Strymon has introduced the BigSky multidimensional reverb plugin for Mac & Windows, a direct port of their popular hardware reverb effects pedal.
While originally designed for guitarists, the BigSky has been popular with synthesists, because its a stereo effect at, as one reader pointed out,”You could fart into the Strymon BigSky and it would sound great.”
Now Strymon is making the same 12 high-end reverb algorithms available in software form, meaning that it’s easier to record with, you can run as many instances of the plugin as you like and you can save the settings in your DAW session.
Here’s what they have to say about it:
“It’s a direct port of our award-winning hardware, so you can count on precisely the same pristine sound quality, sonic uniqueness and true creativity you’ve come to expect from BigSky. Featuring the same twelve world-class reverb machines as the pedal version, you can now use Cloud to bloom up a keyboard pad, use Shimmer’s two voices to thicken a set of backup vocals, or use Magneto as a diffused tape-based reverb to lengthen that fingerpicked acoustic guitar pass. The possibilities are immense, and now natively available inside your digital audio workstation for the first time!
We also took full advantage of the computer-based user interface to make it even easier to get to your favorite sounds – we made the plugin UI dynamic, meaning that it changes depending on what reverb machine you have selected. That way you always see the controls that you need to tweak, and those controls stay put until you change them, even if you select another reverb machine. All of the uniqueness and clarity of the pedal version is perfectly recreated in the plugin – the long exotic tails and thick tones, the recreations of classic studio machines like springs and plates, and the ease of use are all there.”
Pricing and Availability
The BigSky plugin is available now for $199.
How do you think BigSky compares to other software reverbs? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Finally the oldest reverb ever comes out as a plugin for 200 bucks.
Ha ha ha! “The oldest reverb ever”? You know that the world existed before you were born?
Valhalla makes excellent reverbs for 50 dollars.
Valhalla makes excellent reverbs for free.
Yes but you would need to buy 4-5 of them to cover the range of algorithms (there are 12 different types of Reverbs in the Big Sky all with different dedicated GUIS). Juts the single ‘Shimmer’ reverb is $50 with Valhalla, that’s 1 of 12 algorithms on the BS.
No iOS version! Sad 🙁
Is this a serious comment? I genuinely can’t tell
Use the hardware version in my guitar setup and love it, but I have more than enough awesome plug-in verbs already on my computers so I’ll pass.
I have the BigSky as a Pedal. Why should i pay 200!!! again to have it in a computer? i dont get it.
Being able to have multiple instances of it running at once is appealing – but to me not $200 appealing. I own all of the Strymon big pedals and love them, would buy this in a moment if they offered some sort of reasonable loyalty discount.
I don’t have the BigSky as a pedal because I tend to use plugins for effects. Why shouldn’t I pay $200 to have BigSky in my computer? I get it.
Hahaha, you won.
What are the differences between BigSky & BlueSky ?
Reverb algorithms, Amount of knob control over parameters, midi control, the screen for parameter control. I know im only naming the stuff you can clearly see when looking at both pedals but its like the difference between Korg minilogue and a prologue. One has more than the other thing.
The BlueSky is basically BigSky cut down to its most popular algorithms / settings. Its pedalboard friendly dimensions, compared to Strymon’s larger units, is an important factor to many as well.
Man, I don’t make it a habit of whining about price. But this seems priced to to gate keep. With the absolute phenomenal quality of Valhalla stuff available for $50 each, it’s really odd to launch a new verb for the price that you could buy a suite of Valhalla stuff for. This is the price I spend on a nice pedal—not the price I expect to see introing a set of reverb algorithms that have been around for nearly 10 years.
Mmm. At half that price it would be a yes for me. I’ll stick with my other reverbs (neoverb, valhala, eventide, FXaid,….) and maybe there will be a holiday sale some day.
Well it’s only 200,- because otherwise the hardware might look a bit too expensive don’t you think. 😉
Tried it today. Sounds really nice and is easy to use with the limited set of parameters, but the price is a bit hard to justify when there are so many other great reverb options out there.
Outrageous overpriced and iLok protected: how could it be worse than that?
iLok blows…
completely, as does all other forms of copy protection that heft an obvious distraction upon the user.
Well, just think, before this like many other hardware companies, they protected their shit against copy protection by only making very expensive hardware that you could only use one instance of 🙂 So this is a huge improvement already.
Seeing Arturia release a free VST of the MiniFreak with every piece of hardware makes me think Strymon should offer this plugin free to anyone who bought a BigSky pedal.
+1
Or maybe a minimal “upgrade” price to hardware users?
Either way I love it in my guitar set-up.
200 $ def not. 100$ tops
Unlike most guitarists (it seems), I’m not a big fan of the Strymon reverb sounds, but I get that reverb can be very subjective.
For an alternative, check out FAS-FX Reverb, a reverb plugin from Fractal. It’s very powerful, flexible/versatile, super-tweakable, and great sounding. Right now it looks like it’s on sale for $50 (reg. $100).
As for digital hardware devices porting their sounds to software, it makes some sense if the hardware version isn’t weak sauce, and the software version offers some additional features.
I’m glad folks have many choices; mine was vintage eventide, lexicon, and kurzweil.
Yea, lexicon reverbs continue sound stunning even after so much evolution in reverb tech. And Kurzweil reverbs are quite stunning, and underrated– especially considering they are built into the Kurz synths and workstations.
I’m a little surprised how few convolution hardware options there are (not for cabs, but for reverb).
Played around with the trial version and it is a nice reverb but for $199 no thanks. I matched Fabilter Pro R to the same reverb durations as Big Sky and used Pro Q3 to EQ match the two reverbs. They aren’t identical but they are very close.
FYI it sums to mono, just like the pedal. I wouldn’t want that as my only choice (nice to have as an option) in a supposedly-high-end reverb for the desktop.
But, then, I’m also not a huge fan of the BigSky sound, or Strymon in general.
Pricing: there’s several reverb plugins that cost more than $200. It’s not about the price, but what you get for the price in terms of whether your ears love it. Reverb is very subjective. For me, this isn’t worth $100, and probably not even $50. But I happily spent $225 on Liquidsonics last Black Friday because my ears love them.