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James... « Use with caution »
Published on 08/05/11 at 20:33BBE claims that the sonic maximizer will "replace lost mids in your signal that get lost in speaker to ear discourse" or something like that. Honestly, I remember reading the literature a while back and coming to the conclusion that BBE's advertising for this product was overly wordy and geared toward people who weren't smart enough to figure out what they meant anyway. BBE's mumbo jumbo aside, in layman's terms this is a compressor/eq basically. Don't be fooled. This isn't some kind of rocket science at work here.
UTILIZATION
Look at the front panel. That controls are simple. You can use this on guitar, bass, or in a live/studio mix. It doesn't matter. BBE basically designed it to improve the tone of anything. It's not hard to setup. Just follow BBE's instructions and turn the knobs till it sounds good.
SOUND QUALITY
Here's where I think this unit falls flat. A lot of people swear by this thing. I know a few guitarists and bassists that say it just makes them sound better. I used one of these on guitar years ago. If you aren't playing live, it does make you sound better. But when you start playing with a band, the BBE tends to suck your mids in a way that removes you from the mix. This is true especially when you turn the knobs higher. I found the BBE to be like an addictive drug. You can stick it on an instrument and turn the knob up and perceive it to sound better the higher the knob goes. In reality, the higher it goes the less you get heard in the mix.
The bottom line is, the BBE is really a fancy compressor/eq unit. In moderation, it can add some punch to certain things. But once you go overboard with it, you run a huge risk of being totally lost in a mix.
OVERALL OPINION
Considering what the sonic maximizer really is, I can't give it high ratings for value. It would probably be a better idea to spend your money on a good compressor instead. At least it wouldn't be pretending to be anything it's not. The BBE is advertised as magic. Maybe that's because it magically makes you dissapear from the mix. It may seem like I'm knocking it. I'm not. It's still usable. I just think a lot of people misuse them.
UTILIZATION
Look at the front panel. That controls are simple. You can use this on guitar, bass, or in a live/studio mix. It doesn't matter. BBE basically designed it to improve the tone of anything. It's not hard to setup. Just follow BBE's instructions and turn the knobs till it sounds good.
SOUND QUALITY
Here's where I think this unit falls flat. A lot of people swear by this thing. I know a few guitarists and bassists that say it just makes them sound better. I used one of these on guitar years ago. If you aren't playing live, it does make you sound better. But when you start playing with a band, the BBE tends to suck your mids in a way that removes you from the mix. This is true especially when you turn the knobs higher. I found the BBE to be like an addictive drug. You can stick it on an instrument and turn the knob up and perceive it to sound better the higher the knob goes. In reality, the higher it goes the less you get heard in the mix.
The bottom line is, the BBE is really a fancy compressor/eq unit. In moderation, it can add some punch to certain things. But once you go overboard with it, you run a huge risk of being totally lost in a mix.
OVERALL OPINION
Considering what the sonic maximizer really is, I can't give it high ratings for value. It would probably be a better idea to spend your money on a good compressor instead. At least it wouldn't be pretending to be anything it's not. The BBE is advertised as magic. Maybe that's because it magically makes you dissapear from the mix. It may seem like I'm knocking it. I'm not. It's still usable. I just think a lot of people misuse them.