I hear that if you run it through a distortion box and then a compressor, it will sound just like
a PCM-90!
Ok, so that was a lame joke.
On a serious note. I am a big fan of some of Alesis products (ADAT, Q2, MidiVerb II)but the Nanoverb just doesn't quite make my list. I believe that the NanoVerb suffers from what a lot of Alesis effects processors did in the past; too little user control. But at that price, what do you expect?
By the way, I had the opportunity to use
a Lexicon MPX100 once. Didn't like it at all. That box suffers from the same thing.
You have to get into
the Lexicon Alex line before you get any useful user control. With Alesis, you have to go to the MidiVerb line.
The reason that you will never get that box to sound like a Lexicon is because the two companies use completely different algorithm's for reverb. I use a Q2 in my studio, and for the most part still don't think the reverbs sound anywhere as good as my LXP-1. Lexicon just has better sounding reverbs. Even though the Q2 offers fairly extensive control of the Algorithm compared to
the LXP-1, I still can't make it sound as good. That is not to say that the Q2's reverbs don't sometimes sound better for a particular part. Sometimes it delivers just what was needed. But overall, the Lexicon gives me exactly what I need for a broader range of uses.
Try this with your little toy there.
Run the outputs to a channel on your mixer and play with some different eq setting on the channel. Often, you can get the Alesis reverbs to sound a bit warmer when you roll off some high frequencies. Believe it or not, you could also try running the reverb back through a compressor (no joke) to control the decay time. Try even a noise gate for control.
After that, you are on your own. I feel for ya brother in sound!
Getting great effect sound is a nice way to add those pro touches to your mixes. But to get quality, you have to pay for it.
Good luck.
Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio
www.echostarstudio.com
