Transparent reverb?

[koolkeys]

OT a bit: does it matter if the EQ is before or after the reverb? I've always used one after, to EQ the tail. But has anyone noticed a distinct, musical difference with it EQing the material before the reverb?

There really isn't a right or wrong way. You can use EQ before the reverb to get rid of the muddy frequencies that will only build up when using reverb. Or if using on a send you can completely isolate a frequency range to be processed. I actually think that using EQ on the source material is preferred in many cases before it ever gets sent to reverb. Most of the time EQ is used to tweak the sound to be more accurate, take out what you don't want, and enhance what you do want. And since the reverb will always add dozens of multiples of the sound, it's better to get the sound right first so you're only sending what you want. Otherwise all the bad things you wanted to fix will be multiplied as well.

Brent

[S-N-S]

what about voxengo Pristine Space??

[jens]

OT a bit: does it matter if the EQ is before or after the reverb? I've always used one after, to EQ the tail. But has anyone noticed a distinct, musical difference with it EQing the material before the reverb?

There really isn't a right or wrong way. You can use EQ before the reverb to get rid of the muddy frequencies that will only build up when using reverb. Or if using on a send you can completely isolate a frequency range to be processed. I actually think that using EQ on the source material is preferred in many cases before it ever gets sent to reverb. Most of the time EQ is used to tweak the sound to be more accurate, take out what you don't want, and enhance what you do want. And since the reverb will always add dozens of multiples of the sound, it's better to get the sound right first so you're only sending what you want. Otherwise all the bad things you wanted to fix will be multiplied as well.

Brent

Yes, I completely agree, but want to add that there also isn't a law which would prohibit putting an eq before and after the reverb.

[koolkeys]

OT a bit: does it matter if the EQ is before or after the reverb? I've always used one after, to EQ the tail. But has anyone noticed a distinct, musical difference with it EQing the material before the reverb?

There really isn't a right or wrong way. You can use EQ before the reverb to get rid of the muddy frequencies that will only build up when using reverb. Or if using on a send you can completely isolate a frequency range to be processed. I actually think that using EQ on the source material is preferred in many cases before it ever gets sent to reverb. Most of the time EQ is used to tweak the sound to be more accurate, take out what you don't want, and enhance what you do want. And since the reverb will always add dozens of multiples of the sound, it's better to get the sound right first so you're only sending what you want. Otherwise all the bad things you wanted to fix will be multiplied as well.

Brent

Yes, I completely agree, but want to add that there also isn't a law which would prohibit putting an eq before and after the reverb.

Absolutely. I didn't mean to imply that either one was actually better. And people do it with both before and after ALL the time. You just have to think about what you want each effect to change and there is no right or wrong way at all.

Brent

[poonna]

I haven't got around to try all the suggestions here yet. To me, reverb is one of the hardest things to get right in the mix, and I find that dense reverbs tend to impart too much of its color on the sound and smear the imaging. Perhaps I mixed in too much reverb, but even changing the dry/wet balance and fiddling with predelay and EQ doesn't seem to help much, but I haven't really spent a lot of time on them yet. (Would be nice if I have hours to learn this aspect alone.)

So I'm looking for something that could help me sit sounds at desired depth. I'm expecting something that I can dial in and put some sounds at the far back, some in the middle, and some upfront, with stable imaging. The ones I have, although impart some depth information, still seem to be smeary and a bit flat. Anyway, I'll try to work more on what I have now first (CSR and AAR). They are actually two of the best around, so I guess I'm just too dumb to use them properly.

Also, pardon my incoherent terms. I kind of associate transparent loosely with non-smearing and non-colored, with clear and precise imaging. I'm not really good at describing sounds and English is not my first language either.

[aMUSEd]

Reflect is the cleanest one I know by far. Variverb adds something to the sound - in a nice way, but I wouldn't call it totally transparent. It's not muddy though.

I just discovered an awesome reverb for Scope (and it's free) but probably no point in mentioning it here

[Echoes in the Attic]

I don't hear too much talk about Wave Arts Masterverb, but I think it's quite clean sounding, although it doesn't have to be. And it's probably the lowest cpu out there for the amount of control you get over the reverb. Comparing it to AAR, I like it as much or more.

Have you guys tried that out much?

[steff3]

I don't hear too much talk about Wave Arts Masterverb, but I think it's quite clean sounding, although it doesn't have to be. And it's probably the lowest cpu out there for the amount of control you get over the reverb. Comparing it to AAR, I like it as much or more.

Have you guys tried that out much?

Well, to me masterverb is quite more coloured than AAR or Reflect. I prefer it over AAR als well (well, I only tested AAR - so, was quite a fan of all the modulation features but did not like the tint of the tail modulation ... never know), and when I am looking for some more hollywood like big drum reverb, I like it more than Reflect. (of course there are other reverbs which even give more colour and more hollywood-like sound, but that is not my thing)

However, I think the palette of reverbs I get from Masterverb which I like is rather small. But yes, it is definitely light on the CPU and the Gate is also nice.

just my thoughts....

best

[jens]

I haven't got around to try all the suggestions here yet. To me, reverb is one of the hardest things to get right in the mix, and I find that dense reverbs tend to impart too much of its color on the sound and smear the imaging. Perhaps I mixed in too much reverb, but even changing the dry/wet balance and fiddling with predelay and EQ doesn't seem to help much, but I haven't really spent a lot of time on them yet. (Would be nice if I have hours to learn this aspect alone.)

my general tip #1 would be to listen a lot just to the wet output (e.g. using it as an insert while having it 100% wet) - examine just the reverb - how does it sound? Close your eyes and try to imagine the room - then mix in the dry signal and try to get how the reverb you just heard affects it - and again try to imagine the room. Do this with different reverbs and while experimenting with their parameters and also while trying different presets.



If cpu consumption is no objection then I'd like to suggest to try the KarmaFX reverb.
It's free and very decent (if you listen to just its wet signal you'll know what I mean - most others reverb plugins sound like distortion/filter fx in comparision).

[Krakatau]

of course, this is litterally a matter of taste, but i would defined by transparent = that seems to preserves accurately the timbral characters of the dry signal

[Cordelia]

I don't hear too much talk about Wave Arts Masterverb, but I think it's quite clean sounding, although it doesn't have to be. And it's probably the lowest cpu out there for the amount of control you get over the reverb. Comparing it to AAR, I like it as much or more.

Have you guys tried that out much?

Yeah. I really like it, and using it more often lately, I'm finding that I'm more impressed all the time.

[sounddesigner]

I just discovered an awesome reverb for Scope (and it's free) but probably no point in mentioning it here

Inquiring minds wanna know.

[mike goodwin]

I bet he is talking about HiFi Boom's rspv-01. It is very nice. It has quickly become one of my fave reverbs. I own CSR as well as Wizoo. It just has a nice quality to it. Transparent it is not though. Not in the slightest.

http://www.hifiboom.6x.to/

[Jonzero]

Try out Fusion Field, doesn't have those pesky reflections, it adds so little that some settings just freeze time on your sound, couldn't ask for more trans than that!

[hibidy]

I'm so happy with purchase of variverb pro, it's so light and fluffy, it's "there" without being "there"