CPS SpaceStation v.3 and Laney irt-x

C

Chris Hurley

Power User
I've typically been a poweramp and guitar cabinet user with my Fractal gear. I like a mix of mic'd cab sound along with my actual cab at a live show but have never particularly enjoyed the sound of direct guitar alone. I liked the Atomic CLR well enough and the Alto TS112 and TS110 were fairly agreeable, especially when mixed with a real guitar cab in the room but I still didn't love them on their own- at least for guitar. I play rock guitar. 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's. Friedman BE100 is my go-to model though I like other models and I like to tweak the guts of the amps like i did when I built amps.

I got in the mood to try a smaller monitor with the Axe-FX just out of necessity because I wanted to get it into a smaller but more convenient location for regular playing. I was keeping an eye out for another TS110 or TS210 but became aware of two small and interesting cabinets- the SpaceStation V.3 and the Laney irt-x.

The irt-x has a variety of tricks that should make it a great swiss-army knife to have on hand. It has a built-in cabinet simulator, a DI, an effects loop, an EQ and can act as a poweramp for an external speaker. The idea with this thing is that it can expand a tube amp for more sound or an easier post-amp effects solution. It can also be a FR cabinet for modellers. I found the irt-x to sound small and boxy. It wasn't strident or offensive but it sounded small to me and I didn't love playing through it. I thought hard about keeping it in case I ever had another small tube amp but decided to return it.

Next up is the SpaceStation v.3 which is an odd speaker to say the least because it has four different drivers in it divided into two groups- front and side. It called "Center Point Stereo" and is billed as stereo sound from a single cabinet. I think it is better to think of it as "3d sound" from a single speaker because its not "left vs. right" like you normally expect. The "3d" effect does work and is very enjoyable, with some caveats.

The system is fed a stereo signal which is processed before output. The front speaker group consists of an 8" driver with a coaxial mid driver and a separate tweeter. There is an overall volume control as well as volume controls for the mid driver and the tweeter. If you're feeding it straight mono sound, the front speaker group is all you will hear. It lacks a little in the low end compared to larger cabinets but I still enjoyed playing through it.

To access its trick 3D feature, you've got to feed it some sound that is not panned center. Stereo reverb, delay or chorus will do the trick. Bringing up the "width" control with some stereo content activates the side speaker and brings the cabinet to life. It doesn't sound "stereo" in the same way that headphones sound but it sounds bigger and more spacious than a mono cab. For me, its like the cabinet and the room "opens up." It no longer sounds like a little box in front of me as much- more like its all over the room. I have no idea how that would work if you were in a band situation with hot mics. Presumably, you would get some bleed.

I normally play pretty dry, but this cabinet requires some stereo content so I've been experimenting with that. Adding some reverb and delay certainly works, as does an enhancer block. When I still want it to sound dry, I've been experimenting with panning a separate cab block over to one side which brings in the effect also.

You can add a subwoofer to it if you feel it is necessary. I've used it both with and without a sub for music playback. For music, I certainly enjoy the sub but for guitar its less necessary for me. I don't tune lower than Db though.

So its different but its small and fun to play so I'll be keeping it. YMMV of course.
 
Relay interested in your thoughts on this has its been pretty much written off as a no go for the axefx it was reviewed quite heavily and didn't seem to cut it but I like the format - is this a later version ? Loud enough ? - there were issue getting it sounding right and also coloration ?

Thanks
 
I think it will have trouble with full-on rock band volume settings but would be fine for coffee shop level volumes. I have a couple-year old V3 which is said to be a lot different than the older GT versions. There is a newer XL version which I'd love to hear.

I had zero issues getting it to sound right. Coloration is something I'm not able to speak to. I think Scott Peterson felt that it was full range but not especially flat. At louder volumes its going to need some bass management.
 
I got the impression that it was more for a Solo type of deal or maybe a small accompaniment Keys and guitar type of thing, which is why it probably did do that great with the FAS crowd but I like the concept though!
 
I use the SpaceStation v3. In my experience it can get plenty loud, I have never had any problems with that aspect, but I use it in a specific context, as a mini-PA for duo work: song, guitar and synthesizers. In this application I like it more than for instance the Bose L-series. It does have some quirks though. It's very sensitive to how you place it in the room, and also to how you set the width, mid and high controls. You get used to it but it does add to set up times..

