Couple things to note: first, these devices were really popular when most speaker systems relied on passive crossovers. Passive crossovers work on the output energy from the amplifier itself - it’s an all or nothing proposition with the signal, and it causes the highs and lows to fight each other for resources. Selective delay of the lower frequencies basically gave a slight advantage to the higher frequencies when it comes to getting those resources in the first place. Then add to that the definition control, which is essentially a compressor/expander, Adjusting the level of mid or highs dynamically in an attempt to compensate and keep the program material somewhat balanced. Now, most speaker systems rely on active crossovers that affect the signal before the amplifiers (plural). That also allows the speaker designer to compensate for anomalies between the two drivers, so maximizer devices are less useful. Second, as far as guitar tone is concerned it totally makes sense to me that this would help a scooped-mids metal tone. The guitar is a mid range instrument; by scooping all the meds out you’re taking a lot of the power of the instrument away, so a device that boosts highs and lows would add support to the weaker parts of the instrument’s tone, making it sound more powerful.
I have the pedal version for my guitar pedalboard. It's an essential, always-on, set-it-and-forget-it pedal on my board. Adds a lot of dimension and depth to the sound. I bought a backup pedal too, because I never want to be without it.
@@GucciPonderosa It's the very last pedal before the amp. I don't have an effects loop so pedal board goes right into the amp input. I've tried the pedal at the very front of the pedal board, too, and I really can't tell much of a difference. Putting it at the end was the result of reading some chats about the pedal. Consensus seemed to be to put it at the end.
I used these quite a bit. It affects different amps in different amounts. It is awesome for Marshalls. I used it with my Dean Markley tube amp and it was like taking a blanket off your amp. It really emphasizes the clarity of an amp. It makes a lot of sense because it is allowing the speaker to reproduce all the frequencies better without as much freq cancellation.
They also work really really well for mixing with tape. Back in the day, working with anything but the top quality reel to reels meant a mid bump, wonky low end, and a hi rolloff. A sonic maximizer works wonders for remastering and working with old tape.
I love my BBE sonic maximisers. The secret is to use them with subtlety/taste and not overdo the control settings Sound awesome on a bass , and once tried in a HiFi becomes hard to no have it on in there
Messing around recording I like using an EQ scooped but you get a huge volume cut so live I use a BBE sonic stomp in the loop or at band practice or jamming at home.
I have 2 BBE 462, one in home studio and one used to be in the guitar rack system but I don´t use racks for several years. I´m wondering if I should test it again in a live situation. It sounds so amazing. I used to master my old tapes passing through this BBE. It really transform completely the sound in a very good way.
I've used a bbe in my live acoustic rig. I don't play live for the time being so it is in my preamp rack for recording. I really don't use it there but I will use the plugin. I will use it, see what needs to be cleaned up and then turn it off and work on the tracks without it. If I didn't have my UA multiband compressor I think I'd need the bbe a lot more
I used a BBE select maximizer on my PA set up for years, and it gave me so much more about amend, even though I was using 18 inch subwoofers. As a solo LoopingArtist with multiple instruments on stage, I like a big huge sound, not just loud, but big. The BBE help me with that greatly. When I bought a bag and PA system, I didn’t need to use this anymore because they have timeline in their equipment. I now mainly use a QSC K.2 powered system with 10 inch mains, and a single 12 inch subwoofer. The thing sounds huge, sounds amazing! I’m wondering if I should start using a BBE again to give it even more kick.
Using my BBE 422 for over 25 year between my Mixer Output and Soundprozessor Input of my PA System. For me it´s a must because it sounds great and gives you an extra cleanness !
I used one on my Dual Recto when I wanted to use it at "house volumes". Gave it back the balls without the wife cutting off mine. In a band context definitely didn't use it.
@Mykal Anstrom Haha always better to be cautious 😂! Rectos seem to be already quite scooped in the mid so I can imagine that in a band you don't need to enhance that.
I have the Sonic Stomp pedal. I'd say Yay for some amps: where you don't have a mid pot, it takes a bit the mud off and enhances clarity, without scooping the tone too much. Easy on the settings though.
I too had this very delightful piece of rack gear, and I must say your Knight of the Round Table like dedication to how the Tone's of the God's in achieved is so very appreciated. I use the plugin suite on a tone of stuff, Thanks for your hard work on this video.
