See also this more comprehensive article about the Best Mono and Stereo Reverb Pedals.
Reverb Is Stereo.
A reverb effect recreates the way we perceive sound in an enclosed space. Since we have the privilege of having two ears we can safely say that no one ever experienced natural reverb in Mono (except those deaf from one ear). The slight differences detected by each ear when we experience real-life reverb paint a “sonic picture” that widens our aural perception horizontally (from left to right), something that can’t happen in mono. This is the simple reason why Stereo reverb pedals are so much more appealing: we are not made to hear anything in mono, reverb in particular!
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A Complete Guide to the Best Stereo Reverb Pedals
Lists updated on Dec. 16th, 2022
True, for most guitar-related operations, a mono reverb is all that’s needed, but guitarists with ambient or creative leanings can find a lot of inspiration in Stereo reverb pedals. This is why we decided to write this article about the topic, organizing the various stompboxes by tag price and functionality.
Our Categories
We decided to organize this article in the following five categories, you can click on these links for quick navigation:
• Quality Compact Stereo Reverb Pedals
• Budget Stereo Reverb Pedals
• Creative Stereo Reverb Pedals
• Stereo Multi-Mode Reverb Workstations
• Stereo Reverb + Delay Pedals
As usual, the pedals in the following interactive galleries are organized by perceived popularity. Mouse over (or first tap on mobile) will give you a description, while a click (or second tap on mobile) will open a demo video.
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Best Compact Stereo Reverb Pedals
Since the mini format is too small to host stereo out, these effects hosted in the classic compact case format are, at least at the moment of writing, the smallest Stereo reverb pedals on the market. Some of them feature a surprising amount of controls, considering the limited space, while other supplement the lack of tweakable features by providing apps that allow fine-tuning of parameters not accessible from the actual device.
Top 3:
- BOSS RV-6
A Stereo in/out compact reverb pedal that offers eight separate modes including classics like spring, plate, and room and edgy one like shimmer, dynamic and reverb+delay. Three simple knobs to control them all. It features an input for expression pedal and a few other perks. - MXR M300 Reverb
With its 20 volts of headroom, this compact Stereo reverb sounds as detailed as any high-end rack unit. Choose from Room, Plate and Spring as well as Epic (a combination of interwoven delay lines and complex modulation), Mod (plate with modulation) and Pad (a combination echoes, shimmer, synth/organ modulation and reverb). - Universal Audio Golden
A Stereo, 3-mode (plus 1) reverb pedal with 3 variations for each mode, preset capability, and six knobs controlling Decay, Pre-Delay, Mix, Bass, Treble and Modulation. Modes include Spring 65 (amp-like reverb), Plate 140, Hall 224 (inspired by late-1970s digital reverb algorithms). Bonus Effects are a vintage digital Plate and Chamber 224 reverb.
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Budget Stereo Reverb Pedals
If your priority is the price, you can’t go wrong with the pedals in this list, but the tone may suffer a little.
Top 3:
- Donner Vintaverb
Sometimes true gems can be found among pedals that are (way) under $100, and the Donner Vintaverb may be one of those, a compact stereo in/out reverb with 7 modes. It includes a very useful Pre-Delay knob, momentary freeze effect, and trails on/off functionality. That’s a lot of goodness for a $75 compact pedal. The seven included modes provide a satisfying blend of classic reverbs like Room, Studio, Hall, Plate, and Spring, and more sonically adventurous ones like Modulated and - Flamma FS02
A very affordable multi-mode stereo reverb with 7 modes (Room, Hall, Church, Cave, Plate, Spring, Mod) each coming with a storable preset. The controls are extremely useful and not generic: Level, High-cut, Low-cut, Decay, and Pre-delay. - Biyang Tri Reverb
Being blessed with the “Amazon’s Choice” tag and costing just over $53 made this Stereo reverb the most popular by far in this category. It has three modes (Hall, Spring and Room) and an A/B switch that gives you two variations on each. The two nobs only control Blend and Time. The reviews are mixed (4 out of 5 stars) but, at this price point, you might even give it a try.
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Creative Stereo Reverb Pedals
In this selection, we included stereo reverb pedals that are not hosted in compact cases but neither are they full-fledged “do-it-all” workstations (for those, see the next list). Here you will find some of the most creative reverbs, because the extra footprint allows builders to include extra controls.
Top 3:
- Strymon Nightsky
A stereo “reverberant synthesis workstation” that combines reverb, pitch-shifting, a resonant filter, modulation with multiple wave shapes (which can be routed to pitch, reverb or filter), and even a step sequencer! Three footswitches allow several functions including preset storage/recall, sequencer control, and momentary effects. - Meris Mercury7
An adventurous, Midi integrated, stereo modulated reverb with intra-tank pitch-shifting featuring a reverb algorithm inspired by Vangelis’ score of the 1982 film Blade Runner. Two reverb modes: Ultraplate, a lush plate-style reverb with fast buildup; and Cathedra, a massive, ethereal and slow-building reverb. Momentary Swell footswitch and full modulation control. - Death By Audio Rooms
A multi-function stereo digital reverb that treads new sonic ground with some unusual algorithms targeting the adventurous guitarist (Room, Digit, Peak, Gate, Wave, and Gong). Long trails, gong tones, gated reverbs, and mangled long trails are just some of the stereo effects you can add to your sound. From the one-of-a-kind scientists at DBA.
