The Best Reverb VST Plugins (2024) | Plugin Boutique

Reverb has shaped music throughout its history – and we don’t just mean recorded music, either. Earlier musical forms like plainchant are a great example of this – the composition of the music was influenced by the space it was performed, and in turn, the spaces began to be considered with music in mind.

But singing monks rarely feature in plugins – you can hear the same principles at work since the history of recording, as spring reverbs, plate reverbs and chambers gave way to digital reverbs, reverb plugins and now even AI-powered reverb plugins. All the while, the reverb influenced the sound of the music, and the music influenced how the reverb was created and used.

But enough philosophy! These days, there are so many great reverb plugins to choose from that it’s hard to know which to even spend time trying out, let alone buying. So here’s our list of some of today’s best reverb plugins, each talented for a different reason, and all worth a look – and a listen – for the benefit of your music.

In this article

• iZotope Neoverb
• sonible smart:reverb
• Baby Audio Crystalline
• Excite Audio Motion:Dimension
• Eventide Blackhole
• Soundtoys SuperPlate
• Relab Development LX480 Essentials
• FabFilter Pro-R 2
• Softube Atlantis Dual Chambers
• Aberrant DSP Lair
• Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb
• sonible pure:verb
• Universal Audio Capitol Chambers
• Soundtoys Little Plate
• iZotope Stratus 3D
• Zynaptiq ADAPTIVERB
• United Plugins MorphVerb
• How to Find the Best Reverb Plugin for You
• Browse and Download Reverb VST Plugins with Plugin Boutique
• Read More Related Plugin Guides

 

iZotope Neoverb

A great reverb for all seasons, suitable for beginners and higher

An AI-powered reverb plugin that lets you choose and blend between three reverb types, Neoverb is a modern take on spatial processing.

The AI part – Neoverb’s Reverb Assistant – will have you playing the channel you’re applying the effect to, in order for the plugin to analyse it, and generate reverb profiles that minimise masking, mix mud, and other ill-fitting qualities.

You really can’t miss that triangle in the interface – it’s a 2D controller for blending between three reverb signals. This is a flexible way to do it, letting you find the perfect blend between three neighbours, or two of them, or just letting you isolate a single reverb signal.

Where to buy

You can grab Neoverb from Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Blend between three reverb types
• Set advanced parameters for all reverbs loaded
• Reverb Assistant hears your audio and makes suggestions
• Pre and Post EQ
• Masking Meter to fit reverb into the mix

 

sonible smart:reverb

Innovative reverb with a virtual space built to not clash with your audio

Another AI-toting reverb plugin, but this time one that takes a very different approach to the effect. 

When smart:reverb analyses your input signal, it creates a reverb profile that’s, supposedly, the perfect complement to that signal. Any instrument has its own harmonic profile of unique resonances, and so does any room. smart:reverb makes sure that the resonances of its virtual room don’t line up with the resonances of the instrument, making the result smoother, as if the space had been architecturally designed with your input signal in mind. And in a way, it has.

Of course, there are loads more features that follow this. You also can a ‘reverb matrix’ with different styles to choose from, Width, Clarity, Colour, Spread and Density controls for customisation, and a whole lot more.

Where to Buy

You can get smart:reverb at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Reverb that fits spectrally with your audio signal
• Many useful controls for reverb character
• Customise Decay, Spread and Density over time
• All mod cons like pre-delay, filtering, freezing, etc

 

Baby Audio Crystalline

A reverb built to sound great – not realistic

Another completely modern reverb, Crystalline isn’t supposed to sound like a room or a hall, but it’s a ground-up reimagining of algorithmic reverb itself. 

Controls like Size, Sparkle and Width (in the Reflections section); Resolution, Modulation and Shammer (in the Depth section), and Tone, Smoothing and Transients (in the Shape section) let you know that you’re into a reverb that thinks like you do, rather than throwing numbers and proportions into the mix. To get a good sound out of Crystalline, you don’t need a degree in architectural acoustics – you just need to listen properly.

Further features include the ability to sync reverb timing (start and decay times) to project tempo, and to weight the reverb more or less heavily on the transients in your signal.  

Where to Buy

You can get your crystalline rocks on here at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Intended to be an out-of-this-world reverb
• Reverb timing can sync with your BPM
• Intuitive controls derived from the sound
• Ducking, reverse, freeze and Eco Mode

 

Excite Audio Motion:Dimension

Highly complex but easily controllable modern reverb and delay processor

The most noticeable thing about Motion:Dimension is its huge X/Y pad. The movement of this pad acts to move six other macro nodes, which react to its movement and cause reverb and delay parameters under the hood to change as they do so. You can perform and record movements on the pad to animate your effects.

