Gear Designer Insider: SBS Designs – Satisfying Studio to Stage to DJ

July 8th, 2014 by David Weiss

There’s a place in New Jersey where audio is very serious business.

Craig "Shorty" Bbbbb of SBS Designs is a man on a mission.

Craig “Shorty” Bernabeu of SBS Designs is a man on a mission.

It’s called SBS Designs, and the gear that comes out of there has a uniquely diverse pedigree. Nothing that leaps out of the mind of founder Craig “Shorty” Bernabeu is made for just one type of user.

Instead his processors run a very wide gamut, each one of them useful for mastering, recording, live PA, sound reinforcement and beyond. Units like the Iso-Q2 EQ might be on a Grammy-winning mixdown with one engineer, while it’s stimulating a DJ performance at a packed nightclub down the road. Or the SP-1 2UBE vacuum tube warming device can move comfortably from the studio to an audiophile setup to bolstering a PA.

It all starts with the remarkable dichotomy of Bernabeu: strive for system flexibility, while never compromising. Tenacious as he is creative, this is one gear designer that always sticks to his guns.

Business Name: SBS Designs

Website: http://www.sbsdesigns.com

Location: SBS Designs offices are in East Brunswick NJ

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Engineer Nick Phillips at Plasticdog Recordings in LA on the artist Dree Paterson – for the song entitled “Burn,” Nick used the S1 Amp, Iso-Q2 & SP-1 2UBE Processor on the mix and mastering.

Grammy winners:

Shaun Sting Intl Pizzonia, who produces Shaggy, has successfully used the S2 Amplifier & The Iso-Q2

Louie Vega, in live venues or night clubs 2 Iso-Q2

David Morales, uses the Iso-Q2 in a live performance or mix down in the Studio

Germano Studios in NYC, Troy has had great success with the S2 Amplifier in sessions,

Nick Moon of Tone Proper audio in Oregon, Mixed & Mastering Liv Warfield, for the song entitled “Why Do You Lie”, off of the album The Un Expected, on the high current 2 ohm stable S5 Class AB Amp.

Grammy mix engineer David Hall at Blackbird Studios, uses the Iso-Q2 on The Travis Mark Band. David mixed with the S2 Amp & Iso-Q2 at Blackbird on a new artist Heather Jakeman.

John Greenham at Infrasonic Mastering, has enjoyed using the SP-1 2UBE Processor on mastering projects as well.

Unique Offering:

I spend hours and hours listening to recordings anything from jazz to dance music that have major mixdowns on a song, to mixdowns from home studios, on my Private SBS Designs showroom.

Then I will nitpick the mixdowns and file types, positives and the flaws, and say, “I need to figure out what can I do to improve this for guys.” Then I start to design the gear in my mind as I am listening to music.

I usually don’t even know what I will offer next it just hits me out of the blue. This can be while I am driving, or eating or I will wake up out of my sleep with an idea write it down and build on the concept.

Iso-Q2 & SP-1 2UBE Processor is a perfect example of this design philosophy I have come up with. It’s a product that came from nowhere with one-of-a-kind features that has never been offered before.

The Iso Q2.

The Iso-Q2 is a real unique 3-band program EQ. I wanted to have an EQ with infinite cut and +15 dB of boost with sweepable frequencies to use to EQ a mix. It can hit target frequencies without choices by step attenuation, OR the advantages this can offer for room acoustic issues in a live application is to work around hot frequencies spots in a room, that can be amplified once a PA is used in it.

So this will let me dial in at that target acoustic frequency or around it, so I can cut it out or enhance it from song to song. This also works wonders in Mastering or on a mixdown — once your mix is 90% complete, you can choose to finalize the mix with the Iso-Q2.

In a live application the Iso-Q2 can be used as a program EQ to sweeten up a song on the fly on a sound system, or as a Manipulation tool by DJs removing the bass and mids completely, then slamming the audience to get a huge exciting response from the audience to take their performance to the next level, which works amazingly well.

