NPD - Quadraverb, Midiverb and Microverb

moogmusic · Post by **moogmusic** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:51 am

As predicted by 71Smallbox, rack effects units multiply like rabbits and are much fun. Last week, a Midiverb II, Microverb IV and Quadraverb arrived and this weekend, much reverb-based fun was had. I've a couple of questions:

i) Does anyone know a good online source of manuals for these things that don't look like they were scanned in the lowest resolution known to man - I think I can just get the Microverb one off the Alesis website as it was made post internets but the others are too old.

ii) Is it just me or are old rack units excellent value? - I know they're not as practical as pedals but I basically spent less than Â£100 on these three and the potential they hold seems immense.

MrJamesBrown · Post by **MrJamesBrown** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:53 am

Ooooh let me know how they are! Intrigued for sure.

moogmusic · Post by **moogmusic** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:52 pm

Will do - not that I know too much about 'verb. Beyond it makes things sound like they're in massive caves.

Probably won't get to have a play again until tomorrow or Wednesday as I've practice tonight in my other guise as a kick-ass rhythm machine.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:49 pm

I've played on a couple of those little boss half rack units and they're all incredible.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:04 pm

The Midiverb II is set, you cannot program it, I have the patch list for it, I can see if I can take a hi-res photo of it or something, I don't have a scanner. All you can do on the Midiverb II is adjust the input level, your output level and the level of the effect over the balance of the dry sound. Its pretty easy to interface it.
The Microverb, I have no idea.
The Quadraverb, I have a manual that I downloaded and printed that wasn't shit resolution, and I don't think it was from Alesis, I'll look into that one. You can program it to do tons of stuff. I always mess with the reverse reverb miming my Yamaha SPX90 when its not around or I use the King's Hall reverb with a delay in front of it for AMAZING VERVE or Sigur Ros ambience.
These units far exceed any reverb pedal I've played, they're a great value if you don't mind dealing with them.
Kevin Shields still uses his Midiverb II and SPX90, so there you go.

moogmusic · Post by **moogmusic** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:29 am

71Smallbox wrote:The Midiverb II is set, you cannot program it, I have the patch list for it, I can see if I can take a hi-res photo of it or something, I don't have a scanner. All you can do on the Midiverb II is adjust the input level, your output level and the level of the effect over the balance of the dry sound. Its pretty easy to interface it.
The Microverb, I have no idea.
The Quadraverb, I have a manual that I downloaded and printed that wasn't shit resolution, and I don't think it was from Alesis, I'll look into that one. You can program it to do tons of stuff. I always mess with the reverse reverb miming my Yamaha SPX90 when its not around or I use the King's Hall reverb with a delay in front of it for AMAZING VERVE or Sigur Ros ambience.
These units far exceed any reverb pedal I've played, they're a great value if you don't mind dealing with them.
Kevin Shields still uses his Midiverb II and SPX90, so there you go.

I've got the patch list for the Midiverb II thanks - it's rough and ready but it's only a list so it doesn't matter too much. A bit of Google magics revealed a PDF of the Quadraverb manual on the Alesis website but it's not amazing so if yours is better and you can fire it through the interwebs that would be awesome.

I have a laptop for looping at the heart of my setup and I have a vague plan in my mind to use some tempo synced LFOs to drive the MIDI controllers on the Quad which will hopefully be pretty interesting and fun.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 9:36 am

While we're on the 'gazer strain...

The half rack-sized Yamaha FX500 and its "Soft Focus" patch does the big 'verb wash thing quite well and can be found pretty cheap, too. I pretty much use it for just that and the "Lush Strings" patch, and run compressor -> Micro POG -> Delay in front of mine for the fun stuff.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 3:30 pm

Hi what's your opinion on the microverb? They seem to crop up fairly regularly on ebay for very little money and I thought I may check one out.

Ro S · Post by **Ro S** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 4:38 pm

I got a Yamaha FX500 half rack a few years ago, but the adaptor I got with it wasn't the right sort and I couldn't find anyother one to work with it either. I had been hoping to get shoegazey reverbs outta it.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:22 pm

Ro S wrote:I got a Yamaha FX500 half rack a few years ago, but the adaptor I got with it wasn't the right sort and I couldn't find anyother one to work with it either. I had been hoping to get shoegazey reverbs outta it.

