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").
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.
Desirability:
This thing looks sexy. The aluminum faceplate with the red backing looks great.
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).
Ease of Use:
Extremely easy to use - just plug it in, turn it on, and tweak the knobs
to taste.
Support:
Didn't require any support.
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.
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