Sorry I know you asked for joke, but I'm surprised no mention of Reverberate 3 or Seventh Heaven. I have not used either, just Reverberate 2. I have some other favs not listed, I just thought at least 7th heaven was well regarded.
Comes a reverb into a bar and orders a beer. After drinking all three of them, the reverb feels a bit convoluted. Another guy says "Hey Verb, you look pretty folded, what's wrong?!" "I dunno, I'll have to reflect on that."
Hi Benn, I was the lead developer for Vast (it was kind of my baby) and I'm really glad you mentioned it in the video and enjoyed it so much! While it wasn't the main focus of the plugin, Vast can shimmer too (because I'm a sucker for a good shimmer)! Thanks again for the kind words and positive feedback - it means a lot. Love your videos!
At the beginning of my studio career, back in the early 80s, I worked for someone who had his beginnings with a studio that created their own ‘reverb chamber’ by taking an empty room and shellacking the walls to create the necessary live character. He told me that what he would do sometimes when the studio owner was working on a mix would hide in the chamber and either make some random noises or whisper a bit just to make him think something was ‘broken’ or that a mouse had gotten into the room. On another note, at the beginning of the Jimi Hendrix classic, ‘And the gods made love’ there is a low reverberant sound that, after setting up an EMT plate I realized how it was made… lightly tapping on the plate with a pencil eraser, recording it at a higher speed and slowing it down a couple of times. In fact, you can hear the ‘bias whistle’ of the tape because of how much it was slowed down. Once at an AES convention I met Eddie Kramer and asked him if I’d guessed right and he confirmed my suspicions. Those were the days. LOL! Great video!
A duck walks on stage in a huge empty concert hall and quacks. The sound dies immediately and the duck walks off stage. A pigeon enters stage-right and coos - the sound fills the entire hall. Why??? A-coo-sticks! (Thanks for the video!)
Much like you, we're reverb nerds and always record impulse responses from interesting rooms when we stumble across them. Cool that you featured our IQ-Series Reverb in this video! Thanks for the trophy 🥳
Some free alternatives for the other categories: - Long Ambient: Airwindows Galactic2 - Plate Reverb: Airwindows kPlate - Spring Reverb: Fuse Audio Labs VREV-666 I was surprised to see no mention of Airwindows in the free category. He has made many, and not all of them are great, but he has some very unique algorithms in there.
Airwindows has both his own crazy ideas and some stuff that would be more like other available plugins. He is a bit of a mad scientist when if comes to DSP, some of his filters are just wild. Free but would highly suggest supporting his patron if you use a few. of them.
Yo, I'm a patron of his. For all I know he hates them but even if he likes them that's reason enough to stick to the more mainstream offerings: for what Benn has done going up against Behringer, Spotify etc. I'll love him forever even if he hates my sounds :D and again, he shouldn't mention my work if he's taking money from me, I think it's completely reasonable for him to look past. There's too many weird options anyway :)
I love the Fabfilter Pro-R 2. its a lovely reverb and sits so well in any mix and doesn't sound like an after effect slapped on.. like some verbs that I feel glued on.
The “glue” verb on R2 is great. For music I’d take Valhalla for most uses, but FFPR2 is a fire plugin for film sound design. I often use it on dialogue.
I've found my go-to reverb in RAUM by native instruments. It's immediate, simple but effective and it sounds really full! I use it most of the time because to my ears it gives the sound of what reverb should sound in my mind and I really like that modulation knob which makes the reverb tail like shimmering + a hi rate lfo chorus effect.
Seventh Heaven is fantastic for adding inconspicuous reverb to live classical recordings in large spaces. It typically merges beautifully with existing natural reverb.
I wonder if you’d be down to make a video on how to listen to reverb, what to try to be listening for, how to set parameters, with clear examples of what they sound like, etc.? I know there are videos like that out there, but I want to hear someone as obsessed with reverbs as you explain it.
Great video as always!! I love the new Soundtoys SuperPlate plugin, with "ducking" feature, also Spring reverb by Softube, and Altiverb of course for IR... Thanks for the Spacer tip, that's just insane to get that for free...
Altiverb 7xl is my Mount Rushmore for Vst reverbs. I bought it 10 years ago and updated it every time they came out with an update. I have made so many of my own IR’s for it over the years and used it on countless recordings 😊 Honorable mention is Seventh Heaven that verb is 👌🏾
This is another one of your videos that I will rewatch many times. Wow. So much information! Videos like this and your Eurorack setup and your Eurorack revamp, must take a lot out of you. Thanks! I think we all really appreciate your take on things and you really share a lot with these. Love how you zeroed in on LX224 emulations. Thanks again!
Hey Benn - Just watched your video while at home on a sick day from work. Now I'm going through all the reverbs I have comparing and contrasting. Pretty fun way to spend a sick day.
