Cab Sim - Looking for "good enough"

[LostTheTone]

I'm looking for fairly cheap but fairly good cab sim pedal, but not for recording or performance. Its just for better sounding home practise, particularly through headphones.

I am putting together a very portable, ideally cheap amp/pedal set-up - The idea is to have something that I can pick up and take wherever and that can sound good using whatever speakers or headphones present themselves.

The amp part I already have - a HoTone Nano Heart Attack, which sounds extremely satisfying through a real cab but though headphones it sounds like bees in a can over a walkietalkie. If I do a slightly silly set-up and put amplitube's cab sim into the amps effect loop, then I get something very solid out of the headphones at the end, but this is not portable.

Obviously I need a hardware cab sim of some sort, but I'm a novice here and the prices of even the low-range impulse based units put me off from just buying and trying. Also I'm not really bothered about dozens of models and choices and settings, just one decent general purpose sim to get that "sounds good through anything" quality and I can twiddle the EQ for the rest

In terms of price - I mean, I don't want to pay more than I have to, but I am willing to pay what it costs to get a decent unit. Otherwise, small is good, and I'd say it can be no bigger than a standard stompbox.

If you were me, what sim unit would look at?

 

[D_Malone]

I’ve been down this road. It’s not cheap, but the Two Notes Torpedo CAB M+ is what I’d recommend.

For something cheap the Mooer Radar gets good reviews.

 

[JuneauMike]

Joyo amp sims would work. American Sound is what I use, which is a Fender sounnd. I think I paid $35 for it. They have pedals that simulate Vox and Marshall amps too.

 

[DeepDangler]

Joyo Cab Box sounds pretty good. JHS had a video on it that was pretty convincing.

 

[LostTheTone]

The Two Notes is definitely too expensive - The CabBox is right on the limit for what I'd be willing to pay, but I had hoped to go a bit lower. I'm sure they are spectacular, but it feels like a lot of the money is going towards features that I'm not going to use.

The Radar is one that I have seen suggested, and seems to be the default "Good price, good performance" choice.

The fixed character Joyo ones I hadn't seen before but I will look into. I slightly distrust things that are unexpectedly cheap, but since I do just literally want one decent character that might be a winner.

Has anyone had experience using HoTone's own cab sim, the Binary IR?

 

[Rich_S]

Hughes and Kettner Red Box. It's a hardware analog simulation, no software, no IRs, just a couple of simple switches: Large/Small, Vintage/Modern, Loose/Tight. I've been using mine and getting great results both on amp outputs and with just pedal -> Red Box -> interface.

Check out our cover of Dangerous Type in this thread: https://www.tdpri.com/threads/online-colaboration-1-rich_s-learning-experience.1052868/

All of the guitars were recorded through the Red Box. The main rhythm tracks were just a Catalinbread SFT (Ampeg-in-a-box) clone through the Red Box. All the chorusy-jangley guitars were CE-2 -> 18 Watter clone -> Red Box with a dummy load making for silent recording. Only the solo had a live speaker in the room (to give me sustain and feedback) but the signal path was still the Red Box, no mic.

 

[bgmacaw]

Has anyone had experience using HoTone's own cab sim, the Binary IR?

I use the Hotone Binary IR Cab. The stock IRs are good along with the room and mic options. I have recently switched to using OwnHammer Electro Voice IRs that are even better. Until I got my Bugera Power Soak I usually used it with one of the 4 Hotone Nano heads I have or with the Hotone Binary Amp. If you look for my posts on the Twanger Central forum backing tracking posts you can hear some example I recorded using it.

I did have a Mooer Radar for a while until it got zapped in a lightning storm. It wasn't as good as the Hotone when comparing the stock IR's and usability.

This was my headphone friendly travel rig I started setting up in January when I thought I was going to be in a hotel room for a week or more on a regular basis this year. 2020 had other plans though.

 

[scooteraz]

For practice, I just used the garage band amp and cab sims. Already on the phone/iPad. So, if you have an apple phone, you’ve already paid for it. No additional cost. Of course, you do have to have an input device. But Walmart has you covered for $8.30. But the sims are not entirely unconvincing.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Guitar-I...0016794&wl14=guitar to iphone adapter&veh=sem

OK, you’re in England, and I can’t remember if Walmart is there, but nonetheless, I’m sure you can find another cheap input.

If you’re on Android, there are several cheap (read free) DAW downloads in lieu of Garage Band.

 

[smuc]

I'm looking for fairly cheap but fairly good cab sim pedal, but not for recording or performance. Its just for better sounding home practise, particularly through headphones.

I am putting together a very portable, ideally cheap amp/pedal set-up - The idea is to have something that I can pick up and take wherever and that can sound good using whatever speakers or headphones present themselves.

