Uses for a BBE Sonic Maximizer...?

[junior]

a friend of mine is willing to give me a few things including his Sonic Maximizer 882. i'm unfamiliar with it... has anybody here used one of these things and is it any good? if so, how are you using it?

thanks in advance...

[Jules]

I know a producer that uses one to add HF to guitars (mostly metal)

[Thermionic]

if so, how are you using it

Mine made an adequate paper-weight until I got round to putting it on ebay.

Although it adds a certain "sheen" to percussion and guitars, there is something "artificial" about the way it sits against non-BBE-processed sounds that doesn't gel with the other elements in my experience.

Worse than that, they "suck" the low-mid out, meaning that processed elements can sound gutless when listened to loud as you need that "dirt" for them to have any girth at high SPLs.

IMHO, there is no "magic button free lunch" when it comes to adding gloss to a sound, you either use a decent EQ with thought behind the settings or not at all.

If you can get on with it that's cool, but IMHO BBEs suck better than a Dyson.

Justin

[thethrillfactor]

For toms.

[Tone for Days]

good for your pa and if your getting it free try it ona few things.I use it for guitar and it def helps depends on the amp ofcourse also.

[84K]

I use it before the input of a guitar amp if the tone is not full enough out of the amp. I like the 462 model. Thickens it up nicely when not overly abused.
Guitar=>BBE 462=>amp

[Sigma]

i hated the weird phasey hollow thing..so i switched to using dolby 361's on record input bussed and blended back in with org sound..err back in the analog days

[uncle duncan]

I use mine if I have to transfer old cassettes into the DAW. Used it on acoustic bass when I couldn't get it to sit in the mix. Some people use them for the bright nashville acoustic guitar sound, or on the drum buss if the drums aren't cutting. But it's definitely more of an affect - not something you'd use every day.

[amishsixstringe]

Bass guitars live and Sometimes recorded, but always before the amplifier. Not post amp. Sometimes metal guitars like the BBE on the way in. I hate it on drums and vocals, but it really isn't as horrible of a unit as people make it to be. They're really cheap and can do some cool things. Like most, I don't default to it for anything.


Neil

[patrox247]

The effects of the Sonic Maximizer are virtually inaudible in both recording and most live situations (unless your playing in a room that has highly reflective surfaces such as glass). This initially was such a marketing problem (because no one could hear it doing anything), that they simply added a super cheap EQ circuit to the piece and all of a sudden they started flying off the shelf (people thought that the added bass and treble were a result of the boxes phase correction). Various models have just been voiced in different manners. What you are hearing has nothing to do with the marketing jargon they give you. You are hearing the five dollar eq circuit.

From what I have heard from these boxes, they seem to have a knack for ruining any decent guitar tone that is run through them. I've never once thought to myself "You know what Stevie Ray Vaughn's tone was missing? A Sonic Maximizer".

[uncle duncan]

Originally Posted by patrox247

The effects of the Sonic Maximizer are virtually inaudible in both recording and most live situations.... What you are hearing has nothing to do with the marketing jargon they give you. You are hearing the five dollar eq circuit. ...

I got the original model 402 when they first came out - two knobs; 'bass', and 'process', and I could hear very well what it was doing. It tricks you into thinking stuff sounds better, when it's actually making stuff sound hyper-real, which is why I see it as more of a repair device than something one would use during recording. In fact, if you're using good recording technique, you shouldn't need it at all.

I suppose it could be helpful in a live situation, but it's also going to cause ear fatigue.

[Nu-tra]

I always thought it sped up the low freq soundwaves to match the high frew soundwaves without changing the pitch of the bottom.

[Unclenny]

I record my bass tracks through a BBE DI before the pre. I engage the SM section as I find that, used judiciously, it sounds good.

[Bob Ross]

I've used it on electric bass, 'cello, acoustic bass, drum buss, the mix buss (!), and acoustic steel string guitars...but every time I use it on something I think to myself "well, I guess I can't ever do that again." Definitely not a Use It Every Day box.

[Long_Shaded_Eye]

It's not only an Eq ... NO !
It definitly add something beyond the original sound, something that an eq does'nt or should not do.

But in many case I agree that I don't like what it had. Now I fell it's good for a bass that don't sit in the mix (as said before) or sometime on a dull voice or distorded guitar.

