Big Ben First Impression.

[Jalabodu]

Hi all!

Well, I got my Big Ben courtesy of the Brown guy today. WOOOOOOOOHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

To start, here's my setup:

Custom built WinXP PC hotrod.
PT LE Digi 001
Waves Platinum
Apogee Trak2
Apogee Big Ben thumbsup
Avalon 737SP
Blue Kiwi
Rode NT2's (2)
AKG 451's (2)
SM57s (4)
Mackie HR 824's
Mackie 1604VLZ board
Keyboards (Yamaha Motif, Oberheim Xpander, DX7II)
Guitars (96 Strat Ultra, '70 Les Paul Custom, ESP Custom Shop, Washburn EA-36 Acoustic, Spector and Ibanez basses)
Johnson Millennium JM-150
A kewl drummers setup with a very nice DW kit, AKG and Sennheiser mics, and a Rosetta 800 (at my drummers house)
12 pack Coors Light.

I'm in the middle of an album project I'm co-writing with one of my girls (I seem to collect them y'know ). We've been temp tracking the writing on the 001. Sometimes I get excited and produce some of it and end up with a decent demo. So I've got a few copies of the same song done with different combinations of my setup as I've purchased gear. (i.e. 001 only, 001 with Rosetta, 001 with Trak2/Rosetta, 001 with Rosetta, Big Ben).

Now for the Big Ben stuff!

After just hooking it up and playing previously recorded tracks:
Here's my analogy:
If you had a kiddy football game on a smaller field (say 50 yards long), and then superimposed it onto a normal field and let the game continue on the smaller field. The rest of the field is still there, it's just no ones playing on it.

This is kind of how BB sounds. There's an instant impression of a larger space, however, the previously recorded tracks can't seem to go there.

As far as frequency response goes though, it's as if the field is a hundred yards wide! The lows are IMMENSELY improved. I found myself saying "that kick sounds like crap!". But found myself able to fix it quickly. The mix was easier to separate. EQ plug-ins were more effective.

After adding a few re-tracked tracks with Big Ben:
The bass thinned to where it's supposed to be (low end response has been a chronic problem for me), and the space between the speakers became way more obvious.

I'll post some copies in a month or so that show the difference (my singer will kill me! I can hear it now, "you put my raw tracks where?!?!?!?!!!!!!!)

I just thought enquiring minds might want to know.

[diaspora]

i, for one, would love to hear the difference big ben makes...would be great if you manage to find the time to share some more of your discovery!

[conguero]

It has made one hell of a difference in my set up and now I refuse to track without it. BTW my set up is DP4 with motu HD 192 and 2408 mk3 and a Lucid AD 24/96 all clocked with the big ben. My main pre's are a dual telefunken v672, a dual trident s20 and an avalon 737.
thumbsup

[vnt001]

Gotta be honest here...although I am an Apogee fan....the Big Ben did not make much of a difference clocking my AD8000SE. Really was a bit disappointed to the point where I sent it back.

[Revelation]

If you hear a big difference with the Big Ben, you must have had a poor consumer clock before. Clocks do not improve your sound, just make things tighter. So if you had a poor clock like on a DM 24 mixer compared to the Ben, you will hear a sharper sound.

[Peter Gruden]

I could not detect much difference between clocking Apogee AD16/DA16 from BigBen compared to clock from AD16.

But then again I bought BB because I needed varispeed recording, and to simplify clocking in the audio system.

Peter Gruden

[Mastering101]

maybe i should'nt get the big ben to run with my rosetta 800?

might not be worth it

[Bowisc]

Originally posted by effectsnut
maybe i should'nt get the big ben to run with my rosetta 800?

might not be worth it

I have the R800 as well and almost took the plunge for the Big Ben, but I'll wait.

[jpcourt]

I also have the R800 and it my opinion the Big Ben made a noticeable difference in the R800 as well as well as everything else digital in my studio. I don’t think it would make as big a difference with the new AD16X and DA16X because these units use the same C777 clock as Big Ben does.

[zimv20]

fwiw -- i talked w/ an apogee engineer. his opinion was that the sound of the 800 + the big ben was very close to that of the 16x series.

my 800 just arrived, will be hooking it up soon. i'll probably get the BB early next year, so i'll have my own opinion by then.

[dhughes]

BB makes an enormous difference on the lower end units. I run MOTU HD896, Mini-Me, and a Behringer ADA8000. The Behr is actually quite usable with BB clocking it.

[Mastering101]

one says yes... one says no

[stedel]

Got mine yesterday connecting it today up to my digital stuff.
First impressions?
I'm really glad Apogee stuck with the purple colour scheme. I've always though purple sound better.

[Mastering101]

Originally posted by stedel
always though purple sound better.

? i alway though they dod taa

[logichead]

Originally posted by zimv20
fwiw -- i talked w/ an apogee engineer. his opinion was that the sound of the 800 + the big ben was very close to that of the 16x series.

This was my experience also (I have Rosetta 800's w/ BB). There is an advantage to this setup over the 16x's (w/no BB) - vso!

Best....H

[stedel]

Originally posted by effectsnut
? i alway though they dod taa

Oops.

"t"

There that's better.