XT Live: Why is reverb saved in each patch, instead of a global reverb? [solved]

[NebWeb]

Can anyone explain the logic of having the reverb saved in each patch, rather than an overall reverb which you can quickly edit/change depending on the venue?

 

Rather than have to edit each patch, it's better for me to leave the reverb off on the XT completely, and use the one on my amp (which isn't as nice as the XT's reverbs), so I can quickly adjust it depending on the room or hall I'm playing in. That's a shame. I'm trying to understand why it was designed this way?

[silverhead]

Well, I'll give it a shot.....

 

You may want to use a different reverb model, and/or different reverb settings, for different songs. I think most players want more flexibility with reverb than "set it and forget it" for the entire gig. For those who do want more flexibility a preset-based rather than global reverb makes more sense. A store-and-recall approach is much more convenient and flexible than tweaking your global reverb settings throughout the gig. You may find yourself in a small minority who want the set/forget approach. 

 

Your argument in favour of a global reverb applies equally to other FX groups such as distortion, compressor, modulation, EQ, and delay. Why focus on reverb? Applying this reasoning across the board would result in a modeler that has only global FX with no store/recall for FX in presets.

 

I think only EQ would be a reasonable candidate for this because it is more venue dependent than other FX, including reverb. I guess that's why  many devices do have a global (as well as preset-based) EQ.

[NebWeb]

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate this conversation. Having said that, I'm going to respectfully disagree with you. :)

 

> Your argument in favour of a global reverb applies equally to other FX groups such as distortion, compressor, modulation, EQ, and delay.

 

I don't think it does apply equally though. The stomp, mod and delay settings are definitely effects that can be radically different depending on each individual song if you want to take it that far (ie. a cover band). The EQ is then needed per patch because of the radical change in tone when you apply amp and stomp. Same with compression and gate - they are usually used to fix problems introduced by the specific effects used in any particular patch, or sometimes to enhance some aspect of the effect, and so need to be per patch.

 

But in my mind, reverb depends on the venue, not the patch being used. I don't see it as an 'effect' as such, in the same way as a distortion. It's not something I'd want to change for every song. Suppose your rehearsal room is very dry because of the acoustic damping, so you've added lots of reverb to your patches to soften the tone. Then your first gig is a high school reunion in a concrete gym hall that has abundant natural reverb. If now swimming in reverb, your rehearsal room sound is going to become muddier, will sit further back and have less punch. 

 

If a global reverb had been conceived, it could have been in addition to the way it is now, so users had a choice about which way they wanted to go.

As it is, I feel that I probably shouldn't use the reverb on the unit, and instead apply the correct amount at the amp depending on where I'm playing.

Which is frustrating because my amp reverb is pants!

 

If you can change my mind, I'd love to hear it.

[cbrillow]

On 12/1/2018 at 6:22 PM, silverhead said:

You may want to use a different reverb model, and/or different reverb settings, for different songs. I think most players want more flexibility with reverb than "set it and forget it" for the entire gig. For those who do want more flexibility a preset-based rather than global reverb makes more sense. A store-and-recall approach is much more convenient and flexible than tweaking your global reverb settings throughout the gig. You may find yourself in a small minority who want the set/forget approach. 

 

Think you could have stopped right there.

 

There may be a situation where you need to switch quickly to a special effect with a different reverb -- like 'cathedral' -- which has vastly different characteristics than a simple spring unit, and that would be very difficult to do in the middle of a song when the only control is a global reverb setting.

[NebWeb]

Maybe I'm just too old. We used to set our reverbs on the amps, or on a Boss DD3, to suit the room we were in, and just leave it alone. The idea of changing reverb for each song is very strange to me. If we wanted a bigger sound, we'd use a distortion and delay. Simpler times. :)

[cbrillow]

4 hours ago, NebWeb said:

Maybe I'm just too old. We used to set our reverbs on the amps, or on a Boss DD3, to suit the room we were in, and just leave it alone. The idea of changing reverb for each song is very strange to me. If we wanted a bigger sound, we'd use a distortion and delay. Simpler times. :)

LOL -- I dunno. I'll be -- gulp -- 68 next month...

 

I agree that there probably aren't many times you'd want to be changing reverb types, but when you do, it's nice to be able to do it by stomping on a switch, not reaching for a knob, giving it a twist, checking out the result, then tweaking a little more. 

 

To each, his (or her) own!