Speaker Drive and Thump appreciation thread!

[Piing]

What I notice with speaker thump is that it adds weight to the higher notes of the guitar. I have always been a huge Fractal fan. I have been gigging with Fractal modelers since 2013 or so. I always found there was always a thinness in the sound when you play higher notes. I could never seem to dial it out and it was never a big problem, so I just looked past it. When I turned the thump parameter to about 1.5 or so the thinness is gone.

To add body to the higher notes I use a PEQ boosting around 450Hz with the gain linked to the pitch follower, so it only pumps up that frequency at the higher notes. This is very efficient.


Adjust Mid, Scale and Offset to decide at what note you want it to start pumping, and the ramp

There is no need anymore to use thick gauge strings to get a fat tone at the higher notes

Place it before the AMP

 

[bdrepko]

To add body to the higher notes I use a PEQ boosting around 450Hz with the gain linked to the pitch follower, so it only pumps up that frequency at the higher notes. This is very efficient.
View attachment 104991

Adjust Mid, Scale and Offset to decide at what note you want it to start pumping, and the ramp
View attachment 104992
There is no need anymore to use thick gauge strings to get a fat tone at the higher notes

Place it before the AMP

Very cool!

 

[VegaBaby]

do you guys use Thump mostly when playing through a real speaker or for recording as well?

 

[∞Fractals]

Sounds great through FRFR. However it is messing with my (thumper) traditional back line cabinets (a pair of 2 x 12 in stereo).

Need somehow to be able to split this please …

 

[yyz67]

do you guys use Thump mostly when playing through a real speaker or for recording as well?

I'm finding it really helps headphones sound more realistic and organic.

But as Cliff said you can dial it in for FRFR or any speaker that is not being driven hard/loud.

 

[Budda]

I have it around 1 or 2 on some new presets, a nice little something for sure. I pretty much exclusively use headphones so I can see it being well regarded.

 

[jakel]

Our sound guy this morning (also a guitar player) noticed it right away. It’s easier to hear on a system that will move some air (naturally).

This firmware is amazing.

 

[Cameron Chehreh]

Speaker Thump was a revelation after analyzing the Volterra kernels of guitar speakers driven near their power limits. I can't really say much more than that without giving away proprietary information.

For me it's a must when using FRFR. It evokes that feeling of standing in front of a cranked 4x12.

I have not tried adjusting that and use FRFR's...I typically switch the Output Mode from FRFR to SS Pwr Amp + Cab....anything wrong with running that way? Thank you!

 

[austinbuddy]

I am gravitating to these settings for Marshall amp models with my Atomic NEO CLRS:

Speaker Compress at 2.0
Speaker Drive at 2.0
Speaker Thump at 2.5 (or less if you play really loud).

I wasn’t a big user of the older speaker comp, I felt then it took away from immediacy of response to playing and set it at zero. But the more recent version is great and softens the attack up just right and playing feels a little less stiff than when set to zero. I’ll probably make these above changes universal in future TonePack updates, depending on the amp.

 

[yyz67]

I wasn’t a big user of the older speaker comp, I felt then it took away from immediacy of response to playing and set it at zero. But the more recent version is great and softens the attack up just right and playing feels a little less stiff than when set to zero.

I don't recall when Speaker Compression changed more recently. Do you recall which FW?

 

[austinbuddy]

I don't recall when Speaker Compression changed more recently. Do you recall which FW?

Pre Cygnus was old version I think. Pretty sure Cliff did update it somehow in last year or so. Firmware notes would account. The older pre Cygnus one too me took too much immediacy in response off the notes as I played them. The newer does not and helps with FRFRs cranked up load be less stiff and edgy. That may just be me, but that’s what I know and go with!

 

[Stratoblaster]

I am gravitating to these settings for Marshall amp models with my Atomic NEO CLRS:

I wasn’t a big user of the older speaker comp, I felt then it took away from immediacy of response to playing and set it at zero. But the more recent version is great and softens the attack up just right and playing feels a little less stiff than when set to zero. I’ll probably make these above changes universal in future TonePack updates, depending on the amp.

Pre Cygnus was old version I think. Pretty sure Cliff did update it somehow in last year or so. Firmware notes would account. The older pre Cygnus one too me took too much immediacy in response off the notes as I played them. The newer does not and helps with FRFRs cranked up load be less stiff and edgy. That may just be me, but that’s what I know and go with!

