tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post7085083992962708304..comments2023-08-29T03:53:29.334-07:00Comments on Bones Hi - Fi: Is the BBE Sonic Maximizer Hi-Fi?Ringohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506068154852505840noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-48957572243229367702015-01-15T05:00:55.681-08:002015-01-15T05:00:55.681-08:00Apparently - according to their official website -...Apparently - according to their official website - Barcus Berry Entertainment, Incorporated's origins can be traced back to 1963 when experiments initiated by violinist John Berry and electronics visionary Les Barcus gave birth to the first ever piezo crystal transducer for musical instruments that ultimately lead to the two's invention of the electric violin. They also later invented the first successful piezo transducers for acoustic guitar, piano and concert harp. They also later invented the first commercially marketed active direct box and the first combination strap button / output jack and the first under saddle piezo pickup. <br /> VaneSSahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09903333054433459032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-22045977660618617302009-10-30T05:57:39.937-07:002009-10-30T05:57:39.937-07:00Dear Ramesh,
I only heard about President George...Dear Ramesh, <br /> I only heard about President George W. Bush being compared to Adolph Hitler around February 2008. My husband - even though he thinks that comparing Bush to Hitler is very funny - never heard of it during his duty in Afghanistan for the whole of 2007. While the Obama / Hitler jokes were spreading around US Service Personnel e-mail inboxes in Afghanistan like some Nigerian prince's malware. <br />On the BBE Sonic Maximizer, I too find that it works on some situations - 1980s era pre-recorded music cassettes - while making tube-based guitar playing sound like cheap solid-state.Sherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06734540074567393781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-25313639412325881262009-10-27T06:22:59.610-07:002009-10-27T06:22:59.610-07:00Maybe some folks wview this topic somewhat differe...Maybe some folks wview this topic somewhat differently from the mainstream. Especially folks who actually experienced being shot with a Browning .50 caliber machine gun or something similar from over a kilometer away by the likes of Waffen-SS leaning Right-Wing nut jobs like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh (a nut job since the Reagan Administration if you'll ask Exene Cervenka and Lydia Lunch). <br />On the subject of the BBE Sonic Maximizer, I did give it a second go these past few weeks and all I can say is that it works on some situations. Like playing back CDs recorded during the mid 1980s - i.e. Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet. But in guitar playing situations, guitar players who are intimately familiar with the warmth and feel of vacuum tubes find that the BBE sonic maximizer more often than not screws up with the vibe of their performance - make that during the actual performance. Some chose to add BBE only during the mixdown / mastering stage.Ringohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09506068154852505840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-30007691193658376622009-10-25T08:04:01.031-07:002009-10-25T08:04:01.031-07:00Interesting that so many cheered when George Bush ...Interesting that so many cheered when George Bush was regularly compared to Hitler, yet its suddenly offensive that its Obama's turn. Both arguments are silly because if either Bush or Obama really was like Hitler, he would have slaughtered all his critics by now.<br /><br />As to the BBE, I have been using it in my hi-fi system since 1996 and find that I can't do without it. It is especially good on CDs of live recordings. Check out Daniel Vincennes' review and the Ippinkan review on BBE's website.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08376989792249593040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-49166299352022034762009-10-13T03:47:31.597-07:002009-10-13T03:47:31.597-07:00One probable factor why US President Barack Obama ...One probable factor why US President Barack Obama was awarded "prematurely" with the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was probably due to Über-Aryans Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of Tea Party. Comparing Pres. Obama to Adolph Hitler probably offended some Jews in the Nobel Committee. <br />As for the BBE Sonic Maximizer, it tends to limit the headroom of low-powered tube amps when set to maximum. Sadly, low-powered tube amps is what soulful toned guitar playing is all about, BBE just ruins it. If you can live without it, don't use it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04320524039309538743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-9792507649245167342009-10-06T03:32:25.250-07:002009-10-06T03:32:25.250-07:00Most of my audio-buddies who were old enough to ex...Most of my audio-buddies who