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Stereo Multi-Mode Reverb Workstations
We have a separate article fully focused on Multi-Reverb Delays. This selection lists the large footprints reverb workstations that offer studio-grade algorithms and deep functionality – it’s a top-of-the-line format that always offers Stereo outputs.
Top 3:
- Strymon Big Sky
12 studio-class reverbs. Diffused reflections and slower-building density are hallmarks of the Big Sky, as heard in the Bloom, Cloud, Chorale, Shimmer and Nonlinear algorithms. Controls for Decay, Pre-Delay, Mix (wet/dry), Tone, Mod and two effect-dependent Parameters make the pedal easy to use in any situation. - BOSS RV-500
BOSS’s flagship stereo reverb offers 12 modes and 21 newly developed algorithms, from ambiances to deep, immersive sonic atmospheres. Every reverb patch includes access to a full-featured digital delay, and you can even run two reverb patches at once. MIDI I/O, support for external footswitch/expression control and USB for connection to the free RV-500 Editor/Librarian software. - Empress Reverb
Small footprint, stereo 24 studio-quality algorithms and 12 algorithm types, including realistic simulations of Room, Hall, Plate and Spring and unusual Sparkly, Modulation, Reverse, Ghost and Lo-Fi varieties. Beer mode gives you access to unusual/creative reverbs. It can be updated with new algorithms as they become available. Midi/CV compatible.
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Stereo Reverb + Delay Pedals
Running reverb together with delay is one of the favorite hobbies of guitarists with ambient and shoegazer inclinations, but this effect combo is useful for a variety of applications and genres.
Top 3:
- NUX Atlantic
A super-compact, digital, stereo 3-mode Delay (’70s tape, ’80s BBD, and ’90s Digital mode) with an added 3-mode Reverb (Spring, Plate and Hall). Each effect has its own footswitch, with the left one also controlling tap tempo and the right one for Shimmer. Inside routing lets you decide what effects is first or whether to run them in parallel or series. - Source Audio Collider
Two popular pedals embedded in a stereo Delay+Reverb effect with Midi, Tap Tempo and Freeze function. It includes a choice of 5 delay algorithms that can be combined with 7 reverbs for effects ranging from the subtle to the sci-fi.. 4 of the 6 knobs have a double function through a three-way toggle switch. Control knobs affect algorithm-specific settings. - EarthQuaker Avalanche Run V2
With up to 2 seconds of delay and lush stereo reverb, Avalanche Run creates floating ambient tones through deep but still user friendly functionality. It has modes for Both (standard delay and reverb) and Reverse (reverse delay and standard reverb), but the real prize here is Swell mode. Exp in is CV compatible.
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Relevant Videos
Here are some videos related to this article you might find useful.
Ambient Guitar: Stereo vs Mono | Which is Better?
Why You Should Play With 2 Amps (Mono vs Stereo w/Audio Examples)
6 comments
Antony says:
Nov 21, 2021
I can’t understand why the OTO BAM is missing ? One of the best stereo reverb pedal ever…
Paolo De Gregorio says:
Nov 29, 2021
Thanks for pointing that out, we’ll look into it.
Paolo De Gregorio says:
Nov 29, 2021
Well, it’s not a pedal, that’s why, no footswitches! It’s a desktop reverb.
Phalangelic says:
Apr 13, 2022
It’s a pedal in the sense that pedals are experiencing a wild market expansion due to home recording and technological advances that place so many of them in the same class as dedicated rack effects. You can get pedals that reproduce the sound of classic Lexicons like the 224 and 480, and they take up far less space than a “desktop reverb,” which I have to say is not what the BAM represents. Anyone with a MIDI pedal setup can use a BAM as easily as a Source Audio Collider. In fact, a BAM is a lot easier to use in a chain than Source Audio pedals like the Ventris and the Collider because you can change so many settings without resorting to submenus or the Neuron app. (But don’t get me wrong: both Source Audio pedals are fabulous and represent an enormous amount of research and community feedback.)
“Desktop reverb” implies a difference in scale, like that of a desktop PC as opposed to a laptop. In reality, the BAM is smaller than many bona fide pedals these days. Is the Chase Bliss CXM 1978 really that different from a BAM? It has faders and buttons that no one can control with their foot, and at $899, I doubt that many people put it on the floor. I would guess that 90% of the people who buy it put it on their computer desk or an adjacent table.
The only reason the CXM gets included here is because it has preset and bypass switch/push buttons that you can touch with your foot, which usually doesn’t matter anyway because pedal chains usually get controlled by a Morningstar or something else, and the BAM has full MIDI implementation. The only reason I don’t own a BAM, which sounds fabulous, is because I already four reverb pedals.
If you want to be pedantic, why call any of those pedals, since they don’t involve the same mechanism as piano or even a volume/expression pedal? It’s all shorthand for incredibly portable audio devices that were made originally for guitarists and bassists, but the market is changing.
FullpedalAlchemist says:
Dec 22, 2022
The Keeley Electronics Hydra is missing from this list!
Paolo De Gregorio says:
Dec 23, 2022
We see that more as a tremolo + reverb pedal, that’s why the Flint is not on this list either. We have a separate article about that here: https://delicious-audio.com/best-reverb-pedals-with-tremolo/