Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    The only digital reverb I'm aware that's "a little further down
    the scale" is the Alesis XT:c. It's around $700.  I had an XT for
    a while, but upgraded to a Roland SRV-2000, which put the XT to
    shame.  My XT also developed random noises after it had been left
    on for more than a few hours - I don't know if this is generic or
    peculiar to my instance.  Anyway, the XT:c is an improved version
    of the XT.  Check it out.
    
    len.
    

    Theres a company called Alessis (I think thats the spelling) who
    have just produced an item called a midiverb. This is basically
    a stereo reverb (gated effects and all) which can be controlled
    from a midi sequencer (or not if you prefer). This little machine
    has no knobs at all it just has 63 pre-set programs which can be
    called up as you require from a sequencer. The sound is tremendous
    and whilst it doesn't have the flexibilty of the REV7 it is less
    than half the price and has all the effects and rooms that ic ould
    ever use. e.g. small bright,large warm, ex large dark etc etc.
    
    Price approx 390 pounds in the U.K. I hope this is also available in
    the states.
    
    There is also the new Yamaha digital effects  processor the SPX90
    this can handle quote "full reverb, early reflections (can somebody
    explain this ?) and delay/echo facilities plus midi control. Digital
    parametric EQ programming ? Modulation effects including chorus
    and stereo flange, (not finished yet) freeze sampling, pitch change 
    Gate reverb (look out Phil Collins) ADR noise gate and autopan. All
    for 700 pounds. 
    
    But if all you need is reverb the alessis wins hands down. I'd
    appreciate it if you's let me know what you think of these two items
    as I am also just about to invest. I am assuming they are available
    over there.
    
    				PK.
    
    
    

    
    	What do you want to do?  I mean, if all you want is reverb you
    can go very cheap.  Why digital?  The analog stuff is cheaper and
    smaller. I mean, if your not sampling second long sounds and then
    blasting PROMs for a Simmons pad - why go through all the fuss?
    You'll find that you can get a nice reverb sound for 200 or under.
    Some units are spring based, others are not. Listen to how they
    sound (most dont like the spring based stuff - but they're not YOU)
    Look in the Want Advertizer, I seen stuff cheap there.
    
    							Joe Jas

    With analog delays you get what you pay for.  "Bucket brigade" type
    analog delays usually have some frequency response limitations.
    Spring reverbs just don't work for percussion, and reverb goes
    a LONG way to dramatically improve the sound of most percussion.
    I don't understand Joe's point about sampling, which is orthogonal
    to reverb.
    
    Anyone who looks at the Yamaha stuff ought to look at the Roland
    SRV-2000.  It's a little more expensive but ultimately more flexible,
    though it doesn't have a builtin chorus.  It does have a digital
    delay capability that the user's manual doesn't tell you about -
    if you power the thing up with the middle button on the top and
    the two outside buttons on the bottom pressed (all together), it
    powers up as an up-to-450 msec digital delay with all its controls
    mislabeled.  If anybody's interested in this "feature", ask and
    I'll tell you what I know.

    Early reflections are exactly what they sound like.  The first
    reflections back from the space boundaries are discrete (well, more
    discrete) compared to the later ones, which merge and overlap to
    provide the continuous decay that distinguishes reverb from echo.
    The SRV-2000 gives you control over early reflections as well.
    
    len.
    

    I have also used the Alesis xt:C and liked it very much. You can
    essentially adjust the size of the reverberant environment. The
    only problem I noticed was running a drum unit into it, getting
    a 'grainy' reverberation off the bass drum. I actually used it
    to master a tape. The original was a mono grand piano track. I
    ran it into the Alesis and got stereo reverb out. Very pleasing.
    Nice for the price. Thumbs up here ! 
    

    There's a nice two part article on digital reverbs in the last two
    issues of Electronic Musician (February and March 1986) which includes
    summaries of 8 or so digital reverbs under $1500.  The first part
    covers the technology in general.  More useful than anything else
    I've seen on the subject.
    
    len.
    

