quadraverb is also a good one and has full midi spec so you can go crazy using parameter locking from a daw or sequencer, any old alesis verb really has it's own flavour and will give you a decent feel for how we used to sound, still plenty good if used correctly imo. These units are from the days when manufacturers gave you everything they had , now they give as little as possible.
I still have my old Midiverb II, it's terrific on the drums, a short room on kick and snare and you're in '80s heaven. This guy, like many people, wants the long spectacular reverbs... buy guys, if you're making commercial music and not soundtracks, remember that you have to mix your stuff, and there's no space in the mix for long spectacular reverb. Maybe on one instrument, maybe for a special effect, but generally you want to avoid them because, there's nothing moe amateurish than producing demos or home stuff drenching voices and instruments into those reverb pools. You can listen on youtube to a lot of those home made songs, where everything is drenched in long reverbs and the mix sounds muddy and lacks definition. Reverb is the third dimension in music! If you drench everything into long reverbs, your mix wil sound like if it's coming from Mars. You have to reach balance in distances. If you want to make something sound very distant, then you have to balance with instruments that sound pretty dry, because this will create a 3D space into your song and everything will sound much clearer and better.
Thanks for the demo on guitar! I know you didn’t like the unnatural reverb sound, but I really enjoyed it. I’ve had a Midiverb III that I got for free in the garage for years, but I will try to integrate it into my guitar set up.
Alesis reverb algorithms all have that sound for the most part. Quadraverb is more Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin. Midiverb is more Autechre. Alesis reverbs are generally dark and noisy, which imo, is what approximates that 90s Warp sound.
i alway's known the midi verb 3 for it's effects , to me it's a very good and cheap effects unit , loads of very good effects , even today it's very useful
Just subbed, such a fun channel to watch! I've been wondering about buying a midiverb myself, thanks for your demo and all the detailed information! Cheers from São Paulo, Brazil, dude (:
Grabbed one of these on a whim because there was one near me for a decent deal and I was looking for a reverse reverb. Now I'm pretty excited for the other settings!
No matter what your opinion is, Tommy Emmanuel had FIVE of these stored on the five continents he regularly toured. At the time (early 2000s) it was the ONLY effect he used- and he bought them all used. After attending one of his master classes, I bought one the following day. He used to do one song in concert that could only be called "Acid Acoustic", and it centered around all the features you think are so mediocre.
Great video, found it after I picked up a Midiverb for 30 euros. Unfortunately the guy included the wrong power supply. The Midiverb takes 9 volts AC, not DC as most equipment does. DC power supplies cause the signal and clip leds to light up even without input, and the unit will not proces any sound. The guy had not used the unit for quite some time, and just checked if it powered on. It does on DC current, and all buttons seem functional, but it will not give you any sound. This is something to be aware about when checking out a unit for sale. If it does not have the original power supply, do check if the replacement is not some cheap AC to DC PSU. And if the signal and/or clipping led is on even without input, beware. Do you have any experience with the Midiverb 4? I just picked on up for 33 euros, I do hope the reverb will be a bit less delayish on that one.
Yeah, you really need to be careful with old alesis gear. My MMT-8 uses AC as well while having the standard 9V DC connector. I have no experience with the midiverb 4. But since it is 24 bit instead of 16 bit, I assume it has a better processor that manages to create more realistic reverb effects
Get a 9v dc classic tranformer,open it up and remove the diodes and the capacitor. Or simpler,desolder the output wire from the dioded block and solder the wires directly to the transformer output coil.
i just got 2 of these, a microverb 4 and a midiverb 4. I can hear they didnt change the "presets" sound tonality much from the 3. Id call the sound a bit tinny, digital processed sounding. its a bit harsh. they can be modified to remove some of that and still be useful. I see you started using the input volume to create distortion but this is just the beginning of what you can accomplish. For example; drop down the mix to unsoak the whole thing a tad, id actually put output to 50-60% and input somewhere in the same range. then go into the settings (you CAN do this on the 4 not sure about the 3) and start changing values like decay, lp filters, delay etc and really dial in a nice more natural sound. It really takes the "edge" off. maybe even try dry defeat and fully soak the sound? I might make a video on it myself actually. Good stuff here btw. I love vintage gear!
the only reason to buy a reverb from the early 90s or late 80s is if you like an artificial sound. I love my yamaha R-1000 because it really sounds like 6 or 7 delay pedals trying to pretend to be a reverb, a unique sound you can't get with today's crystal clean plugins for the most part.
