CLR wedge vs Line 6 Powercab

yeky83 said:
Your IRs in the AX8 are of close-mic'ed speaker cabinets. It's going to be colored by the mic characteristic, room reflection/resonance, where the mic was placed in front of the speaker, etc. This is good and fine, the guitar sounds of most tunes are produced this way. This is referred to on the forums as a "mic'ed-amp" sound.

It's different than the sound of an amp&cab in the room with you. Many guitarists new to modelers get an amp modeler and an FRFR, and complain that it doesn't sound like an "amp-in-the-room." It sounds like a "mic'ed-amp."

Speaker simulation by the Powercab is an effort to get you the "amp in the room" sound. It plays a direct speaker sound, rather than a mic'ed up speaker sound.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have about $350 credit at GC.Maybe I'll give one a whirl.
 
Love the CLR cab. I never had a powercab so I can't comment on it but the CLR has loads of power and is very portable and light!
 
InsideOut said:
I'll be interested to hear which way you like better - with IR in FRFR mode, or dialing in one of the speaker sims without cab block. Personally, I'm really glad it still feels like a guitar cab even with IR's. I don't like being limited to one speaker sound. But I can also see the desire for simplicity.
Click to expand...

I like it in flat mode, my presets sound about the same, though with a little less brightness than I get from my PA speakers. I prefer the powercab to a middle of the road powered speaker like the yamaha dxr for example (for home use). I might not want to use the powercab to dial in presets I was planning to use through a regular PA. I'll have to play around with it some more and see. Bottom line, most of my patches sound and feel great with a minimum of tweaking when I just plug and play on this thing.

To test the speaker sims I set up a couple of fresh patches with just an amp block. Princeton reverb for patch 1, and AC15 TB for patch 2. I then turned off the speaker compression in the amp blocks, and used the VU meter to get the level averaging at around 0db. The out1 I run full up so it's at unity gain. I tested them through the "Jarvis" and "Essex" speaker sims, and it sounded and felt like a 1x12 combo amp to me. I haven't tried messing with low res frequencies or anything like that yet. I'm definitely going to use it this way when I want the sound and feel of a basic amp combo. I'm sure some great patches can be built this way.

I also tried a few of my regular patches through the speaker sims. Turned off the cab simulation in the AX8, turned off any speaker compression in the amp block like before, and finally resetting the levels to get a solid signal out to the PC. It sounded ok, but not a good as just going with the full patch into flat mode.
 
InsideOut said:
The OP said it was going to be used with an AX8, and we get comments about how useless the Powercab would be with the III.

I actually own a powercab and couldn't be happier. It's the best tone and feel I've heard come out of my AX8. I have nothing against CLR or any of the others. I'm sure they are great. But for crying out loud, the mere mention of L6 is like a bat signal to bring the haters out.
Click to expand...




just got my PC112+ it was a good compliment to ax8 good useful features too
 
yeky83 said:
BTW, if you're interested in the Powercab as an FRFR, it's subpar.

Here's some quotes from a Line 6 employee: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/26216632/
"Powercab is decidedly not an FRFR."
"It's not quite FRFR, because Powercab is using a custom guitar speaker, not a full-range PA speaker. If you want a box that can pull double-duty as an FRFR and PA speaker, there's StageSource (or a billion other options)."

If you're interested in the Powercab for the speaker modeling, or to use it in its "FRFR" mode for a guitar oriented sound, that's completely preferential (like any other guitar cab and speaker) and you'll just have to try it out.
Click to expand...

Thats pretty much true for all PA speakers... none are really flat. The PC has a noticeable mid range bump, which is like a real guitar amp\cab.
 
The term FRFR probably should have never been used to describe the Powercab. I would not use mine as a monitor, or a PA front. It was not designed for that. It's a powered guitar cab with a coaxial tweeter to extend the high range. It does, however, make a modeler like the AX8 come to life like you are playing it through a real guitar cab, and also has enough range that using an acoustic sim/piezo or synth sounds great (unlike through a normal guitar cab which doesn't have enough high end). The PC is a great solution for anyone using a modeler who want's to create many different sounds. If you looking for an FRFR speaker to use for monitoring or PA, you should look elsewhere.
BTW, I still stand by my original review and absolutely love the powercab. After gigs I don't just get "hey your rig sounds good". I get "holy crap, your rig sounds amazing". And because it has such good guitar/cab interaction, it inspires me to play better.
 
chrisjnyc said:
Thats pretty much true for all PA speakers... none are really flat. The PC has a noticeable mid range bump, which is like a real guitar amp\cab.
Click to expand...
There's a difference in the "flatness" of PA speakers vs. the PC. And you agree since you talk about the PC's mid range bump. So I dunno what your point is.
 
yeky83 said:
There's a difference in the "flatness" of PA speakers vs. the PC. And you agree since you talk about the PC's mid range bump. So I dunno what your point is.
Click to expand...