The depper reverb and delay parameters below the surface are accessible, but it’s by no means mandatory to dive in. Advanced users can make changes here, but those needing to work more quickly will benefit from 250 presets.

Where to Buy

Motion:Dimension is only available on Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Two delays and one reverb
• Macros and reactive 3D visualizer to control parameters
• Reverb and routing, handled by professional sound designers…
• …or dive in yourself to start programming

 

Eventide Blackhole

A reverb designed for super-long, rich and complex tones

With its origins as an algorithm in Eventide’s rackmounted hardware, Blackhole could be described as a very ‘out-there’ reverb. It excels in long, complex responses, but it can also do more run-of-the-mill reverb where necessary. The big deal here, though, is the ‘out-of-this-world’ [sorry] spatial effects, all backed up by the Eventide pedigree.

Parameters like Gravity invert the decay of the reverb, making for swells and builds; Size can be cranked up to create extreme tails, and Feedback can take already-dripping patches into ever more extreme territory. There’s also a Freeze control, if you’re having a sound-design moment.

Where to Buy

You can jump into Blackhole on its Plugin Boutique store page.

Key Features

• Super-long reverb signals
• Eventide quality and heritage
• Gravity control inverts the decay curve for a reverse-like effect
• Hot Switch and Ribbon allow combinations of parameter changes

 

Soundtoys SuperPlate

Expertly modelled sought-after plate reverbs from a favourite developer

The bigger brother of Little Plate, which you’ll see later, SuperPlate models five landmark plate reverbs and puts them into one single plugin. The quality of the ‘verbs is outstanding, with this plugin giving you a use case for practically any instrument type that you could ever come across.

SuperPlate also has a choice of preamps, ducking controls, modulation, pre-delay and more, making it a truly modern solution for getting the sound of a 100-kilogram plate on your desk, without having a 100-kg plate on your desk. Sounds fair.

Where to Buy

You can get SuperPlate here on Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Five plates: EcoPlate III, EMT 140, EMT 240, Audicon and Stocktronics
• Choose a preamp mode from Tube, Solid-State or Clean
• Ducking and modulation controls

 

Relab Development LX480 Essentials

Classic Lexicon digital reverb with plaudits from professional producers

Lexicon reverbs were some of the earliest viable digital reverb units, and as such they hold a cherished place in the hearts of producers – and fans of the 80s in general.

LX480 Essentials brings you four reverb setups from a timepiece Lexicon 480L reverb – Fat Plate, Medium Hall, Small Ambience and Large Wood Room. You can’t actually tweak the sliders, but these four settings have been tuned for classic response by Relab Development.

The big-daddy version of LX480 gets you access to the full settings of the plugin, but it has a higher price tag to match.

Where to Buy

Find it on the RX480 Essentials page at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Models the Lexicon 480L digital reverb
• Fat Plate, Medium Hall, Small Abience and Large Wood Room sounds
• High and Low-Pass filtering
• Not as flexible as, but cheaper than, the Big LX480.

 

FabFilter Pro-R 2

A modern favourite from the company that conquered EQ, compression and more

Pro-R 2 gives reverb the FabFilter treatment, taking a fresh approach to reverb and providing a set of controls that’s easy to understand, easy to use, but just as in-depth – if not more so – than other top-selling reverb plugins.

EQ is built-in to Pro-R, as you can see in its yellow curve. That blue curve, though, lets you control the reverb decay time along the frequency spectrum. You could, for example, make the low frequencies decay far quicker, or even create an EQ-style ‘bell band’ at a place in the spectrum you want reverb to linger for longer.

At the top of the interface, controls including Brightness, Character, Space and Distance let you dial in properties that you understand intuitively, while the ‘main dial’ that would usually be called ‘Size’ or ‘Decay Time’ is just called Space. That blue curve makes choosing an actual room shape a thing of the past.

Pro-R 2 also offers many types of reverb, building on the rooms and halls of version 1. You’ll find vintage reverbs and plate options, as well as impulse response import, ducking and more here.

