Beloved by digital reverb buffs and shoegaze aficionados, not one but two classic reverbs are now in unofficial plug-in emulations — the MicroVerb and the MIDIVERB II. That includes the full range of MIDIVERB multi-effects, from gated reverbs to chorus and triggered flange, plus the grit and reverse of the Micro. Let’s travel back to the hottest gear of the late 1980s, for free.
Alesis’ digital effects pedigree is unmatched. The company was founded in Hollywood in 1984 by Keith Barr — co-founder of the legendary New York pedal maker MXR (with Terry Sherwood). And the MIDIVERB II is among Barr’s greatest sonic achievements.
This is yet another case of third parties coming to the rescue when the big brands themselves haven’t reproduced some of their own classics.
How to describe MIDIVERB II? Well, we can turn to the original manual, as we don’t write about this stuff quite like this anymore:
Congratulations on the purchase of your new digital signal processor. MIDIVERB Il is a full stereo professional quality multiple effects device that doesn’t require a professional to operate. The great variety of sounds heard in modern music production have been captured in MIDIVERB Il for instant recall through either manual control or MIDI command. The possibilities for sound enhancement with MIDIVERB II are wide ranging and easy to attain…but most important, emminently musical. You’ll be able to maintain spontaneity in your music while creating sounds as subtle or as dramatic as you like.
Among MIDIVERB Il’s features are a 16 bit linear PCM processing system that delivers sound quality comparable to that of the digital disc medium. The heart of this system is a very large scale integrated chip developed by Alesis specifically for MIDIVERB Il. Wide dynamic range and 15kHz bandwidth allow musical performances ranging from delicate to thunderous with no loss of warmth or subtle harmonics.
You heard it! It’s a reverb that sounds like a CD! (Hey, digital was still novel.)
In some ways, it’s that triggered flanger effect that’s as interesting as anything else here. Again, from the original manual:
With ‘regular’ flanging, the delay time and pitch modulation are continuously varied over time. With triggered flanging this continuous variation is interrupted: the delay time is instantly reset to zero and the pitch modulation is reset at the top of its modulation cycle.
Microverb is all about “grit” and “lo-fi” — and it’s a unique animal. All sixteen presets are here, even the reverse reverb.
Go read the 1987 Sound on Sound review:
Both plug-ins are available in a single download for macOS and Windows (VST3, AU, AAX):
Via the incomparable Bedroom Producers Blog, which can keep up with way more free stuff than I can!