Reverb suggestions

[comp15]

While my current project is going well, I'm finding some virtual instruments (other than EWQSL) to be a bit dry. Besides Mir Pro, which reverb do you suggest I use to best resemble a sound stage?

[Shooshie]

They're all pretty good these days. I prefer Audio Ease's Altiverb, for the controls, displays, expertly recorded IRs, wide variety of halls, clubs, and other spaces; and the sound. Truthfully, you have to work with it to get the sound you want. There are many options, and sometimes one approach will sound great, while another time it is the opposite of what you want.

For example, it's possible to leave the tail off the reverb, and just use the IR to color the sound. That can work well for a dry vocal or instrument solo. Sometimes the "Positioner" is the ideal solution: it's a virtual soundstage on which you move speakers around to determine the width and depth of the reverb. But that approach doesn't always work. Sometimes the way they recorded it is so delicately balanced on the acoustics of the hall that you just can't mess with those positions. The important thing is that when I find what I'm looking for, it really is just what I wanted. I set up a lot of presets and use them repeatedly.

Another plus: as Audio Ease ads more IRs, you get to download them for free. They're selling the software. The IRs are just an essential part of Altiverb, so once you've bought it, you get these essentials basically for free, though the paid upgrades probably cover their costs.

Altiverb was probably the first commercial IR plugin for Audio Units, and I think the depth of their experience and workmanship have kept it on top of the pack, though as I said, they're all good.

I'm not so big on algorithmic reverbs, because they usually have a tendency to sound "metallic." The better ones have "materials" settings that help overcome that. Still, Waves various reverbs are great, and even MOTU's "eVerb" is not bad.

The MIX control on any reverb is your friend. If you can't decide whether you like it more wet or more dry, err on the side of dry. Reverb can destroy the clarity of all your hard work. I hear a lot of classical music recordings that are killed by the mic setup in the halls they use, which picks up long reverb tails. Older recordings went for clarity. The difference is amazing. Unless you specifically know why you need long reverb tails (Baroque Brass, for example) go for clarity!

Shooshie

[comp15]

Wonderful! Thanks for the quick and thorough response, Shooshie.

[Robert Randolph]

I personally feel that Reverberate is superior to Altiverb, though in the same class of product. The price is excellent, and the developer is very responsive.

Finding IRs for free, legally, is also very easy. There are lots of lists of IRs out there mostly direct from the samplers themselves. Make sure you google it up!

If you do want to try some algorithmic reverbs, make sure to check out Valhalla as they are widely lauded as among the best, and Acon as well. On the pricer side (but not higher end) is Exponential, from the original designer of the Lexicon reverbs.

Personally, I think with Reverberate and ValhallaDSP, you can do most anything you want.

[BKK-OZ]

+1 on Reverberate, I use it all the time.

[Michael Canavan]

Robert and BKK, do either of you also own Altiverb? I just started the 30 day demo of Reverberate and I do like it, although I've always thought that the true advantage of Altiverb is the obvious expense they go through to get high quality impulse responses.

Audio Ease products are on sale right now at Audiodeluxe for 20% off which is about as much of a sale as you get on their product, Altiverb is going for about $420. Compared to roughly $80 for Reverberate... big price difference.

I am torn, I've always wanted Altiverb, but Reverberate is really probably good enough for me.
Couple that with the roughly $340 I would save and it's hard for an "underground artist" type like me to justify Altiverb. Then again the soundstage thing in Altiverb is freaking cool! Why I've held off on purchasing a convolution reverb is all right in this post...

[Robert Randolph]

Robert and BKK, do either of you also own Altiverb? I just started the 30 day demo of Reverberate and I do like it, although I've always thought that the true advantage of Altiverb is the obvious expense they go through to get high quality impulse responses.

Audio Ease products are on sale right now at Audiodeluxe for 20% off which is about as much of a sale as you get on their product, Altiverb is going for about $420. Compared to roughly $80 for Reverberate... big price difference.

I am torn, I've always wanted Altiverb, but Reverberate is really probably good enough for me.
Couple that with the roughly $340 I would save and it's hard for an "underground artist" type like me to justify Altiverb. Then again the soundstage thing in Altiverb is freaking cool! Why I've held off on purchasing a convolution reverb is all right in this post...

Yes, I have both. I rarely use Altiverb.

Reverberate is much more flexible as far as directly tailoring the reverb to a sound and I've had no issue finding high-quality impulses for free, and paid. It did obviously take a bit more time to find and audition the impulses, but I did this even back when I only had altiverb.

