Aphex 204 Aural Exciter

[KennyLusk]

Is there much love here at TOMB for the Aphex Aural Exciter for OTB mixing?

[MASSIVE Mastering]

I wouldn't do it on a bet.

Maybe if I were going from a tape deck in "reasonable repair" on to a deck in "somewhat reasonable repair" and I needed something to distort the hell out of - er, I mean "add clarity" to the high end...

But otherwise, not a chance.

[KennyLusk]

Ah, ok. Well there's one point of view.

Anything you would recommend John that kinda does the same thing?

Didn't Ryan Hewitt say he uses the Aural Exciter at the TapeOpCon on '06?

[MASSIVE Mastering]

kinda does the same thing?

Distorts the high end and tubs out the lows?

EQ things the way you want and you won't feel the need for an "exciter" type option.

Ryan might use one. He has one in the rack. I'd assume it's not a 'go to' thing...

[KennyLusk]

kinda does the same thing?

Distorts the high end and tubs out the lows?

EQ things the way you want and you won't feel the need for an "exciter" type option.

Ryan might use one. He has one in the rack. I'd assume it's not a 'go to' thing...

So, then what do you use your Cranesong HEDD 192 for?

It's an effects box that enhances harmonics, adds harmonics, distorts a signal with more harmonics, makes things sound brighter, livelier, brings out detail, etc. It excites a signal. So don't act like you don't use an exciter when you do, let's be honest here.

The HEDD of course is out of my range and I'm looking for an "exciter" in the low end range that gets a little love.

Everybody's got their boxes full of tricks and I'm just trying to enhance my box of tricks, amigo.

[Studio2roll]

I use the 204 when I upsample. For my Digi002 setup if I want to record more than 8 tracks at once it has to be at a 48k sample rate (002 + Octopre through lightpipe), and since I usually use about 12 tracks for drums, I record all basic rhythm at 48k, then I use Peak Pro's upsample algorithm to upsample those tracks to 96k.
I then will go back to Pro Tools, and track by track I play the tracks out of the 002, through the Aphex 204, and record back into Pro Tools at 96k. I use the 204 extremely lightly and tune it to each track's fundamental frequency, and the result is that I'm able to recreate/ capture a good chunk of the harmonics that are lost when you record below 96k.
I do all my overdubs (guitars, vocals, latin percussion, keys, etc) in 96k to start since that's one at a time recording. Exciting the upsampled tracks really makes a difference in the qualtiy of the mix as opposed to just upsampling the tracks and mixing them in with 100% recorded 96k tracks.
Is it as good as going 96k all from the start, of course not, but for a budget setup it really helps in regaining the depth, punch, texture and frequency response of the tracks. You're probably all laughing this off, but in a mix it can really make a difference.. Check out the results from my band:

http://www.atomicfury.com

all the tracks from my album "Kid Tested, Mother Approved" were done this way. (All 3 of our albums are also now available on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon, Shockhound music stores)

[KennyLusk]

What you're doing with your drum tracks and the aural exciter makes perfect sense to me. I jump through hoops with some crazy "multing" tricks I setup for percussion and drums, effects percussion, and sometimes electric guitars. The other instruments rarely get any treatment because I don't find it necessary really. But my multing tricks in software are a pain in the arse and I'm mixing OTB now...hence the movement to find a hardware solution to do exactly what you just described S2R. I'm just looking to add back a little "splash" of excitement that's lost when tracking at 44.1 and for OTB processing of percussion/drum loops. Thanks for the reply, and thanks to John as well.

[MASSIVE Mastering]

So, then what do you use your Cranesong HEDD 192 for?

It's an effects box that enhances harmonics, adds harmonics, distorts a signal with more harmonics, makes things sound brighter, livelier, brings out detail, etc. It excites a signal. So don't act like you don't use an exciter when you do, let's be honest here.

The HEDD of course is out of my range and I'm looking for an "exciter" in the low end range that gets a little love.

Everybody's got their boxes full of tricks and I'm just trying to enhance my box of tricks, amigo.

I understand where you're coming from - And sure, there are occasions where harmonic excitement comes in handy. IMO though, the Aphex/BBE stuff is like trying to do pin-striping with a Wanger Power Painter. Back in the 80's, going tape-to-tape or doing dupes on 4x pancakes, they had no equal. At his point in time, where the sensitivity of the gear and the available dynamic range is something that couldn't have been imagined back then, it's just so intrusive...

[Studio2roll]

I'm just looking to add back a little "splash" of excitement that's lost when tracking at 44.1 and for OTB processing of percussion/drum loops. Thanks for the reply, and thanks to John as well.

I only do this on upsampled tracks as well, no need to on tracks recorded natively at 96k. I don't feel the tracks need "excitement" when I use it, it's more of a "breath of air" to me, it helps recapture like I said, depth, punch, helps spatiality etc... but you have to be careful because there is a definite wide margin for abuse as Massive Mastering said

At his point in time, where the sensitivity of the gear and the available dynamic range is something that couldn't have been imagined back then, it's just so intrusive...

It really can be intrusive and add the unwanted crunchiness, or killer high end if you use too much. My mix knobs are practically NEVER more than a quarter turn up, but I use my ears to do this kind of decision, and I work in a controlled space (acoustically) when I'm using it as well. Unfortunately there's not a lot of options if you want to record more than 8 tracks at a time and also want to work in 96k, and can't afford a ProTools HD setup, or an equivalent.