Favorite versatile reverb?

[LoveEnigma18]

R4 is generally a less dense set of algorithms, which can net a clearer result, but I find I still load up Nimbus and just use less diffusion more often than not. And for more obvious effects reverb, generally Sonsig, but R4’s modulation does sound good, it’s just comparatively reserved. Also, the EA reverbs are some where especially at higher reverb times, the parameter value doesn’t always match what you hear, which will often be shorter. Generally speaking, super long tails aren’t what they want to do anyway. They excel at realistic spatialization and depth.

Thanks for the tip. I am not able to hear any noticeable difference between R4 and Nimbus though.

[ghettosynth]

R4 is generally a less dense set of algorithms, which can net a clearer result, but I find I still load up Nimbus and just use less diffusion more often than not. And for more obvious effects reverb, generally Sonsig, but R4’s modulation does sound good, it’s just comparatively reserved. Also, the EA reverbs are some where especially at higher reverb times, the parameter value doesn’t always match what you hear, which will often be shorter. Generally speaking, super long tails aren’t what they want to do anyway. They excel at realistic spatialization and depth.

Thanks for the tip. I am not able to hear any noticeable difference between R4 and Nimbus though.

It's hard to say how close or far apart they are these days. I still prefer Nimbus to R4 because, to my ears, it has less "character." However, it's worth pointing out how strong various biases can be in this sort of discussion. Both Nimbus and R4 were developed as evolutions of pheonixverb and R2.

This SOS review discusses the earlier reverbs.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ex ... nixverb-r2

Much of the above applies equally to R2, too, for whilst it is undoubtedly less delicate than PhoenixVerb, it could hardly be described as lo-fi. Inasmuch as R2 has a ‘vintage’ sound, it’s more Lexicon 480L than Great British Spring. It isn’t obviously noisy or distorted, and even when you crank up the chorus as far as it will go, it doesn’t push things into the realms of the queasy. However, the fundamental R2 sound is clearly different from PhoenixVerb, tending less to recede into the mix, yet at the same time, often leaving more room for other things. Artifacts such as cyclical repetition in the reverb tail are sometimes subtly audible, though only on exposed sources and when the reverb is high in the mix.

Here I disagree, I find that the character of R4 can, indeed, leave me feeling queasy. YMMV and all that.

[jens]

R4 has the Warp section, R2 does not...

[E_Anderson]

Something to be aware of with Nimbus/R4 is that those smoooooth tails isn't really going to happen at higher rooms sizes a lot of the time without a lot of fenagling; there are delay taps that poke through at those higher sizes that if you want to iron out you're going to need to spend some time with the envelopes and diffusion+diffusion size (or change algorithms). For transparency on non-percussive elements this is a good thing (and it can be good on percussion too), but if you want something that's going to melt literally whatever you put into it into sonic butter without a lot of tweaking, you'll probably want to go with Pro-R or, again, the Sonsig. I actually decided against the Sonsig too in the beginning because of the problems, but over the 1-2 months afterward I kept running into it in places and just.... that sound.

I think 2cAudio reverbs can experience some of the same delay-tap-peaking-through phenomenon at their insanely high size values but they also have ways of smoothing them out more easily. Those taps are easily a great effect on piano, vocals, and smooth elements though, as they do impart space without cloudiness. For percussion it's up to the source/your taste.

[jens]

So, I am testing out Sonsig Rev-A right now and while I like the sound (especially how the tail decays), the plugin isn't behaving properly in FL Studio. The plugin is occasionally freezing FL's GUI along with its own and it becomes non-responsive for few seconds, which prevents me from touching/changing the controls. Also, I need to enable "use fixed size buffers" in wrapper settings otherwise I am getting audio glitches during playback and when changing controls while music is playing.

So, unfortunately, it looks like there is some issue with FL Studio and I will need to remove this plugin from my list.

Sorry to hear that - I think it's a bit unfortunate if nobody from Relab is chiming in to comment on this... there's some developers where you can be sure they'll turn up and and observe in silence as soon as you just whisper their name.

[E_Anderson]

Nimbus also doesn't come to the foreground in FL Studio unless you click the wrapper, meaning either the top bar or the very thin border surrounding it. If it's hidden under your Mixer or another plugin, it'll stay there unless you click the wrapper. Also, up until recently the VST3 version of EA reverbs didn't save state on project closure (it saved it, but didn't recall it successfully), and the VST2 version output mono-only and I believe still does.

Cinematic Rooms Pro costs $400 retail.

We all have our problems.

