AKG® BX 20 Spring Reverb
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The only AKG-licensed emulation of this one-of-a-kind spring reverb.
Introduced in the late 1960s, the AKG BX 20 reverb was a high-water mark for AKG’s esteemed engineers. An ingenious assembly of mechanical and electronic componentry, the BX 20 offered the glorious depth and color of spring reverb without any of the limitations.
The AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb plug-in for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo interfaces is exclusively endorsed by AKG Acoustics, Austria and envelops your sources in gorgeously dark, dense ambience that only spring reverb can provide.Mix with the only licensed and endorsed AKG Acoustics BX 20 reverb plug-in
Envelop instruments in dark, dense, clear ambience with original dual spring tank configuration
Harness new "plug-in only" features like stereoized A/B Tank Select, Direct signal defeat, and BX 10 Tone controls
Mix with artist presets from Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Vance Powell (Jack White), and Jacquire King (Kings of Leon)
Take a Listen
5-Minute UAD Tips
Featuring the AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb.
Unparalleled Density
The AKG BX 20's utterly unique character makes it a versatile tool for ambience as well as tone shaping. Its sonic personality features the quick onset of a classic plate reverb, and also the natural-sounding density and diffusion of a chamber — with little of the flutter or “boing” artifacts common with other spring reverbs. Unlike other spring reverb emulations, Universal Audio's hybrid delay network/convolution design provides the only plug-in representation of this mechanically controllable, acoustic ambience system. To that end, UA obsessively emulated a “golden unit” BX 20 from legendary producer, Jon Brion.
Spring Time
The BX 20 plug-in expertly captures the hardware’s unique two-stage decay. This yields warm, organic sounds whether it’s applied on percussion, vocals, or guitars, adding a unique timbre that can make individual tracks stand out — or melt away — in your mix. Short textures are chock full of colorful depth and dimension, while longer decays are rife with lush three-dimensionality, while never washing out.
New Features, More Control
The BX 20 plug-in provides the complete sound and features of the original, plus new "Mk II" features for an expanded sound palette. Tank Select provides the exact sound of the original A/B dual tank system, but includes a “stereoized” tank A or tank B, for more balanced stereo imaging. The Direct function allows you to mute the tank's direct signal for more control and minimizing conflict with the source audio — perfect for buses. The Baxandall-type tone controls — borrowed from the smaller AKG BX 10 — offers the last bit of seasoning to tailor your reverbs.
“When I heard UA was emulating the AKG BX 20, I dared them to beat my hardware – they did it.”
– Vance Powell (Jack White, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs)
“This is the vocal reverb sound I’ve had in my head for over 20 years. I will never mix without it again.”
– Jeff Juliano (John Mayer, Shinedown, Train)
“I used the UAD AKG BX 20 plug-in during editing sessions for the new Missy Elliott single, "Where They From," produced by Pharrell. The tone instantly cut through on the vocals and percussion.”
– Mike Larson (Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg)
“The AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb plug-in fits into tracks in fantastically unexpected ways.”
– John Paterno (Robbie Williams, Badly Drawn Boy, Bonnie Raitt)
“What a fat sounding, vibey reverb — I've been using it on everything! Its maiden voyage was mixing a couple Don Henley tracks.”
– Jeff Balding (Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Florida Georgia Line)Watch The Reviews
Customer Reviews
B. George
September 20, 2023
Excellent Spring Reverb
Authentic Spring Reverb sound. Responds well to guitar playing.
Read MoreA. Lee
September 17, 2023
Incredible
Amazing depth of field and sound quality to this. Different from any other spring reverb plugin out there
Read MoreA. Dahlback
August 6, 2023
THE spring reverb!
Back in the days BX 20 was the dream reverb - lush, smooth and with a lot of space added. But int came to a price - about $ 5000 back in the 80's. UAD's emulation is by...
Read MoreE. Peterson
April 13, 2023
Best spring reverb plug-in I own
This one sounds pretty unique and is lots of fun for tons of uses. I use it on acoustic guitar and vocals the most. Very cool...
Read More -
Parameters
Input Select, Mono/Stereo: Changes input between summed mono or stereo
Tank Select, A / B / A+B: Under stereo use, changes tank options among stereoized "A" and "B" and original "A+B" configurations
Direct, Off / On: Disables/enables the spring tank's naturally occurring direct sound component
Low Cut, Off / 80 Hz: 12 dB per octave, 80 Hz filter
Bass, ±10: Continuous tone control borrowed from the AKG BX 10, ±8 dB at 150 Hz
Treble, ±10: Continuous tone control borrowed from the AKG BX 10 ±4 dB at 5 kHz
Dry/Wet, 0 to 100%: Continuously adjusts Dry and Wet signals under insert use case
Wet Solo, Off/On: Disables/enables Wet Solo function
Predelay, 0 to 250 milliseconds: Continuously adjusts Predelay amount
Channel 1 Decay, 2 to 4.5 seconds: Continuously adjusts Channel 1 Decay time
Channel 2 Decay, 2 to 4.5 seconds: Continuously adjusts Channel 2 Decay time
Channel 1 Volume, ∞ to +24 dB: Continuously adjusts Channel 1 Volume
Channel 2 Volume, ∞ to +24 dB: Continuously adjusts Channel 2 Volume
Channel 1 Pan, ±100: Continuously adjusts Channel 1 Pan
Channel 2 Pan, ±100: Continuously adjusts Channel 2 Pan
Link, Unlinks/Link: Unlinks/Links Decay, Volume and Pan parameters
Mix: Continuously blends processed and unprocessed signal
Power, Off/On: Disables/Enables plug-in (all DSP processing is bypassed)
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Customer Reviews
AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb
B. George
Excellent Spring Reverb
Authentic Spring Reverb sound. Responds well to guitar playing.
