Is it possible to Flatten the Response of Powercab 212+?

[trentleebrewer]

I have had the PowerCab212+ for almost 3 months. The speaker simulations are pretty cool, but the FRFR flat mode is not flat. I've read the manual but I may have missed something.

 

I have made sure that it the Powercab's mode is set to "Flat", the voicing is set to "FRFR", High and Low cuts are off, and the level is set to 0db. Using both a Helix Floor and Fractal FM9 with presets that sound great through my studio monitors and PA speakers, sound terrible through the Powercab. I am also aware of the Fletcher Munson curve, I've listened with all 3 sets of speakers at varying volume levels, and find the Powercab consistently colors the sound.

 

I do not have equipment to measure the Powercab's response, but to me It sounds like the Powercab is boosting around 120hz, tapers down to 1k, then cuts from 2k to 5k before it boosts around 7k and cuts back down. I have played around with putting a parametric EQ at the end of my presets to counteract this. With the EQ, I can get it sounding closer to my studio monitors and PA speakers, but not as close as I'd like.   

 

Has anyone found a way to flatten the response more accurately somehow? Possibly with an IR? Is there anything I can do other than playing with an EQ for hours? Any help would be appreciated!

[rd2rk]

Short answer - no.

 

The Powercab cabinet is designed to sound like a guitar cab, NOT an "FRFR", whatever that mythical unicorn is.

ALL guitar cabs/speakers color the sound one way or another, and they're all different.

The "FRFR" mode is a compromise for users who insist on using IRs.

The best results I've gotten with IRs is to cut the HF TRIM by 6db and use the Helix IRs with different MICs and MIC placements.

 

You can also use the Global EQ (if not using L6 Link) to try and tune it to taste across presets.

However, the Global EQ is intended for tuning the cab to the room, and whatever room you set it up in, it will have to be changed for each room.

Such is the nature of real-world acoustics.

 

So, bottom line, you can spend hours messing with EQ, or you can spend hours messing with different IRs or the Helix IRs with different MICs and MIC placements, but when you move the Powercab from your studio to a gig you'll still need to fine tune it to the room using the Global EQ.

 

I mostly just use it the way it was designed to be used - as an "AITR" with the speaker emulations. Works for me, but then I'm old enough to remember just plugging my guitar into my tube amp of choice (that year) or whatever was provided at the gig and making the best of it.

 

Hmmm... that could mean that the only cure for your picky ears is many years of standing in front of cranked Marshalls!

I don't advise it. If I had it to do over again...

 

AHH! To be young again, with all the options (and associated option paralysis) available to us today!

 

 

 

 

[amsdenj]

Try turning off the cab model and use Flat/RAW. Then Powercab is just a powered guitar speaker. I find this gives a natural sounding 2x12 guitar speaker.

 

[rwinking]

I just tried the Flat/Raw and it sounds nice. I have one other question on this. The cab models have a high end edge to them, almost like the horn is on. When you are in cab sim mode, is the horn completely off? If not, is there a way to turn it off?

[rd2rk]

IIRC, LF Flat is the speaker eq'd to be flat, no HF Driver.

 

In Speaker Mode I assigned CC#5 (HF Trim) to an expression pedal and played, both guitar and synth.

I can see the HF Trim slider moving in Powercab Edit/System but hear no difference, so it does appear that the HF Driver is OFF in Speaker Mode.

[amsdenj]

Cab blocks or speaker models using FRFR  can sound harsh. The reason is they are captured using close mining techniques on the speaker, often close to the cap or cap edge. If you put your ear up close to the middle of a speaker cone, you'll find it sound pretty harsh. What we're use to hearing is something much further away and off axis. But far-field speaker captures don't work well because when you play then back through a FRFR in a room, you hear the room twice. 

 

The solution is to use EQ to adjust the tone of the mic'd cab. This is why the default hi-cut for cab models is 8kHz. This takes the unnatural edge of the speaker IR.

 

So this isn't a modeling error, or an issue with Helix or its cab blocks. Its just the nature of how speaker IRs are captured.

 

Attempting to model how a speaker works without using ML or IR captures would be extremely difficult to do because of the complexity of the physical aspects of the speaker. Maybe someday.