Which reverb sounds great in mono?

[bite_me]

Hi friends,
the title says it all.

A lot of modern music sounds very crappy in mono and even in stereo (on my coaxial speakers) because of that superwide spread that makes it bigger in the car.
Perhaps I´m oldfashioned but I enjoy mixes that work great in mono.

Often, the reverb makes it mushy and phasey in mono. So, is there one reverb which sounds as great in mono?
THX

[Winstontaneous]

Eventide SP2016 has Mono and Stereo Room algorithms in both both Vintage and Modern flavors, they all sound fantastic to me. I also love the Michael Carnes algorithms at all width settings including narrow and mono - Lexicon PCM and the (mostly discontinued) Exponential Audio Nimbus/Phoenix and R4/R2. Mono panned reverbs are especially fun!

[Vortifex]

Do you mean one that has particularly good (i.e. mostly positive) phase correlation? If so then the Hall algorithm in Xenoverb comes to mind, as it has a fairly narrow stereo width. Supermassive has a Width control for good mono compatibility, and the new Glow from Wave Alchemy has a Mono button, but you can give any reverb good mono compatibility with a stereo utility in your DAW.

[bite_me]

Reducing stereowidth is not a thing but a reverb that wouldn´t disappear when switching to mono. I have the Nimbus and R4 EA reverbs, the UAD Plates and Lexicon 224.
And while I´m typing I realize the UAD Reverbs have dedicated monoversions.

[martinjuenke]

ChatGPT says:

Here are some popular reverb plugins that are known for their good mono compatibility:

ValhallaRoom
AudioThing Springs
Valhalla VintageVerb
ArtsAcoustic Reverb
Waves H-Reverb
FabFilter Pro-R
Altiverb 7
Lexicon PCM Native Reverb
Eventide Blackhole
Sonnox Oxford Reverb

[Adrian Charras Music]

Any Spring !

[btfnk]

Hard disagree with VVV being listed, be very careful with many of it's modes.

Lexicon PCM are great!

[camsr]

Input a mid signal to a stereo reverb, and drop one channel.

[simon.a.billington]

This happens largely due to people not checking mixes in mono and applying stereo widening techniques, even with a simple day. That would potentially be passed to the reverb causing it to also sound bad in mono. Or it can be due to overuse of chorus/flanger style effects on reverbs which don't translate to well. So ill-formed production/engineering habits is largely why some recordings would suck more in mono.

The excuse to not check in mono is that many see it as no longer necessary, but I big to differ. Music shopping centres and clubs can still be often in mono. Music coming from bluetooth speakers and PCs can sound predominantly mono since the speakers are placed so close to each other. Take a step or two back it may as well be mono. Their ideologies are really based faulty logic.

To answer your question though, pretty much any decent reverb will sound good in mono, you just need to set it up on a mono return. Some reverbs are traditionally designed in mono though, like old springs and plates. So that's another thing to look at. Not the often the best choice for a whole mix, but selected instruments though.

[bite_me]

@camsr: Never heard this before. Worth a try
@simon.a.billington: I´m not sure, if Bitwig offers mono returns.
Yeah mono rules

[chagzuki]

I haven't particularly noticed any reverbs sounding bad in mono, but to the extent that they disappear I tend to find that useful as it preserves clarity in the absence of spatial differentiation.

One thing that has bugged me a little recently is the opposite problem: certain speaker setups in popular devices such as iPads seem to introduce an amount of stereo widening, and this can over-emphasise certain types of reverb.

[Cody1_30]

Jst Skybox sounds great and i dont think i ever used it in Stereo

[bite_me]

Jst Skybox sounds great and i dont think i ever used it in Stereo

Deadcheap also

[Cody1_30]

@Bite_me Yeah i believe its on sale too right now for 20$. Ive owned it since like june i believe or july and just realized recently it had presets lol. But Joey Sturgis is legit make sure to check his Youtube channel too alot of great knowledge. His Demon fuzz bass distortion is crazy sounding also.

[osiris]

I always at least check a mix in mono and Valhalla Room sounds great, but when I reset it to normal it was a little too much. Nothing a twiddle of the Mix knob didn't help.