Streamline your stage or studio rig and increase your tone options at the same time with one of these speaker-simulation pedals.
Torpedo C.A.B. M+
Designed to be the missing link between a guitaristās rig and the PA or audio interface, this pedal is loaded with 32 Two Notes cabinets, eight power amps, eight mics, and eight rooms to choose from.
Red Box 5
This handy DI and speaker simulator offers powerful control over your sound, including cabinet size and cab tightness, and a means to avoid miking up your rig onstage.
OmniCabSim Deluxe
Designed for guitarists who want to create their own cabinet response settings, rather than rely on presets, this pedal allows players to define their sound and get an accurate reproduction of it when gigging or recording.
Iridium
This pedal has mathematically modeled every aspect of three iconic tube amps, and includes nine of Iridiumās IR cabinets with 24-bit 96 kHz resolution for the entire 500 milliseconds of its impulse responses.
CabClone IR
Featuring two banks of eight Mesa cab presets for 16 proprietary IRs and the ability to upload third-party IRs, this pedal also functions as a tone-rich, silent practice tool with a set of headphones.
Element
With five cabinet simulations, a multi-channel USB-C audio interface, and Bluetooth tech to listen to backing tracks, this pedal was designed with practicality in mind, to empower modern musicians.
Radar
With 30 cab models to choose from and microphone and power-amp simulation ideal for recording or silent practice, this mini can help transform a pedalboard into a complete guitar rig.
Cabzeus
This two-channel cabinet/speaker/miking simulator uses advanced DSP processing techniques coupled with clean and robust circuit designs for minimal noise and optimal headroom.
CabDriVR
Featuring 14 guitar- and bass-cabinet impulse responses and dual inputs and outputs, this emulator also has separate level controls so players can balance each cabās volume in the mix.
Omni IR
This compact pedal houses 40 legendary guitar and bass cabinet IRs, a 4-band EQ with 12 dB boost/cut, and a hi-res OLED screen for easy operation in any recording or live scenario.
The PG DSM Noisemaker Sub Atomic review.
Recorded direct with a Yamaha BBP34 using PreSonus FireStudio and PreSonus Studio One 3.
Clip 1: Master at 9 oāclock, blend at noon, dry gain at 2 oāclock, tone at 2 oāclock, drive voice in middle position (mid bump), and SUB LPF at 1 Khz
Clip 2: Master at 9 oāclock, blend at 100 percent wet, dry gain at 2 oāclock, tone at 9 oāclock, drive voice in left position (flat), and SUB LPF at 100 Hz
Ā
RatingsPros:Sharp, modern tone options. Cons: Sharp, modern tone optionsāif thatās not your thing. The knobs were a touch loose-feeling. Street: $159 DSM Noisemaker Sub Atomic X-Over CMOS Bass Drive dsmnoisemaker.com | Tones: Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |
In the most basic of setups, I need a few things to get by: a tuner, a compressor, and maybe a chorus pedal. After that, I might get to have some real fun by adding more colorful stomps. Itās especially enjoyable when we bassists get to use distortion or overdrive. Some dirt pedals try to keep everyone happy, but what if we are leaning toward a darker place and need something special? For the bass-playing population that lives a little closer to the edge, DSM Noisemaker has offered the Sub Atomic X-Over CMOS Bass Drive.
Red Skies at Night
The Sub Atomic pops out of its cloth bag (Save it for plectrums!) with one of the smallest footprints and the most control options per square inch I have seen on a pedal. I like a small pedal, as long as it does what it is supposed to do. And there is a lot of ground to cover within this little guy, so letās get started.
First, the top half of the pedal has four dials that illuminate an ominous red when the pedal is engaged. I really like this feature over a simple indicator light, because it leaves no question whatsoever as to the operation mode. The four pots are tone, master, drive gain, and blend, which are pretty self-explanatory. There are also two mini togglesāone a sub-low-pass filter and the other for drive voicingāthat are nestled between the dials, which provide some additional EQ options. These are most likely controls you wonāt change on the fly that often, since they are really tightly packed into this tiny pedal.
Freq Out
I plugged the Sub Atomic directly into my DAW using a passive Yamaha BBP34, and grabbed a set of Victor headphones to get a sense of the nuances and all the tone options of the pedal. I started with everything at about noon, except the master, which found its home at 10 oāclock to match my volume when the pedal wasnāt engaged, and left the mini toggles flat. I was greeted with a Michael Anthony OD bass vibe reminiscent of the intro from āRunning with the Devil.ā Itās a great place to start for dirty tone, and the blend setting really helped maintain the bassā integrity.
