KVR Audio

Midiworks · Post by **Midiworks** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:25 pm

I just took the time to compare A/B quite a few
algorithmic and convolution reverbs.

The results are very surprising !

1. QuickQuack RaySpace $90
http://www.software.quikquak.com/
never demoed this one before,
the gui looks like kindergarden...
Big, big mistake !!!
This one beats them ALL to my ears.
Mac/PC

2. ArtsacousticReverb $189 NEW !
http://www.artsacoustic.com/
Just tested this one, straight to mumber 2 !!!
Great.
Mac/PC

Yes, now there are TWO number 3.
3a. Spinaudio Roomverb m2 $145
http://www.spinaudio.com/products.php?id=2
Rooms, plates, halls, gates, reverse reverbs,
open spaces with up to 200 second long smooth tails.
Mac/PC

3b. Magnus' Plugins Ambience Donationware
http://www.smartelectronix.com/~magnus/index.html
Very good and flexable reverb !
Mac/PC

4.WizooVerbW2 $249
http://www.wizoo.com/index.php?id=78&no ... ackPid]=64
A convolution hybrid with some cool and new ideas.
Mac/PC

5. Pristine Space Voxengo $139
http://www.voxengo.com/product/pspace/
8-channel convolution processor.
Up to 8 convolution channels.
Loading of up to 8 impulses in WAV format.
Non-destructive impulse editing.
PC

6. RayVerb prosoniq $299
http://products.prosoniq.com/cgi-bin/re ... l&refno=44
Prosoniq Rayverb is a Realtime Inverse Raytracing Reverberation VST plug-in.
Using a sampled impulse response to re-create an existing acoustic space through convolution.
Some cool and usefull ideas here, saving the reverb as IR.
Mac/PC

7. Reverb 2016 Stereo Room Princeton Digital $200
http://www.princetondigital.com/PD4/products/srvst
A classic reverb.
PC

My concusions:
Any new reverb at ANY price,
will have a damed hard time to beat the top 4 here.

Specially QuickQuack RaySpace,
can give you any sound you can imagine and it is highly tweakable for only $90.

No Waves you may wonder, no, no Waves.
Masterverb5 ? No.

Sure there are still some other reverbs to compare.
But I dont think it can get any better soon.

Simply trust your ears, not your eys.
(if I'd done that, I had discovered RaySpace sooner.)

I hope my tests are usefull for you all,
they reflect my honest view.

Now its your turn to try and compare the demos.

Hovmod · Post by **Hovmod** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:31 pm

What were you looking/listening for?

Midiworks · Post by **Midiworks** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:37 pm

Hovmod wrote:What were you looking/listening for?

Strings, drums, percussion and solo vocals.

Hovmod · Post by **Hovmod** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:44 pm

Uhm, yes. Were you looking for how well they emulate vintage rooms or reverbs? How like or unlike a Lexicon? Highs, lows, mids, effects, what?

Reverb is so subjective and song/moment-dependent I have no idea how to rate one over another.

papawillow · Post by **papawillow** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:47 pm

I like the QuickQuack as well ,, I was A/Bing it against my Princeton 2016 a few days ago.

AKJ · Post by **AKJ** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:57 pm

don't forget spnaudio roomverb m2. I just have the m1 ( http://www.kvraudio.com/get/519.html ), soundwise it's almost the same but has less tweakability. but still more than most other reverbs. just mind that the presets are not very good. if you demo it, try it with mine: http://www.power-xs.net/download/roomverbpresets.zip

the m1 is part of the essentials bundle from spinaudio and this bundle is really a great value for money. you not not anly get roomverb but also spundelay (a great delay), spineq (well, it's ok) and fx designer (a modulation monster) for just about 100 USD. so far, it's the best value for money I have found in reverbs (except from the great free ones: glaceverb and ambience)
cheers akj

Midiworks · Post by **Midiworks** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:59 pm

Hovmod wrote:Uhm, yes. Were you looking for how well they emulate vintage rooms or reverbs? How like or unlike a Lexicon? Highs, lows, mids, effects, what?

