Alesis Microverb 4 review – Never again

Disclaimer:

" I'll have to point out in the beginning that I was intending to use the Microverb 4 on instruments only, mostly on an acoustic guitar. I have tried a few times to use it on vocal recordings without a major success, but maybe I was not trying hard enough in that field. All I can say after owning the Alesis Microverb 4 for a year now: do not waste your money on this, if you are planning to use it mainly with acoustic instruments."

One of the worst decisions I have made during the last few years was the purchase of the Alesis Mircroverb 4 19' rack unit. I am a huge fan of Tommy Emmanuel and I know that he is using the Alesis Midiverb II despite the fact that it dates back to 1986 or so and it is a preset only reverb unit.

 

The legendary Alesis Midiverb II 

First, I wanted to go for the Alesis Midiverb 4, but as that is a menu driven only device, you cannot change decay and hi-cut as easily as if it had dedicated knobs, like the Alesis Microverb does. I have been having my microverb for a year now, and despite endless hours spent on tweaking it, I still could not find the reverb sound I was looking for it. Not as if I had very high expectations.

Alesis Microverb 4 - It does look appealing, but ...

A testimony to my minimalistic needs is the fact that I am happy in general with the on-board reverb effect of a cheap Behringer mixer, I just cannot stand the noise that comes with it.

So what makes it really difficult to love the Alesis Microverb:

1. Very low output volume level

You have to turn up both input and output knobs to the region of 80-85% to get to a level output, that should normally be around 50-60%. And yes, this is with using a preamp.

2. Useless presets

This rack unit features 200 presets in the factory, default setting. After searching around for hours and hours, I managed to find 10 somewhat usable effects that were of acceptable quality and sounded okay-ish to me.

3. Very wet sounds

Even with the 10 presets I found of acceptable quality and sounding, the mix knob could never be turned up higher than 20-30% because the effects are so muddy and wet that they simply kill the original sound if used to a greater extent.

4. Artificial effects

A great deal of the effects sound overtly digital to my ears. This can be heard best when you are using any of the hall presets, the result can easily be a nightmare and as already said, even the built in, super cheap Behringer effects sound better, though have more noise as well, I must admit.

5. Build quality

I have been having mine for a year, and the top of the device that once used to be black is now in deep red / brown in colour. Maybe the finish on my one was not really proper or something, but still, this is not what I would expect from Alesis.

So, what is the learning from this? Better go for something less cheap next time, or do a better research (do I must admit, I made this purchase after reading lots of reviews, like the ones found on Harmony Central. http://www.harmonycentral.com/products/5334).