Reverb comparison, Alesis Microverb and Microverb II 

Glad you found it useful - they are fun little units. I look forward to seeing a video showcasing your Alesis collection in action!

Glad it helped - hope you enjoy it!

Glad it was helpful!

You're welcome!

Hi - could be any number of reasons. A failed power supply (although new ones are rare) must be less of a problem than a failure with the reverb unit's internals. Simplest start point is to check the output of the power supply with a multimeter (on AC scale), and work from there. Does it look like the cable going into the moulded-on 1/8" connector has become damaged through flexing? If so, it should be possible to cut back the cable an inch or so and replace the connector - but leave that to someone who's competent with electricity!

They do sound very different, although I bought the Microverb II as it was 'the latest thing' (what gullible consumers we are!) I justified it to myself at the time by arguing that I would have two simultaneous different reverb sounds at (all-analogue) mixdown. But I'm not sure it makes sense to have either these days - I sold these units quite a while ago, and only use DAW plug-ins.

Thanks!

The manual (downloadable from synthfool) states 16-bit PCM but does not mention sample rate. My guess would be 48kHz.

@@FarewellOldFriends the PDF I've seen says reverb bandwidth is 15 kHz, i.e., sample rate somewhere near or just above 30 kHz (very possibly 31.25). This was common in that day; e.g., the Yamaha SPX90 also ran at such a limited sample rate.

Hi Jorge - try these steps (although you probably already have!): 1. Check that the reverb unit is actually working (e.g. connect it between your CD player and hi-fi amp). 2. If something is plugged into the DEFEAT input, that could be suppressing the effect content - worth checking there's no problem with that. 3. I am not sure these units have sensitive enough inputs for a guitar plugged in directly. You may have to wind the input gain up quite high. 4. I assume you are plugging your guitar into the L input, as this is connected to R input internally if nothing is plugged into the R input socket - the reverse is not true! 5.The percentage of reverb effect vs. direct (dry) sound is varied by the mix control on the front- check that control is working. That's all I can think of at the moment - good luck!

These units have a rather unusual power input scheme. They require an external supply to provide 9-volt AC (yes, that's right, not DC like everything else in the Universe), on a regular 3.5mm mono jack plug. You can see the socket and its voltage marking in this video. This was easy to provide 20 years ago, when all external 'wall wart' adaptors had regular 50Hz mains transformers in them (you could tell by the weight), but virtually all supplies these days are switched-mode devices that only provide DC. Having said that, in my recollection, there are no mains transformers in these units, and the first thing the 9V AC supply hits is a a full-wave rectifier, so in theory they should work OK with a 9V DC supply of either polarity. Try it at your own risk!

Alesis made the first MIDIVerb at the same time, if that was what you needed and could afford the higher price; the Microverbs were aimed at simpler setups. The NanoVerb was even simpler! I had the feeling that - in response to the furious pace of competitive product development at the time - Alesis extended the Microverb's audio bandwidth without updating the unit's processing power / sampling rate / bit-depth, resulting in what sounded - to me - brighter but harsher sounds. From the manufacturers' viewpoint, each of their products was designed to sell for only a couple of years, as they quickly moved on to ever more enticing - and equally ephemeral - offerings. I think they would be amused to find people discussing the relative merits of their creations 30 years on!

@@FarewellOldFriends they added MIDI in later versions but they also got much bigger so it may have been a space constraint

Think I used a Mackie 1202VLZ at the time.

tracer690 As far as I recall, the Left and Right inputs are combined and sent to the reverb processor, which creates a reverberant stereo sound from the mono sum of the input channels. Those reverberant signals are fed to the left and right 'wet' end (fully CW) of the 'Mix' control, while the original left and right inputs are sent directly to the 'Dry' end (fully CCW) of the mix control. I think you have three options, depending on what you intend to do with the setup: 1. Mono synth to Mono amplifier (for stage performance) - use Left channel in and out of the reverb unit, and adjust Mix control for desired dry/wet balance. Reverb is mono. 2. Mono synth to Stereo amp or recorder - Make a splitter cable to send the synth to both L and R inputs (many other FX units do this automatically if an input is plugged only into the L channel, but I don't think this is the case here). Adjust Mix control for dry/wet balance. 3. Mono synth into mixer, using mixer aux send/return - Feed mixer post-fade aux out to L reverb input. Set Mix fully wet (CW), take reverb L and R outs to mixer stereo FX return. Control wet/dry mix with mixer post-fade aux send level control. Hope that makes sense!

FarewellOldFriends Thanks for taking your time to write to me about this. I see another one on ebay lol. I'm probably going to get a full studio setup someday when I get a house, not sure what it is gonna include but I'm going to invest a bunch of money into it because I want to make music. I'll probably just get an amp first which should have a built in reverb. I will get a USB/midi interface device too and I know a lot of these effects are on computer too. So maybe I'll just go with the rack mount effects or get more guitar pedals...I think reverb may be something that I shouldn't invest too much money into right now.

tracer690 never connect directly old reverb units to synth, unless you want degradated signal, use mixer sends and returns to connect them. If you want cool bang for a buck unit pick up lexicon lxp1. There are reverb units with build in true bypass and stereo mixer like Rocktron intellifex or intelliverb they have both mono and stereo inputs

The Ensoniq SQ-80 has both stereo AND mono outputs (it is a stereo synthesizer). But these older reverb units were seldom true stereo. The Microverb will sum your stereo outputs and give you a new simulated stereo reverb wash. You will hear a reverb in newly-created stereo space, but you will lose your original left/right panning and effects. The video author mentions this briefly. If you are unaware of the stereo capabilities of your SQ-80, you will not be bothered by the sum+reverb the Microverb offers. But you owe it to yourself to hear what the added dimension of stereo adds to many SQ-80 patches.

I have a Microverb I and it has worked well with my mono analogs, making them stereo, and works with my stereo synths as well, of course.

I certainly think that the Microverb I sounded smoother - more natural - probably because it wasn't trying to get a good high-frequency response. Clicks aren't good...

Thanks for your compliment on the video. A simple impulse-type sound does give an opportunity to appreciate the nature of the reverb (decay time, initial reflections etc.), which would come over as a colouration when applied to more complex source sounds. I think a video covering more types of sounds would have been a tad long! I'm sure there are plenty of other demos on RU-vid of these devices with voices and other instruments in a proper musical context. And I suspect that since I did this demo, software emulations have become available, so it should be a lot easier for virtually (no pun intended) anyone to check them out. BTW, I'm not that jaded - both of these served me well for several years back in the open-reel days, although I still reckon the original Microverb - despite (or perhaps because of) its limited HF response - sounded smoother and more pleasant than the Microverb II. Cheers!