Where to Buy

You can get Pro-R 2 at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Well-loved by many producers
• ‘EQ’ the decay rate to change the reverb time by frequency
• Space control unifies decay time and room type
• Freeze, Ducking, Thickness, and loads more
• Hugely featureful and professional reverb

 

Softube Atlantis Dual Chambers

Best reverb plugin for vintage acoustics with a history in popular music

Reverb chambers are an even more old-school way to create reverb than plate reverbs. Actual chambers were specially constructed for recording reverberant sound, and the chambers modelled here are from Stockholm’s Atlantis Studios, which has graced more well-known recordings than you may first assume.

But it’s not just the sound of these unique chambers you’re getting here. Controls abound to give you flexibility with things like Damping, Resonance and Mic Distance. 

Elsewhere, you can choose different mics and/or chambers for your left and right signals, and the plugin is rounded out with full EQ, dynamics (including ducking and gating), and width.

Where to Buy

Visit our Atlantis Dual Chambers page to feast your ears on it.

Key Features

• Two reverb chambers modelled by Softube
• Made with Atlantis Studios in Stockholm
• Instant results
• Change positions and specs for mics, speakers, damping

 

Aberrant DSP Lair

Out-there reverb with inspirational and unusual controls

Aberrant DSP describe Lair as “a transporter through when and where, retooled as a reverberation effect.” With reverb modes called Artifact, Mirror and Rift, with controls including Volatility, Purity and Attunement, it proves itself to be something of a sci-fi-inspired plugin.

Lair can also modulate sounds and drive them with distortion, and has ducking and stereo width controls, all acting to bring things back down to earth a bit. Still, if you’re looking for an atmospheric reverb plugin that’s different from the usual fare, Lair is something you have to check out.

Where to Buy

Is Lair available at Plugin Boutique? Does Purity and Artifact Rift in Attunement?!

Key Features

• Global controls for Mix, Reverberation, Sparsity and Pre-Delay
• Experimental reverb types: Artifact, Mirror and Rift
• Drive, modulation, darkness and lightness, stereo, ducking

 

Minimal Audio Swarm Reverb

Creative reverb specializing in long, lush spacious effects

Swarm Reverb sits somewhere between a run-of-the-mill reverb device and an experimental one. There’s a lot of traditional reverb fare here, including early and late reflections sections, and standard controls like Size, Decay and Damping; but the larger point here is to create expansive reverb tones. Controls like Attack, Ducker and Modulation see to that.

Where to buy

You can get Swarm Reverb at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Early & Late Reflection Algorithms

• Change the onset character of the reverb through a dedicated Attack control

• Enjoy precision pre-delay and creative effects with Sync & Feedback options.

• Integrated Ducking

 

sonible pure:verb

Simple signal-matching reverb without spending too much

When a sound creates reverb in a space, that space’s dimensions have an effect on the frequency response of the signal once all the reflections have added up. These resonances can flatter the vocal or ruin it, making it less intelligible or harsh in certain frequencies. pure:verb takes this idea and avoids it, analysing your signal and creating a reverb profile that will complement it, not drown it out.

Not only that, but pure:verb does this all very simply, with very few controls to mess with, thanks to the algorithms doing a lot of the prep for you.

Where to buy

You can get pure:verb at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Choose your source signal and play the input

• pure:verb analyses the signal and creates a complementary reverb

• Control the Size, Synthetic-ness and Mix amount

 

Universal Audio Capitol Chambers

Outstanding space emulation of some of the most recognisable recording chambers in the world

Deep in the underground chambers below Capitol Tower in Los Angeles, there’s a reverb that you’ve got to hear. And no matter how far away you are, it doesn’t matter – because you’ve probably heard it already if you’ve listened to any ‘music’ in your life. These chambers have treated the voices of Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and many more since, and you can get the space into your own projects with Universal Audio’s plugin version.

No special hardware is required to run this plugin, with Universal Audio having opened up the UAD system to native CPUs. Having done so, their plugins – including this one – are available on Plugin Boutique.

Where to Buy

You can get Capitol Chambers from Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Recreation of Capitol Chambers reverb space

• Reposition microphones virtually to change sound

• Signal chain with microphones, preamps, speakers and amps

• Presets from professional and renowned producers

 

Soundtoys Little Plate

Small but mighty plate reverb that’s versatile on many instruments

Plate reverb was once an impractical effect that few could actually use. Gigantic plates were miked up used to provide resonant reflections fed from the input signal. Plate reverb sounds particularly great on vocals, but it can also provide the goods on many other sources.

Little Plate takes the huge size of a real plate reverb and distils it into a single plugin – one with remarkably few controls.

