Can you tell the difference between real and fake plate reverb?

by David Silverstein /

I wanted to see how difficult it would be to tell real plate reverb from a plugin. I decided to record a few samples from our plates at Sabella Studios and make a quiz out of it.

Each reverb sample was set to a 2.0 second decay time, no pre-delay and uploaded as an Mp3 at 320kbps.

Here is the vocal sample I will be using dry without any reverb,

Is this real or fake plate reverb?

Sample 1:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses the stock Pro Tools plug in, D-Verb.

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 2:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses the EMT 240 Gold Foil reverb which is a smaller version of the 140 plate.

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 3:

Correct

Correct! This samples uses the Waves IR1. This plug in uses a recorded sample called an Impulse Response or IR to simulate the reverb.

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 4:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses Waves H-Verb.

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 5:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses Waves TrueVerb.

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 6:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses the EMT 140 plate at Sabella Studios. Introduced in 1957, the EMT 140 was the first true artificial reverb. This was considered a more convenient and portable option than an echo chamber which required an entire room, yet the 140 weighs over 600lbs and is about 7.5 feet long (2.2 meters).

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 7:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses the UAD 140 plug in.

Incorrect

Wrong!

Sample 8:

Correct

Correct! This sample uses the Waves plug in Abbey Road Reverb Plates.

Incorrect

Wrong!

David Silverstein

David Silverstein began engineering at the age of 14 when he purchased a Fostex four track cassette recorder. After high school he enrolled at Five Towns College where he graduated with a Bachelors of Professional Studies in Business with a concentration in Audio Recording Technology. He has worked under renowned engineers and producers Jim Sabella (Marcy Playground, Nine Days, and Public Enemy) and Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Spacehog, The Ramones and The Lemonheads). David currently works out of Sabella Studios in Roslyn, NY.