Alesis NanoVerb

Relatively easy to use. The only critical settings are the INPUT and OUTPUT level controls... you don't want the incoming signal to overload the input or too hot a signal going out, which may cause unwanted distortion. The manual goes over this fairly well.
Since I am connecting this unit to the aux send/return on my mixer, I just turn the MIX control all the way up and set the overall level at the board. The ADJUST knob sets various parameters for each effect. The only other thing to do is decide which effect you want: several reverb and chorus choices, plus a couple of delays and flanges.

I use this unit strictly for adding reverb to my portable sound system and since reverb is less critical for live sound, I am happy with the overall affect it has on the types of places I play. On the other hand, in my opinion, it's too digital sounding for use in the studio. In a recording situation, the reflections are just not natural enough for me. But, (the point I was getting to) in live situations where the sound is saturated by the environment and audience, plus the addition of natural room reverberation, nobody's going to be able to tell the difference anyway. I find the fidelity of the sound to be very satisfactory.
As for the remaining effects, you'll have to read some of the other reviews here. I haven't really used anything but the reverbs and have never used it as an in-line device (such as for guitar) so I can't say how well it works for those situations. Personally, I like the HALL REVERB #1 set to a medium long decay (about ? on the ADJUST control). At this setting, the reverb adds enough lush ambience to be fulfilling for my tastes in live performance.
I consider its sound to be at the professional level. As for the 8 rating in this category, keep in mind that, though true excellence is somewhat eluded, for all around capability it works well.

Still works.

I hear they are all communists... but that is just a rumor.

For what I use it for, I think the Nanoverb is a great product. I originally got it because I didn't have another rack space left on my rig, and it's big enough as it is, so I got some Velcro and stuck the Nanoverb in the back. Of course, you get what you pay for, but at the price they are going for now (under $100 last time I checked) the Nanoverb has found its niche and I've heard worse effects at higher prices.
Oh Yeah, I like the idea that it has a bypass feature (external footswitch not included) which is good for certain situations, such as speaking to the audience, were effects may make speech sound garbled and unintelligible. I may get another one just for adding delay to vocals or flange to instruments, etc.
If you are in a serious working band, or are trying to make professional recordings, you can absolutely do much better. But I suspect this product is designed for the average Joe sixpack AND WE DON'T MUCH CARE FOR THEM SNOOTY HIGH-END STUDIO TYPES ANYWAY! (But we'll take their cool studio toys anytime!)... Jamm on.

It is a pretty straight forward echo, delay reverb unit. It also has chorus, flange and rotary. The manual describes how to use it but you could probably figure it out on your own. There are differnt settings one dial knob controls for, 2 room and chorus, 1 rotary, 3 rooms, 3 plates, 3 halls, 1 linear?, 1 flange, 1 delay. There is a mix knob and another knob that tweaks what ever sound you are selected under. For example this knob would change the length of your delay if you had the delay selected. It also increases the rate of the rotary, flange and chorus swirl as you turn it clockwise. It also has input and output which have caused some people confusion trying to get the volumes all level. It is a bit hard to describe but i find that having two knobs one for input volume and one for output volume gives me more control. I don't mind it. I actually like it. Read someone else's review at this site on how it is a pain have these controls to decide for yourself.

For the price you can't beat it. Great sound. I have a dod stereo chorus I haven't used in six months as long as I have had the nanoverb. Great variety. It does lack in the control area. I wish you could tweak the sound a bit more but that's ok. The reverbs sound like ass the further you turn the one control knob clockwise. That is what I like though. Very bizzar sound. If you want full control of reverb go out and buy a twin reverb amp and some rack reverb unit. For bizzar sounds, good quality reverb and chorus and moderate flange go out and get one on sale. One of the guitarists of my favorite band, Purple Ivy Shadows, uses one. I love this unit I just wish I had more control with the sounds but then again you get more than you pay for with this unit. For more control go out and buy a full sized rack unit.

It seems a bit light, but it isn't a stompbox so it should be fine without over abuse.

I have emailed them just recently and I haven't heard from them yet. I am growing a bit impatient. I just had a question, nothing to report broken, missing, malfunctioned about my unit. Not that unit you sick perverts.

Great unit to get you started or to add to you pallet of tonal experiences

This thing is really easy to operate. You have a couple of knobs: mix, output and input level, an effects parameter adjuster, etc. there is a knob for selecting your effect. no lcd displays, no midi, no editing, no problem. all jacks are 1/4".

Actually, I don't use this for guitar, but for my vocals when i use the 4-track (Tascam 424 mkII). I set it up in line with my mic, so it goes shure sm58->nanoverb->Peavey mixer->4 track. It is not noisy. The effects I use most often are chorus with reverb, hall reverb, and chorus, and sometimes the rotary speaker. they all sound pretty good for a $120 unit, the delay and flanger suck a fat nut.

