Couple things to note: first, these devices were really popular when most speaker systems relied on passive crossovers. Passive crossovers work on the output energy from the amplifier itself - it’s an all or nothing proposition with the signal, and it causes the highs and lows to fight each other for resources. Selective delay of the lower frequencies basically gave a slight advantage to the higher frequencies when it comes to getting those resources in the first place. Then add to that the definition control, which is essentially a compressor/expander, Adjusting the level of mid or highs dynamically in an attempt to compensate and keep the program material somewhat balanced. Now, most speaker systems rely on active crossovers that affect the signal before the amplifiers (plural). That also allows the speaker designer to compensate for anomalies between the two drivers, so maximizer devices are less useful. Second, as far as guitar tone is concerned it totally makes sense to me that this would help a scooped-mids metal tone. The guitar is a mid range instrument; by scooping all the meds out you’re taking a lot of the power of the instrument away, so a device that boosts highs and lows would add support to the weaker parts of the instrument’s tone, making it sound more powerful.
I have the pedal version for my guitar pedalboard. It's an essential, always-on, set-it-and-forget-it pedal on my board. Adds a lot of dimension and depth to the sound. I bought a backup pedal too, because I never want to be without it.
@@GucciPonderosa It's the very last pedal before the amp. I don't have an effects loop so pedal board goes right into the amp input. I've tried the pedal at the very front of the pedal board, too, and I really can't tell much of a difference. Putting it at the end was the result of reading some chats about the pedal. Consensus seemed to be to put it at the end.
I still use the BBE Sonic Maximizer together with my Aphex Aural Exciter. I use them in my David Hafler Dynaco circuit based home theater system. I also use a 12AU7 based Tube Pre-Amplifier. I use class D amplifiers due to their bass authority, and sterile analytical sound. What I end up with is a lush smooth creamy sound due to the synergy of all my gear. Clean, crisp and detailed. I have an almost unlimited sound stage. I can dial in-and-out the width, and depth to taste. Imaging is out of this world. I feel very fortunate that I want for nothing having the audio rig I have. I feel I have reached that satisfaction level we all seek building our audio rigs
I love my BBE sonic maximisers. The secret is to use them with subtlety/taste and not overdo the control settings Sound awesome on a bass , and once tried in a HiFi becomes hard to no have it on in there
I used these quite a bit. It affects different amps in different amounts. It is awesome for Marshalls. I used it with my Dean Markley tube amp and it was like taking a blanket off your amp. It really emphasizes the clarity of an amp. It makes a lot of sense because it is allowing the speaker to reproduce all the frequencies better without as much freq cancellation.
They also work really really well for mixing with tape. Back in the day, working with anything but the top quality reel to reels meant a mid bump, wonky low end, and a hi rolloff. A sonic maximizer works wonders for remastering and working with old tape.
I have the Sonic Stomp pedal. I'd say Yay for some amps: where you don't have a mid pot, it takes a bit the mud off and enhances clarity, without scooping the tone too much. Easy on the settings though.
*Wow, I genuinely recognize it in a lot of old recordings.* I haven't read about these in years to have even remembered what they do without watching your video. I can understand this one fading out of popularity, *but the exciters had such amazing potential for the ultimate tube simulation circuitry.* A sophisticated exciter allowing you to hand select harmonic frequencies and set their magnitude coupled with a sophisticated EQ would enable us to produce an exact harmonic fingerprint of every tube amp and it's preamp tubes on earth. Digital emulation is currently so good though, there's no incentive to revive the technology granted for vocals and other instruments it could still be quite valuable.
Using my BBE 422 for over 25 year between my Mixer Output and Soundprozessor Input of my PA System. For me it´s a must because it sounds great and gives you an extra cleanness !
I've used a bbe in my live acoustic rig. I don't play live for the time being so it is in my preamp rack for recording. I really don't use it there but I will use the plugin. I will use it, see what needs to be cleaned up and then turn it off and work on the tracks without it. If I didn't have my UA multiband compressor I think I'd need the bbe a lot more
Got one and I must say it is awesome. I mean if you like sharp trebly distortion...I wanted to nail that Paul Gilbert 80s / early 90s tone and this thing totally delivers it.
I used one on my Dual Recto when I wanted to use it at "house volumes". Gave it back the balls without the wife cutting off mine. In a band context definitely didn't use it.
@Mykal Anstrom Haha always better to be cautious 😂! Rectos seem to be already quite scooped in the mid so I can imagine that in a band you don't need to enhance that.
i use the desktop version on my tube amp's fx loop at the end of the chain and it's like taking a blanket off of my speaker, sounds amazing. wouldn't play my amp without it. i also hook it up last right before my focusrite interface when recording directly from pedalboard, using an amp sim pedal like the ACS1 from walrus or Iridium.
I used a BBE select maximizer on my PA set up for years, and it gave me so much more about amend, even though I was using 18 inch subwoofers. As a solo LoopingArtist with multiple instruments on stage, I like a big huge sound, not just loud, but big. The BBE help me with that greatly. When I bought a bag and PA system, I didn’t need to use this anymore because they have timeline in their equipment. I now mainly use a QSC K.2 powered system with 10 inch mains, and a single 12 inch subwoofer. The thing sounds huge, sounds amazing! I’m wondering if I should start using a BBE again to give it even more kick.
I have 2 BBE 462, one in home studio and one used to be in the guitar rack system but I don´t use racks for several years. I´m wondering if I should test it again in a live situation. It sounds so amazing. I used to master my old tapes passing through this BBE. It really transform completely the sound in a very good way.
We used it on PA back in the day as a handy quick bass or treble booster and it worked quite well. I think maybe a good eq on guitar would provide more versatility, but who knows.
