New Music Gear Monday: HoRNet 80Verb Reverb Plugin

One of the interesting things about modern plugin development is that, as its become more sophisticated, sometimes it fails to duplicate the sound that we really liked back when digital technology was in its primitive stages. Take reverb for example. The original Lexicon 224 and 480, and the EMT 250 are sometimes held as the gold standard, yet they operated with a relatively low sampling rate and bit depth compared to what’s common today. That era’s sound is what the new Hornet 80Verb nails with some authority.

The 80Verb has a very simple interface, but it just goes to show that you don’t need a sophisticated UI to get the job done. There are 7 slider controls that adjust the most-used parameters of the plugin. They are Input HP and LP (more on this in a bit), Predelay, Length, Density, Rev HP and Rev LP.

Vintage Controls

Most reverbs will only have one set of HP/LP filters, but as you can see, 80Verb has one on both the input before the reverb engine, and then again on the output. Having control over both input and output filters goes a long way to nailing the sound of those old verbs, since they were limited in bandwidth.

Density is another parameter that’s not seen on every reverb plugin. Essentially it’s a feedback control that feeds the various delay lines back into one another to simulate what happens in a reflective room. Dry room = less density; reflective room = more density.

Underneath each slider you’ll see a parameter number that shows you either the frequency, time or percentage of the adjustment. There’s also a simple display on the top right that provides visual feedback on the predelay and delay time.

Hidden Magic

Next to the display on the top left is where some of the magic of the plugin is hidden. Bit depth and Sample rate allow you to dial in the exact settings of the 80’s reverbs. Except for the very lowest settings, the lower you go, the more realistic the sound. Likewise, the Quality parameter controls the number of delay lines used, with a lower Quality also getting closer to that vintage sound.

The Hornet 80Verb plugin is available for Mac and Windows with Apple Silicon support and 64 bit support. It carries an incredibly reasonable price of only $18USD, and there’s a trial available.

You can find out more here, or watch the video below.

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