Super-awesomest, best reverb module in Eurorack 2022: Starlab, ECR+, Desmodus, et.al.?

[linear.b]

I got a white rabbit and I won't call it the best or awesomest reverb module in eurorack, but it's weird as hell and if a weirder one comes out this year, I want that one too

E520 Hyperion is my go-to for clean, crisp verbs. Erbe Verb has been on my list for a long time, and I will get one eventually.

[decimeter]

Probably an unpopular opinion: I bought a DV, and it was great, but after trying all the firmwares I landed on the Polydactyl and that's where it stays. The eq/compression makes everything polished and professional. The DV is fun but doesn't take my sound to the next level.

Polydactyl is the one Versio I still need to try out. Consider me inspired!

Versio is mostly characterful, distortive effects. Polydactyl is an outlier, so don't expect more of the same. Well, I guess you could crank compression or saturation for some spectral crunch. Regardless, if you have the module, it's easy enough to give it a try. I have Polydactyl at end-of-chain balancing the entire mix.

[Ebotronix]

I am currently researching the Strymon Cloudburst with the AA1 Level Shifter.

that seems to be a good combo. and more affordable than a battleship euro-reverb...
do you use the midi-options?
here: aa1 to eventide blackhole, but only in "set and forget" mode (or manual tweaking);
i don't have a dedicated cv-midi interface.
on the pro-side of big/good euro-rvbs though: the inviting cv-ins will probably inspire to do more automation...

I don't use the midi option , but now I use two of them in dual mono with a Boss EV 30 Pedal!

[boisnois]

forgot to say that I got myself a Xaoc Timiszoara to try it out. Demos of the reverbs were pretty convincing and the other effects available can definitely find some use in my sounds if they are at my tastes.
It just arrived, test bench this week end.
i'll gladly feedback first impressions compared to ECR+ (+CXM1978 and Softube TSAR reverb as my reference points -TSAR sounds insanely good to me... but it's vst).
I'll probably focus on modulations quickly after doing a litte tour of the available effects.

My Timiszoara will prolly arrive before the weekend. really looking forward to it.
demos (verbs but also the glitchy stuff) all are very convincing, the layout looks very playable and cv-able.
I'm curious , what are your first impressions after playing with it?
cheers

[Jee]

Well I played with mine a little à took a bit of time to explore it but not in depth.
Among my test the stereo distortions are actually quite cool.
Some interesting glitchy algos too.
Reverbs are decent but do not push it another level, clearly. Good but not awesome (for me at least). They “just” do the job correctly.
Overall I had a mitigated feeling, still. Lot of algos are doing stuff but the controls didn’t prove extremely efficient/ doing much in many cases.
Probably worth exploring further with different source materials as it relies on it too.
But that brought me back to something I kind of forgot : these multi effects doing tons of stuff never really excel in any of them imho, and you often end up scrolling through algos to find something that does something cool rather than exploring one effect that delivers so much that it is self sufficient, somehow.
So I’ll keep digging Timiszoara because it probably deserves more than a quick walk through, but I am under the impression that it might not be a keeper in the end.
If it is the case, I will probably completely avoid this sort of FX in modular. They are rather expensive and pedals proved me way more versatile and delivering much more finally, even without CV…

For reverb, play with a CXM 1978 is just another world. Even the 1 knob verb of an hologram Microcosm feels more versatile/ polished. In glitchy territory (which I love), red panda particle give me more than the Timiszoara. Microcosm too, in a softer, more subtle way (modulo a big drawback with the latter : no odd divisions so no triplets or dotted glitches :( )

[Nik]

Even the 1 knob verb of an hologram Microcosm feels more versatile/ polished. In glitchy territory (which I love), red panda particle give me more than the Timiszoara. Microcosm too, in a softer, more subtle way (modulo a big drawback with the latter : no odd divisions so no triplets or dotted glitches :( )

Before I got into Euro I was a collector of reverb and delay VSTs (and still buy a few - still waiting for a sale on the BigSky VST), I have several options in Euro, but I think the Microcosm has the best one-knob reverb out there. Getting OT now but the reverb I really want to try is the OTO BAM.

[Jee]

Even the 1 knob verb of an hologram Microcosm feels more versatile/ polished. In glitchy territory (which I love), red panda particle give me more than the Timiszoara. Microcosm too, in a softer, more subtle way (modulo a big drawback with the latter : no odd divisions so no triplets or dotted glitches :( )

Before I got into Euro I was a collector of reverb and delay VSTs (and still buy a few - still waiting for a sale on the BigSky VST), I have several options in Euro, but I think the Microcosm has the best one-knob reverb out there. Getting OT now but the reverb I really want to try is the OTO BAM.

