CAB M? OX Stomp? What’s the best pedal cab emulator?

[metropolis_4]

I’m really into using preamp pedals into a cab emulator right now as a pedalboard amp. I’ve been experimenting with the preamp side of things and now I want to experiment more with the cab side.

Right now I’m using these three options:

• Quilter Phantom Block
• Simplifier fx return
• AC30 power amp in + mic-no-mo

I want to try some others. What’s good in this realm of the guitar gear world? Bonus points if it has power amp emulation!

 

[Jarick]

Ox Stomp is cool if you set up the six preset cabs ahead of time and just use it as a virtual mixer. Effects sound good but basically impossible to use because of the app and lack of controls. But if you want a good deal on a mint one shoot me a pm as I’m going to list mine on reverb as I don’t use it.

 

[dbagchee]

My Cab M+ has been a great little utility box. It has the power amp sims, eq, noise gate, supports DynIR and regular IRs, reverb, and even has a clean pre amp to act as an amp in the box. Hard to beat for the $120 I paid used.

 

[dronerstone]

Imho, the CAB M+ is a no-brainer if you buy used, but might seem dated in some aspects.

Definitely give it a shot and see how you like it before considering more expensive options, I'd say.

 

[Elric]

Mooer Radar is a cheap compact option, has power amp sims. There are bunch of little boxes that can load IRs I think.

 

[metropolis_4]

A noise gate would be nice, I wouldn’t mind a reverb but I’m not too interested in effects in this. I could probably use the OX without ever making an account or using the editor.

Has anyone ever tried the Tsakalis Multicab?

 

[Richard_G]

I had a Torpedo CAB M+ that I primarily used as a simple IR loader on one of my boards. It worked well and also had some nice additional features. Nice utility box.

But I ended up selling it. Figured I could use one of my Tonex One pedals as a simple IR loader when needed instead.

 

[HotRats]

I use a cab m+, placed between the amp and the 2x12, to feed the PA with a clean, consistent and controlled signal. I only use the onboard cab side and the eq and works great.

Very practical and easy to use for my user case even without the phone app, once the presets are done.

The most important thing is that here's a dedicated global output volume knob so you can easily make the FOH guy happy.
The other knob selects the presets and I've made few copies of the same preset but with low cuts at various frequencies, from no cut to somenthing like 150hz.
I usually start with preset with the 80hz lowcut and just move one preset up or down depending on what the FOH ask me to do (usually nothing) or I feel like to.

If you need to tweak more you can do it form the unit, is not very fast, given UI, but doable (if you remember how it works, LOL)

Never really tried all the other stuff inside the unit but I bet they is all pretty good or at least good enough.

 

[nightlight]

I have a Cab M+ as well, and it works well enough as an IR loader. But I haven't really dived into the TwoNotes IR ecosystem, much easier to just load a couple of IRs that you like in the memory and use those. The ability to hook it up directly to an amp is wonderful though, takes all the guesswork at a gig when it comes to dealing with the soundman.

 

[hunter]

Room is an essential parameter for me (In Ears). The UA is great if you can accept that the app isn't.
I hear great stuff about the endgame and its room and doubler, too.

 

[metropolis_4]

I have to admit, I’m struggling with the idea of using IRs again…

I know it’s all psychological, but somehow IRs have become my mental scapegoat for all that I didn’t like about digital gear. And I keep hesitating to buy anything IR based.

The two things that immediately come to mind when I think about IRs are

1. Unnatural filtering / phase cancellation
2. I hate when they try to artificially create space/depth/ambience. It sounds detached to me

I also really hate searching for the right one. I’d rather just have a single cab, dial my amps to it, and let my ears adapt to it. But that’s not IRs fault, I can do that if I choose.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

I have to admit, I’m struggling with the idea of using IRs again…

I know it’s all psychological, but somehow IRs have become my mental scapegoat for all that I didn’t like about digital gear. And I keep hesitating to buy anything IR based.

The two things that immediately come to mind when I think about IRs are

1. Unnatural filtering / phase cancellation
2. I hate when they try to artificially create space/depth/ambience. It sounds detached to me

I also really hate searching for the right one. I’d rather just have a single cab, dial my amps to it, and let my ears adapt to it. But that’s not IRs fault, I can do that if I choose.

I'm with you. I use a Palmer analog DI for all my live work. They're not detailed enough for studio work but they sound great live through a large PA. No unnatural filtering or artifacts and zero latency. I always put it in between my amp and cab and about 9 times out of 10, the soundguy prefers it over his mic. Sometimes the guy is adamant about using his mic and that's fine too. In those cases, I still ask him to put the Palmer on the wedges for my own monitoring.

Palmers don't really work with preamps though, they're made for an amp's output level, but you could try the Radial JDX Direct Drive with your preamp.