SP2016 Reverb

Name: SP2016 Reverb
Price: 99 USD
Author: Eventide

by Eventide · Reverb · Vintage digital

vst3s Score 8.7/10 · rated #8 of 10 reverbs

Recreates Eventide's 1980s SP2016 reverb with Room, Stereo Room and Hi-Density Plate algorithms, each in Vintage and Modern flavors.

The Vintage versions keep the original's lower bit depth for a classic digital sheen. The Position control moves a source forward or back in the space.

Best for: Drums, Vocals, Guitars. Genres: Rock & Indie, Pop.

Keywords: digital classic, vocals, vintage, 80s, room, hardware emulation, plate, smooth, drums, acoustic guitar, bright, classic, electric guitar, lead vocals, licensed emulation, simple, ambience, beginner-friendly, CPU-light, digital-sounding, hall, mixing, percussion, polish, silky, strings, wide.

What it does

SP2016 Reverb recreates the reverbs of Eventide's 1982 SP2016, which Eventide calls the first programmable effects box. The original was used on records by Talking Heads, Adele, Mariah Carey and Eminem.

Room: a mono-to-stereo ambience with a very wide pre-delay range.
Stereo Room: natural, large concert-hall reverberation.
Hi-Density Plate: a dual-pickup plate for brightening vocals, guitars and percussion.
Vintage and Modern: each algorithm comes in a Vintage version (lower bit depth, faithful to the hardware) and a Modern version (brighter, more diffuse, higher bit depth).
Position: moves the reverb from the back of the room up to the stage while keeping your other settings.
Presets: includes artist presets from Dave Pensado, Richard Devine, Joe Chiccarelli and others.

It has a 14-day demo.

Source: Eventide product page

When to use it

SP2016 is a vintage digital reverb with a small, focused set of controls: pick one of three algorithms, then set pre-delay, decay, diffusion and Position. That makes it quicker to dial in than Relab LX480 or VintageVerb, with a smoother, less obviously grainy sound. Compared with VerbSuite Classics, which includes an FG-2016 capture of the same hardware, this is Eventide's own recreation of its algorithms, with adjustable parameters rather than a sampled response.

Best for: lead vocals, acoustic guitars, drums and strings where you want a natural, smooth tail that sits in a mix.
Genres: pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop, singer-songwriter and film.
Look elsewhere if: you want many algorithm types, modulation or huge effect reverbs; VintageVerb, Pro-R 2 or Blackhole cover more ground.
Tip: use Position to push a vocal reverb further back or pull it closer without re-tweaking decay and pre-delay.

What producers say

Reviewers find it smooth, natural and easy to use, and several say it can stand on its own as a main reverb.

MusicRadar (2018) called the algorithms "silky and seductive", praised the built-in EQ, the Position slider and the simple four-slider layout; the only complaint was crossgrade pricing.
Tape Op reviewer Adam Kagan swapped it in for his EMT 140 and FabFilter Pro-R on lead vocals and acoustic guitars, and liked the Kill button, the engineer presets and the low CPU use.
Price note: it was cut in price after launch and is often discounted further.

Where to buy

Tutorials and reviews

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