Surely reverb is one of the most useful effects in an audio engineer’s toolkit? There is a huge variety of third party reverb plug-ins that you can buy today to mix with but choosing the right reverb plug-in for the job can be difficult at times without first hearing what they can achieve.
If you’re in the market for a new reverb plug-in and unsure of which one to go for then we’ve consolidated a number of our reverb plug-in reviews and free video tutorials to help you hear the differences between a number of popular third party reverb plug-ins.
We have also included a number of videos which demonstrate the powers of some popular de-reverb plug-ins.
Reverbs That Emulate Reverb Hardware Or Real Spaces
The plug-ins which fall into this category are either hardcore emulations of popular reverb units or as close as you like recreations of real spaces.
Inspirata is a new reverb which takes a new approach. The headlines on this “reverb workstation” are surprising, particularly the download size of 135Gb! Our first thoughts were that for a data payload of that size this thing better sound pretty special. When we heard it we found that it does.
In this video, I have talented flutist/vocalist Ruth Schwarcz improvising over an extended arrangement. With the Universal Audio Capitol Chambers reverb toggling between wet solo, and mix blend, you will hear the stunning dense reflections and unique qualities these chambers offer. Simply put, this reverb has VIBE and character!
In this free video tutorial we use LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven reverb to show you a visual representation of how a pre delay works along with a basic drum mixing application in which pre delay works very well.
In this short video tutorial, producer Paul Drew shows you how to use the UAD Lexicon 480L plugin on vocals.
Released in 1986, the Lexicon® 480L Digital Effects System and its iconic fader-driven remote control are recognized the world over — residing at the center of famous studio consoles for more than 30 years. The 480L's spacious reverb and vivid effects textures are a coveted sonic benchmark, helping to shape thousands of chart-topping tracks to this day.
In this extended video, Production Expert team member Julian Rodgers auditions four of the seven classic Lexicon algorithms which are available as part of the Lexicon PCM Native bundle. using Salt In Fresh Cuts by Joel Tavares he demonstrates the distinctive character of the Room, Vintage Plate, Random Hall and Chamber algorithms.
In this free tutorial, you will learn how to use the Waves Abbey Road Plate Reverb plug-in on a lead male vocal. Watch the video to gain an understanding of the controls and to hear the results of the damper control and plate reverbs.
In this video review Pro Tools Expert team member Dan Cooper takes a close look at Tverb by Eventide. Tverb is a reverb plug-in that recreates the vocal production technique used by Tony Visconti when Tony recorded David Bowie's lead vocal for Heroes.
Russ takes a look and listen to the new UAD AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb Plug in from Universal Audio. He takes it for a spin on a track and asks are spring reverbs a thing of the past or still useful in modern music making?
Russ takes a look at the UAD RMX16 reverb plug-in - not any plug-in but created by AMS in association with Universal Audio. Does it really sound like the 80s classic that featured on thousands of top hit singles and albums? Russ gives a full show and tell on drums and guitars in this video review.
Russ from Pro Tools Expert takes a look and listen to the new Ocean Way Studios plug-in from Universal Audio - see what he thinks here.
Generic Reverbs
The following products are more general purpose reverbs that haven’t been designed to mimic any particular “enter brand name here” reverb sound. Some of the reverbs in this category are quite quirky and creative making some of these perfect tools for sound design.
In this video we give you a quick guided tour of Lustrous Plates followed by a demo that shows you a number of different sounds you can achieve quickly on a lead vocal track.
In this review, Pro Tools Expert team member Peter Barter takes a look at the new reverb plug-in R4 from Exponential Audio. R4 is a new character reverb plug-in that expands on the concept and feature set of their previous release R2. Amongst the many new features in R4 are a powerful new EQ section, warmth and compression settings, reverb tail suppression and a really interesting reverb freeze function.
In this video review Pro Tools Expert Deputy Editor Dan Cooper gives a brief overview of Fog Convolver By AudioThing, watch to hear it in action and to find out what Dan thinks.
In part one of this review Pro Tools Expert team member Alan Sallabank takes a look at using Indoor by Audio Ease in stereo, what workflow to use and how the different modes affect the sound.
FabFilter Pro-R features the unmistakable GUI design and workflow aspects found in previous FabFilter plug-ins such as Pro-Q2 & Pro-C2. Watch the video to find out why Dan has awarded FabFilter Pro-R with a Pro Tools Expert Editor's Choice Award.
In this video review Pro Tools Expert team member Dan Cooper takes a close look at a new reverb plug-in called ADAPTIVERB by Zynaptiq.
In this video review Pro Tools Expert team member Dan Cooper takes a close look at UltraReverb By Eventide. UltraVerb is a very powerful reverb unit that includes EQ, Delay & Compression modules.
In this video review Pro Tools Expert team member Dan takes a close look at Blackhole by Eventide. Blackhole is a reverb plug-in that has a handful of stand out features. Watch the video to hear how it performs and to find out what Dan thinks.
Russ takes a look at the new UVI Sparkverb and gives you a show and tell review.
De-Reverb Plug-ins
There are times when a recording was tracked in a very ambient space which colours and washes out the sound too much in the mix. Luckily there are a good few tools available which can help reduce excessive ambience which are very simple to apply.
In this free video tutorial, Pro Tools Expert Team member Julian Rodgers looks at SPL De-Verb from Plugin Alliance.
Mike Thornton from Pro Tools Expert reviews the new version of Unveil from Zyntapiq.
Mix engineers can often find themselves fixing problems in the client’s audio before they can get to work. With baked-in reverb on stems and tracks being one of them, we show one way to dry up audio effectively with just a handful of controls.
Although drum recordings can be made almost anywhere, some rooms’ character can sound anything but pro in room mics and overheads. Here we share a technique to banish boxiness but keep a sense of space.
GOYO Voice Separator BETA, has been announced by Supertone, an AI developer based in South Korea. We have the details.
Following our recent shootout comparing some of the most popular de-reverb plug-ins, Paul Maunder takes a look at the results of your votes and introduces a second listening test. Read on to find out more…
There are a variety of tools available to reduce the amount of reverb in a recording, in this article Paul Maunder takes five of them and pits them against each other in a comparison test - which do you think performs the best?
Accentize, the developer behind the brilliant Chameleon plugin, has announced new updates for its DeRoom and DeRoomPro intelligent reverb removal plugins – try it with a free 7 day trial.
In this free expert tutorial, Mike Thornton shows how to reduce the reverb from a drum loop and a speech clip using a technique that is not in the Unveil manual.
In this article you can learn how to use two of the new modules iZotope has introduced in RX 7 Advanced, the Dialogue Contour module, which has been designed to reshape the inflection of words within a phrase of dialogue to match takes or tweak the emotional resonance of a speaker, saving you time and money on ADR and additional post work.
In this Pro Tools Expert review, Dan Cooper takes a look at a new one knob dereverberation plug-in called ERA-R by Accusonus.