We had the opportunity to compare all three of these vintage reverbs in one video. The beginning is using the metronome so you can hear their personalities and character, then the second half of the video applies each verb to the vocal of a song so we can hear the difference in a mix. They each have different strengths to bring to the table!

It wasn’t a very straightforward comparison. The AMS and the Lexicon have hall programs and plate programs, but they sound totally different. Plus, the Sony doesn’t have emulations of rooms or halls or plates, it’s just reverb “A, B, C or D” according to the manual (there are some sources on the internet saying the different programs have names, but I didn’t find anything like that in the four manuals I have here). I fiddled with the settings on the DRE-2000 to somewhat resemble the sound of the AMS, but the reality is they are each so unique from one another that it’s impossible to get them to sound alike.

It’s also not that great of a comparison from a technical standpoint. The Sony and AMS are mono in, stereo out while the Lexicon is stereo in and out. The AMS utilizes a 16-bit ADC and DAC, while the Sony has a 12-bit ADC and 16-bit DAC; the Lexicon has a 12-bit ADC and DAC but multiplexes the most significant bits to resemble the dynamic range of a 16-bit system with 12-bit quantization. The AMS has a 40 kHz sample rate and a frequency response up to 18 kHz, the Sony a 32 kHz sample rate with a frequency response up to roughly 13 kHz, and the Lexicon has a whopping 20 kHz sample rate with an 8 kHz frequency response. Furthermore, the units alter the stereo image in different ways, and they even have volume discrepancies within themselves. Some programs lean more to one side, some programs are louder etc. I went back and evened out the volume of each take so any loudness differences wouldn’t be perceived as quality differences.

So really, it’s comparing apples, oranges and bananas. But remember, you can equally like apples, oranges and bananas!

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