Reverb vs Delay?

[James Freeman]

What's your preference regarding reverb vs delay to add a little (a lot?) space to your tone.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Stereo delay w/ a low mix. Just enough that you'd notice it more when you turn it off, than when you turn it on.

But that's just for the oa sound "thickening." For those cascading notes that fill up a solo, I use something different with a higher mix, controlled by an expression pedal.

I'm not much on reverb in general.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Apart from drums, I usually prefer delay by far. It's always a matter of context, but in my case I'm usually dealing with thick walls of guitar, and I generally have no luck combining reverb with that. It's almost impossible to find the right amount, it's either imperceptible or turns everything to mud. With delay, I find it much easier to make the effect audible without overloading the whole mix with it. I also like to use delay on lead guitar parts to create nice harmonies.
For “airier” music with a sparser arrangement and instruments that don't take up the entire frequency spectrum, I would probably prefer reverb, as delay quickly sounds unnatural and gimmicky in this case.

 

[gearJunkie]

Low mix delay with minimal feedback over reverb any day of the week. Reverb usually as a special effect when guitar is soloed or played with minimal accompaniment.

Edit: * This response is from a live guitar rig perspective. Everything changes when recording / mixing / mastering where reverb provides overall mix cohesion.

 

[HotRats]

I can live with a pedalboard without reverb but not without a delay but that's probably because I've always played in rock/hard rock bands.

I don't have a reverb in my current board.

I love reverbs though.

In the context of mixing music I definitely use much more reverbs than delays.

 

[unix-guy]

Both... But I did go years without reverb.

If I can only have one it is definitely delay.

 

[Aleksi]

Always good quality reverb, often a lot of it. I don't think of delay as adding space but rather as a rhythmic effect or adding movement or something else interesting. I use delay when the sound calls for it.

I love both types of effect!

 

[the swede]

I use both extensively. I often do not have a subtle room reverb unless I’m “testing” stuff just to have a room sense in headphones.

Mostly my reverbs are prominent, at the end and also one early chain. The two delays I have are used as effects. When those are used it’s heard and felt. I set it up so each can be used by its own or any combination of them, and everything on for the swelling/layering/pads things.

 

[Eagle]

I always use a reverb that sounds like an environment rather than an effect on my cleaner tones and switch to delay on gain. Or a parallel mix of the two. I still prefer the 2290 and a Lexicon PCM but for practical purposes I use an Axe 3 for fx with my tube gear.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

Reverb live gets lost really quick. The sound is already bouncing off the walls anyway. A little bit of delay is much more effective.
In the studio, it depends on what you are trying to do.

 

[HomespunEffects]

Definitely reverb. Just a touch. I hate spring and hall though. Plate is where it’s at.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

"just a touch; low in the mix; prefer delay". Ppppffffffffft. I'll take this:

 

[FuzzyAce]

They're both great, but for general use I'd take a reverb over delay. Preferably spring but I'm not overly picky.

 

[sleewell]

both for me too

a little bit would be something like the eqd dispatch master and for a lot would be the afterneath

 

[Henry]

Reverb for clean tones, a tiny bit of delay for distorted tones and a bit more of it for solos.

 

[metropolis_4]

Definitely delay. Usually a bucket brigade analog delay.

The only thing I use reverb for is as a special effect when needed (spring or big washy pad type sounds). I hate reverb with overdrive/distortion tones

 

[Mikael Dez]

I almost always have a subtle plate reverb after chorus - both at low mix, just to thicken everything up

 

[david57strat]

I know a lot of guitarists like to use delay to emulate reverb; but for me, it doesn't do the job as well as a dedicated reverb. I can't fine tune the parameters as thoroughly, with a delay, as I can, with a reverb.

I sometimes use both, combined, but I have to be careful about overwhelming the mix, or I lose all note definition. That's been a hard lesson to learn (and I'm still learning it LOL).

All of my boards have at least one reverb and one delay. Most of my boards have at least two delays on them, and they usually have more delays than reverbs.

I use delays mostly as an effect, for creating rhythmic patterns - whether it be cascading, syncopated, etc. (with sometimes, more than one delay, combined), whereas reverb is a space emulator, for my needs. A delay will never give me a big ambient wash* (if that's what I'm looking for). So, in my mind, both have their purpose - sometimes combined; sometimes not.

* There are exceptions to this. My DIG or my Halo (both, dual delays), can create a very beautiful reverb-ish sound that I find very pleasing - but I still prefer having at least one dedicated reverb pedal available, at any given time.

I don't think I could bring myself to ever choose one over another. For me that's like choosing salt over pepper, or soup over salad. If given the choice, I just may want both - and I have plenty of them at my disposal, so why not use them :-).

Depends on the need for the song.

When I think of delay as a reverb, I envision a pipe wrench, rather than a hammer, for driving a nail. Both will work, but the hammer is more effective and efficient a tool for the job - at least for my uses.

Obviously, opinions vary.

No offense meant towards those who are fine with using a delay as a reverb. There are no wrong answers. People like what they like and what their pocketbooks and available board space will allow.

 

[david57strat]

Definitely reverb. Just a touch. I hate spring and hall though. Plate is where it’s at.

I admit, I'm not a fan of spring reverb, either. I walked away from it back in 1989 and never looked back, when I transitioned over to digital reverbs - only there were no reverb pedals to be heard of, at the time. That has changed tremendously, for the better, in recent years, though.

Practically wrote a dissertation on why I hate it, over on TGP.

High quality digital reverb (preferably in stereo) is where it's at for me.

 

[david57strat]

Always good quality reverb, often a lot of it. I don't think of delay as adding space but rather as a rhythmic effect or adding movement or something else interesting. I use delay when the sound calls for it.

I love both types of effect!

I, as well. But delays tend to be what I buy the most often.

I feel I'm probably well-set, in the reverb department. But if a nice delay comes around, my ears perk up. The Keeley Halo Core and Diamond Dark Cloud (very different beasts) were the most recent acquisitions.