For the edition #152 of Tape Op magazine, Don Gunn wrote a great review about our 500 Series module for stereo stage processing – SPL BiG. You can find the complete review online and in the magazine, here we provide you with a short summary:
“BiG takes up two slots in a 500 Series rack, but all controls are singular and adjust the left and right channels simultaneously. On the surface, it looks like a simple piece of gear with only three knobs and two switches on the front panel, but don’t worry, there’s a lot happening under the hood.”
Controls:
“The Range control is labeled High at the furthest counterclockwise position and Open at the opposite end of the knob’s travel. This knob appears to act like a high-pass filter when in the High position and only allows processing on higher frequencies. Similarly, the filter moves lower as the knob moves clockwise to the Open setting, allowing more and more of the audio into the processing. The Stage function allows the processed signal to get pushed back in the stereo image or remain right up front.”
“Range and Stage controls set the specifics of the processing in BiG, followed by the Bigness knob which is the largest and centrally located control on the unit.”
Bass:
“Engaging the Bass switch brings in a bass boost generated by a passive filter within the circuit. I found this to be quite handy in preventing the processing from thinning out the sound too much.”
In use:
“I found BiG to be much more helpful on synths, effects, and buses where I wanted to add some extra imaging or width to help parts stand out in a mix without having to turn them up in volume. This brought in some very interesting character to these sounds. It also worked well in parallel on an aux bus, so I could send as much or as little of any channel for some “magic fairy dust” enhancement.”
Conclusion:
“SPL has created a truly unique product with the BiG. I can’t think of another piece of gear that does what BiG does, so congrats to SPL for not trying to reinvent another audio wheel, but instead choosing always to push forward!”
