I'm empressed

The transient test @ 13:05 is unbelievable. No grainy, metallic artifacts. Just sheer enormity. WOW.

Thanks so much for this video. It's a great recommendation, but also helped answer the 'what to listen for' portion of my previous question. Keep these videos coming! They are immensely useful.

I am crediting this video for my newly purchased Empress Reverb. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I'm confident I'm going to be very happy with this reverb pedal.

I own this and 100% agree with everything. Best Reverb pedal I’ve ever heard, and it might be the best pedal I’ve ever bought. It makes synths sound like a million currency units

synth starts at 13:37

I am tempted to go ahead and try to like every single video as a thank you to making this channel !

Love all your reviews man. I'm going to pick one of these up soon and I haven't found much on midi control, aside from the manual. I intend to use my beat step pro to sequence and trigger effects on this thing. Loopop did a great video on using CV for expression on effects pedals, and I've been doing that with my MF delay for electronic stuff and it has really changed my sound. Wish you could make a video on that, I think you'd come up with something really worth while. Anyway, figured it was worth mentioning. Thank you so much for all the information and education.

Great video, really good production quality. Wishing you a lot of success with the channel. Subscribed.

stuck around till the end & was surprised with your verdict.

I pulled the trigger on this pedal and I'm most pleased with how it sounds as a stereo effects processor for an entire mix - it can generate lots of usable and inspirational textures! Based on this video, I knew it was going to be good, but it far exceeded my expectations. The price tag seems steep at first, but after using it on everything in my studio I can confirm it was worth the plunge.

So many videos on this pedal on youtube don't do it justice. But your video on the empress reverb is the video making me consider actually buying it. Thank you😍

Absolutely great video. I’m sold

Yep. You're right. That modulation preset is just jaw-dropping. Entire tracks based off that. :O

Dammit, I've been on the fence for this pedal for so long and now I think you've sealed the deal Benn :)

I just ordered one of these today and I can't say how incredibly excited I am. I'm using a Joyo Space Verb combined with the onboard reverb on my AC-15, which is okay for the soupy ambient stuff, but the quality of the Empress is beyond gorgeous.

Most thorough video of reverb I've seen. At 11:40 there's the "do or die" test right there. You should make a comparison video with that thumb piano, on the Strymon, Eventide, and BOSS RV-500 as well. That sharp transient is were the distinguishing the cream of the crop lies. No artificats, no "ray tracing delays" or severe modulations going on, but just as straight and clear, with no graininess or "krkrkrdrdrdrdrdr" artifacts reverb. Now for guitar, you don't need that much detail perhaps, just a plate or spring will do, but for synths, vocals and percussion such things are crucial. Anyway, if it can take those peaks and "reverb" them properly, it fits on ANY instrument, and guitars too.

Very well made video, congrats! So well made that you became my main source for good reverbs. I'd like to see some comparison with VSTs, or between them, what's the best reverb you know that's worth the price, or the best cheap reverb. That modulation preset on the Empress is mindblowing.

empress makes amazing stuff, i switch from Keeley compressor to empress and just wow , i love how indepth your review is , makes u something different and alot more sci vs just oh this sounds pretty

I just bought this pedal because of this review. Thank you for this video! This is the best reverb I ever heard, so pure and beautiful.

I was lucky enough to find one of these locally and man, I couldn't be happier. The tones are lush, organic, and atmospheric. I love that it has some really useful tweaks you can find on pedals like the Afterneath or Slo, but mostly just love how good the *key* reverb tones are. Best pedal on my board.

OMG, finally somebody who like reverb as much as me. Subscribed. Well, now I need to find a Lexicon PCM vs Empress shootout.

Very very impressive! I too am a reverb lover, and was leaning to the Eventide Space. Your demo has really made me re-think this. The Empress is just an incredible sounding pedal. Thanks for sharing!

This thing sounds gorgeous, definitely had me sold on it until I saw the price. Just can't drop half a grand on reverb....yet. Great video as usual.

Great demo

2 words: Meris Mercuryseven. Love the channel! Something about granular synthesis could be awesome! Greetings from Argentina!

Subs. Finally found a video playing with an acoustic guitar. Thanks for doing this. Awesome))

Hey awesome demo! I'd reallly like to see you review the EarthQuaker Transmisser Reverb! Also love to see your impression of the Chase Bliss Tonal Recall Red Knob Mod Delay. Keep up the good work!!

I started making records in early 1970s. At that time in recording history, a studio would spend house money if they wanted the studio’s sound to stand out, to earn them top clients. No rack mount box existed. Building two stereo chambers, installing two EMT plates was $100k and many did so. Singers would cross the ocean to record in your room so, it was worth it. The first electronic reverb was the $25k EMT250, and you had to get a tune up for your air conditioning. After EMT’s several groundbreaking units, we could finally see that a big change was coming. This 14 year old guitar pedal is the apotheosis of that change. To this day, people rent the Lexicon 480, a hundred pound flight case that they know will give them what’s needed. The bottom line, I guess, is this all is how important reverb was and is to music.