Great video! I had been using the stock reverb in Reason or my guitar pedals for over a decade 😂. I’m definitely gonna check out your VST recommendations now💪🏽
My go-to is a Melda reverb but it’s the MReverbMB. I use reverb to create odd sound design more than traditional reverb duties and the multiband is really good for that.
wow, a best of video that actually mentions the Melda Production product and honestly states the power. Best part is, the updates they do on their products somehow find things to add that I would never think of, and yet, are also amazingly useful, sometimes even gamechangers. Top company.
You had me at "I really like reverb". It's an obsession with me. It began with the work of Jan Erik Kongshaug and ECM. My most recent chain involves Relab LX480, TC VSS4 HD, and Savant Quantum Evolution.
Native Instruments Replika (in "Dispersion" mode). Automate that bad boy over certain vocal sections and you have a lush, smooth long tail reverb effect that sounds perfect on nearly all vocals I've used it on.
Melda makes some of the best plugins free and paid, love the unique functionality on all their plugin to select which channel to affect: stereo, mid-side, and surround.
For covering some of my favourite spring sounds, I just wanted to say "tanks"! I was about to type a hate comment but on reflection I've changed my mind.
Thanks Benn, I always felt like I knew the basics of reverb but whenever I went to use it I was overwhelmed and confused. I've needed a lot of help and this video is what I needed.
I recently got into Altiverb. 20 years too late I know. But it absolutely rocks. I have various 224, 480L, RMX, etc. plugin emulations from many brands. And Altiverb's IR's of these vintage units, plus some even more obscure vintage units, sound brilliant. So much better than the emulation plugins. It's really not close. It's obviously not as editable as the UAD 480L plugin, but it sounds way better. It is my new king of reverbs.
It’s really good, I use it all the time. Can be frustrating when the sound is 80% there and it’s tough to dial it the rest of the way in, but you can stack plugins before or after Altiverb to try to shape it.
@@wmpx34 100%, it's less flexible to dial in. But comparing Altiverb to UAD or Relab 480L is nuts. One sounds like your sound is in that emulated space and it's a part of it, the other two sound like kind of muddy things tacked onto the back end of your sound. No comparison. If a preset is 90% there and I need an EQ or compressor after the fact, that's still far preferable to something you can dial in for days but never sounds nearly as good.
Love rv700 sonce it was new. Started with VSTs last years and afterr trying lots of stuff I found softube just rules. My favourite reverbs are their wasted space (so fast and easy to make great sound, without using the bitcrush feature of it) and their Chamber reverb from the old ABBA studio. I have a great modelled spring reverb from UHE , but will try softubes one aswell. I have UADs Chamber verbs and lexikon, but always reach for softube. The lexicon (classic reverbs or something) verbs from Native Instruments made by softube I like better than the UAD aswell, event through it is Said to have the original algorithms.
waaahhh!!! you didn’t mention my go-to and favorite reverb of all time Native Instruments RAUM :( in all seriousness, I’m definitely gonna check out the melda ones i’ve been sleeping on. thanks for the video :D
Great video, love the effort you put into this! For my money, supermassive is the best verb for anything; big sounds, subtle sounds, slap back, ambient soundscapes it does it all. Plus it does an amazing blade runner verb impression
Raum is my go to for any kind of reverb. I can just stick it on anything and it instantly sounds good. You can also get it for free with the komplete start bundle but on it's own it's $50 iirc
Benn, I betatest for Universal Audio's Spark plugins and as a result, the Lexicon 224 reverb. They actually decompiled the algorithm/BOM on the hardware 224 and used the exact algorithms from it... It's a literal fork of the reverb itself. That said, where you might be hearing the extra 'brightness' compared to the hardware version is the A/D conversion in the hardware unit. Of course this can also be affected by the type of mixing desk you're putting the thing through, etc. There's several variables to cause this. My point is the algorithms on the UA 224 are the real deal.
Interesting program, learned about a few plugins I was unaware of. I like NI Raum which was free when it came out. it sounds really artificial but sometimes that is exactly what we want for more abstract kinds of music. it's not nearly as complex as anything shown here, just stating that I really like it - also for the synchable predelays.
I luv and have been fascinated with this effect from the day I got an Alesis Quadraverb when I was a kid. It became the 3rd unit in my home studio after a Roland D10 and the Atari 1040ST. But I was not aware that it could be down to such a science from a musician's perspective. Your episode really inspired me and the curiosity spark has ignited.
I can't help but notice you neglected to mention LiquidSonics. Their standard version of "Seventh Heaven" is *the only* reverb I use and the only one I'll ever recommend. absolute workhorse.
With you there. Adds a surprisingly subtle amount of air and life to EVERYTHING, it's convolution that goes BEYOND. Based on the legendary Bricasti M7. I went through dozens of reverbs to find myself in Seventh Heaven!
