Reverb vs Delay?

[MirrorProfiles]

I think delays are more forgiving to sound good - reverb design is complex, and the parameters exposed to the user are also generally more complicated with more scope for sounding bad.

When used with guitar it gets complicated further by the fact it’s often going through an amp and speaker.

I think analog springs are still kind of hard to quite nail the sound of with digital, although there’s a few plugins I like. Springs are gnarly with amps, lots of digital reverbs can go wonky when used in unexpected ways. Sometimes that’s cool but it’s less predictable than what tends to happen with delays.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I think delays are more forgiving to sound good - reverb design is complex, and the parameters exposed to the user are also generally more complicated with more scope for sounding bad.

When used with guitar it gets complicated further by the fact it’s often going through an amp and speaker.

I think analog springs are still kind of hard to quite nail the sound of with digital, although there’s a few plugins I like. Springs are gnarly with amps, lots of digital reverbs can go wonky when used in unexpected ways. Sometimes that’s cool but it’s less predictable than what tends to happen with delays.

Are you running spring reverb plugin in front of analog amps or in front of amp sim plugins? What spring plugins do you like?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Are you running spring reverb plugin in front of analog amps or in front of amp sim plugins? What spring plugins do you like?

I don’t tend to use plugins in front of real amps, if i’m using plugins then it’s an all digital chain.

My favourite is probably Arturia’s Rev Spring, but it depends loads on what kind of sound i’m going for. The arturia one is my go to though and always gives results I like.

 

[Whizzinby]

If it’s one or the other, delay all day.

And delays that have modulation or diffusion parameters even more so. A Dig set to “deep” modulation, you’re hard pressed to pick out there isn’t any reverb on.

I’d be well served to ditch reverb altogether, but that ain’t happening.

 

[metropolis_4]

I think delays are more forgiving to sound good - reverb design is complex, and the parameters exposed to the user are also generally more complicated with more scope for sounding bad.

When used with guitar it gets complicated further by the fact it’s often going through an amp and speaker.

I think analog springs are still kind of hard to quite nail the sound of with digital, although there’s a few plugins I like. Springs are gnarly with amps, lots of digital reverbs can go wonky when used in unexpected ways. Sometimes that’s cool but it’s less predictable than what tends to happen with delays.

I have yet to find a digital spring that comes anywhere close to analog spring. I always wonder if bad digital spring is the reason some guitarists find they don’t like spring

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I always wonder if bad digital spring is the reason some guitarists find they don’t like spring

certainly doesn't help. There are quite a lot of bad analog springs too, and even OK springs in bad circuits in amps that don't really do them justice.

There are also lots of good "bad" springs that are full of vibe but are only useful on a handful of things. The digital ones rarely shoot for that style as often, they tend to be quite clean and annoying by comparison.

 

[Shask]

I can never decide if I like a slight short Delay or a Reverb. I pretty much only use high gain metal sounds and just like a little bit of something behind the tone for some space. I switch back and forth between Reverb and a short Delay. If I use both, I like to run them in parallel to keep the clarity.

 

[Orvillain]

I have yet to find a digital spring that comes anywhere close to analog spring. I always wonder if bad digital spring is the reason some guitarists find they don’t like spring

For me, I mostly don't really like the boinginess of spring, I don't like how subtle it is, and I don't like the character very much. I find it one of the more unique reverbs that I'm very picky about.

The best spring reverb I ever played was the original Orange Rockerverb. That thing was completely mental; huge atmosphere from it, without the crappy "kick the amp" wobble stuff that I hate.

 

[laxu]

I have yet to find a digital spring that comes anywhere close to analog spring. I always wonder if bad digital spring is the reason some guitarists find they don’t like spring

I on the other hand have grown to hate analog spring.

They are noisy and somewhat fragile.
The single level control usually has a tiny sweet spot.
The length of the reverb is either too long or too short.

Maybe I'd like an outboard tank with better control, but I don't want some big hulking box or one of those Surfybear behemoths either.

Give me a digital version any day. Even then I'd rather go for a plate or hall every time.

 

[metropolis_4]

I on the other hand have grown to hate analog spring.

They are noisy and somewhat fragile.
The single level control usually has a tiny sweet spot.
The length of the reverb is either too long or too short.

Maybe I'd like an outboard tank with better control, but I don't want some big hulking box or one of those Surfybear behemoths either.

Give me a digital version any day. Even then I'd rather go for a plate or hall every time.

Yeah, we’re polar opposites on this one, haha.

Spring is a special effect for me. Plate and hall are completely different effects for different purposes and can’t be substituted for spring IMO. It’s like using a Klon as a substitute for an Octavia.

