Need some fat STEREO ambiance from a single mono Cab block? - Try this!

Radley

Experienced
Go to your Mono Cab and start with these settings:

Room Level = 0

Room Size = 5

Mic spacing = 10

Now slowly turn up the Room Level control and you will start to hear a fat, STEREO ambiance that can really fill up a dry, lifeless preset. The Mic spacing is the key to the stereo image - Room size will determine the tightness of the effect. For an over-the top effect, try all three parameters on 10!!! The cool thing about this is that you can create a deep stereo image/ambiance without the extra processing load of a full-on Stereo Cab! :)
 
I've been doing this for a few months now and I have to say it's really helpful to have an ambience effect like this in the cab block.

It's also helpful to check these settings through headphones and with with just the amp and cab blocks enabled so that you can see what the reflections are doing before you add additional delays and reverb.
 
Can this trick still work if you don't have a mic selected?

Yeah, you can still add depth to the cab with just the Room Size and Level controls.

Edit: The "Mic Spacing" parameter only affects the room reverb setting –*I forgot this for a moment –*so all of the controls are relevant regardless of whether you use a mic model on the cab.
 
... and it actually makes a wide stereo image in the manner that the enhancer block would?

The enhancer has a more pronounced stereo image.

To my ear, the Room settings in the cab block just add a nice stereo ambience and some reflections, as if you blended in a distant mic IR.

It's not a special effect like the enhancer, it just helps the cab to not sound flat (which I like).
 
I've been using it a lot as well.
If you really want to hear how dramatic the effect is, just trie it with IEM's.
Before we had the room mix, I prefer to play stereo with a wide chorus.
I had a mild chorus panned to the left and a dry signal panned to the right.
This way, I had a very wide stereo image.
With IEM's, this had the effect of moving the sound from "inside" my head to "outside".
I always found the sound inside my head to be very hard to listen to for a long time.
With the room mix, I don't have that problem anymore.
 
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