A fascinating deep dive there Benn, and as someone slightly allergic to ambient musicians coating absolutely everything in a glossy golden syrup reverb, this was an inspiring exploration. Thankkkkssssssssssssssssssssssssssss (that's a convolution reverb there)
I’m also a reverb fiend. And every now and then, I have some music in my reverb. (That’s my joke.) Yes, I’m going to get mad for not mentioning the things. Yes, I know you don’t care. Yes, I will get over it 😉 I was underwhelmed by sonible’s smart:verb, though it was the one that got me into their ecosystem. But I concluded that it’s a reverb made for those who don’t use reverb, don’t like reverb, would rather use anything else but reverb, but higher powers insist on them using reverb. So Vangelis was a *very* early adopter of the LX-224. According to one of his engineers, the serial number of his unit was 002.
You have to EQ all of Sonible's AI plugins after you process them. As far as I'm concerned, they just leave you a technically flat sound that you need to sculpt.
Exponential Audio R4 is the best reverb plugin. It was designed by the same man (Michael Carnes) who designed Lexicon's best all around reverb processor - the Lexicon PCM96/PCM92.
My personal favorite free reverb is epicverb by variety of sound. its got a nice, intuitive, vintage looking UI, its relatively versatile, and i personally really enjoy how its plate reverb sounds. i like it so much that i have it on a send bus in my FL template, so every project i start has it in there by default. i usually send most of my mixer tracks to it just a little bit to sort of glue everything together at the end.
I think I might have enjoyed a general "algorithmic" category; a reverb that doesn't try to emulate a vintage effect, isn't the best all-around, doesn't sound realistic, or isn't very flexible, but just sounds good . Maybe VintageVerb or MTurboReverb would've still won, but I have a soft spot for Native Instruments Raum. It delivers whenever I want a "lush" synthetic sound.
My favorite reverb is probably Airwindows's original Galactic. The algorithm for it is a little funky, but because of it, you can get these beautiful washes of ambient sound, or you can turn up the replace and turn down the buffer size to get more normal reverbs out of it. All his plugins are free, and that specific one is one I go back to very often!
The new Bettermaker BM60 is my new go2, The sound + the gui really works. Kinda like Echoboys extra settings under the hood, supper shaping, super quick
Like all lists this is very genre specific as well. The fact that you didn't consider reverbs like Cinematic Rooms, Seventh Heaven, Berlin Studio, Altiverb, etc. which are considered one of the best for organic film scoring reverbs shows how genre specific this list is. It's understandable as I can't answer or make suggestion for genres outside the realm that I do. I only wish you mentioned that though at the start and made it clear where your experience lies so that people who are in the same boat will find it beneficial. I did not agree with a lot of your winners, or even runner-ups because for my type of music, film scoring, I know of reverbs better than the ones you mention.
I can't say my experience is as detailed - but I do like D16's Toraverb and what Valhalla Ubermod does with the diffusion on. Someone may be interested in having a play with those too...
Yeah, but I support Benn on Patreon. So this just shows his integrity :D but seriously, looks to me like he simply likes a different style of 'em. Maybe one day I'll make one like that, no hurry :) I mean if it's Melda he loves best, that's mighty far from what I try to do, and there's nothing wrong with that.
I use two instances of native instruments RAUM for my ambient sounds, it also has a echo feedback feature which creates a metallic sound at short amounts, and the freeze option is wicked when you adjust the size parameter whilst it plays, I've used this plugin as a main part of my sound design for the last couple of years and I think it sounds really nice compared to other plugins I've used at the price of about £40 it's absolutely my favourite. But I do want to get spacer now and tie them together 🔥💪🏻
2 ones that I use a LOT tend to be the free - epicverb which is kinda my first go to and one that doesn't exactly fit into any of these categories - mutant reverb that is a ducking reverb and super useful for things like vocal and piano where you want the natural sound and the trails after
Really? Is no one going to talk about Pro R2 as the best all-around reverb plugin? It offers three colorations to choose from, character/thickness options, quantized pre-delay, an EQ curve for the tail, another EQ for spectral balance, ducking options, and much more. It's a sleek, well-designed plugin that's super stable, sounds amazing, and fits into the mix just right...
I'm with you on this! Pro-R2 is superb all-around reverb in part because it is so easy and fast to dial in just the right reverb for a particular application.
As a reverb lover, I encourage you to visit Gibralatar, and the venue in St. Michael's cave. I've been once, but only did a short tour, and disappointingly didn’t catch a performance in there. But the space sounds amazing.