I still use the BBE Sonic Maximizer together with my Aphex Aural Exciter. I use them in my David Hafler Dynaco circuit based home theater system. I also use a 12AU7 based Tube Pre-Amplifier. I use class D amplifiers due to their bass authority, and sterile analytical sound. What I end up with is a lush smooth creamy sound due to the synergy of all my gear. Clean, crisp and detailed. I have an almost unlimited sound stage. I can dial in-and-out the width, and depth to taste. Imaging is out of this world. I feel very fortunate that I want for nothing having the audio rig I have. I feel I have reached that satisfaction level we all seek building our audio rigs
*Wow, I genuinely recognize it in a lot of old recordings.* I haven't read about these in years to have even remembered what they do without watching your video. I can understand this one fading out of popularity, *but the exciters had such amazing potential for the ultimate tube simulation circuitry.* A sophisticated exciter allowing you to hand select harmonic frequencies and set their magnitude coupled with a sophisticated EQ would enable us to produce an exact harmonic fingerprint of every tube amp and it's preamp tubes on earth. Digital emulation is currently so good though, there's no incentive to revive the technology granted for vocals and other instruments it could still be quite valuable.
I run one on both snare mics and another on both bass drum mics as inserts. Low at 11oclock and contour about 1. I more or less don't have to do anything in the box with those 4 mics then. Haven't tried it on Toms or overheads yet.
i use the desktop version on my tube amp's fx loop at the end of the chain and it's like taking a blanket off of my speaker, sounds amazing. wouldn't play my amp without it. i also hook it up last right before my focusrite interface when recording directly from pedalboard, using an amp sim pedal like the ACS1 from walrus or Iridium.
I watched this to investigate one being sold on CL. Will this make vocals only sound better? And where would I put it in the chain? Thank you and indeed a great video.
EQ makes vocals sound better first of all. Or a focusrite voice pro processor. Anything recorded to tape will sound better with Sonic maximizer. I use it on 2 ch buss processing.
Got one and I must say it is awesome. I mean if you like sharp trebly distortion...I wanted to nail that Paul Gilbert 80s / early 90s tone and this thing totally delivers it.
I have BBE Sonic Stomp in my pedal chain (yes, upfront...oh the blasphemy!) into a '79 Marshall 2203 and a Mesa Dual Rec (split with a Radial Tone Bone JSX2) low set at 10:00 and process set at 2:00 and its always on.
We used it on PA back in the day as a handy quick bass or treble booster and it worked quite well. I think maybe a good eq on guitar would provide more versatility, but who knows.
I used to use an aphex aural exciter on my mix-downs in the recording studio. Most clients liked it for more punch and detail in the final 2 track mix.
My cheap car audio sounded like the out of phase sample. Already ordered Pioneer FH-P5000MP with BBE. Yes, I ordered a 90s (actually 2003) piece of car audio in 2020.
Used to have the pedal version, I thought it was "cheating" somehow and got rid of it but it did sound really good. I loved the sound of this thing in this video as well. Sort of a one trick pony to tighten the highs and juice up the lower mids but it sounds really good.
Im using a Sonic Stomp sonic maximizer with my AxeFx 3 and LOVE IT. It completely cleans up everything. Since the AxeFx 3 doesn't have an effects loop, I've used input/output channel 3. So it's: Guitar > Looper > Drive > Amp > Cab > Tone Match block (because for some reason it gives it clarity without actually using it but just having it on) and then input of the Sonic Stomp goes to the Output of Channel 3 and the Input of Channel 3 goes into the Ouput of the Sonic Stomp so this is all after the amp,cab, tone match, and then > Mixer (because adding a channel for some reason defaults to Mono Right speaker only ans there is no way of fixing this for pedals that don't have stereo outs, and then > Chorus > Delay > Reverb It really, and I can't stress this enough, completely changes the sound of all my presets for the AxeFx 3 and I love it. I've always had an issue with AxeFx sounding muddy and flubby and super dull no matter what I do and the Sonic Stomp tightens it all up. My metal tones sound amazing with that thing. I don't ever want to play the AxeFx without it now so it is dedicated to on every time I boot it up.
BIG Yay! Finally A demo on the BBE ........ mines a 422A . Love it My buddy used to borrow mine for his home sound system, made his cd's sound like DAT..... Damn you just enumerated all the reasons why I bought mine lol... I use mine in stereo between my classic 60/60 and real tube 2 preamp by BK Butler. I usually cranck the contour and definition knows at 3 and 4pm . Never tried it against solid power amps like yours ,, but it makes my cheaper end power amp sound 2000$$ more expensive 😆 Great video as usual Michael 👌
Hahaha loved these. Still have a mint one in a box from back in the day when I was trying to recreate Viv Campbell's monster rack. Very aurally exciting times 🤘🤘🤘
Yay. I have been using them since 1992. It is addictive for sure. Makes effekts pop out and the tone gets better, at least to me it does. Love my BBE 462 in the rack.
Great detailed explanation of how this processor works 👍👍 I have heard the bbe882i make drastic changes in music sound reproduction for a wide range of dynamics. Hearing it with just the guitar doesn't really do it any justice IMO.
I use the rackmount BBE 386 in front of my Pod HD 500x into the PA with my acoustic....great for tuning the guitar sound for different venues....got mine off ebay for £40!
