Workflow with WaveHammer & BBE

orca wrote on 12/23/2005, 9:54 AM
Just like the subject says, I'm trying to figure out what's the best workflow in employing WH & BBE in Vegas. Currently, I'm using WH at the very end of the mix to make all the sound level even and don't exceed 0 db. However, as soon as I added BBE at the end, the audio clipped. I'm just following someone's suggestion that BBE should be put at the very end of the process, is this true? How about if I reverse the order BBE first, then WH, is this better at all? Any input are welcome.


Thanks,
Marty

Comments

epirb wrote on 12/23/2005, 10:18 AM
Thyats what I do as I use BBE to enhance the tonal quality of the track, then use whatever form of compression after that.
Disclaimer: I am not a sound guy any means, and could be wrong, So anybody with better knowlege feel free to tell me I'm incorrect :)
John_Cline wrote on 12/23/2005, 10:27 AM
The BBE process does two things: It splits the audio spectrum into three frequency bands, low, mid and high. It then delays the low band by 2.5 ms and the mids by 1 ms in relationship to the high band. This is to compensate for the fact that most speakers aren't "time aligned" and the low frequencies "lead" the high frequencies as they leave the speaker and that "muddies" up the sound. Delaying the lows and mids allows the highs to reach the ear at the correct time.

The second thing the BBE process does is dynamically adjusts the EQ of the high band by looking at the dynamics of the mid band.

For a more detatiled explanation of the BBE process, refer to my post in this thread:

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=309372

Neither of these processes should be negatively affected by applying WaveHammer after the BBE, since WaveHammer is a full-spectrum, wide-band plug-in. Although, since WaveHammer is looking at the total energy in the audio and the bass frequencies make up the largest portion of the energy, the dynamics of the low frequencies will tend to influence the overall level of the compression. This is more significant for music and much less so for voice-only tracks. Regardless, I think it's basically OK to apply WaveHammer after the BBE.

John
orca wrote on 12/23/2005, 12:26 PM
John,

That was a very thorough explanation there. I'm not that technical that's why even after reading the old posts I still wasn't sure if WH has negative effects on the sound after it was BBE-ed. But thanks for giving the easy and lengthy answer to expand my knowledge here.

Mastering process is probably another aspect of audio that I want to learn more here. If anyone has recommendation of books, DVDs, or links, that'd be great.

Thanks again!

Yoyodyne wrote on 12/23/2005, 11:43 PM
I usually put the BBE last in the effects chain, after the Wave Hammer. I'm sure there is no hard a fast rule but I seem to find it has a bit more BBE-ness at the end of the chain. I usually just add a bit of it anyway - if at all.

Just a quick 02