Fractal Cab Block Preamp?

[Stone]

Howdy all, seeing as you all know I'm quite new to the Cracktalverse and was wondering about why would there be a preamp in a cab block?
does it have to do with the microphone portion ? I do use it and found it to improve the tone (Tape35us), but I'm kind of clueless as to why and what
Do any fractal users here use it ?

Thanks all for your input and clarification

 

[State of Epicicity]

It's for simulating the preamp in a mixing board, from what I can tell. The first Van Halen album, e.g., had some mic preamp distortion on it, if I'm not mistaken. The Beatles ran tones direct into a mixing board and overloaded the preamp. I think it's nice to increase the saturation and level until you can hear it start to get gnarly, then roll back. And the BMT knobs in that section are unbelievably powerful too, in that they can really affect the tone too much of you're not careful. They're a great way to add an overall frequency shift, but for me I might go half a decibel with those.

Beyond mic preamp distortion, just subtly playing with the different types of mic preamp models definitely adds character to your tone. Traditionally engineers would have an understanding of the subtle ways a particular mixing board would sum the signals and add its own character. Try increasing saturation and gain until you feel a little warmth coming from the IR itself. It's another method of coloring the tone just beyond the mic in your IR, in a way that can greatly compliment it.

 

[Stone]

It's for simulating the preamp in a mixing board, from what I can tell. The first Van Halen album, e.g., had some mic preamp distortion on it, if I'm not mistaken. The Beatles ran tones direct into a mixing board and overloaded the preamp. I think it's nice to increase the saturation and level until you can hear it start to get gnarly, then roll back. And the BMT knobs in that section are unbelievably powerful too, in that they can really affect the tone too much of you're not careful. They're a great way to add an overall frequency shift, but for me I might go half a decibel with those.

Beyond mic preamp distortion, just subtly playing with the different types of mic preamp models definitely adds character to your tone. Traditionally engineers would have an understanding of the subtle ways a particular mixing board would sum the signals and add its own character. Try increasing saturation and gain until you feel a little warmth coming from the IR itself. It's another method of coloring the tone just beyond the mic in your IR, in a way that can greatly compliment it.

Thanks for the Info, and yes I do use it , its just another weapon in the Fractal tone shaping arsenal

 

[aivoryuk]

It's for simulating the preamp in a mixing board, from what I can tell. The first Van Halen album, e.g., had some mic preamp distortion on it, if I'm not mistaken. The Beatles ran tones direct into a mixing board and overloaded the preamp. I think it's nice to increase the saturation and level until you can hear it start to get gnarly, then roll back. And the BMT knobs in that section are unbelievably powerful too, in that they can really affect the tone too much of you're not careful. They're a great way to add an overall frequency shift, but for me I might go half a decibel with those.

Beyond mic preamp distortion, just subtly playing with the different types of mic preamp models definitely adds character to your tone. Traditionally engineers would have an understanding of the subtle ways a particular mixing board would sum the signals and add its own character. Try increasing saturation and gain until you feel a little warmth coming from the IR itself. It's another method of coloring the tone just beyond the mic in your IR, in a way that can greatly compliment it.

The BMT in the preamp are really powerful - you don't need a lot, half a decibel as you say - I think it is the same eq as the 3 band console eq.

I tend to use the Tape35us for recording - even with the drive and saturation at minimum it changes the sounds subtly and controls the bottom end quite well.

 

[State of Epicicity]

The BMT in the preamp are really powerful - you don't need a lot, half a decibel as you say - I think it is the same eq as the 3 band console eq.

I tend to use the Tape35us for recording - even with the drive and saturation at minimum it changes the sounds subtly and controls the bottom end quite well.

Totally. I like several of the mic preamp models, and I imagine if I did more experimenting I'd find it's probably a matter of matching the preamp type to the rest of the tone as to what enhances the character best for that preset.

 

[laxu]

I really wish Fractal just made the mic preamp a separate block. It would make a novel drive block for one.

 

[Piing]

I've always been using them in all my presets. And in High Quality. Mainly Tape, Fet, Tube or Vintage. They add a nice touch.

Cliff said they are based on classical and expensive consoles and preamps, but he doesn't reveal the actual models to avoid anal discussions.

