PRICE: $265.95 USD
Speaker Cab Emulator Sample Settings
Speaker cabinet emulation devices can be broadly broken into two categories - analog and impulse responses (IR). IRs, while accurately capturing whatever cabinet and mic was used when the IR was taken, typically have very limited or no control options. They are fixed ‘snapshots’ of a specific cab, mic and room combination and if you aren’t happy with a particular IR you either have to accept it or search through a bank of IRs until you find one you do like. Analog speaker cab emulators, while often giving more adjustment options are also often too dark, too fizzy, not complex enough, too comb filter-ish, or just get something wrong in the frequency response somewhere.
The AXiom Speaker Cab Emulator SCE-1 is a sophisticated 100% analog speaker cab emulator that is based on the frequency responses of 86 speaker cab and mic combinations, with controls that were meticulously tuned to accurately reproduce their defining characteristics while providing extensive control over all the critical parameters. You can go from the response of a huge, ported bass cab to a closed-back British 4x12, to an open-back American 2x12, to a 1x12... even a 1x8. The SCE-1 can capture the throaty mids of vintage cabs or the scooped mids of modern cabs, the smoothness of distance miking or the phase cancellations of putting the mic against the grill cloth, the extended high-end of ceramic speakers or the upper-mid presence of alnico speakers. You get precise and realistic control over the resonant frequency of the cab, speaker size, speaker Wattage rating, mic position and distance from the grill, speaker baffle rigidity (stiff/fixed to "floating"), cab construction style (open vs. closed back) and speaker magnet type (ceramic vs. alnico). Not only does it sound like a real miked cab, it gives you an easily adjustable, endless variety of them at your fingertips.
- 100% analog circuitry
- Based on the frequency responses of 86 speaker cab and mic combinations.
- Runs on standard 9Vdc but steps the voltage up internally to 18V for maximum headroom.
- A RESONANCE control that adjusts the strength of the cabinet's resonant peak and a FREQuency control that adjusts the frequency at which the cab resonates (from 85 Hz to 210 Hz). You can reproduce anything from the response of a massive, ported cab to a small practice amp.
- A SIZE control that adjusts from 8" to 15" speakers.
- MIC controls that reproduce the effects of mic DISTANCE from the grill (near to far) and mic POSITION (from the center of the speaker to the edge of the cone).
- A BAFFLE control that emulates the influence that speaker baffle stiffness and construction has on frequency response. (Stiffer baffles have more mid frequency cancellations whereas floating baffles produce more "throaty" mids.)
- A POWER control that dials in the speaker compression and cone break-up of low-Wattage speakers or the transparency and clarity of high-power speakers.
- Ceramic/Alnico settings that reproduce the extended high-end response of ceramic speakers and the accentuated high-mids typical of Alnico speakers.
- Open and Closed cabinet construction settings that accurately emulate the low-end resonance characteristics of open and sealed cabinets.
- Individually handmade
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True bypass
Customer Reviews
... Okay, fine, some internal dip-switching, but I'll take it! Posting here based on what I wrote over on TGP (with some revisions for his website), and I'll be writing a review of the equally amazing partner, Casey's other magic creation, the PAE-2. (Sorry for the total lack of photo professionalism with this thrown-together little rig.)
Flat-out, I can tell you that, even though I had to wait about a week after I received the SCE-1 to hook everything up, and have only played through this sweet, small rig for a relatively short time, I am having an absolute blast! The sound/tone is highly satisfying, with really no end to the variety, given all the potential preamp choices and the variations contained within both the PAE-2 and SCE-1. Great amp tone, and with the possibility of saving your ears, should you choose the wiser path. I have been playing the PAE-2/SCE-1 combo with both a drive/preamp pedal, and also a clean preamp with drive infront, sometimes with the excellent OV-2 or an analog multi-tremolo pedal, into a Blueamps Cubo, which I also love. The PAE/SCE drive it with the same feel, power, responsiveness, etc. that those of us who have owned good tube amps anticipate and appreciate (sans some of the hassles and the weight).
And bonus: Is the 2nd output on the SCE a new addition?
And let me emphasize my favorite part: I am not experiencing any sense of option anxiety. I already know what I'm looking for, and once I learn all the controls better (including learning the dip-switches), it won't be an issue to dial-in any sound. You might find, like me, that you don't rely on the user manuals, because if you know amps, everything is pretty intuitive and completely realistic. Down the road, I will likely mount the PAE-2 and SCE-1 on a flat music stand for easy tweaking on the fly. With any variety of preamp pedals, there is such a strong sense of full tube amp realism here, and it's not that I didn't expect that, but that these incredible devices of engineering and music-making met and exceeded what I anticipated. And, I've still barely scratched the surface! Very highly recommended, particularly for the pedal-based, analog amp crowd that has begun to surface more and more, as we attempt to save our aging backs... and also for those tweakers out there who prefer the direct tactial control of knobs over menus and buttons. And please do not allow a wait list to make you hesitant. It's worth it and then some.