I really like the bbe sonic maximizer pedal in the effects loop of an Amp without a presence or resonance Control.. For example, the carvin bel air has a presence on th clean channel (which sounds great) but not on the soak channel (which people claim is muddy and dark sounding) The bbe in the loop helps balance that sound out a great deal. So does a ddpw my little klony in front but that's another conversation.
I never thought of using this in the effects loop. I've always encountered these things in the main mix bus of systems. This seems like one more thing that would have to get adjusted or could get bump;and nobody would realize it. And all those systems that I've used with them the newer ones the red ones it always seemed like I was fighting the entire system to get it to sound good well also not feeling like I dare touch the knobs on it.
Should always start with the knobs at noon...just use the process to phase align your sound..need more high twist the process knob..usually don't need to go more than 1 o clock-ish...the Lo contour shouldn't really need to exceed 1-2 o clock at most...It adds a lot of clarity and my take is that you go from an AM radio sound to FM stereo..
Audio doesn’t come out of speakers at different speeds. That’s impossible. Sound always travels at the same speed in a same medium. But different and poorly made sound systems can have poor phase correlations. This is caused by a thing called group delay. It is a result of the filtering process in a speaker. When capacitor networks are arranged to filter out sounds, they pass the high frequencies without touching them. They move at nearly the speed of light. Progressively lower frequency bands experience more delay by a matter of wave cycles. Electronically this is all very small but still enough to put waves out of phase with each other, unless it is a specific linear phase design. Furthering this, speakers have different abilities to push out waves given that they’re are limited by the speed a driver can move in and out. A bigger driver will always be slower, especially with paper designs. But paper sounds better than other harder designs like Kevlar so we still use it. The sound all comes out at the same speed. But electronically and physically, it has a delayed start time.
I had one of these combined with a crate blue voodoo in my teenage hard rock band. People with triple rectifiers and Marshall’s used to gather around to hear a sound 10x bigger than they’d every heard. One luthier said he’d never heard a sound like that since being a roadie for Metallica.
I use the BBE plugins to add some fatness to some parts. A little bit goes a long way, and you only want to use it on maybe a couple of tracks at most without destroying the mix
Great video - i think you're making a great point. It's a piece of kit that served it's purpose (ans still does occasionally), but should be used with taste.. And yes, i was one of those kids beefing up my Digitech 21Ledend sound - scooped mids and a BBE - hahaha - it made it bearable if you will :) - Love your Videos!!
Sonic Maximizers are only really good for floor toms that are tuned so loose that even large capsule microphones can't really interpret the sound your ear hears in the room to the recording or if you are using brushes it can add some nice scratch to jazz snares. Fun fact there is a BBE unit in every tracking room at blackbird studios since a lot of live guys from the 90s transitioned to tracking engineers so they find them as a useful exciter. Basically it's a passive EQ circuit.
I own the red and silver bbe pedal from a while back... I liked it a lot except when I run my mxr ten band eq with it in the effects loop it got to be a bit to much!... To say the least... It was either one or the other, and I chose the eq for more tone flexability with pushing the miss.... But still the bbe pedal thru an effects loop sounds amazing....
Would have loved to heard this on a clean tone. I owned the model you demo'd for a few years. I found it nice for recording, not so nice live with lots of distortion - its easy to get too bright live with heavy guitar. Studio, this is useful in my experience. Thanks for the demo.
I have a Randall NB King 100 head that I run through a BBE sonic maximizer 462 and it turns that amp in to a beast. I have used BBE 462 on many amps and still love it. I only use the BBE Rack mounts only . The BBE stomp pedals are poop.
I have a rack unit with a built in noise suppressor and a sonic stomp I use with my bass amp. I typically use it in an aux send on vocals and acoustic instruments and it really adds clarity to those sources in a busy mix. Go light on the Process though or the highs can become piercing, but set sparingly it really livens up a live mix.
I have the mini pedal version. Didn't find it worth it on electric but works wonders on my acoustic especially my 12 string. Also to keep my sound more acoustic I use wireless which kinda boost the signal so I keep the guitars volume knob turned way down giving a cleaner clearer acoustic sound. Between wireless and Sonic stomp gives a almost miked acoustic sound into P A.
In the 80's when I had a Bob Bradshaw 20 space rack that lit up like the cockpit of a 757, I had a couple of these, they were standard in just about every rig you'd see back then. I kinda looked at the Sonic Maximizer like you would use a compressor... you can set it for a very subtle effect, or you can get really crazy with it.
If you've played loud Rock'n'roll for years you'll loose hearing in the high frequencies, is that your case ? ;-) It is a slight glassiness and fuller bottom that occurs.
