ValhallaDSP FutureVerb review: I can’t believe a $50 reverb can sound this good$50, valhalladsp.com
ValhallaDSP is an outlier in the world of plugin developers. For years, it has steadfastly stuck to its rule of $50 per plugin, with no annual sales. Through high-quality algorithms, positive word of mouth and free updates, it has cemented itself as a developer to trust, especially when it comes to reverb and delays. FutureVerb is its latest release, which has apparently been eight years in the making.

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When you look at what’s on offer, FutureVerb appears to be the culmination of all the releases that have come before; providing lush, crystal-clear algorithms, surprisingly deep sound design potential, and vintage grit on tap, should you want to get lo-fi.
Could this be ValhallaDSP’s magnum opus, and does it stand out in a year that’s seen a flood of reverb releases?
Valhalla’s goal with FutureVerb was to create the most transparent and realistic-sounding algorithmic reverbs possible. It includes a reverb section with five real-world acoustic spaces, two huge ambient spaces, and a tight nonlinear effect. To dramatically increase the sonic flexibility, there’s also an Echo section that lets you add extra colour and dirt. By default, the Echo will feed into the reverb, but this can be swapped if you prefer, which can result in a more washy or characterful sound.

The user interface follows in the footsteps of Valhalla’s other plugins, with a clear, if somewhat uninspiring layout. You get Mix and Width controls on the left, a handful of Echo and Reverb controls in the middle, then Modulation and output EQ controls on the right. Some of the main controls change depending on which mode is selected. It’s a no-nonsense approach that makes you use your ears, but multiple options and a lack of visual feedback mean you’ll have to spend some time learning what everything does to fully understand what’s going on. Thankfully, there are tooltips for every control and mode, displayed in the corner.
In the Reverb section are controls for Decay, Size, Density, and Early/Late reflections, which changes to an Attack control for the non-realistic spaces. This is enough to make broad changes without becoming overwhelming. The modes include Room, Chamber, Plate, Hall, Cathedral, Space, Frozen and Nonlin. True to their word, the acoustic spaces sound incredible and surprisingly lifelike for algorithms.
I test FutureVerb alongside a range of other reverb plugins, including Sonible smart:reverb 2, FabFilter Pro-R 2, SoundToys SuperPlate, Universal Audio’s Lexicon 480L, Logic’s ChromaVerb, and also Valhalla’s own VintageVerb. In terms of clarity, three-dimensional depth and general smoothness, it outshines them all. Eight years of research and development were well spent.
Image: Press
The other three reverb modes are more tailored for ambient spaces and sound design. Space can create epic, gentle swelling washes, and Nonlin is a classic nonlinear/gated reverb that’s great for adding thickness without huge tails. The unique new Frozen algorithm is a bit of a cross between the two, as it’s like a thick nonlinear reverb that can sustain and hang in space until it fades away. I fine tune the timing settings to use this for a staccato chord progression, to sustain the notes before they drop away for the next chord.
If you simply want to add a clean pre-delay, then this can easily be done with the Echo section. However, it’s also capable of dense detuned echoes, warm and warbling tape delays, and reversed and pitch-shifted delays. There are twelve modes to choose from, which can be used to add depth and character to the pristine reverbs. These include a clean Modern setting, plus Tape, Digital, Analog and LoFi modes that all have different types of saturation and grit accessible via the Drive dial. There are also a range of detuning, reversing and pitching options that swap the Drive dial for Detune. Of particular interest is the Sparkle mode that uses granular pitch-shifted delays to create ethereal shimmer patches, or the Swarm mode for more dissonant results.
On top of the standard delay time and feedback controls, you get a unique Spread dial that transforms the simple stereo delay into a four- or eight-voice feedback delay network. Increasing the dial fades in the extra voices and spreads them in time. This adds an extra lushness to sounds, and can also be used with short delay times to add convincing width to mono signals. You could easily turn off the reverb and just get wild doing sound design with the Echo section, but combine the two and you have a huge number of options.
Alongside the High-Cut and Low-Cut EQs that shape the final output, there’s also a Color menu that lets you change the overall equalisation and high frequency decay. The Bright and Neutral settings make reverbs sound more present in the mix, whereas the Dark setting gives a duller vintage sound, and the Studio setting rolls off frequencies below 600 Hz to help it sit further back in the mix. It will also slightly change the colours of the interface, which is fun, but doesn’t really bring anything practical.
FutureVerb Reverb Modes. Image: Press
There is vast amount of presets, which really helps to show off how this plugin can be used for a broad range of functional reverb tasks alongside more experimental effects and character work. With so much on offer, it takes a while to learn how all the different modes sound and interact, but it’s versatile enough to easily become your go-to reverb for most tasks — especially when you consider just how pleasant it sounds.
The only feature really missing is an internal ducking control, which is something that’s found on most reverbs these days. It seems the developer considered including one, but decided to keep the interface cleaner instead. Maybe they’ll reconsider for a future update, as it could be a useful addition to help create more mix space for your sounds.
If you’re the kind of person that likes to delve deep into editing a reverb’s parameters and how it decays across the spectrum, then there are other plugins such as FabFilter’s Pro-R 2 that offer more control. Where FutureVerb shines though, is the way it encourages you to playfully explore what it sounds like to add pitch, width and saturation effects into the reverb tail. In that respect, it feels a bit like a hardware pedal where you can lose hours turning dials and experimenting with different combinations.
Overall FutureVerb is a versatile and stunning-sounding reverb that’s well worth the reasonable asking price, and like VintageVerb before it, I can see this becoming a future classic.
FutureVerb Echo Modes. Image: Press
Key features

VST/AU/AAX plugin
7 Reverb algorithms (Room, Chamber, Plate, Hall, Cathedral, Space, Frozen and Nonlin)
Echo section with Drive, Detune and unique Spread control
12 characterful Echo algorithms (Modern, Tape, Digital, Analog, Detune, Reverse, ReverseOctUp, ReverseOctDown,
ReverseOctUpDown, Sparkle, Swarm, LoFi)
Independent level controls for Echo and Reverb
Color section with 4 profiles
Lush sounding modulation
HighCut and LowCut EQ
Mix and Width controls, plus Mix Lock feature
Large collection of presets

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