Aphex EXBB500

Aphex EX BB 500

The EX•BB 500 is a 500 Series version of the popular Aphex Aural Exciter® and Big Bottom® processors. Small, portable, interchangeable and easy to use, the new EXBB 500 provides the performance of Aphex’s legendary Exciter in a mono module, allowing artists and engineers to configure the exact number of channels needed, in a convenient and affordable way. Aphex 500 Series modules are designed to fit in industry-standard 500 Series racks from API, Radial Engineering, A Designs, Empirical Labs and Tonelux. A rack full of 500 Series modules creates a “custom” and portable solution with devices an engineer can easily reconfigure by simply swapping out modules as needed.

• Mono Aural Exciter and Big Bottom
• Independent Enable buttons for each process
• Balanced, transformerless input and output

Legendary Audio Enhancement

Close to a million Aphex Aural Exciters have been used in recording studios, broadcast facilities, concert arenas, musicians’ equipment racks, DJ systems, houses of worship, auditoriums, theaters and sports venues. The Aural Exciter’s patented technology has often been imitated but never duplicated. It remains one of the leading audio enhancement devices worldwide – for voice, music, communications and more.

Aural Exciter

For decades the Aural Exciter’s patented technology has been the audio professional’s secret weapon; a powerful way to improve and enhance sonic quality more naturally than with equalization. Users always comment on how it “opens the sound” making it more spacious and clear. For individual sources or entire mixes, the Aural Exciter brings out detail, clarity and imaging that elevates the source without adding unwanted level or inducing distortion into the signal chain.

The EX•BB 500’s Aural Exciter offers discrete Tune, Harmonics and Mix controls, enabling users to fine tune the specific performance desired. For vocals and dialog, it increases intelligibility as it highlights the edges of consonants, providing better “cues” of the language. For individual instruments, it adds punch and presence without changing the instrument’s tonal character. And on mixes, it adds presence, “airiness” and detail. The Aural Exciter is also an ideal solution for breathing life into bit rate reduced recordings and other compressed audio files.

Optical Big Bottom

The EX•BB 500’s Optical Big Bottom provides deep, powerful low frequency punch without the unwanted level boost that comes from adding traditional equalization. Music benefits are deeper, more resonant, detailed bass with tighter articulation, extending low frequency power and spectrum for a richer, more percussive sound – even at very low volume levels – all without the build-up or driver-damaging tendencies of bass EQ. The EX•BB 500’s Big Bottom features Tune, Drive and Mix controls, enabling users to dynamically enhance low frequencies.

Applications:

Recording, Project and Post Production Studios – The Aural Exciter was born in the recording studio, and its legacy can be heard on thousands of legendary recordings bearing the unmistakable Aphex sound. It’s at the heart of great sounding voice-overs and mixes in rock, pop, jazz, classical and every other genre of modern music. You’ll also find the Aural Exciter in TV and film post-production suites the world over.

Live Sound, Houses of Worship and More – The EX•BB 500’s Aural Exciter and Optical Big Bottom provide all of the same benefits to live sound, Houses of Worship, communications and public address systems.

Aphex Smart Circuits: The EX•BB’s Secret Weapon

The Aural Exciter and Big Bottom are “smart” circuits, analyzing the audio signal in real-time, in order to provide the optimal amount of processing required for the given moment in the signal, regardless of signal or file type and quality. And unlike an EQ, the Aural Exciter’s harmonic generator does not boost the signal’s output level, maintaining clear undistorted signal, maintaining a clear and balanced sound – all without influencing the Big Bottom’s “smart” processor. Reading the audio signal and adjusting in real-time is the secret to maximum performance for any audio or recording system.