I do like a good spring. And this one does indeed look and sound rather good - lots of parameters to fiddle with an automate for freakery, a built-in tremolo, sounds great from the demos on the site and 29 bucks. Yum.
Spring Reverb models the sound and character of popular spring reverbs found in guitar amplifiers, popularized by Surf, Garage and Rockabilly music. Spring takes this a step further by allowing manipulation of physical parameters not normally available in a real spring tank. The results vary from faithful recreations of real springs to distinctive new sounds that push the physical boundaries of reverb.
This vintage reverb sound originally derived from the reflections of sound waves traveling through springs has been given an overhaul for the 21st century and beyond. Eventide Spring contains two different sized ‘spring tanks’ along with ability to morph between one and three springs. Easily program The Ribbon to seamlessly transition between any two settings in real time! The added tube-amp-style tremolo can be routed before or after the spring resulting in an unrivaled ability to craft your own unique reverb sound. Alter the intensity by changing the tremolo depth and adjust the tremolo rate in Hz, or note value when tempo-sync’d to your project.
Want more control of your tone? Spring has controls to independently manipulate the damping frequency for both the Low and High end. Get even more ring from your spring by adjusting the amount of metallic Resonance present in the High Damping frequency. Guitarists love the revered surfer vibe but all creative musicians will find that Spring makes any synthesizer, drum, or vocal stand out in a mix.
I was about to start a thread on this one too, but you sprang quicker, Guy. Downloaded the Spring demo earlier this afternoon and it's been fun ever since. I'm buying. (Even though I still like the Softube Spring Reverb as well.)
I think I need to stop visiting TSB - no sooner do I get over my lust for a $4K synthesizer re-issue than I get smacked in the face with a $29 spring reverb.
I love spring reverb. I have the plugins from UA, Softube, PSP and u-He, all still in my plugin list. There are a couple others I wasn't using, so I discarded them. More to the point, I still have a Masterroom Micmix XL-121 in the rack, and I still use it. On my less than stellar voice it is my absolute favorite to cover up the flaws... and sound cool at the same time.
Why yes, the demo is downloading in the background, and based on the slow download I would guess I am not the only one/
I did press that buy button and it seems lovely. I found that number of springs nearly always sounds best on one, but otherwise I really like the controls, especially the tension one which just begs to be automated as a Very Cool Effect. In normal operation its got a great range from subtle to extreme. My only real gripe - and this is absurd I know - I just wish I could tap somewhere on it and it made a BWOOOING noise on its own like you're physically whacking the unit. There's even a Tap button, but alas.
Guy Rowland wrote: ↑Jan 17, 2020 4:00 am(...) I just wish I could tap somewhere on it and it made a BWOOOING noise on its own like you're physically whacking the unit. (...)
That's the one thing that the Softube Spring Reverb can do which the Eventide Spring can't.
It did not take much time last night to discover that Eventide has a winner on their hands (even without the BWOOOING).
I'll be licensing it this weekend. It really does sound nice.
Larry - the AKG BX Reverbs were awesome. I used them on OPS (other people's studios) but could never justify the cost or the space for myself. The Masterroom reverbs sound really good, mine is the mono version, sorta wish I'd sprung for the stereo version, but then back in the early 80s most processing was still mono because only a few could afford stereo gear<G>!
I hear ya, Bill. The studio belonged to my partner, who started a jingle production studio a few years after he left The Cyrkle (Red Rubber Ball, Turn Down Day.) Along the way he bought 4 Neumanns, the BX, two Lex 224s with LARCs, Kurzweil 250, Dolby A, and a whole lot of other stuff, including some amps that had been with him since he toured with The Beatles (!)
$29 (sigh). Well, I guess I will. I bought Blackhole which I don't find a lot of use for, and SP-2016, which I do. Both were cheap, what the heck. I recently bought my first Lex, which as you mentioned at the other place is basically an LXP-1, which I also had, but for $35....
I caved! Which is not entirely fair, this is a very good spring reverb, and different enough (in terms of sound and features) to earn a spot on my system.
Which makes what, five spring reverb plugins now? Am I nuts?
I'm not sure, and since last evening I have given this some thought...
"Growing up" (as if any of us really did) one was fortunate to have a spring reverb, the really fortunate ones had a spring reverb or two and a chamber. Same went for almost every signal processing element - the "best" (most?) equipped studio I worked in back then had an 80-8 multi-track, a Dokoder 2-track, a Teac Model 15 console, one Orban Parametric equalizer and one UREI stereo graphic EQ, one Urei 1176 and two dBX 160s. They later added two Urei LA3's. They also had a home made spring reverb, and later a home made plate reverb that did not sound very good. Not long after I left they replaced the homebrew with a Masterroom spring and an EMT plate (probably the biggest expense to date?). This was followed by a Lexicon delay, I think the Primetime, but I wasn't working there by then.
How can I remember that? It was a short list.
Which is my point. There are a lot of things I learned back in the late 1970s and on that I still carry with me:
- microphone selection and placement is the most important element of tracking.
- don't be afraid to make decisions early (I temper this one, I make the decisions early, but I keep the source material in case I was wrong<G>!)
- less processing is more
- you need more reverb than you thing (basically turn it up till it sounds stupid and then back off a bit)
- knobs start as switches - fastest way to learn to use a new piece of gear is to turn everything up to 11)
- there is an order to things: material, talent, gear - put another way, all the gear in the world won't polish a turd.
- and most important - TRUST YOUR EARS
What I do not carry forward is that fewer choices make for a better track - quicker production maybe, but not better.
If I have half a dozen spring reverbs to choose from I can find a sound that really works for the track in question, I don't have to shoehorn things in.
There was probably some value, or at least a lesson, when there was only one to choose from, but that doesn't mean it was a smarter way to work.
When the only tool you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail!
Does that mean one should endanger one's financial health buying every plugin in earth? No, we all know that (at some level).
But a $30 spring reverb that sounds great is not going to break the bank. It might even replace one or two existing plugins, or it might just be one more option. That I don't know.
The 2016 - I worked in a studio that had a 2016 - and they had a computer connected to it so they could tweak it! Man that was living. I've tripped over the rest of that gear at one time or another - that was one impressive, and capable studio set up! I'll bet you had fun!!
WAIT!!! Your partner in crime was part of the Cyrkles?? That's kind of burying the lead! And very cool.
I am actually just a tad to young to have been aware of them in 1966, but they were considered a local success story, so I did hear about them later.
One of my guitar teachers used "Red Rubber Ball" as an example of how to play with timing. I don't remember much, but I never could quite cop the swing feel.
Bill-it was “The Cyrkle” (no “s”). They were so named by John Lennon, and I know they did meet at college in Pa. though my partner Don was from Eastchester, NY.
In college they were the Bar-Kay’s, I think
As to a choice of reverbs, I was happy with the UAD plate for a lot of things until they orphaned my second PCI-e card and I got off the train. I recently tried Soundtoys’ Little Plate and was pleasantly surprised. I wish it had pre-delay.
The only time I seem to use spring reverb is for retro guitar parts and the one in Guitar Rig 5 is close enough, so for once I’ve decided to pass.
Ah, I guess I need to go dig through the web and learn a little more about Cyrkle. I remember hearing that the name was intended to be a "cool" spelling, that's about all<G>!
Did you have a PCIe version of the UAD-1 card? You were ahead of the curve!!!
I love Soundtoys Little Plate, but I use it mostly for a "bigger than a plate" plate. I still use the EMT 140 plate for almost everything.
And I probably overuse spring reverbs... but I'm sure I could commit far worse crimes!
