BBE Sonic Maximizer DirectX

40+ years making music and recording.

Simple to use. Installs easy and has lo CPU useage.

I used this alot when I first got it. It was cool for its time back when it first came out. Since Ive gotten into mastering more I've quit using it all together. The BBE was a live sound PA enhancement tool that goes back to the 80s and 90s. Its a kind of aural exciter that shouldnt be put in your mixdowns if your going to do some serious mastering later. Ask ant pro engineer what will destroy a mix faster. If youre just doing demo stuff it will add some sheen to your mix but I found that properly recording and EQing the tracks will do much more to get a pro sound.

Definately Not worth a hundred dollars though it does give a realistic sound in comparison to the hardware unit. I would rather spend $100 on a hardware unit to record say the vocals or drums through it, Plus I'd have the benifit of using the unit in a rack for live performances.

I'm a hobbyist that likes to pretend he's a mastering engineer. I'm a compulsive tinkerer, and have been for the last four years. I run Adobe Audition and WinXP on an Athlon64 3200+ w/ 1GB RAM in a DFI nForce4 mobo. Depending on the hour, I monitor through KRK V4 nearfields or Sony MDR-7506 headphones, with an EMU 1820 as the source. I play guitar, bass, and tinker with synths, but I'm best on the bass. Unfortunately, that's not saying very much. :)

Installation is a breeze, and actually using the plugin is even easier. There isn't a whole lot to to it, though the knobs are a bit too sensitive for my taste. If it takes you more than five minutes to learn how to use it, I suggest that you give up on hard-drive recording altogether.

One nice thing about the plug-in is how little CPU time it uses. Even my previous machine, an old AthlonXP, had no trouble running six or seven instances at once in real-time. I don't think it's ever crashed on me, either. The QA people did a good job.

It is a VERY useful plug-in. I use it on EVERYTHING, and I mean that literally. With the possible exception of the Oxford plugins for Powercore, I've yet to hear an enhancer/exciter that's much better. The biggest problem with the sound is that it's a bit "plastic" (ie, artificial) sounding.

The key to this plugin is to tweak it until it's "just right," then back off a touch. For some reason, "just right" is always too much when you listen with fresh ears. I also suggest waiting to apply the plugin until the mixing stage, because it has a huge impact on where tracks sit in the mix.

BTW, decent speakers/headphones are a must. With bad monitoring, it's even easier to overuse, and when abused the Sonic Maximizer can make a decent recording muddy, painful, or both. Presets are worthless with this plugin, because the sound is extraordinarily sensitive to differences in source material. In essence, each recording requires its own preset.

It's DEFINITELY worth the $100 I paid for it, and I highly recommend it. I just wish they'd add a little bit more analog flavor to the sound, even if it means using a few more CPU cycles.

I have been doing multi-track recording for about 15 years. My first setup was a fostex 4-track. I then moved to a Vestex 6-track. Both of which were tape formats. About 4 years ago I built a DAW set-up. I am now running Cubase SL with a Tascam US428 and a small Yamaha mixing board. I do everything myself via a keyboard and EMU Proteus 1000 module. I have Fostex 2.1 monitors. I have the Sonic Maximizer plug-in and was amazed at the difference it made in my mixes. I now use it on every track individual and also on my master track. Awesome product.

The item itself is so easy to install and even easier to use. The presets for guitar, vocal, drums, bass, and keyboards are good. I do some fine tuning on occasion, but mostly use the presets as is. I didn't need to use a manual and honestly I don't think I ever looked at it. It was that easy to use.

I think it makes an incredible difference in my mixes. It strengthens the sound all across the bandwith.

This product is absolutely worth the money. It makes my mixes sound so much better than without it.

I've been recording in studio enviroments for 15+ years, both home and professional. I mostly take care of everything for myself, except drums, and have a fairly big home studio. I updated my studio to digital a couple of months ago, and was glad to find the digital counterpart to my 882i(x3). What i'm using now is an Intel P4 3.6, Windows XP SP2, Sonar 5 Producer, Controlled with a Tascam US-2400and four Behringer B-Control Rotary BCR2000's, M-Audio Delta 1010, M-Audio Delta 1010LT(x2). All fed through a Behringer Eurodesk MX9000. Yamaha NS10's and Behringer Truth B2031a's.

