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Originally Posted by DJ ALX  My question shouldve been stated better: Is this BBE sonic maximizer made for mastering or for mixing? |
To add to the excellent responses by Bob and Odeon, I'll add my own tuppence . . .
I think you've really answered the question yourself in proclaiming that you like it as a "texture" for this particular piece. As stated, this is the realm of the Producer and the Mixer. That "anything goes if it sounds great" mentality works in this context, i.e. if that crappy guitar pedal is what makes your snare shine, or gives the B3 that fat tone, then go for it.
Mastering is about maintaining and enhancing that aesthetic, not creating it, and doing so with a modicum of control. With that said, lets revisit the BBE for a moment. As I understand it, (I could be off on a few details) the process involves simply running a high pass and low pass filter in parallel, cornered at about 750Hz, essentially creating an all pass filter. Altering the Q of the low pass allows phase shaping/group delay of the bass. Then the high pass section creates an "air" band, (sloped filter) and adds distortion to that in some shaped way.
Now, that's all fine and good, but this all-in-one implementation is primitive and extremely difficult to control. In principal, you can accomplish the same kind of thing with Rupert Neve's "Masterpiece" hardware, for example, but in a
much more controllable way that is conducive to the mastering engineer's workflow where every step needs to be controlled.
I think Bob's suggestion about providing 2 versions is spot on. Then "communicate" with your ME what you're trying to achieve.