This is a pretty solid unit. The in and out jacks are kind of cheap, though.

This is for my metal/funk metal/post grunge/rap metal/punk band's vocals, and for easy demo recordings, it really makes the tracks come alive. Great value for the money. If you want to buy this, it might be useful to get an adaptor for a low Z mic to go into the unit. Keep in mind: this is not a lexicon or anything like that, but it gets the job done.

Quick, easy, good for beginner.

I bought this primarily for live fx on my vocals (reverb, delays). I run it out of the FX loop of my mixer. Sound quality is adequate considering the price.

I've had mine for about a year and a half, no problems.

No experience.

If you can pick one up used for under $100, it's probably worth it. I may sell mine and get a Lex MPX100, which I think has a lot more "bang for the buck".

This thing is a piece of cake to use. There are four knobs on the front: Input, Output, Mix, Adjust, and the effects selector. Almost straight out of the box it is very easy to get a nice sound. Editing is limited to just the four knobs, but for a secondary effects processor it works really well. In fact, with the delay turned up a hair, and the output and mix maxxed, it will give vocal tracks an ersatz doubling effect that is quite useful.

The 2's and 3's [meaning Hall 2 & 3, Room 2 & 3, Plate 2 & 3) are a little over the top for my tastes but the 1's are terrific. Forget the phaser. It is useless. On the other hand, routing an Alesis DM5 drum module through Room/Chorus adds pleasant depth to the otherwise dry sounds. The effects are basically transparent in terms of background noise. It is primarily used with the DM5 and routed into a Peavey Unity 1002 mixing console. In that setting, it's terrific. For guitar, it's more than acceptable, but there are better choices from the likes of DOD or Boss.

So far it's been bulletproof. There's not a whole heckuva lot that can go wrong with it. Sometimes simplicity is the best model and that is fer sure the case with live-gigging equipment.

The realities are, unless you are a dedicated audiophile, this unit will be terrific. It is just fine for virtually ANY style of music and I intend to buy probably three more, at least, because the quality of the unit vs. the price is unbeatable. Obviously it lacks the programming abilities of pricier models, but that's an acceptable compromise for the price. Its simplicity is endearing and a boon for stage performance when change-on-the-fly is de rigeur. As a whole, it's a great unit, minus points for the lousy phaser.

The controls are kind of annoying because it has input and output level controls that you have to set and balance when you start out. Theres a green signal light that turns red when it gets overloaded. You set the input control so the light stays green when you play hard then use the output to set actual volume. Other than that i just wish it had two parameters per effect instead of one.

I like the way it sounds. The chorus is pretty good. I like the flange sound because its sounds wierd and you can stop the sweep completely by turning down the speed all the way but it does thin your sound and the volume swells suddenly at the end of each sweep. The reverb sounds very nice particularly plate reverb 2 it has a deep sound like an ocean

it seems fairly sturdy but it is rackmount and probably would get damaged if you really abused it but it is metal not plastic. Also you do need a footswitch to turn it on and off and it could be scary at a gig if you forgot to leave it "on" and didin't have the footswitch

n/a

generally im happy with it. its great for creating smooth waves of seashell hissing tonality with reverb levels set high. I also like all the extra bells and whistles like delay, rotating speaker, flanging, and the chorus/reverb combinations. i think i got a really good price so if you can get it for that you definately should

My first non Guitar effect unit. it has 5 knobs, stereo ins, stereo outs, and a footswitch plug. The footswitch doesnt come with it so you gotta make one yourself or (ugh) buy one. the knobs are: Input volume, Mix level, Output Volume, Effect selector and Effect adjust Nothing can be easier than this unit and I say this since there is only 2 knobs to control effect. select your effect, and adjust its parameter.. leave the volume and mix about half way, and you're ready to go. The manual is short and sweet, even giving background information on some of the effects (leslie, Non linear) Oh.. forgot to mention.. the signal LED is also an overload LED..nice to know when your recording is about sound like eggs cracking..

Using this with my guitar and home recording setup. through a behringer mixer, sometimes plugged into my guitar amp. Reverbs are very good, and because there are plenty to choose from (10), any sound is possible.. just dont put too much reverb on anything. Chorus: My first experience with chorus, having had a flanger up to now.. very nice, makes the sound shimmer with a nice tone.. AND its stereo. Stereo flanger CAN be useful despite things said in other reviews.. since its stereo you can use it for weird effects on songs .True, its not a boss flanger (which I also have) and it does sound like a jetplane overdubbed onto your sound.. Stereo Leslie: rotating speaker effect.. somethings wrong with mine I think as there are only 2 speed settings 6-12 oclock is Slow, after that its FASSSTTT .. shouldnt it be gradual?? but it is awsome on guitar sounds. 2 multieffects (Chorus/reverb) and (chorus/reverb/delay) . Very nice.. I havent found use for it though.
The unit is digital, its completely (COMPLETELY) noise free, and sounds great. just make sure to get your mixer volume levels set correctly in conjuction with the Nanoverb's I dont know if delay/reverb tails last when switched off cuz.. I dont have a footswitch...

