Karaoke Forums

I presently have a karaoke hard-drive unit (don't remember the name. I am at a friend's house while writing this), with about 3 thousands songs, a pair of Behringer B215D (just arrived), Line 6 XD-V55 digital handheld mic, Peavey PV10USB 10 channel mixer and a echo, EQ (cheap one from some Vietnamese karaoke store and I don't know why I let him talked me into buying one for about twice the price I could have bought on Ebay or elsewhere. These stores are terrible if you haven't done any research on what to buy and how much). I haven't set it up yet, but just wondering if there's anything else I can buy for home karaoke party. I thought about adding a BBE822! Thank you all and glad to be a member here

I know that this issue has been debated here before, but in my opinion (as a trained, studied, and thoroughly experienced audio engineer and musician), the bbe is snake oil. Sonically, the BEST it will give you is an "EQ smile-curve". One could make the argument that it will add extreme high and low frequencies, but this would be done artificially (after the sound source) and most likely be pointless in nearly every live performance situation.

The fact that no other company makes a "sonic maximizer" is idicative of it's uselessness. No one will argue the necessity of, say, and amp or EQ, and a quick search of either will yeild a wide variety of makes and models designed for different purposes.

Does your sonic really need maximized?

Jasaoke, I haven't set up my system, yet. I heard people talked alot about the BBE. So, I thought about buying one. I read quite a few reviews and some people said it's useless and some sweared by it. But I probably will listen to what my present setup has to offer and then go from there. I thought about buying the QSC powered speakers, but that might be overkill for what I am trying to do. The impulse of buying and able to be making payments..., from Zzounds!

The BBE isn't a useless piece, it can be quite handy. However if a system is good enough quality to begin with, chances it won't be needed. And yes other companies DO make something similar to the Sonic Maximizer. Behringer, VocoPro, dbx and Aphex has something along the lines. The problem is most users tend to over process and just crank the knobs up. It it's used with some careful adjustments, it can actually make a smaller system sound a little fuller and cleaner.

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I've been reading a lot about the BBE's Sonic Maximizer and Aphex's Aural Exciter! Will probably buy one out of curiousity.

Lonnie is right...he's usually always right! I use a BBE Sonic Maximizer myself. And even though you can EQ your mixer to sound like the BBE, it just doesn't have the same "presence" as the BBE. The point is, an EQ'd mix or a BBE. The end result is similar, but sonically different. I know it's hard to explain but I'm sure Lonnie understands what I'm saying. Maybe he can put it into better perspective then me.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

What, nobody has anything to say about this person's Karaoke Hard Drive unit with 3000 songs on it?? What Karaoke brands do you have on that drive?? Do you have any discs to go wit that drive?? OR, do you have download receipts to go with all those 3000 songs on that drive?? Are you planning on starting a show with that drive?? DEo you have any Sound Choice or Chartbuster on that drive?? If you do, and you run it in a public place you are looking for trouble and may get sued. I am quite surprised nobody had jumped on you for just MENTIONING the words Hard Drive.

BTW, welcome to the site.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Maybe cause we're all sick of it.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Maybe, but it's just very surprising.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Key words Smooth

"but just wondering if there's anything else I can buy for home karaoke party."

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"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
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"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

So you are ok with a hard drive full of karaoke as long as he isn't trying to do business with it?? If he doesn't have discs, any songs on that drive are still pirated. But ok, have your double standard.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

With 3000 songs, I wouldn't suspect a counterfeit drive. Way to turn a thread into yet another piracy issue.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Relax guys, these are Vietnamese songs and I think they do pay a fee for using those songs. These so called HD units are being sold everywhere in Westminster, CA., and nobody is suing anybody. So, I guess it is ok! They are sold for something like 800 dollars each. I will surely ask them about it (piracy) when I visit there next time.

BTW, I do own more than 1500 Vietnamese CDs, yes, CDs and not songs! So, I think I did buy most of the songs on this very HD unit that I own. Cheers!

The BBE Sonic Maximizer is nothing more than a glorified "auto-smiley face" EQ. It is snake oil and in fact they even muddy the water by intentionally making the signal WORSE when you click the bypass button. Since people believe this to be a true bypass, it gives the false impression it is doing much more than it actually is.

BUT, many a person loves their snake oil and swears it cures cancer. Don't take my word for it, watch this excellent test/review that shows exactly what it does.

Snake Oil?? How do you know that the person doing that review is on the up and up? Or the review was intentionally tainted? Maybe he's a disgruntled ex BBE employee looking for revenge.

Whatever the case, there's definitely a difference using a BBE. And while it may be similar to the "smiley face" eq that you speak of, it is sonically different, possessing a nice "presence" to the sound.

In any case, I think they're fine and live up to their promise.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I think everyone of you, pro BBE or not, does have a point. I work in the RF field and once, an engineer told me "There is no signal better than the original. Anything else, just distortion adding to it". We were discussing about DBX signal processing and stuff like that. But for most of us folks who aren't into studio recording, if it sounds good to our ears, then it is good enough and BBE, Alphex and the likes, does make a different. That difference is good or not, is I guess, very subjective, from what I've been reading. Thank you all so much for your inputs! Now, my next question...(please see new Subject)

I have BBE's Sonic Sweet software, which includes Sonic Maximizer, Harmonic Maximizer, and Loudness Maximizer. I use them with Audacity. My impression is that the software is useful and overall does a good job. I'm not an audio engineer or someone with a lot of mixing experience, so I'm only giving my opinion based on what I hear after using the software.

Jim, how do you use the software? Is it for recording only?

I have yet to go to any karaoke show where I didn't want to go poke around the EQ'ing. Every host I have hired EQ's differently than my baseline.

If your ears could listen to what mine do, you may not like what they hear.

-Chris

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-Chris