I wonder that too, or if the missed it. The big issue with not including a list of all plugins one can remember testing (but also memory fades, and updates are released, and opinion change, so if not tested currently, it doesn't really say a lot)
Blackhole immersive is a beauty for sure 👌🏼 Accentize chameleon for copying verb from another source is a handy tool (it’s also AI) but sometimes needs a bit of tweaking with the mix knob. Yeah spacer is nice too it’s a shame they went bust 😢 unfiltered audio Tails is also sweet. And melda… they just make so many great plugins, cool video 😊
I'm really not sure how it compares, but I really like ni's raum for ambient reverb. Loved your vid, gna check out what you've advised because clearly you have a wonderful understanding of all the elements of reverb. Thanks for making this! Sorry for not making a joke :)
Learning tabs to a song on the bass guitar is as much as my technical musical knowledge extends and I have ZERO clues about reverb, daws, plugins, anything to do with any of this.... yet I'm still pulled in, engaged and fascinated
The only thing I would add is I sometimes need a reverb that will give me a little ambience without being obvious, and my favorite VST for that task is Eventide SP2016. It's the only reverb I trust to blend in with a mix control instead of on a dedicated full wet send, and that distance slider just lets me get exactly the sound I need if I want to blend a little room into a dry master or something like that.
Some webstores are outdated, Spacer is now free if you download direct here: spectral-plugins.com/
Sorry I know you asked for joke, but I'm surprised no mention of Reverberate 3 or Seventh Heaven. I have not used either, just Reverberate 2. I have some other favs not listed, I just thought at least 7th heaven was well regarded.
It's a little bit sad, that the 3 plugins are only free because they stop operation and yet, they still value their customers so much.
Comes a reverb into a bar and orders a beer. After drinking all three of them, the reverb feels a bit convoluted. Another guy says "Hey Verb, you look pretty folded, what's wrong?!" "I dunno, I'll have to reflect on that."
@@0xphk Only the developer of Spacer, Spectral Plugins, has halted operations. Valhalla and Melda are still very much going strong.
Hey Benn, great video! can you do a part 2 with chamber/room reverbs. There's a lot 😁
Why did the producer buy 50 reverb plugins?
It was his impulse response.
Ugghhh, this shouldn't be funny.
bruh this is comedic gold
HA, thank you
No joke, two if the IR libraries I bought were impulse purchases.
Genius! Pure Genius!
Hi Benn, I was the lead developer for Vast (it was kind of my baby) and I'm really glad you mentioned it in the video and enjoyed it so much! While it wasn't the main focus of the plugin, Vast can shimmer too (because I'm a sucker for a good shimmer)! Thanks again for the kind words and positive feedback - it means a lot. Love your videos!
reverb developers are true samaritans in times of overcrowded and tight living spaces. thank you. no irony here.
Just dropping in here to say I love Vast and have been having so much fun using it!
@@dasczwo Finally a good reverb joke
What a cool life man! Congrats ❤
Benn, great video , thank you. What do you think would be the best for Orchestral work? liquidsonic, Altiverb….? Thank you
A spring reverb walks into a bar: "One beer please to stop the ringing" - the bartender looks at it: "You're tanked up already."
this is next level geek humor and i LOVE it!!! 😂
Thank you for mentioning our work, Benn :)
speaking not only for myself but from many others , thank you! you made amazing stuff available for everyone regardless of skills and money!
I use MConvolutionMB, it's also great, though took me a bit to learn the interface
Homeless babies
Thank you, Melda team!!!
You guys are goats 🐐💯
At the beginning of my studio career, back in the early 80s, I worked for someone who had his beginnings with a studio that created their own ‘reverb chamber’ by taking an empty room and shellacking the walls to create the necessary live character. He told me that what he would do sometimes when the studio owner was working on a mix would hide in the chamber and either make some random noises or whisper a bit just to make him think something was ‘broken’ or that a mouse had gotten into the room.
On another note, at the beginning of the Jimi Hendrix classic, ‘And the gods made love’ there is a low reverberant sound that, after setting up an EMT plate I realized how it was made… lightly tapping on the plate with a pencil eraser, recording it at a higher speed and slowing it down a couple of times. In fact, you can hear the ‘bias whistle’ of the tape because of how much it was slowed down. Once at an AES convention I met Eddie Kramer and asked him if I’d guessed right and he confirmed my suspicions. Those were the days. LOL! Great video!
This sir is some extremely deep and specific nurd knowledge and i celebrate it. Well done.
Eventide here! We hear you & happy to let you know we dropped the price! Blackhole Immersive is now $299 or even cheaper with crossgrade discounts 🌌
Hell Yes Eventide!!! Such an amazing company and I love EVERYTHING!!!!
A duck walks on stage in a huge empty concert hall and quacks. The sound dies immediately and the duck walks off stage. A pigeon enters stage-right and coos - the sound fills the entire hall. Why???
A-coo-sticks!
(Thanks for the video!)
-____-
booooooooo
@@ckhgator coooooooooo*
:(
I am going to find you.
Much like you, we're reverb nerds and always record impulse responses from interesting rooms when we stumble across them. Cool that you featured our IQ-Series Reverb in this video! Thanks for the trophy 🥳
Why was the EMT engineer nauseous?
Because he had too much on his plate!
While locked in his room down the hall
haha ok that ones good
Some free alternatives for the other categories:
- Long Ambient: Airwindows Galactic2
- Plate Reverb: Airwindows kPlate
- Spring Reverb: Fuse Audio Labs VREV-666
I was surprised to see no mention of Airwindows in the free category. He has made many, and not all of them are great, but he has some very unique algorithms in there.