I too had this very delightful piece of rack gear, and I must say your Knight of the Round Table like dedication to how the Tone's of the God's in achieved is so very appreciated. I use the plugin suite on a tone of stuff, Thanks for your hard work on this video.
I really like the bbe sonic maximizer pedal in the effects loop of an Amp without a presence or resonance Control.. For example, the carvin bel air has a presence on th clean channel (which sounds great) but not on the soak channel (which people claim is muddy and dark sounding) The bbe in the loop helps balance that sound out a great deal. So does a ddpw my little klony in front but that's another conversation.
Yay. I have been using them since 1992. It is addictive for sure. Makes effekts pop out and the tone gets better, at least to me it does. Love my BBE 462 in the rack.
Used to have the pedal version, I thought it was "cheating" somehow and got rid of it but it did sound really good. I loved the sound of this thing in this video as well. Sort of a one trick pony to tighten the highs and juice up the lower mids but it sounds really good.
Should always start with the knobs at noon...just use the process to phase align your sound..need more high twist the process knob..usually don't need to go more than 1 o clock-ish...the Lo contour shouldn't really need to exceed 1-2 o clock at most...It adds a lot of clarity and my take is that you go from an AM radio sound to FM stereo..
Im using a Sonic Stomp sonic maximizer with my AxeFx 3 and LOVE IT. It completely cleans up everything. Since the AxeFx 3 doesn't have an effects loop, I've used input/output channel 3. So it's: Guitar > Looper > Drive > Amp > Cab > Tone Match block (because for some reason it gives it clarity without actually using it but just having it on) and then input of the Sonic Stomp goes to the Output of Channel 3 and the Input of Channel 3 goes into the Ouput of the Sonic Stomp so this is all after the amp,cab, tone match, and then > Mixer (because adding a channel for some reason defaults to Mono Right speaker only ans there is no way of fixing this for pedals that don't have stereo outs, and then > Chorus > Delay > Reverb It really, and I can't stress this enough, completely changes the sound of all my presets for the AxeFx 3 and I love it. I've always had an issue with AxeFx sounding muddy and flubby and super dull no matter what I do and the Sonic Stomp tightens it all up. My metal tones sound amazing with that thing. I don't ever want to play the AxeFx without it now so it is dedicated to on every time I boot it up.
I used to use an aphex aural exciter on my mix-downs in the recording studio. Most clients liked it for more punch and detail in the final 2 track mix.
I watched this to investigate one being sold on CL. Will this make vocals only sound better? And where would I put it in the chain? Thank you and indeed a great video.
EQ makes vocals sound better first of all. Or a focusrite voice pro processor. Anything recorded to tape will sound better with Sonic maximizer. I use it on 2 ch buss processing.
I had one of these combined with a crate blue voodoo in my teenage hard rock band. People with triple rectifiers and Marshall’s used to gather around to hear a sound 10x bigger than they’d every heard. One luthier said he’d never heard a sound like that since being a roadie for Metallica.
Hahaha loved these. Still have a mint one in a box from back in the day when I was trying to recreate Viv Campbell's monster rack. Very aurally exciting times 🤘🤘🤘
Messing around recording I like using an EQ scooped but you get a huge volume cut so live I use a BBE sonic stomp in the loop or at band practice or jamming at home.
BIG Yay! Finally A demo on the BBE ........ mines a 422A . Love it My buddy used to borrow mine for his home sound system, made his cd's sound like DAT..... Damn you just enumerated all the reasons why I bought mine lol... I use mine in stereo between my classic 60/60 and real tube 2 preamp by BK Butler. I usually cranck the contour and definition knows at 3 and 4pm . Never tried it against solid power amps like yours ,, but it makes my cheaper end power amp sound 2000$$ more expensive 😆 Great video as usual Michael 👌
I own the red and silver bbe pedal from a while back... I liked it a lot except when I run my mxr ten band eq with it in the effects loop it got to be a bit to much!... To say the least... It was either one or the other, and I chose the eq for more tone flexability with pushing the miss.... But still the bbe pedal thru an effects loop sounds amazing....
The purpose of a BBE Sonic Maximizer is to correct phase distortions that are inherent in the way that loudspeakers work, and to compensate for the roll-off in low frequencies as the frequency approaches the resonant frequency of the loudspeaker. It's a tool for compensating for functional deficiencies in loudspeakers. If used carefully, and judiciously, it can transform the sound of an audio installation. It was not intended to be for being used as an "effect", but as loudspeaker defect correction. It does what it was originally designed to do very effectively and can really make a sound system sound much better than it actually is. When you have a BBE Sonic Maximizer as a component in a sound system It is very easy to tell which recordings have had the BBE process applied to it in the studio.
I have BBE Sonic Stomp in my pedal chain (yes, upfront...oh the blasphemy!) into a '79 Marshall 2203 and a Mesa Dual Rec (split with a Radial Tone Bone JSX2) low set at 10:00 and process set at 2:00 and its always on.
Great detailed explanation of how this processor works 👍👍 I have heard the bbe882i make drastic changes in music sound reproduction for a wide range of dynamics. Hearing it with just the guitar doesn't really do it any justice IMO.
Good vid. There's a lot of beliefs shared over the last 20 years on internet about mythical sonic maximizer. Essentially, now that I hear it in a good comparison, it's a tone destroyer. It makes the guitar do less what it's supposed to do in a band context. Not very pleasant to my ear. A good 4x12" cab pretty much makes this effect happen with better oomph and less brittleness already.
We were stoked on those in the early 90's. Felt like it took the pillow away from the front of the speaker. What ever happened to those? Do they still make them? Great Topic!! I love Aural Excitement!...but I think I prefer the sound of straight guitar into an amp nowdays!
I run one on both snare mics and another on both bass drum mics as inserts. Low at 11oclock and contour about 1. I more or less don't have to do anything in the box with those 4 mics then. Haven't tried it on Toms or overheads yet.
