# Reverb comparison/blind test - test file inside



## muk (Feb 12, 2014)

Hello everybody

Time for a reverb comparison I thought, as I'm thinking about adding a new reverb plugin to my palette. It would be great if some of you would share their favourite reverbs. But let's not make it words only, but let the sound speak for itself 

Let us use a short recording of an organ, completely dry. I think this should work as a comparison file, but if anybody can add one or two more, that would be great. Especially an orchestral one should prove most interesting, but I couldn't find one in public domain.

Rules are simple: use the organ wave-file, apply your favourite reverbs/reverb settings, and post them here. Try to make it sound as good as you can, but only with a single reverb plugin. No other tweaks/effects. Anybody can upload, the more the better  I hope we can get a nice comparison of a wide variety of reverbs here.

I'll start: first is the dry file. Then, in random order, Cubase's integrated RoomWorks, Vienna Convolution Reverb, and Vienna Hybrid.
I'm not telling yet which one's which.

Test file:
[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F134476392&secret_url=false[/flash]


Reverb 1 (tail 2.3s):
[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F134473381&secret_url=false[/flash]


Reverb 2 (tail 4s):
[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F134476978&secret_url=false[/flash]


Reverb 3 (tail 3.8s):
[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F134477238&secret_url=false[/flash]


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## TGV (Feb 12, 2014)

If you'd allow us to download the file, it would be easier.


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## muk (Feb 12, 2014)

Sorry, new to SoundCloud :oops:

Should be downloadble now.


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## Beat Kaufmann (Feb 12, 2014)

Hello muk
Thanks for the idea and the start for such a test.
Take into account that you are going to test mainly the different IRs of convolution reverbs. To compare convolution reverbs needs to have one IR for all.
Reverbs often show their weaknes with single beats. Then you either get reverb or echoes...

If you also are looking for a comparison of different Algo-Reverbs? 
I did one in a similar way in 2011... 
http://www.beat-kaufmann.com/extras/tests/five-reverbs/index.php

Have fun
Beat


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## muk (Feb 13, 2014)

Great comparison Beat! That's true, but IR-quality is an important factor, so I think it gives a good picture about the qualities of a reverb plugin. And I hope that some people chime in with algo-reverbs as well.


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## ghostnote (Feb 13, 2014)

Here're my 3 go to verbs (PCM R-Hall 2.8, V-Room 2.75 and QL Spaces Hamburg C. 2.8 ):

https://soundcloud.com/michaelchrostek/ ... rb/s-EyiQW


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## muk (Feb 13, 2014)

Great examples Michael. I like Nr. 1 best (is that PCM?), it's very clear and seems to be least colored of the three. Nr. 2 sounds close and at the same time a bit muffled to me. Nr. 3 is somewhere between the first two.

Overall I like your Nr. 1 best so far, better than my three examples.


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## paulmatthew (Feb 13, 2014)

muk @ Thu Feb 13 said:


> Great examples Michael. I like Nr. 1 best (is that PCM?), it's very clear and seems to be least colored of the three. Nr. 2 sounds close and at the same time a bit muffled to me. Nr. 3 is somewhere between the first two.
> 
> Overall I like your Nr. 1 best so far, better than my three examples.



number 1 for me too , PCM sounded the best out of the 3.


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## ghostnote (Feb 13, 2014)

muk @ Thu Feb 13 said:


> Great examples Michael. I like Nr. 1 best (is that PCM?), it's very clear and seems to be least colored of the three. Nr. 2 sounds close and at the same time a bit muffled to me. Nr. 3 is somewhere between the first two.
> 
> Overall I like your Nr. 1 best so far, better than my three examples.



Interesting. Here's the right order: 
01. V-Room
02. QL Spaces
03. PCM R-Hall


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## ProtectedRights (Feb 14, 2014)

This could be misread as a comparison of reverb plugins, but it is rather a comparison of reverb programming skills (when using algos) or IRs (when using conv).


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## mark812 (Feb 14, 2014)

Michael Chrostek @ Fri Feb 14 said:


> muk @ Thu Feb 13 said:
> 
> 
> > Great examples Michael. I like Nr. 1 best (is that PCM?), it's very clear and seems to be least colored of the three. Nr. 2 sounds close and at the same time a bit muffled to me. Nr. 3 is somewhere between the first two.
> ...



But how can a $50 reverb sound better than those much more expensive ones? :lol: Love blind tests.


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## muk (Feb 14, 2014)

ValhallaRoom has a very good reputation, so I am not too surprised. And I wouldn't judge the quality of the other reverbs based on one example alone.
Much comes down to taste, but so far most seem to like Nr. 1 best here.


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## ErnestCholakis (Feb 14, 2014)

Here is a IR example from "The Hollywood Impulse Response Collection". It is a 4 second ER with a 200ms ER attack. FYI The 4 second decay is very accurate and matches the RT60 value. There was no mention of the wet level. In this case it was 0db relative to the dry level. 