I've owned one of these since 1993 and always enjoyed working with it when I was making my own music. What I never understood was how to utilize it with MIDI. How about a demonstration of that?
I got a free one I was able to fix and I tried it out with pedal steel guitar. Not the best reverb and delay but since I use a minimum of those it's usable.
@@SynthsandSounds No, I mean quantization noise, as in noise that results from there being too low of a bit depth to accurately reproduce signals with certain amplitudes. For example if you played a sine wave quiet enough that it only touches the 1st bit, you'd end up with a square wave; so quieter sounds get more distorted.
I think they are where amazing machines when they came out...and for my feeling they are still toppy!!!...I use to have Tape/spring echo/reverb...can you imagine what the spring did when we did a bit rock&roll???...well horrible when the spring started to Dance!!!,But ok its now 2019/20 what in you're opinion is a very good Affordable Reverb Machine...and special for Vocals etc what will give a Nice bang on reverb(I am crazy about reverb... if I look back what we had)!?!....I would like to here!. Thanks
Moin, wie ist das mit MIDI clock? Sequenzer midi out in das midiverb midi in? Lassen sich delay Effekte zum Tempo syncn? Ich hab dazu nix im manual gelesen. Habe ein midiverb 2 sowie drei und versuche gerade mich in die Geräte einzuarbeiten. Grüße
Moinsen! Grundsätzlich hast du die Midi-Verbindung richtig um clock zu übertragen. Ich glaube aber, dass die frühen midiverbs keine clock empfangen. MIDI war glaube ich hauptsächlich für echtzeit-programmwechsel gedacht. Ich habe mich ehrlich gesagt noch nicht genau damit auseinandergesetzt, denke aber, dass die MIDIverbs leider nicht clockbar sind. Wär aber sehr geil, lass es mich wissen, wenn du doch Erfolg hast!
Hi , thanks for this video. This will sound a bit un-expected, but I just bought one on ebay to use in my ham radio reception. Hoping to try different algorithms to isolate the desired audio frequency and produce a "pseudo" stereo effect. Thanks, Patrick
Sure it did! I just wanted to say that for some situations, today there are better options today. It doesn't stand the test of time particularly well in my opinion. Aphex Twin probably uses other reverbs today as well.
Honestly, I think the delay settings are quite limited. I haven't found anything looking quickly into the manual, but generally, MIDI is used mostly for real-time parameter changes, I'm quite sure it doesn't receive clock.
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! While I still make music, I don't have that much time to spend on making videos anymore. I can't promise anything, but I will try to make one or two videos until the end of this year
How does MIDI come into play with this device? Is it called MIDIVerb, because it responds to MIDI program change? I’ve never understood why these are called “MIDIVerb”..
OK I found the manual online (MIDIVerb 4), I see it features MIDI clock sync, and SYSEX (probably for ext patch storage), Parameter Control over CC, and of course MIDI Program Changes.. (as well as other MIDI features)
My uncle give me one of this, so my question is not should I buy it but more does someone knows a cheap foot midi controller so I can use the Midiverb live 🤣 ?
Yann Chauvard Odd! I came here because my uncle also gave me this! I was going to see if I could wire it in mono so I don’t have to do left and right on the inputs. Only because I don’t have the cables for that.
weird, digital was just fine in the 80's, so in 1990 it wasnt anymore. The went cheap on the parts, that was their fault. Between 1983 and 1987 was the heyday for digital equipment, afterwards the ESP took over and it became crap.