Feels like a Sonic Maximizer, except i'm turning knobs with my B-Control. Three Knobs, that says it all.

I bought this plugin to replace my three 882i's. They are not an exact match, but that could be due to many things computer related. I spent many long hard minutes conducting A B tests to make sure I got my money's worth. I can be a little excessive when it comes to the sonic maximazer, that's why i had three. Three 882i's at $300 each = 6 stereo tracks, Compaired to the DX plugin at $99 = as many tracks as your gear can handle. It may not sound exactly like a Sonic Maximizer, but it's close enough to say "Hey, that's pretty close."

Well worth the money. Acts and sounds like a Sonic Maximizer should. Never had any non-stupidity related problems (LOL).

I use Ableton Live 4 to DJ and secretly add the BBE Sonic Maximizer on my Master Output to add beatiful sparkle to my sets. :)

This plugin is super simple to use! There are just 3 knobs to turn. Just play with them until you like the sound you hear.

Fantastic sound! I've captured my vinyls to my Powerbook using Peak 4. My turntable (Technics SL1200mk2, Ortofon Niteclub cartridges) runs through a Rolls phono pre-amp and I capture direct without coloring the sound. In Ableton Live my AIF files are as natural sounding as the vinyl. I use Live EQ3 for DJ style EQ control when mixing, and having the BBE Sonic Maximizer on Live's master output really sets things off! Everything wonders why my sets sound so "Golden" in the club's sound system. :)

Originally I played with Live's EQ and Compression for the master output but I wasn't 100% happy. I didn't want to spend a fortune for a good "sparkling" plugin, and BBE Sonic Maximizer was the perfect find! I am so thankful that BBE made this available! And it's so cheap yet sounds SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!

I play guitar mostly, and a little of everything else. Right now, my recording setup is revolving around Acid Pro 4, so I use an M-Audio Duo Preamp/recording interface which goes into a Roland CDX1. I use the preamp to boost the db quality of the tracks, then burn a cd of tracks to be loaded into Acid. This plugin works great! I bought my software from Musician's Friend when they had dropped the price of the Acid Pro bundle, and the BBE plugin was only $50 less than the other software, so I figured why not get it? I'm glad I did.
Currently I'm using a Toshiba Satellite laptop, 2.66ghz Intel processor, 7200/40gig HD, Win XP. I haven't had any problems loading separate tracks and pasting them together, and my system has no problem running multiple plugins and lots of audio tracks.

The interface is a few knobs, how much easier does it get? I'm admittedly not a big tweaker, so this plugin is perfect because it makes tracks sound real bright, or bassy and punchy, with very little manipulation. It actually can be too much and blow up track fidelity, but that's a good thing because it means that you get a lot of options with your tweaking. It makes everything sound more professional, works best on vocals, bass etc. Just like other reviews say on this thread. Never read the manual, you don't need it.

Makes tracks sound great.

This plugin is well worth the cost. It's always stable and takes little of my time to shape up a track. Perfect for what it's supposed to do. If you're not a big tweaker like me, you'll be very pleased, and naturally, if you are a tweaker, you'll love it too.

Home recording for aprox. 6 years. Christian songwriter.
Plug-ins I own: Cakewalk dynamics processor, PSP, DSP, Sonic maximizer, and a few others. I record mostly keyboard samples and vocals and a little bit of guitar. I use Sonar.

Doesn't get any easier to use. 3 knobs and a few presets.

This is the best plug in I own. I have not had the pleasure of using any of the high end plug ins, but I'm sure this one would fit in. There might be better enhancement plug ins out there, but good luck if you want to find one that sounds as good as this for $100. (I sure haven't!)

There is one review here about how they were able to create the same effect on Cool edit as this plug-in. Well cool edit is $300 and I don't have the time as it is to play around trying to get a good sound. The less knobs and adjustments I have to do the better. It works really well on vocals and for what I record, I prefer to use it on individual tracks instead of using it in the final mastering.
I had been frustrated with the quality of my recordings up until this plug in. It really does add that professional sound.

