Farview
Well-known member
You have been pickin' around Nashville since you were 2 years old?
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chessrock
Banned
Yea, didn't you hear? He was born with a broom in his hand.
Learned how to brew coffee when he was 4, and by the age of 7 knew where every local deli, donut and bakery shop was in Nashville.
Rumor has it he had the local Chinese carryout menu memorized by age 10.
Dude was a natural born studio runner.
Learned how to brew coffee when he was 4, and by the age of 7 knew where every local deli, donut and bakery shop was in Nashville.
Rumor has it he had the local Chinese carryout menu memorized by age 10.
Dude was a natural born studio runner.
NL5
Unpossible!
Massive Master said:
I agree 110%
/fires up some old Def Leppard
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mrface2112
Well-known member
Natural Born Runners.......wasn't Woody Harrelson in that movie?
cheers,
wade
cheers,
wade
C
chessrock
Banned
mrface2112 said:
Yea, and didn't Bruce Springsteen pen the theme song, Born to Run?
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Henri Devill
New member
BBE's..Barcus Berry Effect?..That takes me back..There was a different take on that box,forgot who made it.."psycho acoustics" they were "popular" at one time in the early 80's I think
Farview
Well-known member
You might be talking about the Aphex aural exciter.
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Henri Devill
New member
Yup thats the one..Farview said:
sweetnubs
New member
I know some of you folks may not beleive this nor do I care if do but I've seen quite a few well regarded professional engineers use the aural exiter. I use it on occasion though not often. I usually regard items like this as crap but hey, if the shoe fits . . .
C
chessrock
Banned
sweetnubs said:
The Aphex Aural Exciter is a little different beast (than the BBE), and yea, those do have their uses in some situations.
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Toker41
Better Than You
HangDawg said:
Nope, have to say I did not use it on those tunes. The acoustic number was done at my home studio, and I do not believe I had the plug-in at the time. It was done at the beginning stages of putting the "home studio" thing together, and there was a learning curve involved since I had only worked in analog studios until then.
The other 2 tunes were recorded at The Warehouse Recording studio in '91. George Carnell co-produced it. There were a couple BBE's in the racks, but I don't believe we used them. At $140 an hour (which was a lot back then), plus Georges fee, we didn't play around much. I was using a Boogie .50 cal on that and I'm pretty sure I had a BBE on that, because there was on in my rack at the time, but that was the only thing it was used on. There is also a Marshall JCM800 on those tunes, but no BBE. I will say that I do believe the guitars are a bit bright in the acoustic song, but that is also not the final mix, and is not mastered. This is from the MXL603's. I find them a little on the "bright" side.
The "shrilling highs" you refer to can defiantly happen if you over use the BBE process. However, this it true with anything you send your tone through. The early model BBE's were a bit harsh on the high end. They produced a sound on the high end that I could only describe as sounding like tiny shards of glass rattling inside the tubes of the amp. The later model BBE's don't have this problem. There are also many different model BBE's. Not all are meant for the same application.
Did I mention they are great for bass, also?
Quote:
The BBE is like crack for your ear, you turn it on and you think it sounds better but it is really numbing your ears to the upper mids. That is why when you turn it off, your rig sounds dull. It didn't sound dull last week before you bought the BBE, but now, all of a sudden, it does. It is the sound equivalent of an optical illusion. "
If your rig sounded so great before you bought the BBE, why did you feel the need to add, or try anything?
Like I said, if you "think it sounds better", then it sounds better to you....period! So you're not rejecting the BBE because it sounds bad, your rejecting it because once you hear something with it...it sounds like crap without it? You are a/b-ing the 2 sounds and saying the original wouldn't sound like crap if you had never heard it sound better with the BBE? Great logic there. Can't miss what you never had. Duh! The Ford Focus you drive everyday isn't a piece of shit until after you rent a Lincon for a day. Great theory.
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Toker41
Better Than You
chessrock said:
Man, that is just a complete lack of respect.
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60's guy
Guest
Please explain why the Aphex is different as compared to the BBE. I ask that because when I first signed on here...I questioned everyone's put down of the BBE. Blue Bear and others alike stuffed my opinion (such that it was at the time) down my throat or up my ass as it were...concerning the BBE.chessrock said:
Please explain the differences between the Aphex and the BBE based upon your experience with both units. I ask that of you, Chess, only because I have considered purchasing the Aphex based upon reviews I have read irrespective of comparision to the BBE.
For what it's worth....I own 3 BBE sonic maximizers, none of which are used for recording or mixing purposes.
Please explain why you see the Aphex as being a different beast or better when compared to the BBE.