Check the Wiki for some notes:

Cab block - Fractal Audio Wiki

wiki.fractalaudio.com

 

[State of Epicicity]

I've always been using them in all my presets. And in High Quality. Mainly Tape, Fet, Tube or Vintage. They add a nice touch.

Cliff said they are based on classical and expensive consoles and preamps, but he doesn't reveal the actual models to avoid anal discussions.

Check the Wiki for some notes:

Cab block - Fractal Audio Wiki

wiki.fractalaudio.com

I love anal discussions.

 

[la szum]

I really wish Fractal just made the mic preamp a separate block. It would make a novel drive block for one.

Yup. Made a Wishlist topic around this. Crickets.

 

[Mongillo19]

I use it with preamps to simulate a power amp (for example with synergy stuff)

Whoops didn't read your post closely about it being specific to the cab block. I thought you meant the tube pre model

 

[Whizzinby]

I use it with preamps to simulate a power amp (for example with synergy stuff)

Whoops didn't read your post closely about it being specific to the cab block. I thought you meant the tube pre model

How are you getting on with the Synergy rig?

 

[Mongillo19]

How are you getting on with the Synergy rig?

I really like it! The buy in isn't cheap but the modules I have sound really good and simple to dial in

 

[aivoryuk]

I really like it! The buy in isn't cheap but the modules I have sound really good and simple to dial in

would be interested in the synergy stuff but as you say the buy in is not cheap - i bet they would get more buy in if one of the housing units (syn1 or syn2) actually came with a module included.

 

[yek]

I've always been using them in all my presets. And in High Quality. Mainly Tape, Fet, Tube or Vintage. They add a nice touch.

Cliff said they are based on classical and expensive consoles and preamps, but he doesn't reveal the actual models to avoid anal discussions.

Check the Wiki for some notes:

Cab block - Fractal Audio Wiki

wiki.fractalaudio.com

There's some similarity with the types in the Ozone Exciter plugin, and with "distortion" plugins in general like in Logic.

 

[State of Epicicity]

For anyone using static IRs, I found you can put an IR Player feeding into the Cab Block for gapless channel switching with a mic pre. Set the Cab Block to Legacy with the Totally Flat IR, and use Scene Manager to keep that block at Channel A for all Scenes. Now you can set all the Channels of your IR Player Block(s) to switch gaplessly and still have still use of the mic pre in the Cab Block. The caveat is of course, it doesn't work with Dyna Cabs.

 

[Piing]

The caveat is of course, it doesn't work with Dyna Cabs.

You can capture the DynaCab with the ToneMatch block (using the Synth as impulse generator), export the resulting IR, and use it on the IR Player block

 

[State of Epicicity]

You can capture the DynaCab with the ToneMatch block (using the Synth as impulse generator), export the resulting IR, and use it on the IR Player block

Totally, though I also tested and found DynaCabs to be perceptibly gapless with channel changes. I had to retest everything this morning and found really the only tiny gap, and I mean the very tiniest of gaps, is in the amp channel switching. It's barely there, and more than fast enough for any change in a song.

I had some mixed up assumptions, but I'm finding the drives as well as the Dyna Cabs switch channels fast as lightning.

But what you're saying is a great idea for those pushing their CPU limits.

 

[Piing]

Totally, though I also tested and found DynaCabs to be perceptibly gapless with channel changes. I had to retest everything this morning and found really the only tiny gap, and I mean the very tiniest of gaps, is in the amp channel switching. It's barely there, and more than fast enough for any change in a song.

I had some mixed up assumptions, but I'm finding the drives as well as the Dyna Cabs switch channels fast as lightning.

But what you're saying is a great idea for those pushing their CPU limits.

Don't forget to cover your head with a hood and mask when you are capturing your CAB block with the ToneMatch for your own use. Last time I mentioned that at the FAS forum, some smartass cried copyright!, sinner!, blah blah blah...

Utterly ridiculous

 

[State of Epicicity]

Yeah, I think as long as you don't share the result, who cares?

 

[oacikgoz]

I really wish Fractal just made the mic preamp a separate block. It would make a novel drive block for one.

If you don’t care about the esthetics, this is easy to achieve.

1) put a cab block before the amp, yes, before.
2) choose flat tone sim (last IR on the factory list)
3) go to preamp tab under cab, adjust to taste. Plug your mic or guitar and enjoy.