REVERB
REVERB.....WHAT IS IT?
So as ever I will keep it simple.
JUST THE NEED TO KNOW STUFF!
JUST THE NEED TO KNOW STUFF!
We all know what an echo is. A sound sails through the air hits a very hard surface and bounces back and with a distinct pause arrives at our ears. Well reverb is virtually the same think. The difference is that the delay coming back to our ears is so quick we can not perceive the separation. Add to that it is not one echo but hundreds or even thousands of them. Each of these micro echoes bounce off the surfaces surrounding you and goes back to your ears a micro second or two apart. Depending on what they bounced off of they will each have a different sound and get back to your ears a split second apart.. The ones bouncing off of the concrete floor will be brighter then the ones bouncing off of a wooden door etc Some things in the room like curtains and furniture will suck up the sound...and the first echos will bounce over to an adjacent wall and bounce back again...and then again bouncing a second time and so on.
A program on a digital chip called an antilogarithm creates the sound.The larger and more complex the program the better the sound. The greater the memory of the chip the more room you have for the complexities that create a very rich and detailed sound.
There are 3 basic types of reverb sounds...the sound inside buildings (rooms, halls etc.)...the sounds made by mechanical devices..springs and plates...and artificial fantasy rooms...sounds that could not happen in nature.
Acutronics Spring Reverb
In the 60's they tried the same idea running thru a giant metal plate. Now the signal could head off in 2 directions...from north to south and east to west. This gave a much richer and cleaner sound. It was surprisingly pleasant and sounded great on vocals and guitars. It tended to be a little weak in the low end but this only helped as it got rid of frequencies that can muddy up the the sound of a whole band.
There are 3 basic types of reverb sounds...the sound inside buildings (rooms, halls etc.)...the sounds made by mechanical devices..springs and plates...and artificial fantasy rooms...sounds that could not happen in nature.
SPRINGS
In the 50's they found if you put the signal coming through a series of suspended springs it was delayed enough to create and perhaps bounced around enough to create a simple reverb like sound..a much simpler sound ...but effective. It was crude and sounds a little trashy...but on a guitar it was effective.
Acutronics Spring Reverb
the industry standard for quality guitar amps. eg. Fender
PLATES
In the 60's they tried the same idea running thru a giant metal plate. Now the signal could head off in 2 directions...from north to south and east to west. This gave a much richer and cleaner sound. It was surprisingly pleasant and sounded great on vocals and guitars. It tended to be a little weak in the low end but this only helped as it got rid of frequencies that can muddy up the the sound of a whole band.
ARTIFICIAL ROOMS
Once again the concept is simple...take the high end content from a cathedral and the mids from a bath shower space..and bingo..you have a space that can not exist in nature. The sounds made this way are endless.
TIME TO CHOOSE ONE!!!
DONNER VERB SQUARE
Donner have been around for a few years now.
They DO NOT make pedals. They buy re-branded stock from
Mooer, Joyo and NUX.
Those that make there own brands even when they use a standard
mmmm casings consistently drill out holes
in the casings for plugs, switches and knobs. If they re-brand
this is the giveaway.
I have NEVER found 2 companies alike,
So what baffles me is that Mooer does not have an equivalent pedal with
XX choices of reverb.
This is a well thought out and useful unit. All the voices are geared to work well superficially for guitar and there is not one gimmick ( or should I say Soundscape) patch on the selection knobTOMSLINE
OCEANVERB
Yes yet another Mooer rebrand. You get one of each type of reverb...a ROOM...a SPRING...and a fantasy reverb...SHIMMER. the Shimmer was borrowed from the Stymon Bluesky reverb..a nice but pricey Gourmet pedal. It is a nice airy huge sound with an artificial overtone ringing an a couple of octaves higher then the note you play. Unfortunately Mooer choose to use a fifth instead of the octave so in some circumstances the note could be ringing out of tune. Morons!!!
The spring is OK..if you are into Country or Rockabilly...but for many styles of music...why would I want to go digital and not have the sound of a beautiful room etc.
So...fortunately the Room is quite decent. It is neutral enough for any tune I will play. Since most players leave the reverb on all the time...it fits the bill quite nicely.
This pedal is a rebranded Mooer Shimverb...they also make the SkyVerb...they do not offer it as a rebrand. I expect that most players that try the Shimverb at a store will not notice the "fifth' problem. They will most likely will choose it over the SkyVerb. Too bad because the SkyVerb has a very usable Plate.
I will get more into Plates with my final choice.
The 3 sounds in SkyVerb are Studio...Church and Plate.
