Reverb and I have history. There have been times when I’ve been happily swimming in lush, spacious mixes - and others when I’ve sat staring blankly at my speakers, wondering what exactly just went wrong. It’s a tricky effect: it can transform a track or bury it. Over the years, through experimenting with countless hardware units and plugins, I’ve finally landed on an approach that consistently works - and I’m happier with my reverbs now than ever before. As I continue fine-tuning my process, I wanted to share where I’ve gotten to so far... Start by Setting the Room The most important step is deciding on the space - the environment I want my track to exist in. Rather than treating reverb as a sprinkling of magic dust over certain elements, I approach it as placing the whole track in one coherent world. I send everything in the mix to a single reverb Aux/Buss at 0dB. The actual send level doesn’t matter too much, as long as everything is consistent going in and a decent level. This sets up the initial feeling, or mood, of the track. Think of it as the whole track is suspended in the space. I keep a shortlist of go to reverbs: • Lexicon reverbs (always musical and warm) • Valhalla Shimmer (for my big distance reverb) • PhoenixVerb by Exponential Audio (clean and beautifully transparent) • And even some stock DAW plugins (often underrated) • Chroma Verb for Ambient spaces I remember a guest on Pensado’s Place saying during “Batter’s Box” that reverb is “the feeling in the track,” and that’s exactly it. At this stage, I’m not trying to noticeably “hear” the reverb - I’m looking to feel the track settle naturally into a space. Finding Suspension Typically, I start off with a room or plate reverb, pulling the effect's Aux/Buss fader all the way down. Then, slowly, bringing the Aux/Buss fader up until the entire track gently sits in the chosen space. I once read (I think it was Attack Magazine) that sounds in reverb should feel like they’re “suspended”. That stuck with me - it’s exactly what I’m looking for at this point: a cohesive, floating feel. If rooms or plates don’t quite hit the mark, I’ll experiment with halls and chambers instead. It’s finding that intangible moment when the track feels right. Adjusting the Reverb Balance Once I have the initial space dialed in, I fine-tune the balance. I’ll bring down the kick and bass sends until their obvious reverb tails vanish. Not completely dry, I still want them subtly present in the same space. Just enough so they feel connected. From there, placing individual elements becomes intuitive: Want a sound to sit further back? Push a little more send. Want it to move closer? Ease it off. Pre-delay works hand in hand with this – more pre-delay keeps a sound present and upfront, less lets it sink further back into the space. The goal is to have all the elements in the mix present in the space, creating a cohesive starting point. I also EQ on the reverb aux, gently rolling off the highs and lows before the reverb itself. High and Low Pass filters on the channel before Reverb The EQ on the channel before the Reverb Soloing the reverb channel occasionally helps me understand exactly where these roll-offs place the reverb in the overall picture and feel of the track. You can push the high pass up to around 600Hz and bring the low pass down to around 6kHz – it depends on how dark or airy you want the tail to feel Layering Spaces One reverb can be enough, but layering spaces can enhance depth. I typically end up using two or even three reverbs to build dimension: 1. Primary Room (Room or Plate): Your main environment–this is the “glue”. 2. Secondary Space (Larger Reverb): Adds extra depth, complexity, and emotion. 3. Specialty Space (Valhalla Shimmer): My secret weapon, adding atmospheric texture and distant depth. For the second and third reverbs, I narrow the stereo width slightly, creating the illusion of distance - just like perspective in a painting. The further away the space feels, the narrower I pan it. I find this helps the biggest, most distant reverb naturally sit behind everything else, reinforcing a sense of depth and distance. Should Shimmer Be Mono or Stereo? If I'm using Shimmer as a subtle background haze rather than a featured element, I'll often keep it more mono. It gives a ghostly, distant feel – like something echoing down a tunnel – and sits naturally behind the mix without competing with the stereo width elsewhere. It's also the safer choice for vinyl, club systems, or anything where mono compatibility matters. Stereo is where Shimmer comes alive though. On melodic or atmospheric elements, wide stereo shimmer wraps around the sound and expands the mix outward. Layered against a mono main reverb, you get depth and width simultaneously – which is where I find it most powerful. It’s About Feel, Not Formula Ultimately, the point isn't a technical rulebook. Approaching reverb in this way - placing the entire track in a unified, intentional space rather than just applying it piecemeal - changed everything for me. Reverb isn’t just another effect; it’s where the track lives. Get it right and everything works.

Moving from a hybrid setup to a fully laptop-based production environment has been a journey filled with adjustments, challenges, and new discoveries. One of the biggest hurdles? Finding the perfect in-the-box reverb-something that could come close to the depth, warmth, and musicality of the hardware I’d used for years. For a long time, I experimented with various plugins, searching for that familiar reverb sound I had grown accustomed to. Some would seem right at first, but after extended use, they lacked the depth or character I was used to hearing. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t quite replicate the sound I knew. The Endless Reverb Experiment Over time, I’ve put countless plugins through their paces: 🎛 SSL X-Verb 🎛 Valhalla 🎛 UAD EMTs 🎛 Lexicon PCM, MPX & LXP 🎛 PhoenixVerb 🎛 Various stock plugins Each of them brought something to the table - and I still use most of them regularly, depending on the session. But none quite gave me that feeling I used to get with the right outboard reverb - until recently. The Bettermaker BM60: A Reliable Workhorse For the past year, the Bettermaker BM60-based on Lexicon’s PCM 60-became my go-to. It gave me that familiar, classic space I’d grown up with. I was surprised to learn it’s based on impulse responses, because it still felt alive in the mix-rare for IR-based reverbs, which can often feel static over time. Then Came Quantec When Logic Pro introduced the Quantec Room Simulator in late 2024, I tried it out on a whim. 💡 And I was seriously impressed. The space it created, the clarity, the blend - it had the feel of high-end hardware. It sat in the mix without needing constant adjustment. Musically, it just worked. For a moment, I thought: this might be it. It felt like the final piece of the in-the-box puzzle. But Then-A Phase Issue After some extended use, I started noticing a subtle phasing quality – something that seemed to be coming from the Quantec aux rather than the session itself. It's worth knowing the plugin has a 1st Phase Reverse button that flips the phase of the first reflection relative to the dry and reverb signals – toggling that may resolve it depending on how you're using it. Once I heard it I couldn't un-hear it, but it hasn't put me off the plugin entirely. I've just become more selective with it since. Still in the Toolbox I still rate the Quantec highly - it brings something unique, and I continue to use it on the right projects. But it’s no longer the sole answer I thought it might be. These days, I’m mixing it up between the Quantec, BM60, Valhalla, PhoenixVerb, and UAD’s Pure Plate. Each one has a role, depending on the space I’m trying to create. Final Thoughts The search for “the one” may never fully end - but I’m much closer to having a set of tools I trust. And if you’re in the market for a plugin that gets remarkably close to high - end hardware reverb, the Quantec Room Simulator in Logic Pro is worth your time-just keep an ear out. 🔗 Quantec Room Simulator – Classic Reverb & Space Emulation