My 2 cents.
/Nick

[Empty Planet]

Just mulling over this little box this morning. eBay or keep it...eBay or keep it....

Yes the eq is cheap as hell, so I don't engage it. The "process" seems to sharpen up the transients in some way, it can bring out more detail in mics and various instruments, it can actually make your mics seems a bit more expensive than they are simply through the added clarity, but the advice is very well-given to use it in small amounts. In even moderate doses it can be fatiguing and unpleasant, so the light touch is recommended.

It's an interesting box, and theoretically it's a great tool to bring more detail to whatever you're recording, if that's a problem, but cranking that "process" knob you very quickly hit a point of diminishing returns and outright damage, and thus it's a dubious trade-off. I'm tempted to keep it around for emergencies and the odd task, though.


Cheers.




Cheers.

[MOFO PRO]

It's found a home in my living room... doing exactly what it does best... scooping a big smiley face out of the midrange on my home stereo...

[kyle barton]

back when i had real long hair, and didn't know what the MID knob on guitar amp was for, i used it a lot to really goof up every recording i made for about 3 years.

since then, i've just used it to prop open my closet door.

[espen askelad]

I have one left over from the days of recording to cassettes. I used to get it out whenever I had someone come in with a completely dead sounding snare drum with a Gorbachev-era head. I've since found that keeping several nice snares on hand is a better solution. Maybe if someone comes in with a Yamaha acoustic guitar that hasn't had it's strings changed since the late 70s. They can be useful, but probably the easiest thing to go way, way overboard with I've ever used.

[out1ear]

makes a great coaster

[marcan]

For toms

[marcan]

Originally Posted by DivineChemical

All it is does is act as an exciter, right?

yep

[Empty Planet]

Errr, no.

It does some hocus-pocus on the transients. I won't regurgitate their PR dreck here, but you can read about it a little ways down this page.

Welcome to BBE Sound

Of course, I suppose it all depends on what you mean by "exciter."

[joeq]

I found the BBE very useful in transferring opera music from old tapes and 78 rpm records.

There is an expansion thing it does with the highs when there is midrange activity - which then drops back down. Perfect for wide-open stuff like opera where you want some highs on the singers, but in between you don't want any extra surface noise or tape hiss.

Almost like a single-ended noise reduction unit, but with the opposite 'philosophy'. It doesn't attack the noise with a nasty gate-y clampdown, it just enhances the louder material. People who listen to historical opera recordings don't expect to hear them without noise, but if you can get the music to pop out a little more, they dig it.


It's a useful tool with an interesting 'recipe' of effects. And nobody is putting a gun to your head forcing you crank the EQ. People talk about it like it's crack cocaine for your ears.

I think it's more like MSG for your ears. At small amounts you may find it savory, but too much might give you a headache.


And of course there's nothing better for making a cassette from another cassette. .

[lowfreq33]

It would be good to have in the rack as "dummy" gear- let the guitar player "adjust" his tone with a BBE that isn't patched in.

[Mosby]

I've never tried them on a individual instrument, but back about 3 years ago they were all the rage for guitarists. I believe that it's a frequency dependent delay that tries to obtain a better phase relationship of the sounds coming out of the speaker. thats my understanding. As far as guitarists go, a lot of guitarists were sticking them in the loops of their amps, and as long as you didn't go crazy with the process knob, it tightened things up, especially on some guitar amps that tend to have a lot of low-mids - like Mesa Dual Recs.

[lowfreq33]

Guitarists are more prone to believing what they're told at GC than anyone. Anytime I hear a guitarist talking about some great piece of gear they're using I'm immediately suspicious.

[ArcCirDude]

Originally Posted by Mosby

I believe that it's a frequency dependent delay that tries to obtain a better phase relationship of the sounds coming out of the speaker. thats my understanding.

Finally, an accurate description of the BBE process. It's a tool, folks, just like everything else. It has it's uses. Excellent for transferring of old media. Good on the things that sometimes need it. Often abused in the wrong hands just like most other tools.

I walked into a club in Gothenburg once and my ears started bleeding because they had strapped a BBE between the CD player and the amp then cranked the process to full. Kept the bugs away...... And me.

[Lunatique]

One thing I don't like about the BBE is that it tends to kill the mid's so you're loosing any lushness you had in the mid range. Does great for bass kicks and a bit of sparkly sheen on hi-hats though.

[mixer]

paper weight! rack space filler