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Looks like exciters/maximizers are next plugs

dlbmusic

Active Member
I also bet'n that a 88 Series Neve Console EQ and Dynamics channel strip is on its way....
 

neil wilkes

Venerated Member

lux

Active Member
Exciters don't excite me! pardon the pun

Bring on a neve channel strip thought that excites me
 

Richard Hunter

Active Member
id love some sort of exciter plug, even if it isn't as sexy as the 88rs channel strip. give me both. but really, i wouldnt mind a saturation plug to strap on the two bus, for a different flavor of digital. i wouldnt use it too much on individual tracks i dont think.

tape/exciter/analog emulation is here to stay, UA might as well get in on the game. their plugs are the best anyways...
 

Mark Edmonds

Active Member
If the speculation is correct, any ideas what they could be modelling? My hunch would be they will do a recognised model rather than new design. Suggestions? Apart from the BBE jobbie, I don't know much about these things.

Mark
 
Most obvious would be Aphex Aural Exciter Type C, Type E, Compellor, BigBottom, et al. I've owned/worked with these as well as the BBE.

I recall the concept of the BBE was to compensate for certain time-offsets caused by analog recording, amplification, and wiring. The BBE split the signal into 3 bands and realigning them \"properly\" using delay. I think it also did something to raise the highs if they were \"missing\" using dynamic expansion or something. It definitely could add some clarity to a mix.

The Aphex exciter used harmonic generation (essentially a tweaked distortion generator dedicated to the high frequency band) to emulate the beneficial even-order distortion effects of good old tube gear. This was, of course, innovated at a time before the industry just decided to go ahead and MAKE tube gear again. Anyhow, the exciter is especially useful for adding what's missing - more air on a dull sounding vocal, crispening up an old or degraded tape recording, making an SM7 sound like a C414... or making Kevin Eubanks sound like Matt 'Guitar' Murphy... okay, not sure about those last ones, but you get the point.

I also played with something called an Audio Logic PA88 Psycho Acoustic Enhancer. My old boss, back in the late 80's, insisted on putting one of these in every church and gymnasium sound system that we installed. It was another signal brightener of some sort, a bit more mysterious, which did its own thing and seemed to \"improve\" a lack-luster recording (or a shitty church sound system) in its own way.

I once hooked all three of these up together and found that they each did something different, and could even be used together without turning to shrill crap. But I think the Aphex is the most useful, if just for repairing or restoring a signal that's lacking highs and can't be fixed through a simple treble boost.
 

Suntower

Established Member
I remember when Aphex first came out.-Everyone- wanted one and the sound became like MSG in a Chinese takeaway joint. The guys I worked for put it on -everything-.

I dunno why it faded away... probably because punk and Americana and the desire to pull back from the artificial excesses of 80's productions.

But since I'm all about excess, I say..... BRING IT ON, DUDE! :mrgreen:

The Big Bottom too. Man, -that- thing'll makes you're trousers flare.

---JC
 

Paul Woodlock

Established Member
Suntower said:
I remember when Aphex first came out.-Everyone- wanted one and the sound became like MSG in a Chinese takeaway joint. The guys I worked for put it on -everything-.

I dunno why it faded away... probably because punk and Americana and the desire to pull back from the artificial excesses of 80's productions.

But since I'm all about excess, I say..... BRING IT ON, DUDE! :mrgreen:

The Big Bottom too. Man, -that- thing'll makes you're trousers flare.

---JC
JC get's the award of the year 2007 for the most apt food analogy of an audio effect!!!

:D :D
 

Mark Edmonds

Active Member
JC Wrote: I remember when Aphex first came out.-Everyone- wanted one and the sound became like MSG in a Chinese takeaway joint. The guys I worked for put it on -everything-.
Oh no. Sound of glass breaking violently, swords being drawn, general mayham...... You mean.... what I think of as the pop sound of the 80s and early 90s, that crystaly tingy sparkly sound is really the sound of the exciters? This shatters so many illusions of mine I find it quite depressing.

OTOH, perhaps I ought to try it too!!! :twisted:

Mark
 

Suntower

Established Member
RECIPE: 80's Hit Surprise

Ingredients:

---Linn Drum
---Simmons Kit (for those tom fills)
---Yamaha DX7 for pianos, basses
---Roland Jupiter/Planet/Juno for pads
---Fender Strat in position 4 + any chorus pedal + Roland JC-120 amp
---Aphex Exciters
---Lexicon hall reverb

Note what's completely optional:
Analog anything
Tape anything
Tube anything

---which some here seem to think are the ne plus ultra of great recordings.

My point is that what moves people ain't a tape or an eq or a compressor. It's great TIMBRES. I am glad for all the people here who want to record in pristine 192k with Neumann mics and hand-wired tube gear. But no one, outside of audiophiles cares. Even though I hate the stuff, I'd wager that a good percentage of platinum hip hop is recorded in some guy's 4th floor walk up with one of those Akai gizmos and an SM-58 into some Korg 16 bit 'multi-tracker'.

So I'll ALWAYS vote for different timbres over yet another EQ or channel strip. It's a bang for buck thing. I love all the UAD EQs I got, but they really aren't as important as having interesting -sounds-.

To -me-, after 15 years of listening to stripped down hip hop, house, 'alt rock', 'roots' and 'unplugged' whatever, I think some seriously overblown glam-style productions would sound pretty darned 'fresh' right about now.

