Recreate Aphex Exciter effect

C

claxor

Power User
I see that there is an "exciter" type in the cab block preamp type, but what controls the "exciter" sound when it is selected? The controls on an actual Aphex Exciter are: Harmonics (Normal or High switch), Tune, and Mix. What are these controls in the Cab block?

Or is this something that can be done better in a filter or para eq block?

Thanks!
 
Ham-n-egg response here.

The BBE and Aphex stuff imagined their selves to be time-alignment devices. If I were try to mimic that with the Axe-FX, I'd use a crossover block, and a delay on the high side.

As a guy that had a BBE in my rack when I was young and monumentally stupid... I would just forget the whole endeavor and turn the knobs on my Axe-Fx amp block.
 
claxor said:
I see that there is an "exciter" type in the cab block preamp type, but what controls the "exciter" sound when it is selected? The controls on an actual Aphex Exciter are: Harmonics (Normal or High switch), Tune, and Mix. What are these controls in the Cab block?

Or is this something that can be done better in a filter or para eq block?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The sound of the Aphex Exciter and BBE Sonic Maximizer can be recreated with a PEQ block.
 
Last edited:
I know the BBE trick in the PEQ : shelving boosts at 250Hz and 2.5kHz, roughly.

Per Michael Neilson, of Big Hairy Guitars fame: Exciters are different than BBE.

Again: I see that there is an "exciter" type in the cab block preamp type. The controls on an actual Aphex Exciter are: "Harmonics" (Normal or High switch), "Tune", and "Mix". What are these controls in the Cab block?
 
claxor said:
I know the BBE trick in the PEQ : shelving boosts at 250Hz and 2.5kHz, roughly.

Per Michael Neilson, of Big Hairy Guitars fame: Exciters are different than BBE.

Again: I see that there is an "exciter" type in the cab block preamp type. The controls on an actual Aphex Exciter are: "Harmonics" (Normal or High switch), "Tune", and "Mix". What are these controls in the Cab block?
Click to expand...
I don't think the Preamp type in the Cab block is related...
 
claxor said:
I keep wondering of Exciters at 100% mix are actually "tilt eq's".
Click to expand...
I reversed engineered a BBE exciter a while back for a plugin I wrote for Rogue Amoeba. It's more than simply an EQ. But depending on the source you feed into it, it can give similar results to an EQ.

But...the question here is what Cliff implemented when he put that exciter preamp type in the cab block. The simplest way to answer that would be to have him respond :).
 
I think the Aphex one mixed a small amount of highpassed and clipped signal with the original.
But that info is from a very very old segment of my memory banks, and is subject to question...
 
Dave Merrill said:
I think the Aphex one mixed a small amount of highpassed and clipped signal with the original.
But that info is from a very very old segment of my memory banks, and is subject to question...
Click to expand...
A big part of the "exciter" equation is adding some harmonics, which usually equates to mild distortion. The Cab block's Preamp section does that.
 
I had a BBE and compared it to the PEQ with the settings I mentioned earlier. The PEQ sounded better, and was doing a similar thing.

I'd like to do the same with an Aphex or even the old Rocktron exciters.
 
Jason Scott said:
The frequency for the BBE's "Lo Contour" is 50 Hz. The frequency associated with the "Process" control is 9 kHz. The Q needs to be set very wide; in the PEQ block, I set it to 0.248.
Click to expand...
Just curious, where/how did you find these reference frequencies?
 
Just keep in mind that exciters aren't really EQs. Static frequency response analysis will show you something, but an EQ that replicates that won't sound like an exciter.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Just keep in mind that exciters aren't really EQs. Static frequency response analysis will show you something, but an EQ that replicates that won't sound like an exciter.
Click to expand...
The sound that the BBE Sonic Maximizer produces can definitely be reproduced with enough accuracy using a parametric EQ that I'd challenge anyone to try and successfully differentiate between the two in a blind test.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom