Who still uses hardware reverb(s) and who sold to go itb?

I started with hardware in the late 90's, caught the "plugins are just like the real thing but super cheap" bug for a couple years in the early 2000's, then went back to hardware once I realized my mistake. Been predominantly hardware ever since. I'll use plugs for special effects or for background things once I run out of hardware options.

I primarily went to plugs because of all the fanfare on the site-that-shall-not-be-named for certain plugs of the time. Not necessarily for cost savings, but for the supposed functionality and ability to customize, and the "increased realism"..

I went back to hardware due to the lack of ability to patch the effects in novel ways, the latency (even with latency compensation on), incredible increase in CPU and memory load, and finally the distinct lack of delivery on the "increased realism" marketing.

Overall, I found that going ITB slowed me down so much while I spent time clicking things, trying to type in numbers, clicking, retyping something I messed up, clicking and pulling faders and twisting virtual knobs over dozens of tracks, that it probably added 30-50% more time to my work.

Thanks svart. What hardware reverb(s) are you using?

Lexicon 300
TC m2000
Yamaha Pro3r
Yamaha spx990

All my plug in's have XLR's or TRS jacks.

Sacrilege. My hardware reverbs are an Ecoplate I and an Ecoplate III. They are pretty great. They are combined with various Space Echo/Deltalab/ART/etc for pre-delay, depending on need. They only seem to get used during tracking for live reverb. Tracking duration, rough mixes, and recalls make using them consistently a real pain, so to keep the clients happy with a lack of unexpected change or variation, software tends to end up on the finals unless it really is a low budget quickie. I suppose I could print the plates returns to some tracks so they'd play back the same, but then I'd have to reprint them for any significant processing changes down the line. If the reverb needs to be predominate over the dry, which is rare, the plates win hands down and are used, probably printed. Way back then, then plates replaced my digital hardware boxes which were all sold off. Except the Quadraverb2 (hadn't used it in a decade+) that's been pulled out, tested, and listed in the classifieds!

I always wondered about this as I have the same problem here wondering if/when I should bounce with my Bricasti, and it takes a long time to bounce in real time.  This is one of the reasons I'm looking at multiple  reverbs so that I can tweak when necessary and then do one bounce with everything else at mixdown time.

Thanks. Nice remake. I hadn't heard that Jackson Browne song before. What reverb did you use on your vocal?  I can get close to the sound on the original song with one of my  Bricasti plates.

Both reverbs are built in Cubase. Vocal being "Plate at 2sec" and the room being some "LA Studio" or something. The "studio" one just modified to use a true stereo input matrix. 

Rent a Bricasti for a mix and tell us how much you miss it when it's returned.

Somethings in life are worth paying for. Vapor, not for me.

M7, and a full rack of various Lexicons does more than any PC can. Try it, you might like it.

Hey Jim, got anything we can hear that you ran with the Bricasti?

I think EQ and Reverb were the first two major casualties for me when I went ITB. The software can just get so close, especially for the digital reverb algorithms. I happen to love analog reverb, however, so I have a spring unit and a few guitar pedals. I have no high end hardware EQ, although I hope to address that just to see what happens.

The best workflow for me is to get as many sounds as possible on the way in during tracking. And then mix mostly with plugins. I still love the hardware compressors though, I have a rack full of them.

I feel like a hypocrite though because I prefer my hardware digital synthesizers over their ITB equivalents, just so much more mojo. I wonder if I had a Bricasti or something I would change my tune. I wonder if hardware EQ will make me thing differently about my software EQ's. The computer is just such a monster these days it's hard to not want to use it. The computer feels happier and more social though when you surround it with piles of gear and mood lighting, so it's good to keep the computer happy.

I guess reverb has never been a major obsession for me, even though I use it all the time. It's more of a nuts-and-bolts thing for me, so plugins are plenty adequate. I'll get more geeky over preamps, compressors, digital analog conversion, all day long. Give me some modern plugins and some character boxes and I'm quite chuffed to record anything. Digital reverb has been an artificial sound always, so I'm not terribly concerned if it's "even more artificial." I'll add some analog funk with some other processor. Usually the reverb is sitting in the backround anyway so it's not the main focus of the mix.

The reason I would buy a hardware reverb is that it has no software equivalent, that it is functionally different from what's inside the computer.  That's my favorite thing about Real Gear anyway, that it's unique and  has its own sound.  Joe Barresi talks about this a lot and I love his sounds.  Total hardware fetish.    

I don't have anything approaching a dead quiet space, and it's really not a problem for the plates. The small one is in the control room against the wall, and it startles clients on the couch.  Outside automotive rumble is a much larger problem with microphones than it is with these plates.