Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

Kosh Naranek said:
The process knob will increase the apparent amount of high end. The low contour knob will appear to boost bass. But along with this, it enhances clarity and detail.

They're great on synth sounds. They really bring out the sparkle and clarity.

Many guitarists into heavy music like them because the lo contour adds this deep, tight bass and the process control brings out the sizzle, and the whole rig sounds clear and tight. And as idsnowdog said, it can restore the clarity to a signal that's kinda degraded from running through a long chain of effects.

I used to use it on 4 track cassette mixes. The mixes tended to sound dull when mixed to cassette, and the BBE was great for adding a pro-sounding sheen and putting back some clarity.
Click to expand...



So if i read this correctly, a "dedicated" Garage Band, say like the White Stripes & Black Keys, will not want to use this device, as it will clean up their gritty dedicated lo-fi garage tone - correct ?


James
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

IMO the pedal is nearly worthless because most people are going to put it before the amp! The best place to put it is last in the chain after your preamp/dist stage and after effects. There's only two knobs on most of them so its very easy to use. Start out by turning the high end knob until the light reads yellow, that way it will only add a small amount of high end correction. If you put it in the yellow you will see your signal will fluctuate between yellow (unprocessed) and green (processed). Then adjust the bass knob until the bass sounds right. Since there is a bypass button just A/B the two signals.

Some amps and cabs are good enough that you won't hear a big difference. If you don't hear a big difference congratulations you don't need it for your guitar rig! But a lot of high gain amps produce too much distortion and clarity suffers. Or for that matter try it with some recorded material and fiddle with the knobs until you get a good sound using the method I just described and A/B. If you notice that you like the sound better with a mix of instruments but not your guitar rig, consider using it at the board.
 
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Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

What about the stompbox which is designed to use along with ehads instead of rackmount seperate pre & power amplifiers, how wuold you use that?

I remember hearing a clip of a guitarist who played a riff without the S.M on, then played the exct same riff with it on and there was a huge difference so i was interested in it, but i think he had the rackmount version & done it how "idsnowdog" said.


EDIT- Here's a comparison clip. http://www.notonmonday.com/music/BBEtest.mp3

The first riff is play sans-S.M then played with it on.
 
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Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

rivera213 said:
What about the stompbox which is designed to use along with ehads instead of rackmount seperate pre & power amplifiers, how wuold you use that?

I remember hearing a clip of a guitarist who played a riff without the S.M on, then played the exct same riff with it on and there was a huge difference so i was interested in it, but i think he had the rackmount version & done it how "idsnowdog" said.


EDIT- Here's a comparison clip. http://www.notonmonday.com/music/BBEtest.mp3

The first riff is play sans-S.M then played with it on.
Click to expand...

from that clip it sounds like you could lower the gain, boost the mids and save $100. not too impressed by that
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

I had heard different explanations for what it does, but I always figured proper use of an EQ unit would eliminate the need for a Sonic Maximizer.
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

Back in HS we had one in our band room's massive stereo rack. HIgh quality components feeding a high quality amp into two huge old school JBLs. My buddy and I were interested in what the Sonic Maximizer did, and it did add a nice crispness to the treble and fullness without flubbiness to the bass, especially for tape and vinyl sources. I've never used one on guitar, but guitar is an inherantly lo-fi signal, I'm not sure I want those effects. Although as it was described for down-tuned metal guitars, I could see the benefit.
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

I ran one in the loop of my modded 800 for a while. I gave it a serious chance, and spent hours and hours messing with it, but my conclusion was this: it takes a sound you've spent FOREVER dialing in and sucks all the **** mids out while adding a bit of fizz on the top, but only while it's working. If it's off or bypassed, it sounds great.

Mine's been holding down a spot of carpet for about 4 months. I need to get rid of it.
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

I'm pretty sure that Anthrax, Megadeth, and Pantera all used BBE Sonic-max during their heydays. They all seemed to have a similar hi-fi "sheen" to their tones, for better or worse.

They're nice devices for cleaning up a muddy solid-state tone or adding punch to a digital amp. For tube amps though, they can potentially process the "life" out of your signal. The envelope will give the impression of being faster/more cutting however on the downside more sterile. This can work quite well for thrash metal but not so good for playing music requiring a more organic or 3D sound.
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

i read this from somewhere but i forgot where exactly.

briefly: IIRC i think it delays 2 specific range of frequencies (a low-end "contour" and a high range "process" of frequency)

this therfore thickens the bottom end (low frequency), as well as emphasizes the prescence(treble frequencies) depending on your parameters.

it's a subtle effect, but when used correctly, can make a huge differnce on your rig, live or recorded.

i use the rack though
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

I think I like the tone better with it off. Sounds like a major volume robber.

I'm glad you posted this tread OP, cause I was gonna ask about the SM soon, as I was thinking of trying one.
Click to expand...
Sounded way better off in my opinion on it sounded boxy and small (probably due to volume though)
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

I used the rack version sometimes for recording in the 80's-90's. At first listen, it seems to help with tightness on Kick drum, bass, or piano and can help with sparkle on guitars and vocals. After a while, though, I feel this effect causes "listening fatigue". It offsets the arrival time of high and low frequencies and can cause off-time artifacts if you overdo it.
 
Re: Who can tell me what a "sonic maximizer" does?

I use one at the end of my pedal chain. I leave it on all the time now. Its really hard to put into words exactly what it does or how it sounds, but there is a noticeable difference when the effect is off and I much prefer the tone with the effect on. Very subtle effect, but does has an audible impact. At louder volumes the effect is more appreciated.
 
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