Yes, this very much is a gear review video. It took weeks to make, and there's even a Part II coming next. I mentioned very clearly in my previous video that it would take a few weeks to transition. More importantly, the reason I'm winding down videos like this is because I don't enjoy it as much, not because I made a promise to anyone. If that changes, then I may decide to do them again. It's my channel, after all. 😂 If that is unacceptable to you, fair enough. Here's how to never see my face here again: www.makeuseof.com/how-to-block-youtube-channels/

A friend tapped our shoulder regarding this video. We're absolutely blown away. There are so many companies out there making amazing effects . So to get your #1 vote is a big deal. This is the most comprehensive and meticulous demo we have ever seen haha. It looked like ALOT of work. We're grateful. Your custom patches sounded absolutely gorgeous.

Benn, I wanted to tell you that I understand EXACTLY why you're not enjoying making gear videos. I also wanted to tell you that myself and a lot of others in this community are very bummed out about it because of videos like THIS. This is a video people expect when they pay hundreds of dollars for a masterclass. You came to KZfaq with decades of experience in music and pro-audio and then you very visibly do everything you can to avoid bias because you know that you are more valuable as a trusted asset to musicians than you are as an influencer. To many of us you are the most valued creator in this space and the rapid growth of your channel (along with its annoyances) is a reflection of that. Please do not take this as a guilt trip to try and get you to make videos you don't want to make. I'm sure whatever you do will have the same degree of value. THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!!

Hello Benn, I am one of the guys at GFI. We're honored you picked Specular Tempus as the best "affordable" reverb as there are so many awesome reverb out there and the ST itself has been around since 2018. Your demo video of the Specular Tempus algorithms is still the best one we've seen so far.

Your obsession with sound is amazing. I can watch hours of your videos going down these crazy rabbit holes. You take us on journeys we appreciate. How you don’t have 1Mill subs yet is a mystery

The analysis doesn't get more thorough than this! Really enjoyed the video. It's also so refreshing to see a good ol' sharpie-on-a-paper diagram these days. Thanks for the shoutout, Benn, and looking forward for the Part II !

I would love an in-depth video on reverb DSP. I know it wouldn't perform well, but it could be a valuable resource for more people to get involved with this dark magic.

Looking forward to this. Just picked up a Mercury X demo a couple days ago and it is blowing my mind. Taking it slow with all the options. I found your channel just a year ago and have been very impressed with the content. I really appreciate the transparency. As someone who has worked serving others for the last 25 years, it has become commonplace to complain - even when the service is free. I have learned a tremendous amount from your content and I hope you stay true to your path. I also love the gear vids, so if you want to keep sprinkling those in occasionally you're not going to hurt my feelings. Have a happy holidays.

I loved the long format demo. Reverb is fun to listen to. Thanks for this.

Excited for the 'weird' reverbs. Also, I really appreciate that these reviews go into the theory and execution of these products. I'm not particularly enamored with the Meris for myself but I still get so much from just watching you talk about how reverbs work in general. Its like a review+. I'm sort of happy you're not going to do straight up gear reviews anymore (I have enough GAS as it is) but I hope you continue to talk about the how of music gear.

When I bought this last week I was unaware that it was capable of doing all of my household chores alongside being such an amazing sounding reverb. I was pretty impressed by the earlier demos but I just realized from watching this that I purchased it on sound alone and am pleasantly stunned by its depth! Great video sir.

Great video. The Mercury sounds amazing. Love your synth demos here. There also something so awesome about running super simple synth patches through beautiful reverbs, which I love to do myself. IMO there are so many amazing reverbs out there, hardware or software. The trick is learning how to shape them for your specific music!

I can't wait to see your choice! I am a certified reverb addict and my 3 fave reverbs I've ever used on my records are: Meris MercuryX (just an absolute beast that anyone who loves reverb should check out), Walrus Sloer (so much vibe and character and the best sounding modulation), Empress Reverb (learned about it from Benn years ago, still unbeatable for workhorse sounds like halls/plates etc).

Excellent analysis, I’m glad to rely on videos like these to offer some context when looking at the possibilities of pedals or plugins that I will likely never actually test myself, despite having the desire for the knowledge of the results. Thanks for these, but don’t feel pressured to continue if you need a break!