Airwindows has both his own crazy ideas and some stuff that would be more like other available plugins.
He is a bit of a mad scientist when if comes to DSP, some of his filters are just wild.
Free but would highly suggest supporting his patron if you use a few. of them.
Yo, I'm a patron of his. For all I know he hates them but even if he likes them that's reason enough to stick to the more mainstream offerings: for what Benn has done going up against Behringer, Spotify etc. I'll love him forever even if he hates my sounds :D and again, he shouldn't mention my work if he's taking money from me, I think it's completely reasonable for him to look past. There's too many weird options anyway :)
@@airwindows nonetheless, you are amazing at what you do sir!
If only someone could make skins for those. I don't know how to make them myself.
all hail AirWindows!
I'm so ANGRY about you missing my favorite reverb!!!
I'd make a joke about reverb, but it'd be convoluted.
On a serious note, fire video :)
This is an engagement comment. I am very engaged.
Is that like being very online? Can you be too engaged?
I, too am engaged.
@@brendanhcarroll I'm like, so enegaed rn 😍😍😍
I found this pretty engaging
I wish to engage with your comment.
I love the Fabfilter Pro-R 2. its a lovely reverb and sits so well in any mix and doesn't sound like an after effect slapped on.. like some verbs that I feel glued on.
Yeah. It's good reverb but far from perfect or best tbh.
The “glue” verb on R2 is great. For music I’d take Valhalla for most uses, but FFPR2 is a fire plugin for film sound design. I often use it on dialogue.
Seventh Heaven is also great for "blending in"
I've found my go-to reverb in RAUM by native instruments. It's immediate, simple but effective and it sounds really full! I use it most of the time because to my ears it gives the sound of what reverb should sound in my mind and I really like that modulation knob which makes the reverb tail like shimmering + a hi rate lfo chorus effect.
Its like one big echo chamber in here /reverbjoke
This pun makes me wet.
Seventh Heaven is fantastic for adding inconspicuous reverb to live classical recordings in large spaces. It typically merges beautifully with existing natural reverb.
I wonder if you’d be down to make a video on how to listen to reverb, what to try to be listening for, how to set parameters, with clear examples of what they sound like, etc.? I know there are videos like that out there, but I want to hear someone as obsessed with reverbs as you explain it.
Great video as always!! I love the new Soundtoys SuperPlate plugin, with "ducking" feature, also Spring reverb by Softube, and Altiverb of course for IR...
Thanks for the Spacer tip, that's just insane to get that for free...
My current go tos are Relab ‘s 480 and Quantec, TC VSS4, Lexicon PCM native. Also my Eventide H9000 Emote gets a lot of use.
Altiverb 7xl is my Mount Rushmore for Vst reverbs. I bought it 10 years ago and updated it every time they came out with an update. I have made so many of my own IR’s for it over the years and used it on countless recordings 😊
Honorable mention is Seventh Heaven that verb is 👌🏾
This is another one of your videos that I will rewatch many times. Wow. So much information! Videos like this and your Eurorack setup and your Eurorack revamp, must take a lot out of you. Thanks!
I think we all really appreciate your take on things and you really share a lot with these. Love how you zeroed in on LX224 emulations. Thanks again!
Nice to see Melda get some love. People really need to discover their stuff.
I thought you'd discuss 80's reverb but realised it's a gated community. Psp 2445 and exponential audio verbs are my go twos.
Just messed around with Spacer and holy hell it's a lot of fun. The randomize feature for each part or randomize everything at once is fantastic.
Hey Benn - Just watched your video while at home on a sick day from work. Now I'm going through all the reverbs I have comparing and contrasting. Pretty fun way to spend a sick day.
Great video! I had been using the stock reverb in Reason or my guitar pedals for over a decade 😂. I’m definitely gonna check out your VST recommendations now💪🏽
Love your no BS reviews and industry discussions. I have in the manufacturer side of the industry for over 40 years and you are spot on. Keep it up!
I love Valhalla’s simple GUIs
Valhalla and Soundtoys Super Plate are just the easiest reverbs in the world to get sounding right.
Great video as always! I was hoping Raum would make it in. It's one of my favs.
My go-to is a Melda reverb but it’s the MReverbMB. I use reverb to create odd sound design more than traditional reverb duties and the multiband is really good for that.
wow, a best of video that actually mentions the Melda Production product and honestly states the power.
Best part is, the updates they do on their products somehow find things to add that I would never think of, and yet, are also amazingly useful, sometimes even gamechangers. Top company.
You had me at "I really like reverb". It's an obsession with me. It began with the work of Jan Erik Kongshaug and ECM. My most recent chain involves Relab LX480, TC VSS4 HD, and Savant Quantum Evolution.
He was the reverb master!
