Hardware Reverb vs. Software Rerverb

Has any one done listening tests a/b'ing the various plug-ins against their hardware counterparts. What are the results?

You know, I have to say I'm surprised that with the exponential increases in DSP power combined with the shrinking size of DSP chips since the introduction of the 480L, that reverb plugins aren't able to beat the 480. Surely the power available on a Mix Farm or Process card is enough to run circles around the DSP cards in those 10 year old boxes. So why can't the reverb plugins beat it?

The 960L is an amazing product, but man... the ReverbOne plugin (which typically comes free with an HD3 system) is pretty dang close...I love the Lexicon but for way less money and a lot more convenience, the gap isn't as big as some might think. In fact, it's not big at all anymore on ProTools. This is coming from a guy that sells such hardware and the software comes FREE so you know it aint BS :-)

Hardware blows away plugins in the reverb department. My Lexicon 300 blows away Lexiverb. And nothing touches the EMT 250. When you solo it, it can fool you, but in the track there is no comparison.

Altiverb is not a TDM plug-in, and doesn't use the DSP on TDM cards, so it doesn't face the same limitations that TDM reverb plug-ins face. Altiverb is a sampling reverb. If you like a particular hardware reverb algorithm, you can do an impulse response and sample it. I've only had Altiverb for about two months and haven't explored all it can do, but it's an incredible tool, especially for simulating lush, real spaces. Lee Blaske