by Jerry Vigil
It's called First B.A.S.E. and comes to us from Gamma Electronic Systems, Inc. in Glendale, California. B.A.S.E. stands for Bedini Audio Spatial Environment. Bedini is the last name of the inventor, John Bedini, who is better known for his high-end stereo amplifiers. The B.A.S.E. unit is a stereo "enhancer" of sorts, but it is more than just a box you put on line to increase stereo separation. It separates stereo information from the mono information in a stereo input and lets you manipulate these separate signals individually.
To understand how B.A.S.E. works, you must first understand a little about how the brain works. Our brain receives audio in mono, but it receives this mono information binaurally -- with two ears. If a lead guitar appears to come from the left channel of a stereo system, that left speaker is a mono source, as far as our brain is concerned. Because the lead guitar is closer to our left ear than our right ear, our brain perceives the audio as coming from a direction to our left. This "spatial" perception is a result of the tiny difference between the time it takes the lead guitar to reach our left ear and the time it takes the audio to reach our right ear.
The B.A.S.E. process focuses upon this timing aspect of audio perception and manipulates the timing so as to "fool" our brain into thinking that the audio is coming from a place other than the actual source, or the speaker. This manipulation is basically (very basically) a 180 degree reversal of phase between left channel and right channel information, but the degree of phase reversal is not constant. On a scope, this phase relationship may look constant, but the rate at which the phase relationship is changing is so quick that conventional test equipment is unable to show you what is really happening. As a result of this special process, when you sum the outputs of the B.A.S.E. box by putting your console or amplifier in the mono mode, there is very little, if any, apparent cancellation of audio, as is the case when you sum two normal signals that are 180 degrees out of phase.
Now, consider that it is only the extracted "stereo" information that the B.A.S.E. system is messing with. Since the mono information is separated from the stereo information, the mono information of the signal can be re-introduced into this modified "stereo" signal and provide a unique blend of audio, some of which is out of phase and some of which is in phase. In the studio, the result is quite interesting.
The blending of these two "parts" is done with a very simply laid out front panel. Aside from a bypass switch, there are only five knobs on the front panel. The first is the MONO BALANCE control. This pot allows the user to place the extracted mono information anywhere in the stereo spectrum. The MONO GAIN control is simply a volume control for the mono information. By turning this knob all the way counter-clockwise, all mono information is cut, and you're left with just the stereo information. The third knob is the STEREO SPACE control. It controls the amount of "phase modified" stereo signal that is sent to the outputs. By setting this knob to the full counter-clockwise position and leaving the MONO GAIN up, you can cut out the stereo portion of your input and send just the mono information of the input to the output. Finally, there is an OUTPUT LEVEL control and a HEADPHONE GAIN control which are both self-explanatory. The back panel is just as simple with input jacks and output jacks plus an interesting SIDE CHAIN input and output which we'll look at in detail later.
We tested the B.A.S.E. unit on several types of input, from music to promos and simple voice tracks to jingles. To say the least, the B.A.S.E. system is input dependent, meaning that no two inputs resulted in the same sounding effect at the output. The more stereo information an input had, the more pronounced that information was on the output. Slight adjustments of the MONO GAIN altered the overall output considerably. Slight adjustments on the STEREO SPACE did the same. In the production room, this box would definitely need to be close at hand because each individual input would require its own tweaking. There is no question that the effect is noticeable. If it isn't, you just crank up the STEREO SPACE or decrease the MONO GAIN.
We piped several different pieces of music into the B.A.S.E. box. On some songs, instruments appeared that weren't nearly as noticeable before. An electric piano that seemed stationary at first, seemed to swirl around the stereo spectrum after introducing the B.A.S.E. process. Jingles came to life with a much "broader" separation of the stereo vocal tracks. When added to commercial production music and synthesizer promo/sweeper beds, the tracks jumped out of the speakers.
We took spots and promos that were already produced and sent them through the box. Anything that was primarily left or right channel became more present. In some cases, the stereo information almost covered up the mono voice track. This was fixed by simply turning the STEREO SPACE down or cranking the MONO GAIN up. One interesting result of using B.A.S.E. on pre-produced spots and promos was an apparent increase in the amount of reverb on voice tracks. We concluded that this was a result of the fact that the voice track was mono while the reverb was stereo, therefore, as STEREO SPACE was increased, the reverb was increased. Because of this, the best time to use B.A.S.E. in production might be during the mix. There is so much difference in the effect from spot to spot, or promo to promo, that you simply cannot set the box up and leave it. It must be set for each individual input. However, since there are only two main controls to play with (STEREO SPACE and MONO GAIN), setting the box up for an input is very fast.
