To your curisoity on my approach: I do quite a bit of context-dependent post-processing on spatialized signals during both the mixing and mastering stages. Off the top of my head:
- Shaping/cleaning transients on percussive elements so they cut through the mix better
- Bringing air back to vocals (usually a high shelf somewhere around the 10k range)
- Just...so much low end processing. I'm always messing with things <150 hz
All of this will in some way ruin the illusion, but it often leads to a mix I enjoy listening to more. I tend to sacrifice realism for a more modern sound, which is probably why both Fox and I find some of the frequency shaping a little annoying.
Your process is probably closer to a more pure, realistic sound. I'd be interested to hear why you have a preference for NeoVerb over, let's say a traditional convolution verb sometime.
If I missed addressing something in this thread, Hit me up on Discord and I'll be happy to chat about this topic anytime,