Wow. The kalimba sounds amazing. I need that reverb !

You just sold me on the Empress. My wife thanks you and so does my wallet

Thank you @Benn Jordan for doing this review. Super helpful & honest. I am curious how deep & customizable the SD card algorithm/firmware updates are.. like, can I just change certain things, leave others as is? Also wondering about the midi functionality, do we really need the Empress Midi Box? I'll look into this further. This unit seems worth digging in for.

I finally got mine and agree with you 100%. I thought at first I would be intimidated by the controls and want a screen of some sort. My experience last night was totally the opposite. Everything makes perfect sense. I lost track of time playing with all the settings until 2am. Empress could totally ask a higher price for this if they wanted.

I'm waiting for stock to come in on this, I've been crushing on it hard for over a year now but I'm going to pull the trigger as soon as they arrive. I can see why people like the Big Sky, Boss and Eventide but for me they are too complex, it feels like Empress put time into making a few genuinely natural sounding reverbs with some 'out there' options thrown in, as opposed to trying to give you every crazy sound under the sun with a thousand parameters to change. It's just my opinion but this pedal seems like the perfect mix of keeping it simple and quality over quantity. Totally sold.

I hadn't even watched this video before I requested the stream on designing reverbs with all pass filters. Now I am even more sanguine!

Man, your guitar playing is really quite beautiful.

Damn dood! Not only did this sound super magical and smooth but the design is super clean looking and it's just surprising that this isnt some hippie expensive nonsense gear, I would say this is actually well priced for what it excels at doing

I am super empressed by your Eyebrow!

Ry X sounding. Beautiful reverb.

Nice Video! I made a video with the BlueSky compared with the Empress Reverb myself. Love these pedals.

This was so great! Would you ever do a video on building a spring reverb unit?

I'd love to see you do a review of the Source Audio Dual Reverb! In my opinion it has the potential to best even this!

Hey Benn, great video. Definitely on my list now. I was wondering if you have reverb plugins you recommend as well. Would love to see a video on your fav plugin and how it compares. Cheers.

Dude… The Casper is my favorite algorithm. If you put the decay to high it will start feeding back. But thing two also has a really great stutter delay thing that it does that adds a nice texture. I think you should spend some more time with it

Well done. Thanks

Excellent review ... this might be the first digital reverb I buy ... like it better than the Big Sky fo sho

Such amazing!!!

Incredible sounds, Benn! I've been wondering, is there a digital, vst equivalent with such algorithm? The closest I could get was with the vallhalla shimmer. (But it sounded like the spark, not the modulation algorithm) Convolution reverbs are quite fun too but require a good impact sample, so it's rather useful for experimental sound fusion.

Thanks for posting! I recently got the Echosystem and love it. What do you think of the Ventris Dual Reverb that just came out? Have you compared it with the Empress?

I’ll never forget the first time I heard the Empress. A stomp box with better reverb than my tc M5000, which was my reference reverb at the time.

Modulation and ghost were fantastic.

I worked the last two days for one of these pedals. No regrets.

Can you do a review about the new reverb "sounds" that were added with all kinds of firmware updates? Did they fix what you didn't like before, like the sparkle?

Thanks for nice video! Considering this pedal or the h9 max, use with synths. Cant decide, both seem exellent.

thanks for great videos. Always on point and honest. I am looking for few pedals to add to my synth setup + Digitakt as main drum and be able to use it for live and studio. Empress reverb absolutely a great choice. What else would you recommend? Would you suggest any multi effects unit? Thanks Ben

I just bought one of these because theyre your favorite.

Please compare this to the Specular Tempus, or just a straight up review of the Tempus would be great. Thanks!

eventide space still does everything for me though the thought of ditching menus for something like this entices me.

Hey Ben, thanks again for another great video! So after having this for the past five years, is it still your favorite reverb pedal?

Actually one pretty cool video would be how to “synthesize” reverb. I would very like to understand why anything sounds so great through reverb, even ;)

Stil in love with my rv 6 😊

loooove your videos. thanks! years on, is the Empress still one of your favorites? have you tried the Gamechanger Light Pedal? curious on your thoughts on that one.

Awesome video! I was thinking about buying the EchoSystem from Empress sometime in the next few months myself. Have you messed around with one of those yet?

Excellent review...What are the notes you play on the modulation reverb section. It seems like you are striking two notes at once. Ive heard you use that combination of notes in another piece you did. Well its beautiful sounding and I want to play those notes and run out and buy the Empress reverb pedal ASAP! Can you share your secret notes? Love your channel, keep up the good work!

I wish Ben would do more reverb demos/reviews Like the new NeuNaber Illumine etc...