Audio doesn’t come out of speakers at different speeds. That’s impossible. Sound always travels at the same speed in a same medium. But different and poorly made sound systems can have poor phase correlations. This is caused by a thing called group delay. It is a result of the filtering process in a speaker. When capacitor networks are arranged to filter out sounds, they pass the high frequencies without touching them. They move at nearly the speed of light. Progressively lower frequency bands experience more delay by a matter of wave cycles. Electronically this is all very small but still enough to put waves out of phase with each other, unless it is a specific linear phase design. Furthering this, speakers have different abilities to push out waves given that they’re are limited by the speed a driver can move in and out. A bigger driver will always be slower, especially with paper designs. But paper sounds better than other harder designs like Kevlar so we still use it. The sound all comes out at the same speed. But electronically and physically, it has a delayed start time.
Great video - i think you're making a great point. It's a piece of kit that served it's purpose (ans still does occasionally), but should be used with taste.. And yes, i was one of those kids beefing up my Digitech 21Ledend sound - scooped mids and a BBE - hahaha - it made it bearable if you will :) - Love your Videos!!
If used sparingly, it's a magic tonal sweet spot. Breathes enough life into dull things. Very easy to overdo it, so always dial back when eq'ing amp/pedals etc
In the 80's when I had a Bob Bradshaw 20 space rack that lit up like the cockpit of a 757, I had a couple of these, they were standard in just about every rig you'd see back then. I kinda looked at the Sonic Maximizer like you would use a compressor... you can set it for a very subtle effect, or you can get really crazy with it.
I use the BBE plugins to add some fatness to some parts. A little bit goes a long way, and you only want to use it on maybe a couple of tracks at most without destroying the mix
I have a rack unit with a built in noise suppressor and a sonic stomp I use with my bass amp. I typically use it in an aux send on vocals and acoustic instruments and it really adds clarity to those sources in a busy mix. Go light on the Process though or the highs can become piercing, but set sparingly it really livens up a live mix.
Would have loved to heard this on a clean tone. I owned the model you demo'd for a few years. I found it nice for recording, not so nice live with lots of distortion - its easy to get too bright live with heavy guitar. Studio, this is useful in my experience. Thanks for the demo.
I use the rackmount BBE 386 in front of my Pod HD 500x into the PA with my acoustic....great for tuning the guitar sound for different venues....got mine off ebay for £40!
I have the mini pedal version. Didn't find it worth it on electric but works wonders on my acoustic especially my 12 string. Also to keep my sound more acoustic I use wireless which kinda boost the signal so I keep the guitars volume knob turned way down giving a cleaner clearer acoustic sound. Between wireless and Sonic stomp gives a almost miked acoustic sound into P A.
My cheap car audio sounded like the out of phase sample. Already ordered Pioneer FH-P5000MP with BBE. Yes, I ordered a 90s (actually 2003) piece of car audio in 2020.
I think it’s more like the way bbe explained It to me. Play a cd song on your stereo, immediately after listening to that song on the fm radio. The cd will not sound as loud for the reasons described in this video. I love that tone quality and for live playing it has an amazing ability to make the sound bigger. The BBE is the 11 on the volume knob for me.
had one in my M-80 rack, in a metal band from 89 to 91. Lots of bands said I needed to run Gain at 10, had mine at around 6-7.. and pushed more air with my BBE on 6 than they did with their JCMs on full gain. Loved that set up. M-80 was plugged in a Peavy Butcher Cab with 4 70W celestions... yes, had that GHUN GHUN GHUN sound. Was not lost in the mix at all.
I have a Randall NB King 100 head that I run through a BBE sonic maximizer 462 and it turns that amp in to a beast. I have used BBE 462 on many amps and still love it. I only use the BBE Rack mounts only . The BBE stomp pedals are poop.
Sonic Maximizers are only really good for floor toms that are tuned so loose that even large capsule microphones can't really interpret the sound your ear hears in the room to the recording or if you are using brushes it can add some nice scratch to jazz snares. Fun fact there is a BBE unit in every tracking room at blackbird studios since a lot of live guys from the 90s transitioned to tracking engineers so they find them as a useful exciter. Basically it's a passive EQ circuit.
Everyone either hates this or loves it. I dont use one in my current rig but when I was running a Peavey 6505+ it worked great. My wife who isnt into guitar oriented music or my playing in general actually came by my man cave and asked what did I buy cause my guitar sounded clearer.
I've done the A/B testing with and without, my guitar tone simply sounds better when I use one of these. It adds a certain smoothness to your tone that you miss once it goes away. They haven't sold about a million of these units across decades because of a bunch of gullible idiots, despite what some seem to think.
I think they have. If you have a good pre- and poweramp, and great speakers, adding this thing is about the worst you can do. They spent a ton of money getting artists to endorse the thing. As soon as the money went, so did the maximizer.
@@vent676 if it sounds good, it sounds good, you cant argue with someone else eats. When studio A list guitar players have then in their rack, you cant call bullshit. I dont use them very often, but the times I have, it did sound like some kind of improvement overall, very noticable.
@@realtruenorth I'm arguing that a-list players had them in their rack, but not connected to anything. You could easily tru for yourself: use an effect on your guitar. Leave the room. Come back after fifteen minutes. Without looking at your gear, can you tell if your distortion is on? Of course. Delay? Chorus? Reverb? All no-brainers. This thing? Not so clear.
vent svents seriously? You cant hear the difference? It's quite obvious to my ears,, I am not a defender of its nessecity but to say you cant hear it is laughable. And A listers just put shit in their tracks to look 'cool' I think they deserve a little more respect than such a presumption.
