Yamaha Rev100

Paul White tries out Yamaha's new easy‑to‑use digital effects unit, and finds it brash rather than bashful.

On the face of it, Yamaha's new REV100 appears to be another simple‑to‑use 'reverb plus chorus delay' box. Like others, the REV100 offers a choice of presets which can be modified by using knobs to adjust the two most important parameters, plus the effect level. However, the hidden power of the REV100 should not be underestimated; quite apart from the fact that the reverb is provided by a powerful engine (capable of delivering 20Hz to 20kHz effects, with a creditable 80dB signal‑to‑noise ratio), you can also access up to eight parameters per effect using MIDI controller information. Many modern sequencers will allow you to construct a virtual fader page, with each fader sending the requisite controller data, thus providing a useful way to edit and save settings. The manual doesn't actually say that setting changes made via MIDI will be saved, but experimentation confirmed that they are. If you don't have a suitable sequencer, pretty much any keyboard with an assignable mod wheel or fader will give you MIDI control.

Externally Speaking

As 1U rack units go, the REV100 is visually fairly unremarkable, but it is solidly built, nicely styled, and the controls have a smooth, positive feel to them. As is becoming increasingly commonplace, the mains power comes from an external adaptor. There are two audio ins and outs on unbalanced jacks, and if you don't want to use a stereo input, plugging into the left input only will do the trick. Similarly, you can use a mono output by just plugging into the left‑hand output jack. MIDI is catered for only via a MIDI In socket, so you can't dump your patches to MIDI, but given that you can only edit the patches superficially, this isn't much of a limitation. Patches may be called up via MIDI, and a program table system allows the patches to be assigned to different MIDI program numbers if you happen to want them in a different order.

The front panel is very simple, with only five knobs, four buttons, and a two‑digit LED display. The input level is set by the control of the same name, and two peak LEDs are fitted, one monitoring the left channel and the other the right. Personally, I find this kind of metering a little too sparse, and would at least like to see an additional green LED indicating that a nominal working signal is being received. The wet/dry balance is set manually, courtesy of the next knob along, though this parameter isn't stored as part of a program. Simple Up/Down arrow buttons are used to navigate through the 100 patches (0‑99). The two remaining buttons, MIDI and Store, provide access to the MIDI program change table and allow edited programs to be stored respectively.

As supplied, the MIDI mode is set to Omni, but by switching on the unit while holding down the MIDI button, the REV100 can be set to operate on any one of the 16 available MIDI channels. Once set, the channel allocation is remembered when the unit is switched off.

Overview

The REV100 provides six basic effect types, and the role of the three continuous control knobs depends on what type of effect is selected. If you're working on a mono or stereo reverb, the controls set the pre‑delay, reverb decay time and effect level, but in Gate reverb mode, the decay control sets the gate level. In delay mode, you get to tweak the feedback and delay amounts as well as the delay level, whereas in the combined Delay/Reverb mode, you can access delay time, feedback level and reverb level. The biggest change comes about in the Reverb/Modulation mode, where you can set the modulation depth and rate plus the reverb level, but not the resonance amount of, say, a flanger patch without using MIDI controllers. A red LED adjacent to each knob flashes when you pass through the position corresponding to the stored data, so you can always see whether you are increasing or decreasing the original parameter value.

The Effects

As supplied, all 100 of the REV100's memories are occupied by factory patches, and if you do decide to edit a patch, it has to be saved in the same location. As a result, you can't, for example, decide you don't like some of the gated presets and replace them with your favourite reverbs — the reverbs have to stay where they are! However, edited patches can be reset back to the factory settings, either individually or globally.

The first 40 patches are all variations on different types of reverb, from plates and room ambience up to large halls, chambers, churches and even a bathroom. 41 to 50 are all gated effects, while the next ten are delays, both mono and stereo. Patches 61 to 70 are delay/reverb combinations, and the remaining 30 are reverb/modulation combinations, embracing flanging, symphonic chorus, Leslie emulation, tremolo and panning. All these last combinations include a preset reverb effect that can be varied in level, though if you're using MIDI controllers, you can change the reverb parameters as well as having more control over the modulation parameters.

I can't say this is a great unit, but I can't say that it's bad either — it does some things exceedingly well and others less well.

The quality of the reverbs, while clean and bright, isn't nearly as natural as what we've come to expect from modern reverb units, and this is particularly evident on drums, where a slightly ringy, fluttery colouration is evident. This tonality is reminiscent of early Yamaha reverb units, but ironically, it has become popular in contemporary dance music production, because of its brash, aggressive character. Similarly, some of the reverbs are a little coarse, but this really flatters things like synth pad sounds, strings and even vocals. Technically then, the reverb is hardly state‑of‑the‑art, but artistically, if you already have a natural‑sounding reverb, it's a very useful addition to the armoury. As a main reverb, however, I'd be reluctant to recommend the REV100, even bearing in mind its low cost.

The gated reverbs are fine — after all, they're supposed to be brash — but there seemed to be no reverse simulations, which is a pity. The delay effects fare rather better, as there's nothing too technically difficult about creating clean delays, and the fact that you can access the delay time and feedback directly makes setting up very easy. There's the usual selection of straight delays, stereo ping‑pong delays, and other delays with rhythmic timings, all of which are useful.

Perhaps the best part of this machine is the modulation section. Here, there are some really dramatic flanging and phasing sounds, which I particularly liked — you can lay the flanging on really thickly, and get a very strong, almost analogue sweep sound. I also liked the chorus effects, Yamaha's classic Symphonic setting, and the neat panning effects. Variable amounts of reverb may be added to any of the modulation effects, and you have control over the rate and depth of the effects.

After hastily constructing a few MIDI faders on my sequencer's environment page, I tried using controller information to access the various parameters described in the manual (see the 'Controller Parameters' box for details), and found that everything worked as documented. The one caveat is that there's sometimes some audible glitching as the parameters are changed, especially if they relate to delay time or reverb decay time — so this method of access is more useful for in‑depth patch editing than for smooth real‑time control. Even so, you can make some real‑time adjustments smoothly enough to use in a mix.

Summary

Any criticisms of this unit must be viewed in the light of its sub‑£300 price, and it also has a number of strong points, not the least being its simplicity of use. The reverb sounds are a touch on the brash and trashy side for me, but if you like plate sounds that have a bit of edge to them, you'll probably find plenty to like in the REV100.

I can't say this is a great unit, but I can't say that it's bad either — it does some things exceedingly well and others less well. Its weak spot is its seeming inability to produce snare drum reverbs that don't ring like plates. On the other hand, for those who like the sound of plates...