What are your favorite non-Valhalla reverbs, and why?

[Aiynzahev]

2caudio B2. A new favourite of mine. Very rich depth and a lot going on, it's also very three dimensional and envelopes the source well. It's like a fluffier, denser and more 3d lexicon sound.

R2 and Phoenix are very interesting, you can really pile these on and they really stay out of the way well. They are very transparent and disappear into the mix.

V-Room is beautiful for short reverbs, I've been thinking on and off for a good while about buying room.

-Edited for no derail.

[valhallasound]

Part B: a Grammy-award-winning heavy metal band, no doubt.

Apparently not this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8nsUGtdWNQ

Google has ruined trivia questions.

Sean Costello

[antithesist]

His drummer. I'm semi-ashamed both to have known that pre-google and now to admit the same. Notch Pass Trail in WA, on the other hand, was all-google. I thought it was too coincidental, being in your state, not to post. I had just been rereading an exchange on GS, that I actually had a dream about, regarding notchpasses. I think you or Warp started it, and I found MC's "down market" comment interesting. I wonder if that came into play in the transition from LXP to MPX hardware, with I think the Reflex and Alex in between. I had an Alex and still have an MPX100, though it hasn't been turned on since I used it as part of a carry-on flying rig many years ago. I got both after I figured out it wasn't practical to fly with an H3000 and PCM 70. Ramble off.

EDIT: OK, I get you now. Yeah, I think that is Clive Bunker. He's no Ginger Baker, to be sure. I love that song, though.

EDIT2: Regarding notchpasses: I backed up to where you (Sean) said the LXP hardware used them, too.

[valhallasound]

@Sean

What is the effect of each all-pass filter in a series. Does each add a delay to the signal? And what else does it do - are there frequency dependent phase shifts or something? If there is a quick reference that explains the basics of this in readily intelligible terms I would like to read it.

Each allpass delay contributes its own echos to the signal. The number of perceived echos depends on the feedback/feedforward coefficient. Ideally, the allpass adds DIFFERENT delays than the allpass delay that precedes it (or whatever type of operation precedes it, or whatever comes after the allpass delay). Adding the same delays just results in unpleasant coloration. Setting up a bunch of delays so that each one adds its own unique contribution, instead of just adding echos that the other delays are adding, is one of the tricky parts of reverb design.

I should point out that series filtering operations are multiplicative in nature. Lets say that you have 3 allpasses in series, and each one contributes 3 echos before the echos fade below the threshold of perception. The number of echos that are heard is 3x3x3 = 27 echos.

The reason why allpass delays are used instead of comb delays is that the frequency response of an allpass delay is flat. A comb filter has a comb shaped frequency response, hence the name. Run a bunch of comb filters in series, and the only frequencies you will hear in the output are those that are shared resonances of all the comb filters. In other words, totally metallic. Allpass delays in series will have a flat frequency response, although the ear can often hear metallic decays.

Sean Costello

[antithesist]

OT: You guys had to go and send me off on a Tull youtube binge, didn't you? Interesting, I think that's Tony Iommi in the video, but not him on the audio, since it seems to be dubbed from the album. Clive has some decent solos on YT, too. Rhythm was looser back then. But still, no Mr. Baker, not that any were/are. Of course, that's a really good thing, in some respects.

Reverbs: I'm getting a little cranky like Ginger now. I like this thread, but let's ask something like, "what's your favorite guitar, and why?" (Please don't answer that here.) Ah, never mind. I suppose that's a reasonable question, too. Anyway, I now have access to Carnes' Lexicon PCM, Phoenix and R2, and Warp's CSR, X-Verb and LX480 Complete, among many others, both hardware and software.

I'm hard pressed to pick a favorite of those mentioned. Of course, CSR is not. But, it's a sort of progenitor to the other two Linds. For me, it's really about context, as well as features and sound. Sure, favorite doesn't have to mean best. That said, the SSL has the edge on those feature-wise for my current uses. Similarly, I'm diggin' the Eventide 2016 Room for its sound, though it be a pretty limited palette.

Good night.

[valhallasound]

OT: You guys had to go and send me off on a Tull youtube binge, didn't you? Interesting, I think that's Tony Iommi in the video, but not him on the audio, since it seems to be dubbed from the album.

I was trying to figure out if the Strat was in some weird unison tuning to get that 12-string sound. I finally realized they were miming, or at least the backing track was canned.

Sean Costello

[antithesist]

OT: You guys had to go and send me off on a Tull youtube binge, didn't you? Interesting, I think that's Tony Iommi in the video, but not him on the audio, since it seems to be dubbed from the album.

I was trying to figure out if the Strat was in some weird unison tuning to get that 12-string sound. I finally realized they were miming, or at least the backing track was canned.

