PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

If you love great sounding reverbs Acon Digital has just released something special. They upgraded Verberate to version 2 and it is truly top-notch and amazing sounding! When it comes to sounding accurate with real spaces (rooms, halls, etc) I think Verberate 2 has the highest degree of realism and is the best ITB. The new algorithm in it is Time-Variant so you won't hear repeating patterns or resonances in the tail, it does not sound calculated but rather very chaotic and natural as it evolves over time. The algorithm is pristine without all the artifacts of version 1 and other Native reverbs in general. When it comes to realism I think Verberate 2 is the best out here now that is a plugin. Verberate 2 and the new U-he Twangstrum Spring reverb-multi-effector looks like a beastly combo that is deadly!!!

It's best to try the demo to hear it but here's a link to some Audio examples - https://soundcloud.com/acondigital/sets ... o-examples

Here's a link to the release thread for more info on it -https://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-pro ... eased.html

Had a listen @ https://soundcloud.com/acondigital/sets ... o-examples - certainly very natural. I think the problem with Reverbs these days - as with most plugins - we are spoilt for choice and already all have a dozen go to reverbs in our collection & maybe don't give them a second thought. But this one is worth investing a bit of a listen

I got the idea from the description, but didn't find the examples enough convincing to trigger the must-have button.
(to be fair Soundcloud certainly blurs the results)

But mainly it's in fact this toolchest phenomenon: in Windoze it's mostly Valhalla Room or Plate and the SawStudio Reverb, in MacOS9 Realverb, Lexiverb and the one from TC in Pro Tools TDM. I have a pretty good idea about how a source comes out from any of those (by plain experience).

I gave up entirely on features and quality, but only mind the sound character.
Scope reverbs get used when occasionally tracking with VDAT, because the process is rather inconvenient with SawStudio, as I prefer non-bussed reverb. But recently doing some 'fresh ears' comparison was quite surprising how well they performed.

Astroman is hinting on it, that the Scope Reverbs are not really cutting it. To me, they all have a very similar sound character, and I have never been able to make them sound the way I want them to. But taking the roundtrip from scope to a vst-reverb and back again just seems too stupid to me - Are the scope verbs simply not as good as what is available in VST-land these days?

Scope reverbs aren't 'bad' or inferior (to whatever) at all.
The current Plate and Ambience are by Warp69 (I bought the original versions) and they certainly represent a stage in his process to model the LX480.
Of course the latter got a few more years of developement and may be trusted as a virtual replacement for the respective hardware - if someone is after that particular sound.

My main concern was DSP and PCI load when running synths like Solaris, Flexor or Wavelength without a 15DSP card.
But the Ambience 'less than 5m setting' is still among my favourites.
I also liked Paul Tanti's (EarlyFirst) reverbs a lot, but that stuff doesn't run in Scope 5.1. While it looks 'active' the sound is shite or strange things may happen.
These reverbs had a very different sound color from Warp's, but were tedious to operate if you wanted to alter the room character. DSP hogs, too.

With (now) 10 DSPs and focus on synth sounds, it's just easier for me to use a native reverb - even more because I like the Valhalla sound. Not to forget fine-tuning of the reverb happens at the mix stage and SawStudio was explicitely written as an alternative to (back then) Pro Tools DSP cards.
I didn't expect to go THAT deep... when it eventually revealed it's full 'potential' in hands on use.

As mentioned it less a question of processing capabilities than the 'sound' you're after in your mix.
Some reverbs may sound impressive in demos, but that tells few about performance in a certain situation.
I recently made some guitar recordings using the reverb of a Boss ME-5 pedal from 1988.
Hits my personal taste for a clear, dark reverb that can ring up to become almost a background instrument.
For reference a raw take: https://soundcloud.com/anshoragg/dream-in-indigo

But there's one favourite 'vocal' reverb on Scope: that Relab UM1280 freebie.
Not a final release, but it simply made my jaw drop with whatever vocals I fed to it

