Hi End Reverbs - Are they worth it? // Empress Reverb vs Behringer DR600
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- #empress #reverb #review
/ starskycarr
Back in the day... budget reverbs sounded cheap, so how much have they improved? Surely developments in microprocessors and algorithms will have made them much better - professional even. With 24 bit 48kHz processing on the budget end what on Earth makes the hi end more expensive range so much higher quality. Are they really worth 15 times the price when something like the DR600 has rave reviews with professional 'studio quality' results.
Well ... that's what I find out here. And I really had no idea before making this :)
Affiliate Links:
Thomann thmn.to/thoprod/388993?offid=...
Perfect Circuit link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/...
Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/shop/starsky...
Reverb reverb.grsm.io/6mtwzga2a4ys
Other places you’ll find me:
► Instagram: / starskycarr
► Facebook: / starskycarr
► Twitter: / starskycarr
► Bandcamp starskycarr.bandcamp.com/rele...
►ClubbingTV From the Studio:
• From The Studio
0:00 Why am I doing this?
1:38 Let the Tests Begin
2:52 Hall
8:01 Plate
12:03 Spring
14:09 Modulation
17:46 Sparkle, Ghost, Beer and Swell
22:01 Final Thoughts
@empresseffects
I honestly thought that the Behringer sounded more like a piano in a room than the Empress. The Empress was very pretty, but had an artificial sheen to the tails.
Yeah, the Empress has some sort of modulation going on. I’m guessing there’s a parameter to turn that off.
there are some classic Lexicon reverbs that sound disgusting when you listen to the wet on its own, but sit perfectly in a mix, and you have to say "why did i ever doubt you"
I'm sure the Empress could do a subtle room or hall sound with the right settings.
@@thesrabbit There are two different types of “hall” reverb and he is on the blue mode with modulation. There is a realistic green mode that would have been a better comparison
I think you absolutely nailed your intended goal of showcasing what you're getting for more than ten times the price. It's not supposed to be a fair comparison, but it does demonstrate exactly why one would spend all of that extra money. Brilliant job as always Starsky Carr!
Thanks.. .glad you got it ;)
Exactly
I’m not sure it does … They’re just different. If you want unnatural and over-exaggerated, it will cost you 10x as much. If you want modest and realistic, you can save a lot of money. I’m a gear whore, so I have way too many reverbs … for ‘different flavours’. Do I need them all - I’m sure I don’t …
Great video! The Empress Reverb sounds absolutely stunning!💙
I love how you implemented extra reverb into the intro for this one.
Nice video! The question was answered quite effectively.
Thanks so much, appreciate you doing this one! I've been comparing some effects (I have a cheap Zoom pedal) and I've found my favorite plugins (Eventide Blackhole) are quite amazing and transparent. But, in a live situation a pedal could come in handy.
There is a difference between adding reverb to the sound and letting the reverb be the sound (got a BlueSky). But sometimes the cheap reverb is all you need.
I was about to write exactly the same thing. If the reverb is the main feature of the sound, you're probably going to want to go high end with all the fancy algos, long decay and several hands on knobs for prcise sculpting, but if you're just layering a bit of verb to fill out a sound then you really don't need a £400 reverb pedal. I use the Devin Townsend signature pedal alot with my synths and people complained that the reverb on that was a bit naff, which it is if you use too much but if you don't then it sounds really nice.
You're the freakin man Starsky. You have the best videos
I remember being at a jazz festival many years ago and there was a guy playing grand piano and every now and then he would play a chord and then a gorgeous delayed bowed pad sound would come in about 1 second after... pitched up by either a 4th or 5th... I had to chat with him after the show and he was using some Empress pedals.... such a great sound... esp as a way to add synthy tones to an acoustic piano...
their reverb pedal is considered high end in the musician circles, they even use it for jazz recordings, that's how good it is
Very nice review sir. I just added the DR600 to my Behringer collection I will get the RV600 later on but that Empress reverb 😮 also EQ and compressors not bad either. Thanks again for the review and video. You keep rocking man 😎🎸👍
Great review! thanks ❤️👍🙏🎹
Don't forget, Empress has built in simple looper which makes it an awesome ambient sounds creating machine.
The Behringer is great for the money. I have a Strymon Big Sky, it is similar to the Empress, but i still prefer Big Sky. Great demo Starsky 😎😎👌👌
Wow. Nice video! The Behringer is perfect for scary metal intro.
