Are amp blocks necessary?

RalphNYC

RalphNYC

Inspired
One thing that's always confused me about modelers - I've got an XL+ waiting to unbox at home right now after a few years away from Fractal - is the combined use of drive and amp blocks. Of course I understand that if you're looking to capture the sound of a tube screamer through a fender bassman, you are most likely going to get your best results bringing up those block types and tweaking as necessary. But if I like the sound of, say, a tube screamer, why couldn't I just run that directly into a Cab block and save the processing power (and just simplify the grid) by not using an amp block at all? Do people always run amp blocks, is there something "bad" about running a drive (low or higher gain) directly into a Cab? Is a Drive fundamentally different from an Amp? Sorry if this is a dumb question!
 
Can't hurt to try. The dynamics come from the amp block though so a drive block alone will feel pretty stiff.
 
Just unboxed and plugged in my new used XL+ having been away from Fractal for 5 years.

I AM ABSOLUTELY F-ING FLOORED!

I am shocked at how good this thing sounds. WOW are you kidding me??

Haven't made it past preset 0, not sure why anyone would want to?
 
I’ve used the Ruckus drive block into a cab successfully. Definitely different but could work.
 
You can also run an amp block into another amp block if you want. Or amp blocks into drive blocks. Probably won't sound fantastic but you can do it without blowing anything up.

Running a 5150 straight into the input of another 5150 tends to be pretty wild.
 
iaresee said:
It can work but you have to be ready to deal with some unconventional sounds. Here’s a track that uses no amp block. Preset is in the description.

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This sounds like my old transistor Stage 40 amp on 10. Very intense sound - but no Cab block either
 
Yeah I tried it without the amp and just the drive into cab. Cool but different and would have specific uses for particular sounds.
 
RalphNYC said:
One thing that's always confused me about modelers - I've got an XL+ waiting to unbox at home right now after a few years away from Fractal - is the combined use of drive and amp blocks. Of course I understand that if you're looking to capture the sound of a tube screamer through a fender bassman, you are most likely going to get your best results bringing up those block types and tweaking as necessary. But if I like the sound of, say, a tube screamer, why couldn't I just run that directly into a Cab block and save the processing power (and just simplify the grid) by not using an amp block at all? Do people always run amp blocks, is there something "bad" about running a drive (low or higher gain) directly into a Cab? Is a Drive fundamentally different from an Amp? Sorry if this is a dumb question!
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It can definitely be done. My reason for doing it was to stop the glitch on the AX8 when using 2 amp blocks. For example, I use a dirty amp for dirt on X, and say a USA clean for Y. When I use it like that, there's a hesitation in the scene change for me. No amp/bypassed amp block for clean and light drive block along with an eq in line, bang 0 hesitation and a pretty darned good clean sound that rivals the USA clean in my opinion. I have a video of it somewhere. Not sure I shared it on here.

All of the above said, you won't have that issue with the XL+ unless you're using some sort of complex preset. My scenes never glitch on my AxeII or my XL+ unless I leave Axe Edit open and connected. But you can definitely get some good sounds without amp blocks. I suggest the studio compressor if you do it though. This way you can control how loose or tight you want it to be. The studio comp is an amazing beast that people often toss to the side because it uses a few more CPU cycles. But to me, it's worth it as you have more control than the others in MY personal opinion. Good luck.

Tahoebrian5 said:
There's a thread / video by @Danny Danzi , something like "the power of a drive block" where he does exactly what you are describing. Give it a search b
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@Tahoebrian5 thank you for remembering me. :) That vid was "power of a cab block" I believe? I may have done something on the drive blocks, but I can't seem to remember that other than removing the glitch on the AX8 by doing what I mentioned to Ralph. I can make that AX8 change scenes so fast, I can leave AX8 Edit connected and it still won't glitch. Not quite as good as the amp.block sound, but I'm happy enough with it to use it live and studio on my AX8. :)

Shouldn't be an issue on an XL+ though. But if anyone does have issues, I could always do a vid on it. You just make the scene change faster having the amp block disabled. But the challenge is to choose a drive block that doesn't over do anything while eqing it to sound realistically clean. Challenging but it can be done to where it's close enough.
 
2112 said:
It works and can sound quite convincing. The feel is on par with the original POD though if that's what you're going for ;)

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That is a great sound! I can easily hear that working beautifully for a Strokes sort of vibe.

I'm sorry I just can't get over this. The quality of sounds, and the variety, and the effects. It's overwhelming in a (good) way I did not experience with my Kemper or Atomic machine
 
The Tube Drv 3 can work fine on its own, even for emulating modern distortions.

drive 10 tone 9, lc 2k hc 20k, bass/treb 12db, mid freq 650-700, mid -3db for rhythm, 0 or 1db for leads.

But I don't see the point since it's CPU heavier than a cab block, at least on the AX8.
 
speedloader said:
The Tube Drv 3 can work fine on its own, even for emulating modern distortions.

drive 10 tone 9, lc 2k hc 20k, bass/treb 12db, mid freq 650-700, mid -3db for rhythm, 0 or 1db for leads.

But I don't see the point since it's CPU heavier than a cab block, at least on the AX8.
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The OP is talking about an Amp block not a Cab block, though.
 
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