MaxCom Dual-Channel Compressor

Much more than a high-quality compressor/limiter, the BBE MaxCom Dual-Channel Compressor is the first signal processor of its kind to feature an onboard BBE Sonic Maximizer for enhanced clarity and definition. Both its compression and gating provide versatility and excellent sonic performance without producing undesirable processing artifacts. Includes 2 independent, full-featured compressor/limiters, with each channel having independent controls for Threshold, Compression Ratio, Attack Time, and Release Time. The stereo link allows for phase-coherent tracking of stereo signals and adjustment from the Channel One controls. Comprehensive metering is achieved via dual bar graph meters on each channel that indicate Input Level and Gain Reduction. Its intuitive design makes the BBE MaxCom easy to operate.

The BBE Process--"What it Is"

Loudspeakers have difficulty working with the electronic signals supplied by an amplifier. These difficulties cause such major phase and amplitude distortion that the sound reproduced by the speaker differs significantly from the sound produced by the original source.
In the past, these problems proved unsolvable and were thus relegated to a position of secondary importance in audio system design. However, phase and amplitude integrity is essential to accurate sound reproduction. Research shows that the information which the listener translates into the recognizable characteristics of a live performance are intimately tied into complex time and amplitude relationships between the fundamental and harmonic components of a given musical note or sound. These relationships define a sound's "sound".
When these complex relationships pass through a speaker, the proper order is lost. The higher frequencies are delayed. A lower frequency may reach the listener's ear first or perhaps simultaneously with that of a higher frequency. In some cases, the fundamental components may be so time-shifted that they reach the listener's ear ahead of some or all of the harmonic components.
This change in the phase and amplitude relationship on the harmonic and fundamental frequencies is technically called "envelope distortion." The listener perceives this loss of sound integrity in the reproduced sound as "muddy" and "smeared." In the extreme, it can become difficult to tell the difference between musical instruments, for example, an oboe and a clarinet.
BBE Sound, Inc. conducted extensive studies of numerous speaker systems over a ten year period. With this knowledge, it became possible to identify the characteristics of an ideal speaker and to distill the corrections necessary to return the fundamental and harmonic frequency structures to their correct order. While there are differences among various speaker designs in the magnitude of their correction, the overall pattern of correction needed is remarkably consistent.
The BBE Process is so unique that 42 patents have been awarded by the U.S. Patent Office.