Editing to add that I've pulled out R4 again since writing in this thread, and I really do like how it sounds, sometimes more than Sonsig for character reverb. R4 and Nimbus have a good amount of overlap not only in that they are both easily subtle effects but that the source material which is used - say, an orchestra - doesn't always need a reverb whose intent is to be the epitome of "felt, not heard", which may be part of the design philosophy behind Nimbus. R4, you can simply not use the modulation options, or use them to add some gloss to something that otherwise wants a clean reverb, which can be very pleasing. It really comes down to the algorithms at their core - they are very similar, different pretty much only slightly in density/diffusion and subtle modulation so I've heard - moreso in my opinion it comes down to the 4 algorithm options you get in each one. If I were you, I'd download both to demo and experiment with the 8 algorithms between the two of them. The two plates in Nimbus differ in width and darkness (more of each in #2), the two halls in R4 differ in terms of their modulation type (Hall 2 unlocking a new modulation type). I go back and forth between using R4 and Nimbus, but I've been using a lot more Nimbus recently - and also frequently thinking that I really should be using R4 in some places for a smoother, glossier sound on nonpercussive sources, but never getting around to it or just loading up the Sonsig. It is pretty, and purple.

Pro-R is a great middleground, and you can certainly get creative with it as well. For a not very creative simple example, I wanted a short decay time (shorter than 5s) in a cathedral-sized space. So I dragged the decay time graph down to around 25%, shaped it and then adjusted the decay knob. Sounds different than a shorter space. That could be made easier, but everything is already pretty easy otherwise. But with such powerful parameters, you can still take your time tweaking.

[LoveEnigma18]

So, I am testing out Sonsig Rev-A right now and while I like the sound (especially how the tail decays), the plugin isn't behaving properly in FL Studio. The plugin is occasionally freezing FL's GUI along with its own and it becomes non-responsive for few seconds, which prevents me from touching/changing the controls. Also, I need to enable "use fixed size buffers" in wrapper settings otherwise I am getting audio glitches during playback and when changing controls while music is playing.

So, unfortunately, it looks like there is some issue with FL Studio and I will need to remove this plugin from my list.

Sorry to hear that - I think it's a bit unfortunate if nobody from Relab is chiming in to comment on this... there's some developers where you can be sure they'll turn up and and observe in silence as soon as you just whisper their name.

No worries, it was a bit surprising though, because I have demoed so many plugins recently and only this plugin caused this. If it was on sale, I might have just bought it without demoing. But this is a good reminder that it's always best to demo before purchasing any plugin.

Pro-R is probably the best option considering I am invested in the FabFilter ecosystem and I like their workflow. I am picking up NIMBUS used for super cheap from buy & sell forum, so that will keep me busy until I think about getting Pro-R during a sale.

[LoveEnigma18]

Something to be aware of with Nimbus/R4 is that those smoooooth tails isn't really going to happen at higher rooms sizes a lot of the time without a lot of fenagling; there are delay taps that poke through at those higher sizes that if you want to iron out you're going to need to spend some time with the envelopes and diffusion+diffusion size (or change algorithms). For transparency on non-percussive elements this is a good thing (and it can be good on percussion too), but if you want something that's going to melt literally whatever you put into it into sonic butter without a lot of tweaking, you'll probably want to go with Pro-R or, again, the Sonsig. I actually decided against the Sonsig too in the beginning because of the problems, but over the 1-2 months afterward I kept running into it in places and just.... that sound.

Okay, so I was not the only that felt so. I could hear those delay taps when demoing Nimbus and R4 yesterday. Sonsig and Pro-R have smooth and lush tails indeed. Thanks for this information. Even Raum sounds excellent and doesn't have this behaviour.

[LoveEnigma18]

Nimbus also doesn't come to the foreground in FL Studio unless you click the wrapper, meaning either the top bar or the very thin border surrounding it. If it's hidden under your Mixer or another plugin, it'll stay there unless you click the wrapper. Also, up until recently the VST3 version of EA reverbs didn't save state on project closure (it saved it, but didn't recall it successfully), and the VST2 version output mono-only and I believe still does.

Didn't notice about the foreground and wrapper thing yesterday, but I understand what you are saying. I will check it again today.

Regarding VST3 not recalling state, it's not just with Nimbus though, I have this problem with a few other VST3 plugins too. It's something that really bothers me about using VST3. The problems I have seen with VST3 are: not being able to recall state/settings, not able to remember GUI size (for scalable plugins), and not recalling last used preset.

Will avoid VST2 version in that case, but how come it would be mono-only when they have a width slider for stereo enhancement? Perhaps it is not there in the VST2 version you mean? In that case, I am loading VST3 version.

Cinematic Rooms Pro costs $400 retail.

We all have our problems.

True. Just need to pick the best suitable option and move on.

Editing to add that I've pulled out R4 again since writing in this thread, and I really do like how it sounds, sometimes more than Sonsig for character reverb. R4 and Nimbus have a good amount of overlap not only in that they are both easily subtle effects but that the source material which is used - say, an orchestra - doesn't always need a reverb whose intent is to be the epitome of "felt, not heard", which may be part of the design philosophy behind Nimbus. R4, you can simply not use the modulation options, or use them to add some gloss to something that otherwise wants a clean reverb, which can be very pleasing. It really comes down to the algorithms at their core - they are very similar, different pretty much only slightly in density/diffusion and subtle modulation so I've heard - moreso in my opinion it comes down to the 4 algorithm options you get in each one. If I were you, I'd download both to demo and experiment with the 8 algorithms between the two of them. The two plates in Nimbus differ in width and darkness (more of each in #2), the two halls in R4 differ in terms of their modulation type (Hall 2 unlocking a new modulation type). I go back and forth between using R4 and Nimbus, but I've been using a lot more Nimbus recently - and also frequently thinking that I really should be using R4 in some places for a smoother, glossier sound on nonpercussive sources, but never getting around to it or just loading up the Sonsig. It is pretty, and purple.

Pro-R is a great middleground, and you can certainly get creative with it as well. For a not very creative simple example, I wanted a short decay time (shorter than 5s) in a cathedral-sized space. So I dragged the decay time graph down to around 25%, shaped it and then adjusted the decay knob. Sounds different than a shorter space. That could be made easier, but everything is already pretty easy otherwise. But with such powerful parameters, you can still take your time tweaking.

Thanks for sharing more thoughts.

Between Nimbus and R4, I am just going with one. The difference, if at all there is, isn't justifiable enough to get both. I have found Nimbus for super cheap, so I will forget R4.

Yeah. After looking at all the suggestions and testing them, the conclusion of the this topic for me is Pro-R. That one reverb that I can consider getting as a versatile, go-to reverb, to accompany the ones I have.

[leviy19]

Just do not understand why there is no one wrote about Altiverb 7 XL? I think it's a best reverb.

[E_Anderson]

Will avoid VST2 version in that case, but how come it would be mono-only when they have a width slider for stereo enhancement?

It's just bugged. It puts the input in mono too, not just the output.

I agree, it sounds like Pro-R is the way to go for you. From your collection it sounds like a bread-and-butter reverb that isn't Waves is sort of what you're after, and if you're not into Relab/2cAudio/LiquidSonics, that pretty much leaves you with Val****a, Pro-R and Exponential Audio.

Just do not understand why there is no one wrote about Altiverb 7 XL? I think it's a best reverb.

I don't know, there's just kind of a relatively common bias against impulse response reverbs, probably due to lack of as much control/modulation (generally) + the preset surfing workflow, and impulse responses can leave you with the "convolution sound" buildup... I certainly have that bias myself, and for me it's also a self-defense measure. There's already so much to explore, I don't want to open up the multiple cans of worms that come from both the different convolution plugins and the impulse responses themselves. Are they good? Probably extremely good. Trying one of the liquidsonics IR reverbs is an idea that's been in my orbit for about a month now, and that's on top of wanting the full Relab bundle, Cinematic Rooms and MTurboReverb. I hope in the time I set aside to demo them that I can come to a useful conclusion of preference besides "I want all of them"

[LoveEnigma18]

Will avoid VST2 version in that case, but how come it would be mono-only when they have a width slider for stereo enhancement?

It's just bugged. It puts the input in mono too, not just the output.

I agree, it sounds like Pro-R is the way to go for you. From your collection it sounds like a bread-and-butter reverb that isn't Waves is sort of what you're after, and if you're not into Relab/2cAudio/LiquidSonics, that pretty much leaves you with Val****a, Pro-R and Exponential Audio.

I see. I will check these things today. Just got Nimbus for super cheap.

Yeah, don't want to think too much about it now. Like you mentioned, have lots of other priorities too.

[LoveEnigma18]

I also now think that, especially after getting Nimbus, I might not even need Pro-R or anything else. The collection looks pretty good. Until maybe GAS kicks in or I find Pro-R for a compelling price. Only for mainly the FabFilter GUI and workflow.

[LoveEnigma18]

A big thanks to each one of you for your valuable time and help.

[Ploki]

I wish Nimbus could be machine activated