Nice video. Got a BlueSky myself but must admit that Empress sounds beautifull. Soundscaping wise the Boss RE20 is also a great sounding pedal.
If you like the RE20 heck out the RE202 I demo’d it last week. Very very nice.
ua-cam.com/video/vkzBO7mwYcg/v-deo.html
room:
behringer sounds like a room - realistic
empress sounds like a reverb fx box - unreal but 'beautiful'
plate:
behringer sounds like a 80's plate
empress sounds like a reverb fx box - ott fx decay
spring:
behringer sounds like a great brittish sping reverb emulation
empress sounds like a long tail over the top impossible spring.
gated reverb:
behringer has gated reverb
empress sounds lacks the classic gated reverb but has a 'beer' (stupid name) which is sort gate ish maybe
conclusion:
behringer - classic reverbs
empress sounds - long dense tails (put a fart sample in - beautiful sound out!) ... missed out some classic reverb types though.
Bottom line if you have the $$$ for the empress add the behringer to fill in the classic emulations that the empress misses out on.
Maybe I overdid it on the long decays. They’re so good though 😂 I do think the halls and rooms of the Empress are stunningly good. And yeah didn’t do everything as I was comparing and as the Empress has 32 it would simply become a n empress demo… which may still come if I’ve got the time.
@@StarskyCarr you were seduced by long dense reverb tails!.. the Dark Side of FX!
@@cresshead these aren’t the FX you’re looking for, move along…
This is the correct observation. The Behringer sounds like exactly what its suppose to sound like, a physical space or thing. The Empress sounds like its doing the same thing in some Dr Strange Mirror Dimension with My Little Pony Sparkle Magic. It sounds cool. It is a 'better maker'. It certainly opens up new artistic doors to explore... but you could say its like a comparison of two very popular, but wildly different fruit.
I absolutely love my Empress, it's basically an instrument of its own. You could just turn up the decay, stick a cable in and pull it out to get a crackly transient, and mess with knobs for a long time just subtly shifting that one brief pulse of sound. For the record, it definitely does the more realistic sounding verbs as well, just not once you've turned the decay past 2 o'clock. Grateful to have it.
I have a DR600 - I was in the market for a cheap, practical, adequate reverb and that's exactly what the Behringer is. I'd be interested to see what else they have that might be more in this kind of ballpark, though - you could get lost in the Empress and the likes of Strymon, etc.
Nice! Would like to see similar test vs the Zoom "all in one" fx unit.
great video mate. It wasn't unfair on Behringer as you stated many times throughout that it was to see if and what the lots of extra money got you. People can then make their own choices based on the results in the video
All those Empress patches kinda sounded the same! Just "epic", "cinematic", super-long, modulated, almost sounding like a shimmer kind of reverb. Which is cool, but maybe not a fair comparison to the Behringer which is obviously more designed for "regular" or "utility" shorter reverbs.
True. But this shows what it can do. You can make the Empress much more subtle and it still sounds better. But the Behringer is a good value basic reverb too.
I learned a long time ago not to buy budget when it comes to kit. You get what you pay for
Thanks for the video. Pedals are great for hands-on, real time interactions - I think that's important. BUT they are, at the end of the day, plugins in an expensive box. If spending 3 or 4 hundred on one of the high end pedals would be a struggle for prospective players, don't sweat it. You can get superb VSTs for a fraction of the price. They'll do the same duties probably better. Either way, it all ends up in your computer, right? Cheers. :) P.S. From this test, I actually prefer the Behringer - feels more natural. Empress sounds a bit effect-ish. Might get on my nerves after a while. It's always a matter of taste.
10:14 that is a beautiful space to place those notes and tones.
Heya Starsky,
I'm curious as to how the Empress here compares to one of the boutique pedals like the Empress Zoia reverb models or the H9 Max and its various algorithms. What are your thoughts there?
I'd like to see a mid range (Hall of Fame, M300...etc...) VS the super high end stuff. I had the Behringer one and it just didn't do it for me, but I love the MXR M300, including how simple it is!
I’ve been keeping an eye out on eBay for an m300 for just that reason. Can’t buy them all! 😂
People seems to love HoF but for me there's something that I don't really like in it. No matter that it has "legendary TC Hall" in it. In comparison, GFI Skylar reverb is like a cloud that is like a good buddy of a synth or other dry signal. Even if wet is set high, it doesn't overwhelm dry signal. It's really like an enhancement. While HoF sounds to me like a "reverb attached to dry signal", if you know what I mean.