On the positive side, the sound really is different to any other single speaker solution I've heard, well at least when fed with stereo information, as intended. For synths it sounds glorious, and it works surprisingly well for voice too, for electric guitar through axe fx.. works but can take some patience, you need to be mindful of how you build your patches, with the right amount of stereo content to give the 3d effect but not too much or the sound will lose focus. One also needs to set levels of bass and low mids carefully.. I find it to have a much narrower sweet spot than my genelec studio monitors. It usually helps to lift the speaker up from the floor if the bass and low mids sound muddy or boxy. The coloration isn't too bad, as long as you control the low mids a little. I usually keep the width at noon or below, and up the high control a little.
 
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(The SpaceStation recently popped up in a mid-side processing wishlist posting and a few people seemed interested so I pointed them here to continue the conversation. I'll update my thoughts to reflect how I see it years later.)

I have a review on the bigger XL version here: SSXL Review

Its best to think of the SpaceStation in terms of its core feature: getting a spacious "3d" sound from an instrument. Its full range and it sounds good for program material but its not going to be exactly the same as running a pair of Atomic CLRs (for example) that get crazy loud with lots of low end. This is not a reference monitor and its not flat. It is a unique (and small) loudspeaker system that produces some very enjoyable "3D" sound effects.

I hinted at this in my review above but will highlight it here: You don't have to drown your signal in regular stereo effects to get the best out of this speaker.

Its sounds killer with stereo rotary, chorus, reverb and delay effects but there is another option: use a stereo cab block with two different IR's, one center and one panned. I loved the Fractal 412 TV and AV models for this duty but a lot of other ones would work as well.

I think you'll want to put one IR panned dead center so that it comes out of the front speaker system and then put the other IR panned to one side or the other so it will fire out of the side system. When you get it right, you will know it because the results are surprising. This is somewhat similar to an open back cab in some ways.

There is also something to the positioning of the speaker. The side speaker is best if it can bounce off of a wall. Some people put a piece of plexi on the sides of the unit- there is an enormous thread on one of the keyboard forums where people talk about using it.

You have to think about your stereo effects a little differently than regular cabs. Instead of thinking in terms of left or right, think in terms of center or side. That's how the cabinet works. Putting your core tone in the center and even mono effects panned to the side makes a compact "wet/dry" sort of setup that is cool too.

Setting your patches to get the most from this loudspeaker will obviously impact your FOH signal. Sometimes its different but not in a way that matters. Other times you may need to make accommodations. Compared to a mono signal that is coming from an identifiable point or a regular stereo signal that collapses when you move around, the CPS setup can be very rewarding but its different and not a drop-in replacement for either of those.

As has been said, this is not a 4x12 so there are limits to what it can do in terms of low end. The 8" speaker is impressive for an 8" but you'll want to roll off some low end. Also, the side speaker is pretty mid-focused so that is worth knowing in terms of what you're sending to it. Depending on where the speaker is, adjusting the CPS control gives you more or less of the effect.

I'll finally remark at how useful the controls on the back are. Being able to ease off the top end of the speaker makes this so much more enjoyable. For some reason, it works better for me than trying to do HF rolloffs in the Fractal. I have no idea why.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Sadly, Aspen Pittman passed away recently but his daughter was also involved in the business and is continuing with it.
 
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Tried a "REAR" and a "ROOM" cab, respecticely panned hard left along with the usual 57/160 pair panned center, and got some nice sounds. Didn't need much of it to open up the sound through the Spacestation XL nicely. You could hear it make a difference mixed at -17dB! -11 to -13 made it sound a bit more like an open or partially-open combo cab. Any higher and it started removing a little of the deep low end....

An already great-sounding Zilla 2x12 with just a smidgen of a "ROOM" Matchless 2x12 blended in had more presence and in-the-room sound. It really did fill the room better, pulling the dry guitar out of the speaker much like an open-back cab.

The "REAR" cab has less highs, as it was mic'ed from the back of the cab, and mixing this in with the Zilla did interesting things with the sound. Definitely makes those "REAR" IRs more useful. Not sure what it would do to the sound when downmixed to mono or when run through a regular stereo rig, though.
 
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Also, as noted, ping pong delays lose a fair chunk of their 'leftness' and 'rightness', but I find they retain some if it and gain a fair amount of 'behind-you-ness' ('anteriosity'?) in exchange. Like Khan, you need to start thinking in 3D....
 
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https://v-z-a.com/sites/v-z-a.com/files/20200605_205944.jpg
 
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Hmmm.... Playing with the "Distance" parameter on the "Room" cab (the Matchbox 2x12 room mic'ed with a 67) yields interesting results with respect to the bottom end loss. Back it off so the first big peak is closer to the first big dip of the others, and you get a lot less low end loss, but still retain the sense of "in-the-room".

