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Spring reverb comparison video
In the “IOS sales” thread, we were briefly discussing the different spring reverb emulations available on IOS. I criticized the Eventide emulation so I thought I’d make a comparison video with various emulations that were discussed as well as genuine outboard analog spring reverb tank made by SurfyBear for reference.
I’m using a Jerry Jones baritone guitar routed to a final instance of THU using Fender Bassman model
1) dry
2) SurfyBear - outboard analog spring reverb tank
3) THU - spring reverb with no other emulation enabled
4) Eventide Spring
5) TONEX Spring with no other emulation enabled.
6) Return to SurfyBear for reference
Opinions appreciated. I’ll offer my own. They all sound passable as far as decay. It’s when you look closer at the attack, which can be emphasized by palm muting, where the differences can be appreciated. That’s where it becomes apparent that one model, in particular, is using a bizzarely inaccurate delay which makes it unusable.
Comments
Great vid. The eventide doesn't seem to be much of an emulation... It has its own sound but definitely no drip, and not very springy. Not sure what's going on but I've never played with their actual hardware pedal.
Thanks for doing this. Very cool.
You can tweak it and make the weird effect more subtle, but it’s always there. I find this rather shocking as Eventide has a huge reputation and history with their reverbs. There is no spring tank that sounds like that, so what was the source being emulated? It’s clearly a repeating delay which doesn’t happen with springs.
The other emulations don’t really pull off the deep “drip” but they seem to have been aware of that and “stayed out of the way” and kept it subtle.
You can „emulate“ a spring reverb rather convincingly by 2 modulated delay lines.
It once happened to me by chance when tweaking a Lexicon Vortex and I was much surprised.
That‘s probably the Eventide method, too.
(my personal „most realistic“ favorite is the one by Softtube, but in real world I just connect to a vintage Roland Cube from late 70s which has a great reverb tank)
I think the only way to get realistic springs is by using impulse responses.
So apart from Tonex and THU, which are the best iOS spring reverbs, and which of those 'drip' and which don't but still sound good?
The THU spring reverb is the only one that sounds like a spring reverb imo.
Bot sure about that one. I'm doing that myself but those tiny pitch sweeps can't be done with an IR.
True. IR is unfortunately very limited in control.
How would you guys rate the Spring reverb in iVCS3? You can use it as an AU on its own, like lots of iVCS3 modules. I’m just thinking that as Peter Zinovieff himself endorsed the app, the reverb must be a reasonable emulation.
@Sabicas have you tried the spring reverb modules inside iFX Rack?
I believe it’s IR based as well.
The TH-U one sounds pretty good. The Eventide one sounds nothing like the real spring, but it has its own thing. I use it all the time. It also has a tremolo in there. Could that be causing the cycling sound?
Yeah, the THU sounds the most authentic for sure. Not sure what’s going on with the SurfyBear in this example but I know that they can sound better than that. It sounds weirdly thin? I recorded a surf band recently and the lead guitarist had one. That thing definitely DRIPS! Vibey AF
I just wonder, how is the quality of the other fx in THU? And which IAP should one buy to get all the fx?
Also> @mtenk said:
Hmm, it’s sounds pretty great here at the house but I did get some high tinny sounds when picking near the bridge in my video. That’s normal for this guitar (Danelectro copy with lipstick pickups) and a real spring tank, though. I could roll back the SurfyBear tone control if I do another comparison vid.
No. Without a free trial I’m probably not going to spend $10 to try it when I have a solid solution with THU and SurfyBear
I have AltiVerb 2 and Thafknar with spring IRs and have been disappointed. I could do another vid with those included…..
If it is the same IR, there probably isn’t a need to demonstrate both apps. If one is just using the IR and not doing other tweaks, they should sound the same.
That’s true. Altiverb does have far more tweaking options so I would go with that one
It might be interesting to get your reverb tank setup how you like it and then make an IR and compare.
I usually hear very little differences when tweaking Altispace, IF I can hear any difference at all. The Reverse effect and the pitch are the most useful in altering the sound, but with most of the controls I can hardly tell if it did anything to the overal fx.
Have you all looked at Lost in the 70s “Devil Spring Reverb”
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/devil-spring-reverb/id1550838067
Also IR based, and nothing wrong with that. But I wish there was a spring syntheses app with full control and realistic sound, with all the drips and quirks.
I think best is to buy quality IR, Altispace for example has a lot of stuff but some are cut off too early. But I do like the nature of these original units, the grit, the hiss and hum. No software reproduction sounds like that. That goes for ‘normal’ vintage reverbs as well.
Its sound reminds me of the Eventide somewhat, but less "springy" and a bit more like a delay. Also there's zero adjustment, only a dry/wet mix knob.
An IR reverb will generally be best if that is the only control. Should do a good job of capturing a particular unit at a particular setting. One needs to create IRs with different settings in order to have a range of options.
You know what, you’re absolutely right @Sabicas. I have no idea WTF I was hearing last night. The SurfyBear sounds totally fine. Thanks for putting this comparison video together! My original comment wasn’t meant to be a slight on your hard work. Hopefully it wasn’t taken that way.
Works well enough, agreed.
I can recommend this one, quite a nice collection of spring reverb IRs:
Presonus Convology - Vintage Spring Reverbs
Maybe there's also a good free collection of spring reverb impulse responses, I just haven't found one yet.
No worries. I didn’t take it as a slight. I’d like to throw another vid together if I have more than just Altispace to add to the others.
MixBox has a spring reverb that you could throw into the mix if you do another video (assuming that it’s available in the free version or you already own it).