The Alesis Microverb is about the same size as a small car radio, less expensive than some spring reverbs and delivers 16-bit state-of-the-art performance that wouldn't be out of place in any recording studio. H&SR bring you this exclusive, in-depth review.

Reverberation is still by far the most important effect used in sound recording, and until recently, one of the main factors separating the sound of a cheap demo studio from that of a top notch mastering studio was the quality of the reverberation used. This is hardly surprising, as reverb forms a significant part of everything we hear in everyday life and so we need to be able to synthesise a convincing imitation in the studio. The attack launched on the spring reverb by the Alesis Midiverb is well underway, but, after all £395 can represent too high a figure for many home studio owners; a small multitrack recorder could cost significantly less. Sadly it isn't possible to turn out digital reverb units quite like they do fuzz boxes, but Alesis have done the next best thing by simplifying the electronic hardware to the point where it can be mass produced (and sold) at a reasonable price.

As you can see from the photo, the Alesis Microverb is a small, black, aluminium cased device with only three pots, an LED and a rotary selector switch on the front panel. Considering the price, the case is rather elegant and is anodised rather than painted. No fewer than three Microverbs will fit into a single unit of rack space, and an adaptor is shortly to be made available for this very purpose. A tri-coloured LED indicates the input level and all the input, output, power and remote connectors are located on the rear panel. The mains unit is separate and is located in the mains plug, rather like the typical Roland power supplies and this connects to the unit via a stereo 3.5mm jack.

To produce a unit like this at such a low price, all the frills have had to go, but I am pleased to see that none of the essentials have been compromised in any way that I can detect. Gone is the MIDI patch control and there are only 16 preset effects.

But what exactly can the thing do for you?

The Guided Tour

Like the Midiverb, the Microverb has both stereo inputs and outputs, though the reverb input is derived from a mix of the left and right input channels in the usual way. This means, though, that you can use the unit with a stereo instrument without having to resort to a separate mixer. The reverb output is stereo whether the input is stereo or not, but there is one further refinement. Having a stereo input normally means that a dry signal connected to just one input comes out of that side only whilst the reverb is working in stereo. With the Microverb, one input is configured such that when used on its own, the input will be routed to both outputs equally.

One seemingly simple feature which makes the unit so flexible is that it has both input and output level controls and this, combined with a high input impedance, means that the user may plug virtually anything into the input and be sure of a good match. I tried an electric guitar and the +4dB output from a mixing desk with equally good results. The output level control ensures that the level is always right for the next piece of equipment in the chain so the Microverb is equally at home in the studio or live at a local pub gig. There is also a dry/effect balance control to set up the intensity of the reverb but if used with a studio mixer, this would normally be set to 'effect only'. Particularly handy for live use is the rear panel remote socket which takes an ordinary footswitch to act as a bypass control. On the Midiverb, we had to cope with phono connectors but these have been replaced here by ¼" jack sockets which are appropriate for many more applications.

Sounding Out

One of the Midiverb's salient characteristics was its quiet and smooth sound. This was the benefit of using a 12-bit conversion system. However the Microverb uses 16 bits, which not only produces a smoother reverb sound but also a staggering 90dB dynamic range: about as quiet as a CD player! The same RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) is used to achieve the high computing speed needed to recreate dense, convincing reverb and the system has the same 10kHz bandwidth as far more expensive machines.

The input level meter is somewhat basic, but nevertheless adequate for the job in hand. This is one of those clever tricolour LEDs that starts out life a sort of yellow colour but when a modest signal is present, it turns green: rather like a breathaliser but without the consequences. An excess of level turns it red, so the trick is to keep the light green with the odd flicker of red.

As far as selecting the reverb patch chosen, the user has at his disposal neither a complicated matrix of buttons nor an inconvenient increment/decrement system, but merely a rotary selector switch. The only disadvantage with this particular control is that the selector knob needs a white line down the side, or the user could become confused as to which setting has been chosen. But that's nothing a blob of Tipp-Ex wouldn't cure.

"...the Microverb uses 16 bits, which not only produces a smoother reverb sound but also a staggering 90d8 dynamic range: about as quiet as a CO player!"

The effects themselves come in four categories: small spaces, large spaces, gated and reverse. The first six settings are designated 'small' and offer a good choice of ambience, room and plate sounds with the smallest sounding like a coal bunker and the largest like a school gymnasium. Four and Five are both very plate-like in nature and have fast attacks followed by smooth, bright decays. These work particularly well on drums and can add sparkle to vocals.

Next we find seven 'large' sounds which start out with something resembling a stately home and end up with a massive 20 second hall like something out of 'The Lord of the Rings'. This spectacular effect is ideal for new age music. In between are long plates and different rooms and halls including one or two with very pronounced early reflections which add a lot of character to the sound. The larger halls have a slow build-up to the reverb part of the sound, whilst the plate and room sounds have a much faster attack. I must stress that none of these presets are actually named; they are only called up by number. These descriptions are merely impressions of what the presets sounded like. Testing reverb is a bit like wine tasting and you occasionally have to rinse out your ears with a burst of white noise to restore a neutral perspective.

Moving further clockwise, we come to a single reverse setting and this has around half a second decay (or should it be 'yaced')? Like the other Alesis units, this reverse setting is certainly spectacular and I've never heard another machine do quite so well in this respect at any price. A guitar played through this setting with the dry sound removed sounds just like those old Hendrix numbers where the whole thing was recorded and then played with the tape in reverse. Unfortunately, the Microverb can't actually make you play like Jimi but you get the idea!

And lastly come the gates. These are best described as short and medium and give the now traditional gated drum sound. However, they can also sound most effective on guitar and vocals, so don't be put off experimenting.

Verdict

The Microverb is representative of a considerable drop in the price of digital reverb, just as the Midiverb was when it first hit the shops. Indeed, at present it's the cheapest digital reverb in production. It doesn't supercede the Midiverb which is still in production and still represents exceptional value, because this product is aimed at a different section of the market, but it does provide first rate, no nonsense reverb with a corresponding saving in cost. Subjectively, the reverb effects are very similar in character and stereo width to those provided by the Midiverb, but the extra smoothness provided by the 16-bit system really can be heard.

The anti-preset pundits may complain about the fact that the user is limited to only 16 effects and can't dial up thousands of different effects, but I think that all the essential reverb treatments are present, and a tweak on the EQ can be used to add further variety. If wider bandwidth is needed, an enhancer stuck across the output might be useful.

The bottom line is that this product has simply got to be a winner and I can see a lot of guitarists and keyboard players acquiring them as well as home and professional studio owners. So, if you've been thinking about buying a spring reverb, take a good look at the Microverb when it comes out in mid-December before you decide. Now, if they could only make a 16-track recorder for the same price...

The Alesis Microverb costs £249 including VAT.

Further details are available from: Sound Technology, (Contact Details).