Just get a standard power supply (positive tip) rated at 12v, that will work. Its really easy to find considering the M-Audio firewire units have the exact same power supply.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:33 pm

Gabriel wrote:Hi what's your opinion on the microverb? They seem to crop up fairly regularly on ebay for very little money and I thought I may check one out.

I had one for a while, they sound great. Can be had for under Â£50.
There is a massive thread on the microverb on offset from way back if you want to seek it out.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:39 pm

Johno wrote:
Gabriel wrote:Hi what's your opinion on the microverb? They seem to crop up fairly regularly on ebay for very little money and I thought I may check one out.
I had one for a while, they sound great. Can be had for under Â£50.
There is a massive thread on the microverb on offset from way back if you want to seek it out.

But then you would have to wade through countless threads on Klons and amber switch tips

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:52 pm

Aha I've never actually been on offset! I shall venture to the dark side very briefly...

edit: Every single post involved some kind of mention of Kevin Shields so I couldn't quite cope after a while. I'll just see what I can pick up really cheap, all I want is a really long decay reverb.

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:01 pm

Are rackmounts relatively affordable because they're not as giggable as floor-dwelling pedals? I've seen second-hand Alesis 'verb rackmount units for less than an EHX Cathedral! In the studio it won't matter as much whether it needs to be in a rack or not I guess.

The Verve name-drop intrigues me though...A Storm in Heaven is one of my all-time fave albums. McCabe is shockingly underrated as a guitarist - the verb-y guitars on that album are effing lush. The Quadraverb sounds like a good plan, but the Midiverb II might be more up my alley since I'm a set-and-forget lazy bastard with that sort of thing.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 12:48 am

Gabriel wrote:Aha I've never actually been on offset! I shall venture to the dark side very briefly...

edit: Every single post involved some kind of mention of Kevin Shields so I couldn't quite cope after a while. I'll just see what I can pick up really cheap, all I want is a really long decay reverb.

The Midiverb II has several of those (really long reverbs) and Kevin Shields is often associated with it because of its reverse reverb patch. They should be available for cheap. I picked up one a year or so ago for $25 on Craigslist.

moogmusic · Post by **moogmusic** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:43 am

Concretebadger wrote:Are rackmounts relatively affordable because they're not as giggable as floor-dwelling pedals? I've seen second-hand Alesis 'verb rackmount units for less than an EHX Cathedral! In the studio it won't matter as much whether it needs to be in a rack or not I guess.

While they're less practical, I would argue that most are easily giggable - they often include a footswitch bypass jack for hands free operation and can just be popped on the floor like a pedal.

Gabriel wrote:Hi what's your opinion on the microverb? They seem to crop up fairly regularly on ebay for very little money and I thought I may check one out.

Haven't managed to have a play yet (weather has been too nice for hiding away with effects units) but, given my first impressions of the other two, I imagine it's pretty good.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:02 pm

they're affordable because they're audio production gear that once was commonly in every studio but is now fairly out of vogue. everyone just uses plug-ins now. a lot of rack reverbs are better than any pedal reverb. I guess guitarists have avoided them because they're digital. but unless you only like spring reverb that doesn't make much sense.

I have a microverb and someone just gave me a microverb 4. the microverb was perfectly adequate for guitar but maybe not so good for more hi-fi uses. not that that good for synth strings and whatnot. the microverb 4 looks like it addresses a lot of the shortcomings of the first microverb. it's higher sample rate and can adjust parameters, it's not just presets like the first microverb. the first microverb was very small though.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:17 pm

Concretebadger wrote:The Verve name-drop intrigues me though...A Storm in Heaven is one of my all-time fave albums. McCabe is shockingly underrated as a guitarist - the verb-y guitars on that album are effing lush. The Quadraverb sounds like a good plan, but the Midiverb II might be more up my alley since I'm a set-and-forget lazy bastard with that sort of thing.

McCabe used both the Quadraverb and the Quadraverb+, the only difference is longer delay times and a couple of patches, but the verbs are the same. I was quite able to cop alot of the sounds from "A Storm in Heaven" using it and a good distortion,chorus and delay pedal. I LOVE that album BTW. I used the stock patch of "Kings Chamber" or something like that, no changes to it. Awesome huge sounding reverb!