The best Reverb on Vocals? You choose!

Finding the right reverb is sometimes like searching for gold. You need to get the right sound for the right application. Otherwise it will sound too harsh, muddy or cavy. However, there is no blueprint for this. You have to try different devices and check how they affect the sound.

In an older post I featured different reverbs in terms of their general usage. But I recently wanted to know which of the reverbs I use, is the best for vocals!
Of course this is a very subjective choice and completely based on taste. I recorded some reverbs with the same vocals and made sure that the settings are as similar as possible. Below you can here what came out. I’ve got my favorite, but I’m interested in seeing which one you prefer. I want you to choose the one you think sounds best on this material! Listen to the examples and and choose your favorite below! 

– Audio Ease Altiverb –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476410?secret_token=s-L7BgS” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

– Eventide Blackhole –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476408?secret_token=s-DkqiE” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

– Exponential Audio R2 –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476404?secret_token=s-18vlf” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

– Waves H-Reverb –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476402?secret_token=s-IYHED” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

– Waves Manny Marroquin Reverb –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476398?secret_token=s-g45ql” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

– UAD EMT 140 –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476391?secret_token=s-bXFPZ” params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

– UAD Lexicon 224 –

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/276476386?secret_token=s-Kpzj5″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

[polldaddy poll=9487989]

All of these reverbs are really different. Some of them are static, others are more evolving. But as I said, it’s a matter of taste and you should take a listen to a device before deciding. Be flexibel, don’t rely on a single plugin. If you listened to the reverbs mentioned above, you now have a sense of how they react on vocals. Again, let me know which one you think sound best!