@@StarskyCarr i have an m300 and a hall of fame, the hall of fame and is especially its tone prints are in another league. i even prefer it to valhalla or other plugins. would be interesting against the empress
I'd be very interested in hearing an a\b comparison with the effects in the Deepmind vs some of the higher end units like Empress and Strymon with the DM effects bypassed.
The Behringer is probably trying to clone a Boss reverb pedal.. so that would be a better comparison. Since the Behringer is so cheap, I wonder how it would sound if you get half a dozen of them and run 3 in parallel (with slightly different settings) into another 3 for example - and use a mixer to add a feedback loop with some EQ.. now compare to the empress :) (I like to do this kind of thing running synths into a cheap multi-tap echo into a cheap plate reverb unit etc.. and can get some cool results by chaining up a few - same concept within my modular synth plugin). The Behringer sounds like it's tuned to provide 'realistic' bread and butter reverbs and the empress has massive amounts of feedback with modulation - probably more delay lines/memory in total.
Nice ideas … I went with this one as it was the most budget but decent stereo . The idea being really cheap vs expensive.
Hello, very interesting video. Recently I came across a reverb of the Astronaut 5 Shift line. Could you test it with a piano and compare it with the ventris dual reverb. If it's possible. Bartek
Thanks, I'll defo grab a Behringer for jams. I pipe my audio into Logic anyway, then it get's pampered with Altiverb, MIR Pro or maybe Spaces II. I never print with external FX anyway, so this bad boy will do just fine.
When I bought my Orange Rocker 32 I didn't even notice it lacked Reverb until I plugged in the first time. I ended up buying the Behringer digital reverb pedal. It does the job just fine. Sure, I'd rather my amp had spring reverb built in but the Behringer pedal does the job for the little amount of reverb I like.
If you do another reverb video could you touch on and maybe test if the reverb you test is True Stereo. Not a Stereo signal, fully summed to Mono and then send out Stereo again. I know a reverb does smush the stereo signal a bit.
I noticed that some high end reverbs on a fully wet mix lose all panning. While others actually maintain some panning, unless you go crazy with the reverb settings, ofcourse. I was using the Gforce OB-E softsynth with the Strymon Nightsky reverb pedal fully wet and gone was all the panning. Then I used Valhalla Vintage reverb fully wet and the panning retained. Is it decadent of me to want my reverb to act as an actual room, hall, church etc.? Is panning a luxury we can afford to lose if the reverb is lush enough? Is the Empress True Stereo? So many questions arise.. 😇
Thanks!
The empress sounds just heavenly! It’s top notch. I don’t think I’ve heard anything better. I don’t think there’s anything better. I love it!
Strymon Big Sky Reverb.
Look it up.
Cloud setting on it is the best reverb I’ve ever heard.
Plus is does more and has midi.
Ufff. That's actually a delightful advertisement for the Empress.
I wonder how these high end reverb pedals stack up against plugins, beginning with the free Valhalla Supermassive. As a guitarist I love reverb pedals when noodling, but find myself tracking guitars dry and adding reverb in post-production.
Bigsky vs Valhalla Shimmer: Getting Similar Results
ua-cam.com/video/UEpdmlkN4Ls/v-deo.html
they use less of your computer's processing resource. that's the answer.
Dunno, since I've got SuperMassive I did not look back 🤠
"Tech Data
I tested Valhalla Supermassive using my trusty PC Audio Labs Rok Box with Intel Core i7-4770K CPU @ 3.5 GHz, 16 MB RAM running 64 bit Windows 7. RAM requirements are small, only about 8 MB. And CPU use is very low - I measured 0.1% to 0.14% cpu resource depending on the model and settings, and zero latency in all cases (measured using REAPER’s Performance Monitor)."
Source: Gearspace
Thats the best way to do it.
I loved listening to the Empress. I began to realise that some of my favourites recordings ever are so moving because they have good reverb! That said, I can't afford the Empress. It might be easier to find an actual cathedral to record in...The Behringer is pretty good if you consider the affordability factor.
Nice demo! How are u playing guitar pedals with a vst?
I used 2 track of the VST in Logic. One was sent to outputs 3&4 the other to outputs 5&6. These were then routed to the stereo input cables you see in the video with the outputs routed to different stereo pair inputs on the interface (I'm using a 8x8 UAD Apollo). I hope that makes sense!
@@StarskyCarr It does, didn't realize you could do that, thanks!
I'd love to see the Empress Reverb up against the Strymon BigSky / NightSky!