I concur with all of this; that was my immediate finding as well when first playing with these new parameters/algos. Previously I found the Speaker Compression took too much punch/attack/edge off notes and always disabled it by turning it to "0". Now, in combination with the Speaker Thump et al, I love how it adds a very, very nice feel and indeed makes things less stiff and much more enjoyable to play/feel without losing the 'smack' that I crave.

I'm seriously digging all of this; it's all really adding a killer feel that's indeed reminiscent of a cranked 4x12...very inspiring. I can lean into notes and get a dynamic push-back that makes me that much more 'connected' to the rig.

 

[fuzzydude]

Definitely my new favorite feature. "Even More" analog is how I'd describe it.
I mean, how can it possibly get better from here?

 

[jrayjr]

To add body to the higher notes I use a PEQ boosting around 450Hz with the gain linked to the pitch follower, so it only pumps up that frequency at the higher notes. This is very efficient.
View attachment 104991

Adjust Mid, Scale and Offset to decide at what note you want it to start pumping, and the ramp
View attachment 104992
There is no need anymore to use thick gauge strings to get a fat tone at the higher notes

Place it before the AMP

This is awesome, thank you! <3

 

[yyz67]

"Even More" analog is how I'd describe it.
I mean, how can it possibly get better from here?

Make it go to 11.

"Well, it's '1' more analog, isn't it?"

 

[austinbuddy]

This is awesome, thank you! <3

Wow. 450Hz is pretty boxy generally through FRFRs, but this makes a lot of sense for leads - interesting idea! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Piing]

Wow. 450Hz is pretty boxy generally through FRFRs, but this makes a lot of sense for leads - interesting idea! Thanks for sharing.

Yes, that's the trick of the Pitch Follower as modifier. Boosting that frequency would me messy for the low notes, but it gives body to the higher notes.

High Precision Surgery EQ

 

[Stratoblaster]

I am gravitating to these settings for Marshall amp models with my Atomic NEO CLRS:

Speaker Compress at 2.0
Speaker Drive at 2.0
Speaker Thump at 2.5 (or less if you play really loud).

I'm finding that I'm liking similar values all around as well. For my cleaner/edge-of-breakup tones I like the Speaker Compression lowered slightly to ~1.00 or so. I'm still experimenting with all of this but am generally centering on these values at this time.

What I notice with speaker thump is that it adds weight to the higher notes of the guitar. I have always been a huge Fractal fan. I have been gigging with Fractal modelers since 2013 or so. I always found there was always a thinness in the sound when you play higher notes. I could never seem to dial it out and it was never a big problem, so I just looked past it. When I turned the thump parameter to about 1.5 or so the thinness is gone.

I agree with this as well; these new algos/parameters definitely adds some heft and weight all around but particularly in the higher notes. I used to dial in some pretty aggressive lo-mid boost to my solo preset to account for a generally thinner 'experience' on the higher registers (no matter what the amp) and have been able to drop a lot of that now.

Overall, I can't say enough about the Speaker Thump parameter and how much I love it. I went through about 50 amps of different types yesterday during a long audition session and am thoroughly enjoying how fantastic they all feel...certainly the sense of playing thru a real cabinet is like never before. ST adds so much dynamic 'life' to every amp/preset I'm trying out it's crazy.

IMO this is all a bit of a game changer. Man, every amp in the box feels, and plays, amazing. ST is definitely some kind of voodoo and brings out something in the Fractal/FRFR that's been missing, no doubt. My CLR/FRFR is astounding to play thru no matter what the amp or tone...so much like a real cab is at the end of the chain. Great work Cliff....kudos man.

 

[Stratoblaster]

Yes, that's the trick of the Pitch Follower as modifier. Boosting that frequency would me messy for the low notes, but it gives body to the higher notes.

High Precision Surgery EQ

That is a very clever solution to add body to higher registers only...I'm going to play with this even though Speaker Thump appears to have 'fixed' that issue.

 

[trancegodz]

I am gravitating to these settings for Marshall amp models with my Atomic NEO CLRS:

Speaker Compress at 2.0
Speaker Drive at 2.0
Speaker Thump at 2.5 (or less if you play really loud).

What settings do you prefer for those parameters for totally clean sounds, with Fender and Vox amps?
Do you leave speaker drive turned off for clean sounds?