I might have chosen my words badly. I don't think Scope reverbs are bad, but I just can't achieve the reverb sound I'm looking for with any of them, and I have tried them all. Even the Relab UM1280, which is actually not a reverb unit, but "only" a delay/echo machine in it's present state.
I find the scope reverb sound to be dark and cold. And I find it impossible to get a long, bright and lush reverb sound out of them. Maybe it is just me and my lack of skill. Please prove me wrong

there is no "best", "correct", or "perfect" reverb, that depends on what you want and need.
you can have a $20,000 Sony verb, and if it doesn't sound the way that you want it to, it sucks.

i always prefer hardware reverbs. NOT ONE software reverb is as lush as a good hardware verb. that said, the P100/SC plate is my usual go to reverb for most projects.

So many reverbs, and I like most of them for their different varieties of character and/or transparency. That said, I too miss the Tanti stuff, and the Valhalla stuff really makes me wish we could get that guy on board with Scope.

I like the Strymon Big Sky which could be ported over to Scope with an NDA maybe.
It’s using a SHARC ADSP-21369.
Thing sounds fantastic using the A16 and Z-Link.

Valhalla guy makes hardware verbs for EuroRack modules. Great Algebra used.

I use to think hardware as in old analog sounds better, but I’m noticing a DSP Reverb will also sound as lush as analog or digital so Im thinking the audio leaving the box and coming back in after some voltage changes the sound.
I noticed this with the B3000 in the Klangbox 1U.

I’m even more sure of this now that Im using 3 x Hardware FX Units and Z Link.
Each hardware FX unit is another SHARC ADSP-21369.

Especially nice to see 20 years after Scope DSP folks are starting to copy our beloved platform...

The Scope way of digital audio processing isn't related to the DSP chip used - in particular regarding reverb.
It's all about algorithms (the math part) and the ears to tell (very) subtle differences - I fail in both domains...

I did a small experiment (because the UM1280 is a delay) and rebuilt a similiar setup from a couple of Celmo's TapeEchos.
The TapeEcho can be set to relatively clean sounds and it can be set to fast speeds (as it emulates a platter device).
While it delivered a similiar sound character, it sounded quite mushy - no comparison to the clear impression of the UM1280.

There's a statement on Sean Costello's site (Valhalla DSP) about his own attempts to emulate the Ursa Major unit - he admits to have failed, though he can explain the unit's operation prinicple in great detail.

Reverb is a very demanding area of developement and Scope's drawbacks are the lack of onboard memory on the old PCI boards and missing atoms (simplified, as stated by Warp69 ages ago).
The knowledge part remains the most significant, but on the other hand it's totally easy to either integrate hardware units or VST software.
Regarding the Strymon boxes: a single one probably has the same processing power as 4 of the old Sharcs, which would equal to 12 DSPs for 3 instances of reverb.

I have received a email from izotope stating they just acquired the Exponential Audio product line and its developer Michael Carnes. Michael Carnes was a top hardware reverb and effects designer for Lexicon who started up his own company to develop plugins, Exponential Audio.

I personally prefer Acon Digital and Relab by Warb69 but this acquisition of Exponential Audio by izotope looks like a great move. I'm sure izotope will reduce the price of those expensive plugin reverbs and remove their God forsakened dongle; plus now that Michael works for them i'm sure he'll create some great new reverbs and effects for them. Some high quality reverbs and effects for izotopes sophisticated ChannnelStrips will no doubt be a force to be recogned with.

Think i a mgoing to try out Polyverse' new reverb as well, seem interesting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnyOlvndiGI

I think it's a great move from iZotope - they have been looking for some time (years) now for experienced people with reverb knowledge. They have searched and tried a lot of different approaches, but they admitted that those kind of people are very difficult to find. They decided to purchase Exponential Audio to get access to Michael.

Good to see you on the Z forum again Warp69. And yes, it will be interesting to see what iZotope and Michael come up with.

And just as a quick change of topic although it was mentioned earlier on this thread, do you have any plans for further development of Relab UM1280. It's an excellent device even though it's still a pre-release version, but I know there are quite a few Scopers who would love to see a completed version, if possible. Anyway, just thought I would ask while you were around.