@@realtruenorth You don't understand. You can clearly hear the difference in sound when you switch the unit in and out of the signal chain. I'm not arguing that. What I'm saying is that the effect on your sound is something that doesn't stick. Without the a/b-ing, you wouldn't know if it's there. Like if you would hear me playing without knowing what's in my rack, you could not tell whether I'd have a maximizer or not. Likewise, you would not be able to name a recording by an a-list player that demonstrates 'that distinctive maximizer sound'. Top players had endorsement deals, in which they were paid to have a maximizer in their rig. They would say that they used it in interviews, and photos of their rig would clearly show the unit. Endorsements is nothing special, happens all the time, from amps to effects to strings and picks and straps and cases. People assume that using the tools of their heroes gets them closer to being like their heroes. So if your favourite player says he's using it, it must be good. In reality, you can't really tell what strings someone is using, or what piece of plastic they are holding. Sure, a thicker pick sounds different to a thinner one, but can you hear if it's a dunlop or not? Did you ever hear a tune and go 'I wish they had used elixir strings instead of fender? ' This is what happened with the maximizer. People would get one, hear the effect of it whileswitching it on and off, have it as part of their sound, and get used to it like an eq setting. Next day, they could have their amp a little brighter and forget about the maximizer altogether. In the end, with a good sounding amp and guitar, you really aren't missing anything that needs fixing with a maximizer.
I have quite a few of those and apex units we used to use in the 80’s - amps have come so far, they have basically been sitting for years shelved -guitar wise. A great tube preamp into a quality amp is really ideal. - However with some electronic drum sets, they can really bring out the cymbals in those going into a live set up. Just remember, less is more with these- easy to go over the top.
One secret of these. The older the better, especially if you're looking for an 80's/90's metal sound. I've tried old and new, and the best one I've found is the 422 (EDIT: The one he's holding at 4:00), released around '88. It's in my rack right now. The little DI-100 box is decent too, if you can find one. The newer ones don't appear to do much. I guess they dumbed them down because people didn't know how to dial them in.
Dont forget Metallica during Justice and The Black album used an ADA mp-1, ADA digitalizer, and a BBE 422.I think there was a Rocktron compressor limiter after that.
I never thought of using this in the effects loop. I've always encountered these things in the main mix bus of systems. This seems like one more thing that would have to get adjusted or could get bump;and nobody would realize it. And all those systems that I've used with them the newer ones the red ones it always seemed like I was fighting the entire system to get it to sound good well also not feeling like I dare touch the knobs on it.
I have a BBE Sonic Stomp Pedal. It sounds like a bed sheet was over the cabinet and the unit removes it. The bass control is nice for adding richness (sort of like an amps resonance control) and the process control really makes things shimmer - affecting frequencies above the amps treble/highs control. You have to resist using too much or it gets unpleasant. I think of it as mastering for my guitar sound. That pedal combined with my always-on compressor on the lowest setting really makes a noticeable difference.
I discovered something shady about a BBE rack unit. If you put it in your signal path BEFORE turning it on, you will notice a DRASTIC improvement in your sound between the bypassed and processed signal. However, if you pull it out of your chain….you’ll sound even better! 😂😂😂😂 Now, used a a stomp box and not after your preamp….it might provide an interesting effect. 🤷♂️
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Thr BBE used in a tasteful way is the best thing ever invented.
They are amazing.
Couple things to note: first, these devices were really popular when most speaker systems relied on passive crossovers. Passive crossovers work on the output energy from the amplifier itself - it’s an all or nothing proposition with the signal, and it causes the highs and lows to fight each other for resources. Selective delay of the lower frequencies basically gave a slight advantage to the higher frequencies when it comes to getting those resources in the first place. Then add to that the definition control, which is essentially a compressor/expander, Adjusting the level of mid or highs dynamically in an attempt to compensate and keep the program material somewhat balanced.
Now, most speaker systems rely on active crossovers that affect the signal before the amplifiers (plural). That also allows the speaker designer to compensate for anomalies between the two drivers, so maximizer devices are less useful.
Second, as far as guitar tone is concerned it totally makes sense to me that this would help a scooped-mids metal tone. The guitar is a mid range instrument; by scooping all the meds out you’re taking a lot of the power of the instrument away, so a device that boosts highs and lows would add support to the weaker parts of the instrument’s tone, making it sound more powerful.
The Pedal version is called Sonic Stomp. I've used it for years as the last pedal in my FX loop chain, and I love it. Specially in Marshalls.
Loved these in the late 90’s when I super scooped my eq and had tons of gain till I was in an actual band and my tone totally disappeared.
Exactly!
Yeah, the good old "Pissed off wasps in a box"-setup, double the hair using a SS preamp and a Boss DS-1 set to distortion
100% Sounds fabulous in the bedroom/by yourself....makes your guitar invisible in a band
@@flinto2002 only if you have no idea to dial in tone.
Yeah, blame your gear for you lack of ability to dial in tone.
I have the pedal version for my guitar pedalboard. It's an essential, always-on, set-it-and-forget-it pedal on my board. Adds a lot of dimension and depth to the sound. I bought a backup pedal too, because I never want to be without it.
Where in your chain do you have it?
@@GucciPonderosa It's the very last pedal before the amp. I don't have an effects loop so pedal board goes right into the amp input. I've tried the pedal at the very front of the pedal board, too, and I really can't tell much of a difference. Putting it at the end was the result of reading some chats about the pedal. Consensus seemed to be to put it at the end.
@@spidgeb3292 very helpful. Thanks so much!
I have a "Sonic Stomp" that I run in the FX loop of my MP-1. It seems to bring out the highs and "de-mud" the overall sound.
