Eventide Blackhole reverb plug-in: features and spec-based rating

Eventide’s Blackhole is a reverb plug-in that can create enormous spaces that could never exist in reality. According to the manufacturer, it can produce everything from drones and spatial effects to subtle, restrained reverb.

A reverb adds the sound of a room or hall to a recording. For vocals, it adds space and helps the voice sit in the mix with the backing track.

In this article we compare Blackhole with 12 reverb plug-ins and rate how well it serves its purpose on three criteria. The basis is official manufacturer information.

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Summary

Among the 12 reverb plug-ins, Blackhole is rank C. The ranks run S, A, B and C, and C is the lowest. Averaging the scores for each criterion (out of 5, with the one criterion that matters most for the purpose counted double) gives 1.8.

Things to keep in mind

• Vocal-friendly sounds (1 point): it has few of the standard reverb sounds used on vocals and is built for special effects.
• Speed (2 points): you build the reverb by adjusting knobs one at a time, which is a standard way of working.

Who it suits: people who want dreamlike, huge-space effects rather than an ordinary room sound.

Main features of Blackhole

A space bigger than anything real

Blackhole grew out of the algorithms of Eventide’s rack unit, the DSP4000, and creates enormous spaces. Its Size control is described as running from “cartoonishly small” to “cosmically large”. Large sizes give guitars, strings and pads a long, soft tail; small sizes can give voices and drums an unusual texture.

Gravity, which reverses the tail

Gravity sets how the tail behaves. Turned to the right it gives an ordinary decay; turned to the left the tail swells as if played backwards. One knob moves you between a normal reverb and a special effect. Raising Feedback lets you build a reverb that never dies away.

Ribbon and Hotswitch move several knobs at once

Ribbon changes several preset knobs together as you move a single bar. Hotswitch jumps instantly to another stored setting. Both make it easy to automate a dramatic change of space partway through a song.

Video: “Eventide Blackhole Hollywood’s Secret Weapon for Reverb” (official Eventide Audio YouTube channel; narration in English) Watch on YouTube

Where it is useful

• Adding a long, spreading background wash to a guitar or synth pad
• Using Freeze to hold the reverb at a transition or the end of a song
• Setting a small Size to give vocals or drums an unusual texture

Rating by criterion

Vocal-friendly sounds: 1 / 5

We check whether it has the reverb types vocalists use most (plate, hall and room).

It is a special-effect reverb that creates enormous spaces. The manufacturer says that with a small Size you can also add a sparkle to a voice.

Easy to blend: 3 / 5

We check whether you can adjust the reverb so it does not get in the way of the voice and sits well with the backing track.

It has pre-delay of up to 2,000 ms (it can sync to tempo) and Low and High filters for the amount of low and high frequencies in the tail.

Speed: 2 / 5

We check whether it has features that get you to the sound you want quickly, such as automatic settings or controls that work by feel, like distance.

You can start from more than 50 presets (ready-made settings). The reverb itself is built by adjusting knobs one at a time, which is a standard way of working.

How we score (Reverb plug-ins)

Criterion	Basis	5 pt	4 pt	3 pt	2 pt	1 pt
Vocal-friendly sounds	Whether it offers the reverb types vocalists rely on (plate, hall and room)	Three or more standard sounds to choose from, including plate	Two or more including plate, or several plate models	Two or more standard sounds other than plate	One standard sound	Mainly special-effect sounds
Easy to blend	Controls for blending the reverb into a mix and a voice	Ducking, per-band decay time and reverb EQ are all included	Two of those, or a feature that adjusts automatically to the sound	One or two controls such as pre-delay or EQ	—	Not mentioned on the official page
Speed	How quickly you can reach the sound you want	AI builds the reverb automatically to suit the sound	Easy-to-understand controls, such as distance	Just pick a mode	Standard controls	—

Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5 on how well the product serves one goal: adding a natural sense of space to a vocal and blending it into the backing track. Scores follow the conditions in the table above, and the rank is based on an average in which "Vocal-friendly sounds" counts double. The basis is official manufacturer information. Sound quality and CPU load are not measured, so they are not scored; reviews from trade magazines are introduced in the articles for reference. Price is not part of the score. Features that cannot be confirmed from the manufacturer's or a retailer's description are scored as if absent. The "OBS (streaming)" column in the table shows whether the official page lists the VST2 format that the streaming software OBS Studio can use (○). OBS does not support the VST3 format. It is not part of the score.

Trade-magazine review (for reference, not part of the score)

We summarized the main points from a review in an overseas music-production magazine.

Sound On Sound (September 2012)

• Praised its ability to create a wide range of unusual effects
• Pointed out that it is not for people who expect realistic rooms or plates
• Concluded that it should be thought of as a special-effects tool rather than an ordinary studio reverb

Source: Sound On Sound review

Blackhole system requirements and getting started

Operating system	Windows 10 or later / Mac (macOS 10.14 or later; an iOS version also exists)
Plug-in formats	Windows: VST2, VST3, AAX / Mac: AU, VST2, VST3, AAX
Other	An iLok account is required (no USB key needed)
Trial	14-day trial available
OBS (streaming)	Works as it is (VST2 is listed)

Checked on the manufacturer’s official pages on September 27, 2026.

Compared with other reverb plug-ins

Click a heading to sort. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.

Deals

For the current Plugin Boutique price and offer, see our Blackhole sale article.

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