Oh man you mentioned all my favorite reverbs i use ;)
did he even mention TC VSS4? that's an obvious industry standard
Native Instruments Replika (in "Dispersion" mode). Automate that bad boy over certain vocal sections and you have a lush, smooth long tail reverb effect that sounds perfect on nearly all vocals I've used it on.
Melda makes some of the best plugins free and paid, love the unique functionality on all their plugin to select which channel to affect: stereo, mid-side, and surround.
For covering some of my favourite spring sounds, I just wanted to say "tanks"! I was about to type a hate comment but on reflection I've changed my mind.
I knew a good reverb joke, but its a bit convoluted and goes on forever.
Thanks Benn, I always felt like I knew the basics of reverb but whenever I went to use it I was overwhelmed and confused. I've needed a lot of help and this video is what I needed.
Yes, M Turboverb is awesome. One of the best ever!
Ive been obsessed with reverb and algorthms for years... These video series just poured gasoline onto that fire thank you
I recently got into Altiverb. 20 years too late I know. But it absolutely rocks. I have various 224, 480L, RMX, etc. plugin emulations from many brands. And Altiverb's IR's of these vintage units, plus some even more obscure vintage units, sound brilliant. So much better than the emulation plugins. It's really not close. It's obviously not as editable as the UAD 480L plugin, but it sounds way better. It is my new king of reverbs.
It’s really good, I use it all the time. Can be frustrating when the sound is 80% there and it’s tough to dial it the rest of the way in, but you can stack plugins before or after Altiverb to try to shape it.
@@wmpx34 100%, it's less flexible to dial in. But comparing Altiverb to UAD or Relab 480L is nuts. One sounds like your sound is in that emulated space and it's a part of it, the other two sound like kind of muddy things tacked onto the back end of your sound. No comparison. If a preset is 90% there and I need an EQ or compressor after the fact, that's still far preferable to something you can dial in for days but never sounds nearly as good.
My go to reverb is Reason RV7000 and another one that I love is Softube Spring Reverb
Love rv700 sonce it was new. Started with VSTs last years and afterr trying lots of stuff I found softube just rules. My favourite reverbs are their wasted space (so fast and easy to make great sound, without using the bitcrush feature of it) and their Chamber reverb from the old ABBA studio. I have a great modelled spring reverb from UHE , but will try softubes one aswell. I have UADs Chamber verbs and lexikon, but always reach for softube. The lexicon (classic reverbs or something) verbs from Native Instruments made by softube I like better than the UAD aswell, event through it is Said to have the original algorithms.
waaahhh!!! you didn’t mention my go-to and favorite reverb of all time Native Instruments RAUM :( in all seriousness, I’m definitely gonna check out the melda ones i’ve been sleeping on. thanks for the video :D
Very nice reverb! I like the "cosmic" mode, then turning down the reverb knob, to get some wonky artifacts 👽
Amazing to see BEAM in here. Awesome video as usual Benn!
Why did the reverb plugin get an award? For outstanding performance in spatial awareness!
Great video, love the effort you put into this!
For my money, supermassive is the best verb for anything; big sounds, subtle sounds, slap back, ambient soundscapes it does it all. Plus it does an amazing blade runner verb impression
Raum is my go to for any kind of reverb. I can just stick it on anything and it instantly sounds good. You can also get it for free with the komplete start bundle but on it's own it's $50 iirc
It's pretty amazing raum
Raum is free now as part of the free Komplete Start.
@@mudi2000a ye i mentioned that
I was surprised raum wasn't mentioned, it's crazy good in Guitar Rig for ambient stuff, and he mentioned spring reverb in GR...
Benn, I betatest for Universal Audio's Spark plugins and as a result, the Lexicon 224 reverb. They actually decompiled the algorithm/BOM on the hardware 224 and used the exact algorithms from it... It's a literal fork of the reverb itself. That said, where you might be hearing the extra 'brightness' compared to the hardware version is the A/D conversion in the hardware unit. Of course this can also be affected by the type of mixing desk you're putting the thing through, etc. There's several variables to cause this.
My point is the algorithms on the UA 224 are the real deal.
Interesting program, learned about a few plugins I was unaware of. I like NI Raum which was free when it came out. it sounds really artificial but sometimes that is exactly what we want for more abstract kinds of music. it's not nearly as complex as anything shown here, just stating that I really like it - also for the synchable predelays.
I luv and have been fascinated with this effect from the day I got an Alesis Quadraverb when I was a kid. It became the 3rd unit in my home studio after a Roland D10 and the Atari 1040ST. But I was not aware that it could be down to such a science from a musician's perspective. Your episode really inspired me and the curiosity spark has ignited.
Seventh Heaven. Pro-R. Love those two.
Surprised 7th wasn’t mentioned
@@pyratellamarecordingstudio1062 He disqualified IR if it didn't allow imports.
Seventh heaven my choice
@@pyratellamarecordingstudio1062 or cinematic rooms for that matter, equally as good imo
For the money, the Seventh Heaven 49 Euro light version is ehh, heaven :)
TAL Reverb 4 is my go to for all my projects, so solid and so free :)
I can't help but notice you neglected to mention LiquidSonics.