I still use the BBE Sonic Maximizer together with my Aphex Aural Exciter. I use them in my David Hafler Dynaco circuit based home theater system. I also use a 12AU7 based Tube Pre-Amplifier. I use class D amplifiers due to their bass authority, and sterile analytical sound. What I end up with is a lush smooth creamy sound due to the synergy of all my gear. Clean, crisp and detailed. I have an almost unlimited sound stage. I can dial in-and-out the width, and depth to taste. Imaging is out of this world. I feel very fortunate that I want for nothing having the audio rig I have. I feel I have reached that satisfaction level we all seek building our audio rigs
I love my BBE sonic maximisers. The secret is to use them with subtlety/taste and not overdo the control settings
Sound awesome on a bass , and once tried in a HiFi becomes hard to no have it on in there
I used these quite a bit. It affects different amps in different amounts. It is awesome for Marshalls. I used it with my Dean Markley tube amp and it was like taking a blanket off your amp. It really emphasizes the clarity of an amp. It makes a lot of sense because it is allowing the speaker to reproduce all the frequencies better without as much freq cancellation.
I had the rack unit back in the 90s and I used it with a dual rec. Always been a fan.
Same here...still own them both
They also work really really well for mixing with tape. Back in the day, working with anything but the top quality reel to reels meant a mid bump, wonky low end, and a hi rolloff. A sonic maximizer works wonders for remastering and working with old tape.
Seems like it does great for clarifying low end stuff like kick drum, bass etc..
I LOVE my BBE SM! For metal, it tightens my low end!
I use my old BBE, from the late ‘80s, in my home stereo. Love it! Still works it’s magic.
I like them, Yay
Of course I'm older and grew up in the 70s & 80s, so they sound pretty normal to me!
I have the Sonic Stomp pedal. I'd say Yay for some amps: where you don't have a mid pot, it takes a bit the mud off and enhances clarity, without scooping the tone too much. Easy on the settings though.
*Wow, I genuinely recognize it in a lot of old recordings.*
I haven't read about these in years to have even remembered what they do without watching your video. I can understand this one fading out of popularity, *but the exciters had such amazing potential for the ultimate tube simulation circuitry.*
A sophisticated exciter allowing you to hand select harmonic frequencies and set their magnitude coupled with a sophisticated EQ would enable us to produce an exact harmonic fingerprint of every tube amp and it's preamp tubes on earth. Digital emulation is currently so good though, there's no incentive to revive the technology granted for vocals and other instruments it could still be quite valuable.
Using my BBE 422 for over 25 year between my Mixer Output and Soundprozessor Input of my PA System. For me it´s a must because it sounds great and gives you an extra cleanness !
I've used a bbe in my live acoustic rig. I don't play live for the time being so it is in my preamp rack for recording. I really don't use it there but I will use the plugin. I will use it, see what needs to be cleaned up and then turn it off and work on the tracks without it. If I didn't have my UA multiband compressor I think I'd need the bbe a lot more
Got one and I must say it is awesome. I mean if you like sharp trebly distortion...I wanted to nail that Paul Gilbert 80s / early 90s tone and this thing totally delivers it.
I used to run one of those earlier BBE’s as a bassist in the early 90’s.
Sounded fantastic!
I had a BBE for some time. I used it basically to make my amp sound more open at low volumes 🚀
OH yeah! It's like the "Loudness" switch on old stereo systems. So at low volumes you still get tons of thump!
Michael Nielsen yes the added definition compensated well for the dull tone causated by the Thd hotplate. 🚀
I used one on my Dual Recto when I wanted to use it at "house volumes". Gave it back the balls without the wife cutting off mine.
In a band context definitely didn't use it.
@Mykal Anstrom Haha always better to be cautious 😂! Rectos seem to be already quite scooped in the mid so I can imagine that in a band you don't need to enhance that.
i use the desktop version on my tube amp's fx loop at the end of the chain and it's like taking a blanket off of my speaker, sounds amazing. wouldn't play my amp without it. i also hook it up last right before my focusrite interface when recording directly from pedalboard, using an amp sim pedal like the ACS1 from walrus or Iridium.
I used a BBE select maximizer on my PA set up for years, and it gave me so much more about amend, even though I was using 18 inch subwoofers. As a solo LoopingArtist with multiple instruments on stage, I like a big huge sound, not just loud, but big. The BBE help me with that greatly. When I bought a bag and PA system, I didn’t need to use this anymore because they have timeline in their equipment. I now mainly use a QSC K.2 powered system with 10 inch mains, and a single 12 inch subwoofer. The thing sounds huge, sounds amazing! I’m wondering if I should start using a BBE again to give it even more kick.
Sounded great on the Soldano. The BE didn’t need it. Cool video!
I agree. There are times when it really compliments the Soldano. NO bueno with the BE100. I was pretty sure that would happen. haha
The Aurel exciter is similar and was used on lots of 80's vocals like Steve Perry and Stevie Ry Vaughn. I suspect Hury Lewis too.
I have 2 BBE 462, one in home studio and one used to be in the guitar rack system but I don´t use racks for several years. I´m wondering if I should test it again in a live situation. It sounds so amazing. I used to master my old tapes passing through this BBE. It really transform completely the sound in a very good way.
I use the 462 maximizer after my loadbox, to recover that “breathe” that all loadboxes muffles
Thanks for sharing the info on the Aphex in comparison. Exactly what I was looking for.. ✌️
We used it on PA back in the day as a handy quick bass or treble booster and it worked quite well. I think maybe a good eq on guitar would provide more versatility, but who knows.
I had one in my guitar rack. Used as season to taste. I loved what it did. Thanks for explaining.
I too had this very delightful piece of rack gear, and I must say your Knight of the Round Table like dedication to how the Tone's of the God's in achieved is so very appreciated. I use the plugin suite on a tone of stuff, Thanks for your hard work on this video.
I used it on my original 5150 and 5150 cab in the 90s for live shows. It was a definite improvement.
I love this thing! Great video
I really like the bbe sonic maximizer pedal in the effects loop of an Amp without a presence or resonance Control..