The SIDE CHAIN input and output on the rear panel allow for some interesting applications. This side chain is connected to the extracted mono portion of the output. Mono information can be taken from the B.A.S.E. unit, sent to an equalizer or other effects box, then returned to the B.A.S.E. unit where the processed mono information can be controlled by the MONO GAIN and MONO BALANCE pots. Use your imagination with this feature!
Because the unit is manipulating the phase of left and right channel information, the effect has the initial sound of audio that is simply out of phase. As mentioned earlier, you would expect a great deal of cancellation when the output is summed at the console, but due to the unique method of processing, this cancellation is minimal, if noticeable at all. We pushed this aspect to the max by sending some music to the unit, dropping the MONO GAIN to zero, setting the STEREO SPACE to nearly full tilt, and then summing the console. Rather than a complete cancellation of the out of phase stereo signal, the cancellation was only around 3 to 5 dB on this particular piece of music. In real application, this "zero mono gain/full-tilt stereo space" setting is unrealistic -- this is not how the unit was designed to be used. With appropriate settings of the MONO GAIN and the STEREO SPACE, summing the output at the console showed no notable cancellation on the VU meters, so concern about how things will sound on mono receivers is almost insignificant.
The influence phase correction devices (used on many transmitter audio chains) would have on the B.A.S.E. process was another aspect of the phase manipulation that concerned us. We spoke with Mike Fishman, President of B.A.S.E.. He said the B.A.S.E. effect would be diminished somewhat, but not completely. The degree of diminishment would be dependent upon how much of the effect was used. If a station wants to use the B.A.S.E. box on its entire signal, the box should be installed after any phase correction devices in the chain. If the box is to be used in the production room, you would want to disconnect any phase correction devices in the audio chain. Because of the direct relationship between the B.A.S.E. process and phase correcting devices, using B.A.S.E. in broadcast applications warrants a detailed meeting with your engineering department. There is no reason why B.A.S.E. cannot be used in production, in the dubbing of music, or in the on-air chain, but there is more to consider before using it than you would if you were just going to add reverb or some other common effect to audio intended for broadcast.
Also, it was determined that multi-path interference is increased somewhat when the B.A.S.E. system is put on line with the audio chain, but this interference is not created in areas where it doesn't exist to begin with. It is only enhanced to a degree dependent, once again, upon the amount of B.A.S.E. effect in use. Mike says, "We're working with a major station in LA, and we're trying to solve the problem now. If we can solve it in LA, which consists of valley after valley, we can solve the problem anywhere."
The B.A.S.E. system isn't new. It has been around since 1988 and is already well accepted in the recording and film industries. It has been used on the soundtracks of such films as Star Trek V, Halloween Parts 4 and 5, Back to the Future II and III, The Little Mermaid, and several others. We received a list of artists who are using B.A.S.E. in their recordings. The list includes Laura Brannigan, Glen Campbell, 10,000 Maniacs, Reba McEntire, Def Leppard, The Charlie Daniels Band, The Cure, Motley Crue, Shadowfax, Barbara Streisand, Waylon Jennings, Fleetwood Mac, INXS, Bo Didley, and dozens more. Closer to "production home," B.A.S.E. is also being used on the popular Techsonics production libraries. Regarding any negative feedback about using B.A.S.E. in broadcast applications, Mike Fishman said, "We have over 150 CD's on the market that have been processed with B.A.S.E.. If there was a problem, we would have heard about it by now."
Oddly enough, in this day of digital everything, B.A.S.E. is handled totally in the analog domain. Specifications include unbalanced XLR and 1/4 inch inputs and outputs. Frequency response is 5 Hz to 20 kHz. Total harmonic distortion is .0025%.
Relatively speaking, B.A.S.E. is brand new. Its obvious acceptance in the recording industry is a good sign that we'll see the B.A.S.E. logo on more and more CD's in the future, and it is definitely something that the audiophile will want on his home stereo system. In fact, that is the next step for the folks at Gamma Electronics. The professional unit has a $3,000 ticket on it. We understand that a $600 consumer model is planned and expected to hit the market within two or three years. Ultimately, the B.A.S.E. process will be integrated into a small computer chip which will reside in home and car stereo systems everywhere, much like the Dolby process. We expect the time will come when, next to the Dolby logo on your cassette deck, you'll find the B.A.S.E. logo; and next to the Dolby switches on that same cassette deck, you'll find the on/off switch for B.A.S.E.. However, unlike Dolby, B.A.S.E. is not hardware or software dependent. Therefore, no decoding of a B.A.S.E. signal is necessary. All you do is either turn it on or turn it off.
For more information on B.A.S.E., call Gamma Electronic Systems at (818) 500-4171.
