Apples to oranges, Ventris vs Align Reverb

[JimAltendahl]

Does anyone have experience using both the Source Audio Ventris and the LR Baggs Align Reverb on an acoustic guitar? Aside from the differences in features and price, does the Ventris actually sound better?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by JimAltendahl

Does anyone have experience using both the Source Audio Ventris and the LR Baggs Align Reverb on an acoustic guitar? Aside from the differences in features and price, does the Ventris actually sound better?

I think that's a matter of personal taste. The Baggs reverb is very simple, but is voiced in a way that, to me, sounds really good on acoustic guitar - unlike many other reverbs I've tried that seem to work better on electric and not so well on acoustic.

The Ventris also sounds very good, and can do all kinds of effects, long spacious reverbs, shimmer, etc. There are a lot more options for adjusting the reverb, so it's hard to say how it "sounds", it depends on what sound you dial in. I posted some examples using - that is to say going overboard a bit - the Ventris a while back. Lots of fun sounds if you like reverb.

I personally use the Ventris, but a big part of the reason is that it operates in true stereo - I don't typically use anything on it, other than a fairly straight clean reverb. The Align reverb is mono only. If I was running a mono setup, I'd be quite happy with the Align.

[Heinrich]

I had the chance to try the Baggs Align Reverb side by side with the Source Audio Collider, that has the basic Verbs of the Ventris included.
I found the Baggs melts the original signal seamlessly with the reverb signal, so the reverb does not sit „piggyback“ on the unaffected guitarsound. I compared the Colliders Room and Hall algorythm with the Baggs Reverb, picked For quite some time nothing but a muted G-string with a pick, so the algorhythms come through clearly. The Baggs offers way more bass and punch in the effected signal, to the extend that it made the The tone of my guitar more „round“ and „smooth“. I could not reproduce this fully with the Collider, unfortunately, even with the verb dialled in with maximum bass and trebles slightly dimed. The Colliders algos have more of an airy, delicate sound, thinner than the Baggs, and guitar sound and pedal sound are easier to tell apart in my opinion. These are subtle differenceS for sure, and I will rather stick to the Collider as the effect quality is top notch, is running stereo and has a multitude of other things (delays) to offer where the Baggs seems very basic. But boy, that basic sounds gorgeous!
Hope my findings make sense.