The amp part I already have - a HoTone Nano Heart Attack, which sounds extremely satisfying through a real cab but though headphones it sounds like bees in a can over a walkietalkie. If I do a slightly silly set-up and put amplitube's cab sim into the amps effect loop, then I get something very solid out of the headphones at the end, but this is not portable.

Obviously I need a hardware cab sim of some sort, but I'm a novice here and the prices of even the low-range impulse based units put me off from just buying and trying. Also I'm not really bothered about dozens of models and choices and settings, just one decent general purpose sim to get that "sounds good through anything" quality and I can twiddle the EQ for the rest

In terms of price - I mean, I don't want to pay more than I have to, but I am willing to pay what it costs to get a decent unit. Otherwise, small is good, and I'd say it can be no bigger than a standard stompbox.

If you were me, what sim unit would look at?

Define fairly cheap?

Two Notes torpedo CAB M+ is the single best piece of non-guitar equipment that I have. Headphones, monitors or FOH, it sounds great. And for what it does, I would dare even to call it "cheap".

 

[DeepDangler]

You should also consider a Boss Pocket GT. The GT line sounds really good through headphones or through monitors and is tweakable without taking up tons of space.

https://www.boss.info/us/products/pocket-gt/

 

[mindlobster]

Digitech Cab Dryvr, I've used it and it's good enough. (link removed)

 

[El Tele Lobo]

Joyo American Sound looks good.

 

[JuneauMike]

The fixed character Joyo ones I hadn't seen before but I will look into. I slightly distrust things that are unexpectedly cheap, but since I do just literally want one decent character that might be a winner.

Well I've spent more at the liquor store. So for that kind of price, you aren't out much in the end.

 

[LostTheTone]

Define fairly cheap?

Broadly, less than £150 or so.

I certainly take your point that something you get a lot of use out of will always turn into really great value for money.

However, even from the portable set-up, it'll mostly be used through a 1x12 in my little home office. The aims is just to have the ability to pick up and go downstairs or to the bedroom or on the occasional trip while still sounding good in headphones. I could do that via a laptop, but it's a pain, and laptops are delicate and between my audio interface, the cables and the powerbrick it's a pain to set up and a pain to move. Something that's plug and play is what I'm after.

Now, I appreciate it's splitting hairs a bit to say that £100 is fine and £250 is not, because £100 is not pocket change. But, broadly, I will pay £100 to avoid irritating my wife, but for £250 I will just live with shifting a laptop around. A man must have a code.

 

[bgmacaw]

However, even from the portable set-up, it'll mostly be used through a 1x12 in my little home office. The aims is just to have the ability to pick up and go downstairs or to the bedroom or on the occasional trip while still sounding good in headphones. I could do that via a laptop, but it's a pain, and laptops are delicate and between my audio interface, the cables and the powerbrick it's a pain to set up and a pain to move. Something that's plug and play is what I'm after.

In that case, you might want to consider the Valeton GP-100. It's about $150 in the US. It has the same modeling algorithms as the Hotone Binary series in a multi-effects unit. That includes the ability to load IR's, which is something I consider essential these days. I would have bought one if frequent traveling was going to be a thing anytime soon.

 

[LostTheTone]

In that case, you might want to consider the Valeton GP-100. It's about $150 in the US. It has the same modeling algorithms as the Hotone Binary series in a multi-effects unit. That includes the ability to load IR's, which is something I consider essential these days. I would have bought one if frequent traveling was going to be a thing anytime soon.

Oh that looks very promising. A little bigger than I'd like, but then again I'd almost always want a reverb and a tuner anyway. The makers claim you can build a signal chain to taste, so it can sit in my fx loop where I want it.

The question then becomes - Is any other multieffect worth considering for this kind of work?

 

[gkterry]

Digitech Cab Dryvr, I've used it and it's good enough. (link removed)

+1 especially if you find it on sale or used. No muss, no fuss good enough for most of us.

Like this for $60: https://reverb.com/item/37482973-di...9.i0FoVcjCamfT9R_x48MmvFBtAqCfppV9vdXOchZaKbo

 

[loopfinding]

The radar is just fine. Maybe a teeny bit noisy, but no more so than anything in that price range or slightly above it. I don’t know how the more expensive ones fare. If you want cheap and good, use software.

The only reason I use the radar is because I have to send it into other hardware, not always at the computer. It’s nice that it has power amp “modeling” (likely just a fixed EQ), and a full eq section. I put ownhammer IRs in mine.

 

[blowtorch]

View attachment 795959

How do you like that Caline EQ? I love mine

 

[bgmacaw]

The question then becomes - Is any other multieffect worth considering for this kind of work?

Mooer and Harley Benton (aka Thomann) have very similar units. I haven't looked at them as closely though.