Their standard version of "Seventh Heaven" is *the only* reverb I use and the only one I'll ever recommend. absolute workhorse.
With you there. Adds a surprisingly subtle amount of air and life to EVERYTHING, it's convolution that goes BEYOND. Based on the legendary Bricasti M7. I went through dozens of reverbs to find myself in Seventh Heaven!
While I agree with you about seventh heaven, it is also my fave, I don't think you can load your own IRs, so it doesn't qualify
A fascinating deep dive there Benn, and as someone slightly allergic to ambient musicians coating absolutely everything in a glossy golden syrup reverb, this was an inspiring exploration. Thankkkkssssssssssssssssssssssssssss (that's a convolution reverb there)
Thanks for pointing out on Melda's TurboReverb.
My nerdy brain wants to play with it.
Spacer is fantastic. Just don't forget to increase the input and output levels in this incredible vst.
I’m also a reverb fiend. And every now and then, I have some music in my reverb.
(That’s my joke.)
Yes, I’m going to get mad for not mentioning the things. Yes, I know you don’t care. Yes, I will get over it 😉
I was underwhelmed by sonible’s smart:verb, though it was the one that got me into their ecosystem. But I concluded that it’s a reverb made for those who don’t use reverb, don’t like reverb, would rather use anything else but reverb, but higher powers insist on them using reverb.
So Vangelis was a *very* early adopter of the LX-224. According to one of his engineers, the serial number of his unit was 002.
You have to EQ all of Sonible's AI plugins after you process them. As far as I'm concerned, they just leave you a technically flat sound that you need to sculpt.
I am happy to see that Melda gets some love. They have some great and unique plugins and now I have to take a closer look at their Turbo Reverb 😀👍
Old reverbs never die. They just fade away
Fab Filter pro R2 is something I keep coming back to. Very versatile and broad but also accessible. It hits the sweet spot for me.
Solaris is pretty dope for a shimmer verb
Exponential Audio R4 is the best reverb plugin. It was designed by the same man (Michael Carnes) who designed Lexicon's best all around reverb processor - the Lexicon PCM96/PCM92.
was thinking about a reverb joke but it took me too long
(obvious one but should be recorded in the internet)
My personal favorite free reverb is epicverb by variety of sound. its got a nice, intuitive, vintage looking UI, its relatively versatile, and i personally really enjoy how its plate reverb sounds. i like it so much that i have it on a send bus in my FL template, so every project i start has it in there by default. i usually send most of my mixer tracks to it just a little bit to sort of glue everything together at the end.
I think I might have enjoyed a general "algorithmic" category; a reverb that doesn't try to emulate a vintage effect, isn't the best all-around, doesn't sound realistic, or isn't very flexible, but just sounds good . Maybe VintageVerb or MTurboReverb would've still won, but I have a soft spot for Native Instruments Raum. It delivers whenever I want a "lush" synthetic sound.
Valhalla Room is great. Cinematic Rooms is incredible for organic orchestral score writing. Reverbs tend to be genre specific and so is this video.
Kinda feel like this falls under the ambient tail category.
@@KingOfAceZ1 It probably could, but I don't use it for ambient tails.
My favorite reverb is probably Airwindows's original Galactic. The algorithm for it is a little funky, but because of it, you can get these beautiful washes of ambient sound, or you can turn up the replace and turn down the buffer size to get more normal reverbs out of it. All his plugins are free, and that specific one is one I go back to very often!
Great to see the love for Sean Costello and Valhalla, though
No Pro-R 2? But it's so good!
The new Bettermaker BM60 is my new go2, The sound + the gui really works. Kinda like Echoboys extra settings under the hood, supper shaping, super quick
Like all lists this is very genre specific as well. The fact that you didn't consider reverbs like Cinematic Rooms, Seventh Heaven, Berlin Studio, Altiverb, etc. which are considered one of the best for organic film scoring reverbs shows how genre specific this list is. It's understandable as I can't answer or make suggestion for genres outside the realm that I do. I only wish you mentioned that though at the start and made it clear where your experience lies so that people who are in the same boat will find it beneficial. I did not agree with a lot of your winners, or even runner-ups because for my type of music, film scoring, I know of reverbs better than the ones you mention.
Ben your videos are so fun to watch! I love how much work you put into all of your videos. Thank you for doing this🙏
A reverb walks into a bar and says, "hey, where's the bar tender-tender-tender-tender......."
er… thats echo delay. not reverb.
I know right? Reverb was mixing more than just the tracks - what a wild night.
Ho Lee Sheet. My favorite RUclipsr and one of my favorite artists of all time ... working together 😍 Ben and Jamie, match made in heaven 😃👍🏻
You didn’t pick my favorite reverb. Sigh, I need some space…
My condolences 😔
Hah!
That name isn't in his lexicon.