Another extremely interesting presentation. Just when I was saying, "Gotta hear it with transients", you let us have the noise bursts - lovely! Thank you for all you do!

I love how you feed the trolls accusing you of being a shill. I always enjoy your analytical views on what exactly you feel sounds best, and then you blow us away with seemingly simple demos. My opinion is that algorithms are the secret sauce and a simple daw wich most of us have with cheap or free reverbs is more than enough for my production needs. And you even say that. The perspective you offer on how to listen and design sound is what makes you invaluable to the community as a whole. Thanks Ben

Would be interested to see how these compare in your mind to the plugin-realms, particularly the Valhalla stuff. I guess even BigSky is now a plug-in. Good video.

more than anything, this video inspired me to listen and work more consciously on reverb with the existing gear i have

1. I don't know how or why it took me this long - but I just subbed. 2. I totally understand the move away from gear -- gear can really GET IN THE WAY of music - which I think can be difficult for us synth heads to internalize lol. Our sound design preferences, musical influences, approach to song form, harmonic preferences, etc are all gear-independent so to speak. Like if you gave the RZA a korg volca sample - he is still gonna make bangers. All that being said - I really hope your channel maintains an element of sound/music exploration and tweaking creative processes/assumptions. What you have to say on those topics is often very insightful! Peace - and thanks for being the most beautiful grist in my smooth little brain's content mill lol

12:20 damn dude, was watching this while I was working and had to take off my headset and stop working to fully appreciate that little adventure. Super sick!

I played guitar in a post-rock band a while back, and our reverb of choice was (and still is) the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail. Simple, workmanlike, but its sound is versatile and beautiful. I like these new “shimmer” reverbs, but I don’t know that I’d have anything else on my pedal board.

Everything Meris makes is just perfection. I have the Hedra and Polymoon and adore them, would love to grab the LVX or MX sometime

I love reverb and I love Benn for doing this. ❤

So much of the “gear sphere” is just a game of telephone from forums and KZfaq telling folks what sounds best, all subject to opinion (and sponsorship). You sir did the math and brought the receipts. That’s proof we can trust. Thank you.

I got myself an Empress Reverb heavily influenced by your 2017 video, and to this day it still impresses me when I turn it on. It can literally transform the dullest, simplest, most boring synth sound into something lush, complex and beautiful to hear. Thanks for that video, and I was afraid that this one may create another necessity, but I am one of those that prefer their pedals screenless. It's not a hard rule, though, and it may change in the future, but I don't see myself needing a different reverb anytime soon.

I came into this video as a blue sky fan.. still am, but I can clearly see why this is your pic, it's clean, it's beautiful, and it does exactly what it says on the tin, and then like bucketloads more. I think I might have to have one of these. Great work as always!

Dont stop! Like your humble attitude towards a new instrument!

amazing video! thank you, Ben. 🤙

I loved this. I can't wait for part 2.

Benn, I REALLY enjoyed & watch, Several time. Keep up the great videos!

These sounds are amazing.. Meris has repeatedly blown me away by every product they put out.

I find the raw algorithm tests highly interesting, and I'm by far not a reverb expert. Sure, hearing it with pleasing sounds is great, but those "atomic" sounds give me a clearer idea of what's really happening. And again, you managed to get me interested in a topic I didn't pay much attention to.

Considering the Empress Reverb goes for 300 used I think that might be the best budget pedal. This came just in time as I was looking for a stereo reverb that accepts line level. Been using the built in reverb on my mixer to record and finally making the jump to a decent pedal. Thanks for the time you put into this.

Appreciate the attention to detail. Great analysis.

Thanks for all the hard work Benn.

Faaaaantastic!! Love your keyboard skills. Thankyou for all your hard work

Thanks for spending your time on this.

Such a killer video! Looking forward to part 2. The amount of work you put into these is seriously impressive.

Confession to make. I have a bit of a Reverb pedal addiction myself. Got the Empress, Mercury-7, Hall of Fame 2, Secret Path, Nightsky and since yesterday I have the Slöer too. I used to own the Big Sky, Blue Sky, Slö and Blackhole. The best? That doesn't exist. Any pedal works for any combination of instruments, but they all have their own character. The fact that this video came out yesterday, right when the Slöer arrived is scary timing. Thanks for this Benn.

Love these videos man. Enjoy your work in general; Confident that what ever you end up doing will be cool.

That was a fantastic video, great fun and technically awesome. Thanks for all you do and share with the world

That Ultraplate algo is so lovely. I feel like i can just lay down inside of it. Great video!

Excellent resource. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I'll look forward to the follow up. Cheers.

Well this is the one I was waiting for: seals the deal for me on the MercuryX. Gorgeous.

Great video Benn! I completely agree with you - I watched so many videos on the Mercury X and the CXM 1978 and I also think that the Mercury X is the best deal with the extra algorithms it offers. The only thing missing on the Mercury X are the standard and lofi clock modes of the CXM, but it offers so much more with the UltraPlate, Cathedra, Spring, Prism and Gravity algorithms. I am getting one as soon as I get some Guitar Center bucks next month.

Years ago when I discovered your channel, I bought the Empress Reverb because of your video. I'm still in love with the both of you.

Much love to you always get excited about your reverb videos. Practising with max to try and get good at making them. Would love more videos about reverb design. Your melda turboverb vid was great, but more of a conceptual overall explanation of steps you take with making a reverb and different ways and environments for making them. just an idea!!! You explain stuff very clearly!

The Meris LVX is my favorite delay pedal, as soon as I got it I was thinking "I hope they put this "modular" system into a reverb pedal". I'll be getting the Mercury X as soon as possible. I like the graphical UI a lot, it's a logical and elegant solution to making such a complex set of options and parameters less "menu divey". On the LVX at least I wish there was a way to skip forward to the next parameter set, like for example scrolling through three parameters for eight delay taps can be a bit tedious. Don't know if this issue crops up in the Mercury X. In any case, the quality of the sound and the amazing set of features make it a must-have for me.

The Specular Tempus has outlived so many other reverbs in my collection. I hate to use the word but it just sounds more "organic" to me. It's review video was actually the first video of yours I watched.

Hey Benn, the algorithms we get today are so good that I became a usability first buyer. I used to judge my tools for their sound quality but 14 years after I started making music, I focus much more on the user experience as everything sounds so friggin' good these days. Hopefully you will be covering some of the more unique specialist reverbs in the future or recommend something for us folks who don't care much about tweaking stuff to perfection but rather look for a beautiful sounding plug and play toy, that sparks our creativity with simple controls and colorful playfulness.

Benn waiting for this!!!

Thanks for another great video! Your dedication to making good content and seeking the best verb is inspiring. Keep it up!

Appreciate your knowledge. I’m a freshman sound guy and the PHD you are teaching is high level for me but you do a great job of explaining what’s happening. It’s basically like learning a whole new language and culture

No hate here, Ben, you are a superb reviewer and clear communication skills, keep up the good work, Buddy.

I don't have the scratch for strymon, empress, etc. so the "best" reverb (which I've had access to) is the stasis leak chorus/delay/reverb. It uses a Belton effect chip and you build it from a kit. I actually bought it mainly for a cheap tap delay with subdivisions but the reverb is easily the standout. Def recommend to anyone that likes building pedals.

Thanks maestro! Enormously valuable information .

Undersold the UAFX Golden there a bit, the plate and spring modes on it are the best I've ever heard from a pedal. For those of us who are more into vintage electro-mechanical reverbs than digital reverbs, its great

What an outstanding test! Your ‘tools’ inputs tell me most of what I need to know about a reverb algorithm, despite your warning. I hear many of my faves for my guitar, which will be my intended use. I have to say the UI is not exactly the grand slam that the sonic quality most certainly is. I’m hoping there are or will be editor options available. Headed to the Meris site for more info. Thanks much, Benn. Your test/demo was all I could hope for reverb, a very difficult effect to demo. I like that you played way down the musicality of your inputs as they obscure the answers I am looking for. Great stuff!

Excellent video, really great! I’ve been searching for ever for a decent reverb pedal for bass - all I want is to put a bit of room or hall on to make the bass sit in the mix properly in the room on live gigs in smaller venues (and especially outdoors on acoustic duo gigs). I highly recommend the UAFX Golden Reverberator for this - it’s super simple and the hall reverb is spot on, easy decay and tone shaping. What I wanted was something as good as Bricast M7 in a pedal, and the UAFX is close enough for live work, and much much cheaper and more convenient!!

Hi Benn, Its good to have you back......(saying in a calming Hainbach voice and wearing a soothing sweater)

with the preface that i like this video: you do so much science content and stuff that from the description i half inspected you'd actually reverse engineer a reverb via the step response & you should definitely do that. it's in the same area of physical modeling that, as far as experimentation goes, has a lot of freedom for experimentation & doing weird stuff. "here's nothing", "here's early reflections", "here's a decay function that doesn't even try to be physical"

Thanks - I had just convinced myself that I didn't really need this pedal :D Also worth mentioning that GFI Skylar is a really nice "budget" version of the Specular Tempus, and only about $200.

I’ve been using your cave reverbs. Awesome for Metal vocals!

Great reviews! My favorite Hall reverb is still the Flux Effects Liquid Ambience Stereophonic.

Love my LVX, esp after the last fw update... didnt even know about this. Glad they kept the wonderful ergonomics for this pedal. You can turn off the bubbly stuff btw, but I find it more intuitive w the bubblez. Meris have beautiful preset fx patches to start from and they already have the c1 and c2 knobs assigned for extra customisation over the usual suspects

awesome, love this! Verbin'!

Thanks for the awesome video! I love my Meris LVX but actually returned my Mercury X (was a long-time Mercury 7 user) because navigating both the LVX and Mercury X together was a real menu-diving adventure that I personally had trouble with. Upon returning it, I learned there's a Meris app being released in the winter. IMO, that could be a game changer and depending on the app UI I'll likely re-buy the Mercury X.

awesome patch you made with both reverb and delay

Maybe a video on making reverbs in MAX/MSP/M4L, Pure Data, Reaktor, and/or Bitwig? Not all of us know how to do DSP in C++ but I think many would love to be able to make their own if they knew how the math black boxes worked. Or given a preset(like the base reverb in Bitwig can be disassembled), what is worth tweaking/adding more of/etc? Excellent video, keep it up!

for me (and prob many others) benn is like a pocket sound guru.. be it gear, industry economics, searching out field recordings or whatever, the gloves off detail and lack of babying make evry video a must watch. to have benn name meris as the best manufacturer of this shiz has me grinning smugly at my mercury 7. maybe one day ill get a mercury x if i can justify it.

Definitely a cool sounding reverb unit, I'll have to take a closer look. Meris makes some really clever and good sounding stuff! I have a lot of 'verbs, both hardware and software, including the ubiquitous Bigsky and the CXM 1978(❤). What I end up using really depends on the kind of music being made, and also how important the tone of the reverb is overall to the track or song. I love using the very affordable Valhalla stuff all the way up to Altiverb. They all have pros and cons and are all pretty darn fun! These days I'm kinda moving more and more towards a hybrid analog/digital workflow. I would love to find a used EMT plate to add to the studio. But you know, I don't have an empty concrete room lying around. ;) I had never really heard the Specular Tempus though... sounds cool! I might try to pick up a used one. Thanks Benn! 🤘

As a reverb lover, I'm looking forward to this. UAFX Golden continues to blow my mind when it comes to spring/ plate.

Finally, a new reverb video by Benn Jordan! :)

I'm sure this will be one of the best videos ever made on reverb pedals, very excited to see it! Don't listen to the trolls, their engagement just boosts your video in the algorithm anyway :)

Thanks for your huge contribution to music, Benn. My fave reverb by a long way is the TC Hall Of Fame. I've tried beating it, but never have. Installing TonePrints is the key, though.

My favorite is the Vetris dual reverb for more modern sounds and the Quadraverb 2 for something a bit more vintage.

I love reverbs, I have the Eventide H3500,space, H90, CXM, and Meris LVX, although I didn’t really need a Mercury X i had to have one as soon as I’d got over the shock of them releasing one in this superb format. It is absolutely outstanding and the only thing you could possibly criticise is that it does so many things, the options like the LVX are astounding. I feel so privileged to own this masterpiece.