The microverbs came out after the midiverbs. I've never user one but I assume they produce decent effects. I'm just not sure whether you have so much settings on the microverbs or whether you just have preset effects
It's all about luck. I wasn't specifically looking for a midiverb, it just popped up. I think Midiverb II might usually be a bit more expensive, but it really depends on location and timing
@@SynthsandSounds yeah that's great luck indeed. Funnily enough I saw a midiverb II once when I just started to read about it but I didn't have the chance to buy it then, but now all I see are III's and 4's, and the rare II that pops up is crazy expensive
@@smoshbooz Yeah prices for vintage gear rise like crazy in recent years, specially with those things that are most common for some reason (as with the midiverb II, even though it's not that different from others). I'm really lucky that I picked up a JX-8P a few years ago, with roland's remake it will surely rise in popularity. It already gained 50% of its original price since I got it four years ago. Take that, bitcoiners!
Danke für deine konstruktive Kritik. Was soll ich deiner Meinung nach tun, wenn ich eine grössere Zielgruppe haben will als eine Handvoll Deutsche, die sich das hier angucken? Dämlich schreibt man übrigens ohne h.
It sounds like crap... even in the 90s it was garbage... but if you like garbage sound on your 4 track that sounds like homerecordings from the 80s - perfect :)
@@NeuronalAxon Agree! It's like the infamous Boss Metal Zone. It can sound so damn awesome if you know what you're doing. That's what I've seen on TH-cam. Myself, being a noise artist, I just crank that fucker to max everything because death to eardrums!
quadraverb is also a good one and has full midi spec so you can go crazy using parameter locking from a daw or sequencer, any old alesis verb really has it's own flavour and will give you a decent feel for how we used to sound, still plenty good if used correctly imo. These units are from the days when manufacturers gave you everything they had , now they give as little as possible.
Is the quadraverb their best offering? is the quadraverb 2 the one to get?
The flaws are what make it brilliant. I love the artificial sounding reverb. It is so distinctive, nothing really emulates it.
I have a midiverb mark 2. It's permanently set to the last setting for maximum spaciousness. Also works beautifully for stereofying mono signals.
I enjoy your videos because you are such a genuine guy.
Even this one, where the gear was not so good, it’s engaging to watch.
your vids always bring a smile to my face. peace!
I still have my old Midiverb II, it's terrific on the drums, a short room on kick and snare and you're in '80s heaven.
This guy, like many people, wants the long spectacular reverbs... buy guys, if you're making commercial music and not soundtracks, remember that you have to mix your stuff, and there's no space in the mix for long spectacular reverb. Maybe on one instrument, maybe for a special effect, but generally you want to avoid them because, there's nothing moe amateurish than producing demos or home stuff drenching voices and instruments into those reverb pools. You can listen on youtube to a lot of those home made songs, where everything is drenched in long reverbs and the mix sounds muddy and lacks definition. Reverb is the third dimension in music! If you drench everything into long reverbs, your mix wil sound like if it's coming from Mars. You have to reach balance in distances. If you want to make something sound very distant, then you have to balance with instruments that sound pretty dry, because this will create a 3D space into your song and everything will sound much clearer and better.
Thanks for the demo on guitar! I know you didn’t like the unnatural reverb sound, but I really enjoyed it. I’ve had a Midiverb III that I got for free in the garage for years, but I will try to integrate it into my guitar set up.
A Midiverb is the quickest way to get a 90's warp sound.
What about a Quadraverb? Debating on which one to get
@@Digamortis its also very good. most alesis reverbs can get that sound.
Alesis reverb algorithms all have that sound for the most part.
Quadraverb is more Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin. Midiverb is more Autechre.
Alesis reverbs are generally dark and noisy, which imo, is what approximates that 90s Warp sound.
@@Digamortis Since Alesis manufactured their own chips, any unit will have that unque sound.
@@kiosko33hz The original Midiverb does not contain any "Alesis" chips.
A classic ,used in a lot of early warp records...
i alway's known the midi verb 3 for it's effects , to me it's a very good and cheap effects unit , loads of very good effects , even today it's very useful
Just subbed, such a fun channel to watch! I've been wondering about buying a midiverb myself, thanks for your demo and all the detailed information! Cheers from São Paulo, Brazil, dude (:
Awww thanks for the compliment! Greetings from St. Gallen, Switzerland and good luck on Your hunt!
