Best plugin for reverb

[twotoedsloth]

Hello,

I'm wondering what reverb you folks are using nowadays. The best I've heard was the Wizoo W2, but it is long discontinued. I like the Harrison GVerb+ but it only works in Mixbus. I am using the Sonnox reverb, and I'm reasonably happy with it, but I'm still looking... I used to like the waves renaissance reverb, but lately I find it too "grainy" if you will. I'm willing to splash out for the right reverb. I thought that the Lexicon plugin would do it for me, but seems to rob the source of it's punchiness, so I let the demo expire. Do you think that Altiverb is the one to get? Or should I buy a Universal Audio processor to run their Lexicon emulations?

Many thanks for your thoughts,

Peter

[Martin Walker]

Surely it depends on what sort of reverb you're after?

Comparing algorithmic reverbs such as the now aging Wave Renaissance with Altiverb is a bit of a non-starter (and I've liked and used both in my time).

Altiverb is perfect if you need the sound of very realistic acoustic spaces, especially those sampled from real world locations. These might be your first choice for classical or other acoustic-based music such as folk.

However, if you're into rock you'll probably also want to include the sound of plate reverbs (not so 'realistic', but often perfect for snare and vocal sounds for instance), while if your taste strays to electronic/synth music then the sky's the limit as far as reverb sounds go, and a more versatile algorithmic reverb will probably be more appropriate (part of the secret of Lexicon reverbs is their built-in chorus FX on the tail - not a real world parameter, but a great way to add richness and movement).

Personally I use 2C-Audio's versatile Aether for my algorithmic reverb needs, Altiverb if I'm after realistic acoustic spaces, and PSP's 2445 for plate reverb sounds.

It's very much a personal choice though.

Martin

[awjoe]

I can see why someone would have different reverbs in their toolkit, but for a while now I've used Fabfilter Pro-R exclusively. It sounds great, tweaks great, looks great. I'm pretty undemanding, though. My studio is to a pro studio as my kitchen is to Jaime Oliver's. Not as fancy, in other words, but good stuff comes out of it.

[DC-Choppah]

https://lexiconpro.com/en/products/pcm- ... -in-bundle

This sounds the best to me.

These reverbs are alive. They sound and do different things depending on the program material. Honestly, I don't know how to describe easily how they respond to the source material, but just like a real space, the space and the sound interact in a natural and attractive way.

These reverbs are also very musical. Even if you add too much, it still sounds pleasant and musical.

The controls are complex, but it has a very long list of presets to show you how to start in the right place.

Some of the controls are unique and only exist here.

I can't really go back from this.

[Bob Bickerton]

It very much depends on the application. For classical music, I use the Seventh Heaven (https://www.liquidsonics.com/software/s ... 3eb2c69a18) which emulates the Briscasti M7, the hardware version of which is commonly used for classical music applications.

My favourite all-rounder would be the UAD Lexicon 224 plug-in, which I think actually uses the original code and I mostly prefer it to the 480.

For weird and wonderful I may reach for the Eventide Blackhole!

Bob

[resistorman]

You'll get as many recommendations as posters
I use Sound Toys Little Plate a lot, all the Valhalla offerings, Nimbus, Night Sky, built in efx...

[Arpangel]

EpicVerb, the best for me, in plug-in form.
I’ve also got VintageVerb, and Supermassive, also very good.
But ultimately, I wouldn’t use any of these, if I wanted to add a bit of hall or room to an acoustic session, the Lexicon LXP1 has one of the most realistic small rooms I’ve ever heard, regardless of price, it’s great for percussion, and my lowly Midiverb 2 is my first choice for a medium hall.
Depends what you’re recording, it’s purely down to that, and taste.

[Music Wolf]

You'll get as many recommendations as posters

Very much this.

[Drew Stephenson]

I currently tend to wander between Waves Trueverb, Inspired Acoustics Inspirata Lite and Clearmountain's Spaces for 'real spaces' reverbs and then SoundToys Little Plate and RX labs LX480 (free version) for spot effects.
Pick your course, choose your horse.

[James Perrett]

As I tend to transfer projects between computers and often revisit projects many years later I stick with the reverbs I've used for years. So that means Epicverb for algorithmic reverbs (and it is now available as a 64 bit plug-in) and Reaverb for convolution reverbs.

I've also found Reaverb's impulse generator to be very useful. Its default settings just happen to have a very similar sound to The Wedgwood Rooms in Southsea which was one of my regular live recording venues.

[cooneyblue]

I like the convolution revers in Ableton. There is a max for live one, and also the hybrid reverb (which is a nice combination of algorithmic and convolution reverb)

[ConcertinaChap]

My most used reverb is 2c Breeze. They have one preset in particular called "Give a little space" and that's just what it does. Much of my recording is of unaccompanied voices or acoustic instruments and a little space is all I want a lot of of the time. So I agree, there's no best reverb and I guess you'll get a different reply from just about everybody here. There's so many different rquirements and different tastes ...

CC

[Terrible.dee]

NONE.

They all stink.

Get room sounds bro,,

It will change your life.

[resistorman]

NONE.

They all stink.

Get room sounds bro,,

It will change your life.

[muzines]

NONE.

They all stink.

Get room sounds bro,,

It will change your life.

To be clear - you're saying that convolution reverbs are the best plugin for reverb?

Or are you saying that *all* reverb plugins "stink" (algorithmic or convolution), and we should all excavate our own chambers and rooms to use real, mic'd up recordings?

[Drew Stephenson]

Just TD doing his usual drive by trolling. Everything's terrible now. It was all better in the old days. Etc etc.

[muzines]

Just TD doing his usual drive by trolling. Everything's terrible now. It was all better in the old days. Etc etc.

Oh I see.

I'm very happy with my various reverbs, including LiquidSonics, Reverb Foundry, Relab, Logic, PSP, Valhalla and others...

[twotoedsloth]

Hello all,

Thanks for taking the time to chime in on your preferred reverb plugins.

I am still using the Sonnox reverb, which is good enough for now, but I would like to find my "forever" reverb. I did try the Lexicon reverb out, and I felt it robbed the source of it's punch. I tried to reinstall it to give it another chance, but unfortunately Lexicon's software is clever enough to not permit a second installation.

In terms of convolution reverbs, I have only used the one built into Sound Forge. Now that most of the student and faculty recitals, concerts and sessions are done, I will have some time to experiment again. I intend to give the Waves IR a listen, are there any others you might suggest?

Many thanks,

Peter

[James Perrett]

A properly coded convolution reverb should sound the same as any other properly coded convolution reverb if you are just using straight impulses. The main differences between them lie in how much you can modify the impulses by stretching them or filtering them. I use ReaVerb which is bundled with Reaper but there are other free alternatives.

You can find plenty of impulse files online for free including a good selection from Voxengo, there are the Samplicity Bricasti impulses and also a comprehensive set of Lexicon impulses. I wouldn't go paying for a reverb until you've exhausted all the free alternatives.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Bear in mind that most Lexicon (and some Bricasti) algorithms employ a time-variant modulation in the decay tail that can't be captured in a momentary impulse response and thus can't be reproduced by a convolution reverb processor.

[muzines]

I intend to give the Waves IR a listen, are there any others you might suggest?

My preference for a convolution reverb is LiquidSonics Reverberate 3, not so much because it's got lots of features that let you maximise what you can get out of impulse responses, but because the interface is so much nicer to browse and use IR collections over Space Designer in Logic, which is a little clunky in that regard.

It also comes with a bunch of Lexicon, Bricasti and other IR's which are great, including their Fusion IR captures which use a technology to better capture and replay tails with movement in them...