The ShimVerb/Ocean Verb are Room...Spring and Shimmer.
...the overall actual tone of either pedal is quite good both are usable.
Current Price $40.00 USD Current Price $49.00 USD
Yes yet another Mooer rebrand. You get one of each type of reverb...a ROOM...a SPRING...and a fantasy reverb...SHIMMER. the Shimmer was borrowed from the Stymon Bluesky reverb..a nice but pricey Gourmet pedal. It is a nice airy huge sound with an artificial overtone ringing an a couple of octaves higher then the note you play. Unfortunately Mooer choose to use a fifth instead of the octave so in some circumstances the note could be ringing out of tune. Morons!!!
The spring is OK..if you are into Country or Rockabilly...but for many styles of music...why would I want to go digital and not have the sound of a beautiful room etc.
So...fortunately the Room is quite decent. It is neutral enough for any tune I will play. Since most players leave the reverb on all the time...it fits the bill quite nicely.
This pedal is a rebranded Mooer Shimverb...they also make the SkyVerb...they do not offer it as a rebrand. I expect that most players that try the Shimverb at a store will not notice the "fifth' problem. They will most likely will choose it over the SkyVerb. Too bad because the SkyVerb has a very usable Plate.
I will get more into Plates with my final choice.
The 3 sounds in SkyVerb are Studio...Church and Plate.
The ShimVerb/Ocean Verb are Room...Spring and Shimmer.
...the overall actual tone of either pedal is quite good both are usable.
Current Price $40.00 USD Current Price $49.00 USD
Current Price $53.00 USD
CALINE
SNAKE BITE
I did not buy this reverb. In hindsight I would have at the time I got the Tom'sline. At that time I was looking for the very cheapest pro pedal and the Mooer re-brand stuff in general is exactly that. The Caline has a lot of control over the sound.You only get a single Room and it costs more . The basic room you do get is in the same league as pedals over $100.00 and you get sufficient sonic hands on control to tailor that to any style or set up you have.
On controls that increase any high frequencies there is however some noticeable hiss
The video will give you a good idea of the sound quality and the flexibility it gives you to shape it.
The overall sound is very good...another reviewer nailed it when he said... "It sounds expensive."
So it has got to be the best value for money in a reverb for less then $100.00.
In fact after a good listen to the big contenders for under $200.00....they all have several basic patches to choose from but their sonic quality may equal but they do not surpass the Caline.
In short...unless you are ready to move into reverbs that set a higher standard in pure sound...and they start at $200.00 this is your best bet.
.
SNAKE BITE
I did not buy this reverb. In hindsight I would have at the time I got the Tom'sline. At that time I was looking for the very cheapest pro pedal and the Mooer re-brand stuff in general is exactly that. The Caline has a lot of control over the sound.You only get a single Room and it costs more . The basic room you do get is in the same league as pedals over $100.00 and you get sufficient sonic hands on control to tailor that to any style or set up you have.
On controls that increase any high frequencies there is however some noticeable hiss
The video will give you a good idea of the sound quality and the flexibility it gives you to shape it.
The overall sound is very good...another reviewer nailed it when he said... "It sounds expensive."
So it has got to be the best value for money in a reverb for less then $100.00.
In fact after a good listen to the big contenders for under $200.00....they all have several basic patches to choose from but their sonic quality may equal but they do not surpass the Caline.
In short...unless you are ready to move into reverbs that set a higher standard in pure sound...and they start at $200.00 this is your best bet.
.
$56.00 USD on AliExpress
 |
$115.00 USD |
BATH TIME REVERB
A little over our $100.00 ceiling but worth much more. Ninevolt are a Japanese company
that makes a small line of basic but quality parts and pedals that are predictable but cheap.
It is easy to use. One knob to mix the the wet and dry signal another to decide how long the reverb will ring on. Then the other a switch to choose between hall spring and room.
CATALINBREAD
TALISMAN
I recently bought this pedal and I am 100% satisfied. It checks all the boxes and sounds...I hate to use this overused word AWSOME!!! It is also expensive.!!!
OK what the F. is it all about.
First..a reverb tends to be an 'always on' pedal.
In a live situation the you need a sound that can work on every tune.......I do not want to change the patch..with the small exception of a tune at a rather slow tempo then a longer decay is nice.
It has to sound very clean and clear and never muddy.
Well...first I only need one sound....the really great reverbs have many...and you will pay for that.
The safest reverb sound is a great plate as it ticks all the boxes.
Now what is the greatest plate ever made and can I get it as a pedal?
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