PROCESSING AND EFFECTS

AURAL EXCITEMENT, TIME-ALIGNMENT

Both of these effects sound like they add edge, top end and brightness, but they work in different ways.  An Aural Exciter will add distortion in a specific range of the sound.  For example, you can leave the bassy parts of a horn sound the same but add some fuzz and bite in the cutting and brassy parts.  Time Alignment devices cut the sound into highs and lows, then delays them to compensate for how they travel through air differently.

Aural Exciters sound fuzzy, edgy and spitty.  They work very well on trumpets.
Time Alignment devices sound bright and clear.  They work very well on acoustic guitars and violins.