TC Electronics' reverbs

[Castleview]

How are their reverbs? Have my eyes on a used M300 for a cheap price and I was wondering how their budget and higher end offerings compare to other brands. The Hall of Fame, SkySurfer, and Arena pedals seem really cool too.

[doombient]

Depends on what you are looking for. I've always found TC reverbs to be on the clinical and cold side -- which can be a good thing if you want contrast in your mixes. If it's your only reverb, it might be a tad too sterile. The long-discontinued Behringer V-Verb is rumoured to have been modelled on the TC 3000/4000, and, in fact, the reverbs tend to be on the clear but cold side. Which is nice, if only for contrasts.

But that's only me, of course. I could never warm up to the fabled TC 1210 Chorus Flanger either. Had two of them, sold them both (but always kept at least one Roland Dimension D).

Never liked (or used) reverb stompboxes -- I'm not really into this sort of gimmickry either.

Stephen

[Castleview]

I plan to mix it with my Digitech Polara (which has Lexicon reverbs in it) and I also have ValhallaRoom, ValhallaShimmer, Toraverb, and the Eventide Blackhole on my computer, so I've got some extra options.

I've used an Alesis Nanoverb a lot in the past on my guitar and other external sound sources and it's a bit cold too (and not the cleanest) but I've always liked the thickness of a lot of the reverbs in it, particularly the hall reverbs, and it contrasted well with my plugins. Still works fine but I wanted another external reverb that's a bit different, a little cleaner.

The few TC reverbs I've heard sound pretty clean to me.

I plan to do some shoegazy guitar textures anyways so I really don't even need the cleanest reverb for everything. I actually thought about buying an old Midiverb and Quadraverb but I don't know how much longer they'd last. It would be nice to have something cleaner for synths though.

[doombient]

You might want to give a decent spring reverb a try instead.

Stephen

[Castleview]

The Polara actually has a spring reverb in it. Haven't really played with it yet but that might be great to use when ebowing, in conjunction with my fuzz pedals to get a gritty, atmospheric sound that's not too washed out.

Just curious, what are usually considered the best spring reverbs? I've never really looked into them.

[doombient]

There is plenty of them around. The problem is, most of them are "vintage" and thus fairly pricey.

The Sound Workshop 242 is a classic stereo spring reverb, a bit like the Klark Teknik DN 50 (which is also stereo). Both are 19" rackmounts. Fostex, D&R, Tapco, Quad/Eight, Masterroom, Vesta Fire, Furman, and Korg also made rackmounts.

The Great British Spring is a stereo device but fairly awkward to carry around (let alone place in the studio). Shipping one of these could be a real challenge.

The king of springs would be the AKG BX-20 but this one has become extremely expensive recently, as well as its smaller siblings, the BX-25(E), BX-15, or BX-10. I would not spend a fortune on a BX-5. Too limited for the price it fetches.

For guitar and instant Dick Dale the Lafayette Reverb is interesting (marketed under different brand names), as well as the Schaller Reverb. These two are mono.

Vermona RetroVerb is one of the more contemporary (and affordable) offerings. Ekdahl Moisturizer probably is a bit too hip and correspondingly more expensive.

My personal favourite would be a BBD echo, combined with a spring reverb (e. g. Evans/Electra EP-250). This, or a Roland RE-201/301/501/555. Sweet tone.

Stephen

[Castleview]

Wow, a lot of those are super pricey. You weren't kidding.

I'm sure they're great and worthwhile if I was in a surf rock band but not for an ambient musician who might only use one a little bit here and there.

A good plugin might be better for me. I noticed the AKG BX-20 has a plugin but even that's a bit pricey. If I get one of those, it might be that one. It sounds really good. I noticed PSP makes one too.

Thanks for the recs. Those at least give me a good idea of what a good spring reverb sounds like.

[Seren]

I have TCM3000 and Fireworx
Both do very different things - both have the ability to play around with settings and save as user patches.
I like them, not sure if they are cold and sterile (perhaps 'clean and clear' is another adjective) as I've made music that is both that and warm and fuzzy....
If I had the money I'd get a second M3000.

I've found that whatever reverb I use, I have favourite settings. I had Glaceverb as I like the potential for really shifting sounds around...and I tend to send all my sounds through a variety of manipulations....

[Castleview]

I have TCM3000 and Fireworx
Both do very different things - both have the ability to play around with settings and save as user patches.
I like them, not sure if they are cold and sterile (perhaps 'clean and clear' is another adjective) as I've made music that is both that and warm and fuzzy....
If I had the money I'd get a second M3000.

I've found that whatever reverb I use, I have favourite settings. I had Glaceverb as I like the potential for really shifting sounds around...and I tend to send all my sounds through a variety of manipulations....

Thanks. Really nice to get your take. I've noticed more ambient musicians use Lexicon, Eventide, and other brands and I was a bit curious what the consensus was on TC. I know Loren Nerell and Oophoi have used TC reverbs before but outside of that, I haven't seen too many ambient musicians talk about them.

I ended up ordering the M300 because I found one for pretty cheap. I know it's more of a budget version of the M3000 but it's probably still an upgrade over my Nanoverb at the very least.

