Auditioning Custom Cabinet Mixes

Jerry K.

Jerry K.

Experienced
I have been working on creating some custom cabinet mixes and have a question. Within a cabinet block, when I go to solo an individual cabinet within the mix (Cab 1-4), it seems to sound at full volume. When I am trying to make a blend and have a particular cabinet or multiple ones turned down to various levels, it would be nice to hit solo and hear the cabinet at the actual volume it is set to within the blend but it seems to always put it back at full volume. Is there a way to toggle between the individual cabinets in a cabinet block and hear them at the actual level they are set to?

Thanks!
 
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I believe this is by design as the cab block normalizes the individual slots so that the mix has the same relative loudness... from the manual:

Cab 1, 2, 3, 4 Level – This parameter may seem straightforward enough, but it can actually be a bit tricky until you understand how it works. Rather than simply controlling the overall level of each Cab IR as you might expect, this sets relative levels between the IRs when more than one is loaded. The final blend is then normalized1 and controlled via the Level parameter on the Mix page—a master control for all four Cab IRs. So, for example:

  • ƒ When only ONE Cab IR is in use and the other three are muted, this control will have no effect since relative level doesn’t apply without two or more Cab IRs to compare.

  • ƒ When TWO (or more) Cab IRs are loaded, you only need to adjust the one(s) you want quieter. Think about it: reducing Cab 1 to –2dB and Cab 2 to –4 dB is the same as leaving Cab 1 alone and setting Cab 2 to –2 dB. Only the difference counts!

  • ƒ With more than one Cab IR in use, you will hear the tonal blend change, but the overall volume will remain relatively the same because again, the blend is normalized as you adjust. Do keep in mind however that because of their frequency contents, some cabs may be perceived as louder or quieter than others.
1 Normalization in this case makes the output signal as loud as it can be without distorting.
Click to expand...

If you're soloing one cab IR its level control is bypassed... that being said, turning down the Level of the block on the mix page by the corresponding amount of the solo'd IR's level, might have a similar effect?
 
Thanks for this! I think it would be nice if there was a toggle to go between the default normalized volumes as well as the ability to hear the relative loudness within the mix. For me, without this ability, I feel like I am just guessing to a certain extent.
 
I was noticing this the oher day, too. It was kind of frustrating because, like you said, I was trying to hear each's contribution, but the moment I muted one, the other one was blasting - seemingly louder than both together.

The cab block can definitely be intimidating. But this little effect basically makes it impossible to audition individual IRs' contrbution to the whole. If you have two cabs panned hard left and hard right, you should be able to mute one cab and that's all that happens: that one cab is muted. Now you can see what it adds in terms of tone and volume. As it stands, it's basically a guessing game.
 
CabLab doesn't normalize the volume, so the Cab Block shouldn't do it either. FAS should add a global option to disable/enable this feature.
 
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