# Today’s Impulse Response Experiments



## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

I was trying this setup today.

Guitar->Distortion->Bassman->Z-Matcher->Reactive Load->IR

Over the last year I’ve bought a Torpedo CAB-M and a Mooer Radar that both are similar purpose impulse response cab simulators, and I’m finally getting around to trying them. I’m really hoping this is going to work out somehow, I want to use my amps.

I started with the guitar into the amp, into a cab. All normal.
Added the tube distortion unit. It took a bit to dial in.
Turned off the distortion, removed the cab, added the Weber Z-Matcher to go from 4ohms to 8ohms, and the Suhr Reactive Load, used the line-out from the Suhr into the Mooer Radar. Mooer Radar was simulating a 4x10 Super Reverb cabinet, the power amp simulator was off.

It just sounded not great. I’m not trying to get anything but clean tone out of the amp. It’s on 2 or 3.

I would say there are the kind of bright string sounds and clacks you get when you plug straight into a mixer, if you know what I’m talking about, the sounds I associate with cheap solid-state electronics.

The Mooer has an EQ, I tried turning down the highest 6000hz band.

The line-out from the Z-Matcher was even harsher.

Swapped the Mooer for the CAB-M plugged into the Suhr. It’s different. There’s some type of echo reverb when you first plug it in, it’s in “Simulation” mode where there are full patches including room echo. I had to mess around a bit to get to “Arcade” mode where I cycle through different cabinets without reverb. The most pleasing was a 1X12 Vibrolux.

Still lots of clackiness, but not as harsh.

The reverb on the CAB-M sounds like an old 1980’s mixer’s echo.

The CAB-M was too complicated to just sit down and dial it in, and the power chord was stretched out where the pedal turned around so I wasn’t in a great position to mess about. It connects with bluetooth to an iPad, so I will have to give that a go later tonight.

Neither the CAB-M nor the Mooer sounded much like a real cab.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

Is anyone trying a similar setup?

Any advice on using the CAB-M?

Does anyone have a name for the clackiness?

The real cab I’m using is a 2x10 Tremolux, which sounds a lot like a 4x10 Super Reverb to me.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

It’s much easier to control with the app. I will have to get into it later tonight.


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

I've tried the CAB M a little bit. I didn't use a load box though, just Guitar -> Pedals -> Bassman -> CAB M -> Real Cabinet. So it isn't silent, but that's not a big deal to me as I wanted to use this for recording and don't need it to be silent.

I only played with it for a few minutes so far to get a decent sound, so it's not a fine-tuned preset or anything. Here are my settings:

Power amp: Off
Mode: Simulation
Miking: On
Virtual Cabinet: Vibro Utah
Mic A: Dyn 421
Mic B: Rbn 121
A Level: 0 db
B Level : 2 db
Axis & distance for both: 0

EQ: On
Mode: Guitar
120 Hz: -2 db
360 Hz: -3 db
800 Hz: -5 db
2 kHz: 2db
6 kHz: 2db

Reverb: On
Room: Studio B
Dry/Wet: 9%

My advice would be to try ditching the Z-matcher and load box and try a real speaker to load down the amp, and see if that makes a difference.

Also, note that Arcade mode is just a simplified version of Simulation. The latter gives you a few extra options. Quite frankly, the interface right on the pedal is not that bad and actually found it easier than the bluetooth app (which takes a few moments to load your cabs and then gives you options for tons more that you can purchase).

One weird thing with my CAB M recordings was that I was getting some weird high-end "crackle" or "sizzle" that I didn't like, but I have no idea if that was the CAB M, my audio interface, or something else (oddly, I couldn't hear that in my rather good headphones, just my DAW speakers).


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## CDWaterloo (Jul 18, 2008)

I have a similar setup as well but with a cab and an MXR 10band Eq (old buffered version). MXR eq is very useful to shape the sound after the cab. I think two-notes IR's are okay but not the best. I like Celestion and OwnHammer IRs with the cab.
Also, I usually don't use the cab if I connect to my desktop computer. Instead, I use the torpedo WoS software. 
I agree it is still not the real deal in the room, but it is okay for recording and practicing with headphones, at least to me.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

I tried Guitar->Distortion->Bassman->CABM->Speaker and it sounded very good clean and pretty good with distortion, but I couldn’t tell how much of the real speaker I was hearing.

I tried Guitar->Distortion->Bassman->Z-Matcher->Speaker with a line-out from the Z-Matcher. It seemed like the higher I put the volume on the CABM the more too bright it sounded. It sounded better with the contour towards modern.

I think the problem is with the line-outs, but it could be the rumble of the room resonance is gone. 

I need to get another short speaker cable to figure this out!


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

I did get that speaker cable today.

Guitar->Distortion->Bassman->CABM->Z-Matcher->Speaker. This sounded ok.

Guitar->Distortion->Bassman->CABM->Z-Matcher->Reactive Load. Sounded pretty much the same. That works much better than the line-outs.

It really needs tweaking, but it does sound like or similar to a cabinet of some type. It sounds better without distortion.

The Modern contour has more bass, sounds more real. Vintage contour must mean 50’s Champ with blown speaker. The biggest problem I had was the tone control needed to be towards dark. Eventually I was able to take most of the squealing highs out of the distortion.

I was never really satisfied with what the mics were doing. None of the settings sounded even over the whole board, they all made some chords sound like they had toothed filters.

Next time I’m going to try putting the CABM after the Z-Matcher, try the line-outs and the Moore again with more bass, maybe more A/Bing between the Reactive Load, Speaker and the IR sound.


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