The purpose of a BBE Sonic Maximizer is to correct phase distortions that are inherent in the way that loudspeakers work, and to compensate for the roll-off in low frequencies as the frequency approaches the resonant frequency of the loudspeaker. It's a tool for compensating for functional deficiencies in loudspeakers. If used carefully, and judiciously, it can transform the sound of an audio installation. It was not intended to be for being used as an "effect", but as loudspeaker defect correction. It does what it was originally designed to do very effectively and can really make a sound system sound much better than it actually is. When you have a BBE Sonic Maximizer as a component in a sound system It is very easy to tell which recordings have had the BBE process applied to it in the studio.
The speed of sound is not always the same. Sound is a vibration of kinetic energy passed from molecule to molecule. The closer the molecules are to each other and the tighter their bonds, the less time it takes for them to pass the sound to each other and the faster sound can travel.
@@BigHairyGuitars That's correct. The speed of sound varies by transport medium. But within the same medium, different frequencies of sound all travel at the same speed. It's Newtonian physics.
One secret of these. The older the better, especially if you're looking for an 80's/90's metal sound. I've tried old and new, and the best one I've found is the 422 (EDIT: The one he's holding at 4:00), released around '88. It's in my rack right now. The little DI-100 box is decent too, if you can find one. The newer ones don't appear to do much. I guess they dumbed them down because people didn't know how to dial them in.
The first on that I bought was a new 422 that I put on my PA. In front of me at my sloppy work desk, I have a 482 for video and cds. I have a 362 and I have a 411 for guitar. I was buying a few at pawn shops and sold off some
It's (was) a tool and used in the right rig, in the right spot and with a grain of salt of setting it does something! Want the big beefy '80 sound? Put it in the chain!
I have a BBE Sonic Stomp Pedal. It sounds like a bed sheet was over the cabinet and the unit removes it. The bass control is nice for adding richness (sort of like an amps resonance control) and the process control really makes things shimmer - affecting frequencies above the amps treble/highs control. You have to resist using too much or it gets unpleasant. I think of it as mastering for my guitar sound. That pedal combined with my always-on compressor on the lowest setting really makes a noticeable difference.
Thr BBE used in a tasteful way is the best thing ever invented.
They are amazing.
The Pedal version is called Sonic Stomp. I've used it for years as the last pedal in my FX loop chain, and I love it. Specially in Marshalls.
Loved these in the late 90’s when I super scooped my eq and had tons of gain till I was in an actual band and my tone totally disappeared.
Exactly!
Yeah, the good old "Pissed off wasps in a box"-setup, double the hair using a SS preamp and a Boss DS-1 set to distortion
100% Sounds fabulous in the bedroom/by yourself....makes your guitar invisible in a band
@@flinto2002 only if you have no idea to dial in tone.
Yeah, blame your gear for you lack of ability to dial in tone.
Couple things to note: first, these devices were really popular when most speaker systems relied on passive crossovers. Passive crossovers work on the output energy from the amplifier itself - it’s an all or nothing proposition with the signal, and it causes the highs and lows to fight each other for resources. Selective delay of the lower frequencies basically gave a slight advantage to the higher frequencies when it comes to getting those resources in the first place. Then add to that the definition control, which is essentially a compressor/expander, Adjusting the level of mid or highs dynamically in an attempt to compensate and keep the program material somewhat balanced.
Now, most speaker systems rely on active crossovers that affect the signal before the amplifiers (plural). That also allows the speaker designer to compensate for anomalies between the two drivers, so maximizer devices are less useful.
Second, as far as guitar tone is concerned it totally makes sense to me that this would help a scooped-mids metal tone. The guitar is a mid range instrument; by scooping all the meds out you’re taking a lot of the power of the instrument away, so a device that boosts highs and lows would add support to the weaker parts of the instrument’s tone, making it sound more powerful.
Seems like it does great for clarifying low end stuff like kick drum, bass etc..
I have a "Sonic Stomp" that I run in the FX loop of my MP-1. It seems to bring out the highs and "de-mud" the overall sound.
I have the pedal version for my guitar pedalboard. It's an essential, always-on, set-it-and-forget-it pedal on my board. Adds a lot of dimension and depth to the sound. I bought a backup pedal too, because I never want to be without it.
Where in your chain do you have it?
@@GucciPonderosa It's the very last pedal before the amp. I don't have an effects loop so pedal board goes right into the amp input. I've tried the pedal at the very front of the pedal board, too, and I really can't tell much of a difference. Putting it at the end was the result of reading some chats about the pedal. Consensus seemed to be to put it at the end.
@@spidgeb3292 very helpful. Thanks so much!
I had the rack unit back in the 90s and I used it with a dual rec. Always been a fan.
Same here...still own them both
The Aurel exciter is similar and was used on lots of 80's vocals like Steve Perry and Stevie Ry Vaughn. I suspect Hury Lewis too.
I used these quite a bit. It affects different amps in different amounts. It is awesome for Marshalls. I used it with my Dean Markley tube amp and it was like taking a blanket off your amp. It really emphasizes the clarity of an amp. It makes a lot of sense because it is allowing the speaker to reproduce all the frequencies better without as much freq cancellation.