Behringers secret weapon is the FX2000. just picked up a second one for peanuts on ebay. The cathedral reverb effect is lush and gives my Eventide blackhole a run for its money at a third of the price.
lol, right.
I wonder if the Behringer sums stereo to mono? Empress does and that can be important to some
Hey Starsky - Love your videos and comparisons but this is not really apples to apples 😮 As others have pointed out, the Empress is more FX than reverb. Some suggestions which I think a lot of people would find useful - Empress vs £200-ish revers. Empress vs Strymons. Empress vs the free Valhalla Massive 😁 I's sure like to see those 👍
Yeah … there’s loads I could do here but literally did this one as that’s what I was thinking on Friday night! Defo not apples vs apples and that was the point really. If everything’s down to algorithms then why cant the budget ones do the big FX stuff... I guess the processors aren’t the same or Behringer save the more sophisticated algorithms for the Hall of Fame … and charge more? Btw I think the Empress can absolutely do the bread and butter stuff. It’s quite surprised me tbh that in the comments people seem to think it’s mainly for the more unreal FX. I just assumed everyone would realise it was amazing at the basics too! 🤦♂️
@@StarskyCarr Yes, you're right. I think the point most people are making is that it's assumed the Empress can do the basics as can the Behringer😁 so you're essentially paying for the 'non-realistic' FX-type reverbs. And very nice they are too 😁
I wonder what would happen if you had 2 Behringer pedals daisy chained together??
I'm just listening on my PC speakers, but he Behringer sounded pretty good, especially for the price. I think it might sound better than my Hall of Fame 2, which costs 5x as much. Though it does have shimmer ;-)
Nice comparison. For $500 you can buy a kickass analog spring reverb, that's my personal preference.
Euck.. not a fan of spring reverbs myself ;) haha. Maybe I need to try a really good one
@@StarskyCarr King Tubby used spring reverbs, I really like the sounds he got.
If you're making old school rockabilly the R600 is actually better then most springs as there are more options, the more expensive one is way too modern / clean, you only need a little bit of reverb for some types of music, the expensive one is giving you more than you actually need, unless you are making modern trippy ambient music,
Great demo, Cheers
How does the empress compare to the Big sky? I have a big sky but haven’t used it as much as I would like, as the user controls aren’t as friendly looking as the empress.
I agree.. that's the main reason for piking one over the other.
Hi, have you tried the Ventris by source audio? And or the Strymon nightsky?.
No neither of those. I may have to get my hands in the Ventris at least and put vs BigSky and this.
@@StarskyCarr sounds like a plan worth putting into action. The empress does sound excellent, creating beautiful spaces in your video.
Playing into the effect rather than throwing the effect on top - great line ...
Reverb is an important and handy effect but is so overused these days. I do like the Empress as it is capable of so much more. I personally still use spring reverbs and a lot of analogue effects, it suits my purpose.
You prefer the empress over the big sky eh? I was shopping for a reverb a little while back but have pulled the trigger yet. Also I was looking into granular effects like the Mood, Particle among others as well and couldnt decide.
I may put them together at some point. Purely from a scientific standpoint of course!
I really like crystals on the H9 for the granular ish stuff.
While I can't imagine stomping on a plastic pedal if used for stage with a guitar, many of these expensive pedals are seriously overbuilt for studio use, aren't they... the other thing for me is, I'd be hesitant to get an expensive pedal scratched, keeping it dusted off, etc. Sometimes cheaper gear is just easier/more fun to use because it's literally more carefree in that way! But yeah the Empress sounds great.
That Behringer unit is really great plugged to a drum buss, because is somewhat short and more “realistic”. I usually use a TC Electrnics Arena added at the end with medium subtle tails.
Empress Reverb sounds beautiful by itself, though IMHO you couldn’t fit such infinite tails in a mix easily, outside of certain musical genres.
Nice video, as usual, and a nice idea to come by. Cheers from Spain !!!
Thanks… yeah of course the infinite stuff isn’t suitable for most things - but demoing the differences rather than similarities. The Behringer is a nice little FX unit though. Hopefully that came through as well. It’s just not aimed at the same market. I now know I need the expensive ones! Always the way unfortunately 😂
@@StarskyCarr oh, the intention of the video came out perfectly, mate. It’s a beautiful sounding pedal, and I feel a similar itch when it comes to
Delay ones. As a tip: combinations of couple of fx in the send bus plus using the mixer feedback instead of the delay/chorus/modulation one could create a “super fx” that is more of the sum of all parts. You should try it :)
My 2 cents. Keep the excellent work!