The powercab is not subpar due it not being a true flat speaker is the point. Its built for guitar players and not as an all purpose PA speaker.
 
yeky83 said:
There's a difference in the "flatness" of PA speakers vs. the PC. And you agree since you talk about the PC's mid range bump. So I dunno what your point is.
Click to expand...
I think he's confusing 'flatness' for 'full range'.
All PA speakers are full range, but per the dialog above from the L6 rep, the Powercab is not full range.
 
chrisjnyc said:
The powercab is not subpar due it not being a true flat speaker is the point. Its built for guitar players and not as an all purpose PA speaker.
Click to expand...
It's sub par because it's not full range. (I believe that is the point yeky83 is making)
 
chrisjnyc said:
The powercab is not subpar due it not being a true flat speaker is the point. Its built for guitar players and not as an all purpose PA speaker.
Click to expand...
Well you and I aren't talking about the same thing then. I was remarking specifically on its use as an all purpose PA speaker, aka "FRFR."
chrisjnyc said:
The frequency range is 70Hz-20kHz... how much are you playing below 70Hz?
Click to expand...
The 70 Hz - 20 kHz has no dB rating, rendering it meaningless. Sorry, but this is really basic audio stuff.
 
InsideOut said:
It's only sub par if you use it for something it's not intended for. If you use it as a guitar cab for modelers as intended, it's totally inaccurate to call it sub par.
Click to expand...
Totally inaccurate to call it "FRFR" too, and that's the point I've made, which Line 6 design personnel happens to agree with, so...

No need for people to take it personally or get offended, I know y'all like it, you shouldn't care whether I do or not.
 
yeky83 said:
Totally inaccurate to call it "FRFR" too, and that's the point I've made, which Line 6 design personnel happens to agree with, so...

No need for people to take it personally or get offended, I know y'all like it, you shouldn't care whether I do or not.
Click to expand...

Not offended here. In fact I can count on one finger how many times I've thought about whether or not you like it LOL j/k
Honestly, I don't even know why anyone would be considering it for a PA option. Other than stupidly calling it FRFR, it seems like their marketing makes it pretty clear that it models guitar speakers and is made to amplify modelers.
Peace, love and all that other good happiness stuff.
 
yeky83 said:
Well you and I aren't talking about the same thing then. I was remarking specifically on its use as an all purpose PA speaker, aka "FRFR.".
Click to expand...

OK, but thats not whats being asked here. The OP is looking to use the speaker with his AX8. Why are you concerned about an all purpose speaker? I would guess that 99% of the guys here are looking for a speaker to play guitar out of.
 
chrisjnyc said:
OK, but thats not whats being asked here. The OP is looking to use the speaker with his AX8. Why are you concerned about an all purpose speaker? I would guess that 99% of the guys here are looking for a speaker to play guitar out of.
Click to expand...
Nope. I've used CLRs for PA duty....and I've used my XiTone for Bass guitar.
One great thing about having a nice FRFR cab for my guitar....it is a back up in case I lose a PA speaker at a gig.

That's why I would say loud and proud if a speaker is or is not FRFR.
Would hate to be in a situation where I needed a FRFR and I plugged into something that was advertised as such, but is truly meant for guitar only.
 
BBN said:
Nope. I've used CLRs for PA duty....and I've used my XiTone for Bass guitar.
One great thing about having a nice FRFR cab for my guitar....it is a back up in case I lose a PA speaker at a gig.

That's why I would say loud and proud if a speaker is or is not FRFR.
Would hate to be in a situation where I needed a FRFR and I plugged into something that was advertised as such, but is truly meant for guitar only.
Click to expand...

Again, the OP did not mention anything about vocals or playing bass... and should not take away from the powercab because its not a swiss army knife. It's like saying that a Les Paul is subpar, because it doesn't do good Fender strat tones. Or deciding to buy a Marshall half stack on if you could use it as your backup acoustic rig.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom