# A little story 'bout Reverence...

- Site: Analog Industries
- Author: Chris Randall
- Date: 2006-08-05
- URL: https://analogindustries.com/2006/08/a-little-story-bout-reverence/

[![A little story 'bout Reverence...](https://analogindustries.com/images/blog/rev_ss.png)](https://analogindustries.com/images/blog/rev_ss.png)

You might recall a few weeks back when I asked for a front panel photo of a Lexicon 200. Much speculation ensued, both here and at KvR, about the nature of such a request, and what it might mean. Of course, it's now known that most of you were right, and the next Audio Damage product is indeed "inspired by" the Lexicon 200. It is called Reverence, and a screenshot is above. Click the image for a full-sized one.

It isn't an exact clone of a Lexicon 200, or any Lexicon 'verb, for that matter. It is a modern (and thus more usable) rendition, for the 99.9999% of us that don't earn our bread and butter doing Scritti Politti mixes. It has that same thickness of the early Lexicon plate simulations, without the brittle overhead or the noise. Obviously, it runs at modern sampling rates instead of the 11kHz neck of the woods that the original ran at, so it has significantly more headroom. That said, I think Lexi 200 owners will be happy with the result.

It will be US$39.00. We're just finishing up the Windows version, and will start the OSX versions this week. I am hesitant to give an actual release date, but ads for it start running at the end of the month, so it would be wise for us to have it out in August. We're not going to rush it out, though, so there's a chance we'll slip a bit. Unlikely, but I'm obligated to mention it. We'll be happy to field any questions or comments in this thread.

## Comments (28)

**shamann** (2006-08-05):

Who's that .0001% that does make a living doing Scritti Politti mixes? I want that guy's job. Been thinking for a long time that that Aretha Franklin song had just a little more to give to us.

Looking forward to the all-done-up version of this.

**bleen** (2006-08-05):

sweet! looks killer - i'll buy. :-)

**tuf** (2006-08-05):

I'd like to see a little more Lexi-Blue on the faceplate. Would that involve a lawsuit or something?

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-05):

What you'd like to see and what we did aren't compatible, it seems. The blue you see is the blue you get, as the UI is done, and won't be changed. We could have colored it whatever the hell we wanted, of course. We chose that shade, which implies Lexiness without actually stating it, for reasons I expounded upon in the above post.

Naturally, I could have colored it lime green and given it airplane throttles that looked like they were made out of cat fur instead of standard Lexi buttons, and it would sound the same, so it is entirely moot.

-CR

**tuf** (2006-08-05):

Easy! It was intended to be tounge n cheek, especially considering you used the LED digits, knobs, graphics, meters, labels and dual sliders from the original. I'll buy it no matter what color it is!

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-05):

You mean you don't want the cat fur mod?

-CR

**Synth_Sleezey** (2006-08-06):

Ive never played with a real Lex 200 but I have some Impulse Responses in Altiverb which I really love and use a lot.

**Aahzekiel** (2006-08-06):

Would you consider Reverence an all-around go-to reverb, or something more suited for use as a distinctive effect?

**bleen** (2006-08-06):

I want the cat fur mod!!

**RexRhino** (2006-08-06):

Actually, I am just happen to be looking for some reverb plugins... Here are some questions / suggestions:

1. Could you create some sort of "reverb pack"... Since Audio Damage seems to be pretty prolific in the reverb area lately, with the Digitalis, the Reverence, and the Ratshack Reverb (and the Dubstation sounds kinda reverby). Could someone get a package break if they buy multiple reverbs?

2. Could you make a 11khz switch?

3. Can you include lots of samples on the website (or one very long extensive sample of the reverb)... at very high sound quality? One of my pet peeves is people trying to sell effects without giving the customers an extensive idea of what it sounds like. I don't really think that you can overdo it with the sound samples.

4. Although I will break my rule if the plugin sounds really good, I try never to install the demo, instead of copy a dll to a directory to test the plugin. A .dll test version would be much better than install versions.

Also, if you are on a reverb kick, here are some things I am looking for:

1. A really good multitap delay/echo with a lot of taps to produce a reverb sound. If you have 32 delays, each with their own filtering, it makes a really nice reverb... unfortunatly the only way to do it is to route a plugin into a plugin into a plugin, because there is no good multitap delay software out there.

2. A very chaotic spring reverb plugin would be great... one that actually models the physical spring instead of sounding "spring-like". I am not aware of any spring reverb plugin thus far that sounds like a real spring reverb (or, if there is one, it is more expensive that buying a real spring reverb).

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-06):

Okay...

1. No.

2. No.

3. Yes.

4. No.

Also...

1. Maybe.

2. The reason there aren't any is because it is basically impossible to do in software.

-CR

**dm** (2006-08-06):

very cool. looking forward to this.

**blinkman** (2006-08-06):

Very nice! Looking forward to hearing it.

I am also looking forward to new versions of Ronin and Deverb. Any chance these in the pipeline...? I love Ronin but the VST-wrapped faux AU I have to use is pretty squirrelly. Not that I don't love seeing more new AD products...but don't forget about polishing up the rusty old tools in the back of the drawer...

c.

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-06):

The porting of Ronin to VST2.4 and UB VST/AU is a monumental task. We released it before we wrote our compatibility layer that allows a plugin to be either AU or VST; thus, it is a major undertaking, on the order of re-writing it, basically. I work on it here and there, but it's a slow job.

As for Deverb, it will be ported to AU and VST2.4 shortly, and given a facelift to match Discord 2.

-CR

**blinkman** (2006-08-06):

That's great news. Except the part about having to virtually rewrite Ronin. That pretty much sucks.

Well, just know that there are some of us out here who are cheering you on and eagerly awaiting the results. Ronin is really powerful and musical and it'll be awesome to have an updated version.

c.

**Downpressor** (2006-08-06):

I also want the cat fur version. I can never ever get enough cat fur.

**cebec** (2006-08-07):

whoah, can i get the stand-alone cat fur mod?

**blinkman** (2006-08-07):

I'd really like to see a demo of the cat fur mod before buying. If the individual hair movement isn't realistic, I'm out.

c.

**studio nebula** (2006-08-07):

One of the interesting things about Lexicon reverbs is that they _can't_ be completely reproduced with IRs. They have subtle modulation stuff going on that an impulse recording won't accurately capture.

Reverence has similar modulation, but I haven't yet taken any IRs of it because, like, why bother? It's lighter on the CPU than any IR-based reverb, so taking IRs of it would be kind of silly.

--Adam

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-07):

In reading through this thread, it occurs to me that I forgot to answer Aahzekiel's question, which was:

"Would you consider Reverence an all-around go-to reverb, or something more suited for use as a distinctive effect?"

That's really a matter of taste. I'm still experimenting with where it works best, in order to plan out how we're going to structure the presets. (It's worth noting that before we inflict a plugin on the public, we have to try and anticipate every possible use it could be put to, and plan for it, both in the presets and in the manual. Invariably, we miss something.)

In any case, in my experimentation, I've learned that it follows the usefulness patterns of the older Lexicon plate simulations almost exactly. That is to say, on drums, it might be a bit too big for normal use, unless you're going for that particular effect. Using the HF rolloff and RT contour controls, you can tame it quite a bit, and I've succeeded in creating what will be my standard send reverb for years to come. (It's also worth noting that my personal favorite setting for any of our products is usually the first preset, with the exception of Dubstation, where I stupidly put 1/8th note delays when I meant to have dotted 8ths in the first preset.)

For vocals and guitar, it, like the Lexi plate model of yor, is absolutely fantastic. For horns, it might be a little bright, truth be told. But for female vox, male vox, guitar, and if you're crazy like me, bass, it makes a great send 'verb. People tend to avoid using 'verbs as inserts these days, since they generally take so much processor. Reverence is quite light on the CPU, as far as algorithmic reverbs go, so I've been forming some thoughts on to insert presets, as well, since some people may use it in that stead, and fuck if it doesn't have a mix control anyways.

All that said, it is definitely a 'verb full of flavor. I'll get some sound samples up this week, so you can see what I mean. I would liken it most to the Princeton 2016 Stereo Room plugin: it might not be useful for every possible situation, but what it is good for, it is _really_ good for. Quite frankly, I'm having a hard time coming up with a scenario where this _isn't_ worth at least 3 times what we're charging for it, if not more.

-CR

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-07):

Due to popular demand:

http://www.analogindustries.com/images/blog/fur.png

I don't think this would increase the usability of the plugin, quite frankly.

-CR

**studio nebula** (2006-08-07):

Definitely not. There's already too much cat fur in my studio as it is.

--Adam

**go** (2006-08-07):

Sweet.

**tuf** (2006-08-08):

Could we possibly get a blue cat fur mod? :)

Tuf

**shamann** (2006-08-08):

Cat fur = awesome.

Enough with these pretty blue interfaces, foul and incoherent could be your new niche.

**Chris Randall** (2006-08-08):

There are plenty of companies that do that already. Most of them release free plugins. We couldn't compete with that.

In any case, fur is fur, as far as Maya is concerned. Length, color, thickness, etc. are just numbers. I could render furry interfaces all day long.

-CR

**Aahzekiel** (2006-08-08):

Sweeeeet furrrrrrr...

"and I've succeeded in creating what will be my standard send reverb for years to come."

That would be exactly what I'm looking for.

I want a signature sound for my recordings, something that tells people what I value in production. I want that sound to be comprised of elements that have occurred naturally in my life, if you can dig that. If this cat -CR and his crew, that I've become aware of because of shared interests expressed online, can come up with a reveb I like, it suits my tastes and cuts right through that whole mess of picking from the endless verb solutions out there, with the added bonus that I've read this cat's thoughts, and like the way he thinks about effects, at least. I feel like I've come out ahead.

Of course, all of this is without hearing the thing yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm a great believer in local flavor, and a reverb can be as vital to a mix as the right roux to a gumbo.

**Aahzekiel** (2006-08-08):

Oh, and sorry about calling you a "cat", twice. It just slips out sometimes.