Nice! That thing sounds great. I especially like your "creative uses" section of the video. Cheers from Seattle.
You are awesome happy I came upon a Midiverb 3 and your channel!
NIce one mate ! I use it as an insert on the mixer, with 2 channels, that way i can eq it to taste and it does make a difference. Cheers!
Grabbed one of these on a whim because there was one near me for a decent deal and I was looking for a reverse reverb. Now I'm pretty excited for the other settings!
Now I'm excited about making you excited :)
No matter what your opinion is, Tommy Emmanuel had FIVE of these stored on the five continents he regularly toured. At the time (early 2000s) it was the ONLY effect he used- and he bought them all used. After attending one of his master classes, I bought one the following day. He used to do one song in concert that could only be called "Acid Acoustic", and it centered around all the features you think are so mediocre.
TE uses the Midiverb 2, not the 3. Might want to get your claims right before making such a snarky post. Lest you seem like a dickhead.
Great video, found it after I picked up a Midiverb for 30 euros. Unfortunately the guy included the wrong power supply. The Midiverb takes 9 volts AC, not DC as most equipment does. DC power supplies cause the signal and clip leds to light up even without input, and the unit will not proces any sound. The guy had not used the unit for quite some time, and just checked if it powered on. It does on DC current, and all buttons seem functional, but it will not give you any sound. This is something to be aware about when checking out a unit for sale. If it does not have the original power supply, do check if the replacement is not some cheap AC to DC PSU. And if the signal and/or clipping led is on even without input, beware.
Do you have any experience with the Midiverb 4? I just picked on up for 33 euros, I do hope the reverb will be a bit less delayish on that one.
Yeah, you really need to be careful with old alesis gear. My MMT-8 uses AC as well while having the standard 9V DC connector.
I have no experience with the midiverb 4. But since it is 24 bit instead of 16 bit, I assume it has a better processor that manages to create more realistic reverb effects
Get a 9v dc classic tranformer,open it up and remove the diodes and the capacitor.
Or simpler,desolder the output wire from the dioded block and solder the wires directly to the transformer output coil.
i just got 2 of these, a microverb 4 and a midiverb 4. I can hear they didnt change the "presets" sound tonality much from the 3. Id call the sound a bit tinny, digital processed sounding. its a bit harsh. they can be modified to remove some of that and still be useful. I see you started using the input volume to create distortion but this is just the beginning of what you can accomplish. For example; drop down the mix to unsoak the whole thing a tad, id actually put output to 50-60% and input somewhere in the same range. then go into the settings (you CAN do this on the 4 not sure about the 3) and start changing values like decay, lp filters, delay etc and really dial in a nice more natural sound. It really takes the "edge" off. maybe even try dry defeat and fully soak the sound? I might make a video on it myself actually. Good stuff here btw. I love vintage gear!
Another super nice video man! Funny, I found a decent Nanoverb opportunity couple of days ago but didn't really pay attention to it...
Interesting video ...Thanks 👍
Nice video man, just picked mine today
Thank you for this vid!
Props man. I have an alesis midiverb used sometimes with ableton. And the same monitors,good stuff!
I have the Quadraverb/2 since the 90's, it was fun to get creative with.
the only reason to buy a reverb from the early 90s or late 80s is if you like an artificial sound. I love my yamaha R-1000 because it really sounds like 6 or 7 delay pedals trying to pretend to be a reverb, a unique sound you can't get with today's crystal clean plugins for the most part.
The Midiverb did not contain any custom Alesis IC's, it was built with "off the shelf" digital IC's.
I've owned one of these since 1993 and always enjoyed working with it when I was making my own music. What I never understood was how to utilize it with MIDI. How about a demonstration of that?
Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the comment!
First! This is gonna be a good watch :D
Ooh! It has a touch of digital graininess, I like it though.
I got a free one I was able to fix and I tried it out with pedal steel guitar. Not the best reverb and delay but since I use a minimum of those it's usable.
Excellent video
Good vid dude
Thanks for the sub dude
we used this for vocals. worked great.
I recently used it on vocals as well and I really enjoyed it
Very good review, thank you. I love the sounds Nick McCabe used with The Verve and would like to emulate them if I can.
