I am looking for a HQ reverb pedal that can act more like a nice enhancer with nice acoustic space emulations rather than something that cover or completely wash my sound.
Any recommandations?
here are some important points :
I’d use it on drums machine. sometimes on synths
I need stereo in/out
No sub functions or really little, simple to use.
live tweaking friendly. ergonomics, nice sweeps when tweaking parameters, etc
Room algo would be the first I’d try to jump to, but other options are appreciated. I don’t need something with tons of crazy algos, I prefer a selection of HQ classics.
So far my attention was caught on the Bluesky and the CXM 1978 which seem to have a nice room.
thanks! I am in the market for a HQ reverb, so Space and Bigsky are definetly interesting.
But I feel that these 2 are a bit too complicated and overwhelming. I’d like something more direct like the Bluesky or CXM that seem really easy to operate. but I really have no experience with reverb pedals…
The Space is easier than most reverb pedals as it has more dedicated knobs and gives you parameter feedback on the screen. The room and hall reverbs are really nice but might not be exactly what you want if you want the most realistic small space simulation.
Worth listening to some demos of the room and hall on the Source Audio Ventris as well.
Bluesky is probably a very good pedal, little brother of Big sky after all. Not sure if they share algorithm but I’m sure it’s a great pedal.
Check out the Zoom MS-70, it’s a hundred euros and has some really nice reverbs as well as every other modulation effect you need. However some of them are only mono and it’s a bit lo-fi compared to Strymon or Eventide, but it’s def more bang for your buck than the more expensive ones.
I moved from Source Audio Collider to Audiothingies Doctor A (reverb + delay). Very nice algorithms, very straightforward interface and sound shaping. Excellent for live tweaking of LP/HP, modulation, etc.
I have a Space, but I definitely preferred the Ventris when it comes to subtle sounding rooms and plates. There are heaps of sub functions on the Ventris but it’s perfectly tweakable via the front panel.
The discontinued TC Electronic Nova Reverb may be worth a look for a clean realistic room verb. It doesn’t do the ‘special effect’ verbs like the modern pedals, but is pretty good at emulating realistic spaces. Very transparent tail, not ‘in your face’. Can still be found brand new for a little more than $100.
I don’t think its out quite yet, but maybe have a look at the Walrus Audio R1? I recently got the D1 which is the delay in their Mako series and they’ve really nailed dead simple controls in full featured pedals so could be worth a look if the sound takes your fancy.
No need to worry about using the Ventris / Big Sky / Space at all. You‘ll be able to handle those like any other pedal. The Space in particular is actually quite straight forward to handle
What these big boxes give you is just more algorithms and thus more variety, plus all three pedals give you brilliant reverb sounds.
For realistic room sounds, I‘d say Ventris or Space.
Reverb pedals will not bite you.
Reverb is a complex phenomenon, so a good sounding natural reverb will have many parameters. That really doesn’t mean you must tweak them all. Choose the one that sounds good to you, not the one with the most/least number of knobs. From demos, Empress sounded really good to me for natural reverb (rooms, halls), eventide are hq all around but are really good at wacky (shimmer, black hole, non linear), zoom are cheap and chearful on steroids.
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