I have always loved a good sounding reverb unit, one that is authentic and usable in real life mixes. I used to own the magnificent AKG BX20E spring reverb, housed in a beautiful 3.5 foot tall wooden tower made in Austria. It sounded even better than it looked, utilizing helix springs with long time delays to create sounds that closely mimicked the reverberation characteristics of a large concert hall or plate reverb. AKG also made other units such as the BX5, BX15, and BX25.
Chris Yetter of AudioScape has achieved similar results with his two rack-space XL-305R Equally Tempered Stereo Reverb. Chris told me he based his design on the Micmix's Master Room XL-305 spring reverb from 1979. AudioScape’s hardware unit houses 12 springs with equally tempered tuning, offering a unique sonic signature that the company liken to opening a piano lid and singing into the strings! They worked on this hardware version under the direction of the XL-305's original designer, Wayne Kirkwood, for four years, delivering an updated and reimagined version of the original unit. Working out from this core idea, the whole unit has been re-imagined from the ground up, from electronics and spring decay times to modern workflow and aesthetic improvements.
How does sound? I consider myself to be a discerning guitar tone producer and am pretty critical about effects in the studio. I found the XL-305R musical and user friendly. With the flexibility of parameters, it can it sound like a plate or even a hall. I put it to the test on a rock song session I was composing for Telepictures/Warner Bros. Those of you who are familiar with my productions [Tape Op #158] know that I am not an “in the box” engineer, and I use my Trident 24 console as the centerpiece of the studio whether I’m recording strictly digital or all analog. I inserted the XL-305R into the Trident’s stereo aux sends 5 and 6 and returned them on channels 23 and 24. I first experimented with the reverb on the dry drum's stereo mix, adding the effect lightly enough to give spacious dimension. It was well proportioned and sounded authentic. I also added reverb on each of the rhythm guitars, same type as the drums, which gave the impression of the band being in the same space and added a cohesiveness.
For those who live in the box, AudioScape teamed up with Kiive Audio to create their first ever software product, the XL 305R Equally Tempered Stereo Reverb dual plug-in ($149). Being a cynical New Yorker, I thought to myself, “Please, not another plug-in that replicates reverb.” But I was mistaken, as the plug-in version does a nice job of recreating the vintage spring tone.
The XL 305R is a useful tool that I find myself using quite a lot when mixing.
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