BBE L82 Loudness Maximizer

The process of installing the BBE L82 Loudness Maximizer wasn't hard at all as I was able to install it and the other two plug-ins in the Sonic Suite at the same time and without problems.  The whole process only took a few minutes and was pain free.  The interface of the software only took me a minute or two to get used to as it is pretty basic in make up.  It has parameters in the form of knobs for sensitivity, release, and output level.  I haven't seen a manual for the plug-in so I don't know if it would be helpful or not, but the plug-in is easy enough to use on its own that I don't think one is necessary.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I've never had any problems at all running the BBE L82 Loudness Maximizer within my configuration as it doesn't take up a lot of processing power.  I am currently running the plug-in on a Mac Book Pro that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM.  I run the plug-in in Pro Tools LE 7.4 that runs with a Digi 002R audio interface.  Since this isn't a plug-in that takes up a lot of processing power, as long as you have a decent system to run this on, you should be okay with running this plug-in. 


OVERALL OPINION

While the interface is easy to follow and it always runs quite smoothly, I'm not a huge fan of the way the BBE L82 Loudness Maximizer sounds.  While it does do its job by cranking up your volume, a lot of times I find that it doesn't do it all that cleanly.  It is probably my least favorite plug-in within the BBE Sonic Suite and is one that I don't use all that often.  If I want more volume on a mix, I will usually try to do a variety of things without using this, but sometimes it does sound okay and works well.  However, if you are looking for a plug-in that will boost your volume, check out either the Waves L2 or L3 or the Massey L2007 as they aren't too expensive and will do a much cleaner job of maximizing your loudness.