This thread is the new industry standard (Sorry....I couldn't resist any longer )

Cheers
Dennis

Wow, the reverb on Bruce Springsteen Nebraska is amazing. Loved it.

Speaking about reverbs, I love the reverb on that piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-uY_SoR110

Epic thread!

My most memorable "natural" reverb was a tunnel that took you from one side of a hill to the other. Must have been 10 feet tall, 15 feet wide, and at least 40 feet in length. The inside looked like aluminum (?) The walls, ceiling, were some kind of metal. It was buried deep covered in dirt and with dirt on the side. Well, a tunnel It was in Northern California. I remember really wishing I could record an impulse.

Softubes TSAR-1
- Some reverbs sound too dry but this one doesn't
- It doesn't sound muddy (lots of reverbs do)
- One of the more natural sounding reverbs
- Sounds more like a hardware reverb.
- Simple but flexible (some reverbs are overly complex, the simplisity of the controls means you can get a good sound without excessive tweaking)

That's just beautiful.

Given the era, it pretty much has to be a chamber. It's unclear whether it is a purpose-built chamber, or a speaker set up in an old tiled men's room or the like (which was apparently a common practice during that time). It would be interesting to find out what sort of speaker, power amp and microphones would have been in common use for chamber applications.

Sean Costello

I like the sound of Lexicon reverbs and was very lucky to be able to pick up the PCM Native version for less than half price here at KVR market approx 18 months ago.

However, all said and done, Vahalla reverbs (I have Shimmer) are excellent too - and a lot cheaper as well. Redline Reverb is also pretty good.

Let's open this up to wider discussion: What are the characteristics of Lexicon style reverbs that people like?

In order to frame the conversation, here are the plugins that I know of that are Lexicon style algorithms:

CSR (reverse engineered PCM91 algorithms with simplified modulation, coded by Martin Lind in 2006)
Breverb (reverse engineered PCM91)
Breverb 2 (same as above, with some new stuff)
Lexicon PCM/LXP/MPX (coded by Michael Carnes at Lexicon, based on topologies originally developed by Griesinger, but extended with new allpass delays from Barry Blesser)
Relab LX480 (reverse engineered 480L Random Hall algorithm, coded by Martin Lind)
SSL X-Verb (reverse engineered 480L with some modifications, coded by Martin Lind)
UAD 224 (reverse engineered by [REDACTED] and Universal Audio staff)

It is worth noting that the algorithms in the above algorithms are largely of the "Rich Plate/Chamber" technology first developed for the 224XL, and extended in the 480L and later reverbs. A few of the algorithms (the PCM bundle Concert Hall and UAD 224) are based around the 224 algorithms, which are fairly different topologies.

The better Lexicon emulations (and the Lexicon boxes themselves - I have a few) can sound a bit grainy with sharp transients, yet sound "transparent" and wide in a mix. To my ears, both the 224 algorithms and later Lexicon algorithms have a "clear" sound. I would love to hear other listener's thoughts on this topic.

Sean Costello

Here's an important thought: all the algorithms in 480L, for example, can sound smooth (just raise the diffusion level) and still sound "clear" and "wide". It also works fine in a mix either way.

Here are examples with the 480L ambience and plate algorithms. (dry samples included)

Lexicon MPX and EWQL Spaces....very clean sound never muddy. EWQL Spaces very organic and warm - beautiful variety of reverbs (the ambient verbs are terrific). Great combination of algo and convolution reverb. Space Designer and Eos are nice also...!

I love the way this is recorded. The closeness and the room tone really enhance the mood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdEuCRiW2l0&feature=related

Virsyn Reflect is an amazing peace of gear that works in every situation. With artsacoustic reverb, it's my favourite. The KR-reverb (freeware) is also pretty good, imo.

Damned CIA.

Are you using any presets with these? If so, which ones? I'm interested in how Shape, Spread and Size are set for the Plate examples.

Sean Costello

Ah, from what I remember, shape 127, spread 0, size 27. bass decay 1.2x, hf decay 0.6x, hf crossover ~4khz, bass crossover ~500hz