Sean Costello

Right, miming according to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rollin ... oll_Circus

Then there's this YT comment/quote:

In an interview, Ian Anderson recalled the passage of Tony Iommi by Jethro Tull.
"When Mick Abrahams left we test him. We worked on some new songs and it was clear that although understood perfectly what I wanted, their physical difficulties were still a problem (Note: Tony had suffered the accident that cost him the fingertips of the right hand not long ago). He has evolved to become the reference of heavy music. But at that time had difficulty performing more complex chords. Would not work. "

OK, back to my cursed insomnia, maybe there's some more AES stuff to read. Any new 'verbs coming out? The EA surrounds and the UVI are the latest that come to mind. Oh, someone mentioned Virsyn Reflect. I busted that puppy out after having not used it for a long time. The latest version has the ability to use "real" impulse responses for the ERs. I tried loading my own and it didn't really work out, but I didn't know what I was doing, either. I mostly ever used the late section, anyway. The tails strike me as they did before: pretty good, maybe kind of Reaktor/spacemaster-ish. It stood up now better than I thought it would. An older version would do this runaway kind of thing with certain settings. The latest version doesn't. Interestingly, I've found some similar "instability zones" in Phoenix and R2.

[Bronto Scorpio]

Not really a reverb, but I love the room ambience in this track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoGUgcI5kLM
The whole album is amazing!

Cheers
Dennis

[Turello]

Over Valhallas, i've discovered some good (FREE) things...
- VSTZone Amplio
- Homegrown Sounds SoundScaper II
- Beyerdynamic Virtual Studio

After Valhallas and NI Reverbs nobody can do this effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsgdSpH_rsM

Regards and cheers from Sickcily! :-D

[Aubrey Lamont]

I like Toraverb...not as much as Valhalla, but it sounds great (and isn't too expensive).

[BERFAB]

OT: You guys had to go and send me off on a Tull youtube binge, didn't you? Interesting, I think that's Tony Iommi in the video, but not him on the audio, since it seems to be dubbed from the album.

I was trying to figure out if the Strat was in some weird unison tuning to get that 12-string sound. I finally realized they were miming, or at least the backing track was canned.

Sean Costello

The backing track definitely sounds identical to the one that was released.
Clive Bunker was on some great early Tull records. No Ginger Baker, but accomplished nonetheless. Unlike many bands of the era, Tull was not afraid to get into complex arrangements and time changes.

I was fortunate to see them at Madison Sq. Garden in '74 (War Child tour, I believe) and again a few years later at Shea Stadium (Rory Gallagher and Jeff Beck opened). Amazing shows.

[valhallasound]

EDIT: OK, I get you now. Yeah, I think that is Clive Bunker. He's no Ginger Baker, to be sure. I love that song, though.

No criticism of the drumming on that Jethro Tull song. I think that the drumming is PERFECT for that song, and "fancier" playing would be totally inappropriate. That video is the only Jethro Tull song that I know well, and the drummer in it left Jethro Tull before the Yngwie guy joined the band.

EDIT2: Regarding notchpasses: I backed up to where you (Sean) said the LXP hardware used them, too.

If I said this, I was inaccurate. The LXP hardware came about long before Barry Blesser developed the notchpass filter. From my understanding of things, the LXP hardware used algorithms from the 480L (the earlier "reverberation" algorithms, not Ambience or Random Hall), with a mono input and cheaper analog components. This would have made use of good old fashioned allpass delays. The LXP plugin uses the notchpass stuff.

Sean Costello

[antithesist]

Ah, I may have mistaken LXP hardware for the plug-in in the statement. No matter, I've been learning a lot sort of osmotically lately. I went on to do some Lexichip history googling. OK, my mind is brimming with reverb and Tull after last night. Maybe AES coverage will be an appropriate antidote as it rolls in.

BERFAB: I saw Tull several times, but none as early as '74. Good times! What year is now, anyway? Oh, yeah.

[bungle]

Eastwood Mverb and looking forward to getting my hands on the NI Verbs, but i actually haven't got anything from Valhalla yet, Vintage interests me but not the others.

[codec_spurt]

http://www.sknote.it/Verbtone.htm

The most magical, mystical, ethereal, spiritual...

Er.. actually scrap that last one!



20 bucks! Insane.

I compared this to Shimmer, not a lot, but a bit...

The latency is full on. Not something you could have on every channel, but on a bus or a mix.

Anyway, Shimmer is going to be the next 'verb I buy. More versatile for sure. But it just doesn't do that depth of getting into the very heart of the note.

The most exceptional reverb I have ever heard - hardware or software.

Did I mention it cost less than 20 bucks?