Its small, its metal, except the plastic plugs.. but Im not worried.. kinda scared to go gigging with it since I dont know how it would hold up. hasent given me any trouble .

I dont know about support since I have no reason to call Alesis anyway...

Its great for any music. Makes every recording sweet and tasteful. It made my keyboard drums sound like real drums, it made my guitar sound fatter. it works magic on vocals. Its small, doesnt take up alot of space, its cheaper than the competition, its better than guitar effect units.. in short: Get it if you home record. if you're in a professional studio you might like an Alesis Wedge but .. hey.. I dont have 500$ spare change...

Since this is a no-frills reverb unit it's very easy to use. A rotary dial lets you select your effect, and the other dials control the depth and length of the reverbs. However, this has the downside that you can't store favourite settings. (OK, so not much of a downside to someone with more memory than a goldfish, but I'm trying to be objective

I find it noisier than I'd hoped when you run, say, a mic into it and then into your mixer. However, if you send a % of the signal to the unit from your mixer and then blend the reverb back in it eliminates the noise. Reverb quality is excellent: it genuinely sounds as if you are in a 'live' situation rather than adding in atmosphere. The settings on standard guitar FX sound heavy handed in comparison. Vocals, drums, guitars (even a harp) all sound ace. Stereo chorus good: only the Flange is piss-poor: sounds like you're just dubbing aircraft noises on.

9 months old and not even a sneeze. Studio rather than gigging unit but still sturdy and (probably) droppable.

Dunno (see above) The manual is pleasingly informative and their web-site is OK so one can assume ....

Perfect for adding ambience when DIing, making your vocals more 'professional' and extending your sonic palate. Has the same insides as pricier Alesis boxes so sound is excellent VFM. No On/Off switch, unispired design and a bit noisy but at this price one wouldn't like to be churlish. (I use an SM58 mic, Sansamp GT2 pedal and Fender guitar.) (And harp from Pilgrim Harps, Surrey, UK.) (And hair by Geraldo, Kings Road. Clothes from Oxfam, nationwide.)

Very easy to change sounds/get the sound you want. All the sounds are great! Manual is good.

No noticable noise accept on the Delay (Echo) and the Fanger. It's very quite though, almost not noticable, especailly when there is a signal coming through. The quality of all the effects is great!

Got it yesterday, haven't had any problems yet.......

Haven't had to use, I've heard Alesis are okay though.

I bought this because it was cheap especially for quality and range of effects. I bought it to use in my studio(under construction) and with my guitar. I therefor wanted a good sounding unit that had the effects I wanted and would be easy to use live with a guitar amp and easy to transport. When I have the money and the need I'll by a midi effects unit for studio and eventually a rack setup for guitar. I'll keep the Nanoverb especailly for live use with a giutar combo/head but I wouldn'y buy one again because I don't need another one.

This is a preset-only model so it's ready to go out of the box. There is only one parameter you can adjust for each preset and what that parameter is depends on the type of effect you are using (eg reverb decay, delay time, leslie fast/slow). There is no MIDI and no way to store your own presets, but that's OK considering what this box was designed to do--give musicians access to high quality reverb at a rock bottom price.

The reverbs are probably the best sounding effects and they are all very very good for something this inexpensive. Very low noise. In fact, it sounds better than my old Quadraverb. I was a little bit hesitant buying the Nanoverb precisely because it is so cheap. However, the reverbs use the same algorithms as Alesis' top-of-the-line Quadraverb 2; they've just left out all the extensive editing and MIDI features. You probably won't see any Nanoverbs in pro-studio racks, but for home recording types--even those with ADATs and other digital gear--the Nanoverb provides quality reverb sounds. The other effects aren't quite as good but the chorus, leslie, and delays are all useable. The flanger, however, is worthless.

I've bought A LOT of Alesis gear over the years and never once had trouble with any of it.

Alesis is not easy to get in touch with--their phone lines are busy a lot. However, once you do get through to them they are pretty helpful.

I would definately buy it again. In fact, I'm thinking of buying 2 more (3 Nanoverbs fit in a single rack space). The Nanoverb is truly a winner as far as providing maximum bang for the buck!