Published by PitchChanger · How these guides are made
Hear the difference
Listen to the gaps after each note and the ending. The source is identical in every version; only the listed effect changes. Start at a comfortable listening volume.
Pause your workspace preview before comparing these clips.
Original synthesized phrase made for PitchChanger, with processed versions exported from our tools. This is not a recording of a performer. Download the original to try the same settings in the corresponding tool.
How to use this workflow
Choose a phrase with gaps
Download Original phrase from the listening examples, or use your own recording. Open Reverb & Delay, choose the file and listen with Original selected before adding an effect.
Start with Small Room
Select Small Room and leave Feedback delay off. Play the live effect. Reduce Reverb mix if the tail covers the next note; increase it gradually only if you need more space.
Check and save the ending
Select Generate effect, choose Rendered result and listen through the full tail. Use Download WAV, or Export MP3 320k followed by Download MP3. Generate again after any setting change.
Reproduce the short-room and long-hall examples
The 8-second source is a synthesized phrase at 120 BPM. The room examples were exported from this site using the named presets with delay disabled. No extra mastering or loudness matching was applied afterward; compare at a comfortable level and listen to clarity rather than loudness.
Small Room leaves a short reflection around each note. Large Hall has a longer decay and a higher wet mix, so it is easier to hear the tail across pauses. They are deliberately different settings, not a claim that the larger room is better.
Swipe or scroll sideways to read all columns.
| Setting | Small Room | Large Hall |
|---|---|---|
| Decay | 0.8 s | 3 s |
| Pre-delay | 0.005 s | 0.025 s |
| Reverb mix | 0.22 | 0.38 |
| Feedback delay | Off | Off |
Choose a blended tail or a distinct repeat
For audible rhythmic repeats, turn Reverb off and enable Feedback delay. Set Delay time to 0.50 s, Feedback to 25% and Delay mix to 25%. The sample is 120 BPM, so 60 ÷ 120 = 0.50 seconds puts each repeat one quarter-note beat apart.
This is a manual calculation. The tool does not automatically detect or follow the song tempo for delay. A performance with changing tempo will not stay synchronized with one fixed delay time.
Apply the same listening method to your recording
For speech or singing, listen to the ends of words and the next consonant. Begin with Small Room and a mix around 0.15, then shorten Decay if syllables blur. This melody demonstrates the controls; it is not a vocal-quality benchmark.
For guitar or other short notes, use the gaps to judge repeats. If the phrase becomes cluttered, reduce feedback before adding more reverb. Keep a dry copy and compare the same passage each time. Noise and distortion in the source are not repaired by either effect.
Compare pre-delay without changing the room or decay
Download Original phrase above and load it into Reverb & Delay. Select Small Room, disable Feedback delay, then set Decay to 0.8 s, Reverb mix to 0.22 and Damping / High cut to 6000 Hz. Compare Pre-delay at 0.000 s and 0.040 s. Hold every other control fixed: changing to another room preset can also replace the decay and mix, which would obscure this comparison.
The 0.040 s setting is a 40 ms separation before the reverb begins; it does not mean a 40 ms decay. Listen to the attack of each pluck and the space before the reflection becomes audible. These are settings for a comparison you can perform with the supplied source, not two additional measured exports or a claim that 40 ms sounds best on all recordings.
Swipe or scroll sideways to read all columns.
| Comparison | Pre-delay | Decay | Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: reflection starts immediately | 0.000 s | 0.8 s | 0.22 |
| B: onset separated from reflection | 0.040 s | 0.8 s | 0.22 |
Choose the control that matches the clarity problem
If the initial consonant or pluck loses definition, compare a little more pre-delay while keeping mix fixed. If one word’s tail covers the next word, shorten Decay or reduce Reverb mix instead. Moving the reverb onset later does not remove a long tail already spilling into the next phrase.
For your own recording, repeat one short phrase with a pause and make the decision from both its beginning and ending. After settling on controls, select Generate effect and audition Rendered result through the tail. Changing a control requires another generation before that setting is represented in the download. Keep a dry copy so this listening decision remains reversible.
Separate wet balance from decay with three comparisons
Download Original phrase above and load it into Reverb & Delay. Select Small Room, disable Feedback delay and set Pre-delay to 0.005 s and Damping / High cut to 6000 Hz. Use the three rows below, holding the room and those two controls fixed. Generate each result after setting its Decay and Reverb mix values. These are proposed comparisons using the supplied source, not additional measured audio exports.
