The Raumzeitmaschine from German manufacturer Tegeler is an all-analog hardware reverb unit. It’s a high-end unit that aims to deliver authentic, natural reverbs as well as offer room for experimental or ethereal sounds.
Hardware reverb units are often a hard sell these days, so in our review, we’re looking at what it has to offer and why it might tempt potential users away from reverb plugins.
Final verdict on the Raumzeitmaschine
The Raumzeitmaschine is quite possibly the best modern hardware reverb unit money can buy today. It combines the best of analog reverb with a touch of modern convenience that doesn’t detract from the classic hardware workflow. It’s a beautiful unit.
Buy from: Tegeler ShopVintage KingAll-analog
Before we get into anything else, we should say that the all-analog label comes with a disclaimer. Much of the Raumzeitmaschine is internally digital, but it has analog vacuum-tube input and output stages.
It has two double triodes per channel and no digital input/output transformers. So, in any sonic aspect that matters, the term all-analog is pretty fair, despite the digital control.
Visual feedback
At first sight, you cannot help but notice the eye-catching display screen to the right of the unit.
We can imagine that some may initially view the screen as a bit of a gimmick or at least assume there are more straightforward ways to show feedback, and that part is probably true.
But the color-coded feedback the screen provides to show the input signal level and the level of the wet signal (representing the Mix knob) is not only very useful, but it’s also extremely intuitive.
Controls
Another thing that stands out immediately when looking at the Raumzeitmaschine is that it only has six knobs. If we compare that with many other hardware reverb units, it’s significantly less (understatement).
People tend to use reverb plugins more than hardware units these days, and while part of that is down to price, another part is because plugins are generally much easier and faster to use.
For us, a hands-on experience is always better than clicking a mouse, so stripping the physical controls to the essentials is a great way to go.
Although some might argue that having so few controls is limiting, we would counter that by saying it encourages users to create the perfect reverb more intuitively.
After some use, it becomes far easier to sculpt the right reverb based on what you hear rather than looking at dozens of parameters.
Overall, we don’t feel it limits your options; it just takes a more direct approach.
The available controls are:
- Input
- Pre-Delay
- Size
- Density
- Decay
- Mix
The controls are self-explanatory, but the interaction between your settings and the tubes makes for some very interesting results.
Remote control
You can control the unit remotely via the device website or the included plugin. Given that we started by discussing how the Raumzeitmaschine might tempt users away from plugins, this remote control approach might seem counterintuitive. However, it all makes perfect sense.
When we said that plugins are generally easier and faster to use, most of that centers around the recall of settings. For example, if you are using a hardware unit on multiple tracks, the process of manually recalling your settings becomes exceptionally tedious.
The Raumzeitmaschine offers the best of both worlds because you get the hands-on workflow, which is far more musical and intuitive, and you also get instant recall using the plugin.
The instant recall is possible thanks to the Raumzeitmaschine’s motorized pots. So, when you recall settings on the plugin, you’ll see the hardware automatically adjust its settings, and that’s pretty cool. Similarly, any automation you record in your DAW will be reflected by the movement of the hardware pots.
Some might suggest that if you use the plugin at all, it defeats the purpose of buying a hardware unit, but we don’t believe that’s true. The Raumzeitmaschine provides a genuine analog workflow; it just adds some modern convenience.
Value for money
Units like the Raumzeitmaschine might be a financial stretch for many home studio users, but it’s worth every penny for anyone with the budget. Tegeler offers a 14-day trial period too.
How does it sound?
Of course, the most important thing about any hardware is how good (or bad) it sounds. We tested the Raumzeitmaschine on various sources, and we loved the results for the most part.
When we say, for the most part, it’s in the sense that, like any hardware or plugin, you can push it too far, and the reverb becomes overwhelming. But that’s all in your hands.
You can create small rooms with many reflections or wide open spaces that deliver a more haunting, ethereal sound. It does everything in between too, but we feel it shines when you want a natural-sounding reverb that doesn’t infringe on the clarity of the sound.
Some examples are using it on busy acoustic guitar picking or vocals that need to cut through the mix, but not too harshly.
Please check out our video where we put the Raumzeitmaschine to the test.