I have been playing for about 40 years. Mainly guitars,mandolins, keyboards. I have been digitally recording now for about 8 years. I no longer use tape at all. I have use BBE about 3 years now. I use this with Cakewalk Guitar Studio 2 on a Gateway Solo laptop with 256 meg ram and 30 gig HD. Works fine. I record using a Roland Ready Strat into a Roland VGA-3 amp and mainline it directly into the computer sound card input. I usually use MIDI drums and bass (converted from MIDI to waves to add effects)then add vocals using dbx provocals and guitars etc. I use Sonic Maximizer in my mix down in Cakewalk and it alway improves the clarity. I listen through an old pair of old JBL L-19 two way speakers (8" woofer) and a pair of Sony MDR V600 headphones. I have finally minimized of all my equipment down to my computer, guitar amp, mic and mic preamp.

Super easy interface. Probably the least complicated of all my plugins. No instructions needed. Just look at the 2 knobs and turn them with your mouse or touch pad in my case. It loaded quick and easy the first time. It has presets for vocal and different instruments also a final mix setting. This is great for new and home studio folks. Most of us have never had access to top end studio equipment. Even if we did there would be a painful learning curve. Not with BBE.

The presets are quite good and I use them about half of the time with no changes. Occasionally I add a little more or less. The sound effect is a bit like adding brightness and presence .....yet it also increasing the bass. It also increases the perceived loudness. The music source seems more "alive" with BBE and you can control how "alive" you want it to be. Best I can tell it is for mono only but in Cakewalk I can create a stereo sound field from a mono source that corrects for this. The sound improvement as good as it is it isn't perfect. The over use of this effect can give a "graininess" to the sound (for lack of a better word) that sounds a bit like smooth distortion. It effect becomes too real and is evident in the recording. I frequently have to resist the temptation to over increase the settings. Mind you with just minimal restraint it sounds great. I use it in several busses at the same time and it doesn't seem to strain the computer that much. I can't think of a song I have tried it in that didn't sound better. I don't know what the current cost is but you can get it on EBAY or PSP networks cheap. Good news for those on a budget. I can't think of anything that will improve sound this dramatically this inexpensively. True, I doubt major studios are using the software version of BBE since a hardware version is available (never use the hardware version so I can't compare the performance differences).

I first found it on the internet (P2P forums). At that point in time I wasn't aware that it was available in software plugin format. I haven't compared it against any other software or hardware enhancers of this catagory. In this day of complicated and ill tempered software this is the one you can sit back and mix music with over a bottle of wine and not get tangled up. It is that easy. If there is a weakness it could be that it only looks at lower (bass) and higher (treble) sounds. Not like equalizers with several bands. For me that is just fine and keeps me focused on music not the technology. For some it might be a limitation.

I have been making music for about 5 years, stepping up from multitrackers to PC recording. I play guitar mainly, but can also play the piano. I am currently running the Sonic Maximizer on Windows 98se through Sonar 2.0 XL with a 1.4Ghz AMD processor, 256mb of memory, 60gb hard drive, prodigy 192 soundcard, sennheiser headphones and 5.1 surround sound speakers. Within my setup I use the sonic maximizer for Piano Vocals and guitar. To monitor the sound initially I use my headphones, but for the final mix I use my videologic 5.1 surround sound system.

Brilliantly simple. The plugin took about one minute to install with nothing to setup. As soon as it was installed I ran Sonar and could use straight away. The facia is very nice and you can imagine your using the actual hardware. The knobs turn with the mouse very smoothly and automation is supported with no glitches.

Well sorted! It is great for picking vocals, guitar, etc out of the mix and give them a 'crystal' clear sound. The presets are ok, but use them only as starting point to tweak your sound. The overall result is brilliant.

Well I didn't 'completely' pay for this plugin if you see what I mean! However I would say it is worth the price as it is hard to get anything but good results. I love the realism of the plugin and the quality. It has never crashed and don't think it ever will. Uses very little CPU.

BUY IT!