Compare A with B for wet balance: both use a 0.8-second decay, while the mix changes from 0.15 to 0.40. Compare A with C for decay: both use a 0.15 mix, while decay changes from 0.8 to 2.0 seconds. A mix of 0.40 is a control value for the dry/wet blend; it does not mean a 0.40-second tail or a guaranteed forty-percent perceived loudness contribution.
Swipe or scroll sideways to read all columns.
| Comparison | Decay | Reverb mix | Question to listen for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: reference | 0.8 s | 0.15 | How clear are the dry note entrances? |
| B: more wet balance | 0.8 s | 0.40 | Does reflection become more prominent? |
| C: longer decay | 2.0 s | 0.15 | Does the tail overlap the following note? |
Judge the pause as well as the note entrance
Listen to a short note followed by a gap, then to the next note. Write separate observations for attack clarity and tail overlap. If the attack is clear but the pause remains crowded, reducing decay can address a different problem from reducing mix. A quieter long tail may still remain audible after the next entrance.
Choose the setting that serves the phrase, generate it again if you changed any control, and check Rendered result through its ending. Keep the dry source. The comparison does not establish that one mix or decay works best for every voice or instrument, and switching room presets during the test would change more than the variable you meant to compare.
Compare reverb brightness with the high-cut control
Download the Original phrase above and load it into Reverb & Delay. Select Small Room, disable Feedback delay, and keep Decay at 0.8 s, Pre-delay at 0.005 s and Reverb mix at 0.22. Compare Damping / High cut at 3000 Hz and 6000 Hz, generating each result after changing that control. Both values are available in the current interface. These are proposed listening settings, not additional measured exports.
Listen to the reflection after a pluck as well as the dry attack. The high-cut parameter shapes the generated room response; a lower value reduces its high-frequency emphasis rather than specifying a new decay duration. It is not an abrupt promise that all sound above 3000 Hz disappears from the complete output. The dry component remains in the blend, and the audible difference depends on the source.
Write separate notes for tail brightness and overlap with the next note. If the tail is less bright but still covers the next entrance, compare a shorter decay in a separate test. If the dry source itself contains unwanted hiss, lowering the room high-cut is not a noise-removal workflow. Keep the dry file, choose the useful comparison and generate the final settings again before downloading.
Swipe or scroll sideways to read all columns.
| Comparison | High cut | Held constant |
|---|---|---|
| A: darker room response | 3000 Hz | Small Room; 0.8 s decay; 0.005 s pre-delay; mix 0.22 |
| B: brighter reference | 6000 Hz | Same room, decay, pre-delay and mix |
Set a rhythmic delay by calculating its time in seconds
The delay control uses seconds rather than an automatic beat-sync switch. For a fixed 80 BPM quarter-note pulse, one beat lasts 60 / 80 = 0.75 seconds. An eighth-note delay is half that value, 0.375 seconds, and a dotted eighth is three quarters of the beat, 0.5625 seconds. The current delay slider moves in 0.01-second steps, so nearby available settings are 0.38 and 0.56 seconds. They are approximations rather than exact beat locks.
Disable Reverb for the first comparison, enable Feedback delay and keep feedback and delay mix constant while trying the time setting. Use a short source with a distinct attack and listen to where its repeat falls against the next musical beat. Write the counted pulse beside the calculation. A pulse interpreted at twice the tempo gives different note-value labels, and a changing-tempo performance cannot stay locked to one fixed delay time throughout.
Generate the effect and check the saved file, including the echo after the final note. If the repeats mask the next phrase, reduce feedback or mix in a separate comparison rather than changing all three controls together. When the timing works, re-enable the desired reverb and reassess the blend. The table gives planning values at 80 BPM, not measured echo arrivals or a claim that this tool follows a tempo map.
Swipe or scroll sideways to read all columns.
| Note value at 80 BPM | Calculated time | Nearby slider setting |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter | 0.7500 s | 0.75 s |
| Eighth | 0.3750 s | 0.38 s |
| Dotted eighth | 0.5625 s | 0.56 s |
Common questions
Why is my exported file longer?
The renderer adds time for the delay and reverb tails. Play through the ending; do not trim automatically to the original duration if you want to keep the full effect.
Can I use just delay?
Yes. Turn the Reverb checkbox off and enable Feedback delay. The quarter-note example uses this setup.
Why does my own song sound different with these settings?
The example is sparse and dry. A dense mix, existing room sound or sustained notes change how the reflections overlap. Adjust the mix and decay by listening to your own material.