Audiority XenoVerb updated to v1.5.1 - Creative Multi Algorithm Reverb (VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, CLAP)

[SoundPorn]

I'm still mad at not buying Polaris when it was on sale. But I recently bought H Reverb to be my end all for reverb plugins.
Then Xenoverb goes on an unbelievable sale. Xenoverb is the type of plugin you can find use for on every track.

[hesnotthemessiah]

Man I was so proud of myself. I saw this deal advertised the other day and I said to myself; not interested, I really don't need any more reverbs (something I never thought I would hear myself say). But now you guys have me interested. I did a little research and wow, 10 algorithms. And apparently they all sound pretty good. And I have a couple dollars in virtual cash at plugin boutique. And I'm starting to get really weak here. Ah man.

You did your best

[Obsolete317542]

wsdfrgxdfghjctgkvyhujlkhijyv

[martinjuenke]

I'm still mad at not buying Polaris when it was on sale.

PM‘d you...

[MogwaiBoy]

Hall mode on the drum bus is veddy noice!

[Winstontaneous]

Anyone else put off by the extreme stereo narrowness of Hall algorithm? Just doesn't sound/feel right to me, a Hall should envelop from all directions. Also I like minimal interfaces, but feel this could use maybe 4 more knobs (including Size and separate modulation Speed/Depth) to really dial things in for such a variety of algorithms.

[abi]

Anyone else put off by the extreme stereo narrowness of Hall algorithm?

Absolutely! The Hall algorithm is a weak spot for me too. Although I like Xenoverbs somehow grainier and old school sound compared to say chromaverb or valhalla, the hall should sound much wider, I think.

On the other hand I really like most of the other algorithms, really nice plugin.

[HunterKiller]

.... seems to remote control my mouse hand.

You have a hand of a mouse on you? Is it genetic?

[jochicago]

I would like to hear more opinions on this reverb used in your mixes.

I put together a quick test with a rock live performance. Forgive the quick mix, I only worked on the buses.

First a version with 0 reverb, for comparison. The other version has XenoVerb on every instrument bus channel + the master bus.

Rock, no reverb
https://instaud.io/37WA

Rock with XenoVerb on every bus
https://instaud.io/37WB

Against my nature, I did not do anything to the reverbs. No eq, no parallels with a sidechain compressor or anything like that. It’s direct on the insert of every bus, only using the knobs on the plugin itself (mostly mix knob and shelf filters). Also, I would have dialed it down for my taste, but for this I wanted it loud enough that we could hear it.

BTW, you are listening to Matter –My Soul, recorded by Telefunken.
youtu.be/ppNSvwatRaU
The session files are available if you follow the link.

[Halonmusic]

I just bought this yesterday at Plugin Boutique, and WOW! I LOVE it!

[Aloysius]

I like it too. It also prompted me to check out Polaris, which I got for £7.30 (by deducting PiB Virtual Cash). That's an interesting one as well.

[Halonmusic]

[BrokenTrance]

Bought it. Too bad that one has to make account on the site to register it.

[jochicago]

I’m fresh from more testing. I compared XenoVerb against 12 other reverbs in my library, either free or low cost/included with the DAWs.

The short: XenoVerb is solid. It sounds great. Within 10 clicks I can get to a wonderful sound that sits right at home in my mix.

Is it better than X/Y pro reverb? Yes, no, it doesn’t matter. Getting to a great sound using XenoVerb doesn’t make it “better” than say Valhalla or vice versa. I would put XenoVerb in the bracket of a solid pro plugin, if you learn to use it, it will give you the sound you need for every project. I feel that in that bracket nothing is better than anything else. They all work and you are making choices on style not on quality.

The longer version:
First off, it runs circles on anything that comes with Studio One 3.5 (and probably most DAWs). Sad really, because S1 comes with 3 reverbs, they should do better. Those reverbs are just not that great. The IR is a bit different because you can always load your own IRs, but the convolution player itself doesn’t sit right with me.

Is it better than free reverbs? Mostly. There are a ton of terrible reverbs out there. But there are a handful of really good ones. I don’t want to derail talking about free reverbs, but I’ll say that OrilRiver is a stand out and in my view it also goes in the bracket of a pro plugin. It works, and you’ll get what you need for your projects. Make sure OrilRiver is in your library.

XenoVerb is better than Waves TrueVerb. Although I just said that it is not fair to compare pro plugins like that, I wanted to make this case: XenoVerb stands loud and present with a strong sound. It puts itself out there to be judged and tweaked, like a serious reverb. TrueVerb is meek, hides its tail, disappears in the mix. XenoVerb is a proud reverb. If you set it wrong it will sound rough, inappropriate, muddy or worse. If you set it right it will bring warmth, lush and that missing factor that pulls everything together.

How to use: I think XenoVerb works best when tweaked. Don’t expect to nail a preset. The way to use this reverb is to slow down and work with it. Choose an algorithm (room, hall, plate, etc), click around some presets to confirm this is the right algo for your song, then settle on one that brings you close but you have to finish the last stretch by customizing the settings. Take your time with the predelay, eq cuts, tone controls.

While I was doing this test, I had to toggle XenoVerb on/off constantly, because my ears would lose it in the mix. I was constantly getting to such natural sounds that I could no longer hear it, so I had to toggle it to “find it” and keep testing. The only other reverb that was this good was OrilRiver. Every other reverb I mentioned here was easy to spot (except for the shy TrueVerb that hides at the first opportunity).

CPU usage: On my PC it used about 2-3%. That puts it around the upper middle of the reverbs I tested. For comparison, that's about half of the CPU requirements of an instance of TDR Nova for me.

[BrokenTrance]

Probably i would buy ToneBoosters reverb with Shimmer if i knew that i most create account on Audiority site to get license.