Alesis PicoVerb

The picoverb is pretty much straightforward. You can try the different settings to suit your needs.

The sound quality is awesome especially the HALLS setting. The signal is being sent back to my Mackie VLZ3 1202 mixer. I guess because it's a 24 bit, sound quality is not compromise.

I have only used it for a week, so far, it's been performing pretty good.

Although they don't have an 800 number, support was great. I was trying to decide between the pico or the nano and the technician suggested the former.

A great bang for the buck. I'm really satisfied with it.

As stated before: It will not get easier. Unfortunately there is no input level indicator. Although according to the manual the unit is -10db and not professional +4db it accepts pretty high input levels.

Sounds like any other modern low cost effects processor. As long as you use it in a parallel effects loop for reverb or delay there is no significant noise. Presets are very useful for "standard applications" like adding a bit of plate reverb to live vocals or some room to voice or instrument recordings. The slapback echo is very short. The chorus and flanger are usable. The biggest limitation is that you cannot (at all) edit the effects. But you knew this when you bought the product.

If the unit is as reliable as other Alesis equipment I owned, there will never be a problem. Generally I do not like external PSUs but for this price I will not complain. Be careful it is an AC Supply. Do not mix it with the ones for guitar effects.

Never dealt with them and hopefully never will.

We have a mixing desk without built in effects. And we gnerally do not use effects in our performance anyway. Except for a little reverb on the vocals when there is no reverb from the room we are performing in. E.g. at an outdoor performance. The unit is a perfect solution for that. It does this as good as any other device could do it. If your application does not require to edit the effect sounds the unit is not only good in price/performance, but might be anything you will ever need. If effect sounds play an important role in your music this is the wrong tool.

see review below

I was wrong about my review below about the lex 480L having 6 processors, it only has 2 has but has an 8-bit multiplyer, so I am not implying that the picoverb sounds as good, but it does have 1 processor as fast as the 480L. I read this article on the internet on one of gearslutz's web pages. you can look it up if you care to.I just don't want to give the wrong info about something especially on harmony central as I don't want someone to think I don't know what I"M talking about. We all make mistakes, sorry.

see review below

see review below

see review below

see my other review

this is an addition to my review below.If you hook this unit into the effects send and return this thing is a much better sounding unit than I gave it credit for in my review below. It has the smoothest reverb I believe you can get in a budget unit. The halls are great sounding and have the perfect reverb time.You don't set the mix too much, about 11 o'clock on the unit and do the rest with the console effects controls. This thing isn't noisy this way and it is great for recording vocals and whatever else.I only had this unit a little while and really didn't give it a chance. it deserves a 10 if used the way it should be used, just don't overdo it on the mix control. great little unit.

see my other review

see my other review

Just remember 1 thing, if you use it without an effects loop be sure and don't overdo the mix control because the more mix you use the noiser the unit becomes but just for reverb you don't have to use much mix and you can go straight into an amp probably without much problem.The chorus requires more mix so it's a little noiser but it is a good chorus. I think the reason some of these budget-end reverb processors get such bad reviews is simply because we tend to over-do the controls. I can set my other units like this one because this thing is set perfect for reverb times and I know how to set them now just like this unit. I learned how reverb should be used from this unit, so I feel like I learned something afterall, just don't over do the effects on any units and they will all sound better. Been playing a long time and I love this unit for vocal recording. If it had surround sound it would be perfect for recording. great little unit.

extremely simple to use you don't even need the manual.

to tell the truth i was a little dissappointed with this unit because i guess i was overexpecting . I read an article on the internet that says the picoverb uses the wavefront al 3201dre semiconductor and this chip is supposed to be the best reverb chip out even faster than lexicon's 480L, of course the 480 has 6 cores. If alesis had put an output control on this unit it would be very good and the unit would be much quiter, I think it would be better in an effects loop..THE reverb times are set about right on hall 1&2the rest are so-so. I would take the nanoverb over this unit any day. BTW, this unit will go very deep you just cant adjust the reverb time. I only tried this on my amp it should be pretty good for vocals and guitar. the other effects sound pretty good.

I would depend on it because I have 2 other alesis verbs and they have been very dependable so far, one is a microverb2 and it's pretty old but still works and sounds great, the others a nanoverb, works great sounds great also. Really the main complaint I have with this little unit is the lack of an output knob and it's probably running wide open and you can't turn it down a little to stop the hiss.I would gig with it wo a backup if I had to.

It's a pretty decent little unit it just doesn't have an adjustment for the reverb time so it's not near as impressive as the other units made by alesis, but in all fairness you really don't need long reverb tails, they're just impressive sounding and washout anyways if too much reverb is applied. this unit has just about the right decay time and I haven't recorded with it yet so I really haven't given it a chance. If you have ever watched andy griffith re-runs listen to the reverb tail of the guy whistling his theme song, this reverb will do that good, one of the halls has about the same decay.

Four letters: E.A.S.Y. 3 knobs. Plug it in the middle of your sound chain and it Just Works.

I would like to balance a bit what others reviewers have said about this effect, by _not_ taking its price into account. I'll only base my rating on what I heard with my setup which includes mostly a Rickenbacker 620 or a Kapa Continental 12 into a Rickenbacker B410 tube amplifier, sometimes through an EH Double Muff and some other effects. The Picoverb is right before the amp, which doesn't have an fx loop.
I intended to replace my aging Quadraverb with a smaller box. However, sometimes I need a really strong delay/reverb; the Pico is less transparent than the Quadra, much less, and the noise level is really noticeable. I'm no audiophile but it does eat my guitar and amp's overhead and the hiss can prove a tad annoying with a strong effect in a quiet song.
Given the sounds in themselves are very, very good indeed, my rating will be a bit above average.

I don't know if this particular unit has any flaw but it's an Alesis, and I never had any trouble with Alesis stuff, so I'm confident. Well... it's so cheap I'd buy another just in case... if it suited my needs.

Never had to deal with them.

Currently, the band I play with makes a lot of Sonic Youth/Captain Beefheart/Nick Cave/Cramps kind of noise. I gave up using this box in my setup while trying to get a "slow psychobilly" delay/reverb tone. The machine ate my bandwidth! Or my overhead, or whatever. And I couldn't find a good effect for this purpose so I'm going back to my trusty old Quadraverb.

But that's just me. This effect might be for you! Try to find another good reverb for that price, yes, there are Behringers but I'm not so sure of their quality... If all you want is a good, standard reverb, plus a few good effects, this one might prove really useful.

Three Knobs... super easy.

Top Quality/Price ratio! I say this with a little reserve since I know that when I read reviews that say that, it means crappy sound, but not bad for the low price. But thats simply not true for this unit. I can't really imagin needing a better sounding reverb for my Guitar FX loop.

This is the reason I got the unit. I play a Marshall Jubilee amp as my only amp and I needed reverb for those real dry rooms. SO after a lot of research 3 years ago I landed upon the Alesis Nanoverb. I fell in love since it always let my sound come through, but added good reverb and was so small it just sat right on top of the amp. BUT, over time I came to realize the quality of the reverbs were slightly grainy and raspy... so I figured I'd upgrade. I looked EVERYWHERE for a replacement, but nothing I found sounded better than the nanoverb. To top it off, I wanted a unit that was small and easy to carry like the nanoverb. Thats when I found out about the Picoverb. At first I ignored it because I was scared about the lack of an "adjustment' knob like the nanoverb had (a knob that would allow you to tweak the reverbs for length..without it you are a slave to the presets) BUT, I figured it was worth a shot at the SUPER cheap price of $80 new. RIGHT away I noticed the quality of the reverb trails to be VASTLY superior to the nanoverb. Finaly I found a reverb that sits back and is how real reverb should be... un-noticed. What I mean is it gives a fuller open sound to your guitar without a noticable artifact trail that always made me cringe. I give this a 10 because of the price/quality ratio, but dont be scared by that comment. I would recommend this to ANYONE in need of reverb but dont want huge rack issues.

To clearify the issue with the adjustment knob...what I found was that the real use of the adjustment knob on the nanoverb ended up to be a tool to cut down on the crappy raspy long trails of the reverb! so in a sense, if the nano verb had as good of a reverb quality, it wouldn't need an adjustment know either. Be rest assured the presets on the picoverb are set to their best possible adjustment!

One special note to mention is the Rotary Sound. This thing is really surprisingly good! I kinda liked it at home practicing, but just for fun I just put it on at band practice as a joke, and it really cut through with a real cool sound! I was rather shocked at the tone. Oh, I'm sure there are lots of better units out there for rotary, but as pretty much a free part of this "reverb box" its a welcomed addition. AND USABLE! Try it out for yourself...restrain from too much in the Mix...and you'll be surprised!

Here are a SLEW of soundclips! Hope these help someone decide!

http://www.shelleygrund.com/recording/picoverb.htm

Enjoy!

