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I've been told that outboard reverb is better than even the best plugins. But is it *that* much better? If I spend $2,500 on a t.c. electronics Reverb 4000, for example, will it sound a lot better than the best plugin reverbs (like Waves, for example)?

Comments

pr0gr4m Sat, 12/15/2007 - 01:01

What would the margin of difference have to be for you to say that an outboard reverb was "that" much better?

I mean, if you like plug in reverbs and they are doing exactly the job you want them to do and doing it well, then I would imagine that the difference would need to be huge for you to think that the outboard was "that" much better.

There are some good plug-in reverbs but my brain thinks that the outboards sound better for whatever reason.

Convolution reverbs can be the best of both worlds and them's be plug-ins.

Thomas W. Bethel Sun, 12/16/2007 - 05:59

It has been my experience that outboard reverbs such as the TC-2000, 3000 and 4000 sound better than any plug-in. There are some very good sounding reverb plug-ins but hardware sounds better overall. If these hardware devices are correctly used they can actually approximate the sound of a real hall or church to the point where I can use them to augment the sound of a classical recording session and not feel as if they are doing anything strange to the music. I have never been able to do that with plugin reverbs although I have tried on many occasions.

Your experiences and others on this board may be different.

Best of luck!

Cucco Sun, 12/16/2007 - 11:33

I'll weigh in on the opposite.

I think plug-in verbs are very valuable today and can do wonderful things in comparison to outboard units.

It also depends what you want to do with it.

The TC4000 is a great unit that can work beautifully with longer reverbs, but cheaper box reverbs simply don't stack up. Also, the dedicated CPUs don't offer that much (if any) performance gain over current PC CPUs and dedicated PCI card solutions.

I've found a few plug-in reverbs which are quite hard to rival if not impossible by outboard units. SIR and Altiverb are amazing. What I like about SIR is the Lexicon 960L impulses that I have for it plus the amazing hall impulses that are publically available (and several I've made myself).

The fact that I can use more than 2 channels and the lack of needed conversions from higher sample rates helps a LOT too.

Don't get me wrong - mega-buck outboard units are great and even the best plug-ins struggle to keep up, but when it comes down to it - a good plug-in will spank even the better inexpensive reverb units.

(Tom - you should try SIR - it will change the way you think about plug-in reverbs. I've used it on some VERY high profile clients and they LOVE it!)

J

Thomas W. Bethel Sun, 12/16/2007 - 12:47

Cucco wrote: I'll weigh in on the opposite.

I think plug-in verbs are very valuable today and can do wonderful things in comparison to outboard units.

It also depends what you want to do with it.

The TC4000 is a great unit that can work beautifully with longer reverbs, but cheaper box reverbs simply don't stack up. Also, the dedicated CPUs don't offer that much (if any) performance gain over current PC CPUs and dedicated PCI card solutions.

I've found a few plug-in reverbs which are quite hard to rival if not impossible by outboard units. SIR and Altiverb are amazing. What I like about SIR is the Lexicon 960L impulses that I have for it plus the amazing hall impulses that are publicly available (and several I've made myself).

The fact that I can use more than 2 channels and the lack of needed conversions from higher sample rates helps a LOT too.

Don't get me wrong - mega-buck outboard units are great and even the best plug-ins struggle to keep up, but when it comes down to it - a good plug-in will spank even the better inexpensive reverb units.

(Tom - you should try SIR - it will change the way you think about plug-in reverbs. I've used it on some VERY high profile clients and they LOVE it!)

J

I have used it but it is always freaking out my computer. It is a very nice reverb and I agree it is one of the best BUT the code and my computer don't get along too well together. I can use it once but if I try and change anything it dumps my application and I have to restart it. (mostly tried it with WL and Samplitude)

bent Sun, 12/16/2007 - 13:36

Taxman:

"regular" reverb

- in FX units, these are created by stacking multiple delayed samples of the original signal, with changes in amplitude, phase, frequency and time between delays.

plate reverb

- true plate reverb is simply a large sheet of metal that vibrates when an audio signal is sent to it via a transducer, they are created in an FX unit in the same fashion as the "regular" verbs.

convolution reverb

- uses impulse responses created from real space mixed into the original signal.

Cucco Wed, 12/19/2007 - 11:40

Thomas W. Bethel wrote:

I have used it but it is always freaking out my computer. It is a very nice reverb and I agree it is one of the best BUT the code and my computer don't get along too well together. I can use it once but if I try and change anything it dumps my application and I have to restart it. (mostly tried it with WL and Samplitude)

Well, that sucks! Such is the nature of the computer beasts. Just as I tried that Izotope set and it crashed on my machine. Ideally, things should just work, eh?

I am curious to see the new PCM 9X series from Lexicon. It's based on the old PCM system but uses USB or Firewire to act as a plug-in inside the box using the chips, etc. outside the box. I might be very interested in owning one of these!

I dumped my old PCM90s since they couldn't do higher sample rates and I wasn't content with multiple AD/DA conversions. Color me excited.

anonymous Wed, 01/16/2008 - 07:56

Any opinion on how this TC Electronics built in Reverb compares?

(Dead Link Removed)
TC effects inside
TC has built two of the newest and most innovative TC effects into the Konnekt 24D Fabrik C channel strip and Fabrik R reverb, both known from the PowerCore platform. Once you're connected you have instant access to superior reverbs and dynamics processing. In fact what you get is rack-mount quality processing that you normally only would find in a dedicated 19" rack unit. The effects can be used in stand-alone mode and offer unique direct monitoring capabilities, even between devices. Both Fabrik C and Fabrik R are based on MINT Meta Intuitive Navigation Technology a completely new approach to working with audio. The MINT technology allows you to execute complex audio adjustments simply by moving icons around the screen.

Cucco Wed, 01/16/2008 - 08:05

It's funny you should ask. I just bought a Konnect 24 and have started using it only over the past few days. I have played with the reverb a little but plan to play with it a little more.

My initial impressions:

Overall, usable. I found it made some very odd sounds on pristine soprano, but this could have been operator error as I've only played with it for maybe 20 minutes total.

On rock material, I found it to be quite nice.
Classical...ummm - I need more time. I still prefer the SIR so far.

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