OFF TOPIC
In the same 80’s spirit than OTO BAM (which I think is pretty good but didn’t try it, didn’t get it because my CXM covers it already), Vongon has one nice verb too (don’t rem the model, check their site)

[Nik]

OT Sarah Bell Reid used Vongons in her Spectraphon demo, and I've seen a few others around in videos lately. Will definitely look into it. Cheers.

PS I just watched a CXM 1978 video. Gorgeous!

[fragletrollet]

I have a bunch of strymons (timeline, blue sky, elcap, dig, flint) and am pondering what direction to go reverb wise.

I have a pcm81 which sounds great, and a black hole in my heart ever since i had to return my friends H8000. I also have a modified re301 with external tanks, and lots of vintage bbd delays, along a Roland sd2500 and befaco spring.

Been contemplating ridding myself of most of the strymons for something either fully integrateable in the euro like the Strymon magneto/starlab/night sky or similar. I am also curious on both h90 and e520, and feel like most fx I've tried in euro don't really reach up to the quality level of high end rack units (that come at a price).

Gonna demo an Eventide Space soon, wonder how close it sounds to the preset in the h8k.

[decimeter]

I have a bunch of strymons (timeline, blue sky, elcap, dig, flint) and am pondering what direction to go reverb wise.

I have a pcm81 which sounds great, and a black hole in my heart ever since i had to return my friends H8000. I also have a modified re301 with external tanks, and lots of vintage bbd delays, along a Roland sd2500 and befaco spring.

Been contemplating ridding myself of most of the strymons for something either fully integrateable in the euro like the Strymon magneto/starlab/night sky or similar. I am also curious on both h90 and e520, and feel like most fx I've tried in euro don't really reach up to the quality level of high end rack units (that come at a price).

Gonna demo an Eventide Space soon, wonder how close it sounds to the preset in the h8k.

Keep us posted on your findings.

Is the H8000/H9000 like a souped up, rack mounted H90?

[fragletrollet]

Haven't used the h9000 (the newest flagship) or h9/h90, but my spoiled friend has the h3000 (that I upgraded to h3500), two h8000 (one FW) and recently a H9000 (that I've not tried of the bunch).

The H8000 has been the flagship for years, and is a dual engine processor. It is thoroughly a high end machine; the connectivity is awesome, the converters sound great and have insane headroom, digitally controlled mic-preamps and adat/fw and aes-ebu, not to speak of two control voltage inputs that can be controlling whatever you wish (and midi ofc). It is, like most Eventides (?), used by finding appropriate algorithms from a list/search, and each algo has different parameters and page setup. The algo's span from all kinds of fx, reverbs, guitar fx, mastering tools, oscilloscope and meters... it's like a Disting on stereoids with a nice interface and extremely flexible routing.

Then you have Sage or whatever it's called, the environment you can make algorithms in...

I want one so much Even just as a master ad converter post analog chain. Or for that special Eventide reverb I just can't seem to find anywhere else. Silky smooth dimensional sharp high end. Places the sound in a space.

Oh and the resonator algo's...

[boisnois]

Well I played with mine a little à took a bit of time to explore it but not in depth.
Among my test the stereo distortions are actually quite cool.
Some interesting glitchy algos too.
Reverbs are decent but do not push it another level, clearly. Good but not awesome (for me at least). They “just” do the job correctly.
Overall I had a mitigated feeling, still. Lot of algos are doing stuff but the controls didn’t prove extremely efficient/ doing much in many cases.
Probably worth exploring further with different source materials as it relies on it too.
But that brought me back to something I kind of forgot : these multi effects doing tons of stuff never really excel in any of them imho, and you often end up scrolling through algos to find something that does something cool rather than exploring one effect that delivers so much that it is self sufficient, somehow.
So I’ll keep digging Timiszoara because it probably deserves more than a quick walk through, but I am under the impression that it might not be a keeper in the end.
If it is the case, I will probably completely avoid this sort of FX in modular. They are rather expensive and pedals proved me way more versatile and delivering much more finally, even without CV…

For reverb, play with a CXM 1978 is just another world. Even the 1 knob verb of an hologram Microcosm feels more versatile/ polished. In glitchy territory (which I love), red panda particle give me more than the Timiszoara. Microcosm too, in a softer, more subtle way (modulo a big drawback with the latter : no odd divisions so no triplets or dotted glitches :( )

thanks for the detailed report. timi coming today. now I'm even more curious.

i have a hybrid setup, deluge and outboard synths into pedal effect rack, triggering modular. wanted to keep things in check and not add another pedal again, also have a small self contained modular pod. will spend the weekend with timiszoara.
thanks again for the answer.

