Anything better than a BBE Sonic Maximizer 882i?

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dvsbruchko

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I want to get some type of rack unit that would greatly increase headroom in mixes. I heard that the BBE Sonic Maximizer is awesome, but I havent really researched it enough to know if it's the best (or maybe the best in its price range). I'm still debating between getting pro tools or MOTU to record with (as posted on another thread) so I'm not sure how these would affect headroom either. Please help me out if you know something that's better than this, or if you have used this and have any comments on it. Anything would help. thanks :)
 
i dont really understand what you are saying when you mean more head room. What is it that you think the 882 will do to give you more head room. Maybe if we knew a little more what you were looking for we could help you a little more.

Danny
 
I basically mean it sounds more open and enhances the sound, somewhat like a stereo surround sound effect. You can easily tell newer mixes that have more headroom because they sound larger than other songs, and the clarity is greatly increased. Sorry if I'm not describing it correct, this was the term musiciansfriend and lots of other reviewers used when describing sound enhancers. Headroom is supposedly what really good studios expand to make fuller sounding songs which could easily be differentiated than if, say for example, I used a free program to record using my built in sound card. Hopefully this helps a bit, because I'm pretty lost on what type of sound enhancer works best, and anyone who knows about them would greatly be appreciated. Thanks
 
i own one and on certain things that need a little kick ill use it.
it comes in pretty handy, and its fairly affordable.

"BBE is totally different than exciter and enhancer effects units. BBE High Definition Sound technology is not an effect, but restructures the signal in such a way which allows speakers to more correctly and faithfully reproduce the signal. The best analogy for BBE technology is like eyeglasses for your audio system".

thats a quote from their site.

peace.
 
From what i remember learning, what these boxes do is fix up phasing problems, and a little stereo spread to make it more spacious, and probably a little EQ. This naturally makes things sound clearer because the harmonics are working properly.

It seems everytime i use these things i like the sound at first but i eventually take it off because it makes things sound too sizzled

What you are hearing with pros has alot more to do then just plugging in an effects box. The A/D converters in the soundcards, the tape machines they use, preamps, mics, the engineer, everything has effect on head room. And that really professional sound that you are talking about is done by sending the work to a great Mastering Engineer.

Though if your mix is really dull, it does do a decent job on livening it up a little. But my point is, dont expect it to polish shit or work miracles. That professional sound isnt acheived by pluging an effects box into the chain.

Danny
 
dvsbruchko said:
Anything better than a BBE Sonic Maximizer 882i?
Click to expand...
Yes.... NO maximizer at all......

Good sound/mixes don't come from gear, it comes well-arranged, well-recorded tracks.

Sounds like you need to brush-up on the basics of recording theory/techniques - I suggest you pick-up a couple of the books I've listed on the bottom of my articles page on my studio site...
 
BBE = bad idea = if you want your music to sound like 80's jingles.
 
BBE's suck BAD. I have one. I know. None of the sonic "maximizers" are worth a damn as far as giving a mix more headroom (headroom???) or air or whatever you want to call it.
 
Your first post said it all - Anything better than a BBE?

Yes, ANYTHING is better than a BBE.
 
Headroom relates to dynamic range. Basically, headroom is what you have between your typical operating range and the maximum operating range before clipping.

The BBE will not help you with headroom. Whoever told you that either didn't know what they were talking about, or was interested in making a quick sale to someone who didn't know any better.

Also, the BBE process doesn't really have anything to do with widening the stereo field or any of that stuff. In simple terms, what a BBE does is time-align the bass frequency with the treble frequency. Or rather, change the time-alignment. There's also a lo contour and BBE "enhancement" process going on.

Be warned that BBE's can very easily be overused, and when that happens they can really mess up whatever they are being used on.

It's good tool to have if used judiciously on the occasional track, but a BBE is not the end-all fix-all that you think it is, or have been told it is. It won't do what you describe wanting to do.
 
In answer to your question.............. Yes, anything is better than a sonic maximizer ( though it does some cool things to a bass track once it is run through 1/4 tape)
 
Dont use the Maximizer at all? Well i guess it is a little easier to put it that way :D.

Danny
 
BBE sux

BBE will suck the organic life out of ur sound. At first hearing u will have a small wow facor tho u will find its gonna be harder to mix it in. U could use it at max to give synth sounds that dont carry much information below the upper mid range a bit sheen.But thats basically it. Ur bass will become fluffy and the general sound thickness will decrease. Tho is found it smwhat uselfull to brighten up LP sampels. In any case dont apply it to ur edited final bounce.But thats inmho PEACE :o
 
If something doesn't sound right, fix the something! You can't polish a turd with a box that costs less than $500, otherwise everyone would have brilliant mixes. BTW I was consulted on a project that was recorded (badly) on a vs2480, I told them that I could do nothing with it, that it would always sound bad. They put these tracks in pro tools and sent it around the world to 2 grammy award winning engineers, put the tracks thru an SSL console, API compressors, etc. 6 months and I'm sure a small fortune later, it sounds like a very slick, shiny, turd. I don't know if they used a BBE (I doubt it) but they certainly could have, but its still a large steaming pile of poop!
 
dvsbruchko said:
I want to get some type of rack unit that would greatly increase headroom in mixes. I heard that the BBE Sonic Maximizer is awesome, but I havent really researched it enough to know if it's the best (or maybe the best in its price range). I'm still debating between getting pro tools or MOTU to record with (as posted on another thread) so I'm not sure how these would affect headroom either. Please help me out if you know something that's better than this, or if you have used this and have any comments on it. Anything would help. thanks :)
Click to expand...

The only thing that increased my headroom is the MCI JH24 track 2" analog deck that I just got.


And it is one heavy son-of-a-****
 
Anything better than a BBE Sonic Maximizer 882i?
Click to expand...

No, but if you add an Alesis 3630 with that unit...you got something! Just ask "sonusman" he'll tell ya...j/k :)

On a side note I have used one with one or two amps I used to own..and I liked the effect it had on them.
 
I'm using a 362 and I really like it. I am one who likes my distortion sounds very processed. The funny thing is when I eliminate my distortion the clean sound is very good. I don't overuse it though, I keep the settings on minimal.
 
Closet BBE users

Wow! Now we trash the magic black box? Poor BBE.
I sold all mine when people still thought they were the hottest ticket in town.
They had several great uses in live sound reinforcement but fell way short in studio applications.

So lets see a show of hands, how many closet BBE users are out there?
Come on guys you know who you are. You wouldn’t be trashing them so hard if you didn’t own one or two at some point.

OK OK….It’s true I did hang on to one of the 882’s for my home stereo.

One day years from now I’m sure I’ll read a thread that brags about how great they were before they stopped making them.

If you don’t believe, here’s an example:

Ibanez Tube Screamer 1980 = $70.00
Same Ibanez TS used 1988 = $20.00
Same Ibanez TS used 2004 = $350.00
Same Ibanez TS used 2150 = $1,000,000.00

C
 
the sonic maximizer won't give you headroom it will give you noisefloor
 
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