OT FX::Reverb

Hi,
what do you think about the reverbs on the OT?
I’ve tried everything possible to get it sounds good but i just don’t get it … it sounds very lowfi, digital and cheap with one word- bad! Am I the only one who is experiencing it? Or do you have some advices on using them to sound a little bit better?
cheers!

i love it personally, but its obviously not to everyones taste

maybe try filtering off the low end and keep the top end sizzle?

Well I like the “dark” reverb better than the “plate” reverb. And even with that one I tend to tweak the PRE (in the setup page) and SHVG/SVHF parameters. The infinite release is pretty cool. Your mileage may vary.

I think the effects mostly start to shine once you’ve got some modulation set up. Scenes, parameter locks, LFOs, etc. For example you can fake a sidechain with these settings:

[ul]
[li]PMTR: reverb mix[/li]
[li]WAVE: saw up (forward slash)[/li]
[li]MULT: 8x[/li]
[li]TRIG: half[/li]
[li]SPD : about 9:00[/li]
[li]DEP: to taste, a bit more the actual mix setting[/li]
[/ul]

Sounds pretty cool with a big fat kick and some distortion in front of it.

It does seem to vary based on your experiences with other reverbs. I have a good selection of outboard reverb units, so personally I rarely use the on-board reverb and actually don’t use most of the other effects that are built-in, but again - everyone’s experiences are different.

These days, most units have to ship with on-board effects just to be competitive in the marketplace, especially multi-function boxes with sampler, sequencer, etc all in one. I think they would have lost a few sales and certainly been slammed in magazine reviews if there were no built-in fx, although that would leave more room and processing power for other functionality.

The fact that you can bypass them is a plus. The fact that they spend time and energy creating more and trying to improve the existing ones (versus making more bug fixes) is a minus.

Ehm what? The octa’s FX are a big part of what makes this machine such a wonderful sample mangling device.

Regarding the verbs I like to step sequence the plate (mix amount, panning, etc.) in hi hat and percussion lines and such.

The dark reverb sounds very good to me on synth sources. Just adjust the low pass a bit. It could do with a larger range for the pre delay.

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I very much like both the plate and dark reverbs. Just my taste, although they don’t sound all that natural.

The beauty of the Octatrack is that it can be used in so many different ways. For me (I repeat – for me), none of the on-board effects come close to my outboard gear, so if I want to effect something, I’ll run it out of Octatrack A, through whatever processing I want, then into Octatrack B or back into Octratrack A, depending on what I want to do next with it.

One nice trick that is easier with outboard is to take a sample, run it through a reverb, and then just resample the reverb tail and then stretch/pitch that piece of sound.

Yes - sometimes for just messing around I’ll pull up the delay or reverb and try it to see, but I can completely mangle just about anything using the timestretch/pitch/slice/etc controls.

I like the reverbs in the OT. Though I barely started to use them. I was hovering on the fence with an OT purchase when the July 2013 update added dark reverb. Sold. I guess I like to keep it simple these days, with enough instruments to carry around that effects included is an important consideration. Reverb is important to me as a string player (though even the DR is not inherently natual sounding). I agree with Mans about the integral nature of the effects in the gestalt that is the OT. Having said that, I’m currently selling my OT to switch back to an electro-acoustic strings and loop pedal method of music making. C’est la vie :slight_smile:

The beauty of the Octatrack is that it can be used in so many different ways. For me (I repeat – for me), none of the on-board effects come close to my outboard gear, so if I want to effect something, I’ll run it out of Octatrack A, through whatever processing I want, then into Octatrack B or back into Octratrack A, depending on what I want to do next with it.

One nice trick that is easier with outboard is to take a sample, run it through a reverb, and then just resample the reverb tail and then stretch/pitch that piece of sound.

Yes - sometimes for just messing around I’ll pull up the delay or reverb and try it to see, but I can completely mangle just about anything using the timestretch/pitch/slice/etc controls.[/quote]
Two octa’s and a bunch of outboard sounds like a good ol’time!
The only outboard verb I have is the BlueSky and I much prefer the octas verbs.

I’d agree that I really like the reverbs. They don’t sound as nice as the A4s to my ears but the dark reverb with a bit of pre in the setup page and some lp hp tweaking can sound really nice - especially when used in conjunction with the spacializer. deffos helps free up the mix a bit

I prefer the Dark reverb on the OT to the general sound of my Strymon Bluesky. I think the less pristine sound of the Dark verb fits my sources better. I surprisingly get some decent results with the spring reverb too. I tend to use delay more, in which case I rely on external stuff.

Keep in mind there are no presets, so you have to figure stuff out. I think the dark reverb added a lot to the machine, though I do like th A4’s verb sound a little better. Modulation does wonders for both.

I typically don’t use the reverbs inside my gear and tend to stick to my outboard gear for such effects, however I am suprised at how useful the plate reverb is. For me, I keep the time a bit longer than I normal would and modulate the damp parameter, adds great variety and with the filter I can get some surprisingly good reverbs.

I’ve never had much luck with the dark reverb, just doesn’t compare to my dp4 or eventide, I’ll need to give it another shot

hmm… what you are saying is that it can be used creatively but it’s indeed not a good reverb. but why? is it a dsp or coding issue?

In my opinion it is a combination of two things. First is - Elektron is an instrument creator, not an effects shop. Second, the amount of DSP available inside the Elektron gear is limited and must do many things.
High quality reverb is demanding. Take a look around for the specifications of what is inside a dedicated reverb like a Bricasti M7. Even the older Lexicons or Quantec QRS or even the Eventide SP-2016 are boxes basically optimized for reverb. Even though you may say the old CPUs are slower and less powerful, the algorithms used were designed by master craftsmen of reverb and squeezed every last bit of functionality out of the boxes.

The reverb algorithms you can pull off the net now are good, but they are not in the same class as the dedicated/proprietary stuff. If your only exposure to reverb has been what comes packaged with your DAW, then indeed, the Elektron reverbs sounds different and maybe better. But if you have used dedicated outboard or high quality software reverbs, then you understand the limitations of what is packaged inside the Elektron boxes.

None of the effects are useless. They can always be pressed into service in many creative ways. However, if you need to feature an effect in a song and not have it buried in with many other sounds, then you probably should look outside the box.