I can also hear some quantization noise especially with quieter repeats. I like that.
Hehe that's right. I'm not good at playing that precise
@@SynthsandSounds No, I mean quantization noise, as in noise that results from there being too low of a bit depth to accurately reproduce signals with certain amplitudes. For example if you played a sine wave quiet enough that it only touches the 1st bit, you'd end up with a square wave; so quieter sounds get more distorted.
Whats the best way to get this work with a Marshall JCM 800
I think they are where amazing machines when they came out...and for my feeling they are still toppy!!!...I use to have Tape/spring echo/reverb...can you imagine what the spring did when we did a bit rock&roll???...well horrible when the spring started to Dance!!!,But ok its now 2019/20 what in you're opinion is a very good Affordable Reverb Machine...and special for Vocals etc what will give a Nice bang on reverb(I am crazy about reverb... if I look back what we had)!?!....I would like to here!. Thanks
Is it plausible to get a DC - AC adapter so I can power it off of my pedal power supply? I’ve got enough mA
Moin, wie ist das mit MIDI clock? Sequenzer midi out in das midiverb midi in? Lassen sich delay Effekte zum Tempo syncn? Ich hab dazu nix im manual gelesen. Habe ein midiverb 2 sowie drei und versuche gerade mich in die Geräte einzuarbeiten. Grüße
Moinsen! Grundsätzlich hast du die Midi-Verbindung richtig um clock zu übertragen. Ich glaube aber, dass die frühen midiverbs keine clock empfangen. MIDI war glaube ich hauptsächlich für echtzeit-programmwechsel gedacht. Ich habe mich ehrlich gesagt noch nicht genau damit auseinandergesetzt, denke aber, dass die MIDIverbs leider nicht clockbar sind. Wär aber sehr geil, lass es mich wissen, wenn du doch Erfolg hast!
Mac Demarco led me go check out microverbs and I’d love to get my hands on one of these if I can find one
What are you talking about it won't do long reverbs? Patch 29 is one of the best reverbs I've ever heard.
i am confused... midiverb ii or iii or iv?... ii's are moire expensive... do they have something special?
Hi , thanks for this video. This will sound a bit un-expected, but I just bought one on ebay to use in my ham radio reception. Hoping to try different algorithms to isolate the desired audio frequency and produce a "pseudo" stereo effect. Thanks, Patrick
You want to look up "how to produce a haas effect with an alesis reverb"
Do you do ESSB? Did you figure it out?? What preset number sounding the best on the air.
Dan
My vintage studio is a tascam 424. A Roland JV 30 a mmt8 and a quadraverb. Is this vintage!😆🤓
Well done!!!
Thank you!
(Love the fact you also play guitar.)
It worked for early Aphex Twin?
Sure it did! I just wanted to say that for some situations, today there are better options today. It doesn't stand the test of time particularly well in my opinion. Aphex Twin probably uses other reverbs today as well.
@@SynthsandSounds I wasn't knocking your review, but I was stating that the quality of the Reverb is subjected to taste?
@@maxmatson1578 It's always a question of taste. There have been a couple of situations where I prefered the midiverb over any modern reverb
really liking this. I am thinking about grabbing one to use as a delay unit for live shows. Can the delay sync to midi clock?
Honestly, I think the delay settings are quite limited. I haven't found anything looking quickly into the manual, but generally, MIDI is used mostly for real-time parameter changes, I'm quite sure it doesn't receive clock.
@@SynthsandSounds Ah, so it goes. Back to the drawing board I suppose. Thanks for the response. Loving your channel.
I have the lexicon mpx 500 & boss sx700. Love them both for effects for my synth s, drums machines, and mixing.
I'd love getting my hands on a proper lexicon once. My time will come :)
Great Job!!! Thanks!
The Midiverb 1 was the best.
Love your video style, will there be some new content in the future? besten Gruß :)
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! While I still make music, I don't have that much time to spend on making videos anymore. I can't promise anything, but I will try to make one or two videos until the end of this year
How does MIDI come into play with this device? Is it called MIDIVerb, because it responds to MIDI program change? I’ve never understood why these are called “MIDIVerb”..
