🎵 Reverb Room Size Guide

Calculate BPM-synced reverb times, find room size from pre-delay, reference RT60 values, and choose the right reverb type for any source.

BPM

Pre-Delay (ms)

Approximate room size from pre-delay

—

distance to first reflection wall

⏱️ BPM-Synced Reverb Times

RT60 Reference by Room Type

Room Type	RT60	Mixing Use
Bathroom / toilet	0.5–1 s	Short room verb; unique colour on snare
Bedroom / home studio	0.2–0.5 s	Very dry; common recording environment
Living room	0.3–0.6 s	Natural, domestic; good for intimate mixes
Recording studio (live room)	0.2–0.4 s	Professional dry; controlled reflections
Small club / venue	0.5–1 s	Live-sounding; good for rock/pop drums
Mid-size concert hall	1–1.5 s	Classical, orchestral arrangements
Large concert hall	1.5–2.5 s	Grand orchestral reverb; dramatic effect
Cathedral / large church	4–10 s	Epic choir, ambient soundscapes
Underground car park	2–4 s	Unusual metallic early reflections; FX use

Reverb Type Guide

Room

Use on: Drums, guitar, most instruments

Small to mid-size spaces. Tight, natural, adds size without washing things out. The most common reverb in modern mixing.

Hall

Use on: Strings, pads, orchestral

Large spaces with long, smooth tails. Can wash out rhythmic material. Best for slow, atmospheric, or cinematic music.

Plate

Use on: Vocals, snare drum

Bright, dense, no pre-delay. A classic studio reverb type. The Lexington and EMT 140 are legendary plate units. Adds sheen and size to vocals without muddiness.

Spring

Use on: Guitar, vintage effects

Characteristic "twang" at the end of the tail. Found in vintage guitar amps. Adds lo-fi character and a unique wobble that's part of the sound in surf and retro music.

Chamber

Use on: Vocals, full mix

Physical room lined with reflective surfaces. Warm, natural, and balanced. Less bright than plate but more character than a clinical hall reverb. Great for vintage pop.

Convolution (IR)

Use on: Anything needing realism

Uses impulse responses of real spaces. Sounds most realistic — can sound like a specific real room or hardware unit. CPU-intensive. Use when acoustic authenticity matters.

🎚️ EQ tips for reverb:
• High-pass (HPF): Always cut below 100–200 Hz on reverb returns to prevent low-end mud. Low frequencies don't need reverb — they'll just get muddy.
• Low-pass (LPF): Cut above 8–12 kHz on most reverbs to tame harshness and make the reverb sit behind the dry signal naturally.
• Sends vs inserts: Use sends for shared reverb buses (one reverb shared by multiple tracks = CPU efficient, more cohesive sound). Use inserts when each track needs its own unique reverb character.