Little Plate is more about the personality of the modelled plate reverb. With so many fans, you’ve got to sit up and take a listen before dismissing it because of its small size. Ironically.

 

Where to buy

You can get Little Plate at its little store page

Key Features

• Models the most popular plate: the EMT 140
• Simple control set with decay time, mix and low cut
• That’s it!

 

iZotope Stratus 3D

Fully professional reverb great for ambisonic and immersive audio formats

Exponential Audio’s surround-specific reverb is built for today’s ‘3D’ audio formats, being able to run up to 24 channels of surround at once. 

For music producers working in 3D formats, or for score and soundtrack engineers working on audio for film, Stratus 3D is a natural choice with a huge amount of control.

Where to buy

You can get Stratus 3D and Stratus (not 3D) at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Natural surround reverb algorithm with support up to 7.1
• Advanced control of reverb tail and early reflections
• Pre-delay and reverb delay adjustable by tempo
• 3D controls link multiple plug-in instances
• Over 1,700 presets (rooms, plates, halls, chambers, and more)

 

Zynaptiq ADAPTIVERB

Reverb that’s resynthesized from the content you feed it

This one is all about musical tone – it’s a “Harmonic Tracking Resynthesis Reverb” that, in essence, takes your input signal and creates a signal that’s built to match its harmonic (tonal) elements only. Building a reverb without any actual reflections means that Adaptiverb has a sound that’s all its own – but it’s still a reverb as we generally know it.

This unique approach to reverb also means that the controls on offer are a little unusual too: check out the Richness dial, push the Harmonic Filtering, and even Freeze your signal while in its steady, tonal state.

Where to Buy

You can get yourself Adaptiverb at Plugin Boutique.

Key Features

• Reverb through resynthesis
• Organic and harmonic results
• Choose to remove parts that aren’t harmonic

 

United Plugins MorphVerb

Jack of all trades reverb plugin – get any tone you’re after

There are a lot of types of reverb, as you’ve seen throughout this article. MorphVerb is about giving you access to every single one of them within a single plugin – and then going even further. Reverb types here are Spring, Ambience, Echoes, Room, Plate, Chamber, Hall, Cathedral and Infinite, representing the continuum of decay times quite well.

MorphVerb goes further, though, remember? You can smoothly blend between different reverb types, whether to find an in-between tone or to literally transition mid-project. Add to this modern conveniences like ducking, a spectrogram and modulation, and MorphVerb is a cool and creative reverb tool.

Where to buy

You can get MorphVerb on Plugin Boutique now.

Key Features

• Nine reverb types or anywhere in between
• Spectrogram
• Damping and Ducking
• Modulation, Width, Pre-Delay, Compression

 

How to Find the Best Reverb Plugin for You

After looking through the above list of great reverb plugins available from us, you may still not be certain how to make your decision. Here are some considerations that should help you choose the right reverb VST.

Is this your first purchase?

Almost every producer has a least a couple of reverb plugins, simply because they own a DAW. Your host software – whether it’s Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio or anything else – will likely offer more than one reverb as part of its stock effects. If that’s the extent of your reverb arsenal, then a good idea for buying your first paid reverb would be to get an all-rounder. Don’t break the bank, but come away with a versatile reverb offering plenty of flavours. For example, smart:reverb, Crystalline or Motion:Dimension.

Do you have a few reverbs already?

On the other hand, if you feel you have a few basic reverb tools already, it’s time to opt for something more specialist. This could be a particular type of reverb like SuperPlate or Capitol Chambers that does one thing very, very well. Or something more experimental and different such as Blackhole or Lair.

Is the plugin you’re looking at compatible?

Almost definitely yes! Practically every plugin runs in the main formats of operation: VST and Audio Units. Some plugins may go above and beyond in offering more formats, including AAX (for Pro Tools) and the recent CLAP standard. Almost every DAW (a notable exception is Pro Tools) hosts both Audio Units and VST plugins, and pretty much every single ‘plugin’ sold at Plugin Boutique comes in both those formats. One exception to this format is the DAWs we sell (which are standalone apps), and instruments for software packages like Kontakt or Maschine. Reverbs don’t fall into these two categories at all.

 

Browse and Download Reverb VST Plugins with Plugin Boutique

With so many reverb plugins out there, developers have to show their worth with new ideas. We’ve been seeing reverb plugins of all types over recent years, and you can buy and demo them right here on Plugin Boutique.

If the reverbs listed in this article didn’t float your boat, then there’s plenty more in the sea.

 

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