They also work really really well for mixing with tape. Back in the day, working with anything but the top quality reel to reels meant a mid bump, wonky low end, and a hi rolloff. A sonic maximizer works wonders for remastering and working with old tape.
I love my BBE sonic maximisers. The secret is to use them with subtlety/taste and not overdo the control settings
Sound awesome on a bass , and once tried in a HiFi becomes hard to no have it on in there
Messing around recording I like using an EQ scooped but you get a huge volume cut so live I use a BBE sonic stomp in the loop or at band practice or jamming at home.
I have 2 BBE 462, one in home studio and one used to be in the guitar rack system but I don´t use racks for several years. I´m wondering if I should test it again in a live situation. It sounds so amazing. I used to master my old tapes passing through this BBE. It really transform completely the sound in a very good way.
Thanks for sharing the info on the Aphex in comparison. Exactly what I was looking for.. ✌️
I've used a bbe in my live acoustic rig. I don't play live for the time being so it is in my preamp rack for recording. I really don't use it there but I will use the plugin. I will use it, see what needs to be cleaned up and then turn it off and work on the tracks without it. If I didn't have my UA multiband compressor I think I'd need the bbe a lot more
I used a BBE select maximizer on my PA set up for years, and it gave me so much more about amend, even though I was using 18 inch subwoofers. As a solo LoopingArtist with multiple instruments on stage, I like a big huge sound, not just loud, but big. The BBE help me with that greatly. When I bought a bag and PA system, I didn’t need to use this anymore because they have timeline in their equipment. I now mainly use a QSC K.2 powered system with 10 inch mains, and a single 12 inch subwoofer. The thing sounds huge, sounds amazing! I’m wondering if I should start using a BBE again to give it even more kick.
Using my BBE 422 for over 25 year between my Mixer Output and Soundprozessor Input of my PA System. For me it´s a must because it sounds great and gives you an extra cleanness !
I had a BBE for some time. I used it basically to make my amp sound more open at low volumes 🚀
OH yeah! It's like the "Loudness" switch on old stereo systems. So at low volumes you still get tons of thump!
Michael Nielsen yes the added definition compensated well for the dull tone causated by the Thd hotplate. 🚀
I used one on my Dual Recto when I wanted to use it at "house volumes". Gave it back the balls without the wife cutting off mine.
In a band context definitely didn't use it.
@Mykal Anstrom Haha always better to be cautious 😂! Rectos seem to be already quite scooped in the mid so I can imagine that in a band you don't need to enhance that.
I use the 462 maximizer after my loadbox, to recover that “breathe” that all loadboxes muffles
I LOVE my BBE SM! For metal, it tightens my low end!
I have the Sonic Stomp pedal. I'd say Yay for some amps: where you don't have a mid pot, it takes a bit the mud off and enhances clarity, without scooping the tone too much. Easy on the settings though.
I too had this very delightful piece of rack gear, and I must say your Knight of the Round Table like dedication to how the Tone's of the God's in achieved is so very appreciated. I use the plugin suite on a tone of stuff, Thanks for your hard work on this video.
I have a bbe and it works well for solid state amps to give them some boldness.
I still use the BBE Sonic Maximizer together with my Aphex Aural Exciter. I use them in my David Hafler Dynaco circuit based home theater system. I also use a 12AU7 based Tube Pre-Amplifier. I use class D amplifiers due to their bass authority, and sterile analytical sound. What I end up with is a lush smooth creamy sound due to the synergy of all my gear. Clean, crisp and detailed. I have an almost unlimited sound stage. I can dial in-and-out the width, and depth to taste. Imaging is out of this world. I feel very fortunate that I want for nothing having the audio rig I have. I feel I have reached that satisfaction level we all seek building our audio rigs
I use my old BBE, from the late ‘80s, in my home stereo. Love it! Still works it’s magic.
*Wow, I genuinely recognize it in a lot of old recordings.*
I haven't read about these in years to have even remembered what they do without watching your video. I can understand this one fading out of popularity, *but the exciters had such amazing potential for the ultimate tube simulation circuitry.*
A sophisticated exciter allowing you to hand select harmonic frequencies and set their magnitude coupled with a sophisticated EQ would enable us to produce an exact harmonic fingerprint of every tube amp and it's preamp tubes on earth. Digital emulation is currently so good though, there's no incentive to revive the technology granted for vocals and other instruments it could still be quite valuable.
I used to run one of those earlier BBE’s as a bassist in the early 90’s.
Sounded fantastic!
I run one on both snare mics and another on both bass drum mics as inserts. Low at 11oclock and contour about 1. I more or less don't have to do anything in the box with those 4 mics then. Haven't tried it on Toms or overheads yet.
i use the desktop version on my tube amp's fx loop at the end of the chain and it's like taking a blanket off of my speaker, sounds amazing. wouldn't play my amp without it. i also hook it up last right before my focusrite interface when recording directly from pedalboard, using an amp sim pedal like the ACS1 from walrus or Iridium.