For example, the carvin bel air has a presence on th clean channel (which sounds great) but not on the soak channel (which people claim is muddy and dark sounding)
The bbe in the loop helps balance that sound out a great deal. So does a ddpw my little klony in front but that's another conversation.
Yay. I have been using them since 1992. It is addictive for sure. Makes effekts pop out and the tone gets better, at least to me it does. Love my BBE 462 in the rack.
I had one in my rack along with a Rocktron velocity power amp and GSP 2101 and it sounded sick.
Used to have the pedal version, I thought it was "cheating" somehow and got rid of it but it did sound really good. I loved the sound of this thing in this video as well. Sort of a one trick pony to tighten the highs and juice up the lower mids but it sounds really good.
That's exactly the kind of "cheating" I want to do.
Should always start with the knobs at noon...just use the process to phase align your sound..need more high twist the process knob..usually don't need to go more than 1 o clock-ish...the Lo contour shouldn't really need to exceed 1-2 o clock at most...It adds a lot of clarity and my take is that you go from an AM radio sound to FM stereo..
Yay, it really depends on the application. It was used in my bands PA.
Im using a Sonic Stomp sonic maximizer with my AxeFx 3 and LOVE IT. It completely cleans up everything. Since the AxeFx 3 doesn't have an effects loop, I've used input/output channel 3. So it's:
Guitar > Looper > Drive > Amp > Cab > Tone Match block (because for some reason it gives it clarity without actually using it but just having it on) and then input of the Sonic Stomp goes to the Output of Channel 3 and the Input of Channel 3 goes into the Ouput of the Sonic Stomp so this is all after the amp,cab, tone match, and then > Mixer (because adding a channel for some reason defaults to Mono Right speaker only ans there is no way of fixing this for pedals that don't have stereo outs, and then > Chorus > Delay > Reverb
It really, and I can't stress this enough, completely changes the sound of all my presets for the AxeFx 3 and I love it. I've always had an issue with AxeFx sounding muddy and flubby and super dull no matter what I do and the Sonic Stomp tightens it all up. My metal tones sound amazing with that thing. I don't ever want to play the AxeFx without it now so it is dedicated to on every time I boot it up.
I still love my BBE’s. I have the same unit! Love Em! 👍🏻
I used to use an aphex aural exciter on my mix-downs in the recording studio. Most clients liked it for more punch and detail in the final 2 track mix.
Thanks for that video. I’ve been thinking about adding one to my pedal board. Now i know what i want to do.
I watched this to investigate one being sold on CL. Will this make vocals only sound better? And where would I put it in the chain? Thank you and indeed a great video.
EQ makes vocals sound better first of all. Or a focusrite voice pro processor. Anything recorded to tape will sound better with Sonic maximizer. I use it on 2 ch buss processing.
Made my 688 tape demos sound magnificent.
Everyone in LA was like do my Demo bro!!
I had one of these combined with a crate blue voodoo in my teenage hard rock band. People with triple rectifiers and Marshall’s used to gather around to hear a sound 10x bigger than they’d every heard. One luthier said he’d never heard a sound like that since being a roadie for Metallica.
Yeah I beatbox and loop through mine and people tell me I sound like cd quality, love the bbe since over 10 years
Perfect, exactly what i was looking for.!
Have a BBE Sonic stomp in my chain. It is literally like taking a blanket off of the speakers
I used to rock one with my '98 Triple Recto in the early 2000's, I used to dig it. Just gotta be subtle with the dials.
I use to pile that into every sound system I sold in the late 80s and early 90s
Hahaha loved these. Still have a mint one in a box from back in the day when I was trying to recreate Viv Campbell's monster rack. Very aurally exciting times 🤘🤘🤘
@-/ 🤣🤣🤣
Messing around recording I like using an EQ scooped but you get a huge volume cut so live I use a BBE sonic stomp in the loop or at band practice or jamming at home.
BIG Yay! Finally A demo on the BBE ........ mines a 422A . Love it
My buddy used to borrow mine for his home sound system, made his cd's sound like DAT.....
Damn you just enumerated all the reasons why I bought mine lol...
I use mine in stereo between my classic 60/60 and real tube 2 preamp by BK Butler. I usually cranck the contour and definition knows at 3 and 4pm . Never tried it against solid power amps like yours ,, but it makes my cheaper end power amp sound 2000$$ more expensive 😆
Great video as usual Michael 👌
yay. works awes on my 5150ii great content bro!! cheers from new zealand \m/
I’ve been using the Sonic Stomp on my rigs for 15 years now… wouldn’t be without them. 👍🏻
My brother's a DJ and he loves it for the clarity of highs and lows (BBE 882i).
I own the red and silver bbe pedal from a while back... I liked it a lot except when I run my mxr ten band eq with it in the effects loop it got to be a bit to much!... To say the least... It was either one or the other, and I chose the eq for more tone flexability with pushing the miss.... But still the bbe pedal thru an effects loop sounds amazing....
The purpose of a BBE Sonic Maximizer is to correct phase distortions that are inherent in the way that loudspeakers work, and to compensate for the roll-off in low frequencies as the frequency approaches the resonant frequency of the loudspeaker. It's a tool for compensating for functional deficiencies in loudspeakers. If used carefully, and judiciously, it can transform the sound of an audio installation. It was not intended to be for being used as an "effect", but as loudspeaker defect correction. It does what it was originally designed to do very effectively and can really make a sound system sound much better than it actually is.
When you have a BBE Sonic Maximizer as a component in a sound system It is very easy to tell which recordings have had the BBE process applied to it in the studio.
I have a bbe and it works well for solid state amps to give them some boldness.
In the 90’s, my rack had one in it, and it was magic with my ADA MP1
I could see this being applied phenomenally with the right reverb
I've used one forever and yep makes everything sound better when used in moderation.