...so far so good. My nanoverb still works after 3 years of some harsh "throwing into the bag after a gig" treatment... these boxes are strong

I give it a 10 because I really can't find anything wrong with the unit. I'm serious. Its not perfect, but then again, its not really intended to be the PERFECT BEST OF THE BEST EFFECTS UNIT. BUt hearing it might fool you! Its always hard reviewing items on HC since there are so many variables to consider, and cheap units with good sound is the toughest. I would say with all confidence that I will be probably using this picoverb in my permanent rig forever. I'm serious. Its almost too bad the unit is so cheap since I'm sure a lot of guys ignore the item thinking its some piece of crap Behringer junk.

If there is any further question about why its so cheap... I will lay it to rest with this statement: Knowing how this unit sounds, looks, functional, and size, I would have been MORE than happy paying $300+ for this unit!

Reverb for the overburdened. The Picoverb is a welcome respite from the parameter ridden mind. Input, Mix, and Effect are the only choices. No bypass, no midi, no tap tempo, no word clock, no pre-delay, no low or high pass filters, no speed settings, diffusion, decay...

I compared this at the store in a quite acoustic guitar room on a Monday morning with the Nanoverb and Midiverb IV. In an effects loop of an acoustic amp with a jumbo body Gibson, each effect unit was given ample time with no interruptions. The reverb decay of both the Nano- and Midiverb was brittle. Each could be adjusted to reduce the graininess, but I then spent more time adjusting than playing. Of the two, the Midiverb IV offers a pretty nice interface and can offer darker reverbs, but the defaults tend to be too bright.

The Picoverb decays were noticeably less grainy. It sounds digital, but not nearly as much as the other two. It sort of reminded me of when I first bought the Lexicon LXP-1 over ten years ago. I was inspired to play rather than tweak. So the reverbs are genuinely impressive for the price. The choruses are nice and I actually dig the rotorary speaker sound. It makes me want to investigate others that will allow me to change the settings. But for now, it works well. I won't be surprised to hear it on a recording or advertizement some day soon.

I'm giving it a 9 because the sounds seemed superior to its more expensive cousins. And anyone reading this review is not expecting the Picoverb to stand up against the Yamaha SPX 2000 or Eventide H-8000. (You can buy 73 Picoverbs for the same price as the Eventide.)

Seems sturdy and hasn't faulted. No input meter, though, so levels will have to be guessed in order not to introduce distortion. During a gig setup, this could possibly go unremebered.

N/A

I bought this for acoustic gigs. Right now it compliments one half of my electric rig. For both applications, the Picoverb delivers cost-effective, quality reverb.

Very easy to use this.
Not editing effect, only mix.

Very simply 1 level input and 1 mix level
8 reverbs :
2 halls, 3 rooms, 3 plates
1 chorus, 1 flange, 2 delays, 2 chorus with room reverb, 1 rotary
and 1 karaoke effect.
I prefere reverbs because others effects not editing !
The reverbs are very good and many choice.

2 input jacks only and 2 output jacks (only jacks no xlr)
the left input jack and the left output jack use for mono

I don't use this !

This is my first veritable reverb, and it is very good for initiation to sound, very good product for this price !
Very simply to use this, best for reverb to guitar amplifier,
best for keyboard, I like this.

Let me preface by saying this unit only has presets and no tweakability beyond mix level. Therefore this review is based on what I believe the product says it does and not beyond that. Also I am using this for an Acoustic guitar vocals a la coffee shop/church situation. Plug it in and you're good to go. I turn the input to 12 o'clock and the mix to 100%. I then can adjust the individual channels on my amp so that my vocals effect mix and my guitar effects mix are separate. The manual is fine. It makes suggestion for each preset which can be more handy than you think.

Okay, I think this thing is great. For a unit of this size/price I think the effects sound pristine and there is little if any noise through my effects loop. The reverbs are fantastic and the chorus is very good. The last review didn't think too much of the rotary and flanger which I respect. My lackluster item is the multi-tap delay because I'm not sure how I could ever use a preset delay of that length without tweaking it.

I can't imagine anything going wrong with it. A little goes a long way so I would say I really wouldn't want to gig without a little bit of tweaking on my voice!

They have a website that seems to have everything although I will say I emailed Alesis once and while it was prompt their response was a bit arrogrant.

I'm using this for coffee house/church acoustic guitar vocal situations as well as an additional tool for home recording. It's a really nice clean sounding unit for the money. I imagine by the time its lost or stolen they will have come out the 'miro-mini-nano-pico-it's really small and we're not joking verb'