what does a sonic maximizer do?

[daviddwillson]

Originally Posted by separanets

What I found in the clips I provided above was that I can do all that tricks with my para EQ. They call the BBE like a lazy EQ.

i could hear a difference in the vids....

all the naysayers..... please tell me your thoughts on the vids. because so far it sounds great to me.

[Rezrover]

Buy one and try it.

[ijams]

I use it and not over use it,if trying too achive a good tone and now it doesnt sound like before,could your perception be changing or what has caused a back track of now i hate it in the worst way!
It works wonders in my 212 combo!
I have a quad of el34 with huge mids,now a little more bottom,like 6l6gc tubes and add a little highs also like a 6l6gc tube and a fuller range guitar shows up,glad its mine!
Just dont over adjust the thinky and its has a bit bigger dynamics !
If your mids seem to disappear your over doing it !
Your mids are there youve just overwhelmed them with too much bass contour and smothered them to death!
I think the quest for tone itself is a addiction,fortunately this pedal version was only $50.00 used !
So invain ive ordered a overpowered eminence tonker spkr for a hopeful enhancement, which of course sucks as bad as it can get right!
And so the search goes on,the gilbert airplane flanger was my biggest dissapointment so far!
I worry about metal players,more gain the better,gotta luv unpotted pups huh.
The metal players just jones all the time,try a ruby 12ax7 hg ac-5 these are sweet n gainy! youll feel better soon!

[MattMayfield]

But what does it ACTUALLY DO? What is its frequency response, phase response under various conditions? Does it have a linear amplitude response? What is its transfer function?

Is it a dynamic equalizer, or a multiband compressor? Does it use comb filtering or high & low shelf filters? What's the deal?

[Cornholio Farquarth III]

My main concern with such a device is the introduction of brittleness. Most people are not aware that over time component tolerances may shift, resulting in very slight shifts in phase references and equalization creep. Over a period of time, as these tolerances continue to shift, there will be a convergence of phase shift within certain frequency ranges. When this occurs, it will no doubt introduce a distinct brittleness.

[Mr.Grumpy]

Originally Posted by MattMayfield

But what does it ACTUALLY DO? What is its frequency response, phase response under various conditions? Does it have a linear amplitude response? What is its transfer function?

Is it a dynamic equalizer, or a multiband compressor? Does it use comb filtering or high & low shelf filters? What's the deal?

I found a schematic for this device on the "forbidden forum"...I hate to be a tease, but I know we're are not allowed to post links from that forum here.

It is a "state variable filter"or psuedo state-variable filter, whatever those are. It basically boosts the treble, the amount of boost is dynamically adjusted depending on the amount on midrange energy present in the signal. There's an input buffer, one tap off of that is sent to a level detector, the other taps split the signal into low, mid and high bands. The gain on the high band is controlled by the overall level of the input signal. The "process" level is the treble, and the "lo contour" is the bass level, all three signals are then mixed in a summing amplifier and sent to the output.

I was a little surprised how simple the circuit is; it's completely analog and can be implemented with six op-amps.

[Rhone]

Originally Posted by Cornholio Farquarth III

My main concern with such a device is the introduction of brittleness. Most people are not aware that over time component tolerances may shift, resulting in very slight shifts in phase references and equalization creep. Over a period of time, as these tolerances continue to shift, there will be a convergence of phase shift within certain frequency ranges. When this occurs, it will no doubt introduce a distinct brittleness.

This is something that I have also witnessed. In real time.
My solution was to run them in tandem. I slightly stagger the outputs.

[laketahoe96]

the only thing that I would like to add to this topic is that in addition to EQ it appears as though EVERY studio that I have ever been in has one of these patched in What is that all about?

[AJ6stringsting]

I don't know why people are knocking Sonic Maximizers in guitars rigs, I love the sound enhancements they give my sound. With my set up, I can use clean guitar tones, low, high and ultra high gain and my BBE's make my live sound as immaculate as in the studio.

After my signal goes thru my effects board, it goes into rack with a noise reduction unit, a BBE, a 31 band EQ, a parametric EQ, another noise reduction unit, another BBE Sonic Maximizer and then into my amps heads.

I get compliments on my sound and I am satisfied.

 

[WRGKMC]

Hum..,. If you have to use all that rack gear and EQing just to clean up your signal I suspect you have some major flaws earlier in your chain

[AJ6stringsting]

Not at all.

 

[cgibsong002]

I also used one in a band situation and thought it was incredibly useful. I used it with a Marshall 3203, which has only a single 'Tone' knob on the gain channel. So this was a simple and very effective way to shape my sound (I'm sure a 6 band would've done just as well). And no, it didn't muddy things up.. quite the opposite, I used it to help me cut through. Just roll down the bass, obviously.

