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Opinions/Experience Puhlease! Is the BBE Sonic Maximizer worth the $70 AMS POA


GAS Man

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POA being "Price of Admission" since I ran out of character space

 

p31141.jpg

 

$69.95 include A/C power adapter.

 

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-BBE-SS

 

I see this is apparently an older version compared to the one AMS is carrying for another $30, but I'm doubting much has been changed. :idk:

 

Thoughts?

 

Some of the YT vids looks pretty promising.

This vid takes just a bit of patience but at 0:30 he starts to dial it in and then the first part is worthwhile for the clean signal reference.

[YOUTUBE]ymRKquiJjok[/YOUTUBE]

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I've used these pedals. On some amps they can really make a difference for the better. On some you don't need and shouldn't use them. I really liked it with my Crate Palomino V32 Head. Always use it in the F/X loop. I think it depends on your speakers also. they also work good for vocals in a PA F/X loop.

I see them used for $50 all the time, so $70 new is pretty good deal.

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Glad you grabbed one. This is one item where your ears really matter. Some folks think they're worthless while others would never leave home without them. At first I felt it was gimmicky and not doing much more than EQing might might accomplish but I found, as a previous poster mentioned that on some amps, it just makes the tone bloom. Try it in front of the Bugera V5. I think you'll see what I mean.

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Glad you grabbed one. This is one item where your ears really matter. Some folks think they're worthless while others would never leave home without them. At first I felt it was gimmicky and not doing much more than EQing might might accomplish but I found, as a previous poster mentioned that on some amps, it just makes the tone bloom. Try it in front of the Bugera V5. I think you'll see what I mean.

 

 

Thanks Frets.

 

I was thinking I'd definitely give it a whirl on some of my thicker amps first and that Bugera would be a good fit for that description. I'm also curious about what it will do for my Tech 21 Trademark 30, especially in its Tweed setting.

 

From what I was hearing on the YT clips, they seem to create more vibe within tonal spectrum causing almost like strand of frequencies to separate out of the overall tone and have a more distinct vibe.

 

I saw one review where a guy essentially thought at first that it was nothing more than a 2-band EQ but then he came back later with new praise for what he was later discerning in its tone. That seemed to represent both camps on this pedal.

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Had one on our old PA...I thought they added some nice "tweaks" to our system...especially for our vocals. I'd try one for $50...but even $69...that's just too much for me to try something that might or might not work better than my Boosta Grande...so I passed on that deal last night...:idk:

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fixed.



this units are great for recording or live sound for the pa but not for guitar.

 

 

No, actually, they suck for PA and make the sound harsh and fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time. They can be handy in recording though. Mark Knopfler's secret weapon in the studio for the Brothers in Arms tone was a similar device.

 

Most of the people I know who have bought one thought it was really cool for a short period of time and then put it on a shelf or ditched it.

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Thanks Frets.


I was thinking I'd definitely give it a whirl on some of my thicker amps first and that Bugera would be a good fit for that description. I'm also curious about what it will do for my Tech 21 Trademark 30, especially in its Tweed setting.


From what I was hearing on the YT clips, they seem to create more vibe within tonal spectrum causing almost like strand of frequencies to separate out of the overall tone and have a more distinct vibe.


I saw one review where a guy essentially thought at first that it was nothing more than a 2-band EQ but then he came back later with new praise for what he was later discerning in its tone. That seemed to represent both camps on this pedal.

 

There are indeed 2 camps, different amps' response to it is one explanation for why, but let me add another. I think some people try to use it as an "effect", I don't. BBE says that it is intended to correct phase errors caused at the speaker and I try to use it just to correct for that. :cool:

 

The upshot is, when I adjust it so that it is NOT adding any volume, OR significantly affecting tone (OK I do boost the treble, but very slightly) I hear better definition and attack. For a lot of people it may not matter, but I can believe that on a mix it could be a significant improvement. I'll be trying to record soon, and I'll let you know how it works for multitrack recordings (I'll probably only use it in the final mix).

 

I love mine!

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I went thru a phase a few years back of converting a lot of my old records onto CDs, after cleaning them up using Cool Edit Pro (before it was Audition)

& a variety of plugins to remove clicks & noise. The trick was "a little goes a long way" so as not to damage the sounds of the recording. Even with a light touch sometimes the cleaned up .wav files sounded a bit dull and/or lifeless.

Using the BBE Sonic Maximizer plugin usually bought back some sparkle & presence without making it sound processed.

Would like to try one of these someday.

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