Iv always used a Hall of Fame and it sounds good to me
How does the empress stack up against the big sky? Pretty sure you have had a big sky in videos before?
I do… tbh I see them as different things. Bigsky has the app etc and you can maybe dig in a little more - empress is more plug and play to me. Both sound great though.
I own also a Behringer Reverb. It sounds really good for the price. But on stage, it is very problematic to have such a low cost device. Sooner or later it will break. This thing is not made for the rough life out there. The quality is really cheap. I also had issues with the Behringer Octaver because of a big hum.
Would be interesting to compare the Empress to a software reverb.
Me too! I’m wondering which. I tried big sky vs Valhalla (bigsky won) but what to put this up against… hmmm.
@@StarskyCarr Maybe try Relab Sonsig Rev-A ?
@@rico1979 nice but I’ve not got that one. .. looks great though.
@@StarskyCarr Ah to bad. Sounds great to ;-)
@@StarskyCarr I am interested in this too ..going all Floyd there at 14:20
How about the Empress vs Big Sky? The Behringer vs a Digitech Polara might be a good video as well.
I think I’ll have to. I was considering it, but now so many have asked I think it’s got to go on the list 😀
@@StarskyCarr Use the Strymon "Nixie" software too, its a lot easier than using the knobs to edit, recall patches etc..
All of the empress verbs are so modulated. I like it better overall but it is putting a huge stamp on the sound. I think I would get sick of the constant swirl and could take up too much room in a mix. I’m sure it’s fun to play through. I like the behringer better for the hall fwiw
You can dial down the modulation on the ‘thing 1 ‘ knob on most algorithms, so you’ve got a lot of control. But yeah there nothing wrong with the Behringer… just a lot more options and tone shaping on the Empress. These are things I was discovering myself while I made this btw.
Does the Empress sounds very close to Strymon BigSky?
Seems I'm going to have to do a shootout! Lots of folks have asked the same.
Reverb is probably one of the most important sounds to spend money on. It’s usually always on. I always have a subtle verb goin on in the background….
The Behringer sounds surprisingly good ! The Empress sounds like more of a special effects / magical sound machine, unrealistic (but super nice) effects, Behringer is more realistic classic effects.
I took the empress into the realms the Behringer couldn’t go, precisely to demo why you pay more. It can still do the rooms and halls… and does them very well. I decided to make it more obvious than subtle. Behringer no er is good though. If you want standard spaces it’s great for the cash.
@@StarskyCarr Suppose - like you say at the end - a better comparison would be budget vs budget . . . then something like Empress vs Big Sky . . . anyhow, useful review video, tempted to buy a Behringer now, just for basic duties when I my posh reverbs are tied up.
@@davelordy comparing two devices in the same price bracket is certainly a useful and important type of video, but that's not what the goal was here. this kind of video exists to show you why such a big difference in price exists. it shows you the strengths of the behringer pedal and why it's such a good deal, but it also shows you what the behringer pedal can't do and why you might want something more high end. i think these kinds of videos are very important and useful as well.
@@loreleiofthemist _"that's not what the goal was here"_
true !
What you do is now plug the Behringer A B out into the Empress A B in.
sounds like the DR600 has suspiciously short decay... If I wanted to find out what it is we're paying for in a more expensive pedal I'd compare similar algos at comparable settings. Btw the cheap old Behringer V-Verb has 20-second max decays
I did similar settings for a bit and the Empress impressed - but played the larger ones for longer - firstly because I wanted to show what you couldn’t do on the budget unit and secondly it’s fun.
It's probably good for the high price reverb group that Behringer don't really take them on at the moment but if they really do then it'll destroy they're healthy profits. I don't think it's going to be long though. It's only a matter of time before you see a £90 effects unit that is as good as anything available.
The hall on the empress was very lush, but I thought the hall on the Behringer sounded decent. I thought the modulated sound on the Behringer was really cool. The swell on the Empress was also very good.
Sorry Bub, but the Behringer is all I would need. IfI wanted crazy reverb, I would go with the Crazy Tube Circuits.
The Behringer sounds good in my opinion. It's not as good, but if would be 100% fine if you don't need something that sounds like a cathedral. I feel like cheap gear can inspire people to be more experimental at times. You could buy 10+ Behringer pedals for the cost of one Empress. That could create something fully original. Both have their place, and I would love to have an Empress, so I'm not saying the Empress isn't worth it, but if you're on a budget, get cheap pedals, and learn to work with them.
