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BBE Sound Max-Com
Stereo Compressor Limiter Gate with Sonic Maximizer, Dual Mono or Linkable
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Fake Price...................................
$279.00
Real Price...............
$199.00
Status: Usually Ships Same or Next Business Day |
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BBE Sound MaxCom Stereo Compressor Limiter Gate w/ Sonic Maximizer Description
The MaxCom is an easy-to-use dual channel compressor/limiter/gate and Sonic Maximizer that provides live or pre-recorded material with clean, distortion free compression. Whether the goal is to control vocals, a stereo mix or just dial in hard limiting to protect your speakers, the MaxCom will accomplish your needs with the reliability and sonic excellence.
Applications
- Recording studio
- Live sound reinforcement
- Churches
- Clubs
- Concert halls
- Contracting applications
Features
- A full-function fourth-generation Sonic Maximizer
- World-class THAT Corporation VCAs
- Balanced or unbalanced I/O
- Dual bar-graph meters for each channel to indicate Input Level and Gain Reduction
- Key in and out via ¼" TRS.
Specifications
- Frequency repsonse: 20 to 20,000Hz
- Signal to noise ratio: More than 94dB
- Total harmonic distortion (THD): Less than 0.05%
- Threshold: -40dBu to +20dBu
- Compression ratio: 1:1 to 11:1
- Attack time: 0.1 to 200 msec
- Gate threshold: Off to +10dBu
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BBE Audio Max-Com Compressor Review / See All ZenPro Audio Reviews Here: Review Page
This dual mono / stereo linkable compressor has a decent feature set for such a low priced item, and for home studio enthusiasts as well as pro studios looking to add a couple channels of inexpensive dynamics control, it is a decent performer. The unit features attack times from .1ms to 200ms, release times from .05 secs to 2 secs, ratio from 1:1 to 10:1, as well as an AUTO mode which takes over for the attack and release duties on its own. One unique feature is the MaxCom also has a pair of Sonic Maximizers on board to enhance the signal if desired (they can also be bypassed). There is no true bypass onboard but you can engage the compressor on and off to A/B the results against the dry signal. The LED metering is interesting in that the LED's darken rather than light up to show gain reduction (opposite of what you expect).
The first thing I want to say is, if you're one of those people who might call and say "I think I need a buss compressor" but have never really used one and want to learn, go ahead and buy a MaxCom now. Is it an awesome mix buss compressor? Compared to higher cost boxes...no...but it's a very decent one that costs next to nothing, works as advertised and links up in stereo nicely for easy operation. The AUTO mode happens to do a pretty good job also on mix type stuff so another reason for a beginner to pop one of these in the rack and learn. OK having said all that this box is not just limited to beginners so...on we go.
The attack is plenty fast enough for things like drums, it will catch the lead transient of a snare drum / kick well enough and tame things in a fairly smooth manner. Initial drum transients end up a bit rounded compared to some other designs, don't expect that SSL presence when smacking drums to the extreme. The release can be a bit pumpy in the early stages, but overall you can usually find a pretty predictable setting and rock on easily. The AUTO mode replaces both the attack and release settings with its own, which is sort of hit and miss like all AUTO modes. On drums you have to go pretty deep on threshold before it takes effect, lighter compression in AUTO mode on drums is simply not possible as the attack won't grab fast enough to affect things. Overall AUTO mode on all sources is good for quickly dialing in an average type of compression which in some ways is akin to turning the volume down and not really re-shaping the envelope in any dramatic way.
Bass guitar is handled decently, not capable of lightning fast attack or release times, but certainly good. Vocals are really pretty nicely delivered as well, again don't expect a big sound but it tames the dynamic range in a tight manner without soaking up the top end too bad. It can be a bit tweaky here, but once you find the range it can be a predictable tool on voice and a pretty safe bet. AUTO does a good job of delivering clean control without being overly pumpy on voice.
The tone / sound of the unit is about what you expect, vanilla (not that that's bad) that doesn't really bring anything or take away. The sound is small, this isn't a "wow everything sounds huge!" box UNTIL you engage the Sonic Maximizer that is. At that point, you have the capability to blow up the bottom end (centering on 50hZ) and get some excited boom stuff happening. The top end of the box processes from 5kHz and up and adds a bit of sizzle top end fizz that can be useful if used thoughtfully and not over-done. For things like bass guitar, synths, drum buss (can breathe life into drums) and even sparsely used on a final mix, the Sonic Maximizer does have its uses at times.
Conclusion: There aren't any compressors in this price range that deliver much excitement, and while the compressor section itself is a kind of plain Jane sounding...the Sonic Maximizer does give you an option of exciting things to a degree. I'm really serious when I say home studio guys have got to have one, if anything to learn hardware compression and experiment with! Pro studios could likely get use out of them on drum buss or synth busses at a minimum, either way this box is worth the asking price easily.
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