I’ve had two gigs this past year - one was surf music, the other was Ennio Morricone style spaghetti western music - where drippy spring was the most important/prominent effect. Plate or hall would have sounded ridiculous.

I will always find space on my board for my SurfyBear when I need that sound because it does it so much better than anything else I’ve tried.

 

[synthpenguin]

Both, but in the spirit of choosing, I voted Delay. I can cover enough of the spatial ground or noisy-in-front-of-the-amp stuff with (the right) delay, and reverb for ambience also matters less for me at louder volumes or in band / mix contexts, whereas delay is always useful.

 

[riffy]

Live, I rarely ever use reverb. But always use delay for solos. I keep my rhythms bone dry.

Just sitting around the house and playing, I like a stereo ping-pong delay and a hall reverb.

 

[Tritium3H]

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

IMHO, and in my experience, the greatest urban “myth” and misinformation promulgated in guitar-centric/musician forums is the assertion that reverb is not needed in a live performance, particularly in an indoor venue.

A bit to a fair bit of artificial reverb should always be ready to be deployed.

The fact is, it is entirely dependent on the acoustics of a populated venue. People don’t realize what a difference a full (or even partially full) venue makes to the final reverberant space. People, being mostly water, make for wonderful acoustic absorbers and attenuators. What you might perceive to be a bright, reflect-y room during soundcheck/practice (when essentially empty), may be quite a different thing when crowded.

I guess I am in the opposite camp from many responders, here. I feel delays are often (not always) more of a culprit to a muddy and less articulate live lead guitar tone/performance. Gimme a great Lexicon reverb every day of the week, and twice on Sundays. PCM-70 user, here. For me, it is never a question of "should I use reverb"? Rather, it is how much. Basically, I will always have some amount of Plate reverb in my signal.

 

[Riffraff]

Delay for me with a Nemesis ADT which provides all the options I will ever need.

 

[dk_ace]

IMHO, and in my experience, the greatest urban “myth” and misinformation promulgated in guitar-centric/musician forums is the assertion that reverb is not needed in a live performance, particularly in an indoor venue.

A bit to a fair bit of artificial reverb should always be ready to be deployed.

The fact is, it is entirely dependent on the acoustics of a populated venue. People don’t realize what a difference a full (or even partially full) venue makes to the final reverberant space. People, being mostly water, make for wonderful acoustic absorbers and attenuators. What you might perceive to be a bright, reflect-y room during soundcheck/practice (when essentially empty), may be quite a different thing when crowded.

I guess I am in the opposite camp from many responders, here. I feel delays are often (not always) more of a culprit to a muddy and less articulate live lead guitar tone/performance. Gimme a great Lexicon reverb every day of the week, and twice on Sundays. PCM-70 user, here. For me, it is never a question of "should I use reverb"? Rather, it is how much. Basically, I will always have some amount of Plate reverb in my signal.

I’ve shifted to this perspective over the years.

For a long time, I would use reverb as a big special effect or not at all. Now, there’s generally some reverb there unless I really want something to poke out in the mix and be really dry. Obviously there are times for that, but they’re more the exception than the rule now.

Also, the more I listen to professionals the more I realize they use a lot more reverb than I expected which is in part why they sound better. Sometimes they are doing that themselves and other times it’s being added at the desk.

Also if a gig uses IEMs, definitely adding reverb to not hate the experience. I don’t mind IEMs that much, but they need the reverb.

D

 

[metropolis_4]

IMHO, and in my experience, the greatest urban “myth” and misinformation promulgated in guitar-centric/musician forums is the assertion that reverb is not needed in a live performance, particularly in an indoor venue.

A bit to a fair bit of artificial reverb should always be ready to be deployed.

The fact is, it is entirely dependent on the acoustics of a populated venue. People don’t realize what a difference a full (or even partially full) venue makes to the final reverberant space. People, being mostly water, make for wonderful acoustic absorbers and attenuators. What you might perceive to be a bright, reflect-y room during soundcheck/practice (when essentially empty), may be quite a different thing when crowded.

I guess I am in the opposite camp from many responders, here. I feel delays are often (not always) more of a culprit to a muddy and less articulate live lead guitar tone/performance. Gimme a great Lexicon reverb every day of the week, and twice on Sundays. PCM-70 user, here. For me, it is never a question of "should I use reverb"? Rather, it is how much. Basically, I will always have some amount of Plate reverb in my signal.

Is it urban myth and misinformation, or is it just different tastes and experiences?

Ive been playing live performances for 30 years and I personally have no use for reverb live other than as an occasional special effect. I figured that out for myself long before I’d ever heard of a guitar forum. If your experience is different that doesn’t mean one of us is spreading myths and misinformation, it just means we have different preferences.