A. Lee
Incredible
Amazing depth of field and sound quality to this. Different from any other spring reverb plugin out there
J. Otshudi
Review
The sound I have been looking for…
A. Dahlback
THE spring reverb!
Back in the days BX 20 was the dream reverb - lush, smooth and with a lot of space added. But int came to a price - about $ 5000 back in the 80's.
UAD's emulation is by far the best I've ever heard of a state-of-the-art spring reverb. Period! It gives the true analog feeling.E. Peterson
Best spring reverb plug-in I own
This one sounds pretty unique and is lots of fun for tons of uses. I use it on acoustic guitar and vocals the most. Very cool sound
I. Hwang
perfect spring reverb I've been looking for
so good
V. Ruzicic
Smooth!
It is so nice and real…
A. MOFFATT
taste
love it, feels and sound like real hardware, very colourful
H. Petersson
Fantastic reverb, but no bread and butter
This is a gorgeous reverb, especially on guitars. It’s smooth, lush and magestic. It’s not one of those small springy spring reverbs, this is one of the big pretty ones.
But it’s not like the EMT140 that can be used for everything, but where it fits it truly shines.K. Gajadhar
Expensive but great!
Sounds great on everything. If you like the sound, it’s a must have. Not 5 stars beceause they should include it in spark to work stand alone without using up DSP.
M. Gad
Very nice fo guitar
Hi, I'm not specialist but i's great with guitar directly without having to become a specialist...
K. Kelley
Very Cool!
Puts a nice space around most everything it touches!
P. Sviyazov
Great spring!
Tried a lot of spring reverbs out there but this one seems to be the only one that fits perfectly to almost any source. Easy to use, fast learning curve!
A. Gorobets
High quality!
One of my favourites Spring Reverbs
F. San Filippo
AKG BX 20 MINIMUM DECAY IS JUST FINE
IVE RECORDED OVER 17 KABILLION SONGS and I think this reverb sounds quite excellent. Don’t change a thing.
J. Neves
Absolutely Superb
I’ve never come across a so-called spring reverb that sounds this good in a plugin format. A must-have.
K. Royster
AKG BX 20 MINIMUM DECAY IS TOO LONG
LOVE THIS UNIQUE REVERB BUT THE MINIMUM DEACAY OF 2 SECONDS IS TOO LONG FOR UP TEMPO SONGS PLEASE MODIFY THE MINIMUM DECAY SO WE CAN USE IT IN MORE SONGS NOT JUST MID TEMPO AND BALLADS AUTOMATING THE TAILS AND OR GATING DOES NOT GIVE THE SAME EFFECT AS NATURAL DECAY. IVE RECORDED OVER 15,000 SONGS 17 # 1's TRIPLE PLATINUM OVER 2 BILLION STREAMS AND 500 MILLION YOU TUBE VIEWS. PLEASE FIX THIS
R. Attias
excellent
this reverb made it's way pretty quickly into my tracks, for both vocals and guitars (so far). loving it, for it's natural non-intrusive sound.
L. Carlozo
TOO ... MUCH ... DSP
This is truly a great sounding reverb, and using it is a treat (as I know Jon Brion). BUT---and this is a substantial BUT--it eats up so much processing power that I find myself turning to other UAD reverbs (Lexicon) and excellent plug-ins by Baby Audio and Valhalla. Those reverbs are in no ways compromises... they sound amazing and allow my mixes to run flawlessly. I think that's why you've seen this come down in price so much... it's become a back-shelf reverb for me because while its colour is unique, it conjures up the Mac "beach ball of death" if I try to rely on it too much. If you've only got so much to spend in UA Land, go for the Lexicon 224 ... and then buy the Valhalla Vintage Verb, one of the most outstanding, unsung reverbs on the planet and used on every mix I do.
B. Bartholomew
Analogue spring reverb in the digital medium
Well done UAD. This is pretty much spot on. Again one of the keys to UAD modeling success is there are no harsh edges to the sound quality (if used correctly). Lots of controls to mess about with to alter the tonal quality of the verb. Granted early days in my use of the plug-in but initial impressions are good. It's a spring reverb but in the box.
