Algorithm based reverbs essentially perform series of computational steps designed to place a sense of space upon a given sound. As with many things in recording, the algorithms used in these reverbs may not necessarily recreate “real life” but produce “more likable” results.

One of my great quests continues to be to find an algorithm based reverb plugin that I find palatable. Why do I want an algorithm reverb plugin versus a convolution reverb plugin? First, I should be able to open the plugin and dial in the sound I want. The convolution reverbs I am aware of do not allow manipulation of parameters. You get an image (or impulse) of a space and that’s it.

Second, I want to avoid latency. I also want the basic factors of decent sound. As web recording guru Fletcher says, something that “doesn’t suck.” I also look at price.

I recently tried out the Audio Damage Reverence VST plugin Windows. It also comes as an AU or VST plugin for OSX. It currently sells for $39. Yeah, that’s not a typo. It’s only $39.

Not only does the sound not suck it’s actually fairly good. Install is fairly straightforward. There’s no dongle. I got Cubase on a dongle and I don’t need any others. You download it. You use an installer. It asks for your registration code. Once that’s done you’re ready to reverb.

I first put the Reverence plugin to work in a project in Acid Pro 6. I was putting together a metal drum clip with a steel guitar and banjo. On the drum loop, I used a preset called “Bigfoot Kick.” The loop contained kick, snare and hi hat. Instantly, the dry drum loop came to life in a space where kick drum punched you in the gut, the snare tapped your chin and the hats possessed a tad bit of sizzle.

I painted in the steel guitar loop. The first bar sounded fairly interesting and blended in with the drum beat. The second bar did not mesh at all with the drum beat. I snipped out second bar and duplicated the first bar to make a new two bar clip.

I went through the presets seeing if anything jibed with the steel guitar loop. “Vocal Plate 1” sounded close but needed tweaking. The designers of Reverence allow for hardware style adjustments. The graphical user interface features knobs for pre-delay, reverb time and size. Pre-delay delays the signal before it goes to the reverberators. The reverb time control adjusts how long it takes for the reverb to fade out. The size control determines the size of the acoustic space.

The plugin also features buttons for diffusion, reverb time contour and roll off. The diffusion button affects how much of the sound gets spread apart as it recirculates in the reverberators. The reverb time contour control changes the frequency response of the reverberators and thus affects the tonal characteristics of the reverb tail. The roll off control reduces high frequencies as they recirculate in the reverberators.

The plugin also features buttons for input mute and reverb stop as well as faders for input level and output mix.

In dialing in the sound I wanted on the steel guitar, I found myself admiring the quality of the filters that affected the tonality of the reverb tail. The filters do work rather than merely providing a choice between cold, hard reverb tail A and cold, hard reverb tail B. In fact, you don’t get cold, hard reverb tails here. At most, the reverb tails range from sizzle to merely a sense of space. All seem musical in one way or another.

I also gave Reverence a spin in Cubase SX 2.0. I dialed in some appropriate, bring-to-life plate reverb sounds on a couple vocal performances.

The Bottom Line: I highly recommend Reverence. I like its sonics. I like the presets and I like its ability to let you dial in the sound you want. Street price is $39.

Link relating to this review: Audio Damage