I watched this to investigate one being sold on CL. Will this make vocals only sound better? And where would I put it in the chain? Thank you and indeed a great video.
EQ makes vocals sound better first of all. Or a focusrite voice pro processor. Anything recorded to tape will sound better with Sonic maximizer. I use it on 2 ch buss processing.
Got one in my 90s rack with an Ada mp1 and a Eventide h3000, my stere rack amp died years ago and the “new” Mesa rectifiers were coming out so….
Got one and I must say it is awesome. I mean if you like sharp trebly distortion...I wanted to nail that Paul Gilbert 80s / early 90s tone and this thing totally delivers it.
I had one in my rack along with a Rocktron velocity power amp and GSP 2101 and it sounded sick.
I had one in my guitar rack. Used as season to taste. I loved what it did. Thanks for explaining.
I have BBE Sonic Stomp in my pedal chain (yes, upfront...oh the blasphemy!) into a '79 Marshall 2203 and a Mesa Dual Rec (split with a Radial Tone Bone JSX2) low set at 10:00 and process set at 2:00 and its always on.
I like them, Yay
Of course I'm older and grew up in the 70s & 80s, so they sound pretty normal to me!
We used it on PA back in the day as a handy quick bass or treble booster and it worked quite well. I think maybe a good eq on guitar would provide more versatility, but who knows.
I used to use an aphex aural exciter on my mix-downs in the recording studio. Most clients liked it for more punch and detail in the final 2 track mix.
Sounded great on the Soldano. The BE didn’t need it. Cool video!
I agree. There are times when it really compliments the Soldano. NO bueno with the BE100. I was pretty sure that would happen. haha
My cheap car audio sounded like the out of phase sample. Already ordered Pioneer FH-P5000MP with BBE. Yes, I ordered a 90s (actually 2003) piece of car audio in 2020.
Yay, it really depends on the application. It was used in my bands PA.
Used to have the pedal version, I thought it was "cheating" somehow and got rid of it but it did sound really good. I loved the sound of this thing in this video as well. Sort of a one trick pony to tighten the highs and juice up the lower mids but it sounds really good.
That's exactly the kind of "cheating" I want to do.
Im using a Sonic Stomp sonic maximizer with my AxeFx 3 and LOVE IT. It completely cleans up everything. Since the AxeFx 3 doesn't have an effects loop, I've used input/output channel 3. So it's:
Guitar > Looper > Drive > Amp > Cab > Tone Match block (because for some reason it gives it clarity without actually using it but just having it on) and then input of the Sonic Stomp goes to the Output of Channel 3 and the Input of Channel 3 goes into the Ouput of the Sonic Stomp so this is all after the amp,cab, tone match, and then > Mixer (because adding a channel for some reason defaults to Mono Right speaker only ans there is no way of fixing this for pedals that don't have stereo outs, and then > Chorus > Delay > Reverb
It really, and I can't stress this enough, completely changes the sound of all my presets for the AxeFx 3 and I love it. I've always had an issue with AxeFx sounding muddy and flubby and super dull no matter what I do and the Sonic Stomp tightens it all up. My metal tones sound amazing with that thing. I don't ever want to play the AxeFx without it now so it is dedicated to on every time I boot it up.
Thanks for that video. I’ve been thinking about adding one to my pedal board. Now i know what i want to do.
BIG Yay! Finally A demo on the BBE ........ mines a 422A . Love it
My buddy used to borrow mine for his home sound system, made his cd's sound like DAT.....
Damn you just enumerated all the reasons why I bought mine lol...
I use mine in stereo between my classic 60/60 and real tube 2 preamp by BK Butler. I usually cranck the contour and definition knows at 3 and 4pm . Never tried it against solid power amps like yours ,, but it makes my cheaper end power amp sound 2000$$ more expensive 😆
Great video as usual Michael 👌
I used to rock one with my '98 Triple Recto in the early 2000's, I used to dig it. Just gotta be subtle with the dials.
Hahaha loved these. Still have a mint one in a box from back in the day when I was trying to recreate Viv Campbell's monster rack. Very aurally exciting times 🤘🤘🤘
@-/ 🤣🤣🤣
I used it on my original 5150 and 5150 cab in the 90s for live shows. It was a definite improvement.
Yay. I have been using them since 1992. It is addictive for sure. Makes effekts pop out and the tone gets better, at least to me it does. Love my BBE 462 in the rack.
Great detailed explanation of how this processor works 👍👍 I have heard the bbe882i make drastic changes in music sound reproduction for a wide range of dynamics. Hearing it with just the guitar doesn't really do it any justice IMO.
Paired with an MT-2 it creates an auditory singularity.
HAHA! It did occur to me that it can bring a MetalZone-esque quality to the table.