were old enough to experience 1980s Hair Metal often confuse this excellent post Ozzy Osbourne Black Sabbath track - i.e. Digital Bitch - as being something done by W.A.S.P. <br />Speaking of Blackie Lawless comparing President Barack Obama with Adolph Hitler, I just hope that the other members of W.A.S.P. doesn't share Blackie's racist-leaning point of view. Who knows America's most beloved Über-Aryan Glenn Beck would probably welcome Blackie Lawless with open arms to their fold. And they say that the Richard Butler led Aryan Nation is already been driven to bankruptcy. Unfortunately Aryan Nation America probably lives on as the FOX News Network with Waffen-SS America chapter leader Glenn Beck running the show. <br />Back to the BBE Sonic Maximizer. Given that it emerged at the time when vacuum tubes were already no longer in production in America - i.e. the 1980s. The famed audio processor's creators probably attempted - I think - to replicate the good old tube sound using solid-state devices. Other audio processors I think that are in direct composition with the BBE Sonic Maximizer at the time was the Aphex Aural Exciter Type C2 (Type C Squared) with Big Bottom supposedly capable of making your 8-inch woofer sound like it's a 15-inch woofer. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your sonic tastes) these devices were superseded by simpler 12AX7 tube based preamplifiers, especially those loaded with Electro-Harmonix sourced tubes from the late 1990s onwards. <br />P.S. Eliza Carthy's singing style on her Angels and Cigarettes album was / is probably influenced by Billy Milano's singing on that iconic Stormtroopers of Death album Speak English or Die. Eliza Carthy can probably claim her underground / hardcore cred.VaneSSahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09903333054433459032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-88298632935579069462009-09-29T03:28:12.477-07:002009-09-29T03:28:12.477-07:00Wasn't Digital Bitch A Black Sabbath song from...Wasn't Digital Bitch A Black Sabbath song from their 1983 album Born Again with that iconic "Devil Baby" album cover? The lyrics of Digital Bitch does suggest that it is about Paris Hilton - given that I only heard this song back in 2005.<br />Though I wasn't yet born during the time of the 1980s when WASP ruled the Hair Metal world, WASP member (lead guitarist?) Blackie Lawless has lately mired himself in controversy for joining the President Obama is the new Adolph Hitler bandwagon. With Blackie Lawless WASP now means We Are Stupid People. I just hope that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and whoever the hell is running the Aryan Nation embrace Blackie Lawless with open arms. A sentiment that Mr. Lawless was denied during the Reagan Administration. <br />Speaking of Barcus-Berry-Entertainment's BBE Sonic Maximizer, it does make the high frequencies of your hi-fi sound more spacious - at the expense of making the midband frequencies sounding more solid-state and and more like early 1980s Red Book speck 16-bit 44.1-KHz digital. Most soulful guitarists had been rejecting their BBE Sonic Maximizers for ruining the pristine midband provided by vacuum tube electronics since the early 1990s. You can even pick up BBE Sonic Mazimizer units in most pawnshops that accept electric guitars for less than a hundred dollars. <br />P.S. Whatever happened to Billy Milano and the rest of S.O.D.? I really love their 1987 Speak English Or Die album. At only 28 minutes long, The Gathering's How To Measure A Planet? instrumental is longer by 32 seconds - and It's only one song! I think Billy Milano's singing style influenced both Björk and Eliza Carthy's singing style.Georgia Rainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11511755568379483270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348292068036323235.post-1214488421456155042009-09-28T03:49:55.378-07:002009-09-28T03:49:55.378-07:00Maybe W.A.S.P. (We Are Sexual Perverts?) should wr...Maybe W.A.S.P. (We Are Sexual Perverts?) should wrote "The Ballad of Paris Hilton", reminiscent to that of the Charlotte the Harlot saga of Iron Maiden. To my ears, BBE Sonic Maximizers still do things no ordinary tone control does - increase the apparent spaciousness of the recording space of a recording event. Maybe BBE should have an audiophile grade version of their baby based on Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 preamplifier tubes, <br />Speaking of bands from the 1980s that sound good on BBE - especially when recorded on cassette tape, have you checked out Storm Troopers of Death a.k.a. S.O.D.? Storm Troopers Of Death is a legendary side project / joke band by Anthrax's Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante, Nuclear Assault / Brutal Truth bassist Danny Lilker and M.O.D. singer Billy Milano. Their famous 28 minute underground classic from 1987 Speak English or Die (released by Megaforce) back then sounds absolutely excellent through a BBE Sonic Maximizer.Sherryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06734540074567393781noreply@blogger.com