Vocal Reverb Settings: Decay, Predelay and Size by Tempo
Vocal mixing · 4 min read
Put the reverb on a send. Plate or small room, predelay 20–40 ms, decay 0.8–1.6 s, high-pass the return at 300–400 Hz and low-pass at 8–10 kHz. Set the decay from the tempo so the tail is finished before the next phrase starts.
Predelay
20–40 MS
Decay 0.8–1.6 s · return HPF 300 Hz · LPF 9 kHz
The 60-second answer
One reverb on a return, fed by a send. Plate for pop, small room for rap. Predelay 20–40 ms. Decay 1.6 s at 90 BPM, 1.2 s at 120 BPM, 1.0 s at 140 BPM. Return EQ: high-pass 300–400 Hz, low-pass 8–10 kHz. Raise the return until the space is obvious, then pull it back 2 dB.
Why predelay is what keeps the vocal close
Predelay is the gap between the dry word and the first reflections. Your ear reads that gap as distance: a long gap means you are close to the singer and far from the walls. Zero predelay glues the reverb to the word and pushes the singer to the back of the room. At 25–40 ms the word arrives first, alone and dry, and the space opens up behind it.
Why decay has to follow the tempo
A reverb tail is masking. If it is still audible when the next line starts, new consonants land on top of old vowels and everything smears. One bar of 4/4 lasts 240000 / BPM milliseconds: 2000 ms at 120 BPM, 1714 ms at 140 BPM, 2667 ms at 90 BPM. Half a bar of decay suits a busy verse, a full bar a slow chorus. Longer than that and you are mixing the reverb, not the vocal.
The settings, step by step
| # | Do this |
|---|---|
| 01 |
Use a send and a return, never an insert One reverb feeds the lead, the doubles and the adlibs, so they all sit in the same room. The amount becomes a fader move. Send: post-fader · return starts at -inf |
| 02 |
Pick the size before anything else Size controls the early reflections, which is what your ear identifies first. Small room for rap, plate for pop, hall only when the arrangement is empty. Size: small room or plate |
| 03 |
Set predelay off the note grid A 1/32 note is 60000 / BPM / 8. That is 63 ms at 120 BPM. Halve it to a 1/64 note if the vocal starts to feel detached from its own reverb. Predelay 20–40 ms, up to 60 ms |
| 04 |
Set decay against the bar Play the busiest verse, not the intro. Turn the decay up until the tail bleeds into the next line, then back off until it stops. Decay 0.8–1.6 s |
| 05 |
Filter the return hard High-pass so the tail never doubles the chest of the voice. Low-pass so the S sounds do not turn into a hiss cloud. HPF 300–400 Hz · LPF 8–10 kHz |
| 06 |
Set the level with the mute button Raise the return until you can clearly hear the room, then drop 2 dB. Mute it: the vocal should sound noticeably small and flat. Return: 2 dB under obvious |
The trick: read the predelay off the note grid instead of a preset
Every preset ships with a predelay someone chose for a different song. Take it off the grid instead. A 1/32 note is 60000 / BPM / 8: 83 ms at 90 BPM, 63 ms at 120 BPM, 54 ms at 140 BPM. A 1/64 note is 60000 / BPM / 16, so 42, 31 and 27 ms. The 1/64 value lands inside or just above the classic 20–40 ms window and keeps the vocal locked to the beat while still sounding close. The 1/32 value is longer than most engineers use, and the tail arrives late enough that the ear hears it as a separate rhythmic event rather than as room around the word. Use 1/64 on fast verses and 1/32 on slow hooks. Past 60 ms you have built a slap delay, not a room.
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Get the Vocal Chain Bible — $48 →Mistakes that kill it
- No high-pass on the return. Reverb below 300 Hz stacks with the 808 and the vocal body, and the mix loses definition long before the reverb sounds obvious.
- Decay set in solo. A 2 s tail sounds gorgeous on a soloed vocal and swallows the whole verse in context. Set decay with the beat playing.
- Reverb on the insert. One instance per track means the lead, the double and the adlib each sit in a different room, and the stack never glues.
- Fixing blur with less send. Blur means the decay is too long or the predelay too short. Turning the send down just makes the vocal small.
Keep going
FAQ
What predelay should I use on vocals?
20–40 ms for most songs. Take the value off the note grid: a 1/64 note is 60000 / BPM / 16, which lands in or just above that window at every common tempo.
How long should vocal reverb decay be?
0.8–1.6 s for most modern productions. Compare it to a bar (240000 / BPM ms) and start at half a bar for busy sections.
Should reverb go before or after compression?
After. Compressing a reverb tail pulls the room up in the gaps and makes the vocal sound further away than you set it.
Who's behind this
Ivan Meshcheriakov · IvanFromRnD
5+ years ago I moved to LA with zero connections and started building from nothing — 14-hour days, meeting people and interning at studios. It took me 5+ years to meet and interview 100+ Grammy-winning engineers — then I turned it all into the Vocal Chain Bible.
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