The
Aphex aural exciter was one of the first exciter effects. The effect was developed in the mid-1970s by
Aphex Electronics. The aural exciter adds
phase shift and musically related synthesized harmonics to audio signals. The first Aural Exciter units were available in the mid-1970s, exclusively on the rental basis of $30 per minute of finished recorded time. In the 1970s, certain recording artists, including
Anne Murray,
Neil Diamond,
Jackson Browne,
The Four Seasons,
Olivia Newton-John,
Linda Ronstadt and
James Taylor stated in their
liner notes "This album was recorded using the Aphex Aural Exciter." Aphex started selling the professional units, and introduced two low-cost models: Type B and Type C. The Aural Exciter circuit is now licensed by a growing list of manufacturers, including
Yamaha, MacKenzie, Gentner,
E-mu Systems and
Bogen. The original Aphex Aural Exciter, first offered in 1975, came without the Big Bottom circuit, which was added in 1992. Later revisions of the Aphex Aural Exciter included the Model 104 Type C and Type C2 units. The 2001 Model 204 Aural Exciter and Optical Big Bottom is Aphex' another refinement of the original unit. According to Aphex, the Model 204 updates the Aural Exciter and Big Bottom processor blocks with improved circuitry, including an optical gain-control element for the Big Bottom compressor.
Method of operation of the Aphex Aural Exciter The basic principle of operation of the original Aphex exciter is covered by US patent 4150253, "Signal distortion circuit and method of use" by Kurt A. Knoppel, assigned to Aphex Systems Limited. The invention is summarized as a method and apparatus for electronically processing sound, in which: :"An electrical signal derived from audio information is split up into two separate signal paths. The signal travelling along one path is passed through an exciter circuit and an attenuator and is then combined with the signal travelling along the other path. [...] The exciter circuit is made up basically of a high pass filter and a harmonic creator. The harmonic creator is designed to create low order, odd and even harmonics of frequencies whose amplitudes are above a preselected threshold level. Two versions of the exciter circuit are disclosed, one containing vacuum tubes and the other solid state. The quality and various other characteristics of sound that is processed according to this invention are believed to be greatly enhanced." Subsequent versions of the exciter added phase-dependent elements to the device. ==Other brands==