The modulation, delay and impulse controls in reverberate just allow me to get the sound I want much quicker, and they also allow for some 'near real' spaces that make for much more interesting sounds.

Altiverb does have some neat features exclusive to itself, but I've never managed to get past the 'oh that's neat' into 'oh, that's useful'. I find the exclusive features in Reverberate to be much more practically oriented and useful

There's also the benefit of LiquidSonics being very responsive to bug reports or development requests.

edit: Also make sure you check out Spaces. I do not own it, but it does look very promising. It does promise to bring a lot of very high quality impulses to the table at a decent price. It'd take me some convincing to buy it instead of another algorithmic reverb though... reverberate just works for me.

[Robert Randolph]

I also want to mention a reverb I do not own, but I've been drooling over.

Sparkverb

Just watch the video on that page. The preset voyager looks so damn neat! The sound in the demos I also find to be fairly impressive.

[BKK-OZ]

I used to have access to Alitverb (older version, old machine an NFR license).
Altiverb is great, no doubt about it, the price puts it out of reach for me nowadays though - I just couldn't justify that cost given the other options I have at my disposal.

I own Sparkverb - pretty damn good, though (probably more out of habit than anything else) I tend to use Proverb (MOTU) and Reverberate more than Sparkverb.

[Shooshie]

Altiverb does have some neat features exclusive to itself, but I've never managed to get past the 'oh that's neat' into 'oh, that's useful'.

Haven't used Reverberate, but those "neat" features in Altiverb are the reason I use it. I've had some very particular clients when it comes to reverb, and I'm also pretty picky about it. Altiverb has always been able to provide what I had in my ear, but it takes some tweaking. I've yet to hear a reverb preset on any plugin that will suffice. It has to be sculpted for the particular sound you have in mind. My tastes have moved far away from long, deep reverbs, and more toward drier sounds in very colorful rooms, but the tail is still important. Anyway, I can't imagine anyone dismissing Altiverb easily. It's one of the all-time great audio plugins.

Shoosh

[mikehalloran]

Other threads with more suggestions:

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... b+eventide

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... de#p499666

http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... b+eventide

I use the DP reverbs, Ozone 5 Advanced and Eventide UltraVerb

http://eventideplugins.elasticbeanstalk ... reverb.jsp

[dado]

I use Eventide Ultraverb most of the time, but everb ( expensive vocal ) from DP is one of the best imho

[Robert Randolph]

Altiverb does have some neat features exclusive to itself, but I've never managed to get past the 'oh that's neat' into 'oh, that's useful'.

Haven't used Reverberate, but those "neat" features in Altiverb are the reason I use it. I've had some very particular clients when it comes to reverb, and I'm also pretty picky about it. Altiverb has always been able to provide what I had in my ear, but it takes some tweaking. I've yet to hear a reverb preset on any plugin that will suffice. It has to be sculpted for the particular sound you have in mind. My tastes have moved far away from long, deep reverbs, and more toward drier sounds in very colorful rooms, but the tail is still important. Anyway, I can't imagine anyone dismissing Altiverb easily. It's one of the all-time great audio plugins.

Shoosh

2 things you brought to mind to clarify my opinion on the subject:

1. Altiverb was great. It used to be, bar none, the best reverb plugin. Unfortunately there are a lot of comparable options these days, and for the prices and features Altiverb is still living in the days of when it was still the only major player. It's not that Altiverb is worse, it's simply that everyone else has stepped up their game tremendously.

2. If/when someone says to me, "I want it to sound exactly like (insert precise description here)", then I will usually grab Altiverb or the appropriate algorithmic verb.

That rarely happens for me. I'm usually dealing with tweaking something until it sounds right, or incrementally figuring what exactly the client wants. Reverberate, IMO, is far superior here. You can start with an IR that sounds close and fine tune it in any creative direction until it's perfect, with minimal effort.

[monkey man]

Dang, you guys are confusing the Monkster.

I've had my heart set on Alti since day dot, and have been hoping to get my mitts on it later this or early next year. Now, I'm not 100% sure. I mean, I feel it should be in my arsenal regardless, but as my first 'verb purchase, I dunno.

Folks on the board here have said that UltraVerb's superb for contemporary stuff (I'm thinking pop, rock & funk), and if Alti's expensive, what about the venerated Lex PCM suite, which nobody's mentioned yet. Some peeps swear by it. I've heard that some of the drum rooms are practically unbeatable.

[labman]

We use Altiverb a bunch. And I am consistently blown away with Phoenixverb on orch or VI's. It is amazing.