Cabinet Simulator VST

[superheavyfunk]

Hi everyone. Just wondering what your favourite ITB cab sims are? I’ve got to do some mixing and the bass was recorded direct… looking for options beyond just using my EQ and not looking for IR - strictly cabinet emulations from plug-in makers. Thanks!

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Not sure why you'd want that over a impulse response personally

 

[superheavyfunk]

Not sure why you'd want that over a impulse response personally

And that’s ok! We all have different needs

 

[silky smoove]

not looking for IR - strictly cabinet emulations from plug-in makers

What plugin maker is developing cab sims that aren't based on impulse responses?

looking for options beyond just using my EQ

If you don't want to use an IR then an EQ is going to be the only option. Apply a 6-12db/oct low pass filter and adjust it until you get the desired cabinet top end approximation.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

And that’s ok! We all have different needs

I guess I should have presented that more as a question as to the reason you prefer a cab sim. I'm sorry I guess I'm just confused as far as I understood the analog cab sims are not much more then a EQ curve and maybe a low/ high pass filter I very well could be missing something tho care to explain why you prefer them?

 

[silky smoove]

I'm just confused as far as I understood the analog cab sims are not much more then a EQ curve and maybe a low/ high pass filter

You're not confused. That's all they are. More elaborate ones might include a very small amount of overdrive, but it's typically just a low pass filter doing the bulk of the work for an analog cab sim.

 

[superheavyfunk]

There’s a lot more than that, friends.

Because I’m an impatient person (sometimes), I just went ahead and bought Melda’s MCabinet. The company makes great stuff and I have a bunch of their other offerings already.

Having the option of different mic’s, mic placements, cabinet sizes, speaker types, etc is significantly better for my purposes than going through potentially dozens of IRs to find the closest thing to what I want and hoping it’s good enough.

Im glad there’s folks who can use a simple IR and load it into their pedal or VST or whatever but my needs (and wants) are less simple. I think this product will cover all the bases that I need covered

 

[silky smoove]

There’s a lot more than that, friends.

There's not a lot more to it than that, or even any more to it than that. Even the Melda that you purchased is just an EQ with a different GUI. There's a low pass filter doing the bulk of the work, a high pass filter getting rid of what their attempts at emulating cabinet response couldn't create, and some minor tweaks to attempt to simulate various amounts of resonance and comb filtering. All of that boils down to being about 90% recreatable with a simple low pass filter. That's not a bad thing, but it's important to understand that it's a really simple tool that's functionally just an EQ with a different GUI.

It's also important to note that IRs aren't limited to just a static IR loader. Most include some means of parameter adjustment just like the Melda.

 

[micguy]

I don't want a cab sim to be a real cab sim - I play 5 string basses through very capable PA's, that have woofers in them that are much better at reproducing fundamentals than a bass amp - I don't want to put an IR on my signal that degrades it to sound like a bass cabinet. What I do want is something to take the edge off at the other end - when I use an overdrive, it tames the fizz. Done right, it also takes a bit of the harsh treble stuff out of clinks and clanks, and takes a way some hiss - everything is better with a little high end rolloff.

I have used Broughton low pass filters for this in the past - they work fine. At present, though, I am doing that filtering in my Source Audio EQ2's (one on each of my 2 pedalboards) - they do that "cab sim" low pass stuff, they have a high pass (but set very low (17.5 Hz) - it's to remove infrasonic stuff), they do some mid dip stuff (almost all amps have a mid dip when all the knobs are at noon that's useful, as basses are rather mid heavy instruments), and they are my tuners.

PS during lockdown, when I was doing recordings, I used the same setup for recording tracks that I use live - a good sound is a good sound regardless of where it's going.

 

[Real Soon]

I have used and will again use, with regularity, the GTR plugins that Waves sports; they do great tones with lots of options for mic selection/placement and various amp styles. You can easily bi-amp too, if that's your thing; the EQs are well-tuned to bass vs guitar.

I'm sure they, like other things, are some mash of EQ and compression, but if it walks like a duck... quack quack baby

 

[Mister_argentum]

Topedo wall of sound has served me well.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

There's not a lot more to it than that, or even any more to it than that. Even the Melda that you purchased is just an EQ with a different GUI. There's a low pass filter doing the bulk of the work, a high pass filter getting rid of what their attempts at emulating cabinet response couldn't create, and some minor tweaks to attempt to simulate various amounts of resonance and comb filtering. All of that boils down to being about 90% recreatable with a simple low pass filter. That's not a bad thing, but it's important to understand that it's a really simple tool that's functionally just an EQ with a different GUI.

It's also important to note that IRs aren't limited to just a static IR loader. Most include some means of parameter adjustment just like the Melda.

Some IRs are the equivalent of multi-sampled synths with different IRs layered and mixed depending on how hot the input is. You could probably make your own if you were really skilled with a DAW and had an amp you wanted to capture at two or more volume levels. But the more advanced cabinet simulation VSTs offer mic placement options, but that's likely to be various EQs, etc. after the main IR layer. I'm happy to let Positive Grid or Native Instruments do that work for me.

 

[6Bass101]

Here’s a free one from Analog Obsession:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/kabin-43454405

 

[Rabidhamster]

There’s a lot more than that, friends.

Because I’m an impatient person (sometimes), I just went ahead and bought Melda’s MCabinet. The company makes great stuff and I have a bunch of their other offerings already.

Having the option of different mic’s, mic placements, cabinet sizes, speaker types, etc is significantly better for my purposes than going through potentially dozens of IRs to find the closest thing to what I want and hoping it’s good enough.

Im glad there’s folks who can use a simple IR and load it into their pedal or VST or whatever but my needs (and wants) are less simple. I think this product will cover all the bases that I need covered

That still uses IR tech basically they just add more sample points along w a GUI for changes. Glad you found one you like! If you want to keep going Two notes my favorite, and I think wall of sound is the Software versions name. All the two notes stuff includes the mic variations etc but also still let’s you use the more basic diy IRs if you want to.
Totally agree having all the Ir variations for mics and placement accessible through the GUI is awesome and mostly offsets the downsides of any proprietary formatting.

 

[seamonkey]

Cab sims and/or IRs also add resonances. These show up in the frequency response graph, but are generally easier to reproduce through an IR. I can see EQ presets could also store a huge amount of curves.

I don't have to suffer from bad low end using an IR from a cab that doesn't originally have low end. I use a crossover, and run the lows straight through and the mids on up through the cab sim. The lows, down around the fundamental, are all just sine waves. The harmonics up in the mid range is what cab tone it.
DAWs let me split/cross over, and Amplitube does also. Some of the IRs in Amplitube and Tonex have hundreds of mic placement. Which pick up resonance from the floor and room is you want it.

It's a great new world with everyone catching on to all the options and not stuck with a single way to get it done. There are many great options these days that people accept.