A very common question I get: "Should I run my delay into my reverb, or should I run my reverb into my delay?" In this video, I'll demo both ways and explain what I prefer. YMMV. 2019 updated version: • Pedal Order: Reverb in...
It is really good to see a pedal manufacturer playing competitors pedals to demonstrate a point and not even dropping a comment on how "his pedals would be better". It seems there are still some industries with a sense of community and appreciation for what everyone brings to the table with their products and innovations instead of the usual cut throat business attitudes. Made me feel good.
Absolutely spot on comment and great, honest reply from Brian. Just more proof that Brian doesn't just make incredible gear, he's pretty much a great guy. People like him deserve every success. :) And I have personally always run reverb last after everything as Brian shows here. No real technical reason to support this, but just that I have done that for decades. XD
This is in part why guys like Keeley and You and many others have had such success. The business is clearly built on the love for music, guitar and gear. The sincerity of it definitely shines through. I loved it when I saw Keeley posting his shopping cart on Sweetwater with Wampler pedals in it on the FB Wampler Tone Group page. Not only did he get them, he paid for them like the rest of us gear geeks, and then showed everyone how excited he was to get them. You guys have built a killer community a lot of businesses could learn from.
delay after reverb seems a little more ambient, the verb kinda blends the repeats for a spacey feel. delay before reverb retains clarity in the repeats while not being so wet on the reverb. very cool both ways.
To my ears, the delay is more prominent when it is after reverb. With delay into reverb, the delay seems to get buried in the wash of the reverb (I always have some reverb on). And sometimes, that may be what you want. I have also experimented with one or the other or both in the effects loop; ended up putting them both in front. There are no standards for effects loops so you just have to try. The differences are quite slight. Just depends on what you want to hear.
Your actually right! I had my delays before the reverb, and it seems the delay was being washed out by the reverb. When I was playing the guitar intro of Eddie Van Halen, Dance the night away, the delay wasn’t prominent at all but when I put the delay after the reverb, I can hear the delay with clarity with the reverb.
thanks for this, exactly what I was looking for, I prefer reverb into delay because it makes the repeats of the delay softer and more natural, kinda like having extra reverb
It's all personal preference and it all depends on the instrument cable and the quality pedals you are using. I prefer delay last in the chain. It sounds more ambient after Reverb Pedal.
Ive been using reverb las in chain for that holy mountain top, throne of the god of space sound. Thanks for solidifying that sound for me. Didn't want to mess around with the chain......
Reverb is meant to mimic a real world environmental effect ("space"), while delay is a processing/time effect ("math"). In these setups, whichever comes last dominates, and personally I prefer reverb last because it creates the impression of your playing being situated in real space, while delay gives you a timed arrangement. I think that's the truth, though depending on your setting and the actual notes you are playing, the result can be way different.
Both are time effects. Reverb simulates, if digital, room ambience (a lot of mixed early reflections), delay simulates echoes- also a real life phenomenon.
Hey, I'm not sure how much experience you have with these pedals, but I'll ask anyway: would you know if the OBNE Dark Star reverb would sound well going into a Strymon Deco? I'm interested in getting that pedal to sound stereo (only available in mono atm) by running it before the Deco, but I'm not sure effects wise how it would pan out.. would a slap echo delay be too much vice versa for a dark star being run before it in the chain? I'm asking here as it is relevant to this video but the DS is a bit more chaotic and harder to wheel in
Fascinating. I would have said delay into reverb every time, until I heard the difference. Now I plan to have a delay either side of the reverb section on my board.
Man this is a tough one. They both sounds really good. Being completely objective here, the main difference I heard was reverb before delay had a “bigger” sound and the repeats were more pronounced. Delay before reverb had a softer sounding repeats but was very full and lush. Both are winners in my book and completely depends on the music you play and your playing style. I personally like verb first for swells and slide guitar. Ps, your clean guilting into amp sounds was very noice!
To all you people saying that delay into reverb is more natural cause it's a real life scenario, it's really the opposite in real life scenarios since echo has bigger reflection time gaps than reverberance- the one happening outside closed spaces, the latter in them.
I have a satchel poontang boomerang delay pedal going into a reverb thru the effects loop. But Every time I click on the delay I get a high pitch squeal. I tried reversing the order but same result. Do you know why or do I just have a broken delay pedal?
Your structure comes from the how the delay effects the notes you play decidedly more directly than the reverb. Reverb handles the tonal chunks of the delay much more efficiently than the delay processes the nondescript aspects of reverb. The wash of sound that you'd get with reverb into delay might be desirable if you want the sound there - but more as background to something else you might have going on. That's my take on it in any event. .
Reverb into delay, all life long. You have to ear the echo when you turn the delay on, specially in a mix. Otherwise, Delay into reverb, it seams to ear some early reflections in a huge reverberation.