I love this thing! Great video
Hi..what's the difference between the stock version and the model A?
Also do you ever see the model 702 designed for the dbx 900 rack?
I use the rackmount BBE 386 in front of my Pod HD 500x into the PA with my acoustic....great for tuning the guitar sound for different venues....got mine off ebay for £40!
I really like the bbe sonic maximizer pedal in the effects loop of an Amp without a presence or resonance Control..
For example, the carvin bel air has a presence on th clean channel (which sounds great) but not on the soak channel (which people claim is muddy and dark sounding)
The bbe in the loop helps balance that sound out a great deal. So does a ddpw my little klony in front but that's another conversation.
I never thought of using this in the effects loop. I've always encountered these things in the main mix bus of systems. This seems like one more thing that would have to get adjusted or could get bump;and nobody would realize it. And all those systems that I've used with them the newer ones the red ones it always seemed like I was fighting the entire system to get it to sound good well also not feeling like I dare touch the knobs on it.
Should always start with the knobs at noon...just use the process to phase align your sound..need more high twist the process knob..usually don't need to go more than 1 o clock-ish...the Lo contour shouldn't really need to exceed 1-2 o clock at most...It adds a lot of clarity and my take is that you go from an AM radio sound to FM stereo..
yay. works awes on my 5150ii great content bro!! cheers from new zealand \m/
How does a maximazer differ from an exciter?
What about Apex, for guitar is it better model with big bottom or older model without big bottom. Thanks
Audio doesn’t come out of speakers at different speeds. That’s impossible. Sound always travels at the same speed in a same medium.
But different and poorly made sound systems can have poor phase correlations. This is caused by a thing called group delay. It is a result of the filtering process in a speaker. When capacitor networks are arranged to filter out sounds, they pass the high frequencies without touching them. They move at nearly the speed of light. Progressively lower frequency bands experience more delay by a matter of wave cycles.
Electronically this is all very small but still enough to put waves out of phase with each other, unless it is a specific linear phase design.
Furthering this, speakers have different abilities to push out waves given that they’re are limited by the speed a driver can move in and out. A bigger driver will always be slower, especially with paper designs. But paper sounds better than other harder designs like Kevlar so we still use it.
The sound all comes out at the same speed. But electronically and physically, it has a delayed start time.
I had one of these combined with a crate blue voodoo in my teenage hard rock band. People with triple rectifiers and Marshall’s used to gather around to hear a sound 10x bigger than they’d every heard. One luthier said he’d never heard a sound like that since being a roadie for Metallica.
Yeah I beatbox and loop through mine and people tell me I sound like cd quality, love the bbe since over 10 years
I use the BBE plugins to add some fatness to some parts. A little bit goes a long way, and you only want to use it on maybe a couple of tracks at most without destroying the mix
I used one with a Marshall 9001 preamp back in the early 2000s. It was absolutely necessary with that preamp otherwise there was almost no definition.
Been using these for years in my studio and touring rig
Great video - i think you're making a great point. It's a piece of kit that served it's purpose (ans still does occasionally), but should be used with taste.. And yes, i was one of those kids beefing up my Digitech 21Ledend sound - scooped mids and a BBE - hahaha - it made it bearable if you will :) - Love your Videos!!
Sonic Maximizers are only really good for floor toms that are tuned so loose that even large capsule microphones can't really interpret the sound your ear hears in the room to the recording or if you are using brushes it can add some nice scratch to jazz snares. Fun fact there is a BBE unit in every tracking room at blackbird studios since a lot of live guys from the 90s transitioned to tracking engineers so they find them as a useful exciter. Basically it's a passive EQ circuit.
Can I use my BBE sonic 882i maximizer with my Akai MPC ONE? If so how do I connect it?
I still love my BBE’s. I have the same unit! Love Em! 👍🏻
How will it work on a guitar pedal board?
Perfect, exactly what i was looking for.!
Does it go in front of the amp after pedals or in the FX loop? in the effect loop i hat it, too btight
They put this into their acoustimax preamp pedals and it is really useful in that situation.
I own the red and silver bbe pedal from a while back... I liked it a lot except when I run my mxr ten band eq with it in the effects loop it got to be a bit to much!... To say the least... It was either one or the other, and I chose the eq for more tone flexability with pushing the miss.... But still the bbe pedal thru an effects loop sounds amazing....
Lot of people suggested to put one in the effect loop of a JCM900 and it makes wonders !........never tried though!
Is anyone making a current Aphex 204 big bottom? I have 4 but had a channel die and now im worried .
I’ve been using the Sonic Stomp on my rigs for 15 years now… wouldn’t be without them. 👍🏻
Would have loved to heard this on a clean tone. I owned the model you demo'd for a few years. I found it nice for recording, not so nice live with lots of distortion - its easy to get too bright live with heavy guitar. Studio, this is useful in my experience. Thanks for the demo.