Hey man, good review! Looking at this beaut since a while and finally able to hear it in a different context than guitars. If I may I'd like to request a Video with the Empress Echosystem Delay Unit with Synths! Check it out, it's very versatile and lush. Best, Max

I'd love to see/hear you review the OTO Bam reverb - it's one of those mythical machines that somehow doesn't have (m)any proper reviews out.

Hey Benn. If u could only choose one, which one would u choose between the Empress Reverb or the GFI Specular Tempus? I really can't decide between the 2

Is there any way you can tell me the notes that you just picked from 43 seconds on in that sequence of notes that was incredible really happy I found your channel mate you do awesome reviews and this is a pedal am going to be purchasing in the same coming months thank you so much!

Loving these videos! Any reverb plugins you'd recommend that give a similar sound to the first "modulation" algo?

amazing intro

Awesome video, whats your favorite delay pedal?

Very nice to see and hear this video, and also your opinion on this reverb. I'm glad to have a review of a magnificent reverb that is not the Blue/Big Sky ofStrymond or the Eventide Space.. Have you tried them? How would you compare them?

4:20 hmmmmm I love ambient sounds ☺️

excelent! i will try to get it in the future. What is your opinion about the bitquest reverb? thanks!

Thank you for doing this video. I own it and this helped me understand it a bit more. Does it have a cab simulator? If so, i wonder how it sounds?

What is that cool Brown string box Called ? Nice intro of the reverbs😊

13:50 Out There spacey music (: Nice!!

That 'gated reverb' preset is probably meant for drums more than guitars, something with a tight, short envelope and fast decay/release, so the gate closes quickly after the note hits. Guitar notes have long, slow tails and that's gonna produce awkward, unpredictable timings based on when that tail falls below the gate threshold.

sure makes the volca sound good,. wonder what it could do to my stuff,.

You kind of breezed past how it completely outclasses the eventide space... I would be curious as to a more in-depth explanation of this? Is this just a subjective assessment, eg "it sounds better/I like it better" or is there some technical aspect in which the reverb algorithms outperform the eventide?

They need release this with a digital menu…. Saving and recalling presets looks like torture

My reference point remains the lexicon pcm81. Does this approximate those reverbs well?

Great demo! So how does this compare to the other big boi reverbs: BigSky, NiggtSky, Eventide Space, Ventris, GFI, Mercury7, Neunaber, Boss RV-500...? How do you figure the Empress is so much better?

i would have loved to have heard an electric guitar thriugh it. Good review though, and thanks.

How are you recording the acoustic particularly. Looks like stereo out from empress but what are you going into? Thanks!

Hello! Would you guys recommend this reverb over a complete mix to glue it together? So far I reeeally like the general character of this one. Some info: I currently make modular synth compositions, recording 1 track at a time. Love using intense analog waveforms, but there could be added bellike/ organic stuff also. And fieldrecordings. Searching for "the right sound". Thinking of using 2 tape compression pedals for "asymmetrical" and stereo stuff after the mix, and a subtle stereo reverb with good character.

Would you consider using a pedal like this as one might a studio reverb unit, ie. used on an effects send/return for mixing etc? Presumably it's unbalanced but that's no big issue.

Hey Been. Empress? Yeah, Baby! My suggestion, given how WELL you got on with NYMPHES, I’d love to see what you could do with TYPHON. I don’t yet own a Typhon (I may by the end of the day), but…IMHO…it might be the answer to the question, “Why on earth would I need another Monosynth??”

Thoughts on Source Audio Ventris Dual Reverb? Mostly interested how it compares to the Empress since this is your favorite reverb pedal ever.

quick anji jam there :)

Never knew much about the Empress but I've got to say that it sounds quite lush. How do you think the Empress stacks up against the Erbeverb? Cheers for putting these videos up.

Hi, in what pedal you have heard best room reverb effect ever? For years I have used IRs on computer so I have never been happy with room reverbs on any pedal. Empress room reverb seemed to be the best (based on youtube demos) even better than BigSky room reverb. But I am not sure if there is any pedal out with a better room reverb. Thanks!

The Empress sounds a lot like a basement in China. It was cement, about 100’ x 75’ x 9’. I had the pleasure of playing music in that cool place for a few minutes before being ushered out. The reverb was dark and lasted the longest I’ve ever heard in an acoustic space. Maybe it’s time I buy this pedal.

+Benn and Gear Do you believe you do most(/get the most from?) Chip design/Programming? Do you review either your eurorack/ OR utilize Alpha Forever mostly for coding/programming algorithms?

Is it possible you can make another video with the same empress reberb padel with just synth like the volca fm. By the way great video .. thank you.

Are you still a big fan of the empress? Just ordered one as well as an echosystem to go on a Quantum. Still searching for a Specular Reverb v3 too.

Do you have any thoughts on the best sounding plugin reverb? Lexicon PCM is the nicest i've heard so far.

This vs Oto Bam ? Anybody have experience with both?

Have you compared the Empress Reverb or the Specular Tempus to the Meris Mercury 7? Just curious on your opinion on the Mercury 7 :-)