BBE High Definition Sound is the core sound enhancement technology licensed by BBE Sound and featured in the BBE Sonic Maximizer range of professional audio signal processors. Other technologies licensed by BBE Sound into the consumer electronics market either incorporate this core technology or are optimized for best results when used with BBE High Definition Sound.



Because the BBE Sonic Maximizer range of professional audio processors is so popular among music and sound professionals, and the primary reason for visitors to bbesound.com, we first highlight the benefits of BBE High Definition Sound in terms of useage by musicians and sound professionals:

u Natural Musical Realism - music has great "live presence". Unlike some "exciter" devices which add fatiguing artificial harmonics to the signal, BBE adds nothing artificial to the signal but instead restructures it to faithfully allow all the detail and nuance to be heard.
   
u Full Frequency Operation - Highs frequencies are clearer, naturally brilliant and more finely detailed. Lows are tight, well defined and harmonically rich. All from a single processor with easy two-knob adjustment of the BBE process.
   
u Speech intelligibility - Sound contractors know that vocal intelligibility is paramount to a successful PA installation and client satisfaction. No other audio processor brings natural clarity and crisp definition to the spoken word like BBE does. That's why BBE Sonic Maximizer processors can be found installed in PA systems ranging from the massive network in New York's JFK airport to the thousands of houses of worship around the world.
   
u Electric and acoustic guitars - have sparkle, clarity and definition. BBE sound processing brings out the harmonic complexity and bite significantly increases cutting power. Each note of a chord becomes more distinct. Brings guitars out of the "mud".
   
u Keyboards and synthesizers - take on new realism. Percussive and plucked sounds are clear and sharp, chords are rich and full-textured, each note in the chord retains its integrity.
   
u Electric & acoustic basses - take on that rich, earthy "CD" sound. Five string players love what it does to the "B" string. Extremely tight, punchy bottom end with all the presence, clarity and bite of the top end.
   
u Vocals - cut through the amplified instrument so you can be heard better. Lyrics of the sound are no longer "buried in the mix".
   
u Improves effect processing - expands the spatial dimension of stereo reverb and chorus. Whether in an individual instrument rack or across a full mix, BBE makes a dramatic improvement in the quality of effects and neutralizes their tendency to muffle instrument and vocal characteristics.
   
u Recording studios, home and professional - use BBE on individual tracks, mixdown, and of course in mastering, BBE brings out the full spectrum of sound. Mixes with BBE are fresh and sparkly. BBE gives you enough sparkle to restore instrument clarity or increase vocal intelligibility without appreciably adding level.
   
u Broadcast clarity - broadcast facilities all over the the world depend on BBE for the best possible transmission quality. From huge operations such as Japan's NHK to local music stations such as Los Angeles' 94.7 The Wave, BBE has become a necessity for modern quality broadcast quality.

 




Many of the worlds most respected consumer electronic manufacturers have embraced BBE as the next leap forward in sound reproduction technology for many of the same reasons that made the BBE Sonic Maximizer processors the best-selling sound enhancement devices in the Pro Audio world.

Below we discuss how many of the same benefits to BBE High Definition Sound technology apply to the consumer electronics world, as well as some benefits largely unique to consumer electronic applications of BBE technology.

u

Natural Musical Realism - music has great "live presence" with BBE. The Hi-Fi experience, whether in your home, car, or on the go with personal audio, is becoming closer to the professional sound quality experienced at major concerts, thanks to BBE processing.

BBE is increasingly featured in the aftermarket car audio market, which is well known for its consumers demanding the highest quality sound. Respected manufacturers such as Alpine, Pioneer and JVC feature BBE in their car audio products. Professional car audio enthusiasts and installers alike look to BBE equipped components for success in car audio competitions worldwide.
   
u

Speech intelligibility - No other audio processor brings natural clarity and crisp definition to the spoken work like BBE can. That's why BBE is found in more and more televisions each year. With BBE, the spoken word can be heard clearly and easily, and at lower volume levels. This is particularly advantageous in high density living areas, such as apartment buildings. Senior living facilities are increasingly selecting televisions with BBE for this reason.

