The main difference between reverb and delay is that delay is a repeated signal that's held in the audio buffer for a few milliseconds and finally mixed with the original signal.
On the other hand, reverb is the ambiance of a room made up of numerous echoes packed closely or loosely together reflected from the walls of your particular environment.
For example, when you shout in a canyon or a cave, you can hear distinct and very clear repeats of your voice, which is a clear example of an echo or delayed sound.
Alternatively, when you shout inside a concert hall, you will hear very fast reflections building on top of each other and eventually decaying until they are completely attenuated in amplitude. Now, that is what we refer to as reverberation.
In other words, we can also define a delay or an echo effect as individual copies of your original sound. In contrast, we can define reverberation as a mass of grouped copies of sound that continuously build on top of each other until they lose energy and reach their decay stage. Finally, the sound becomes gently inaudible to the human ear.
However, if you want to give your sound a little bit of space and ambiance, reverb is the way to go, so long as you keep in mind that reverb tends to push your sound a little further backward in the mix.
On the other hand, reverb is the ambiance of a room made up of numerous echoes packed closely or loosely together reflected from the walls of your particular environment.
For example, when you shout in a canyon or a cave, you can hear distinct and very clear repeats of your voice, which is a clear example of an echo or delayed sound.
Alternatively, when you shout inside a concert hall, you will hear very fast reflections building on top of each other and eventually decaying until they are completely attenuated in amplitude. Now, that is what we refer to as reverberation.
In other words, we can also define a delay or an echo effect as individual copies of your original sound. In contrast, we can define reverberation as a mass of grouped copies of sound that continuously build on top of each other until they lose energy and reach their decay stage. Finally, the sound becomes gently inaudible to the human ear.
When Should You Use Reverb or Delay?
Without getting too complicated about audio engineering or sound design, you should use delay if the intended sound is meant to be upfront and, more importantly, close to dry.However, if you want to give your sound a little bit of space and ambiance, reverb is the way to go, so long as you keep in mind that reverb tends to push your sound a little further backward in the mix.
