[sdiy] Reverb opinions, please

[Cornutt, David K]

From: Tim Ressel [mailto:madhun2001 at yahoo.com]
> I am in the market for a reverb unit for the synth.
> Something along the lines of an Alesis quadraverb. Now
> I know you folks just hate to give opinions, but I was
> hoping you would make an exception in this case. 

I'm sorry, if you want opinions, you've totally
asked the wrong group. :-)

It depends a lot on what you want it for.  Is this to
be used as an effect, or are you looking for a studio-quality
reverb?  For the latter, I acquired a Lexicon MPX500
about 18 months ago, and I've been very happy with it.
What I actually wind up using a lot are the "ambient"
algorithms, which are sort of fast-decay reverbs.
It puts an air of spaciousness into a sound without
it sounding obviously like a reverb was used.  Although
it does have some *very* in-your-face algorithms for
times when that is called for. :-)  Pretty good
flanging effects, and a rotary speaker effect that,
although it isn't a realistic simulation of a Leslie,
is still very useful.  

The MPX500 was about $250 from *bay.  (Bidder with a
good rep who lived near me.)  I got tired of trying
to use guitar stomp boxes and Zoom stuff for studio
reverb.  Those are good for messing something up, but
the sound quality just wasn't happening.