YMMV

---JC

Mark Edmonds said:
JC Wrote: I remember when Aphex first came out.-Everyone- wanted one and the sound became like MSG in a Chinese takeaway joint. The guys I worked for put it on -everything-.
Oh no. Sound of glass breaking violently, swords being drawn, general mayham...... You mean.... what I think of as the pop sound of the 80s and early 90s, that crystaly tingy sparkly sound is really the sound of the exciters? This shatters so many illusions of mine I find it quite depressing.

OTOH, perhaps I ought to try it too!!! :twisted:

Mark
 

Mark Edmonds

Active Member
Well JC, thanks for reminding me that some aspects of the 80s should remain dead and buried - namely that godawful Simmons sound and admitedly cute but hopelessly over done Strat pos 4 clucky picky stuff.

A whole generation grew up thinking the sound of drums was that peow peow peow electronic rubbish which blights many albums from groups who should have known better.

Don't get me started on those exotic rainforest custom bases too and hey, everyone is doing slap bass, everyone! so let's do slap bass, even if it sounds wrong, we've just gotta be contemporary....

Hmmm... seem to have gone on a rant there :roll: :roll:

Mark


Suntower said:
RECIPE: 80's Hit Surprise

Ingredients:

---Linn Drum
---Simmons Kit (for those tom fills)
---Yamaha DX7 for pianos, basses
---Roland Jupiter/Planet/Juno for pads
---Fender Strat in position 4 + any chorus pedal + Roland JC-120 amp
---Aphex Exciters
---Lexicon hall reverb

Note what's completely optional:
Analog anything
Tape anything
Tube anything

---which some here seem to think are the ne plus ultra of great recordings.

My point is that what moves people ain't a tape or an eq or a compressor. It's great TIMBRES. I am glad for all the people here who want to record in pristine 192k with Neumann mics and hand-wired tube gear. But no one, outside of audiophiles cares. Even though I hate the stuff, I'd wager that a good percentage of platinum hip hop is recorded in some guy's 4th floor walk up with one of those Akai gizmos and an SM-58 into some Korg 16 bit 'multi-tracker'.

So I'll ALWAYS vote for different timbres over yet another EQ or channel strip. It's a bang for buck thing. I love all the UAD EQs I got, but they really aren't as important as having interesting -sounds-.

To -me-, after 15 years of listening to stripped down hip hop, house, 'alt rock', 'roots' and 'unplugged' whatever, I think some seriously overblown glam-style productions would sound pretty darned 'fresh' right about now.

YMMV

---JC

Mark Edmonds said:
JC Wrote: I remember when Aphex first came out.-Everyone- wanted one and the sound became like MSG in a Chinese takeaway joint. The guys I worked for put it on -everything-.
Oh no. Sound of glass breaking violently, swords being drawn, general mayham...... You mean.... what I think of as the pop sound of the 80s and early 90s, that crystaly tingy sparkly sound is really the sound of the exciters? This shatters so many illusions of mine I find it quite depressing.

OTOH, perhaps I ought to try it too!!! :twisted:

Mark
 

lux

Active Member
The thing with these exciters is you can pick them up for peanuts on Ebay so what is the point in UAD doing an exciter.
 

Awesom-o

Active Member
lux said:
The thing with these exciters is you can pick them up for peanuts on Ebay so what is the point in UAD doing an exciter.
To stay in the box maybe?
 

Eurocide

Active Member
Awesom-o said:
lux said:
The thing with these exciters is you can pick them up for peanuts on Ebay so what is the point in UAD doing an exciter.
To stay in the box maybe?
And no noise from the exciter itself.
Well, I like exciters when used very sparingly on individual tracks that need that shimmering you can't get just with EQs. And beside the BBE Sonic Maximizer I haven't heard any other explicit exciters in the plugin universe (and I don't like Izotopes Ozone's one)

A line for the 80s: Does anybody remember Heaven 17's "The Luxury Gap"? As far as I know it was recorded on a 8 track with a Neve desk. Still have the vinyl and love that clear transparent sound!
 

tunetown

Member
I'm excited......

:D

More flavours please. The eq's are great but it's the pre's which really flavour the sound.

Cheers
 

Eric Dahlberg

Purveyor of musical dreams fullfilled.
Eurocide said:
And no noise from the exciter itself.
Well, I like exciters when used very sparingly on individual tracks that need that shimmering you can't get just with EQs. And beside the BBE Sonic Maximizer I haven't heard any other explicit exciters in the plugin universe (and I don't like Izotopes Ozone's one)
How does the BBE software compare to the real thing? Not that I'd personally want the real thing but it does seem like they ought to have been able to do a good emulation if the BBE process really is just time based, perhaps even making something better than the analog units.

Anyway, I'm with you guys, I can imagine UA doing a better job of an exciter than what was done in the past, especially when they have the past to learn from & can avoid the harshness of most of them.
 

imdrecordings

Venerated Member
Hard to say Eric...
I've never used a BBE Sonic Maxi Pad anywhere else except for a smoke filled dive bar (doing sound). I can say that I am not to fawned of the plug. I think the hardware units work beautifully in a smoked filled dive bar . With a shitty, under powered PA and Nady SP-4 mics. :D
...or a home stereo system.
Forgive me but, I've never seen the good , in exciters
-S-
 
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