[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F134836556&secret_url=false[/flash]

The impulse response used was "186_ERa200ms_4s0_Warmer_44k.wav"

More information at http://www.numericalsound.com/hollywood_sound_ir.html

Ernest Cholakis
Numerical Sound
www.numericalsound.com


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## muk (Feb 15, 2014)

Thanks for chiming in Ernest. Sounds very nice and big. Absolutely no colouring going on here.


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## Beat Kaufmann (Feb 15, 2014)

Algor. Reverb "Breeze" Preset Catherdral 4s
http://www.musik-produktion-createc.ch/ ... hedral.mp3

Algor. Reverb "Breeze" Preset Church 4s
http://www.musik-produktion-createc.ch/ ... Church.mp3 

Algor. Reverb "Phoenix" Preset Church wide 4s
http://www.musik-produktion-createc.ch/ ... h_wide.mp3 

Conv. Reverb "VSL" IR-Library "INSP:IR" Mathias Church
http://www.musik-produktion-createc.ch/ ... hurch_.mp3

Additional infos:
A) There is an EQ with Breeze and Phoenix. I could damp the hi frequencies a bit more for getting a darker sound.
B) For realistic sounds I often use the Convolution IRs (first Part for getting the depth = ERs) and the Tail of an Algo-Reverb. Then I only need to find the balance between the direct signal, the ER and the tail.
Listen to this Example: http://www.musik-produktion-createc.ch/ ... Signal.mp3
Tail = always same level
direct signal = changes
ER = changes. 
It is possible to get a very big range of distance differences this way. 


Have fun
Beat


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## Vin (Feb 15, 2014)

Here are my 3 examples. I used REVerence with Sandors Hall Bricasti M7 IR, ValhallaVintageVerb (my custom Hall preset) and RoomWorks with modified Hall Church preset. Tails are 3.93 s with 10 ms pre-delay, mix level is 40%.

In random order:

*Reverb 1*:

https://app.box.com/s/ngvh9uxgr71bgbs9kh2s

*Reverb 2*:

https://app.box.com/s/i553ja6wiky4ghxlt69f

*Reverb 3*:

https://app.box.com/s/yhz9mxqtoqyjc1agx8fv


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## muk (Feb 15, 2014)

Wow, Breeze sounds very convincing. Like Insp:ir too. Phoenix sounds a bit muddy to me in this configuration - like it the least of the three. 

Thanks for participating Vin.

Your example 1 sounds not bad, but somehow the dry signal doesn't seem to be 'connected' to the tail, in my ears. My guess would be RoomWorks.

Nr. 2 from the soundcaracter it's not too different to nr. 1, but I like it a lot more. The reverb and the dry signal blend nicely, sounds quite natural. REVerence?

Nr. 3 Like it best out of the three. Eventhough I think I can hear an ever so slight colouring of the sound. But it gives a great impression of a room. To me it sounds the most as if the organ was played in that specific room rather than a later added reverb. ValhallaRoom?


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## Vin (Feb 15, 2014)

muk @ 15/2/2014 said:


> Your example 1 sounds not bad, but somehow the dry signal doesn't seem to be 'connected' to the tail, in my ears. My guess would be RoomWorks.
> 
> Nr. 2 from the soundcaracter it's not too different to nr. 1, but I like it a lot more. The reverb and the dry signal blend nicely, sounds quite natural. REVerence?
> 
> Nr. 3 Like it best out of the three. Eventhough I think I can hear an ever so slight colouring of the sound. But it gives a great impression of a room. To me it sounds the most as if the organ was played in that specific room rather than a later added reverb. ValhallaRoom?



Hi Muk,

You're right about Nr. 2 - it is Bricasti M7 Sandors Hall in REVerence.

Nr. 1 is ValhallaVintageVerb - *http://pastebin.com/xCv5yvF2 (here)* is the preset in case someone is interested.

Nr. 3 is RoomWorks, which is surprisingly good.


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## Arbee (Feb 15, 2014)

I'm very intrigued muk by your original post Reverb 1 - c'mon, what is it 8) ? 

.


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## muk (Feb 16, 2014)

Ouch, ValhallaRoom doesn't cut it for me in this example. Yeah, RoomWorks is underrated, it's quite good.

My examples:

Nr. 1 is VSL Hybrid Reverb (Berlin Stage)
Nr. 2 is VSL Convolution (Mozart-Saal)
Nr. 3 is RoomWorks


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## Arbee (Feb 16, 2014)

muk @ Sun Feb 16 said:


> Ouch, ValhallaRoom doesn't cut it for me in this example. Yeah, RoomWorks is underrated, it's quite good.
> 
> My examples:
> 
> ...


Thanks, this goes to prove that VSL's Hybrid Reverb is obviously very much to my taste.

.


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## muk (Feb 17, 2014)

Yeah, I like it too. It doesn't get mentioned all too often here though. Maybe it's less attractive as a reverb only because you have to buy the whole suite bundle. But I think in this thread here it holds up very well.


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