Cough up exactly what explicit uses you see the Aphex being useful for as opposed to simply stating that they are "useful in some situations". Your comment is paramount to saying that all SP mics "suck". If you are going to state an opinion...back it up with some factual representations.
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Toker41
Better Than You
60's guy said:
BBE technology does not work like exciter and enhancer effects. Typcially, exciter effects are associated with creating artificial harmonics through small amounts of overdrive in the high frequency band. This can prove useful in some recording studio situations, particularly in remastering older analog tapes. However, in today's recording and playback audio environments, there is no need to artifically simulate high freqencies lost through degradation of the original source tapes.
Enhancers are generally associated with equalization, however there are some products which attempt to combine exciter and enhancer effects with the result being harsh and fatiguing to the ear with no actual improvement in clarity and definition. Generally, enhancer products are marketed to appear as though they are more sohpisticated than multiband or parametric equalizer units, however, this is seldom true.
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.
Farview
Well-known member
The Aphex uses subtle distortion to add upper harmonics to a signal. They were useful for putting the shine back on worn out analog tape. The BBE uses a phase shifting process, they are not the same thing.
Farview
Well-known member
No one puts it in their rig to solve a specific problem, they all try it to achieve the all elusive 'better'. When a/b'ing, brighter will seem to sound louder and, therefor 'better'. it is an illusion. Anyway, if it was a good idea to accuratley reproduce the signal coming out of a guitar amp, the cabinets would be more like stereo speakers with crossovers and tweeters, not 4X12 cabinets loaded with celestions. Guitar speakers are supposed to attenuate the highs.Toker41 said:
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60's guy
Guest
Toker and Farview,
Thanks to both of you for cofirming my suspicions that both BBE and the Aphex have their uses dependent upon intended use and application. As much as I have been recording digitally recently, I still have and utlilze the tape recorders I own and I do find judicial uses of both mediums.
In regard to the BBE, the best use I have found thus far has been strictly for compensating for listening purposes in a less than perfect room.
Thanks to both of you for cofirming my suspicions that both BBE and the Aphex have their uses dependent upon intended use and application. As much as I have been recording digitally recently, I still have and utlilze the tape recorders I own and I do find judicial uses of both mediums.
In regard to the BBE, the best use I have found thus far has been strictly for compensating for listening purposes in a less than perfect room.
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dayvel
New member
Massive Master said:I've got a 382 with around 1 hour on it. $50 bucks.
But yeah, it's basically junk.
Hmmm... fifty bucks for a power supply, a rack-mount case, pots and switches, and connectors.
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Toker41
Better Than You
Farview said:
"louder and therefor better"? That makes no sense at all. If it sounds better....it sounds better....period. Again, you are saying "it sounds better, but it's a trick..." That is like saying that if you eq it after you record it and it sounds better, it is only a trick and you should take the eq off, or if you add an effect and it sounds better...it really doesn't, it's just a trick so take it off. So all the magic that my Eventide does is just that...a magic trick, so I should throw it in the trash, because it only makes a person think it sounds good? Nothing should ever be added, because these things only make you think they sound better. Wow, all these years my ears have been tricked.
Guess it's not for everyone.
On a side note, Fairview...I was checking out some of you pics on your website. Nice little set up. What model Iceman is that in the pics?
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C
chessrock
Banned
60's guy said:
Easy, killer. All you have to do is ask nicely.
Read Toker's reply: "BBE technology does not work like exciter and enhancer effects. Typcially, exciter effects are associated with creating artificial harmonics through small amounts of overdrive in the high frequency band. This can prove useful in some recording studio situations, particularly in remastering older analog tapes. "
So basically, an aural exciter simply generates harmonics, and is useful a special effect or for fixing individual tracks. Example: Let's assume you tracked a guitar with old, worn strings ... or perhaps the drummer was tracking with old, worn-out heads and used a felt beater on the kick.
You listen back, and there's zero definition to a track, and re-tracking isn't an option. An aural exciter can be better than nothing in such a situation. Or let's pretend you want to do some Mutt Lang / Def Leppard style harmonies with like 100 layers of backing vocals and you want that 80's metal type sound. Maybe you want a Lita Ford 12-string accoustic guitar sound like on the song she did with Ozzy.
Or you want your lead vocal to sound like the Back Street Boys. That kinda' shit. It just basically adds a little bit of fake high end.The BBE, on the other hand, is designed to correct an old, shitty stereo, PA or other playback system, and is intended for 2-track playback. The way I look at it ... if you have to resort to using some sort of rack gizmo to "correct" your shitty speakers, then don't you think it's time to just get some new speakers?
Anyway ... detailed enough for ya?