Great video!! Thanks man 😊

Great video as always!! I really really hope you change your mind down the road and give us some more gear vids in the future. So sorry for toxicity you’ve endured. Remember that your opinions we really do respect the most as a whole. Thank You❤

About the true stereo vs summed to mono, I can say that on a high wet reverb it sums your chorus, pingpong or whatever panning effect to mono and that's what I hear in my mixes as unfavorable. So although it doesn't make the algorithm better it does make the signal that runs through better (if you are using a panning effect) So I disagree on that, but for the rest I am loving the video, very informative and basically everything we come to expect from your reverb related video's. Well done sir.

Thanks for the reverb nerdery in the middle with the impulses! I know you've said you don't plan on doing gear stuff but I'd _love_ to see at least one video where you go through your fav algorithms (/pedals) and show us what you listen for when doing those tests. I realize that's probably niche but I would hope there's space enough for at least one video on them.

I've never seen someone use reverb so creatively!

There is a Zen-like quality to this video, I enjoyed it a lot.

This video is really good… I see a bit of your point of view and I found information I can apply to my own guitar stuff… thanks g.

In the market for starting a pedal collection rn so this is gold

Finally got my hands on a Mercury X and as soon as I powered it on …. OH MY GOD. I’ll never need another Reverb pedal again. Thank YOU 👉🏾Meris and THANK YOU 👉🏾 Ben !

Amazing video. Hopefully the denizens will shower you with views and upvotes.

I just ordered a strymon nightsky. It's being shipped to me as I write this. Let's hope he has good things to say.. 😊

I just bought it. I am in heaven

The only external reverb I have is... The NTS-1. No, it's not a dedicated reverb unit and it can have a lot of hum, but for the price it's a versatile and useful little unit.

the best reverbs take you to a "place" where what you are playing through the reverb inhabits. Ursa Major Space Station is one of those places for me... I doubt I'll ever be able to afford either an original or the digital update, but I heard the update at AES many years ago and I haven't been able to shake the sense of place it has.

the major issue with mono summing "Stereo" reverbs though is for anyone who uses stereo panning or actually puts effort into their stereo field before the reverb pedal. As a synth/modular person with ping pong delays/hard panning voices/etc. mono summing stereo is absoutely a no-go. Unless I'm missing something. This is the reason why I got rid of my empress reverb and went back to my hardwire RV-7 for a plate reverb algorithm that's true stereo (and something I happened to already have from my guitar days).

I would love a focus on SHORT reverbs that actually place things 'in the room' Like the AMS 0 seconds ambiance or the Yamaha Rev 3/5 but the current available ones Ambient reverbs are nice, but take soooo long

Benn the GFI Skylar is around $200, stereo, and contains a few of the Specular Tempus algorithms like Spadium. Great review. I own the GFI ST because of your review. Thanks again friend.

Great vid! Loved every minute of it! Having the Mercury7 and it being one of my favorites ever, like Dr. Jones, I was giddy as a school girl to hear that Meris released a big-ass version of it. Curious if you've tried Line 6 Helix's latest verbs, particularly their "Dynamic" verbs like their Plate, Room, and Hall. Their new Dynamic Bloom is fun to interact with too.

Thank you for this!!!!

I've gone through a number of high quality reverbs including many listed here. I still think that the Eventide Space pedal is my favorite even though its audio quality is noticeably lower than my Specular Tempus. The Space pedal is just inspiring and loads of fun right out of the box. IMO, just choose whatever one looks the funnest. Especially if you're in the $300+ territory, they are all excellent.

One thing I do know, a guitar will be returning to my home studio one day. Thanks for this one Benn. Updated my Wishlist : ))

Great video-Bravo! For pedals, I Love the Big Sky and my Digi Space Station. Software is Altiverb-amazingness & now Atmos. Hardware, still 480L, PCM70v2, and EMT250 with ffISA110 EQ for Air. The British tend to delay the verb-NOT pre-delay. Sounds hottt...

Best reverb is the nts1 simply for the exceptional value proposition. User made reverb, delay and mod fx all packed in with a neat little mono synth for about a hundo