What is a Sonic Maximizer?

[tot_Ou_tard]

Every once in a while I run across an ad for a BBE Sonic Maximizer.

I don't have a clue what it might do.

Does anyone?

 

[ted s]

Sounds pretty self expanatory to me tot_

Uh, I got nothing..

 

[warren0728]

puzzling.....very puzzling....

ww

 

[Spudman]

It time aligns frequencies. I'm not sure which freqs get delayed but some do and it causes whatever you put through it to sound 10 times better.

I will ALWAYS use one on a PA system. It makes a budget system sound like a million bucks.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

It time aligns frequencies. I'm not sure which freqs get delayed but some do and it causes whatever you put through it to sound 10 times better.

I will ALWAYS use one on a PA system. It makes a budget system sound like a million bucks.

What about through an amp? Does it make it sound 10 times better?

 

[Rabies]

I have the sonic stomp going through an amp, and it rocks...I strongly recommend it!!

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I have the sonic stomp going through an amp, and it rocks...I strongly recommend it!!

Do you use it in front of your AD30VT as well as your Valve Junior?

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This is the only info that I've found as yet:

http://www.bbesound.com/faq/index.asp

as Warren sez: puzzling, very puzzling...

O, & if you want to drop some names:

http://www.bbesound.com/users/index.asp

 

[Rabies]

Do you use it in front of your AD30VT as well as your Valve Junior?

I have used it in front of the ad30vt, but it didn't really sound good. Sort of muddied it up, even after tweaking both quite a bit. Maybe it would work better with the vox if it had a loop. But through the VJ it's awesome.

I have really fallen out of love with the Vox...haven't played it in a long time. Someone needs to buy it from me!! The whole modeling thing is just not for me. Bought a Line 6 UX1 a while back, too. Haven't touched it in forever either. I'm just more of a "low-tech" kind of a guy I guess. There's just nothing better for me than some pedals into a tube amp!!

 

[t_ross33]

I will ALWAYS use one on a PA system. It makes a budget system sound like a million bucks.

Stompbox or rackmount? Thru the effects loop?

Sounds cool, no pun intended.

Trev

 

[stingx]

I have the BBE Sonic Stomp and I think it works best at the end of the signal chain (last effect.) YMMV of course

 

[Rabies]

I have the BBE Sonic Stomp and I think it works best at the end of the signal chain (last effect.) YMMV of course

Same way I use it...very end...and it really sounds great!

 

[stingx]

Same way I use it...very end...and it really sounds great!

It's very subtle but if you were to stop using it you would know right away
To my ears it really does sound as if someone took the blanket off of the speaker and made the amp more pleasing to the ears. A great pedal and I would buy it again if it were lost, broken, or stolen.

 

[Rabies]

Yeah, it's subtle until you turn it off. Then it becomes dramatic.

When I plug up, and turn on, I have to make myself wait a little while until I turn it on, so's I don't get too addicted to it. I play a little while without it. This also makes me appreciate it a little more!

 

[stingx]

Rabies, I was thinking of adding a compressor to my rig. Have you tried the BBE Opto Compressor? I haven't run into one in a store to try. I was thinking of ordering a Keeley Compressor but if the BBE box does a good job I can save some cash-o-la.

 

[Rabies]

No I haven't. I'm not a big fan of compressors. I recently just let go of my Dano compressor. I've been thinking about trying some of their other stomp boxes though. I figure if this one rocks so much, why couldn't others?

But I could see them sucking too. I mean, BBE is known for their Sonic Maximizer, right? Of course the Sonic Stomp is gonna be great. Not so sure on the others.

I've been curious about the two dirt boxes they make...the Green Screamer, and the black metal distortion thingie they have (the name slips my mind at the moment).

 

[stingx]

Ah...DIRT! Ok Rabies, if you want dirt then you need to pick up one of these:

http://www.pedalspluseffectswarehouse.com/HAO_Rust_Driver_p/hao-rd1.htm

I also own the limited edition Rust Booster II but that's a whole different animal. I can't recommend either enough!

