en http://en.audiofanzine.com An online magazine for musicians (keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, DJ...) and sound engineers (home studio, DAWs, Live Sound). News, videos, MP3, tests, tutorials, tips, user reviews, classified ads and forums. 2000-2008 AudioFanzine http://en.audiofanzine.com/xtras/news_sur_site.php Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:01:49 +0200 http://en.audiofanzine.com/img/logo_rss_audiofanzine.png http://en.audiofanzine.com An online magazine for musicians (keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, DJ...) and sound engineers (home studio, DAWs, Live Sound). News, videos, MP3, tests, tutorials, tips, user reviews, classified ads and forums. Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:12:44 +0100 http://guitar-eq-enhancer-booster.bbe.en.audiofanzine.com/products/user_reviews/index,idproduit,54952,review_bbe_sonic_stomp.html The BBE Sonic Stomp is a "sonic maximizer." I would guess that the circuitry inside this is probably similar to other BBE rack mount sonic maximizers. I might add that I used to own a very expensive Alpine car stereo head unit that included a BBE function, and the effect of the pedal sounds very similar to the sonic massaging that the head unit's BBE function performed. "Sonic massaging" is probably a good, if vague, way to describe the effect of this pedal. It's not quite an EQ or tone control, but works in almost a similar way, as it sounds like it is altering certain frequency responses. It is simple with only two knobs (Lo Contour and Process), and it's pretty darn hard to find a setting that doesn't improve the signal. Simple is always a good thing in my opinion, and the control setup does a fine job of allowing some good tweaking. The manual talks a bit about phase and amplitude correction, and this pedal apparently corrects timing of different frequencies to restore the original sound lost by limitations in the loudspeaker setup. Thus, following this, there are two things to take from the explanation: that every setup will likely have a slightly different "optimal" setting, and that this effect will likely be hard if impossible to get from an EQ. So perhaps the apparent result of using the pedal might sound similar to using a certain EQ setting, but what is really going on is quite different, and much more complex. Configuration is standard for a stomp box, with an input, output, 9V jack, and battery clip. BBE gets brownie points in my book for making the battery easily accessible with a simple door on the underside of the pedal, no disassembly or screw driver necessary. It also came with an adapter, but I am using this pedal with a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus, so I didn't need it. But I do appreciate the fact they included one.