1. Ambience
Ambience is a popular choice and many users consider it to be as good as a
commercial reverb plug-in. Unfortunately, it does display a nag screen when
you use it—it’s donation ware. It’s a small price to pay for a high
quality plug-in. You’re free to use it as much as you want without paying,
but if you donate any amount to the author, he’ll send you a version that
doesn’t nag. Get this Windows and Mac OS X in VST or AU plug-in formats
here.
3. Classic Reverb
Classic Reverb is a smooth reverb with a GUI that emulates a knob-controlled
rack reverb unit. It touts itself as being easy on the CPU. Get this
Windows VST plug-in here.
4. FreeverbToo
This Windows plug-in provides a simple but high-quality reverb that allows
you to visualize the reverberation parameters in a room simulation. It is
available in VST and DirectX formats here.
5. GlaceVerb
This plug-in attempts to model not only the sound of the room itself, but
the specific vibrations of the surfaces in a room, too. The sample files
show it being used on a whole track rather than a single sound, and the
result using presets that often sound terrible in other reverb plug-ins—
such as Classic Large Theater—do sound pretty good. Get it in Windows VST
format here.
6. OldSkoolVerb
OldSkoolVerb is a reverb designed for non-percussive, softer musical
elements to provide extra ambience. It has a nice and simple interface and
each knob is clearly labeled (a nice change!). It’s available as a Windows
VST plug-in here.
7. Omniverb
According to OmniVerb’s product blurb, this free plug-in was voted as one
of the best by Computer Music just last month—that’s a vote of confidence
from a reputable source!
It has some great variables wrapped up in a simple interface. You’ll need
to scroll down this page a bit to get this Windows VST plug-in.
8. Empire 2
Empire 2 is a very simple reverb unit, offering only a few controls. Not
great if you like to tweak your reverberation down to the minute details,
but if you’re looking for something nice and easy because you’re just
demoing stuff at home to take into the studio later, or because you don’t
yet understand the more complicated reverb units, this might be the one for
you. Get this VST plug-in here.
9. RoomMachine 844
This is a cool reverb unit, especially if you’re not the sort who likes to
play with knobs (though it does have some). It allows you to model a room
sound using virtual speakers and microphones—not bad if you’re trying to
visually recreate the reverberation of a given room for a full band relative
to the sound sources and microphones on each instrument. Get this Windows
VST plug-in here.
10. PSP PianoVerb
Here’s an interesting concept: a reverb unit that models the reverberation
of piano strings. It may not be an all-in-one reverb that you can apply to
any instrument, but if you’re looking to try some different and unusual
reverb effects, this might be the one for you. This plug-in is available for
Windows and Mac, and in VST, MAS and DirectX formats here.
11. Black Water Reverb
Here’s an ultra-simple reverb unit that was ported from Windows to Mac.
Unfortunately, it’s not universal—it’s a PowerPC plug-in—but since many
Mac musicians spent a lot of money on their PowerMacs and are putting off
the switch to Intel I thought it was worth including. Scroll to the very
bottom of this page to get this VST plug-in.
12. Mechaverb
This plug-in is amazing: that horrendous array of knobs actually allows you
to tweak the reverberation on each frequency band. It’ll take a few minutes
to get over the sheer number of knobs to play with here, but once you do,
you can get some crazy effects happening with Mechaverb. Get this Windows
VST here.
13. KR-Reverb FS
Here’s a free one that works on Windows and Mac OS X and gives you some
nice controls without overcrowding the plug-in with variables. I think the
graphing and room visualizations are a nice touch that make it that much
more easy to use. Check out KR-Reverb here—download it in VST for Win/Mac
and AU for Mac.
14. SIR Reverb
SIR is an impulse-response reverb unit. This means you can record the
reverberation in an actual, physical room and apply the same reverberation
it produces using the plug-in on any other sound. Worth rebooting into
Windows for if you’re a Mac user. Get the Windows VST here.
15. MdspDuckVerb
This reverb unit will compress the reverb output whenever there’s a certain
level of signal from the sound source. What this means is that sounds that
can become unintelligible with regular reverb retain their legibility
instead of being washed over with reverberation as they get louder. Very
handy, especially for vocals. Get the Windows or Mac OS X VST here.
