Read this before buying BBE or EQ

[dw4me]

I have seen and read alot of posts on this site raving about BBE sonic enhancers. I just want to put my two cents in, These things are not meant for live purposes in my opinion. The unit doesn't make your sound "fatter", it makes it thinner. All it does is boosts your highs, and lows, and sucks the mids out. The mid range of a drum is what makes it fat, and gives it punch. I tried one for about an hour on my kit and it cut the actual quality of my sounds in half, it made them sound more electronic. These enhancers are just like the loud/bass button on your home stereo. At low volumes, it makes your music sound awesome, yet when you crank it up, it sounds like crap, sucking the life out of it. But of course also, I have the luxory of using my electronic gear through a concert series jbl pa with nice subs and mains, so I have no need for sound manipulation. I use no eq of any kind, and just a little of the ambience feature on the v-drums, and they sound fantastic. The more eq and effects that you put on your electronic drums, it makes them sound more electronic, especially roland sounds. The samples in Roland aren't all that good, so it's best to keep them as raw as possible to keep that acoustic escence there. I'm not ragging on BBE in particular on this post, just these devices in general. Just thought I'd put my two cents in and give a negative side to these "enhancers" before people go buying these up just because of alot of positive posts, thanks for listening to me vent..lol

------------------
Roland V-concert, Hart e-cymbals, drumKAT, midikiti, emu 5000 ultra

[Boingo]

I have a BBE 482. I always thought it was overhyped on this site but I got a good deal and thought I'd try it. I was unhappy with my amp and general sound. When I got the BBE, I confirmed what I had suspected. Far too much hype. Later on I found out my amp was fine and that the BBE did offer more improvement than I gave it credit for. I finally got my amp and kit out of the basement and played in 600+ capacity hall. I got a chance to crank up the volume in a room without a 6-7 ft ceiling with heating ducts runing through it. The acoustics and confinement of my basement stink and were responsible for the lousy sound. In addition, the volume was never loud enough to drive the amp to where it would sound it's best. So I was blaming my amp and the BBE.

My conclusions are a bit different. I am still puzzled by some of the "BBE is God" kind of comments. It does clean up the sound, i.e., reduces the muddyness and provides projection. To appreciate it, don't stand right on top of it. It chokes off the cymbals and other sounds some - I didn't like it for cymbals and tamborine (it's probably best on the ride). I would not use it for recording - I prefer it for live performance. How much improvement you will get depends a lot on the equipment you are running it through and the room acoustics.

I mentioned this once before... I ran my wife's Martin acoustic/electric through it and then into her Fender Acoustisonic amp and was amazed at how good it sounded. She is using some fine sounding equipment to begin with. If others are getting that kind of improvement with their particular drum/amp/room combination, I can understand the rave reviews.

[sepdrums]

We used one on the overall mix on our FOH system... It was a BBE 482... Overall it added good low end, and some good highs....we ran it before the EQ, so we could get some of the mids back...I liked some good mid range on my sanre - better punch...

Overall I think the BBE is worth the money - it helps clear up vocals - gets rid of that muddy sound if you use it right. I suppose you could do the same with an EQ alone, but we are all techno-gadget-weenie-whores here...aren't we?? I mean, we type messages on our computers (gadget) about our electronic drums (gadgets)...etc... I wonder what the perchentage is of members who own 1.) more than one computer, 2.) a palm pilot, 3.) playstation II, 4.) have some type of professional career - executive, musical, office..

Man, I was always under the impression that drummers couldn't even spell, let alone use a mouse and keyboard...

Ok...enough blabbbbbing...off to check out a cool band at The Hot Rod Cafe - and drink some beers...... they have a 20,000 watt system, run 16 subwoofers, etc...great sound system...drool...

Erik

[FloridaDrummer]

Originally posted by sepdrums:
I wonder what the perchentage is of members who own 1.) more than one computer, 2.) a palm pilot, 3.) playstation II, 4.) have some type of professional career - executive, musical, office..

Erik

1. 3
2. Handspring
3. Yes
4. Financial Planning, Network troubleshooter, Web site designer.

Now I know why I gravited towards the E's. Hmmmmm.....

[digitsone]

1. 4
2. handspring treo
3. (dreamcast)
4. software developer come music student/aspiring pro drummer

[drumlogic]

1:2
2:no palm pilot, But I have a full dolby 5.1 DTS theater system.
3: Dreamcast
4: Electronic Test Technican

It was only a matter time before my interest in drums and electronic's would combine.

------------------
-Drumlogic, V-session, Visulite/roland cymbals, (2)Mackie srm-450's, bbe 482 sonic maximizer,

[drummer40]

I see a definate trend here....

1) 10 and counting
2) Yes, Palm IIIc
3) Yes
4) Network Administrator/Semi-retired Pro drummer.

[fartnokker]

Uh oh...

1. 3, plus enuff parts for another few.
2. No; I could find a use for it, but don't have a need for it.
3. No, don't play many video games since working in an arcade in college.
4. Regional IT Technical Director, semi-pro musician.

-Danny

[Schuh Man]

1. 3 (Does the TD-10 count? I'd like to wire a patch into it to do tax returns! )
2. Palm
3. None (got plenty of games for my PCs)
4. CPA (plus wanna-be drummer and studio engineer).

[drmoze]

1) technically 3, only one 'useful,' a new one within the year.
2) Kyocera smartphone (Palm-based) plus a Palm Vx.
3) Nope, but a Dreamcast, N64, Jaguar/CD, 3DO, TurboDuo, 3 pinball machines...
4) ex-research scientist, attorney-to-be.

[animal]

Originally posted by Arriguy:
Hell, I even named myself after a gadget.

can you resize that pic? I hate having to scroll to read messages.

ps.

4
palm IIIxe
Gameboy Advanced
BellSouth technician, computer tech, web designer

[sidhartha]

Ok this is really getting strange...WE ARE GEEKS!!!

1) 5
2) no palm but motorola i90c
3) GTA on the PS2 RULES!
4) Computer Industry

[fartnokker]

Since my last post on this topic, I did cave in and buy a Palm m130 color PDA. I was starting to miss some meetings & appointments, and realized that I had too much on my plate for my teeny little brain to keep track of.

Bought the little gadget, started putting every single thing I had to do into it with audible alarms, and haven't missed anything since. Great tool!

Also, you can download some fun little electronic keyboards w/rudimentary sequencing, metronomes, guitar tuners, and other musical geekery.

I've taken some crap off my friends for finally becoming one of the pocket-protector geeks (recently cut off about 1.5 feet of hair, too), but it is worth it to keep track of everything. Also helps to keep track of gigs, venue addresses, load-in times, etc.

Great tool. Just like me.

-Danny

[Real-ity]

1) 8 (and not one is a dedicated music recording computer... yet. hmmm... 9 to come I guess)
2) Handspring
3) No.. takes time away from #1 and #4
4) Unix Systems Administrator

[This message has been edited by Real-ity (edited April 22, 2002).]

[acidbran]

4
no
got pc games?
International playboy

------------------
Jeff, using...
td 8,PD-120,
pintech pads,gibraltor rack, JBL G2 EON 15 AND Mackie srs-1500, BBE 462 yamaha maple customs, remo jazz kit, buttloads of cymbals... 96 Tahoe,leather.