Which reverb plugin do you need? We'll explain!

There are a lot of reverb plugins available. To find out which one fits your wishes, can be tricky. We are going to explain something about reverb plugins so you can make a good choice!

Which one is the best depends entirely on your personal taste and preference, so there is no ‘best’ reverb plugin. However, there are some popular plugins that fit a lot of producers.

Besides that, every DAW also has a stock reverb plugin in the list of standard plugins that you get like the Reverb 2 at FL Studio. These stock plugins are fine, but if you want to step up and have more professional functions, then you are going to need an external reverb plugin.

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Different kinds of reverb

Reverb is a process that gives an effect to audio by means of an algorithm to give your sound more space. You can set the algorithm in various ways to produce a different effect.

-    Room Reverb

The basic variant of reverb is a room reverb, with which you can replicate the sound of a room. A room has a particular acoustic which makes it sound spatially in a humble form of a room.

Every room has its own size and sounds, for example, different than the acoustics in a church. A room sounds relatively empty, but sometimes you don’t want to give more than a light spacious reverb to make it sounds a little more spacious.

-    Hall (no corridor)

No not a corridor… A concert hall! The acoustic has a very peculiar character and spacious sound made for particular kinds of music like classical and opera. This type of reverb can be used excellently for breaking open a vocal and make it sound very spacious.

-    Chambers

A chamber reverb is invented by someone who wanted to make a spacious sound like from a big space but didn’t have the budget for it. He went looking for a smaller space with reflecting walls where the sound from the speaker was caught up by the microphones. By doing this it would give the music a specific spacious sound.

A chamber reverb plugin digitalizes this effect and makes it possible with a plugin. It gives the audio a lot of texture and color. It is used a lot in old R&B and rock.

-    Non-Linear Reverb

Linear is a straight line where most reverbs are regarding the echo. Non-linear is doing it differently and sends the reverb (echo) in a different direction. Non-linear reverbs can, for example, produce a rhythmic effect for drums and a clap, so they have a very direct reverb sound. The echo can already become very big before the sound instead of just after and during the sound and does not have a smooth echo.

Interesting to try on a guitar!

-    Plate reverb

A plate reverbs works by literally placing a metal plate under electricity on two sides. The Metal vibrates very fast in this setting which creates a special reverb effect. This sound can be caught for example with a contact microphone. It’s sort of an artificial reverb to make a reverb, which can be done by the echo.

A plate reverb works extremely well with other reverbs. It is usually used to make multiple kinds of reverbs, instead of a single one on one channel.

Not specifically used for one kind of sound, you should experiment with it!

-    Ambiences

A short reverberation that is very suitable for sounds with already a lot of character to make a sound a little more dimensional like with rap vocals.

-    Spring Reverb

A typical reverb that is often used in guitar amplifiers. The use of a spring reverberation gives a metal-like sound with a lot of character. This is generated by a spiral spring which makes a unique sound. Used a lot by guitarists.

Where do you buy a reverb plugin?

We from Inside Audio prefer PluginBoutique because of the many sales they have, with for example Black Friday. Besides at PluginBoutique you can earn digital points with every purchase that you make. You can use those points to spend on new plugins!

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Below are a couple of popular high-quality reverb plugins!

FabFilter Pro-R

FabFilter is a Dutch developer of audio software including the famous EQ, but also the Pro-R which is a very good reverb plugin! It is a very natural sounding plugin that makes a lot of the effects visual so you can get an idea of the adjustments.

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Fog Convolver (AudioThing)

Fog Convolver replicates the sound of an impulse response in real-time. This makes a special effect that is really cool to experiment with.

View Fog Convolver

Mutant Reverb

Mutant Reverb’ is a mono to stereo reverb plugin with a build-in ducker; perfect for singing, percussion, synths and a lot of other applications where you need precise control over echo. Adding the reverberation to sounds gives warmth, character and places the sound in a real room.

View Mutant

Oracle

Adding a feeling of depth to piano melodies till it sounds like synthesised soundscapes, the Oracle has got it all. Oracle is a very visual and modern plugin with a lot of advanced options. Creating stereo images is also very pleasant with Oracle.

View Oracle

DreamScape

DreamScape is a musical reverb based on an original concept that excels in analog warmth at extremely low CPU-usage. With its enormous range of sonic possibilities, an intuitive, and attractive user interface, and very optimized CPU-usage, Dreamscape represents the next generation in Minimal System Group reverb technology.

View DreamScape

Do you have any additions to the list? Let us know!