[p19978]

If you know what you're doing, they're a nice tool.

 

Moderation is the key.

[*BLEEP*]

 

The principle function of the BBE Sonic Maximiser circuit is to basically phase align (or realign) audio frequency bands in relation to the other frequency bands.

 

 

[Etienne Rambert]

I used to own one and I am thinking of buying another.I don't know if I want stomp-box or rack-mount though.

[bostjan]

I apologize for being the new member to continue the zombie thread from years ago, but I couldn't stop myself from chiming in after seeing that there were more recent responses, and that the "factoids" stated about the thing continue:

 

First and foremost, this claim over and over about putting different frequency signals in phase with each other is nonsensical. Phase is a position in a cycle. "In phase" means that two periodic functions, at a given time, match. If two different periodic functions have different frequencies, the positions in their cycles will only match once in time, regardless of what you do to them or don't do to them, short of shifting the actual frequency of one wave to match the other. For example, if I eat three times a day, eight hours apart, and you eat three times a day, eight hours apart, our meals are in phase with each other if we eat at the same time. If I change my habits such that I eat meals every eight and a half hours, and you continue to eat every eight hours, we cannot always eat at the same time, right?

 

Anyway, looking at the circuitry of the sonic maximizer, it does not seem as though there is anything inside of it that would have any adjustable or deliberate effect on phase.

 

The circuit is essentially a novel way to make a 3-band EQ. I really think that where ever a 3 band EQ can be used, you can substitute a sonic maximizer instead. It behaves differently than a standard EQ, and also lacks a standard mid level adjustment, but one could argue that the overall difference is subtle.

 

I had not realized there was so much hate for the device. Perhaps because there is misinformation abounding about what to expect from it. It's a nifty gadget for a PA system, and it can be used effectively in an effects loop for guitar or bass. I've honestly never tried one on drums, but, having a good base understanding of what it is and how it works, I have a pretty high level of confidence that it won't do anything more or less for drums than what it does in general.

 

TL;DR - The sonic maximizer is a basically your "high," and "low" amplifier knobs with a twist. Whether the twist is significant or not seems to be debate-able, but the device does not perform black magic on your sound (although it might add a touch of snake oil).

[1001gear]

The phase manipulation side of the process is described as a linear phase shift across the whole audio spectrum corresponding to a delay of under 2ms. This is intended to prevent the high frequency detail from being smeared by the low frequency components of the sound and increases definition without boosting level.

 

This is what has been sold since day one. Maybe you can work for BBE as a consultant.

Here's the rest of the article:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1994_articles/feb94/bbesonicmaximiser.html

 

 

I apologize for being the new member to continue the zombie thread from years ago, but I couldn't stop myself from chiming in after seeing that there were more recent responses, and that the "factoids" stated about the thing continue:

 

First and foremost, this claim over and over about putting different frequency signals in phase with each other is nonsensical. Phase is a position in a cycle. "In phase" means that two periodic functions, at a given time, match. If two different periodic functions have different frequencies, the positions in their cycles will only match once in time, regardless of what you do to them or don't do to them, short of shifting the actual frequency of one wave to match the other. For example, if I eat three times a day, eight hours apart, and you eat three times a day, eight hours apart, our meals are in phase with each other if we eat at the same time. If I change my habits such that I eat meals every eight and a half hours, and you continue to eat every eight hours, we cannot always eat at the same time, right?

 

Anyway, looking at the circuitry of the sonic maximizer, it does not seem as though there is anything inside of it that would have any adjustable or deliberate effect on phase.

 

The circuit is essentially a novel way to make a 3-band EQ. I really think that where ever a 3 band EQ can be used, you can substitute a sonic maximizer instead. It behaves differently than a standard EQ, and also lacks a standard mid level adjustment, but one could argue that the overall difference is subtle.

 

I had not realized there was so much hate for the device. Perhaps because there is misinformation abounding about what to expect from it. It's a nifty gadget for a PA system, and it can be used effectively in an effects loop for guitar or bass. I've honestly never tried one on drums, but, having a good base understanding of what it is and how it works, I have a pretty high level of confidence that it won't do anything more or less for drums than what it does in general.

 

TL;DR - The sonic maximizer is a basically your "high," and "low" amplifier knobs with a twist. Whether the twist is significant or not seems to be debate-able, but the device does not perform black magic on your sound (although it might add a touch of snake oil).