The two Zilla IRs I use with this preset:
Screenshot%202020-06-05%2022.55.07.png

Adding in the 2x12 Matchbox 67 Room AB IR, with almost an inch of "Distance" added:
Screenshot%202020-06-05%2022.54.58.png


The Matchbox was mixed about 13dB down, so that it didn't overwhelm the sound. On the 'crunch' scene, especially, the "room" part stood out nicely - you could actually hear the early reflections coming through quite clearly on staccato notes.

I keep the 160 dialed back a little bit. Varies per particular amp, but its job is to fill in what the 57 lacks on the bottom without making it muddy, so it's a taste test for each mix. As you can see, the Matchbox is at -13. A little dab'll do ya....
Screenshot%202020-06-05%2023.12.41.png
 
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Joe Bfstplk said:
Also, as noted, ping pong delays lose a fair chunk of their 'leftness' and 'rightness', but I find they retain some if it and gain a fair amount of 'behind-you-ness' ('anteriosity'?) in exchange. Like Khan, you need to start thinking in 3D....
Click to expand...
This.

You lose the stereo image. But in exchange, you get a sort of indiscriminate "3D-ness" that leaves you wondering what you just heard. Left-plus-right-plus-reflected soup.
 
I wonder what a pair of CLRs added to this rig (for the delays to ping-pong nicely) would sound like.

I guess I'd have to set the presets up with Output 2 for the delay, and set the delay to 100% wet. The rotary, and any chorus/flange/phase stuff could go out Output 1 to the Spacestation, which does miraculous things with those due to the "relatively near-ish" phase/time relationships involved in those effects, and then a pair of CLRs for the delays to have sufficient "rightness" and "leftness" to make a convincing ping-pong happen.

The trick would be how to route it all so that Output 1 level changes via the knob are translated to changes of input level to the delay.

Hmmmm.... If I moved Output 1 in the middle of the empty row of shunts in the lower portion of the grid (in the preset shown above), would the signal flow both out of Output 1 and continue on to the delay and then out the Output 2 that would be placed after it? Or would I need to put in a VolPan block and assign its "Volume" knob to a knob on the Perform-Gbl page to have a single volume knob to rule them all and in the darkness bind them?
 
Huh. It does pass signal through when you put an output block in the middle of a line.

This actually works:
Screenshot%202020-06-05%2023.41.28.png

Signal gets to the delay and Output 3 (was already hooked up via analog inputs to my Scarlett's inputs, along with analog from Output 1):
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I guess it will be for someone else to try. I have no room for a pair of CLRs in here! But, wow, that would be The Return of the Son of My Wet-Dry-Wet '90s Rig if there ever was one, with the dry middle including rotary and chorus/flange/phase stuff and the CLRs for delays to ping-pong (or pong-ping if the cables were reversed) to the left and right. I bet it would sound heavenly....
 
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Rex said:
This.

You lose the stereo image. But in exchange, you get a sort of indiscriminate "3D-ness" that leaves you wondering what you just heard. Left-plus-right-plus-reflected soup.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's weird how ping-pong delays come out. They're not terribly left or right, but they gain an almost creepy element of "behind-you-ness" or "anteriosity" that is mixed with the little bit of rightness and leftness. The thing fills space with your guitar without it being "OMG THIS IS SO F___ING LOWD!!!!!!!!1!!!!11!!!!". It literally sounds like the guitar is not coming from the box, but is just everywhere in the room when you throw a nice chorus on. Even doing the room cab trick above makes it jump out of the box rather well, which is why I dialed it back, so that it sounded like an amp in the room rather than the room co-occupying the same space in 5 dimensions as an amp....
 
It's confusing because the directional cues conflict with each other. The left signal still comes from your left side (albeit with stronger reflections), and the right signal still comes from the right. But the arrival times coincide, which they wouldn't do in a real right/left situation. In real life, the sound from the left side would arrive at your left ear before it arrived at your right ear.

Your brain tells you, "This sound is coming from the left. But no, it's not."
 
Rex said:
It's confusing because the directional cues conflict with each other. The left signal still comes from your left side (albeit with stronger reflections), and the right signal still comes from the right. But the arrival times coincide, which they wouldn't do in a real right/left situation. In real life, the sound from the left side would arrive at your left ear before it arrived at your right ear.

Your brain tells you, "This sound is coming from the left. But no, it's not."
Click to expand...
Kinda like Haas panning inside-out. :)
 
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