[Tim Lairy]

Good topic. I’m defo in the camp of having lots of fx in rack since chaining fx has always been key in how i design sounds. I do also like to throw itb stuff on afterwards but more often than not reverbs and any other fx get used upstream therefore half my rack is fx :p
I think i’d just be repeating what others have said re many of the recommendations but i will say that the Aurora is a decent addition if you want to experiment. Pretty unique. It seems like they gave in to user pressure to make a more ‘normal’ verb with the fdn version but i personally hope they lean into the spectral stuff in any future updates..lots of potential there. Only real downside is the Freeze button..a missed opportunity to do something cool and not very useful

[informationsource]

Well I played with mine a little à took a bit of time to explore it but not in depth.
Among my test the stereo distortions are actually quite cool.
Some interesting glitchy algos too.
Reverbs are decent but do not push it another level, clearly. Good but not awesome (for me at least). They “just” do the job correctly.
Overall I had a mitigated feeling, still. Lot of algos are doing stuff but the controls didn’t prove extremely efficient/ doing much in many cases.
Probably worth exploring further with different source materials as it relies on it too.
But that brought me back to something I kind of forgot : these multi effects doing tons of stuff never really excel in any of them imho, and you often end up scrolling through algos to find something that does something cool rather than exploring one effect that delivers so much that it is self sufficient, somehow.
So I’ll keep digging Timiszoara because it probably deserves more than a quick walk through, but I am under the impression that it might not be a keeper in the end.
If it is the case, I will probably completely avoid this sort of FX in modular. They are rather expensive and pedals proved me way more versatile and delivering much more finally, even without CV…

For reverb, play with a CXM 1978 is just another world. Even the 1 knob verb of an hologram Microcosm feels more versatile/ polished. In glitchy territory (which I love), red panda particle give me more than the Timiszoara. Microcosm too, in a softer, more subtle way (modulo a big drawback with the latter : no odd divisions so no triplets or dotted glitches :( )

thanks for the detailed report. timi coming today. now I'm even more curious.

i have a hybrid setup, deluge and outboard synths into pedal effect rack, triggering modular. wanted to keep things in check and not add another pedal again, also have a small self contained modular pod. will spend the weekend with timiszoara.
thanks again for the answer.

The forthcoming Deva expander seems like it will add a lot to Timiszoara, possibly some Tyme Sefari-esque goodness. We'll see: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/xaoc-devices-deva

[informationsource]

Good topic. I’m defo in the camp of having lots of fx in rack since chaining fx has always been key in how i design sounds. I do also like to throw itb stuff on afterwards but more often than not reverbs and any other fx get used upstream therefore half my rack is fx :p
I think i’d just be repeating what others have said re many of the recommendations but i will say that the Aurora is a decent addition if you want to experiment. Pretty unique. It seems like they gave in to user pressure to make a more ‘normal’ verb with the fdn version but i personally hope they lean into the spectral stuff in any future updates..lots of potential there. Only real downside is the Freeze button..a missed opportunity to do something cool and not very useful

+1 on Aurora (again). Both currently available firmwares cover a lot of territory. If you want basic reverb, it can do that too with FDN. My only criticism is that some sweet spots are narrow, but that's true of many verbs.

[blinosynth]

Even the 1 knob verb of an hologram Microcosm feels more versatile/ polished. In glitchy territory (which I love), red panda particle give me more than the Timiszoara. Microcosm too, in a softer, more subtle way (modulo a big drawback with the latter : no odd divisions so no triplets or dotted glitches :( )

Before I got into Euro I was a collector of reverb and delay VSTs (and still buy a few - still waiting for a sale on the BigSky VST), I have several options in Euro, but I think the Microcosm has the best one-knob reverb out there. Getting OT now but the reverb I really want to try is the OTO BAM.

this video just open my eyes a lot..
i was pretty sure to buy a cxm , after this video Bam re-entered the list of pretty good reverb ..Bam here sound so warm!
but the cxm UI is just so good to translate into so many reverbs type

...i know sorry is not euroack