 

 

[AJ6stringsting]

[url=http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/core/http://www.bbesound.com/technologies/BBE%5FHDS/]http://www.bbesound.com/technologies/BBE%5FHDS/

 

 

 

in reality, the 'phase realignment' of frequencies isnt really noticible. all you're really hearing is the bass boost and presence enhancement. the result being that you loose all the midrange from your sound. unfortunatly this is where most of the guitar sound is.

 

bit of a waste on guitar (imo) though lots of people do use them and used very sparingly they can help to brighten a dull amp or add some low end clout.

 

they do sound good for adding a bit of polish to final mixes though. again, moderation been the key.

 

I put my digital parametric EQ after my BBE sonic maximizer, location/ placement of the sonic maximizer is the key.

That way if I need a Thrash ( scooped mids ) my patch in the digital parametric EQ will give me that sound. If I need a Classic Rock / Hard Rock 60's, 70's, 80's Metal / Neo Classical or Blues sound .... the parametric EQ will fill in the missing mids need for the genre of music I am playing.

I love my sonic maximizer. 😃

[WRGKMC]

You have to have a good understanding of electronics and music to understand what the unit does for music.

 

A system which corrects for adverse characteristics such as reactance, inertia and resonances of a power amplifier driven load such as a speaker or multiple speaker system. Program voltage is applied to a reference load which has electrical characteristics that simulate characteristics of the driven load, and the response of the reference load to the program is used to develop a correction voltage signal for the driven load. The program and the correction voltage signal are simultaneously applied to the power amplifier to simultaneously reproduce the program and correct for the adverse characteristics of the load.

 

Most sounds that are produced by musical instruments have a sharp attack that is characterized by a sharply rising initial transient wave front in each fundamental frequency cycle, this initial transient containing most of the high frequency harmonic content of the sound. It has been found that for the human ear to hear the entire spectrum of such sounds, it must receive these initial high frequency harmonic sounds first, followed then by the midrange and low end frequencies. However, the additive or cumulative effects of speaker inductive reactance and inertia in current state-of-the-art amplifier/speaker systems cause the rise time to be so slow and the phase lag to be so large at higher frequencies that the sharply rising wave fronts or initial transients which contain most of the high frequency harmonics become masked to a large extent by the lower, heavier frequencies. Such masking of the high frequency harmonics is commonly referred to as "transient distortion", and causes the acoustic output of the system to sound "artificial" or "recorded", instead of sounding completely "live" or "natural" as when the ear properly receives the sharply rising initial transient wave front in its proper order ahead of the lower frequencies.

 

Another object of the invention is to provide an amplifier load correction system which is capable of so completely overcoming the usual phase lagging characteristics of a speaker which increase from the nominal or rated 400 Hz frequency all of the way out to 20 KHz caused by both inductive reactance and inertia, that for the first time in the art the speaker load current phase can be held substantially completely "in phase", and even slightly leading in phase, from 400 Hz all of the way out to 20 KHz, while simultaneously the rise time can be kept below about 10 microseconds in all forms of the invention

 

 

In summary, BBE will delay lower frequencies so the high frequency transients hit your ears first and your non-time-aligned system will sound "better", (though still not time aligned). It does all of this using simple negative feedback loops using caps and coils to delay the lower frequencies and allow the higher frequencies through without the lower frequency transients masking them. This phase alignment is not very large. I doubt it would be more then a millisecond but its enough to help overcome natural issues involving reactance and reluctance which develop in simple passive crossovers used to separate driver frequencies.

[1001gear]

I have one of the original two channel units. I used it on a Yamaha synth rack. Stuff works. Made dull 4 operator FM sparkle.

[AJ6stringsting]

PROTIP: Don't buy the $79 sonic maximizer pedal.

A guy I know has one of the expensive' date=' rackmount ones. Try one of these, and run it into your effects loop. It sounds amazing.

Also it is meant for us thrash metal people - I screwed with the abovementioned sonic maximizer for about thirty seconds and got a totally insane tone. I was using a metal zone, and it basically stuck all the bass back in the metal zone had sucked out.

Of course, then I was so happy it didn't sound like trebley crap that I cranked the gain way too high and had to rerecord it later.[/quote']If you add a buffer , as the first thing your guitar signal into ( lowers the impedance from high to low ) * and another buffer going from the Multi Effects / Analog Pedals , that way you can restore dynamics / impedance issues that pop on your pedalboard.* Great on all passive pickups, but could make EMG pickups sound anemic / too thin.I replaced my EMG 81 / 85 set on 1971 Gibson Flying V, with some Schaller active pickups and the sound has passive pickup dynamics now ..... And the Sonic Maximizer will give you studio quality , live on a stage.