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Darkglass Elements headphone amp


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18 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Don't worry about the lack of a dedicated input - there'll be a "7" model in 6 months and an "Ultra" next year!

 

Hah. You know this is true.

I don't gig, practice, use a PC for plugins etc. so it's no appeal for me I think (someone will be on to correct me) - but it is one of those useful tools that will probably prove handy.

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It is an interesting bit of kit. It doesn't interest me much as a practice tool (I can access BIAS FX or Amplitube on my PC or my phone). However at a live gig having access to a good cab simulator would be nice. However, from previous experience I don't think that a cab sim really makes that much difference in the band mix vs a quality DI without a cab sim. In fact this is why I stopped using the Tech 21 Sansamp kit that had rudimentary 'speaker simulation' capabilities. In short, it would be a nice extra thing to have, but it would also be an extra bit of gear to break/get stolen. If I was a touring pro using in ears, then yeah it would be a great bit of gear. 

It could be good for recording, however there are also cab sims on the amp software I am using that will do the job without the extra bit of hardware. Ideally I would prefer to actually just record the old fashioned way and mic up a cab of my own. 

I do like the concept and I do very much feel that this model is a prototype for an 'all singing/all dancing' comprehensive release that will be released within the next 12 months. In the meantime I think I would get more use out the Vintage Ultra or B7K Ultra as a practice/recording/live gig tool. 

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Guys, it’s not just a headphones amp, but mainly a cab sim with customisable IR’s. 
 

You’ve got a lovely preamp with no cab sim? You use OD and distortion a lot and want to play straight into the PA without sounding like crap? Then this could be for you. Just stick it at the end of your pedalboard and use the built-in DI output. 

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Just now, Ian McFly said:

Guys, it’s not just a headphones amp, but mainly a cab sim with customisable IR’s. 
 

You’ve got a lovely preamp with no cab sim? You use OD and distortion a lot and want to play straight into the PA without sounding like crap? Then this could be for you. Just stick it at the end of your pedalboard and use the built-in DI output. 

Cab sim is one of those things that make me feel old. I never had cab sim in the 80, 90, 00 or even 10s and never had an issue sounding bad through a PA or without PA. Now all of a sudden I need a cab sim? Which in essence is just EQ for the most part.

Mic your actual cab, better than a cabsim and cheaper it seems.

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6 minutes ago, HazBeen said:

Cab sim is one of those things that make me feel old. I never had cab sim in the 80, 90, 00 or even 10s and never had an issue sounding bad through a PA or without PA. Now all of a sudden I need a cab sim? Which in essence is just EQ for the most part.

Mic your actual cab, better than a cabsim and cheaper it seems.

This is for people who go amp(and cab)-less on stage. Obviously if you have a full stack, nothing beats mic-ing it up. 
 

Like, I have a full pedalboard but I don’t own a gigging amp. I play with what’s available at the gig, and if it’s rubbish, I go straight to the PA. Thankfully I’m covered with cabsim as my preamp has it built-in. But for those who want to do it like that but have a preamp without cabsim, then there you go. 

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Clearly cab sim can have it's uses, if you are ampless, in-ear, direct it certainly helps. But marketing departments are making it sounds like we all need a sim to sound good. You need to practise to sound good, and then even an old school small amp will do just fine.

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The aim of a cab-sim is to make you sound good if you use any sort of distortion/fuzz/od on your bass. If you play clean, then no problem. But a distorted bass sound straight to PA with no cab-sim sounds fizzy af. 
 

And considering the fact that Darkglass is well-known for their distortions... then it makes sense for them to offer a stand-alone cab-sim. 

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Impressive bit of kit, but seems to be aimed more at non-Darkglass users?  There are a few convenience aspects, but I really don't see why someone owning a current Darkglass Ultra series pedal would buy one of these?

I think it would have been more interesting if they included a basic high quality recording interface instead of the Bluetooth/2nd headphone functionality.  As it stands, and I hate to say this as a devout DG fanboy....it does seem a little expensive.

Re CabSim argument, I go ampless on stage so rely on cabinet simulation, and its a HUGE improvement on tone compared to going direct with no simulator, particularly when using any kind of fuzz or distortion.  It also keeps Live tone closer to Studio tone, which matters to some more than others I guess.

Edited by Kev
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1 minute ago, Ian McFly said:

Yeah it could be aimed at non Darkglass users... or people who own an older Darkglass pedal like the OG B7K and don’t have the built-in cab sim. 

Yeah, but I kind of think that they would have already upgraded to an Ultra by now if they wanted those features.

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44 minutes ago, Ian McFly said:

The aim of a cab-sim is to make you sound good if you use any sort of distortion/fuzz/od on your bass. If you play clean, then no problem. But a distorted bass sound straight to PA with no cab-sim sounds fizzy af. 
 

And considering the fact that Darkglass is well-known for their distortions... then it makes sense for them to offer a stand-alone cab-sim. 

Even a cab sim won’t hide an inability to phrase, timing etc. But I get what you are saying, I use a Helix with one of my bands, even with an 810 sim. 

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6 hours ago, HazBeen said:

Cab sim is one of those things that make me feel old. I never had cab sim in the 80, 90, 00 or even 10s and never had an issue sounding bad through a PA or without PA. Now all of a sudden I need a cab sim? Which in essence is just EQ for the most part.

Mic your actual cab, better than a cabsim and cheaper it seems.

I’m 29 and they make me feel old! I just prefer the sound of my bass without a cab sim.

Really not sure why one can’t just stick a decent EQ after the OD/distortion/fuzz to tame the high end and sweeten things up. I run Helix (Stomp) so this I appreciate this is easier for me to achieve than those without a similar kind of unit.

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Some good use cases for this...  I was considering upgrading my Alpha Omega to the Ultra for the cab sim, this would be more flexible. You could dial in your favourite tone via headphones then use this as your DI box.

I hope they got the headphone amp portion right, many units like the Zoom multis are no good at driving higher impedance headphones.

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17 hours ago, CameronJ said:

I’m 29 and they make me feel old! I just prefer the sound of my bass without a cab sim.

Really not sure why one can’t just stick a decent EQ after the OD/distortion/fuzz to tame the high end and sweeten things up. I run Helix (Stomp) so this I appreciate this is easier for me to achieve than those without a similar kind of unit.

So you use a Di with just EQ for recording etc?

I'd experiment with Cabsim for sure if you're not recording from mic'd cabs, there's a lot you're missing out on if you just use DI.

I wouldn't use cab sim for live use to an amp as that defeats the point a little.  But to FoH again I find it invaluable.

Edited by Kev
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