Members jfender Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 Does anyone know if the BBE Sonic Maximizer (and, which model) will really help my recordings with the Yamaha AW 2816 that I use for recording? Thanks! jfender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 Sonic maximizers don't. Whenever I am guest soundman and there is one in the rack, I put it in bypass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 Sonic maximizers don't. Whenever I am guest soundman and there is one in the rack, I put it in bypass. I find that putting it under the wheel of the truck works equally well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 I find that putting it under the wheel of the truck works equally well If they don't do anything positive (or in fact detract from the overall sound), why do so many people keep buying those things? (Not questioning your opinion here... just strictly wondering...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 For the same reason that (some) women get boob jobs ... it appears on the surface to be an impressive quick fix, eye candy. There may be certain instances where the boob job may be very helpfully applied by a skilled surgeon to reconstruct something that is otherwise pretty sad or maybe tragic, but applying the same technique universally results in an artificial overall look. Yeah it may look impressive but looks don't change what lies underneath. How many times have you seen something that just reeks of artificial? Makes you wonder about what it's trying to cover up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 For the same reason that (some) women get boob jobs ... it appears on the surface to be an impressive quick fix, eye candy. There may be certain instances where the boob job may be very helpfully applied by a skilled surgeon to reconstruct something that is otherwise pretty sad or maybe tragic, but applying the same technique universally results in an artificial overall look. Yeah it may look impressive but looks don't change what lies underneath. How many times have you seen something that just reeks of artificial? Makes you wonder about what it's trying to cover up. Ah i c... thanks for the clarification... Nice analogy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarharv52 Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Andy,I wonder if you had used some form of boob analogy on other threads you could have gotten through and made them understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Maybe so, maybe not. I'm not sure it would have made a difference to our special golden-eared friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarharv52 Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GZsound Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 If they don't do anything positive (or in fact detract from the overall sound), why do so many people keep buying those things? (Not questioning your opinion here... just strictly wondering...) They are really just a simple EQ and in some cases they work pretty well.. not in live sound, but in the studio. I think the appeal is the fact that they appear to be a simple two knob fix. Anyone with even basic knowledge of EQ is better served using a quality EQ instead of a BBE. I use my BBE and my Aphex unit as effects units in the studio....occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OMNIFEX Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 I find that putting it under the wheel of the truck works equally well Nah. You're better off just using the pretty blinking lights for decoration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 If they don't do anything positive (or in fact detract from the overall sound)' date=' why do so many people keep buying those things? QUOTE'] I guess a lot of people think they improve their sound. I use them all the time. Not everyone on this forum thinks they are bad. It depends on how you use them. There is one real problem with the BBE units. They have VERY little headroom and are very easy to clip. I often wonder if that's way lots of people don't like them. You have to be careful how you set up the gain when using all but the most expensive series. ps ... what's wrong with boob jobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 They are really just a simple EQ No, they are NOT a simple eq, nothing remotely similar in fact. Depending on the patent they are manufactured under, the basic concept is that they take the low frequency portion of the signal, intentionally clip (or distort) it, filter (and/or manipulate) the clipped signal, then add it back into the original signal along with whatever additional signal processing the designer chooses in their implimentation. Some implimentations are more useable than others, as Don says, but they are an effect that is used to CHANGE the signal and add something that was not in the original signal. Their best application (in general) is for guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ear Abuser Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 According to the website they try to correct for phase problems and add some EQ to the highs and lows. It seems I read somewhere that they try to correct for the fact that full range passive crossover type boxes usually have a phase offset due to the compression driver and woofer generally being located in different planes. Biamped speakers processors can do this fairly easily. I believe they split the spectrum, delay the lows and then recombine them. Perhaps when the preset dividing frequency and delay are good match for the speaker, it makes an improvement, but where they dont match well, it's marginal, or worse.I have a hard time believeing that it makes everything in the whole world sound better, like they claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ear Abuser Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 the basic concept is that they take the low frequency portion of the signal, intentionally clip (or distort) it, filter (and/or manipulate) the clipped signal, then add it back into the original signal along with whatever additional signal processing the designer chooses in their implimentation This sounds like the Aphex approach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GZsound Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 No, they are NOT a simple eq, nothing remotely similar in fact.Depending on the patent they are manufactured under, the basic concept is that they take the low frequency portion of the signal, intentionally clip (or distort) it, filter (and/or manipulate) the clipped signal, then add it back into the original signal along with whatever additional signal processing the designer chooses in their implimentation. Some implimentations are more useable than others, as Don says, but they are an effect that is used to CHANGE the signal and add something that was not in the original signal. Their best application (in general) is for guitars. Well.... maybe the word "simple" is not appropriate, but the BBE unit is quite different from the Aphex units and acts a lot like an EQ. The Aphex units actually add harmonics, but the BBE unit is mostly a fancy EQ. I have spent a rather large amount of time analyzing the audio before and after applying BBE (and Aphex) to it, the increase in high frequency energy added by the BBE unit is very similar to what an EQ does. Keeping the output level under control is the only real fix for the BBE and that causes a loss of energy in the mid range to avoid clipping. It is easy to clip a file using the BBE unit and the increase in high frequecy content is obvious with DAW analysis. The Aphex units, on the other hand, don't add nearly the high or low frequency energy that a BBE unit does even though they add harmonic content. I am actually surprised that BBE has become more popular then the Aphex Aural Exicter which is a much better unit in my opinion..since I have both. I have found the best application for either unit to be keyboards, but they also come in handy for adding clarity to old remastered vinyl, reel to reel, or cassette recordings. I wouldn't use either unit in my live sound rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted March 20, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted March 20, 2007 According to the website they try to correct for phase problems and add some EQ to the highs and lows. It seems I read somewhere that they try to correct for the fact that full range passive crossover type boxes usually have a phase offset due to the compression driver and woofer generally being located in different planes. Biamped speakers processors can do this fairly easily. I believe they split the spectrum, delay the lows and then recombine them. Perhaps when the preset dividing frequency and delay are good match for the speaker, it makes an improvement, but where they dont match well, it's marginal, or worse.I have a hard time believeing that it makes everything in the whole world sound better, like they claim. One really must wonder how a device can "correct for phase problems" that may or may not exist depending on the actual speakers used. Basically phase correction is bull{censored} here...they merely alter the phase relationship because it 'changes' the sound you hear, and hopefully between that and the 'enhanced' bass response, you'll think all sorts of miracles have occurred, your skin has cleared up, hit Lotto, etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 Any filtering that is done as part of the "enhancement process" will produce phase shift through the break point and will exhibit phase shift/polarity inversion about an octave out of band. Some marketing folks have made this a feature. The BBE units are not simple eq's. There's quite a bit more going on, but there is some eq as part of their "magic". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 One really must wonder how a device can "correct for phase problems" I guess it depends on how you define "correct for"? If you trade something you don't like for something you do like ... have you "corrected for" it? There's lots of gear that works like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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