You should compare the Empress to an Digitech Polara or something, I guess that would be more fair.
It's such a shame they don't build these anymore.
I had looked for one of them originally.
I see/hear the empress reverb box is quite (VERY) "Tempting" to tun up the reverb decay to 30 seconds or more..
and make so dense it's like a pea souper out there!
I guess very much like new users were when they got their Yamaha SPX90 back in the 80's (me)
EVERYTHING needs to bee fully WET, as big as possible and dense enough that you can taste it!
it's like getting the keys to a candy store.... you'll over do everything and make yourself sick!
You need an angel on your shoulder to rein you in and balance the little devil on the other shoulder saying.. nah MORE .. dial it up! BIGGER!!!!!
cool vid btw!
Haha… I was - don’t forget- demoing the differences and why it’s more expensive. If I kept to the smaller times and within the scope of the Dr600 I wouldn’t be showing what it does differently and what you’re paying for. I did do some shorter halls. But yeah the BIG ONES are so much more fun and so much nicer and so much more inspirational and so much more reverb!! 😂
The Behringer sounded as good as the Empress and even more natural...
I was taking the Empress into the regions the Behringer can’t do, rather than producing the same or similar in both. Interestingly when I compare synths I get asked to show the differences… when I do, people call them out! 😂
@@StarskyCarr I like it. Can we chain 2 Behringer reverb to push the enveloppe further ?
Whether or not high end reverbs are worth it is purely a matter of opinion - but when you compare a reverb pedal to say, a Lexicon PCM 91 in cascaded reverb mode (which gets it VERY close to a 480L in quality) , then there is a massive difference in how natural and realistic it is.
If natural and realistic isn't high on your list of priorities then there are useful reverbs in most devices.
You’re right - it’s all a matter of opinion. Different strokes and all that. I think there’s a big difference in ‘useful’ reverbs in devices and inspiring and beautifully crafted ones. I tried to emulate for example the Bigsky with Valhalla and you could get similar results but the Bigsky was definitely the nicer (this one’s not an opinion 😂). I’ve got the Lexicon PCM software and the 480 on UAD - very nice - and yes I’m addicted!
Next thing you don't know you need, is the Empress Echosystem. Bought it first, then right after I had to pair it with their Reverb pedal. They are a match made in heaven and you will feel like a little kid in the playground, even with just the simple stereo configuration. Check it out, I feel sorry for your wallet :)
I understand why you tested it side by side only on piano. Pianos generally can sound pretty good regardless of what reverb because it's a known sound, and one we commonly hear in all types of natural reverb. It would be a good test to see how they compared on reverb-centric sound design pieces such as ambient pads, dub chords, snares etc as opposed to just one type of sound, as the sound type massively impacts our perception of the rev.
I agree.. I picked the piano as it has a complex and natural tone. I started with some sequences and synth sounds, but found the piano showed it off best. Maybe more to come :) ... guitarists seem to get away with demoing stuff on guitars ... haha so easy for those lazy goodfornothings :)
@@StarskyCarr lol
The Behringer sounds much better than my Mooer Ocean Machine reverbs at 5 times lower price.
Oh dear! the Behringer is a great little pedal though.
There's no question which one you choose if money is no object. My Empress Reverb is a sound design tool. I play mine like an instrument. Seems a bit mean to compare it to a $30 Behringer reverb. But this is UA-cam, totally get it.
Haha nothing to do with it being UA-cam tbh - I was really wondering what the difference would be - especially as decent algorithms can be found on cheap VST Fx etc. Now I know! Wasn’t being mean at all I hope. One is 15x cost! I think the Behringer came out pretty well all in all.
@@StarskyCarr I love all your videos, please don't trip at my comment. The bottom line is that you can't expect a $30 pedal to do the job of a $400 one. There is a major difference in quality, options, and tweakability, but not everyone will (or should) care. Context is everything. For whatever reason, I really don't like the sound and UX of plugins. I like cables and boxes. I trust them. I still use analog tape. I like running things through pedals, and I'm a snob about them. When it comes to verb, I use the H9 and the Empress. And if I were just starting out I would be all over Behringer pedals.
I have to agree with some of the comments below. The Emprrss is behaving like an fx. A very nice one but still fx. The Behringer clinches it for realism. Hey at these prices have both.
