EasyVerb 2 has a very different look from PSPaudioware’s original EasyVerb, along with an enhanced feature set. It supports AU, VST, VST3 and AAX formats on macOS and Windows, and uses iLok protection (hardware iLok or machine‑based). Once you have a PSP account set up, you can also avail yourself of the free PSP Chamber plug‑in, which has a red rather than blue GUI — this runs only the chamber algorithm, but is otherwise identical to EasyVerb 2. Owners of the original PSP EasyVerb can upgrade to this new version for a modest $19.
Along with the stylish new interface, EasyVerb delivers 10 algorithms that cover ambience, rooms and springs up to clubs, chambers, plates, arenas, cathedrals and halls, as well as a useful reverse reverb offering. Each algorithm can be switched to small, medium or large size, with a further choice of three variations: Legacy, Alt 1 and Alt 2, the latter changing the tuning of the algorithms to offer three different tonal characters. In effect then each algorithm now has nine options.
The user is given direct control over key parameters for each algorithm: decay time, damping, and pre‑delay. The last of those is set using a large horizontal slider, while up/down buttons below the display access the size, algorithm and variation options. If you want to recreate the exact same sound as the original EasyVerb, you can set a medium size running the Legacy variation. There’s also a new three‑band semi‑parametric EQ, with upper and lower shelving filters and a tunable mid band, which is welcome — it seems you’d set this flat should you want to recreate the original EasyVerb sound. At the bottom of the window are controls for width, mix and output level, as well as a bypass button that kills the feed to the reverb engine.
The small rooms and ambiences really do invoke the sense of an intimate space.
The plug‑in’s name could lead you to believe that you are getting some sort of ‘stripped down’ or ‘entry‑level’ reverb, but that’s far from the case! Each of the algorithms captures the essence of the space that it emulates, and having two new variations on each as well as a choice of three sizes means there’s a lot of scope to shape the space. The reverb tails are smooth, and they sit well with the dry sound rather than appearing to be ‘grafted on’. The smaller reverb sizes are particularly telling, as that’s where the illusion of reality falls down with some less sophisticated designs, but here, the small rooms and ambiences really do invoke the sense of an intimate space.
If you were to press me on the subject of reverb quality, I’d say that EasyVerb 2 sits between the classic digital reverbs of yesteryear and the more sophisticated algorithmic reverbs available today — most of which are considerably more expensive that this plug‑in. More important, however, is that the reverbs on offer are inherently musical‑sounding, and can be dialled in easily to suit vocals, drums and other instruments.
If a reverb as easy as this can sound so good, why would you choose a difficult one?