CAB SIMS - What they sound like.

[JGale]

https://soundcloud.com/user-275816837/8-cabsims

#1 - Multicab SIM by dschwartz. Four knobs (bottom, gain, flatness, top response). Bottom knob - 3 o'clock, flatness and top response 12 o'clock.
And a frequency response taken with RMAA with the same settings as recorded sample (this applies for all tested 8 cabsims). This one is the basis for the DSM Noisemaker Cab Sim.

#2 - Simple CabSim by Lart. No knobs. PCB, no box.

#3 - Simple CabSim by Lart with bajaman mods (to emulate Celestion Blue speakers). No knobs. Vero, no box.

#4 - Distorque by Distorque Audio. I quote the author of the circuit - "I focused on emulating were the Jensen P12Q and the Celestion G12M "Greenback"." Four knobs, not sure about exact settings, just tried to find acceptable settings  This one is on a breadboard, pots without knobs and I forgot to memorize exact settings

#5 - Hot Line 2 Speaker Simulator by Sybirak. Two pots - sand cut and accent. Accent on/off switch and "cabinet" switch (3 cabs) Not 100% sure about settings, this one is also on a breadboard - probably cab 3, accent ON

#6 - THE GUITAR SPEAKER SIMULATOR BY VICTOR KAMPF/AMT. Two potentiometers -cutoff and notch. Breadboard version.

#7 - LS14 cabsim by Lionsound. This cabsim is taken from the Lionsound Dark Angel Engl preamp emulator. No knobs, PCB. Frankly, I am a little bit dissapointed.. there is too much craclking sound, quite annoying for me. 

#8 - Condor Cab Sim by runoffgroove . Two pots - gain, vol, Notch Depth switch. Vero, no box.

From this thread: DIYSTOMPBOXES

[Steve Haynie]

Reading through the thread at the other message board someone has already pointed out what I heard. 

When my home studio was together we mic'ed cabinets, so cab simulators were something I never tried out.  Having so many choices of simulators versus two cabs and a variety of mics could make a day in the studio interesting.  It is good that someone got all those short sound clips together to cut out a lot of wasted time going back and forth.

[RobB]

In my world, any, “cab-sim”, that doesn’t make going direct sound like ass is a successful product. 

[seeker]

Still got my ADA Ampulator.  Havent used it in quite a while, should probably fire it up.

Rundown . . . basically what RobB said. 

 

[JGale]

Here's a demo of a single model using DSP.

10 settings, supposedly eventually modifiable by you. $99

https://shift-line.com/ It's a Russian site. They sell thru Reverb though.

 

 

[JGale]

Annnnd another site that has schematics and frequency response graphs for various cabsim circuits

https://www.hexefx.com/diy/tech/cabsims

[RobB]

Impressive that the CabZone LE can be used with OD pedals. Besides speaker sims, it also seems to do some manner of power amp compression. I think I may pick one up. 

[JGale]

But wait! Thery're's more!

You can also use a outboard line-level EQ like the (award for best suggestion ever in a pedal, years ago, goes to MChis for recommending the) MXR-10 to approximate Cabinet Sim response curves already published. In the Aurora's loop just prior to the output section.

Below: Runoffgroove Condor CabSim of a 4x10 cabinet of P10Rs (blue)

Edited to add: I like it! It has that P10R brittleness and it strokes the Output tubes into the nicest glass I have yet been able to coax out of this rig. The driven speaker is a Red Fang in a large sealed 1x12 cab.

I ordered one of those CabZone LE thingies from the Russian Federation. If I disappear, grieve for me.

[killerteddybear]

13 minutes ago, JGale said:

But wait! There's more!

You can also use a outboard line-level EQ like the (award for best suggestion ever in a pedal, years ago, goes to MChis for recommending the) MXR-10 to approximate Cabinet Sim response curves already published.

I bet one of those 31 band rack mount thingies would work too.

[Disturber]

Got one of these in my living room at home right now. Will take it to meet Mr Marshall on Wednesday for a full work out. I will post a full report as soon as I have tried the speaker simulation part of the attenuator, as well as the attenuator itself. I tried it at home with my Deluxe Reverb yesterday and it sounded pretty damn great all the way down to full attenuation. 

 

[JGale]

Here they be playing it into a camera. Pretty nice selections.

And uh-oh @Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame what is he playing?

[HAMERMAN]

On 2/24/2020 at 1:41 PM, RobB said:

Impressive that the CabZone LE can be used with OD pedals. Besides speaker sims, it also seems to do some manner of power amp compression. I think I may pick one up. 

