Waves MaxxBCL

The Waves MaxxBCL will enhance your bass tremendously , and the compressor on it is very good as well. This unit is really expensive and I am privileged to have worked with it at the studio. It is a rack able unit but it takes up 2 spaces. It has a Peak Limiter and a high quality compressor. You can get a really good master with this unit. I prefer to use this unit just for bass though, it has an amazing ability to boost that bass sound and make it sound really big, but it can do it without putting more bass and low in frequencies into the mix. So if you want that bass to still be wide and sound big, but you don’t want to crowd the low end of your mix then the MaxxBCL is something you might want to invest in.


UTILIZATION

The compressor has a nice warm sound to it, you can generally only get this type of warm sound from a hardware unit like the MaxxBCL. I have used just about every software compressor that has came out up to this point and none of them have the natural warmth of a hardware compressor like MaxxBCL. The peak limiter is very transparent too.


SOUND QUALITY

I prefer to only use this unit on bass instruments and bass tracks. I feel like that is the best part of it, I am not comfortable with the compression enough yet to start using it to master with.


OVERALL OPINION

If you like to have big sounding bass and don’t want to have your masters muddy and sound bad. Then the MaxBCL is what you need to invest your money into. It will make your bass sound great and take it to new levels. Don’t think that all these software systems and plug ins can do to your bass what the MaxxBCL can do, because they can not. I am happy that I get to use this device a lot. The quality is just amazing, it does cost a lot though!

1) Compressor
2) serious synthesizer
3) limiter
editable on the front in a 19 "by 2 units.
This is a digital machine with 48 bit precision.
It supports analog input jack or XLR
Digital XLR (AES), RCA / Optical (SPDIF)

UTILIZATION

Well done manual. Simple editing.

SOUND QUALITY

Really works! This device is used to provide more fishing with an equal level. Or, if one is sober; keep potatoes with less level. I will try tomorrow on a PA system. But according to section tests I did I hope to fall by 4 or 5 dB level of dissemination while having the same "impact".

OVERALL OPINION

I have since yesterday. It is unique in its kind. One can not compare it to anything. Other synthesizers severe that I could try once grotesque are next to the Waves.

See technical details, but it's nice, pro, and the converter inside it's sturdy (very good, I can compare it to my converter RME ADI-2 which is already very very good) .

UTILIZATION

A 5 year old child could do it. 3 buttons here and there by 4 wheels. J'appuye it works (or not). I put 9 / 10 because we would have appreciated some adjustments.

SOUND QUALITY

Flawless! We expected no less, mind you. At this price, and given the prestigious references, everything is logical.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it recently. But the really important and that everyone asks is: what is the rack hardware compared to equivalent softwares (Comp, L2, MaxxBass). I asked myself this question for almost 3 years!

Firstly I do not use the compressor that I prefer my Kultube SPL, but it has no report (analog, lamp, etc.).. This being the compressor Waves is his job, accurate and neutral. It might have enjoyed a finer adjustment of the attack time (only increments via button), or adjusting the release.

For cons the part that interests me (and why I purchased the Waves Maxx BCL), ie the L2 limiter and Maxx Bass, said that after years of use versions of softwares?

Well I would say that the soft versions are not so bad ... as long as we stay on values ​​and its modest level of demand is not too high. Because MaxxBCL is clearly above the result is airy, musical, supple.

I do not have much recoil, but the Maxx Bass does not sound like the same settings. It's confusing when there are reflexes on the app. But mostly it sounds better. I go down to the frequency where the 50/60 Hz with software version was more around 80/90Hz. And it's not so bad because it emits frequencies that can affect other instruments (even equipped with a low-cut). Anyway we should not forget the operation of Maxx Bass artificially recreate frequencies at 50Hz (for example) by psychoacoustic effect by stimulating the ear in much higher frequencies. Therefore if one goes up to 50Hz is actually everywhere except at 50Hz. QED.

For the limiter, the difference with the actual software version is already on low values ​​(-2, -3 dB). And the more one grows the more the difference is (from there to exceed -8/-10dB, it seems almost a mixing problem at the start, or sound recording).

With the hardware version, the sound is more airy, less aggressive, it seems more fluid, better trained. All this is hard to describe, but the difference is real. The result is less clear digital aggressive, much more musical.

To conclude, if you have the Thun, Maxx BCL is a gem that exudes quality is top pro will do very well, and added luxury, you can very well influence the levels of input and output (but especially input, and that's significant, because for the exit, L2 app is the same: it comes out exactly what you want, in this case -0.3 dB for me, mastering). Buttons and then turn it's still nice.

You can even use it as an AD / DA converter high quality! And he pulls out a file while you own including a dither renowned in Waves.

So I got a gift, certainly expensive, but hey it was my birthday as the day of order!

And I can tell, last but not least, I've eliminated all of my software processing chain! (A little satisfaction, but I assure you it is not that snobbery)

Case:

The quality of workmanship is impeccable. The knobs are metal. Rack handles and handy design.
Calculation in double precision 48 bit, depending IDR (digital anti-aliasing), 125dB dynamic range ... The top of the digital hardware.
Analog input calibration and faithful converters.

UTILIZATION

It's very simple. 4 presets storable.
Automatic release.

SOUND QUALITY

The compressor: it allows, with a short attack time to return stronger in maximizing the section.
This is the most transparent compressor digital I've ever heard (I own Sonnox, tc and SSL plugin). It can be used before or after (via a button) the max bass. He finds her after the utility max bass to avoid overflow.
The max bass: this doubles the sensation of bass. For me than the UAD precision hz which I can not find a comparable setting. On BCl, the effect is "body" with the original and it does not bleed unlike plug-in.
The limiter: Compared to version soft waves of L2 native, I can get even lower without digital distortion.

OVERALL OPINION

In the studio, he excels in converter / limiter after an analog mixer.
Mastering it will make a good sound mix very quickly, to pre listen.
(I put in on my master mixes with a spl Qure to give me an idea of the final mastering).

It is used to relieve the CPU.

On a bad mix, with extreme settings, it will quickly become the boiled (but that's not the fault of the camera!).

Live is the top. I saw that the engineer was using Metallica, AC means everything.