My brother's a DJ and he loves it for the clarity of highs and lows (BBE 882i).
Me personally I think they really work and tighten everything up nice. Allows you too get really dirty and then say control it
Would you recommend this for a mobile DJ?
I have a Randall NB King 100 head that I run through a BBE sonic maximizer 462 and it turns that amp in to a beast. I have used BBE 462 on many amps and still love it. I only use the BBE Rack mounts only . The BBE stomp pedals are poop.
I have a rack unit with a built in noise suppressor and a sonic stomp I use with my bass amp. I typically use it in an aux send on vocals and acoustic instruments and it really adds clarity to those sources in a busy mix. Go light on the Process though or the highs can become piercing, but set sparingly it really livens up a live mix.
In the 90’s, my rack had one in it, and it was magic with my ADA MP1
I have the mini pedal version. Didn't find it worth it on electric but works wonders on my acoustic especially my 12 string. Also to keep my sound more acoustic I use wireless which kinda boost the signal so I keep the guitars volume knob turned way down giving a cleaner clearer acoustic sound. Between wireless and Sonic stomp gives a almost miked acoustic sound into P A.
In the 80's when I had a Bob Bradshaw 20 space rack that lit up like the cockpit of a 757, I had a couple of these, they were standard in just about every rig you'd see back then. I kinda looked at the Sonic Maximizer like you would use a compressor... you can set it for a very subtle effect, or you can get really crazy with it.
Did you use it in front of the amp or in the fx loop?
@@Johnmannish You could run it either way, but most ran it into the effects loop 👍🎸
I can’t tell the difference tween when it’s off and when it’s on. What is everybody hearing?
If you've played loud Rock'n'roll for years you'll loose hearing in the high frequencies, is that your case ? ;-) It is a slight glassiness and fuller bottom that occurs.
I'm thinking about getting the 882i to use it after my OX
Can I use a crossover with bbe maximizer? Would I connect crossover to mixer then from there maximizer then amplifier?
The purpose of a BBE Sonic Maximizer is to correct phase distortions that are inherent in the way that loudspeakers work, and to compensate for the roll-off in low frequencies as the frequency approaches the resonant frequency of the loudspeaker. It's a tool for compensating for functional deficiencies in loudspeakers. If used carefully, and judiciously, it can transform the sound of an audio installation. It was not intended to be for being used as an "effect", but as loudspeaker defect correction. It does what it was originally designed to do very effectively and can really make a sound system sound much better than it actually is.
When you have a BBE Sonic Maximizer as a component in a sound system It is very easy to tell which recordings have had the BBE process applied to it in the studio.
Isnt it to realign out of phase frequencys???
Really useful for Bass guitar too
Something about physics and how it says that different frequencies of sound waves don't travel at different speeds.
The speed of sound is not always the same. Sound is a vibration of kinetic energy passed from molecule to molecule. The closer the molecules are to each other and the tighter their bonds, the less time it takes for them to pass the sound to each other and the faster sound can travel.
@@BigHairyGuitars That's correct. The speed of sound varies by transport medium. But within the same medium, different frequencies of sound all travel at the same speed. It's Newtonian physics.
@@karlhouseknecht Sounds good! I only know what I've read in BBE manuals! ;)
@@BigHairyGuitars aha...that explains it. :) BBE has some....creative...marketing materials. LOL!
I use to pile that into every sound system I sold in the late 80s and early 90s
One secret of these. The older the better, especially if you're looking for an 80's/90's metal sound. I've tried old and new, and the best one I've found is the 422 (EDIT: The one he's holding at 4:00), released around '88. It's in my rack right now. The little DI-100 box is decent too, if you can find one.
The newer ones don't appear to do much. I guess they dumbed them down because people didn't know how to dial them in.
I bought a 422 based on your comment, and I'm very pleased, thank you for sharing that info.
@@JackNance22 You are most welcome. It was quite a process identifying the good stuff.
@@user-pc8vn6ym7r I don't doubt it, and some people hoard that knowledge. Cheers!
The first on that I bought was a new 422 that I put on my PA.
In front of me at my sloppy work desk, I have a 482 for video and cds.
I have a 362 and I have a 411 for guitar. I was buying a few at pawn shops and sold off some
Uh... I'm confused? Was there supposed to be a third dial for the "Hi-Contour"?
It's (was) a tool and used in the right rig, in the right spot and with a grain of salt of setting it does something! Want the big beefy '80 sound? Put it in the chain!
I have a BBE Sonic Stomp Pedal. It sounds like a bed sheet was over the cabinet and the unit removes it. The bass control is nice for adding richness (sort of like an amps resonance control) and the process control really makes things shimmer - affecting frequencies above the amps treble/highs control. You have to resist using too much or it gets unpleasant. I think of it as mastering for my guitar sound. That pedal combined with my always-on compressor on the lowest setting really makes a noticeable difference.