Setting Up and External Reverb

[glmusic]

Greetings all. I have an external (hardware) reverb that I would like to use in my DP 4.51 mixes. It has a SPDIF i/o so I have it patched into my audio interface through SPDIF. My thinking is to set up an AUX channel, but what is the best routing scheme? Should I use the stereo bus sends? What about the input and output of the AUX channel? I would like to send various channels to it with varying degrees of wet/dry mix. More reverb on violin than guitar for instance.

[Kind Of Loud]

Use the sends in DP's mixer. Select your SPDIF connection. Now you can send signal to your external reverb. Create an AUX track and use it's input to select what ever connection your have your reverb output connected to on your interface. Set the AUX track output to whatever you're monitoring through.

[Tonio]

Doesn't that create latency w/ the other tracks?
Oh buss the other tracks to and aux right? I haven't done this in a while.

[Kind Of Loud]

Well,yes it's going to create latency. But for reverb you can adjust your predelay which helps. Also, you want to set the mix control on the reverb to 100%. If that doesn't do it for ya', then you need to shift those tracks ahead to adjust the latency. On a whole though reverbs are not as noticble in the mix as would be if you were going out then back with dynamic processors.

[subspace]

First time I set-up an external reverb with a DAW, the latency drove me nuts. I assigned the first two sends on all channels to AES 1 and 2, respectively, which was patched to the Lexicon 300's input. I then created a stereo aux track with AES 1 and 2 as it's inputs and assigned it's output to the main mix. Worked fine but for the latency leaving the Mac and coming back in again.
So to fix it, I assigned all the channels from the mix to feed adat out 1-2, looped a cable from the adat output back into the corresponding adat input, then created an aux track that used adat in 1-2 as it's input. This put the whole mix through the same latency the Lexicon send/ return loop ran through. Lastly, I assigned the adat in aux and the AES in aux to the same output so the dry mix and the reverb return were summed together.
I haven't paid attention, does DP 4.5 have latency compensation for external inserts yet?

[Shooshie]

I don't know why it made me think of this, but when I saw "external reverb," I immediately thought of an actual space being used to create reverb. I don't know how many people still remember the old Fairlight days, but Geordie Hormel (heir to the wiener fortune), who was the first big customer/distributor in America of the Fairlight, had his engineer Jeff Harris and assistant Doug set up an "external reverb" in an underground squash court at his mansion in Phoenix. It was the craziest thing. Jeff and Doug set up a couple of sends, from which cables were run out of the studio and about 20 meters down hallways and out to the squash court. There, they fed some amps that powered a couple of big monitors... don't remember what they were; Meyers, perhaps, pointed out into the underground concrete vault, and a couple of microphones picked up the sound after it had bounced all over creation. This, of course, ended up back at the patch bay, for bussing back into the board. It was a GREAT reverb. Ahhh... the days of excess.

Since we've been talking a lot about Out-Of-The-Box processing lately, I fully expect someone here to try this. Maybe a stairwell would work. I used to do that in a stairwell at Chilton Hall at North Texas State University. One mic was out in the stairwell, picking up the reverb. The door to my studio acted as my reverb gain control! Sounded great (really) until someone came in the big front door. Needless to say, I only used it late at night after security had gone home. Things were loose back in those days, and being on the staff (saxophone instructor/ensemble coach) gave me some leeway.

Ok... I know this was completely NOT what this thread was about, and I don't mean to hijack it, but I'm betting someone will want to try some permutation of this.

Shooshie

<small>[ January 04, 2005, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Shooshie ]</small>

[franknemola]

to solve the latency issues you can use Expert Sleepers Latency Fixer,I used it with an external ensoniq DP4 and it works !!!
Latency Fixer

[spirit]

re:Shooshie-Sunset Sound and Capitol records recording studios were famous for their permant live chambers - think Beach Boys etc. More likely altec 604 of Voice of the theatre speakers in those days. Other studios had them as well. This is what early lexicon "chamber" presets were indicating they were emulating.
Early home studios use this approach with bathrooms a lot when someone couldn't even afford an SPX90- or to find a unique sound with detail and resolution that digital reverbs don't always have.

[Klaus]

You could use CueMix to monitor the reverb return 'inside' the interface, if your interface is supporting CueMix
Best

Klaus

[homebilly]

i am using an ensoniq DP4 as an external reverb with great results!

i have DP on a dual 1.42 running all things Mach 5 (828 mkII)
triggering VSL on a G5 dual 2.5 (2408 mkII-424). i have the G5 spdif-ed into the G4 coming up on an aux. i then send the M5 stuff and VSL stuff to analog 7-8 outs and return the reverb on an Aux.

then when i want to print. i just BUS all of the outputs to bus 3-4 and print to a stereo audio pair inputting on 3-4 and monitoring through the main outs and VOILA!

the real deal reverb box sounds so much better than any of the plug-ins.

now i'm looking for a high end digital reverb that sounds good.

[Tim]

Originally posted by spirit:
re:Shooshie-Sunset Sound and Capitol records recording studios were famous for their permant live chambers - think Beach Boys etc.

And other studios around town accessed (rented) them via high quality telephone lines.

[Timeline]

Live Chamber thread anyone? Great mention Soosh..

I have been blessed to be inside Colombia Studios NY old 40th street chambers & rooms, the checked out the famous stairwell chamber-(simon & garfunkel).

RCA Studios Hollywood ('70)s Sunset sound (doors chamber) My own at Sunwest studios (late '60s) and built several others.

I currently use DP to send out to 480L and Quantec for verb and return the verb OTB in an api mixer. Good but not even close to real live chambers done properly. Even a big live bathroom can be a dream.

Here's one recipe
http://www.micworks.com/freeinfo/chamber.htm

Gary's "slice of pie vintage chamber" recipe:
Chamber size and dims: 12' wide on one end and 6' wide on the other x18'long x18' high. Decay time 3.6 seconds.
To shorten devise and construct drop ceiling on pulleys.

Materials: concrete block filled w/cement plaster smooth. Use fiberglass, white paint & resin to smooth as glass. (Warning Use breathing device with pumped in air and plexiglass paint suit)

Best mics for live chamber: Sennheiser 406 pair
Best Preamps RCA BA series.
Best speaker: JBL with 075 tweeter, LE85 mid-(barley used), D130F low driver. Custom sealed 3CF cabinet with no ports x 2
Best drive amp: any hi end tube amp with 40+ watts.

Wish I have the room to build one of these.

Abbey Road used rectangular rooms and placed large half round tiles in the corners per George Martin. George said several years ago that they are currently used for storage.

<small>[ April 19, 2005, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Timeline ]</small>