Valhalla DSP - Valhalla VintageVerb

ValhallaDSP's latest plugin, VintageVerb (VST/AU/RTAS), is a nostalgic take on the curiously crusty hardware reverbs of yesteryear. At its heart are nine mostly Lexicon-inspired reverb algorithms to choose from, covering the usual array of halls, plates, rooms and spaces, as well as a few more esoteric designs. All stand up very well in the mix, but our favourite is the Chamber algorithm, with its beautifully smooth yet dense texture - a combination that a lot of reverb plugins don't quite manage to pull off.

Where VintageVerb really departs from ValhallaDSP's flagship ValhallaRoom reverb is in its three Color modes. These use modulation shaping and internal downsampling to replicate three different 'eras': 1970s gives a grungy, lo-fi texture, 1980s steps the quality up somewhat but still sounds pretty gritty, and Now gives you today's squeaky clean sound - see Vintage king for more. This simple decision to have the Color as a separate option, rather than building it into the reverb algorithms themselves, results in an impressive level of sonic flexibility without sacrificing simplicity and ease of use.