for reverb hardware units look into the higher range of Lexicon, by the way, i know several people using the FW powercore card and it performs really well with logic on a powerbook... and it has some very nice plugs, even i personally like the UAD stuff far more, but as you said it's out of question for a laptop, yet.

I have a T.C. Electronics M-One XL that I really like for live sound. I haven't used it to record with yet, but I think it would sound really good. I'm sort of lazy to go out of the PC ever since I got the Waves Gold plugins.

I 2nd the Lexicon. Get the PCM line from Lexicon.
PCM 80, or the PCM 90 (they are the older versions but you could get one on ebay for a great price)
Or get the PCM 81, or the PCM 91 (These are their lastest and greatest--without going WAY over budget)
The PCM 91 is made primarly for reverb. It what they refer to as a digital reverberator. It's good stuff. They sell for $1900 new and used on ebay for as little as $1250 or as high as $1400. Pretty good deal (I think)
I use the Eventide products, but they are a few hundred more.
You could look up the Eventide Eclipse, it sells for $1700 new and just about the same price used. (because they ARE that good).
T.C. Electronic's reverb is liked alot by many people, but I have never used one. So I'm not sure which one you would like the most.
FYI----IMHO----I think any reverb for under $1000 or so is not of the "highest" quality. If that's what your looking to add to your setup.
Good luck man! 8)
Let us know what you get!

Hi,

If you don't have the budget for the PCM91 don't cop out and buy an MPX, they're not worth it. Go for an old PCM60 or PCM70 if you can get your hands on them. The PCM60 is superb. It's referb only but what it does, it does REALLY well and you get the massive "old skool" sound that Lexicon did so well whilst still being able to get that lush ambience. I don't know many mixing/post engineers that don't use a PCM70 too.. don't know why but it's massive in that field. Very nice unit, somehow the feel of the PCM60 appeals to me more as a producer though.

If you're looking at mid level ($1k - $3k) gear then I'd recommend the TC4000, TC3000, any Lexicon PCM unit or the Eventide H3000.

2c.

Matt

Matt wrote:

If you don't have the budget for the PCM91 don't cop out and buy an MPX, they're not worth it.

i totally disagree, utterly nonsens sorry IMHO, of course the mpx series is nothing like the PCM series which are superb (also eventide, as ITGA said! or yupp TCs higher level stuff!) but the mpx CONSIDERING the MONEY you pay for them, are absolut great reverb and effect boxes, even the small mpx-1 for now under 400quid is doing a rather fine job... said this, in the lower price range TC, e.g. the XL ONE is a very cool unit, too

but they are obviously not high end, there you have to splash out on a PCM or eventide...

but then again, try to listen yourself to them...

The Kurzweil Rumour blows away the competition in its price range. The M-one XL is nice also, and a little less expensive.

I second the MPX 1. I picked mine up as a demo w/ warranty for $499. Obviously if your budget can swing a PCM, by all means go for it. But I find my MPX 1 to be quite good and fairly versitle. It's a multi-effects unit, but is focused on reverb (the reverb side has its own dedicated processor). My 2 cents.

Wes

Something else you may want to try for smoother reverb results is use a few Aux buses in your multi-tracking program.

I get really decent results busing the tracks I want verb on to an Aux bus in the box, shelving everything below 500Hz (at least), then compressing the bused signal at about 3:1 and adding a reverb plug after the compression.

This gives a very excited reverb that doesn't get muddy. You can even further focus the effect by having 2 or more buses focusing on 2 or more freq ranges seperately.

Compress and apply verb to just the mids by filtering the lows and shelving the highs, apply compression, then verb.

Then do the same for the highs by filtering everything below 2.5kHz , apply compression, then add reverb.

Once you've got everything bused they way you want and the plugs in place then it's just a matter of dialing in how much of the excited reverb you want coming out of the buses into the main mix. The effect is more interesting than what you usually hear, more dimensional, more focused and can help "glue" certain instruments together without getting muddy.

