BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer for live sound?

[Jazz+]

Anybody here recommend using a BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer to improve the clarity of a live rig? Claims are that when used it makes speakers sound like a towell was removed from them.

 

I am running my digital piano, a jazz guitar, vocals and keyboard bass thru my nice sounding PA:

 

EV Sxa360 active 2-way 12"-2" speakers

Mackie 1202 VLZ mixer

 

[Jazz+]

.

[rasp]

I think it might do the trick. BBE sonic does wonders and those claims are 100% true. I tried it and i want it:thu:

[orangefunk]

I've used a BBE with a rhodes 73 and it certainly brightened up the sound.. and not in the bright harsh way an eq does... I think its worth investigating..

[wades_keys]

 

I've used a BBE with a rhodes 73 and it certainly brightened up the sound.. and not in the bright harsh way an eq does... I think its worth investigating..

 

 

Do you remember which model you tried?

 

Jazz+, you may want to look into the 482I - it's got better specs than the 362:

 

BBE 362:

Frequency Response:

Process Mode: Program Controlled

Bypass Mode: 5Hz-30kHz

Signal to Noise Ratio: 108dB process in/120dB process out

Total Harmonic Distortion in Process Mode: Less than 0.1% at 1KHz

 

Input Impedance: 47K Ohms

Nominal Input level: -10dBu

Minimum Load Impedance for Full Output Level: 1K Ohms

Nominal Output Level: -10dBu

Maximum Output Level: +16dBu

 

 

BBE 482I:

 

Frequency Response:

Process Mode: Program controlled

Bypass Mode: 10Hz to 50kHz, +/- 0.5dBu, 10dBu input

Signal to Noise Ratio: 112dB Process IN

THD, Process mode: less than 0.025% at 20-20kHz

Bypass mode: less than 0.002% at 20-20kHz

Maximum Output: +18dBu (may vary due to control settings)

Input Impedance: 47K Ohms, unbalanced 1/4" phone jack or RCA jack.

Output Impedance: 1K Ohms, unbalanced 1/4" phone jack or RCA jack.

Sensitivity: -45dBu for maximum process

Maximum Process: +12dBu boost at 5kHz, -10dBu input

Lo Contour: +12dBu adjustment at 50Hz, -10dBu input

[orangefunk]

Yes it was part of the Harmonic Clarifier preamp...

 

[Darkstorm]

It can improve the sound of most sound systems.

[wades_keys]

Given that the 482I model is significantly more costly - is the price diff justified?

 

It would seem the 482I is more suited for keys:

better s/n ratio

hard wire bypass

significantly better high freq response (but curiously less low freq response)

stereo (2 maximizer circuits in the box)

 

I'm gass'n a little for one of these bad boys now d**n it.

[Jazz+]

Thanks everybody.

 

I don't know, the folks on the Live Sound Fourm all seem to dislike it:

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1455216

[Mintbeetle]

I read that in the 80s there was a similar product called the Aphex Aural Exciter. It got really popular, to the point where producers were running entire mixes through the effect, even though they were using high fidelity recording equipment. Overuse gives harsh treble and generally wears on the ears after extended listening. To draw an analogy for graphics folk out there-- it's like increasing the image contrast. At first it "pops out" and looks great, but if you make the image too contrasty you lose information, and it becomes tiring to look at. Use sparingly.

 

However I have no personal experience with this effect. Using it on a rhodes or piano sounds a lot more reasonable than an entire mix.

[StompBoxLover]

 

Originally posted by Mintbeetle However I have no personal experience with this effect. Using it on a rhodes or piano sounds a lot more reasonable than an entire mix.

 

 

you nailed it perfectly, tho.

 

its easily overdone, so the compression guidelines apply:

 

as much as needed, as little as possible.

[Meatball Fulton]

The lousier the sound system/signal chain the more BBE can do for you. It really is an audio bandaid.

[XorAxAx]

I used a 482 in a guitar rig a few years back, and it just seemed like a glorified bass and treble tone control.

 

I know their marketing buzz about restructuring the sound so that all frequencies arrive at the ear at the same time, but that sounds like the kind of baloney you would find on a Monster Cable package. And *IF* the problem that the BBE tries to solve truly existed (i.e. speed of sound being different for different frequencies), then a device like the BBE would have to have thousands of parameters to do anything useful. Speaker layout, room geometry, wall reflectivity, listener position, etc. You couldn't do it with just two knobs. So on several levels I'm gonna call shennanigans on the BBE.

 

I mean, you see "BBE Sound" now integrated into various large TVs at Circuit City. Shouldn't that tell any truly aware consumer that it's snake oil?

[poumtschak]

For what it's worth, I'm using a BBE 362NR - the Noise Reduction equiped model - since 8 years at home, with Genelec 1029A monitors + 1091A sub. It does wonders, and there's absolutely no doubt every music sound much crisper and clear with it, provided you use moderate settings (LO CONTOUR knob at 1 hour, PROCESS at 10). It's been on ever since.

 

On the other hand, I can't use it with the pair Mackie HR824 I recently purchased: sound is way too harsh for my taste with these monitors, so there no quality gain at all.

 

Hope this helps.

[Karma1]

I recently did sound for my friends band and we experimented with putting a BBE 363 Sonic Maximizer on the main outs. It sounded great and everybody was very pleased with the difference it made. I know a lot of people have negative comments on the BBE, but my experience has been very positive, both for live and studio recording. I also have the 862 model with balanced XLR connections that I use in my studio.

[Jazz+]

Were they using high end speakers?

[Mr. Botch]

When we're running sound ourselves we have the dbx version of this box in our chain, and it works pretty well. It's something you have to set for each room, though.

When Danny M is running sound for us, he does not use anything like that, BUT he has a college degree in sound reinforcement, and our band always sounds much better (you can hear every flub in stunning clarity!) when he's running the sound.