Simple, very helpful explanation, thanks. I'm a born again musician on guitar, originally a sax player, so an effects newbie. I have the Boss Katana Mark II amp, which has effects on board, but started building my pedal board. Had a looper and tube screamer; just got a reverb pedal--tc electronic Skysurfer--and I'm getting the tc electronic Prophet next week. Signal path isn't that hard to understand, at least for someone who originally played an acoustic instrument, but since I got the reverb pedal is has been reverb pedal first, then delay in the amp, and it kinda sucks to my ears. Your demonstration showed it's not just my settings, I really just don't like it. But when you flipped them around, I liked it. Even acoustically, reverb then delay doesn't make sense to me. One criticism though. Most of us have simpler pedals. My Skysurfer for example has Spring, Plate, and Hall only, and most amp reverbs are Spring, so it would be helpful in future videos like this if you were mindful of the fact most of us are playing on the most standard of standard equipment. On the other hand, it seems every other video they're using pedals which are hand built, brands we never heard of, so at least you used fairly budget friendly and recognizable gear.
I tend to agree with you (as long as all modulation effects precede reverb/delay) That said, in some sense, though it technically isn't a modulation effect, echo/delay is a form modulation... Right? That said, I often wonder if it makes a difference, as long the end product is clean. In the end, it is a matter of preference. Very insightful video. Thank you for sharing.
Hello Brian, I saw a video where you talked about the Blackstar amp you had. I cant remember what model that amp was and cant find the video . If you can please message or reply with what model amp it was I would greatly appreciate it. Think it was the HT-60??
Lately I’m really enjoying plate reverb (from MXR M300) before delay. I have always placed reverb last, until now. Not sure how long I will bother with running reverb into delay before going back to my standard order.
Reverb into delay kinda sounds like the reverb is gated. It sounded more articulated to me. I always thought delay into reverb had to be the right way because that's how it is in nature, but I liked it less in your comparison, it sounded more washed out.
Interesting, In theory, and with "pure" delay and reverb, I don't think it would make a difference, since both effects are essentially the same and could even be composed into a single process. But if they do something extra (say it's an analog delay with a significant low-pass filter, or a reverb that adds modulation), then of course the order in the signal path could make a significant difference.
delay into reverb. ya ya. reverb into delay. yada yada... its your amp that got my attention here. very very very nice tone. great work building that thing.
Seems to me that the repeats are a little more transparent/subtle when the reverb after the delay. Just depends on which you prefer, subtle, or in your face
delay then reverb. I think delay first for the actual obvious delay and repeats and then the reverb for overall ambience and room or space. Seems to make sense for conventional sound and more natural. I liked reverb into delay also as an alternative to normal delay.
turn knobs until it suits your room,your guitar and your playing,knowing his settings will never help you achieve anything resembling what he is doing,i never quite understood why people continually ask this question
Love your pedals! Just got into your RU-vid channel which puts a smile on my face. Can you do a comparitive analysis of the TC T2 versus HoF? I wonder how similar they are internally (I have a T2).
I was surprised how similar they sounded. Think I'll go reverb at they end. Seems to make more sense reverbing a duplicate ratherthan duplicating the reverb. Thought he'd lose something but was all good!!??
I personally agree that dely into reverb sounds more natural. My understanding was that, this is because of the physics of sound: that delay is intended to recreate an echo, or reflection, off one or two distinct surfaces in a space. Then, as the sound decays and diffuses, into the space, & off the majority of the sufaces: one would hear the resonant frequencies of the materials themselves, as they absorb the energy & vibrations from the air. Along with the fequencies perpetuated by the shape of the room via constructive feedback causing the space to reverberate, which is why we refer to it as 'reverb', recreating the natural ambience of the room. love to know others thoughs, and the contexts that the different setups might be better suited for.
Exactly, the way sound works naturally. (Thank you, was going to write it up). Now, if someone prefers REV into DL to create unnatural crazy stuff, it is also valid, like when using reverse reverb, Doepler effect, pitch shifting echoes, etc.
Both are time based but reverb is a bit more complicated than that actually. It’s delay reflections at certain intervals with each having certain eq and phase relationship
I like that fat ton I don't know if that's the right term to use but I liked it Does it all possible to achive with a delay and a reverb pedal ? Oh by the way great demo !
Nice demo. Well, if you have a real reverb, for example you're in a concert hall, and then you have a delay pedal, that is a delay into reverb. I'll just mimic real life situation.
I have a zoom pedal and they have reverb after delay... but i think sometimes it can sound cool, just based on the fact that if you use a long delay it's going to get muddy if you do reverb after, but it would just repeat the parts you play even with reverb, so it depends. Most important is probably how much feed back you have on either of the two
My instinct is delay into reverb as well. But it was very interesting to hear it run reverb into delay on lead riffs,, Did not like it much ether way on chords.
I have a Flashback (1st version) and a HOF2 I just got last week. I have been running the Flashback last forever For no other reason then I use its looper function every time i practice. I really need to get a proper looper so I can actually use my Delay more often.
Interesting, has anyone thought of that. Except you, I guess, split the signal into both then blend into the front of the amp. I would like to see that. Great idea.
Deluxe Memory Man, there are multieffects rack units that have it as an option. In addition, the tc electronic G-System and Nova System multieffects floor units offer it. There may be others that have it as an option, as well.
Not really, that’s not how personal preference works. I can’t form your opinion for you, that’s on you. In the same way, I can’t tell you that pizza is great or terrible, it’s an opinion.
