Aphex Aural Exciter on the Steel??

Bill Simmons · Post by **Bill Simmons** » 8 Apr 2002 6:17 am

Has anyone experimented using the Aphex unite with your rack system or amp? If so, what was the effect to your sound? Thanks for your input.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 8 Apr 2002 6:59 am

I think this unit is very close to the BBE Sonic Maximizer. I recently bought one of these over ebay. I put it in my rack and like what it does to the sound. It gives more string separation and removed the "muddiness" from the mix. You can also crank up the bass to give some more oomph to your lows. There is a swith on it also so you can definitely hear the difference.
Erv

Chuck Norris · Post by **Chuck Norris** » 8 Apr 2002 9:10 am

Bill and Erv, I have no problem with you trying out stuff. Ive used a BBE on my bass guitar system for better than 20 year`s but steel player`s use a system called a matchbox by goodrich, it is a differant technology but the end result is the same,and having A/B`d them from time to time the exciter and BBE tend to get glassy,pearcing high`s that the Matchbox doesn`t have. That`s opinion`s of our store customer`s and our old studio tech Gary Hogue.
Happy STEELIN
Chuck Norris NFM

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 8 Apr 2002 10:56 am

I use a matchbox in addition to the BBE Sonic Maximizer. You can never have to much "stuff"!
Uff-Da!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 8 Apr 2002 3:21 pm

This is my understanding of the 3 units that have been mentioned...

The "matchbox" is nothing more than a preamp. It's main function is to boost the weak pickup signal, and it helps isolate the pickup (impedance-wise) from the volume pedal.

The "Sonic Maximizer" is a frequency sensitive delay, designed to help even out the sound by delaying the higher frequencies so they arrive at the listener's ear at the same time as the lows. Normally, low frequencies propogate at a lower speed than highs, and this tends to hinder clarity and "punch".

The "Aural Exciter" works as a micro-phase shifter. It fattens up the sound (much like a chorus) and adds depth by phase-shifting and delaying part of the signal. The effect is very similar to "double tracking", and it's used on vocals, as well as instruments.

This is the way the S.M. and the A.E. units were described to me by a studio engineer. If he was in error...please let me know.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 8 Apr 2002 5:21 pm

Donny, your explanation matches what I have heard about these units.

I used to use a Sonic Maximizer and never thought it had the same functionality as a MatchBox. I ran it in the effects loop of my Stereo Steel amp. In fact I now have an extra rack space and am thinking of picking up another one.

Chuck Norris · Post by **Chuck Norris** » 8 Apr 2002 7:10 pm

Allright you techie`s then would a matchbox be the equal to active electronics,an inquiring mind want`s to know?
Chuck Norris NFM

Glenn Austin · Post by **Glenn Austin** » 8 Apr 2002 7:40 pm

Aphex invented the Aural Exciter to help put some high end sparkle back into mixes that were coming off a tape machine. Running a tape over heads will wear the tape out over time and residual magnetism in the tape path will actually erase the high frequencies. The Aphex helps put back some high end shimmer by adding in some high frequency harmonic distortion back into the signal. It's probably a lot more complicated than that, but thats the general idea. What goes in one side sounds better coming out the other side. it's real easy to overuse in the studio.

Michael Brebes · Post by **Michael Brebes** » 9 Apr 2002 7:37 am

There seems to be some misconceptions about the BBE units versus the Aphex Aural Exciters and what each unit does. Here it is:
The BBE adds clarity by slightly delaying the lower frequencies. This lets you hear the highs, which usually contain the attack, ahead of the bass and mids. This helps add clarity without having to boost the highs because the initial high frequency attack is longer competing with the lows.
The Aural Exciter works in a completely different scheme. First, it uses a high-pass filter to throw away everything below the adjustable cutoff frequency. The filter usually adjusts somewhere between 1K and 8KHz. The remaining signal is put thru a multiplier circuit which actually doubles the frequency of the input signal. The output is then mixed back in with the input so that it again gets doubled. That means that a 5KHz signal input would give you 10KHz and 20KHz. A 1KHz would give you 2K, 4K, 8K, 16K. These manufactured upper harmonics are then mixed in with the original signal. This works good for something that doesn't have any highs, or where you want to add just a little sparkle.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 9 Apr 2002 12:49 pm

The way I understand it, the matchbox changes the high impedence from our steel into a low impedence signal going into the amp. I think it is a necessity when using a pot volume pedal. I guess the guys using a Hilton find that they can eliminate the matchbox. I have to many Goodrich volume pedals so I use a matchbox. I really like the active volume and tone controls on it besides. If your pot is getting kind of scratchy in your foot volume, it also helps to clean that up also. What a deal!
Uff-Da!