Alesis Midiverb4

Alesis MidiVerb4 Multi-effects Processor

Alesis Midiverb 4 was a big hit with cost-conscious studio musicians when it was first launched back in the mid '80s. Now PAUL WHITE assesses whether the Midiverb 4 is still first among sequels.

With so much of Alesis' R&D effort going into ADAT, it looked as though my original Quadraverb was going to be old enough to vote before it was replaced -- then the Quadraverb 2 came along. But it was immediately evident that something simpler must follow to address the more cost-sensitive end of the market, and that's exactly what's happened with the Midiverb 4.

It isn't as easy to get excited about effects units as it was a decade or so ago, but the Midiverb 4 has an immediacy and quality about it that makes you want to sit and play with it -- which is exactly what I did. On the whole, I liked what I heard.

You can see from the styling of the 1U package that it is logically set out and benefits from a large display window which, although not as fancy as that of the Quadraverb 2, handles the necessary patch and edit information very clearly. Power comes from the ubiquitous external PSU, and the audio connections are on unbalanced jacks at a nominal -10dBV level, but with sufficient headroom and range to handle a maximum level of +10dBV. The two inputs and two outputs can be deployed in a number of ways depending on the effects configuration selected: the usual mono-in, stereo-out way of working is obviously supported, but you can also work stereo-in, stereo-out or use the two channels to create independent mono effects. Other subtle series and parallel effects connections are possible with up to three different effects per patch, though the majority of options provide just one or two effects at a time.

Technically, the Midiverb 4 is quite sophisticated, employing oversampling, 18-bit converters and internal 24-bit processing to yield a dynamic range in excess of 90dB over a 20Hz to 20kHz frequency range -- a far cry from the original 12-bit Midiverb with its 10kHz bandwidth. The internal patch memory provides 127 (plus bypass) presets and 128 user memory locations, which may be called up directly from the front panel using the Value knob or via MIDI. Patches may also be incremented using an optional footswitch.

In order to provide access to both user and preset patches over MIDI, the familiar assignment table facility is provided, where you can map any 128 of the internal patches (both user and preset) to MIDI Program Change numbers. You can also control up to two effects parameters in real time over MIDI, the actual parameters depending on the Configuration (algorithm) used.

Auto Sensing

It seems as though Alesis have gone out of their way to make the Midiverb 4 as easy to use as possible; one notable example of this is Auto Level Sensing. I've been pushing this concept for over five years now, but this is the first time I've actually seen it put into practice. Instead of setting up the input level manually, you just put the system into Learn mode (in this case by pressing the Input and Output buttons at the same time), and then feed the input with the signal you wish to process. The unit 'listens' to the input for around five seconds (or longer if you use a footswitch), notes the peak level and then sets the gain structure for you automatically. Of course you can still take the craftsman approach and do it manually, and in this case, there are separate VU meters built into the display for the left and right inputs. There are no physical input and output level knobs -- it's all done in software -- but because the editing system is so simple (just hit the Input button and twiddle), this presents no problem at all.

Efects Hierarchy

Like the original Quadraverb, the effects and effect combinations are based on Configurations -- preset algorithms which determine which effects are used in a patch and how they are connected. There are 32 different configurations in all, and the last 32 preset patches employ each of the configurations, so that they can be copied and used as the basis for new patches.