I have BBE Sonic Stomp in my pedal chain (yes, upfront...oh the blasphemy!) into a '79 Marshall 2203 and a Mesa Dual Rec (split with a Radial Tone Bone JSX2) low set at 10:00 and process set at 2:00 and its always on.
Great detailed explanation of how this processor works 👍👍 I have heard the bbe882i make drastic changes in music sound reproduction for a wide range of dynamics. Hearing it with just the guitar doesn't really do it any justice IMO.
Interesting.
Good vid. There's a lot of beliefs shared over the last 20 years on internet about mythical sonic maximizer. Essentially, now that I hear it in a good comparison, it's a tone destroyer. It makes the guitar do less what it's supposed to do in a band context. Not very pleasant to my ear. A good 4x12" cab pretty much makes this effect happen with better oomph and less brittleness already.
Got one in my 90s rack with an Ada mp1 and a Eventide h3000, my stere rack amp died years ago and the “new” Mesa rectifiers were coming out so….
We were stoked on those in the early 90's. Felt like it took the pillow away from the front of the speaker. What ever happened to those? Do they still make them? Great Topic!! I love Aural Excitement!...but I think I prefer the sound of straight guitar into an amp nowdays!
I run one on both snare mics and another on both bass drum mics as inserts. Low at 11oclock and contour about 1. I more or less don't have to do anything in the box with those 4 mics then. Haven't tried it on Toms or overheads yet.
Audio doesn’t come out of speakers at different speeds. That’s impossible. Sound always travels at the same speed in a same medium.
But different and poorly made sound systems can have poor phase correlations. This is caused by a thing called group delay. It is a result of the filtering process in a speaker. When capacitor networks are arranged to filter out sounds, they pass the high frequencies without touching them. They move at nearly the speed of light. Progressively lower frequency bands experience more delay by a matter of wave cycles.
Electronically this is all very small but still enough to put waves out of phase with each other, unless it is a specific linear phase design.
Furthering this, speakers have different abilities to push out waves given that they’re are limited by the speed a driver can move in and out. A bigger driver will always be slower, especially with paper designs. But paper sounds better than other harder designs like Kevlar so we still use it.
The sound all comes out at the same speed. But electronically and physically, it has a delayed start time.
Great video - i think you're making a great point. It's a piece of kit that served it's purpose (ans still does occasionally), but should be used with taste.. And yes, i was one of those kids beefing up my Digitech 21Ledend sound - scooped mids and a BBE - hahaha - it made it bearable if you will :) - Love your Videos!!
If used sparingly, it's a magic tonal sweet spot. Breathes enough life into dull things. Very easy to overdo it, so always dial back when eq'ing amp/pedals etc
In the 80's when I had a Bob Bradshaw 20 space rack that lit up like the cockpit of a 757, I had a couple of these, they were standard in just about every rig you'd see back then. I kinda looked at the Sonic Maximizer like you would use a compressor... you can set it for a very subtle effect, or you can get really crazy with it.
Did you use it in front of the amp or in the fx loop?
@@Johnmannish You could run it either way, but most ran it into the effects loop 👍🎸
I use the BBE plugins to add some fatness to some parts. A little bit goes a long way, and you only want to use it on maybe a couple of tracks at most without destroying the mix
Paired with an MT-2 it creates an auditory singularity.
HAHA! It did occur to me that it can bring a MetalZone-esque quality to the table.
I have a rack unit with a built in noise suppressor and a sonic stomp I use with my bass amp. I typically use it in an aux send on vocals and acoustic instruments and it really adds clarity to those sources in a busy mix. Go light on the Process though or the highs can become piercing, but set sparingly it really livens up a live mix.
Would have loved to heard this on a clean tone. I owned the model you demo'd for a few years. I found it nice for recording, not so nice live with lots of distortion - its easy to get too bright live with heavy guitar. Studio, this is useful in my experience. Thanks for the demo.
I use the rackmount BBE 386 in front of my Pod HD 500x into the PA with my acoustic....great for tuning the guitar sound for different venues....got mine off ebay for £40!
Hi..what's the difference between the stock version and the model A?
Also do you ever see the model 702 designed for the dbx 900 rack?
I have the mini pedal version. Didn't find it worth it on electric but works wonders on my acoustic especially my 12 string. Also to keep my sound more acoustic I use wireless which kinda boost the signal so I keep the guitars volume knob turned way down giving a cleaner clearer acoustic sound. Between wireless and Sonic stomp gives a almost miked acoustic sound into P A.
I used one with a Marshall 9001 preamp back in the early 2000s. It was absolutely necessary with that preamp otherwise there was almost no definition.
My cheap car audio sounded like the out of phase sample. Already ordered Pioneer FH-P5000MP with BBE. Yes, I ordered a 90s (actually 2003) piece of car audio in 2020.
I think it’s more like the way bbe explained It to me.
Play a cd song on your stereo, immediately after listening to that song on the fm radio.
The cd will not sound as loud for the reasons described in this video.
I love that tone quality and for live playing it has an amazing ability to make the sound bigger.
The BBE is the 11 on the volume knob for me.
had one in my M-80 rack, in a metal band from 89 to 91. Lots of bands said I needed to run Gain at 10, had mine at around 6-7.. and pushed more air with my BBE on 6 than they did with their JCMs on full gain. Loved that set up. M-80 was plugged in a Peavy Butcher Cab with 4 70W celestions... yes, had that GHUN GHUN GHUN sound. Was not lost in the mix at all.
Did you put it in front or in the fx loop of an amp?
I have a Randall NB King 100 head that I run through a BBE sonic maximizer 462 and it turns that amp in to a beast. I have used BBE 462 on many amps and still love it. I only use the BBE Rack mounts only . The BBE stomp pedals are poop.
At subtle settings, it sounds good. Thing is, you can get pretty much the same tones with careful EQing.