[APK]

I have an M300. Its permanently on the output of my Korg Radius.
Inexpensive, but clean and useful. Does a whole variety of effects.
Bargain unit.

[Seren]

I have TCM3000 and Fireworx
Both do very different things - both have the ability to play around with settings and save as user patches.
I like them, not sure if they are cold and sterile (perhaps 'clean and clear' is another adjective) as I've made music that is both that and warm and fuzzy....
If I had the money I'd get a second M3000.

I've found that whatever reverb I use, I have favourite settings. I had Glaceverb as I like the potential for really shifting sounds around...and I tend to send all my sounds through a variety of manipulations....

Thanks. Really nice to get your take. I've noticed more ambient musicians use Lexicon, Eventide, and other brands and I was a bit curious what the consensus was on TC. I know Loren Nerell and Oophoi have used TC reverbs before but outside of that, I haven't seen too many ambient musicians talk about them.

I ended up ordering the M300 because I found one for pretty cheap. I know it's more of a budget version of the M3000 but it's probably still an upgrade over my Nanoverb at the very least.

Let us know what you think after you've played with it for a while.

and keep an eye on ebay - that's where I got my fireworx for £250.......

[Castleview]

I have TCM3000 and Fireworx
Both do very different things - both have the ability to play around with settings and save as user patches.
I like them, not sure if they are cold and sterile (perhaps 'clean and clear' is another adjective) as I've made music that is both that and warm and fuzzy....
If I had the money I'd get a second M3000.

I've found that whatever reverb I use, I have favourite settings. I had Glaceverb as I like the potential for really shifting sounds around...and I tend to send all my sounds through a variety of manipulations....

Thanks. Really nice to get your take. I've noticed more ambient musicians use Lexicon, Eventide, and other brands and I was a bit curious what the consensus was on TC. I know Loren Nerell and Oophoi have used TC reverbs before but outside of that, I haven't seen too many ambient musicians talk about them.

I ended up ordering the M300 because I found one for pretty cheap. I know it's more of a budget version of the M3000 but it's probably still an upgrade over my Nanoverb at the very least.

Let us know what you think after you've played with it for a while.

and keep an eye on ebay - that's where I got my fireworx for £250.......

Wow, I've seen them go for a lot more so that sounds like an awesome deal.

[doombient]

[...] I'm sure they're great and worthwhile if I was in a surf rock band but not for an ambient musician who might only use one a little bit here and there. [...]

I wouldn't call Brian Eno "surf rock" but he did use a Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo in conjunction with a Lexicon 224. This is what made "Plateaux of Mirrors" and "The Pearl" so lush-sounding.

Stephen

[Castleview]

[...] I'm sure they're great and worthwhile if I was in a surf rock band but not for an ambient musician who might only use one a little bit here and there. [...]

I wouldn't call Brian Eno "surf rock" but he did use a Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo in conjunction with a Lexicon 224. This is what made "Plateaux of Mirrors" and "The Pearl" so lush-sounding.

Stephen

Wow, I didn't know that.

[LNerell]

Thanks. Really nice to get your take. I've noticed more ambient musicians use Lexicon, Eventide, and other brands and I was a bit curious what the consensus was on TC. I know Loren Nerell and Oophoi have used TC reverbs before but outside of that, I haven't seen too many ambient musicians talk about them.

I believe Robert Rich has had a M3000 for awhile now. I have the Reverb 4000 which I've now had for over a decade, it was my big splurge back then and am glad I got it. It's very different then a Lexicon or Eventide. I also have a Lexicon 300m, which I am starting to get more into, I think they complement each other a lot, the TC is more clear and good for solo instruments, the Lexicon is thicker and can have extremely long verbs, I think it maxes out at 65 seconds!  I also have a Fireworx but I've never used it as a reverb.

Anyway I hope you enjoy your M300, let us know what you think of it.

[Castleview]

I got it in the mail earlier this week but I haven't gotten a chance to play with it yet. I'll let you guys know what I think of it once I use it a little bit.

[Castleview]

Managed to try it for a bit this evening and it's definitely got a cleaner sound to it than my Nanoverb. Doesn't create super long decays but I've got other ones I can use for that. I like it so far.

[Castleview]

Been meaning to give some more impressions

I'm using the M300 quite regularly nowadays. I really like the delays and the vintage phaser. It's a versatile FX processor for sure. I don't regret buying it.

[Seren]

Good to hear you are enjoying the m300.

You might be able to 'extend' the reverb time if you set the time for max, but half the depth/intensity etc parameters, record it wet, record that back through the same settings a second time and then play with the dry and wet/wet track balances - you could try a slightly different reverb setting on the dry to merge the sounds together.

another idea that can work well is to record 2 different versions of similar effect and then play them back with each off centre - so panned somewhat left and right in stereo field.

[Castleview]

Thanks for those suggestions. I didn't even think about that panning technique. I know Robert Rich used to take two versions of the same texture and detune one of them slightly, but I wouldn't have thought of panning. Maybe I could play around with different levels of delay layered together as well, maybe some super subtle modulation.

You just spurned some new ideas.