OK I found the manual online (MIDIVerb 4), I see it features MIDI clock sync, and SYSEX (probably for ext patch storage), Parameter Control over CC, and of course MIDI Program Changes.. (as well as other MIDI features)
@@R_Durand I think back in the late 80s having MIDI ina an fx unit was a big selling point. I never used the Midi functionality too
GAZIN THEM SHOES
Sorry but in what way is that not a useable delay?
Just got one to $40. 👏🏾👏🏾
My uncle give me one of this, so my question is not should I buy it but more does someone knows a cheap foot midi controller so I can use the Midiverb live 🤣 ?
Yann Chauvard Odd! I came here because my uncle also gave me this! I was going to see if I could wire it in mono so I don’t have to do left and right on the inputs. Only because I don’t have the cables for that.
@@SunChaserEUC That works I have the manual you have to plug into the right imput and right output to do mono
@@SunChaserEUC And uncles are mines for gear 🤣
I got a Midiverb 4 a few years ago for £40 I don't really use it all that much but I'm a gear horder so can't sell it :D
Hb now
Hi, Does anyone know the polarity of the DC power supply? I can't find it in the user manual. Thanks
My midiverb 2 is ac if that helps.
i wish the buttons on my mmt8 worked
weird, digital was just fine in the 80's, so in 1990 it wasnt anymore. The went cheap on the parts, that was their fault. Between 1983 and 1987 was the heyday for digital equipment, afterwards the ESP took over and it became crap.
what about a microverb lll?
The microverbs came out after the midiverbs. I've never user one but I assume they produce decent effects. I'm just not sure whether you have so much settings on the microverbs or whether you just have preset effects
I clicked on the video, you came up, and im like whoah, Stephen merchant on acid 🤣🤣🤣
I take that as a compliment :)
There’s one on eBay for $15.... I think it’s worth it
If it's working properly, it definitely is!
Work for voice?
Hello jorge
Too bad you didn't get an answer
I was wondering the same as well!
No
buckethead uses one :>
Holy cr"p you only paid 35€ for it? I'm looking for a midiverb II but no one has this kind of gear where I live
It's all about luck. I wasn't specifically looking for a midiverb, it just popped up. I think Midiverb II might usually be a bit more expensive, but it really depends on location and timing
@@SynthsandSounds yeah that's great luck indeed. Funnily enough I saw a midiverb II once when I just started to read about it but I didn't have the chance to buy it then, but now all I see are III's and 4's, and the rare II that pops up is crazy expensive
@@smoshbooz Yeah prices for vintage gear rise like crazy in recent years, specially with those things that are most common for some reason (as with the midiverb II, even though it's not that different from others). I'm really lucky that I picked up a JX-8P a few years ago, with roland's remake it will surely rise in popularity. It already gained 50% of its original price since I got it four years ago. Take that, bitcoiners!
420 pounds in 1990 is approx. 995 pounds in 2018.
Guys, this is not a studio processor, this is a processor for live performances.
quadraverb 1 is much much better
in which way
@@johngorgis qudraverb was top end (rich sound), midiverb was just a cheaper version
You could have at least ran some synths through it...
I do the opposite of what youtubers tell me to do.
Was ein dähmliches Englisch.....
Danke für deine konstruktive Kritik. Was soll ich deiner Meinung nach tun, wenn ich eine grössere Zielgruppe haben will als eine Handvoll Deutsche, die sich das hier angucken?
Dämlich schreibt man übrigens ohne h.
Why do u seem so angry when u talk
It sounds like crap... even in the 90s it was garbage... but if you like garbage sound on your 4 track that sounds like homerecordings from the 80s - perfect :)
Totally agree, if by crap you mean absolutely beautiful.
That's not the only way it can be used - that sounds like using it lazily.
@@NeuronalAxon Agree! It's like the infamous Boss Metal Zone. It can sound so damn awesome if you know what you're doing. That's what I've seen on TH-cam. Myself, being a noise artist, I just crank that fucker to max everything because death to eardrums!
Why does he talk with his teeth closed?…. looks creepy
sorry
💩💩💩💩