Latest User Reviews

When I had my Yamaha Rev7 is was quite useful for snares and other instruments where a less than pristine reverb was required, I particularly liked it on brass and snares.

Do not forget that this is not only a reverb that goes well with a snare drum … I love the symphony patch on synths, guitars and voice!

Since the first day it came out, I have been a huge fan of the Rev 7. Back in 84, there was nothing in that price bracket and when it was released, it made a huge impact. At the time, I was working for a major music retailer in the UK and we had just seen the release of the Roland SRV 2000, and now Yamaha had brought out a “budget version” of their Rev 1.

In comparison to the Roland, I think the Rev 7 is better suited for percussive and gated Reverbs. This is not to say it cannot do beautiful vocal plates or be used to fill a huge string sound, but I use mine for shorter reverb effects. Naturally, with any multi effect unit, some effects are better than others, but I have to say, all in all, the Rev 7 isn’t bad at all.

Like most 80’s gear, its a little noisy, but nothing to get overly concerned about. You can find Rev7’s going very cheap now and most of them still work, but need a new EL backlight fitted which costs very little. I replaced all mine and it takes about 30 mins or so to do. Two of my Rev 7’s developed power supply issues with Voltage regulators blowing with age. Generally they are reliable, but don’t forget its 34 years old now !

Wonderful device, still relevant, still in service in the studios. Great for snare, brass and synths.

Grainy as hell and it has that typical 80s sound we all love to hate RRRrrrING.

When the SPX came out in 1985, I grabbed one straight away. It was roughly half the price of a Rev 7 and did a similar job, but with a few additions of pitch shifting and a crude short sampling mode that I can’t remember if the option to control by midi was available. The reverb and multi effects were the main attraction for me and it did those very well. Infact when put in comparison to the Rev 7’s reverb, it’s very close indeed. I still have two SPX’s in my studio today and occasionally they get used on percussion sounds, but are only relegated to secondary use because I have a lot of other reverbs to choose from. As a general summary, they are well worth the money they go for today.

My first piece of outboard gear was a Yamaha REV7, and the SPX90 was the second. The SPX I still have and use, and it has been at the heart of some of my best mixes. Sure some of the programs are “grainy” or “bright” but many of them sit perfectly and the Symphonic is worth the price of this unit alone. (The REV7 was traded to a friend for a 1968 sparkle-top Rhodes Suitcase, and while I miss the reverb, I was the winner in that trade, no question.

Lovely old-looking rack, it has a bunch of warm-sounding, old-school reverbs which, summed with its other delays and psychoacoustic effects make a good unit even nowadays, specially if you search those old ’80/’90 warm, soft sound. I recommend it for genres like Rock, Funk, Electronic and for some cool sounding Jazz; its too hot-sounding for stuff like metal. Overall a good fx (also cheap!) to have in your rack.

A pesar de ser tan antiguo sigue siendo muy funcional aún hoy en día, es ideal para lograr ese color vintage en la reverb en las voces, esto acompañado con unas buenas etapas de compresión y retardo logran un sonido muy particular. En las percusiones también es bastante útil y en particular me encanta el efecto de chorus, me parece muy bien logrado y natural. En general para ser un equipo diseñado en 1985 sigue siendo un buen equipo aún, muy bien pensado.

Despite being so old, it is still very functional even today, it is ideal to achieve that vintage color in the reverb in the voices, this accompanied by good compression and delay stages they achieve a very particular sound. On percussion it is also quite useful and I particularly love the chorus effect, it seems very well done and natural to me. In general, for a team designed in 1985, it is still a good team, very well thought out.

Had this for about three years now, it is everything that came before it (from Yamaha) in one box. Sound is typical Yamaha ‘clean’, it is quiet and at the prices these go for these days, a bit of a bargain.

I own 7 Yamaha reverb processors SPX90, 90II, 900, 990, 1000, Rev5, Rev7. The SPX1000 has the most natural sounding reverb of them all, as well as being stereo in and out. Honestly if you want natural sounding reverb buy one they are a bargain.

The Yamaha D5000 must not have sold very well when it was released back in the mid 1990s. Or perhaps it sold very well and those who bought it don’t let them go very easily? I think it may be the later. Bob Clearmountain claims the Yamaha D5000 is the greatest digital delay ever made, perhaps he is right. So if you are after a digital delay that offers pristine sound quality and low noise, and one that imparts little of itself on your signal, then look no further than the Yamaha D5000.