BBE is increasingly featured in televisions by the world's top makers, such as Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi and JVC.

   
u Truly lifelike movie experience - expands the spatial dimension of the 5.1 experience like nothing else. Watching an action film on DVD through an A/V system featuring BBE is breathtaking, with sound effects such as jet planes or explosions becoming truly lifelike, not just loud. With BBE, details otherwise inaudible are revealed, such as the subtle movement of ice cubes in a glass held in an actors hand. This is a great example of why BBE's Pro Audio tag line is "Reveals All The Sound You've Never Heard."
   
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Improves simulated "surround" effects - Most "surround sound" effects in televisions make sound "muddy", which causes listening fatiguing and necessitates higher volume levels to allow the viewer to comprehend speech. BBE works to maximize the spatial qualities of "surround sound" effects while maintaining the clarity and definition BBE is known for.

Consumer electronics manufacturers will soon be featuring the newly-released BBE ViVA, a sound enhancement technology which couples a special "surround sound" effect integrated with BBE High Definition Sound.

 



All music that is amplified through a loudspeaker suffers some loss of fidelity - or subtle distortions - caused by the inherent characteristics of the loudspeaker itself. The BBE system addresses these problems by compensating for phase and amplitude distortions and, in effect, delivering the signal to the speaker in a form which allows it to reproduce the original live performance more fully and more faithfully.

 
 
 
Original live sound
sound before amplification.  
First part of transient shown
BBE OFF - Same sound as reproduced by
an audio system
Note initial transient lost;  
Envelope distortion 
BBE ON - Same sound reproduced with BBE processing
Corrects Distortion  
Corrects phase delay 


To understand how BBE sound processing technology works, consider the characteristics of a loudspeaker and what we expect from one. Among a loudspeaker's most important requirements is the ability to reproduce transients - the brief high-energy bursts at the beginning of sounds. The transients then evolve into harmonics. It is the particular amplitudes and phase relationships of these transients and harmonics which add the unique color and character to each sound. 

Varying either the amplitude or the phase of the transients and harmonics within signal causes distortion of the sound's characteristics. By drastically altering the transient response of a sound, it's possible to make a cymbal crash seem like a car crash. Similarly, altering amplitude or phase relationships of the harmonics in a clarinet's tone can make it sound more like a flute, or a French horn like an oboe.


A loudspeaker's transient response is typically expressed in terms of amplitude response (how quickly it reacts to an incoming signal), with little or no regard to phase response (whether high and low frequencies are reproduced at the proper time). The ability to accurately represent a sound's phase and amplitude define the quality of a loudspeaker's transient and steady - state, or sustained, response. 

If a loudspeaker's amplitude response curve were linear, then the relationship between the high and low frequencies would be correct. And if a loudspeaker's phase response curve were linear, then the low and high frequencies would reach the listener's ears in their correct time order. This would result in faithful reproduction of the sound. However, this isn't normally the case.


When we listen to live music, all of the highs and lows reach our ears in the same relationship to each other as when they were created by the instruments. If this same live music were to be recorded and played back through a loudspeaker system, the loudspeaker would introduce frequency-dependent phase shifting. The inductance of the speaker's voice coil creates a stronger impedance as the signal's frequency increases, resulting in a time delay. Consequently, frequency components with large negative phase shifts (high frequencies) arrive at the listener's ear later than signals undergoing small phase shifts (low frequencies). The resultant signal is distorted in the time domain to the listener's ear. Audio material containing sharp transients (e.g., percussive and plucked sounds such as drums, guitar, piano and harpsichord, etc.) suffers the most from this phenomenon, making it seem unfocused, or mushy. 

In order to address these problems inherent in basic loudspeaker design, BBE Sound, Inc. has developed a circuit that has two primary functions. The first adjusts the phase relationships of the low, mid and high frequencies. Since a loudspeaker's natural tendency is to add progressively longer delay times to higher frequencies, the BBE sound processing system adds progressively longer delay times to lower frequencies. This creates a kind of "mirror" curve to the time delay curve created by the speaker, neutralizing its phase distortion.

The second major element in the BBE system is the augmentation of the higher and lower frequencies. Loudspeakers tend to be less efficient in their extreme treble and bass ranges. Most sound-reproducing systems include a circuit for boosting high and low frequencies, showing an accepted awareness of the loudspeaker's efficiency problem. The BBE system, however, provides a dynamic, program-driven augmentation which combines with the phase compensation feature to restore the brilliance and clarity of the original live sound. The result is, as one professional journal phrased it, "The most hearable advance in audio technology since high fidelity itself!"

 



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