Strymon Big Sky Plugin

[_leras]

Everyone EQ's. What I was picking up is _leras' statement about "Valhalla might take a bit more effort for some tones". It's something I noticed with synths and also with fx plugins. Some simply take more effort to sound right, and, that's bad. At least for me. I like stuff which sounds good out of the box, and doesn't require a lot of effort to sound the way I want it.

I never found out if I can get there with the Valhalla reverbs. I just sold them, when I realized that they don't do what I want them to do, while other stuff does. To each his own, they just didn't satisfy me. Considering my experience with them, I can see why they don't work for others.

I was just saying that Big Sky even says it is 'tuned' on it's website, and then has just 12 selected modes.

I'm sure Valhalla is also tuned. Valhalla has more options/modes etc.
VVV 19 modes
V Room 12 modes
Plate 12 modes
Shimmer 4 verb modes, 5 pitch modes
Supermassive 16 modes

My point, if not made clearly, was more that if you hand picked 12 of these I'm sure you'd get very close to each the 12 BigSky modes. An the extra 'tuning' might be to just to match them. (and that actually cost is similar)

Sorry you didn't get on with the Valhalla - but they're very usable if you ask me. I've used them almost exclusively on a band project recently, with no complaints. I also made a couple of tracks where I just have had the default VVV preset on a send at the start of a project, and not felt the need to add anything else (except maybe a smaller snare verb).

(I think UAD reverbs are the best out there though)

[FapFilter]

Good call. They're as addictive as synths.

This wasn’t actually true though, as now that i think of it, I’ve tried also in the meanwhile Supermassive (kept, as it‘s a very nice freebie) and Voxengo Sobor too (the latter being awesome too, but i didn’t really need it)

[vertibration]

Who here has bought the plugin for $200? Lots of arguments about price, but has anyone actually paid the $200 smackers?

[_leras]

Well people were saying the Virus hardware sounded different than the Virus software.. even though they're both using the exact, same code. So the only way they could possibly sound different would be gain staging or your audio interface in general. Otherwise the difference is in your head.

It could very well sound different due to the DAC's of the Virus. Actually, I'd be surprised if they wouldn't sound different, because the DAC's weren't very good back then.

Those people were saying the Virus Hardware sounded better though. Either way, the DSP is the same; the differences are outside the sound generator.

In the thread on the Motorola chip emulation, I thought I read that the limitations of the hardware limited some values to 14bit instead of 16bit or something similar. The sounds examples in that thread, with the emulation were pretty spot on. Whatever was said there (maybe not quite what I say here) seemed to the the real bono fide actual reason why the Virus sounded different.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Everyone EQ's. What I was picking up is _leras' statement about "Valhalla might take a bit more effort for some tones". It's something I noticed with synths and also with fx plugins. Some simply take more effort to sound right, and, that's bad. At least for me. I like stuff which sounds good out of the box, and doesn't require a lot of effort to sound the way I want it.

I never found out if I can get there with the Valhalla reverbs. I just sold them, when I realized that they don't do what I want them to do, while other stuff does. To each his own, they just didn't satisfy me. Considering my experience with them, I can see why they don't work for others.

I was just saying that Big Sky even says it is 'tuned' on it's website, and then has just 12 selected modes.

I'm sure Valhalla is also tuned. Valhalla has more options/modes etc.
VVV 19 modes
V Room 12 modes
Plate 12 modes
Shimmer 4 verb modes, 5 pitch modes
Supermassive 16 modes

My point, if not made clearly, was more that if you hand picked 12 of these I'm sure you'd get very close to each the 12 BigSky modes. An the extra 'tuning' might be to just to match them. (and that actually cost is similar)

Sorry you didn't get on with the Valhalla - but they're very usable if you ask me. I've used them almost exclusively on a band project recently, with no complaints. I also made a couple of tracks where I just have had the default VVV preset on a send at the start of a project, and not felt the need to add anything else (except maybe a smaller snare verb).

(I think UAD reverbs are the best out there though)

I love Valhalla, but the Big Sky has a Spring as well as the Chorale modes, which there are no Valhalla equivalents to. Maybe one or two more. For the other Big Sky modes, yeah, I'm sure you could rooms, halls, shimmer sounds from Valhalla and get more bang for the buck. But I don't expect them to sound the same.

Big Sky is just another reverb plugin with 12 base algorithms and some algo-specific features and modes. It costs $200. It's high. Not completely insane IMO. There are lots of other great reverb options out there.

[_leras]

Since when holding an opinion is trolling? With your logic the OP could have been trolling as well and I just defended the case? Nowadays if you are trying to prove a point it’s called trolling? He says Supermassive sounds better than the Strymon Plugin. I say the Strymon plugin sounds better than Supermassive, by even saying how amazing Valhalla actually is, in other respects.

Surely it all depends on what type of reverb you are after at that time.

Of course Supermassive can do tons of interesting things that the Big Sky simply cannot do.

Likewise, you probably can't get a metallic sounding plate out of Supermassive.

[chk071]

Out of interest: Did somebody from the E.U. buy the Big Sky plugin? And, if so, where did you buy? Looks like you can't buy from Strymon directly as a non-U.S. citizen.

[_leras]

I love Valhalla, but the Big Sky has a Spring as well as the Chorale modes, which there are no Valhalla equivalents to. Maybe one or two more. For the other Big Sky modes, yeah, I'm sure you could rooms, halls, shimmer sounds from Valhalla and get more bang for the buck. But I don't expect them to sound the same.

Big Sky is just another reverb plugin with 12 base algorithms and some algo-specific features and modes. It costs $200. It's high. Not completely insane IMO. There are lots of other great reverb options out there.

Well - all 4 Valhalla also come to $200.

I'm sure BigSky is a fine option. Might even simplify some workflows as there are fewer options. I do think it sounds pretty nice.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Well - all 4 Valhalla also come to $200.

I'm sure BigSky is a fine option. Might even simplify some workflows as there are fewer options. I do think it sounds pretty nice.

Like I said, I love Valhalla. Those plugins are used in every project here. There's no better bargain in Reverb and Delay land than Valhalla.

I don't own the BigSky but have some Strymon hardware (Blue Sky, Flint, Timeline, Ola). Their verbs are ok to excellent IMO. Example: the Springs in Blue Sky and Flint are on the better side of "ok" IMO. Not amazing. But good. I really like the Plate in the Blue Sky. Sounds wonderful on guitar, with or without some modulation. I don't really use the Room on the Big Sky. The Flint has an EMT-250 inspired digital plate. It's meh. The Flint has a Hall. It's great on guitar.

[SLiC]

It would be interesting to hear a comparison of BS and some more modern (and equally expensive) lush reverbs like Tia Chi https://www.liquidsonics.com/software/tai-chi/

[chk071]

I just saw that they're allowing iLok Cloud session. Interesting. First plugin I've seen which allows this.

I'll try the demo.

[standalone]

Out of interest: Did somebody from the E.U. buy the Big Sky plugin? And, if so, where did you buy? Looks like you can't buy from Strymon directly as a non-U.S. citizen.

https://www.thomann.de/de/strymon_big_sky_plugin.htm

[chk071]

Yeah, I saw that. Just wondering if that's the only way to go, or if you can buy from Strymon directly, unlike they tell you on their website. I could put the plugin in my cart, and proceed to checkout, not sure what happens then.

Big Sky is also even more expensive at Thomann, with 239 €.

[standalone]

Big Sky is also even more expensive at Thomann, with 239 €.

I you take VAT and the current exchange rate into account it's not that bad.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Meanwhile Moog release 7 modeled Moogerfooger plugins in a bundle for $149