7 owner , but I thought both the M7 clips had just a tiny bit more believable 3D-ish presence. I will say I have not tried the Vocal Plate but now I will so thanks for that . Also I have found that with the Sunset Chamber I use more of a fader reduction (less effect) than with the London plate.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by min7b5

I'm currently very into the basic Seventh Heaven myself. That Sunset Chamber preset is pretty darn sweet..

It’s a very good reverb, I’ve been tempted to upgrade to the pro version several times.

[rick-slo]

The way I almost always use reverb is to thicken (and perhaps warm) the tone of notes rather than using something
with a obvious longer reverb tail. For that I've gotten the most use from the Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-in Bundle,
certain convolution reverbs such as the ones modeled from from the EMT 250. Various other reverbs I have but use
less often.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by KevWind

On my laptop with HP's, there are all very usable. I forget do you typically use the reverb in parallel on its own track ?

I always use parallel. That lets me pre-EQ the reverb if I want. Sometimes I add a de-clicker or -de-squeaker ahead of the reverb to keep those from zinging around in the reverb. You can be more aggressive with these things when you're in parallel, since it won't affect the direct track, and the reverb will tend to hide any damage they do.

I also sometimes use multiple reverbs. One setup is to use something like the TC VSS3 reverb, which is a mostly aimed at ambiences - they have presets like "hall closet" and "Car front seat" - on one bus, just to add some room sound, while having a second using something with a more reverby sound. Another I've been trying lately is the other direction - one bus with a normal reverb, and the other with Eventide's Blackhole, which is a ridiculously affected and lively reverb. I can mix that in really low and sometimes it's interesting, kind of like the delay stuff Stephen Wake demo'd, but more diffuse.

Easy to do these things with parallel routing.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I always use parallel. That lets me pre-EQ the reverb if I want. Sometimes I add a de-clicker or -de-squeaker ahead of the reverb to keep those from zinging around in the reverb. You can be more aggressive with these things when you're in parallel, since it won't affect the direct track, and the reverb will tend to hide any damage they do.

I also sometimes use multiple reverbs. One setup is to use something like the TC VSS3 reverb, which is a mostly aimed at ambiences - they have presets like "hall closet" and "Car front seat" - on one bus, just to add some room sound, while having a second using something with a more reverby sound. Another I've been trying lately is the other direction - one bus with a normal reverb, and the other with Eventide's Blackhole, which is a ridiculously affected and lively reverb. I can mix that in really low and sometimes it's interesting, kind of like the delay stuff Stephen Wake demo'd, but more diffuse.

Easy to do these things with parallel routing.

Yes I like to EQ the reverb also and always use verb in parallel

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

The way I almost always use reverb is to thicken (and perhaps warm) the tone of notes rather than using something
with a obvious longer reverb tail. For that I've gotten the most use from the Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-in Bundle,
certain convolution reverbs such as the ones modeled from from the EMT 250. Various other reverbs I have but use
less often.

Me too except that Lexicon has left Mac users in the lurch. Plug-ins no longer work. My account password no longer works and after 4 or 5 attempts in getting in touch with Lexicon I've given up. It's a known issue and there appears to be a work around by editing and deleting code but never in a million years would start fiddling with that stuff. Lexicon has turned a blind eye. Too bad as I've been a fan (hardware and software) for years.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

Me too except that Lexicon has left Mac users in the lurch. Plug-ins no longer work. My account password no longer works and after 4 or 5 attempts in getting in touch with Lexicon I've given up. It's known issue and there appears to be a work around by editing and deleting code but never in a million years would start fiddling with that stuff. Lexicon has turned a blind eye. Too bad as I've been a fan (hardware and software) for years.

Interesting. My Lexicon Native Bundle plugins still work fine in Logic on my Mac. Maybe how they're authorized? I suspect mine are iLok, but it's been so long I don't recall. Those are also very nice transparent reverbs, with lots of control.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Interesting. My Lexicon Native Bundle plugins still work fine in Logic on my Mac. Maybe how they're authorized? I suspect mine are iLok, but it's been so long I don't recall. Those are also very nice transparent reverbs, with lots of control.

Both of my Mac's throw an error code I've never seen before which say MPX Native Reverbs will harm your computer. Report this malware to Apple to prevent this happening to other users.

I've seen enough threads covering this but other than writing code there isn't a solution. Lexicon has totally ignored users.

[Doug Young]

As long as we're talking about it, here's my same sample clip with a Lexicon RandomHall preset:



Settings look like this:

Screen Shot 2021-04-08 at 2.53.32 PM.jpg

[rick-slo]

Sorry to hear some Mac users having issues with Lexicon. I bought my Lexicon reverb software from them when
it was priced at around $1600 and was irked enough that the selling priced dropped so much within a few months.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

As long as we're talking about it, here's my same sample clip with a Lexicon RandomHall preset:



Settings look like this:

Attachment 54676

That's really quality. The playing and the sonics are beyond lovely.

I've spent the last month or two demoing reverbs to replace my Lexicon bundle. I suppose I'm old school but there is a verb sound in my head. It probably distills to my history with the 244 and onward. I don't really strive for realistic room emulations, but more the smooth (sometimes animated) sounds of those early Lex verbs with the modulation that followed. I'm guessing that's why some of the convolution reverbs hit me (in a bad way) like a ton of bricks.

I've found one that comes pretty darn close to what I'm looking for in the Exponential PhoenixVerb. It's old school to be sure but it really reminds me of the emersion of the Lex's without being overly noticeable in the mix.

I'll audition a couple more in the days that follow, but so far the Phoenix leads the pack!

[Rudy4]

I haven't been following this topic previously because my "interest level" is relatively low.

High-dollar verbs are lost on me. The problem is as soon as they go into a mix that has much other stuff going on it simply gets lost. If I were doing "solo guitar" stuff I could see putting in the effort, but my tastes run to the more generic end of the spectrum.

My "taste test" for reverb is really more about what it sounds like when the playback is stopped. I can get a pretty good idea of what the reverb sounds like from the tails. Generally speaking, if I can tell there's reverb while the track is playing it's too much for my tastes, unless I'm going for a "surf guitar" vibe.

Reverb is more about making the track rounder in tone and not about drenching the track in cave echo.

Just my opinion, of course. As always, YMMV.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I haven't been following this topic previously because my "interest level" is relatively low.

High-dollar verbs are lost on me. The problem is as soon as they go into a mix that has much other stuff going on it simply gets lost. If I were doing "solo guitar" stuff I could see putting in the effort, but my tastes run to the more generic end of the spectrum.

My "taste test" for reverb is really more about what it sounds like when the playback is stopped. I can get a pretty good idea of what the reverb sounds like from the tails. Generally speaking, if I can tell there's reverb while the track is playing it's too much for my tastes, unless I'm going for a "surf guitar" vibe.

Reverb is more about making the track rounder in tone and not about drenching the track in cave echo.

Just my opinion, of course. As always, YMMV.

Right. The sudden stop on the last chord of my recording of "Layover" (on youtube) is where the nature of the reverb used is most apparent.
Solo guitar recordings obviously swimming in reverb is rarely to my taste.

[TBman]

Interesting stuff everyone!

Some of the reverbs are out of my guitar budget though, but its fun hearing the end result.