The SP-1 is another example of this way of designing components, and it is my 1^st Vacuum 2ube offering.

SP-1 is a really unique design to get the most from your source in a recording or mastering studio. It can be used in any live application or sound reinforcement with one-of-a-kind features and circuit topology.

The SP-1 allows you to choose how you want to warm up your source with the front panel low and high Threshold controls, so you can contour the warmth of the low end of the Tube stage separate from the top end of the tubes with the front panel controls on your mixdown. This allows you to add a lot of Dynamic Punch to a mixdown with the SP-1 that sounds natural and un-processed.

I thought of having features like this so you are not limited to an all-pass tube processor without any real control. Why should you be limited to an all-pass tube processor you just run your source through to warm up that source and that’s it? This is a twist on vacuum tube processing to the end user, with unique features and fun factor that’s just not offered today.

SBS Designs’ SP-1.

Another great example of one-of-a-kind features with the SP-1, is that the SP-1 offers a phono stage to run vinyl thru it for sampling or uploading into a digital storage device. Not only can you use the SP-1 with a turntable, but SP-1 is the 1^st Tube processor with this kind of topology and front panel controllers with line to phono level feature, AKA a reverse phono curve feature.

Then you can use the front panel Low & High Threshold to dial it in to how you like it, and take it a step further offering new ways to record and track a mix.

I wanted to design the SP-1 with features like this so I can get a line source as close as possible, or sometimes even greater then what a turntable can sound like. OR for engineers to use this feature to upload some of their best Drum kit sounds or other favorite sounds they like to use on a production.

They have the reverse Phono feature stored in the banks, so they can put a unique twist on their library of sounds to a mix from their studio that other studios can’t recreate. With the SP-1 offering these options it gives you more creative ways to get a unique sound from a mix that just has not been offered before, so it really is a game-changer.

With the SP-1 circuit topology we wanted to design an expansion process with usable front panel controls, that will let you get the most out of recording that are compressed and engineered to be mono-compatible. The SP-1 will also bring amazing detail back to digitally stored/processed recordings which were subject to data reduction processing.

In 2014 I will be releasing the SP-1PRO, the next generation of 2UBE Processing for SBS Designs, to take vacuum tube processing to even greater levels for SBS Designs. The SP-1PRO will offer some of the same features and circuit topologies as SP-1 but with seven front panel user controls, Low & High Threshold controllers and four front panel Tube mode presence controls: Ch 1 Bass Ch1 High & Ch2 Bass Ch 2 High, and headphone level controls with True bypass.

The Tube Mode presence controls will allow you to offer some really unique ways to record or master a mix down. These controllers will also allow you to impart the tubes, to take one-dimensional clinical mixes and add far greater depth imaging separation and dynamics to a mix, or the Tube Mode controls can set the intensity of the front panel low and high threshold controls.

In late 2014 SBS Designs will Offer the SX-3. The SX-3 is a 2-way 3-way stereo dual Mono Analog crossover with sweepable frequencies, adjustable gain for each output, and a rotary pot for adjustable phase and much more – first of its kind of features offered in the Analog domain. The SX-3 can be used in 4-way Mono.

Soon to come: The SP-1 Pro.

At the 2013 AES Show in NYC I debuted both the SP-1PRO and SX-3 as concept prototypes to see how the market would bare these one-of-a-kind of Hifi processing units, and the feedback was enormous.

Design Mindset:

My Design process will always be left field. To me it’s like painting a picture in many ways — I never know what I will paint next.

Instead, I have to come up with left-field designs that will open up the vision of the end user to take their source to the next level in the highest fidelity possible, and at the same time challenge myself to offer a real unique product that has real user options and circuit topologies that can help you get the most from a mixdown.