I'm not sure whats going on there but I would agree that it sounds like more than just different speakers. They don't all use the same type of Mic so maybe that's part of it. Either way the CabZone sounds pretty cool.

[JGale]

I just finished building this little mfkr. Tiny parts + fat fingers not fun.

It's based off some work the same designer did for a DIY Pedal BBS, but it's more or less a clone. It's a little noisy in front of the amp, but buried last in the loop chain it's not so noticeable. It is fun though.

Six knobs adjust filters affecting aspects of this generic speaker-cabinet response variables. It includes high frequency (4kHz) roll-off and input gain matching. The gain does seem to add some compression if you go beyond matching input levels..The controls are a bit more intuitive in that they reference "cab size", "number of drivers", "open/closed back", instead of frequencies.

FWIW I think it's very expressive. Not many pedals where you can find something to like in most combinations [C(10,6)=120]!

And it's fun to play with!

Edited to add: A regulated power supply does wonders to curtail any noise! Gain is a strange one. It seems to add fullness and some sustain to the output. I like it.

The Russian pedal has cleared customs. Be here soon!

PedalPCB UniCab.

[JGale]

Komrades! Ist here! from da mutherland.

Package left Moscow on 2/28 (after many days delay) and arrived on 3/9 in Appalachia is US. $89 plus VA tax. Free shipping.

Small plastic box showing 3D printing striations. The circuit board is all SMD. I ordered the $90 kit. Assembly was not too difficult. Beware; plastic is not necessarily elastic. The Volume control is not active. I run it at full sweep with pad set to 0dB, located last in a 0dB loop. Same place as the OmniCab and the MXR-108 previously.

The noise floor on this puppy is non-existent or VeryLow in my book. Ten sims available. Informacion here.

First impressions are there just isn't enough to tweak, just ten presets. Also, it seems more effective as a tone shaping filter used with distortion. Coaxing up my inner HairBand(c) I donned my best (padded) spandex and noticed this time each setting had a noticeable effect on tone, especially the lower registers, dull, deep, compressed, good variation in 8 presets. Whether they are accurate representations of the target cabinet I have no experience with all those listed.

After the deluge, the same settings, used clean, seemed more subtlety noticeable. The Mesa is REALLY full. The Fender is bright. How strange though my reaction to the analog (UniCab) vs. DSP (CabZone) difference. I like the DSP! A lot! As my convincementication vocabulinary is meager at best, I'll describe it as going from the a modestly priced stereo to one of GTRDADDIES magnificent offerings. Clear. Seemingly more dynamic. I'm running reverb in a 50/50 loop and it seems somehow more present and larger in mix. I don't get it.

On the flip side, as long as you keep the gain and high end response settings in check on the UniCab, you can do some really nice things with it on the fly.

I have a 31-band EQ coming up next.

[JGale]

So, this CabZone LE just got more interesting. I have been using one and prefer it over the analog I rave about above (still like what the analog one does for a TM60 gain channel though).

The CabZone LE has ten subfolders for ten Speaker/Cab IR models that follow a 24bit, 48kHZ, WAV, PCM1, sans compression, 940 samples (19.58 ms) format. You can substitute those provided for your own by drag and drop to the microSD card.

BUT WAIT!! There's moar!

There is a new version CabZone X, that adds the ability to map IR (or maybe Pulse, I dunno) type amp output transients unique to say a particular family of output tubes onto the CAB SIM waveform. It trades the micrSD for a USB port, so is more handy Commrade? Aslo has a DI out and lower noise floor, better S/N, etc, etc..

BUTT WAITT!!! There's more!

If you go here to CabZone LE Support, an update to the LE software allows you to map the amp output tube IR/Pulse onto the Speaker/CAB IRs using an online program and download them the microUSB folders, effectively getting you the same functionality as the more expensive newer model but without the fancy real-time selection knob.

Also, something, something about the ability to decipher PULSE Hex commands and add their momentum to the IR's and I got completely lost. Not that far along in my DSP IR COnvOlutiOn education.

WOO HOO! I got it to work. Did the update to the firmware. Have ten folders on the chip, all but #02 contain the code for the tube amp impulses and they sound like different tubes were in place of the 6L6s in the power amp. #02 has the 6V6SE mind-melded via the online app to a '73 Twin IR. Nice.

Also, here is a picture of a goat I took at 9:00AM EST today.

 

[JGale]

To be honest?

Some of them need to lose a little weight.