Just an idea.

pr0gr4m wrote: I've got some old outboard gear. Nothing high end just some delays, multi effect boxes and a couple old Quadraverbs. For most of the stuff I do, they do the trick. But for "cleaner" recordings, they sound like what they are, average pieces of gear.

I'm using a laptop for recording so I can't get a UAD and I've been reading horror stories about the Powercore although I hear it has some great verbs plus a whole lot more.

I want to replace some of my average stuff with some better than average stuff, looking specifically for good reverbs.

Just wondering if anyone out there has any recommendations new or old.

nothing wrong with the powercore..... unless you're so unfortunate to have a pc laptop :shock: :lol:

if i were to buy a new outboard reverb i would equip a minimac with altiverb.... altiverb kicks ass on every other reverb out there imo..... even a tcm6000 :shock:

JBsound wrote: The Kurzweil Rumour blows away the competition in its price range. The M-one XL is nice also, and a little less expensive.

I've heard that the Kurzweil is a great unit....does it compare to the PCM stuff?

oh...and yes, I am using a PC laptop.

PC Laptop.... oh sh*t why the heck did you...? ok, ok, sorry.... sorry....... sorry... just kiddin' just kiddin'... :D

i don't know the kurzweil, thou..., but if you look into cheaper stuff, then the TC XLone or the MPX-1 are nice "Round" units with versatile decent sounding effects plus good reverbs...

otherwise i believe that the PCMs or Eventide are very hard to beat if you really want a top class sounding reverb unit, only... but they cost!

If I was looking for an outboard reverb right now, I'd probably get a Kurzweil Rumour. I haven't heard it (disclaimer), but it's been getting rave reviews from people whose ears I trust. It can also be used as an additional A/D-D/A interface, although I think it's limited to 48kHz.

I'm getting my reverbs now from UAD-1 and Powercore. I know there have been some problem reports with the Firewire Poco, but the 'verbs that come stock are very good, and TC just released some new optional plugins like the VSS3 (algorithmic space, basically the M3000) and the DVR2 (EMT 250 plate emulation... very smooth). A Firewire Poco and some optional plugins would give you reverbs that are arguably much better than VST plugins, and have no (well, almost no) drain on your host CPU and RAM. I'd suggest buying a Powercore someplace where you can return it, if you run into issues with the Firewire interface or the drivers.

I owned a Lexicon MPX-1.
As a matter of fact, I just sold it. FYI---I got mine used at a local music store for (get this) $300 bucks + tax :D
Even better, when I sold it on ebay, I got $450 for it :D (yippie)
I used it for about a year and a half. At first it is really cool, but after about a year or so later I got a little bored with it. BUT I also have the Eventide in the rig, So that is kind of unfair to compare. And I'm not. But the fact that the Eventide was easily used (and always used 1st) really showed me the gap of quality.
So I sold it and upgraded to the Eventide Eclipse. And was I ever glad I did that. Now if you hear the Lexicon MPX-1 and like it... By all means buy it.
It's a nice unit, but like the other guy's said "it doesn't compare to the PCM versions."

Also someone said Eventide H3000.
The Eventide H3000 is a pretty old processor. They were the sh!t back in the day. BUT the Eventide DSP7000 and the Eventide Eclipse are WAY up there in modern tech. and have award winning reverbs. It think the Eclipse had like 4 total awards for 2002. Not too shabby :o
Unfortunatly the H3000 was known more for it's band delays and a few other things (not pertaining to reverb).

The Kurzweil is really getting alot of attention. And from what I hear (and read) rightfully so. It's supposted to be a fine, fine reverb unit. However some reviews I read were that it had a little bit more of a learning curve than some of the other units on the market. But I haven't used one or heard one.

I've got a MPX1 and like it well enough, but it isn't up to the standard of my Ensoniq DP Pro which is stunning. Saw one on ebay recently for £200, which for a unit that came out over £1000 is a bargain.

Ursa Major....the new one. Digital in. Digital out. Like nothing else in the world....:)