@@erestubeGood one! 😆
thank you ben! unbelievably helpful! also this little spin at the very beginning of the vid was ✨majestic✨
I can't say my experience is as detailed - but I do like D16's Toraverb and what Valhalla Ubermod does with the diffusion on. Someone may be interested in having a play with those too...
Uad has great reverbs, from the lexicons to convolved chambers and rooms. Really top notch.
Airwindows reverbs are free and great. The new K series are just super.
Yeah, but I support Benn on Patreon. So this just shows his integrity :D but seriously, looks to me like he simply likes a different style of 'em. Maybe one day I'll make one like that, no hurry :) I mean if it's Melda he loves best, that's mighty far from what I try to do, and there's nothing wrong with that.
@@airwindowsI haven't tried your plugins (yet) but I like your vibe
I use two instances of native instruments RAUM for my ambient sounds, it also has a echo feedback feature which creates a metallic sound at short amounts, and the freeze option is wicked when you adjust the size parameter whilst it plays, I've used this plugin as a main part of my sound design for the last couple of years and I think it sounds really nice compared to other plugins I've used at the price of about £40 it's absolutely my favourite. But I do want to get spacer now and tie them together 🔥💪🏻
2 ones that I use a LOT tend to be the free - epicverb which is kinda my first go to and one that doesn't exactly fit into any of these categories - mutant reverb that is a ducking reverb and super useful for things like vocal and piano where you want the natural sound and the trails after
Really? Is no one going to talk about Pro R2 as the best all-around reverb plugin? It offers three colorations to choose from, character/thickness options, quantized pre-delay, an EQ curve for the tail, another EQ for spectral balance, ducking options, and much more. It's a sleek, well-designed plugin that's super stable, sounds amazing, and fits into the mix just right...
I'm with you on this! Pro-R2 is superb all-around reverb in part because it is so easy and fast to dial in just the right reverb for a particular application.
Thank you for your effort, I’m obsessed with reverbs, gonna love this!
I think this is first premiere I’ve ever caught on YT ever. I guess I might as well sub huh?
As a reverb lover, I encourage you to visit Gibralatar, and the venue in St. Michael's cave. I've been once, but only did a short tour, and disappointingly didn’t catch a performance in there. But the space sounds amazing.
Cinematic Rooms?????????????
Fabfilter Pro-R2 and Valhalla(s) are my reverb!
For years I use Reverberate and the MOTU ProVerb
Didn't you like the Strymon BigSky vst?
I wonder that too, or if the missed it. The big issue with not including a list of all plugins one can remember testing (but also memory fades, and updates are released, and opinion change, so if not tested currently, it doesn't really say a lot)
I was also shocked it wasn't even mentioned.
it sounds amazing
it isnt as good as the stompbox thats why.
OMG!! I LOVE that adaptiverb!!! I've been LOOKING for a reverb that tunes itself to the key of the song!! THANKS BENN!!
Blackhole immersive is a beauty for sure 👌🏼 Accentize chameleon for copying verb from another source is a handy tool (it’s also AI) but sometimes needs a bit of tweaking with the mix knob. Yeah spacer is nice too it’s a shame they went bust 😢 unfiltered audio Tails is also sweet. And melda… they just make so many great plugins, cool video 😊
FYI DDMF's new free one "eternal" is phenomenal, for ambient pitched and shimmer
Relab Sonsig A, Valhalla and Sinevibes are my go-to’s
I miss my bathroom on the list, is amazing, i love to sing on it - Thanks for the video Benn
I am with U and would like 2 add that garages can B great reverb devices too!
been looking for a video like this. this is exactly what i wanted to know. THANKS!
No discussion of plate reverbs, where Sound Toys wins hands down.
Must try that, but of those I've tried, I've settled on Arturia Plate-140 as being very good.
I'm really not sure how it compares, but I really like ni's raum for ambient reverb. Loved your vid, gna check out what you've advised because clearly you have a wonderful understanding of all the elements of reverb. Thanks for making this! Sorry for not making a joke :)
Q: How many reverb designers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Just oneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Thanks for the video Benn! IQ Reverb looks like a lot of fun.
Learning tabs to a song on the bass guitar is as much as my technical musical knowledge extends and I have ZERO clues about reverb, daws, plugins, anything to do with any of this.... yet I'm still pulled in, engaged and fascinated
Amazing video, I would have loved to see Liquidsonic featured (7th Heaven, Cinematic Rooms and Tai Chi). Also, Big Sky is now a VST!
Thank you for the heads up, and trying em all out.
The only thing I would add is I sometimes need a reverb that will give me a little ambience without being obvious, and my favorite VST for that task is Eventide SP2016. It's the only reverb I trust to blend in with a mix control instead of on a dedicated full wet send, and that distance slider just lets me get exactly the sound I need if I want to blend a little room into a dry master or something like that.
Softubes new widener is great for that! And actually their wasted space, which sound great not using the bitcrush feature