5 free all-in-one reverb plugins every producer needs

Valhalla Supermassive

Since its release in 2020, Valhalla Supermassive has rapidly become a go-to option for many music producers and free plugin enthusiasts.

It’s no surprise. The qualities offered in this immersive all-in-one reverb by Valhalla DSP are justifiably appreciated – not only by aspiring musicians or those who are just starting out, but professional producers as well.

What I like the most about Supermassive is the impressive versatility. It can be whatever you want it to be – a long, spacious reverb with endless, echoing delays or a simple room simulator. A soft, subtle chorus or a crazy modulation monster. This plugin is everything, and that’s exactly the reason why people like it as much as they do.

A multi-effect VST utility, Supermassive provides a comprehensive solution as it also serves as a chorus and delay. Fortunately for all of us, there’s a more-than-sufficient amount of built-in presets which help understand each and every module and showcase the plugin’s potential. And just in case core presets are not enough for you, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of it there are countless free 3rd party preset packs available across the web, waiting to be downloaded.

Many would agree that Valhalla Super Massive is up there with commercial-grade VST plugins. The advanced reverberation possibilities (among other effective features) make this a true no-brainer, and a must have for any producer.

Sabrina Reverb

Sabrina Reverb is a free VST effect plugin created by a developer that goes by the name We Love Walter. It is the only plugin released under this very moniker, at least for the time being.

Similar to Valhalla’s product, Sabrina presents a long-tail shimmering type of reverb, with a controllable delay mechanism and an LFO-based modulation unit.

Available for 32 and 64 bit Windows machines, Sabrina will create a warm, spatial atmosphere within your mix. I find it especially optimal for beat-makers in genres such as ambient and new-age, where the music relies on deep reverberation and shimmering delays.

Sabrina does have some technical cons that need to be addressed. For instance, in certain DAW’s (like Ableton Live), should you choose to save and then reopen a project file, the plugin would not always respond – forcing you to relaunch. I have also had this happen while playing an instrument using my MIDI controller or recording, but on more rare occasions.

Despite its negatives, which for the most part are very few and peripheral, I still consider Sabrina as one of the top free reverb plugins out there – especially of its kind. It gives the user a truly good quality reverb that doesn’t need much tweaking at all to perform (and perform well, as it does). One can only wish for a bug-free updated version.

Solaris

Solaris by Adam Szabo is an advanced shimmer reverb introduced to us as part of the KVR Developer Challenge – a soundware competition held by the KVR Audio website.

Yet another combo unit, Solaris provides a very high-end set of features for a freebie. Aside from serving as a quality sounding reverb on its own, it also offers a diverse amount of usable features that one can experiment with. Browsing through its wide selection of presets, you are able to see what it is truly capable of.

Among the many practical features and effects, Solaris also allows the user to apply harmonic intervals through its “Shimmer” module (tonal, semi-tonal and even micro-tonal, to some extent), chorus effects using its “Mod” setting and even manipulate the vowel of the incoming audio signal using a dedicated formant filter (labeled “Chorale”).

Space Lite

Cymatics Space Lite is one of those plugins that I always find handy, no matter the style or genre I’m working on. It is packed with a variety of useful features, offering pretty much any audio effect that one could think of.

A multi-purpose tool, this preset-heavy reverb combines several known effects with the intent to provide its users with the most complete and extensive plugin experience.

The lite, free version presented in this post has got three base reverb modes to offer: Spring, Hall and Space. Its only limitations, apparently, are in the Reverb Mode department. The functionality of the effects and features is not limited by any capacity.

REFLEX

When I first got to experience this one special reverb, I was at the very beginning of my journey as a musician and producer.

At that point and time, the plugin world was still very new to me. Due to the nature of things I didn’t want to throw too much money on commercial FX right off the bat, as I was still in a “testing the waters” kind of mindset. So, I was looking for some free alternatives.

That’s when I ran across this magical delay/reverb unit. Its name was REFLEX (“reflects”) and it did exactly what its name promised – generate some amazing reflections, shimmering delays.

Work of the developers at stw-audio, REFLEX is the first plugin that actually inspired me to create. I remember how stunned I was by how good it sounded. The beautiful, cascading delays left me mesmerized.

Years later, it still remains one of my most used reverbs (and VST effects in general), and hopefully you can find it as useful and inspiring as I did back then (and still do to this day).

Although being more on the delay side, REFLEX is also a really good reverb. It is aimed for music in the ambient realms of genres, but is capable of much more than that.

The interface is nice and compact and has a very simplistic approach to it. You have this large knob that’s on the center (labeled Decay), which essentially functions as a reverb, controlling the amount of wetness/reflections. On the bottom-left corner, you have the Size configuration which basically defines the timing of the delay effect and thus help create the illusion of a small/big space (it also acts as a predelay). The tiny knobs on top control the plugin’s modulation effect – which you can turn on or off by triggering that small switch in the middle.