    If there's enough interest, I could probably flog myself into doing
    a review of the Roland SRV-2000.  I've lived with mine a few months
    now and can tell you all about it.  Any takers?
    

    re .7
    
    "Note On, O Ye of plentiful toys!"
    
    I'm one phase short of the "shopping phase" for a reverb unit and
    I would be glad to hear your comments on the SRV-2000...
    
    Oh yeah... the Electronic Musician articles ARE good pointers! 
    I've subscribed to the magazine for some time (back when it was
    "POLYPHONY" ) and I have ALWAYS found it to be extremely interesting
    and informative.  If you read this note/conference/whatever-we're-calling it
    regularly, then you may want to read "Electronic Musician", too.
    
    (No. Craig Anderton didn't pay me to write that.)
    
    /doug
    

    Uhh... yeah. I would appreciate an address for 'Electronic Musician',
    even tho I disagree vehemently with Anderton that four-track machines
    are only good for low-fi mono productions. karl
    

    Review of the 2000 would be well appreciated as are reviews of any
    other Digiverbs!
    
    	As always, thanks...
    
    		Todd.
    

    Electronic Musician provides two different subscription addresses
    and rates.  You figure it out.
    
    The bound in subscription card says $14.95 a year, and is addressed
    to
    		MIX Publications
    		2608 Ninth Street
    		Berkeley CA 94710
    
    The subscription junk in the front of the magazine says $22.00 a
    year, send requests to
    
    		Electronic Musician
    		5615 West Cermak Road
    		Cicero IL 60650
    
    or call (312) 762-2193.
    
    A review of the SRV-2000 is in the works.  Stay tuned.
    
    len.
    

    My band just picked up an ART (engineers who bolted from MXR and
    started their own company) DR2.  It goes for around $650 and so
    far, we're very pleased with it.  One of these years, when this
    job slows down a mite, I'll try to write in a few words about it.
    
    Steve
    

    I saw this review of one of the new Yamaha units and thought this 
group might be interested.

- John -

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Newsgroups: net.music.synth
Path: decwrl!pyramid!pesnta!hplabs!qantel!lll-lcc!lll-crg!seismo!rochester!ur-tut!hako
Subject: Re: Yamaha Rev 7
Posted: 21 Mar 86 18:29:46 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Rochester Computing Center
 
I heard the new Yamaha SX-90 (?) Digital Multi-Effects Unit (?) last
night, right next to the Rev 7.  Its reverb functions were very listenable,
almost as good as the Rev 7's, it's in stereo, and it also choruses/flanges/
stereo pans/pitch shifts/echos/slapback-echos/etc...  It's cheaper, too,
going for about $500 (after discount), if I'm not mistaken.
 
The reverbs sound the best, and do things like reverse, gate, and delay before
coming in.  There were some nice patches that the demo guy came up with,
called "Phil Collins" and "Jeffrsn Star".  (Speaking of naming your patches,
not only were there upper/lower case chars, numbers, and "graphics" like
%,$,#,!,etc., there were also some Japanese ideograms!!  at least 20 or so!!)
 
The pitch shifts were a bit unnatural sounding (fast "beats") and were just a
bit tough to get perfectly in tune.  If used for chourising, it sounds quite
nice.
 
The other types of sounds were quite good; it was fun to hear a drum machine
pattern bouncing back and forth between left and right channels, especially
in trigger mode (where the input level determines when to pan, I think).
 
I didn't get to try/hear the "freeze" function, a simple one-shot sampling
mode.
 
There are 30 preset sounds, grouped into the functions mentioned above.  To
get your own sounds, you modify the parameters of these presets.  There are
60 user slots, for a total of 90 sounds.
 
Another nice feature is it's capability to map MIDI patch numbers to different
(or the same) internal sound numbers.
 
All in all a quite useful machine.  Now if I only had the spare cash...
 
 
					Jim Menard
					...!seismo!rochester!ur-tut!hako
					Univ. of Rochester Cancer Center
					601 Elmwood Ave., Roch., NY
 
... I don't work for Yamaha.  I barely work!

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