Moltenmetalburn
Self-Admitted Software Thief
NO. BBE. NO.
Hello all. Since I've acquired my AFX, I have slowly been selling off my rack gear that isn't of use to me any longer. One item I have in my rack that I have used in my FX loop is a BBE SM. Now, I'm not exactly sure how they worked, but it did seem to help my tone sound better somehow. I believe that it's a frequency dependent delay that tries to obtain a better phase relationship of the sounds coming out of the speaker. Thats my understanding. As long as you didn't go crazy with the process knob, I felt it tightened things up, especially on some guitar amps that tend to have a lot of low-mids - like Mesa Dual Recs.
My question is, since I'd like to lighten my gear load, does the AFX have an effect block that could be used to simulate a BBE in the event that I would ever want to use it to experiment with my sound? Since many of you have a much better understanding of frequency and tone than I, I'm sure someone can maybe give me a good explanation on how what exactly a BBE is doing and how it may be acquired in a AFX. Thanks!
No... they've been despised pretty much ever since the 80s were over, at least for guitar rigs. Mostly because there are better ways to get the same effect if you need it; and most of the time you don't. Sorry but, as a guitar processor, they suck. Get a parametric EQ, compressor, tube screamer, etc, if you are looking for a new piece of gear to spice things up. BBEs belong on eBay or in PA rigs, which is what they were designed for, IIRC.Apparently, hating the BBE (and more importantly, getting others to hate it too) is now the cool thing to do.
No... they've been despised pretty much ever since the 80s were over, at least for guitar rigs. Mostly because there are better ways to get the same effect if you need it; and most of the time you don't. Sorry but, as a guitar processor, they suck. Get a parametric EQ, compressor, tube screamer, etc, if you are looking for a new piece of gear to spice things up. BBEs belong on eBay or in PA rigs, which is what they were designed for, IIRC.
I fault BBE as a company for actively marketing this to guitar players.
For a PA, sure, rack it up.
...and just to clarify to anyone unsure about what it does, it's a phase alignment tool, correcting the various frequencies of your tone to align the initial peaks. This keeps the highs from reaching the listener "before" (in terms of amplitude, as the speed of sound is a vacuum constant) the lows.
I'm sure there's a better technical description that could be given, but the point is it's not an EQ, compressor, etc.
Apparently, hating the BBE (and more importantly, getting others to hate it too) is now the cool thing to do. I still stand by my assertion that the product is extremely useful in the correct application (with appropriate source material and reproduction system). That video does demonstrate that the bypass mode is flawed. The rest of his "analysis" is meaningless. Totally. The resulting signal must be judged by a human ear with real-world source material, not a noise generator and an o-scope. Anyone who wants to know what it really does can research the subject. Anyone who wants to judge its effect in their intended application can do so for themselves. They shouldn't listen to anyone making global generalizations about how horrible or amazing it is. And I see no way of replicating it with existing blocks in the Axe FX. The units are cheap on ebay. Try one. If you like it, use it. If you don't, sell it for what you paid for it.
BBEs belong on eBay or in PA rigs, which is what they were designed for, IIRC.
I have a BBE in our PA rig and it works like a charm aligning the various frequency ranges, thus tightening the sound of the PA.
Based on:
"The resulting signal must be judged by a human ear with real-world source material, not a noise generator and an o-scope."
You and I could never, EVER see eye to eye (ear to ear) on anything audio related, period.
I would never trust the human ear and subjectivity over irrefutable data, EVER.
This is the only point I think I have to disagree with you on.
The whole point for me is to make my ears happy. If I have to make an impulse of a cigarbox guitar to do it, and it works, so be it, even if every other pair of human ears hates it.
My philosophy is something along the lines of "F them. This is for me."
The BBE still sucks tho.
sOc9 makes a great point about good systems not needing them either, but I would argue that a lot of PAs are put in place by untrained and unconcerned individuals... blah blah, the end result is they sound like shit. If the SMs can mask that to produce an acceptable live sound, so be it. I'm not saying that's the "right" way to do it, or that it works in all of those cases. I'm just saying you go to war with what you've got, not what you wish you had.