It is here as I’m demoing the differences. It can also do realistic spaces brilliantly. It’s odd, as I’ve mentioned in other comments, that I expected folks to realise how good it was at natural or standard spaces - so I was demoing what the Behringer couldn’t do. I thought it was a waste demoing same for same when trying to show the differences. Perhaps I should’ve spent longer showing it doing more ‘mundane’ or ‘standard’ duties. In reality the Empress definitely beats the Behringer for realism as well.
The Hall on the Behringer sounded like a Hall... the Hall setting on the Empress sounded like Shimmer. So while it sounded nicer, the Behringer sounded most like a Hall Reverb 🤷
Did you hear the shimmer 😂 … and once again I find myself answering the same thing. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough in the video, but I’m demoing what’s different not what’s the same. Why do expensive ones cost more?…. Because they can do this…. Not because they can do the same but better quality (I thought that was a given). 🤷♂️ maybe not.
@@StarskyCarr nope, didn't make it through the whole video. Once I heard the Empresses version of Hall, I suspected that all its versions were gonna be that style of Reverb, but with a lot extra on top. Scrolled down and saw a comment saying that exact thing (all the Reverb types sounded like they had shimmer added to the base sound so it all sounded cinematic). And that is in no way a reflection of you or your playing or your content. LOVE your channel and appreciate the hell out of what you do. Clicked on the video to find out the difference between the 2 and got my answer super fast 😉 Hope that cleared things up. Have a great day and keep doing what you do 👍
That power supply in the midiverb! Was the downfall for me, was dodgy then some wires disconnected. Couldn’t replace it
So is it 16 times (30 Bucks to 480) better? I would say yes :)
But have you tried chaining 16 Behringer pedals in a row? ;)
The Dr600 is like 10 years old isn't it?
The Empress sounds very nice, clearly much better, but you would expect that. The problem is that reverb is not a great effect.
so there really are people who compare tuktuk with bently sedna.
can DR600 go 100% wet?
The empress sure sounds good. But it's pricey for non-professionals.
From my experience it may be better and/or more fun to get an older unit (which wasn't marketed as a low-budget unit back then)
ua-cam.com/video/pZFWzIsXumo/v-deo.html
The Rocktron in this clip is worth considering for 100 euros.
Alesis Midiverb is also quite popular nowadays.
Avoid budget Lexicons though as they sound cheap and flat and are noisy as h*ll.
"I just want to play this for hours"
This is what makes an instrument of any price worth its value; if an instrument is inspiring, it's worth every penny.
Still amazing value for the Behringer though; 30 bucks is really low, and wondering how it stacks up against the competition.
The hall reverb even may have sounded more realistic in some respects than the Empress (which sounded amazingly and lush, but perhaps not a realistic "hall")
Why is the modulation constantly on, on the empress. It has some amazing natural sound. You can’t compare them when the settings are that different. The empress is an entire different league.
The blue modulation preset with modulation turned of completely ist just so incredibly lush and clean.
It’s not about comparing like for like. I’m demonstrating what one does that the other can’t. What you’re paying for. Demoing the same on each wouldn’t make much sense in this comparison. Of course the Empress can do the standard reverbs. Of course it sounds great - there a loads of videos showing it doing just that. There’s no pint in me repeating what’s already out there. I’m showing here why some are so much more expensive than others and what they do that’s above and beyond the standard. Once again… not comparing like for like. That would completely underplay what the Empress can do. Could you imagine the comments telling me how much more it was capable of, how I didn’t show its full potential, how I limited it to budget parameters. If someone wants the standard … buy the Behringer - it’s fine. But if you want more you’ll pay for it, but it’s worth it. That’s essential the story here.
@@StarskyCarr that’s true and I agree with that narrative! I just think that showing the reverb with out any bells and whistles showcases the quality of the algorithm better. The modulation is a fantastic bonus that I wouldn’t want to miss. But I am just grateful that more videos are made about reverbs, they can completely change the feeling of a synth voice, and deserve more attention!
the issue with the high end reverbs and things like analogue microcosm is that the pedals become too much of the bulk of the sound sometimes. yes, the shimmer is beautiful, but if you explore that world of 'instambient' artists long enough, it all sounds very same-y. To me, a lot of it starts to lack soul and sounds very wishy washy. Essentially you can fart through some of those pedals and it'll still sound beautiful. Not saying they're bad ofc, but its easy to be too reliant on those pedals than making a decent sound source that sounds great with something simple like a nanoverb / midiverb II. depends what you are looking for i guess.
your quite right... I've overplayed it here to show where it can go, but instambient has never been appealing.
