I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Roland MIDI digital reverb since I first saw it last February at the Frankfurt trade fair where, for want of a better expression, it truly knocked me pipe out.

But first, for those of you who have got to grips with any digital reverb in a recording studio, you will instantly know what an amazingly useful tool they are, and how they go way beyond the capabilities of any plate or spring. Of all the available effects to be found in a studio, reverberation is the single most important form of processing. Without it there is not reality of perspective — oh, wow! When instruments are recorded without suitable ambience/reverberation, they generally sound unnatural and, more to the point, horrible. Why? Well, that's a good question that has no simple explanation, but for starters get this. When an instrument is recorded via the use of a microphone, not only is the instrument recorded, but also the combined sound of the instrument interacting with the acoustics of the room. This obviously depends on how close the mike is to the instrument, and the room's acoustic properties. For example, small broom cupboard — dry sound; big aircraft hangar — uncontrollable swimming reverberation. Now some of the more astute readers will recognise that neither of these two examples are particularly suitable as good acoustic environments for studios. Generally, something in between these extremes is far more workable. Mind you there are quite a few interesting toilets around. It is reverberation/ambience that gives much of the perspective within a mix.

When people first started recording music in not the greatest acoustic rooms, and particularly with the advent of the dreaded DI box, some serious thinking was called for, unless you were especially aiming for that naff sound. In using a DI box the signal comes directly out of the instrument, down a series of wires, straight into the recording desk, and then to the tape machine, without ever coming into contact with the actual physical aspect of sound — pushing air. It is therefore necessary to create/synthesise this effect.

Over the past few years, affordable digital delays have arrived on the market from companies such as Roland who, in particular, make a couple of extremely good ones. The arrival of equivalent value-for-money reverbs has taken a little longer, probably due to the complex computer programs that reconstruct the various reverberation acoustics. But now, thanks to those wonderful men from the land of the rising sun, we can wave goodbye to all those ghastly spring reverbs.

Getting To Grips With SRV 2000

I should start off by saying that it takes quite a while to explore the enormous potential of this device, purely because there is so much that you can do with it. That doesn't mean that it's difficult to use as it is very sensibly laid out, but there's a lot in this tiny box.

Changing the parameters of the various controls is achieved by the six shift buttons which increase or decrease the relative settings shown in the six associated display windows. These are as follows:

Memory number: 32 reverb programs can be stored in the memory, and this is supported by a battery back-up for when the power is turned off. All the parameters used in the reverb, non-linear mode and for equalising are remembered.

Pre-delay: This is a delay time which is put between the original signal and reverberation signal in order to separate them from each other. It is equivalent to what is termed the first reflection, therefore the time it would take for the sound to reach the first surface. This can be varied between 0 to 160 ms in reverb mode, and 0 to 120 ms in non-linear mode.

Reverb time: Is the length of time it takes for reverberated sound to decay away, and ranges between 0.1 to 99. Yes, I did mean 99 seconds, which is truly ridiculous, though this maximum time does vary with the 'reverb selection' — (Hall, Room,and Plate.)

HF Damp: Effects the ratio of the higher frequencies as the reverb decays so that they disappear faster. The natural acoustical equivalent of this is determined by the material of what the walls comprise — (brick, glass, carpet, cheese etc.) — and their density.

Reverb Select: There are three available types of programs — room, hall, and plate. Each reconstructs a different acoustic environment with its own individual characteristics. Room is sharp and rich-sounding, with a high reverb density. Hall is a deeper reverberation with a lower density, whilst Plate is bright and far more metallic. There are two types of plate available, the second provides a stronger effect.

Output level: Relates to the level stored for each program.

Room Simulate and Non-Linear Mode

If you press the button marked Room Simulate on the front panel, this calls up a program that is meant to provide a natural reverberation. All parameters are automatically set to the values stored in the computer. When in this mode only the Reverb Selection can be edited.

Non-linear mode selects a gated reverb program corresponding to the set gate time. This is brilliant for percussive sounds such as snare drums, a very worthwhile feature. The reverb time may be set to a negative value causing it to get louder. In this mode, the gate time is set by using the HF Damp button and ranges from 1 ms to 450 ms.

Non-linear mode does away with having to use compression and gating to create this type of effect.

Advanced Editing

Pressing the equaliser buttons displays the currently stored setting for the three-band digital parametric equaliser where the signal is filtered before it goes to the digital reverberation processor section. This has no effect on the original direct sound.

The three bands — hi, mid, or low are shown one at a time in the display windows, and next to these are three settings for each bandwidth. The predelay control acts to change between the bandwidths, and the next three buttons alter the values. The first is the Q level, and the higher the value the narrower the frequency band. The Cut-Off Frequency sets the centre frequency of the Hi or Mid filter, and the cut-off frequency of the low filter the "Boost/Cut" which shows the amount of boost/cut of the filter.

There are two ways of adjusting the SRV 2000's level parameters — Standard level, which is the normal mode of operation, and Further level, which is used to adjust the parameters of the reverb select program. Attack times and densities may be altered, and this is where you can get into fine tuning the characteristics of the required reverbs.

16 different reverb programs are pre-programmed into the memory and can be overwritten or, alternatively, recalled if you decide that what you've got ain't that good.

By using a foot switch plugged into the infinite input on the back panel, the reverb signal can be frozen, similar to locking a digital delay signal on hold. This may then be added to by any new signal, using the Add Input.

An interesting aspect of this design is the inclusion of MIDI In and Thru inputs. Any reverb setting can be recalled by an appropriate program change message sent from a MIDI device. For example, using a MIDI sequencer to change reverberation in the middle of a song when playing live.

Conclusion

The SRV 2000 isn't quite an AMS, but then they cost a helluva lot more. It offers some great features and is versatile enough to open up loads of doors for exploration. Apart from individual musicians, I can see a lot of studios installing these as a second reverb. But, most important is that it does sound good, which isn't always the case with all digital reverbs. My pipe remains firmly knocked out!

For: Being given one free
Against: Having to pay for it

ROLAND DIGITAL REVERB SRV 2000 — RRP: £1375