With SBS Designs it’s always about the sonic signature in the original concept, designed with creative features not offered ever before. I don’t sacrifice the fidelity, but really open your mind up to get more from a source in the studio or mastering, or with any sound system, studio monitors, Live PA or Sound reinforcement.

At the end of the day that is what it`s all about and why we got into this: Because we want to have fun while we create.

Expansion Action:

Retail in the states is growing fast, and now even overseas retail is requesting to be dealers for SBS Designs — global requests come anywhere, from Australia to South Africa to Portugal to buy the Iso-Q2, SP-1 and The S series Class AB Amplifiers. They’re being used in recording studios, mastering studios & sound reinforcement wanting high-end amplifiers for installs.

I get hit with emails every week which is amazing, and it is all from word of mouth talk around the world to be used in every application, which is even more amazing. All the designs are finding their way to be used with every type of end user, from DJs to mix and mastering engineers.

SBS Designs S Series amplifiers are even being offered to home hi-fi audiophiles, replacing iconic reference solid state and tube amplifiers.

Case In Point:

For example in a live application and nightclub installation, this past March of 2014 Miami Music week AKA The Winter Music Conference, 10 out of 11 nights SBS Designs dominated every major event. We were even used in multiple events the same night by many GRAMMY-award winning Producer DJs.

These events featured the Iso-Q2, some using three in one night, plus the SP-1 2UBE Processor and a concept I am calling Membrane that might become available. The WMC had ever major electronic DJ from across the globe and the first choice was the SBS Designs Iso-Q2, used to improve the PA they played on with features to manipulate the music to get excitement from a crowd.

Two tastes that go great together — the Iso-Q2 and SP-1 at Native Culture Studios, Brooklyn.

In a recording & Mastering Studio, Recently Nick Moon at Tone Proper Mastering in Oregon was using the Iso-Q2 SP-1 2UBE Processor on some mixdowns. Nick also chose to use the S 5 High current Class AB amplifier on major artist Liv Warfield, for a song called, “Why Do You Lie,” to get the most from the mixdown and master, which was co-produced and co-collaborated by Prince.

This summer in NYC the Liberty Theatre, which was fully restored in Times Square as a 26,000 sq. foot venue from 1904, is opening as a club and has the Iso-Q2 for the DJs and sound engineers to use as a program EQ.

Why Being a Sonic Entrepreneur Rules:

I would have to say, to be able to share my vision of SBS Designs. My idea of proper voicing is accepted in so many applications by some of the best ears in studios – I was hearing recordings on SiriusXM Channel FM.com this week, which was mixed on the S series amps, Iso-Q2 & SP-1, beaming to millions of subscribers. To see them used live in action on a major level to thousands of people and watch them respond with emotion – those are all reasons why this rules!

Why Some Days You Want to Pack It In and Get Your Real Estate License:

I never look at it like this. I think because I am putting a twist on designs it keeps me going because, I get creative in my process. I just keep pushing on to make my vision goals and dream happen.

I have a goal and the will, and I refuse to throw in the towel and get my real estate license. I am determined that if there is a door closed, I will kick it open and say, “Here I am, this is what SBS Designs is about!” Determination is key, that drives me to keep pushing forward.

The Ultimate Business Partner:

Hmmmmm, I never thought of having anyone as a partner, I always thought of being solo. I think this is the best way to get your vision across with my philosophy. Especially when it’s a left-field approach, some might not understand and it could distort what you want to achieve and never come to life.

Sage Advice:

Stay focused and keep pushing for what you want to put out there and don’t let anyone tell you you’re crazy, that won’t work or sell. If you have a dream to do this, follow it no matter how long it takes. If you can dream it and make it a reality, push for it and stay with what you want and love to do.

The caution is: Design smart and make sure that what you have a vision for can work in more than one application. Today`s end user is smart and they want products they can use on the road and in the studio. If you design for just one application, there are tremendous revenue streams you can miss out on.

— Craig “Shorty” Bernabeu, http://www.sbsdesigns.com

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