Keeping the controls where they were, I moved the mini toggles between their three different frequency settings, and the pedal opened up a bit (or closed off, depending on how you look at it). The low-pass frequency switch moved the bottom around enough to give me a super-modern Swedish-metal tone with weight and bite.
The drive-voicing toggle is useful as well, for it gives the mix-cutting ability we need when we dive into overdriven bass tones. I found it useful when used with the blend control sparingly, keeping just enough dirt while distinctly maintaining the low-end.
Moving around with different settings on the Sub Atomic, I found that the tones border on the higher side of the frequency spectrum overall, giving a lot of buzzy in the fuzzy. There are a lot of variables within the pedal, so finding your voice and pairing it with your amp and bass may take some doing. The pedalās controls can be dimed, but shouldthey be? For my taste, it was a bit extreme on the high-end with the tone maxed, but everything in the universe has a place, right?
Diming the tone and drive gain, and moving the drive-voicing mini toggle to the mid-bump position got me into some guitar-player tone territory. Try this setting at home with some chords and it can certainly open things up for you musically.
The Verdict
The Sub Atomic is a very focused and specialized distortion pedal that can add some zest to a modern pedalboard. If you want a cutting drive pedal in your life, it may be a place to start. Tube lovers beware: The tones here are not the warmest, but we can all branch out and try some new fuzz cocktails every now and then.
A "zero"-watt pedalboard amp that features a stereo effects loop, cab simulation, and more.
Santiago, Chile (October 7, 2019) -- The Chilean boutique pedal companies, DSM Noisemaker and Humboldt Electronics have joined forces to release the new and innovative Simplifier. It is the first zero-watt stereo amplifier that will fit on your pedalboard and replace a full amplifier signal chain. It features a stereo micād cabinet simulation, stereo FX loop, tube-like power amp stage, and a full-featured clean preamp based on three classic amps.
Simplifier features a 100% true analog preamp that recreates with obsessive detail the most useful and popular clean channel preamps in the market:
- AC BRIT: Classic AC30 sparkly and three-dimensional sound. A true British heritage since the 60ās.
- AMERICAN: Classic blackface deluxe sound. Sweet and dynamic with a balanced response. By far the most used amp on studio recordings.
- MS BRIT: Classic clean-to-crunch, vintage plexi-style amp. The sound that defined rock music.
A Genuine Passive Preamp Tone Stack
A key part of a tube amp sound and response is the tone stack behavior. The tone stack on the Simplifier is a genuine configurable three-band classic amplifier topology, keeping the same feel, response and interaction of the original amp.
Power Amp Sim
This stage is an accurate approximation of the interaction between the power tubes, output transformer and global feedback, which produces a particular frequency response for different tubes and speakers. This stage can be tailored by Presence and Resonance controls, and select between 6L6, EL34 and KT88 power tubes response.
Stereo Cabsim
The tweakable Cabinet Simulator utilizes the heritage and experience of DSM Noisemaker who has developed some of the most useful and innovative cabsims on the market. You can easily dial two independent cabinet simulators panned Left/Right with Mic Position controls that respond as a real Center/Off Axis microphone position, adjusting the precise amount of high-end roll-off that youāre looking for.
A three way toggle switch allows you to choose independent cabinet Style for each side. Select 1Ć12 Combo, 2Ć12 or big 4Ć12 cabinet simulations that you can combine with any of the three preamps, adding an extra dimension to your sound development.
Spread Control
This unique feature allows you to create a pseudo stereo imaging, by shifting the phase of one channel on selected key frequencies. It will make your sound bigger and three dimensional, even if you are using a mono configuration.
All of these amazing features are complemented with a stereo FX loop to get the most out of your stereo ambient effects, Headphone Amp with Aux input for monitoring or silent practicing, two XLR DI out, and two bypassable Ā¼-inch jacks.
The Simplifier is available via preorder at: https://www.simplifieramp.com/. They are offering a 20% discount. Street price is $329.00 (USD), preorder price is $259.00 (USD). Shipping starts worldwide in mid-November, 2019. Special preorder prices are also available for dealers and distributors.
Watch the company's video demo:
For more information:
Simplifier Amp