Waves MaxxBass 102 Setting MaxxBass Controls, Setting input level, Setting the MaxxBass effect

Setting MaxxBass Controls

The MaxxBass systems have only a few simple controls, but establishing the proper setting is critical to achieving the desired system performance. The description included explains the operation and provides some recommendations. It is required that a few minutes of listening tests are performed to insure that the controls are set for optimum performance.

Step 1: Setting input level

Input Trim Knob

Input level should be set first. As a rule of thumb, set the input for MaxxBass 101 so that the clipping indicators light occa- sionally. MaxxBass 102 input level should be set so that its signal presence indicators light up.

The Input Trim knob only attenuates the signal and does not apply gain to it - unity gain, or 1:1 input calibration, is set when the knob is turned fully clockwise.

Step 2: Setting the MaxxBass effect

Frequency Knob

MaxxBass Frequency knob should be tuned to the specific speaker system at hand. Both MaxxBass 101 and MaxxBass 102 sup- port Frequency settings in the range of 25 to 100 Hz. As a thumb rule it is recommended to set MaxxBass Frequency to about 70-90% of the speaker cutoff. For speakers with very high cutoff of above 120Hz MaxxBass Frequency should be set at 100Hz.

As explained in the “MaxxBass Technology” section, MaxxBass removes energy residing below the (set) MaxxBass Frequency from the input signal. Thus, if MaxxBass Frequency is set too high above the speaker’s cutoff it might degrade the speaker’s response in that frequency area. It is generally best, when tuning MaxxBass Frequency, to start low and gradually raise the set- ting until the desired effect is achieved.

Table 2. Initial MaxxBass Frequency Recommendation

Product	Speaker Cutoff	MaxxBass Frequency
Large subwoofers	25-40 Hz	25-30 Hz
Small monitors	70-80 Hz	50-60 Hz
Ceiling mount speakers	80-100Hz	60-80 Hz

Intensity Knob

The MaxxBass Intensity knob should also be tuned to the specific speaker system under evaluation. MaxxBass Intensity con- trol goes from Low (counter-clockwise) to High (clockwise) on the MaxxBass systems. This knob control affects the amount of the MaxxBass effect. The Intensity knob should initially be set to the Low position and slowly raised until the optimum level of bass is achieved.

It is worthwhile to elaborate on how MaxxBass Intensity control works, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6.A illustrates the generated harmonics series at low Intensity setting, Figure 6.B illustrates a high Intensity setting. “F” is the original source frequency, f1 and higher are the generated MaxxBass harmonics. As MaxxBass Intensity is raised, the relative (to the original source frequency) level of harmonics increases and their decay rate becomes slower - more MaxxBass effect is “mixed” into the signal in a complex fashion.

MaxxBass User Guide 7