Cab clone vs Mic

[dlpasco]

I've had a lot of success using cab clones with most of my amps before but I've got to say, the TC-50 sounds a lot better when recorded with microphones. I've got some samples I recorded with a couple of e609s and an SM57 and they sound really great. I'll try and get some stuff together to post here over the next day or so.

One more thing - the Cab Clone can add meaningfully to the recording if it is mixed in at lower levels, but it doesn't really stand up on it's own for me, for this particular amp.

That's pretty interesting. In my case, it's a first. I wonder if it has anything to do with how the different amps or voiced, or something else. Maybe it's just me.

 

[dlpasco]

Here's a clip I recorded yesterday. This is using EL34s, fwiw.

Link: http://dlpas.co/cIH8.mp3

0:00 - Clean
0:14 - Blue Channel
0:25 - Red Channel
0:38 - Red Channel - slight settings tweak

This is the TC-50 played through a oversized recto 4x12 cabinet with V30s, with an e609 on the upper left hand speaker, and sm57 off axis on the lower right hand speaker, another e609 recording the room sound, and input from the amps' cab clone as well.

Here are the mixing levels I used for the different inputs:

 

[dlpasco]

[update] I chopped this up into an A/B of the Cab Clone vs the recording setup I described above: http://dlpas.co/ke2a.mp3

0:00 - Clean, Cab Clone
0:05 - Clean, mic'ed
0:10 - Blue Channel, Cab Clone
0:14 - Blue Channel, mic'ed
0:20 - Red Channel, Cab Clone
0:24 - Red Channel, mic'ed
0:30 - Red Channel again, Cab Clone
0:34 - Red Channel again, mic'ed

 

[elvis]

Wow, huge difference between CabClone and Mic. Thanks!

 

[J.J]

The Cab clone sounds really mid Heavy to me and the real mic recording scooped. Vastly different sounding. Which Cab clone mode did you use, vintage ?

Just as a curiosity, how loud was it running for the recording ?

 

[Icarusuki]

Thanks for this, Daniel!

It is a drastic difference. I wouldn't have guessed it would be that extreme.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Keep in mind the factor of EQ. The Cab Clone is a raw signal - the microphone has its own EQ curve.

If you are handy in ProTools, try matching the EQ curve of the mic to the Cab Clone signal - and see if you can tell which is which!

 

[domct203]

Keep in mind the factor of EQ. The Cab Clone is a raw signal - the microphone has its own EQ curve.

If you are handy in ProTools, try matching the EQ curve of the mic to the Cab Clone signal - and see if you can tell which is which!

This is contrary to how the Cab Clone is described on the Mesa Boogie website.

The first sentence from the "overview' info (http://www.mesaboogie.com/cabinets-...ators/guitar-cabinet-simulator/cab-clone.html) states:
"The CABCLONE™ is a passive Cabinet Simulator/Speaker+Mic alternative with a built-in Amp Load."

So which is it? Is the Cab Clone a "Speaker+Mic alternative" as it is currently advertised, or is it just a simulation of a speaker in a box that needs further enhancing with Mic simulation?

Sorry to give you a hard time here, but I bought my Cab Clone because it was advertised as a "Speaker+Mic alternative", but have experienced the same disappointment as the OP when compared against a mic'ed cabinet.

Dom

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Nothing contrary to the description at all. It IS a mic alternative! We have many artists that use the CabClone instead of a mic so they can have a consistent tone night after night, not have to worry about placement, bleed, vibrations, or all the other issues one might deal with when using microphones (the worst being when a sound guy throws you a banged up mic to put on your cab, with who knows how many times its been dropped, etc) But keep in mind the difference between microphones is their EQ curve - which is why we choose DIFFERENT microphones for different applications. The CabClone provides the raw (not to be mistaken for non-compensated) signal of the amp with cab simulation, for direct send to console, etc. For many, the raw signal works well - but to get optimal results, it can be EQ'd at the board just as you would do with any other source signal.

Not only customers and artists are using the CC, but engineers as well - its become Rich Chycki's go-to for much of his recent studio work. Thanks!

 

[dlpasco]

Nothing contrary to the description at all. It IS a mic alternative! We have many artists that use the CabClone instead of a mic so they can have a consistent tone night after night, not have to worry about placement, bleed, vibrations, or all the other issues one might deal with when using microphones (the worst being when a sound guy throws you a banged up mic to put on your cab, with who knows how many times its been dropped, etc) But keep in mind the difference between microphones is their EQ curve - which is why we choose DIFFERENT microphones for different applications. The CabClone provides the raw (not to be mistaken for non-compensated) signal of the amp with cab simulation, for direct send to console, etc. For many, the raw signal works well - but to get optimal results, it can be EQ'd at the board just as you would do with any other source signal.

Not only customers and artists are using the CC, but engineers as well - its become Rich Chycki's go-to for much of his recent studio work. Thanks!

Thanks for chipping in

I use it for most of my recording as well - this was the first time I really felt like the mic'd sound was significantly better that I might want stick to using microphones for recording this amp in the future. Still totally using the Cab Clone for practice at night, though.

Someone asked: the speaker voicing I was using was Open.

 

[Dreamtheaterrules]

DP, I can't get that link to work.

 

[dlpasco]

DP, I can't get that link to work.

WUPS - I'm using droplr for this and forgot to set the expiration time to "never". I've updated the link above, but here it is as well: http://dlpas.co/ke2a.mp3.

Sorry about that.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I've got to say, the TC-50 sounds a lot better when recorded with microphones.

You can say that again. I do NOT like anything I've gotten from the CabClone. Sounds like dog crap to me. Very easy to get a great mic'd sound from a Recto cab, though.

 

[YellowJacket]

I've got to say, the TC-50 sounds a lot better when recorded with microphones.

You can say that again. I do NOT like anything I've gotten from the CabClone. Sounds like dog crap to me. Very easy to get a great mic'd sound from a Recto cab, though.

HAHA, like Glenn Fricker's review? HAHA!

I got a Torpedo Live and it is definitely a useable alternative to a traditional mic and cab setup. The price of admission is way higher but the results make it well worth the investment.

The Torpedo Studio sounds even more realistic but it costs more and I don't believe it was designed to be used in live performance situations?

I think the best thing with something like a 'cab clone' would be if it were possible to use it as an attenuator only and run the direct feed through a Torpedo CAB instead. Not meaning any hate here, but I much prefer digital cab simulations to analog ones.