No surprise here -- after all, Behringer isn't even claiming their pedals are equal to the best, nor targeting people who can afford such; their goal is decent quality gear into the hands of budget-restricted musicians. And this demonstrates that it succeeds at its goal: decent-quality sound at a very low price. The more direct comparison would be its actual competition -- namely, a Boss compact pedal. But there's no doubting that you've demonstrated why the expensive boxes are worth the price!
4:22, video over.
Nobody but Dick Dale fans really _like_ spring reverbs tbh.
I couldn't disagree more, a good quality analog unit is affordable and kicks the ass of almost all digital reverbs.
@@JackNance22 A spring reverb is a spring reverb is a spring reverb.
I like surf rock. Really. Not even being sarcastic. Spring reverbs are garbage.
@@iNuchalHead It's funny you think surf rock is the only place to hear spring reverb.
The real fight is between a £300-400 reverb and a £30 VST. I don't really have a dog in this fight, as I have a few expensive pedals and a few expensive VSTs. The main difference for me is having knobs I can fiddle with while I'm playing/dialling in a sound. Is that worth paying through the nose for a pedal? In my opinion, yes if I'm making music in the studio, maybe not if I'm adding reverb in after I've done the main sound design. Expensive reverbs work when they function as another instrument. The cheap ones are great if you just want something quick and dirty (I have plenty of those too). After spending far too much money at every end of the pedal spectrum, the only conclusion I've come to is that it's about the right tool for the right job rather than which is "better", if that makes sense. Edit: also, to add another dimension, buying vintage rack effects for their specific flavour is another element to this equation. Just to cheer Behringer up after this, I'm still using a V-verb pro that I spent a while hunting down, for the simple reason that if I want a bit of that 90's grit factor it works really nicely.
Absolutely. I’m not saying the budget Fx don’t have a place - they definitely do, but I just wondered how large the gap would be, and if you’re using simple room verbs would a cheap one get you where you need to be these days - yes! unlike the terrible early days of ‘budget’ digital FX.
@@StarskyCarr yeah, sorry if that came across as suggesting you were saying something. I was more verbalising the process I'd gone through myself to justify the giant pile of stuff 😂 it definitely never hurts to have some cheap pedals available, and you're right, they are far better than they were even 10 years ago. Even a mid range multiFX pedal from 6-7 years ago sounds awful and very digital compared to a lot of the budget pedals now available
Yeah the Zoia deserves a mention here, it’s got it’s own sound that justifies having one even with a shed load of vst fx
@@dbefore7165 coming soon! :)
@@StarskyCarr you're right that older budget verbs are unconvincing for room sounds, but midiverb and old radioshack reverbs do a sort of weird/bad thing that sometimes sounds good, especially on drum machines. Then again, I don't know if I'm even capable of calling any piece of gear "bad" at this point, lol. There's always a use for it somewhere.......
3:52 and 4:03 are all you need to know.
Try with the Eventide and Lexicon plugins.. to me unless you are a live performer no reason to go outside the box for reverb, unless you are going for a LOFI sound! These fx boxes are overpriced and under-performing. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but just think about the processing power of a 400$ laptop these days...
I’ve got both and use them often. Very nice. The boxes are great for when you’re playing, as you say, outside the box. Sometimes I like to play without the computer - just mess around and do stuff in the fly. There’s a big difference between adding stuff in the box or using it as an integral part of the sound design process and as inspirational tools. Tweaking knobs with one hand as you play with the other brings and extra dimension that I find is missing from computer based writing. Nothing wrong with either approach. - it’s nice to have both options. The DAW is great for deadlines and completing tracks, hardware I find is good for inspiration and fun… leading to the DAW. 👍
I would consider empress a budget reverb. I would never consider the other product. I recommend OTO BAM and Strymon BigSky. Since I can't afford an expensive studio reverb, pretty satisfied with these.
Got both of them… I edited a section out at the start showing them and explaining my obsession! Not sure why you’d consider Empress a budget one though. Same price as the others. All very nice.
Empress: I have to fight my base man and resist my desires to commit Idol Worship.
but is it 370.00 dollars mo-better of a reverb?????
Bought on Amazon :(
It’s going back… does that even things out 😂
only because thomann can't deliver, as could be seen in the video^^
Sadly, both Empress and Behringer spring reverbs did not sound like spring reverb at all.
They both fail miserably.
No comparison!🤣
Did you ever listen about Digitech Polara? He was better.... More better.