With its resizable GUI, EXOVERB has very exact control over the sound of the early reflections in relation to the longer reverberant field that builds up later in time. Early reflections convey the nature and character of the space--why one small room might sound drastically different from another small room of a similar size.

My first use in a Pro Tools mix was for a large (real) drum kit that I wanted to have each drum kit piece placed in its own ambience; be it a plate or room and with distinctly different characteristics as if each drum was recorded in a different room even though a drummer actually played the kit in one studio!

The snare drum track and each of the four tom tracks got separate instances of EXOVERB on their own tracks. For an overall reverb, I used another instance of EXOVERB set up more conventionally as a send/return effect. With this arrangement I could have mostly short early reflections on the snare drum and then slightly different ERs on the toms.

I liked the triangle shaped GUI of EXOVERB with its single point for parameter adjustment. You may use your mouse to grab and move the point either vertically or horizontally to mix the reverb's sound from Dry to Wet on the vertical axis and then Early (reflections) Level and Late (Reverb) amount on the horizontal axis. The coordinates of the point are also indicated as well for direct entry.

To get you started, there are 50 presets divided into four different categories: Ambiences, Rooms, Halls and Plates. Each preset shows its starting RT60 time in seconds for quickly finding a reverb by decay time. But for more detailed editing, there is a Reverb Parameter section as well as an interesting EQ interface. You may apply a three-band EQ to only the Early Reflections or the Reverberant field or a Sum of them both.

With so many reverb plug-in choices out there, EXOVERB is different and I like it a lot. For AAX/VST3/AU, it sells for $99 MSRP and there is a free 14-day trial.

www.dear-reality.com/products/exoverb