sonic maximizer vs. aural exciter

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cominginsecond

cominginsecond

Decentralized Media Mogul
Out of the sonic maximizer and the aural exciter, which do you guys like best? I know they both basically do the same thing, but I'm curious if any of you out there have a preference, and, if you do, than why?
 
Don't bother with either...

...they usually hurt more than they help (because they are SOoooooooooooo easy to overuse and because they are usually used when trying to recover a fucked-up track that should have been fixed by proper re-tracking anyways!)

As far as for use on a final mix -- if it was mixed and tracked properly, it shouldn't need to be "excited"!

My 2 cents... as always, YMMV...
Bruce

:)
 
I like to play around with these things here and there.

Take a listen to this:



This is a mix I mastered last week for a bands demo.

Used the Steinberg Spectralizer for top end enhancement, and the Waves MaxxBass for low end enhancement. Both were used very sparingly. But, both provided an obvious result compared to the original mix. Of course there is a tab of eq and limiting applied to this mix too, but again, in moderation.

Too often, people "depend" on these kinds of devices to make up for gross deficiencies in their mix, and as Bruce stated, it winds up hurting more then helping. These kinds of effects work best when used very little on the sound. The edge they will give you on a good sound is really nice, but their heavy use on bad sounds should be avoided.

They are little one trick pony toys that are not used too much in fine sounding recordings. Strive for a good mix without them, and then maybe try them out to see if they add something special to the track or mix.

Good luck.

Ed
 
The Aural Exciter is an old technology.Back in tape days,highs tended to fade away (ever put a cymbal on an edge track?) and the Aphex generated artificial harmonics to add some sparkle back in (normally used on vocals).Frequency response is so much better with today's digital technology that the need doesn't exist as it did then.
The BBE claims to "tighten" the signal,B.S. in my personal opinion.The bass speaker voice coil is several inches further from your ears than the tweeter voice coil,supposedly leading to minor phase problems which the Sonic Maximiser corrects by splitting the signal with an internal crossover, then slightly delaying the treble component to "time allign" them.Uh huh,right...caveat emptor.

Tom
 
I use a bbe 482 for burning vinyl to cdr.. works great!
 
good for 4 tracks

I would imagine one of these is real good for a four track cassette recording where you're dealing with lower fidelity...otherwise, I would tend to agree with Bruce and Sonusman that they're probably unnecessary in the digital realm.

RB
 
Nah, I tried using them in my 4 track days. It made things worse! Basically, it sounded great on whatever speaker system I was using them on, and crappy on all others.

Be aware when using low end enhancers! They can muck up a sound in a hurry!

An aural exciter is less obvious, but extremely easy to overuse. You really need to listen close for it's effect. If it is obvious, you have too much.

Ed
 
I like them for live sound, but as ed mentioned, not every system handles it the same!
 
Excite me...

I agree with Sonusman. "Strive for a good mix without them."

Not long ago I picked up an Aphex Aural Exciter with the "Big Bottom"
feature. I played with it awhile and was unimpressed. Sold it quick to
a guitarist who wanted it for his acoustic setup. Haven't heard further
on how he's getting along with it. The Sonic Maximizer is a new one
to me- I've never used one, and neither has anyone I know.

It's nice, I guess. But if it's done right the first time, like Bruce Blue
Bear would say "... it shouldn't need to be "excited".

Cute, but just another plaything.

My 2 centavos

Faithmonster
 
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