Reverb is so subjective and song/moment-dependent I have no idea how to rate one over another.

I agree, even to compare algorithmic reverbs and convolution at the same time,
was a tough decisson.
The more my top 3 surprised me.
Into the PrestineSpace I loaded,
Lexicon 480L and 960 IRs.

kmonkey · Post by **kmonkey** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:28 pm

WizooVerb is outstanding. And you can do a lot of additional IR processing inside. And Pristine Space is another story. You cant alter IR length but overall is good choice.

AVBunyan · Post by **AVBunyan** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:45 pm

Just goes show you all Verbs are subjective and all ears are different -

I downloaded the Rayspace mp3 demos - loaded them into Sonar (both wet and dry) and then used my Verbs (Trueverb [Yes, I know the dreaded Waves one

which I like, by the way], Sonitus, and Perfect Space) and not only matched the sound but, to me, got a much more natural sound with all three of the verbs I used. I forgot to use the Waves IR-L but remember the sound enough to know it sounded much better also - again, to me.

Not to take away from Rayspace but to me I wouldn't spend the $90 on it or the $189 on the AAR with all that is out there. But to others it may be just the verb they like and need to I do not knock it.

Later

Midiworks · Post by **Midiworks** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:54 pm

AVBunyan wrote:
I downloaded the Rayspace mp3 demos

Try the demo than compare, not an mp3...
You will be very surprised !

egbert · Post by **egbert** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:15 pm

Midiworks wrote:
AVBunyan wrote:
I downloaded the Rayspace mp3 demos
Man, try the demo than compare not an mp3...

I would have to agree with Midiworks here - things like reverb quality can't be assessed easily with an mp3. Installing the demo is no problem and you can tweak the sound to suit.

AVBunyan · Post by **AVBunyan** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:21 pm

Midiworks wrote:
AVBunyan wrote:
I downloaded the Rayspace mp3 demos
Man, try the demo than compare not an mp3...

You are right - I just did and was coming on to post what I heard when I saw your post.

Without doing detailed "listening" - I did check out many presets and played with parameters. It is an interesting setup for just $90 - the developer did a real good job but...but..I still stick with my intial post. I found what I use to be more natural but this may be because I know mine more.

Not taking anything away from the Verb but it didn't appear as "clean" and "natural" to me... but, that is me - Just trying to be honest with my limited ears and time to devote to the Verb.

With more tweaking it would even sound better I'm sure - but one has to draw the line on how much time to spend - I spent much time in the past reviewing many Verbs and for me the above 4 I listed that I use will do, for now .

Just goes to show us that there are many talented developers out there producing some nice stuff.

God bless

Midiworks · Post by **Midiworks** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:06 pm

Yes AVBunyan, I'd say the presets are the weak point in RaySpace also that gui is a turn off.
But when tweaking it yourself, its just amazing.

btw. your PerfectSpace is Voxengos discontinued Pristine Space light.

Omnivox · Post by **Omnivox** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:23 pm

AKJ wrote:don't forget spnaudio roomverb m2. I just have the m1 ( http://www.kvraudio.com/get/519.html ), soundwise it's almost the same but has less tweakability. but still more than most other reverbs. just mind that the presets are not very good. if you demo it, try it with mine: http://www.power-xs.net/download/roomverbpresets.zip

have some good presets for percussion?

you know, snares, hats, and various percussions ...

AVBunyan · Post by **AVBunyan** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 6:34 pm

Midiworks wrote:Yes AVBunyan, I'd say the presets are the weak point in RaySpace also that gui is a turn off.
1. But when tweaking it yourself, its just amazing.

2. btw. your PerfectSpace is Voxengos discontinued Pristine Space light.

1. Yes, I can also see with some tweaking it can be real nice. It takes a lot of work to get GUI's "smart and rich looking". The programmer may not have wanted to put the time into - not sure.

2. I did understand that - Pefect Space with the Lexicon impules can be real nice.

Later

Best reverbs !?