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Rating And Reviews: BBE 882i Sonic Maximizer

+23dBu headroom. Balanced outputs. Hardwire bypass.

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"Excellent sound enhancer." submitted June 15, 2011

By a customer from comcast.net
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Musical Background: Active musician
Music Style: Classic Rock and Jazz
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Sound: Fantastic sound! Highly recommended. Once you have it you wont be able to live without out it. Feature: Simple to use. Ease of Use: Simple controls, nothing complicated to fool around with. Quality: Product is very well made. Value: Now that the price has come down on this - it is time to buy one and it is a really great way to improve your sound. The Wow Factor: Looks great! Overall: I will probably keep this for a long long time as long as it keeps on working.
8 of 8 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Great One Job Box" submitted October 22, 2003

By a customer from yahoo.com
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Sound: Excellent tool to add clarity to your sound. Sometimes, you just can't EQ to fix a problem. This works. No one will come up to you and say, "Hey, I can tell you are using a Sonic Maximizer," but they can tell there is something different. Feature: Hmm, 2 knobs per channel. I guess that makes for features. The low contour makes for a nice subwoofer control if you are running passive crossovers, or your crossover is out of reach. Quality: Make well, I have seen tons of them still kickin' in other guys racks, mine goes with me on road trips and the like, so I guess it held up well Value: Great box, I hear too many guys badmouth things like this, but I figure it is because they don't understand it!
35 of 36 people (97.22%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Best investment for the mobile dj" submitted February 11, 2010

By a customer from me.com
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Musical Background: recording engineer, dj
Music Style: top 40
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Sound: I use this in my mobile dj setup. I keep the knobs at 3 o clock most of the time. In a nutshell what it does is organize the different sound frequencies and outputs them out the correct speaker. It cleans up the sound. You easily distinguish between vocals bass and drums. Mobile Djs usually crank up the volume every time they dj. My bbe does such a good job that I don't need to pump up the volume. The audio is clean and the subwoofer doesn't muffle the mid or tweeter. The best investment I've made. I have a feeling my speakers are gonna have a longer life now. Feature: The unit doesn't include rackmount screws or audio cables. You get the unit and a power cord (and i think sticky pads for feet) and paper work. You can use regular 'ole trs speaker cables or xlr cables. The unit is short, so if you using it in your rack its best to install the cables first then install it into the case. Otherwise you'll be reaching in pretty deep to be plugging in your cables. Ease of Use: there's only two knob and a switch. the best things come in the simplest forms Quality: The thing i look at most is the alignment of the rackmount holes. They line up perfectly. The knobs have that cool factor and the led is bright. I see companies nowadays are doing a great job on the looks of their products. Ten years ago everything looked dull and boring (and black). Value: I would like to see this product in the "Great products under $200" catagory. But im still glad i purchased this one. Manufacturer Support: I never contacted bbe for support. But i did send an email telling them how much i loved their product and how much i would love to see this technology in my tv entertainment system. Almost immediately i got an email stating how my email made the company feel good and that their bbe sonic maximizer technology is used in the panasonic vierra tv series The Wow Factor: It's red. everything else i own is black. sticks out sooo well. totally radical simple like an ipod Overall: It is my favorite piece of equipment. The only thing that'll replace it is if BBE ever made an amp with the sonic maximizer chip built into it.
2 of 3 people (66.67%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Excellent, Hassle-Free Sound Enhancement" submitted October 21, 2008

Joe from zZounds
ZZOUNDS CREW REVIEW
Sound: From the point of view as someone who composes electronic music, I found this a little hit or miss. I found it sounded best on songs that had a lot of really short hits, or songs with pianos and such (which makes sense - BBE states that the Sonic Maximizer is best with those kinds of sounds). Also, on a lot of my own songs I'd already boosted the bass and treble so the boosting effects of the sonic Maximizer were a little overdone. I also noticed that on songs which had more subtle melodic lines, the Maximizer actually brought out sound attacks that were supposed to be more subtle. Generally speaking though, most of my music sounded better through this thing. And I could certainly see how a performer or a DJ could get a lot of use out of this. I'm looking to try the software version next (was kind of annoying having to run through my laptop into my desktop in order to record through it). Feature: Essentially the BBE Sonic Maximizer has two uses. The first is to clean up transients (things like drum hits, plucked sounds, piano, etc) so that they sound crisp and clear. The second is to boost the low end and the high end for a bigger and brighter (controlled by two knobs for each channel - one for lows labeled "Lo Contour", and one for highs oddly labeled "Process"). Ease of Use: Extremely easy to use - just plug it in, turn it on, and tweak the knobs to taste. Quality: The quality on the box is great. It has a solid aluminum faceplate with metal knobs that feel great. Value: It's hard to say - the low and high EQ could be enhanced with just about any EQ system, and it's very difficult to isolate the true benefit of the phase correction. If you don't want to get too technical, and just want a box that will make your music sound better, then this is definitely worth the money. If you're an audiophile who tweaks every aspect of your sound, then you'll still get a benefit from the phase correction but might want hold off getting this until you don't have other tech to buy. Manufacturer Support: Didn't require any support. The Wow Factor: This thing looks sexy. The aluminum faceplate with the red backing looks great. Overall: Overall I give this product an 8/10. I will definitely try the software version for my home studio, but not until I've gotten a few other upgrades that I've been looking into. I absolutely recommend this for anyone who isn't into tweaking every last aspect of their sound and just wants something to make their sound bigger and crisper.
2 of 3 people (66.67%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"GO Get One these... you'll be glad you did." submitted June 9, 2009

Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
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Musical Background: Songwriter, pro musician, certified recording engineer.
Music Style: Neo-R&B-Pop with a sprinkle of jazzanova..
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Sound: There is a marked difference but if this machine can make the sound this clear, there must be another machine that can make it even more clear. Feature: Not a lot of tweeker buttons... straight forward, even a chimp can operate it. Ease of Use: Nothing to it but the marked clarity it delivers. Quality: I think I may have blown up the max gain lit meter... Value: It was a gift... but the actual price is worth every penny... Manufacturer Support: n/a The Wow Factor: If this thing quacked out on me, I'd get a replacement. Overall: It's a great basic lil' product... that's a 'must have' and it's a deal !
1 of 4 people (25%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"It works! But for how long?" submitted December 25, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com
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Sound
Features
Quality
Value
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Musical Background: Active, semi pro. 22 years playing
Music Style: (1st)Hard Rock/Metal, Country, Blues, Classical, Camp Fire, General Noodling
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Sound: The product when FUNCTIONING, does an amazing job of "cleaning", or "tighting" up your sound. I should mention that I use this product in my guitar rack. It is placed in the signal chain (BBE) just after my pre-amp. (GSP 2101Artist) Where the signal the goes to my power-amp,(Peavey Classic 60/60) to, two 4X12 Cabs. (1960) In a stereo system like mine, the difference is amazing. I have a complaint as to the reliability of the product. My left channel is malfunctioning badly. This unit for all intent and purpose is new. I did buy used from a friend who bought a pair brand new. He sold me his spare. I was the first user and it has lived its whole life "racked" and its AC power very conditioned and spike protected. For perspective: My 2101 new 1995, my 60/60 new 1989 orig. tubes. Just to show that it has been pamperd. Feature: 5 is not fare, let me say 10. it does ALL IT NEEDS to do with 2 nobs. Quality: It looks well made, but in my case it is not true. I may have got a lemon. In any case I will be buying an Aphex 204 Aurual Exciter as a replacement. It is more flexable, and more in-expensive. Value: Re-read top. The Wow Factor: Check with other owners as to reliability. Overall: I would not buy again.
2 of 7 people (28.57%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"If your a guitarist looking for a sonic enhancement for your rig, do yourself a favor and get one!" submitted October 27, 2008

Peter from zZounds
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: "Active Musician",
Music Style: Prog Rockin' Improvizational Alchemey
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ZZOUNDS CREW REVIEW
Sound: The Sonic Maximizer doesn't have a "sound" per se as much as it cleans up your sound by delaying certain frequencies, thus making the overall sound more detailed. I hooked the SM up to my Boss GT 8 guitar processor, to hear the detail it would bring out. I placed it at the end of my internal FX chain, turned the knurl knobs to 2:00 o'clock and I was instantly impressed. As a tweaker I know that good tone is a process, no one processor will make a crappy sound and bad technique pleasing. But the SM brings out the detail of your tone as well as providing a "sonic" boost that has nothing to do with raising any levels! This was the only situation I employed, I will be purchasing the stomp box version of the Sonic Maximizer. Feature: just the power cable. Ease of Use: It does what it does and doesn't require any real tweaking, you simply dial in the amount of low process and high process and you're done. Both knobs at 2:00 and I was set. Quality: Nothing cosmetically eye opening, just a red dual processor. Value: Worth the price, for sure. Manufacturer Support: n/a The Wow Factor: It is a unique technical advance, although people say it's just a low/high pass filter to which I say "so what?" does it improve your sound? Does it do what it's advertised to do? Filter Schmilter! Wouldn't a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Overall: Great product, not for everyone.
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"Hocus Pocus" submitted January 26, 2013

By Jason Mallory in Tempe, AZ
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Musical Background: 10 years pro audio
Music Style: Alternative and R&B
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Overall: Complete garbage! Anytime I see this in someone's rack, I think amateur and someone who has a bad ear. This just makes all sound mud and garbage. It's an expensive shelf and that's all it is
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