what does a Sound Enhancer / Exciter

  • Thread starter Thread starter chestwick91
  • Start date Start date
C

chestwick91

New member
well in english i need to know what a sound enhancer / exciter do
also what does a compressor do is there a certain one for vocals or are they all the same do i need one for basment recording
 
There are a couple of different types of exciters and they don't work the same way, by my understanding.

BBE Sonic Maximizer: This machine claims to work on the principle of "phase alignment" along frequency bands. That is, higher frequency sounds travel faster than lower frequency sounds and speakers are not able to compensate for that. The sonic maximizer, supposedly, delays the higher frequencies by a certain amount, or something, so they arrive at your ears at the same time. Personally, I think the whole idea is ridiculous, but they do certainly change the sound -- often in an unpleasant way.

Aphex Exciter: I don't know what the technology is here, but it seems to add a bunch of high frequency garbage/noise to the signal, which I don't particularly care for. Possibly useful if you're dealing with a really dull sounding source, but the sonic artifacts would keep me from using it.

There may be others, but that's the gist -- adding unnatural high frequency crap.
 
I borrowed a BBE once to check it out.

Used sparingly, it appeared to give a more exciting sound, when compared to the bypassed sound.

However, I later discovered that the 'bypass' is not a true bypass. There is some circuitry there that dulls the original sound (which enhances the effect, of course).

When I first tried it, I couldn't believe that my mixes were that bland. I released that that was not the case at all.

I look at them with very squinty eyes. I think other devices should command your attention first. First two priorities for outboard effects should be (in my view) a decent effects (at least, reverb) unit, and a decent compressor.
 
Now I know why I hate the sounds this Funk Logic Masterizer in my Pro Tools program makes...There must be some useful function it can do... hmmm...
 
I've found the BBE to be very useful for adding a little bit of extra 'bite' to a distorted guitar, and helping to bring it out in the mix. Other than that the effect seems much too extreme, even when used sparingly, for use on acoustic instruments and the like.
 
The two do different things & this varies with brand as well.
Scrubs has cited the two "leaders" or "originators" in the areas.
I've had experience with non big brand gear that does pretty much what's been stated. The exciters vary quite a bit.
Many folk, having had the experiences outlined above, have ended up using the things vary sparingly &/or as a device for an alternate mix. Comparing alternative with original "just in case" something interesting happened.
Others have used one or both devices on a single instrument when recording just for, as mentioned above, clarity for a guitar etc.
Some have parameters you can "control" others are a one bang box.
The best suggestion is TRY before you buy & beware of the clever dick bypass. Actually apply it & record the result then run without & record the results THEN compare & contrast.
I went through a stage of doing just that with every mix but the AMAZINGness results seemed to diminish with familiarity.
The aim of creating the compressed/normalized/"maximized" qualities of a "commercial" mix don't seem to be realized.
Yeah, I know, I was NO HELP AT ALL.
Cheers
rayC
 
so you'd use an exciter across an entire mix rather than particular tracks?

i've seen these before but never actually used one...gotta try that some day!
 
MessianicDreams said:
so you'd use an exciter across an entire mix rather than particular tracks?

i've seen these before but never actually used one...gotta try that some day!
Click to expand...

Noooooooooooo!!!!! Please don't do that! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 


There is a an "exciter" applied this whole mix. It is VERY slightly used. I believe I used the Steinberg version of it that came with Wavelab about 5 or 6 years ago. One of the reasons that I choose to use it is because at the time, there were NO good EQ plugins that had a "sweet" high end for Direct X. The exciter was the only way to get a bit of sweetness on top that I wanted.

There has been some other good posts that describe (more or less) the GENERAL idea of what these devices to, and also some decent information shared about WHEN/HOW to use these devices.

Exciters/enhances are no "cure-all" for audio, and certainly and not always needed. When they work, they are great. But often, they are not needed to produce good results!

I recently helped do some mixes for a Van Halen cover band, and to get the guitar players tone closer to EVH's tone, we used a BBE with quite a bit of "Process" applied (no "Bottom" though, the tone was already quite bassy). The "Process" on the BBE plugin really worked pretty well I thought.


So, don't plan on these devices to make ALL your audio brilliant and professional sounding. But, they are handy sometimes!
 
A search on Prosoundweb brings up many examples of bbe's and aphex used in the most professional sound systems made here 9th paragraph down...However these are live systems... In my systems I use a Bbe362 and an Aphex 104 or 204... I have about 30,00 tracks karaoke and mp3 for DJ. Some of the dj stuff is original recordings from the 30's on up... My system will compensate to a fairly good degree in the ones that were recorded in studios with limited freq response etc... And add bass bottom when needed.

And yes there are professional recording engineers that use them in mix down but in knowedgeable and limited ways.. When I am recording live i dont record out of the mixer with full fx or after going thru the procs. I record the vocals out of the 266xl back thru a delta44 And I have used these procs for years with (live) sound and they are absolutely necessary....
 
Yeah, I have one.....It is used live, especially for playback....When I first heard it, I figured all it did was "Grin" the equalization, but it actually does use a process of phase change and time realignment to produce the effect.

Is the effect good or bad?...Well, that up to your ears....You can always turn the knobs down if it seems to FXie.

When I use it to play back prerecorded commercial stuff, it does offer clearer highs and tighter bass....my horns aren't as narrow either....It would be very useful for the DJ who played hot dance stuff.

I'm thinking it would be useful on a home theater setup also....especially if you patched your game stuff thru the big screen and surround sound.
 
Some say the hurt your sound some will say they help your sound I say let your ears judge it for yourself. I used them on all kinds of stuff live and in the studio on guitar amps,vocals,bass amps,kick drum, I found all kinds of uses for mine because my ears like it. They used to be a breakthrough in the industy but now they get dish. go figure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top