They put this into their acoustimax preamp pedals and it is really useful in that situation.
Sonic Maximizers are only really good for floor toms that are tuned so loose that even large capsule microphones can't really interpret the sound your ear hears in the room to the recording or if you are using brushes it can add some nice scratch to jazz snares. Fun fact there is a BBE unit in every tracking room at blackbird studios since a lot of live guys from the 90s transitioned to tracking engineers so they find them as a useful exciter. Basically it's a passive EQ circuit.
Everyone either hates this or loves it. I dont use one in my current rig but when I was running a Peavey 6505+ it worked great. My wife who isnt into guitar oriented music or my playing in general actually came by my man cave and asked what did I buy cause my guitar sounded clearer.
My high school buddy had one with his original 5150 head, and it was full on metal glory!!!
I've done the A/B testing with and without, my guitar tone simply sounds better when I use one of these. It adds a certain smoothness to your tone that you miss once it goes away. They haven't sold about a million of these units across decades because of a bunch of gullible idiots, despite what some seem to think.
I think they have. If you have a good pre- and poweramp, and great speakers, adding this thing is about the worst you can do.
They spent a ton of money getting artists to endorse the thing. As soon as the money went, so did the maximizer.
@@vent676 if it sounds good, it sounds good, you cant argue with someone else eats. When studio A list guitar players have then in their rack, you cant call bullshit. I dont use them very often, but the times I have, it did sound like some kind of improvement overall, very noticable.
@@realtruenorth I'm arguing that a-list players had them in their rack, but not connected to anything. You could easily tru for yourself: use an effect on your guitar. Leave the room. Come back after fifteen minutes. Without looking at your gear, can you tell if your distortion is on? Of course. Delay? Chorus? Reverb? All no-brainers. This thing? Not so clear.
vent svents seriously? You cant hear the difference? It's quite obvious to my ears,, I am not a defender of its nessecity but to say you cant hear it is laughable. And A listers just put shit in their tracks to look 'cool' I think they deserve a little more respect than such a presumption.
@@realtruenorth You don't understand. You can clearly hear the difference in sound when you switch the unit in and out of the signal chain. I'm not arguing that. What I'm saying is that the effect on your sound is something that doesn't stick. Without the a/b-ing, you wouldn't know if it's there. Like if you would hear me playing without knowing what's in my rack, you could not tell whether I'd have a maximizer or not. Likewise, you would not be able to name a recording by an a-list player that demonstrates 'that distinctive maximizer sound'. Top players had endorsement deals, in which they were paid to have a maximizer in their rig. They would say that they used it in interviews, and photos of their rig would clearly show the unit. Endorsements is nothing special, happens all the time, from amps to effects to strings and picks and straps and cases. People assume that using the tools of their heroes gets them closer to being like their heroes. So if your favourite player says he's using it, it must be good.
In reality, you can't really tell what strings someone is using, or what piece of plastic they are holding. Sure, a thicker pick sounds different to a thinner one, but can you hear if it's a dunlop or not? Did you ever hear a tune and go 'I wish they had used elixir strings instead of fender? '
This is what happened with the maximizer. People would get one, hear the effect of it whileswitching it on and off, have it as part of their sound, and get used to it like an eq setting. Next day, they could have their amp a little brighter and forget about the maximizer altogether. In the end, with a good sounding amp and guitar, you really aren't missing anything that needs fixing with a maximizer.
I have quite a few of those and apex units we used to use in the 80’s - amps have come so far, they have basically been sitting for years shelved -guitar wise. A great tube preamp into a quality amp is really ideal. - However with some electronic drum sets, they can really bring out the cymbals in those going into a live set up. Just remember, less is more with these- easy to go over the top.
Notes more clarity with the BBE..
Low end rumble gone.. practical for live situation..
Yay 👍
One secret of these. The older the better, especially if you're looking for an 80's/90's metal sound. I've tried old and new, and the best one I've found is the 422 (EDIT: The one he's holding at 4:00), released around '88. It's in my rack right now. The little DI-100 box is decent too, if you can find one.
The newer ones don't appear to do much. I guess they dumbed them down because people didn't know how to dial them in.
I bought a 422 based on your comment, and I'm very pleased, thank you for sharing that info.
@@JackNance22 You are most welcome. It was quite a process identifying the good stuff.
@@user-pc8vn6ym7r I don't doubt it, and some people hoard that knowledge. Cheers!
Dont forget Metallica during Justice and The Black album used an ADA mp-1, ADA digitalizer, and a BBE 422.I think there was a Rocktron compressor limiter after that.
I thought they recorded those albums with mesa boogie mark IV or something like this
I never thought of using this in the effects loop. I've always encountered these things in the main mix bus of systems. This seems like one more thing that would have to get adjusted or could get bump;and nobody would realize it. And all those systems that I've used with them the newer ones the red ones it always seemed like I was fighting the entire system to get it to sound good well also not feeling like I dare touch the knobs on it.
Been using these for years in my studio and touring rig
I have a BBE Sonic Stomp Pedal. It sounds like a bed sheet was over the cabinet and the unit removes it. The bass control is nice for adding richness (sort of like an amps resonance control) and the process control really makes things shimmer - affecting frequencies above the amps treble/highs control. You have to resist using too much or it gets unpleasant. I think of it as mastering for my guitar sound. That pedal combined with my always-on compressor on the lowest setting really makes a noticeable difference.
I discovered something shady about a BBE rack unit. If you put it in your signal path BEFORE turning it on, you will notice a DRASTIC improvement in your sound between the bypassed and processed signal. However, if you pull it out of your chain….you’ll sound even better! 😂😂😂😂
Now, used a a stomp box and not after your preamp….it might provide an interesting effect. 🤷♂️
Lot of people suggested to put one in the effect loop of a JCM900 and it makes wonders !........never tried though!