SPL’s latest release brings the circuitry employed in their BiG 500-series module to a 1U 19” rackmount unit, and takes advantage of the extra space by adding a new Tube Harmonics section.
The BiG [Studio] Stereo Image Bigger Maker, to give it its full and undeniably descriptive name, does exactly what you might expect. As with its 500-series forebear, the unit is dedicate to stereo image widening, and works by deriving a stereo difference signal from the input before processing it with an analogue filter network and blending it with the original signal. The company say that the circuitry is more involved than simple Mid-Side processing, but does have a similar benefit in that the results can be summed to mono without any phase shifts, cancellations or other unwanted artefacts.
Fairly simple in terms of controls, the BiG [Studio] features the same Range and Stage controls as the original BiG, with the former setting the target frequency range and the latter governing how much that range is pushed forward or backward in stereo image. a Bigness control then defines the overall intensity of the processing, while a More Bass button adds some additional low-end weight courtesy of a filter that’s similar in design to the circuitry used in SPL’s IRON Mastering Compressor. Something that is exclusive to the rackmount version is a new Tube Harmonics control, which uses onboard valve-based circuitry to offer some variable harmonic saturation.
Pricing & Availability
The BiG [Studio] is available now, priced at $1554€1299.