 

[Spudman]

Stompbox or rackmount? Thru the effects loop?

Sounds cool, no pun intended.

Trev

Originally I used a BBE rackmount sonic maximizer on my PA systems. I had one channel go bad so I bought the Behringer equivalent. It's a 2 channel unit and worth every penny of it's meager price and then some.

I run it as the final unit right before the power amps after the eq, and compressor. Signal looks like this: (mono out of mixer)>EQ>Compressor>Sonic Maximizer.

When you turn it off is when it is most noticeable. I immediately rush to turn it back on because the system sounds SOOOOO much better with it on. I always use it with a PA no matter what.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Is there a difference between the sonic stomp & the rackmount sonic maximizers in terms of sound.

Are the rack units meant to go before a full spectrum speaker & the stomp before a guitar amp speaker?

 

[Spudman]

Is there a difference between the sonic stomp & the rackmount sonic maximizers in terms of sound.

Are the rack units meant to go before a full spectrum speaker & the stomp before a guitar amp speaker?

That is a perfect question to ask BBE. I imagine the concept is the same, but with the guitar pedal possibly being more tuned to guitar frequencies and not having to cover the whole spectrum like a rack mount would.

The rack will work with any instrument, but I don't know about the stomp pedal.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

That is a perfect question to ask BBE. I imagine the concept is the same, but with the guitar pedal possibly being more tuned to guitar frequencies and not having to cover the whole spectrum like a rack mount would.

The rack will work with any instrument, but I don't know about the stomp pedal.

Yeah, that is what I was thinking.

I'll ask BBE,

Thanks Spud.

 

[duhvoodooman]

Ah...DIRT! Ok Rabies, if you want dirt then you need to pick up one of these:

http://www.pedalspluseffectswarehouse.com/HAO_Rust_Driver_p/hao-rd1.htm

YIKES!! That thing sounds freakin' GREAT! Plexi tonal goodness for $135....very tempting!

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

More info:

The BBE Process: "What it Is"

Loudspeakers have difficulty working with the electronic signals supplied by an amplifier. These difficulties cause such major phase and amplitude distortion that the sound reproduced by the speaker differs significantly from the sound produced by the original source.
In the past, these problems proved unsolvable and were thus relegated to a position of secondary importance in audio system design. However, phase and amplitude integrity is essential to accurate sound reproduction. Research shows that the information which the listener translates into the recognizable characteristics of a live performance are intimately tied into complex time and amplitude relationships between the fundamental and harmonic components of a given musical note or sound. These relationships define a sound's sound .
When these complex relationships pass through a speaker, the proper order is lost. The higher frequencies are delayed. A lower frequency may reach the listener's ear first or perhaps simultaneously with that of a higher frequency. In some cases, the fundamental components may be so time-shifted that they reach the listener's ear ahead of some or all of the harmonic components.
This change in the phase and amplitude relationship on the harmonic and fundamental frequencies is technically called envelope distortion. The listener perceives this loss of sound integrity in the reproduced sound as muddy and smeared. In the extreme, it can become difficult to tell the difference between musical instruments, for example, an oboe and a clarinet.
BBE Sound, Inc. conducted extensive studies of numerous speaker systems over a ten year period. With this knowledge, it became possible to identify the characteristics of an ideal speaker and to distill the corrections necessary to return the fundamental and harmonic frequency structures to their correct order. While there are differences among various speaker designs in the magnitude of their correction, the overall pattern of correction needed is remarkably consistent.
The BBE Process is so unique that 42 patents have been awarded by the U.S. Patent Office.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

I use a BBE 362 in a mini FX rack. The "Lo Contour" is great for beefing up the bottom end, and the "Process" adds some shimmer to the highs.

A word of caution with BBE's:

Use Sparingly. A little dab will do ya.

 

[Rabies]

I use a BBE 362 in a mini FX rack. The "Lo Contour" is great for beefing up the bottom end, and the "Process" adds some shimmer to the highs.

A word of caution with BBE's:

Use Sparingly. A little dab will do ya.

This is true. Too much of either is a bad thing. Unless yer just silly like that...