Four Reverb Shootout: The Yamaha Rev1, Lexicon 224, Roland R880 & Eventide H3000

This video captures a ‘reverb shootout’ by Benge (Ben Edwards) that compares four vintage ‘big’ reverbs with a classic Oberheim Four Voice.ย 

The reverbs, in order, are:

  • Yamaha Rev1
  • Lexicon 224
  • Roland R880
  • Eventide H3000

“I tried to get similar settings on them, so they all have decay times of around 10 seconds. You really need to listen on headphones to hear the subtle differences between them,” notes Benge. “I thought the mighty Oberheim Four Voice would be a good way of testing them. Which is your favorite?”

Check them out and let us know which you think!

33 thoughts on “Four Reverb Shootout: The Yamaha Rev1, Lexicon 224, Roland R880 & Eventide H3000

  1. I have a midi verb 2 and to this day nothing has beat it for me.
    I have Tc Reverbs, etc bought and sold lexicons ,but the Alesis Midi Verb 2 , has one of the deepest warmest reverbs my ears have heard . I know they are dirt cheap but they sound stunning. I do like the Strymon big Skies, just getting cash together for the Aira range though.

      1. Agreed! Alesis Midiverb over these four?!? You ought to have your hearing checked. Or just put down the bong.

        1. Agreed. IMO the Lexicon 224 sounds best. It sounds bugger, lusher, warmer, & more complex. The Eventide H3000 is a close 2nd. The Roland R880 & Yamaha Rev1 don’t sound like they’re in the same league as the Lexi & Evan, but the Roland is the better sounding of the 2, IMO

  2. Re. The Alesis MIDIverb II, there used to be reasonable price rack which had an ‘S’ chip in them, cannot remember the brand/name?
    Anyone know?

    1. I think what you are referring to is S-disc Processing found in various Digitech products. My StudioQuad has a logo on it. They were quite affordable,flexible and generally fine 4 channel multieffects units at the time (‘ 97). Nothing special though. Dirtcheap nowadays as are their succesors which came out only two or so years later (quad 4)

      1. I always liked the Digitech DSP128. It’s verbs were OK, but I liked it more for it’s chorus & delays.
        It’s sound has a unique presence to it. I picked up a Digitech DSP256XL a few months ago. It has that same “presence”, but also has more presets, effects, & # of simultaneous effects. For $39.99 it’s hard to beat. I also have a Quadraverb & a Roland RSP550. They’re OK, (used the hell out of them in the 1990s) but nothing special.
        My pride & joy processors are my Kurzweil KSP8 & Lexicon PCM81.

    1. Yea, the Lexicon sounded the best to me, too. The H3000 had more distinct delay taps in it. The 224 was smoother without sounding “plain”.

  3. Wow.
    All four sound fabulous.
    The pity is, back in the day, the Roland R880 didn’t get a look in with us because the LCD screen on the remote emitted a high pitch electronic noise (on our demo unit anyhow). Similar in level to the fan noise of a Mirror Door G4 Mac Tower…

  4. 224 for me, followed by the Eventide. Personally, I love my all-analogue Great British Spring.

    Speaking as someone who has too much gear, this fellow has…too much gear ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. I find the reverb in the Digi 002 to sound the best. (Not the rack model but the mixer) If any of you have one of these units its worth keeping for just the reverb alone.

  6. 224 sounds good. I wish I never sold mine. What A bone head move.
    When I put The unit in my car the day I sold it Lighting hit by me. I felt it was God Telling he didn,t approve of me selling it. GT

  7. Just a Thought. The guy Testing the units could also have played a bit from The movie “Eyes wide open” using a piano setting.

  8. When you look at the current marketplace and see that the 224 is asking $4,000.00, the H3000 $2500. the R880 <$1000 and the Rev 1 about $2000.00, maybe the market has determined which is best and most desirable.
    Also, as per the comments everyone has made above… However, being the best that their manufacturers could muster at the time, based on your budget, I feel that you would be getting a premium unit, whichever one you purchase.

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