I used a BBE Sonic Maximizer for a few years, all the instruments seemed to be separated giving a nice balance and clarity. What you are running into you BBE and the amplifier are very important, I found that unless I was critical about the setting on the BBE the sounds of the highs like a cymbal were right up front and took away from the total sound.

Add the settings on your instruments and the settings on your amp. And finally the room you are playing in – (Sometimes we need to add highs or less reverb etc.) That’s far too much to worry about while trying to do a good job. If the conditions never changed it would be a good unit.

Just my view, John C.