Speaker Drive setting and interactions

sumitagarwal

sumitagarwal

Inspired
I've read the release notes and agree that in the most recent firmware versions the Speaker Drive is much more usable and gives some good attack texture to tones, especially lead notes. It can be a bit much on heavily overdriven rhythms though.

The knob has a wide range and, while it isn't obviously intuitive, it seems most agree that it works best somewhere between 1 and 2.

I actually set mine at 1.0 as I've found the effect quite pronounced even at that setting. I tend to run my Amp blocks, typically JCM800 or SLO-100, at very high Master Volumes and I wonder if that is related to why Speaker Drive has a massive effect even at low settings. Does anyone know if the Speaker Drive algorithm takes into account the Amp Master Volume or other aspects of the amp model? Does it take into account guitar output level/right-hand technique to vary between cleaner and rougher the way the rest of the amp model does?

It may be that Speaker Drive is still a work-in-progress from Cliff. I suspect that if it were "all the way there" Cliff would probably set non-zero default values for Speaker Drive for each amp. I know that this would have to vary depending on what speaker cabinet is used, and there's no way for Amp blocks to know what Cab blocks are doing, but Cliff already defaults cabinet frequency resonance values based on the most-likely paired cab.
 
I think the main reason that it's not set to above zero by default is because then it would be counterproductive with people using real cabinets. I put it at 1.0 for all presets. That number just felt right for me.
 
I have found that the speaker drive parameter has no correlation with the setting of the master volume.
I run mine at between 1-2 and on my JCM800 patches I usually run the master anywhere from 4 -6, and the effect is pretty much the same.
 
Would be nice to have some more concrete guidelines on how to set it. I suspect that this parameter is one of the factors that give people the impression that Kempers sound more like a real amp and are easier to set up, but I think speaker drive is getting there...
 
I do. My general preference is to organically move between dirt/heavy/lead through guitar volume knob and playing technique for an organic transition rather than a hard change. For this reason I'd want Speaker Drive to respond appropriately to my playing dynamics
 
I'm toying with the idea of tying Speaker Drive to a modifier controlled by Master Volume, where it would vary it between 0 and 2. I've never tried something like that before, any thoughts?
 
I don't find that speaker drive does all that much. I hear it, but it's subtle. I don't remember if I've ever cranked it to 10, maybe it's much more noticeable there. But I doubt I could notice anything major between settings of 0 and 1. Perhaps because of the tones I go for? (Typically mid-gain Marshally tones, boosted for leads.)

Or perhaps I'm just old, deaf, and stupid. I leave open all possibilities. :)

Anyone have a clip where the difference between 1 and 0 is pretty pronounced? Curious to see what I may be doing wrong.
 
Try this as an experiment:

Set an amp block to the Citrus Terrier. Reset the block to put everything at default. Now dime the Master up to 10. Of course, bring the Amp block Level way down to compensate and put things at a normal volume. Now go play with Speaker Drive. Don't be afraid to crank it to 10. you'll notice things sound like they're going to EXPLODE with Speaker Drive at 10. You can definitely hear it, not just feel it. After playing through that a bit, set Speaker Drive back to 0.

Now copy the Amp X to Amp Y, and switch over to Y. Set the Master to 1.00, and bring the Amp block Level way up to make it match the same perceived volume as when the Master was dimed. Switch back and forth between X and Y to get those volumes about the same.

Now back on Amp Y, which is the Terrier with a low Master at 1.00, start playing with Speaker Drive. Crank the Speaker Drive to 10. Notice that it isn't doing much. In fact, I can't perceive any Speaker Drive effect at any amount when the Master is this low and the virtual power amp is pushing out very little juice.

CONCLUSION: I think the Master does indeed interact with Speaker Drive, as the manual states.

Screen Shot 2017-03-01 at 8.39.08 AM.png
 
philipacamaniac said:
Try this as an experiment:

Set an amp block to the Citrus Terrier. Reset the block to put everything at default. Now dime the Master up to 10. Of course, bring the Amp block Level way down to compensate and put things at a normal volume. Now go play with Speaker Drive. Don't be afraid to crank it to 10. you'll notice things sound like they're going to EXPLODE with Speaker Drive at 10. You can definitely hear it, not just feel it. After playing through that a bit, set Speaker Drive back to 0.

Now copy the Amp X to Amp Y, and switch over to Y. Set the Master to 1.00, and bring the Amp block Level way up to make it match the same perceived volume as when the Master was dimed. Switch back and forth between X and Y to get those volumes about the same.

Now back on Amp Y, which is the Terrier with a low Master at 1.00, start playing with Speaker Drive. Crank the Speaker Drive to 10. Notice that it isn't doing much. In fact, I can't perceive any Speaker Drive effect at any amount when the Master is this low and the virtual power amp is pushing out very little juice.

CONCLUSION: I think the Master does indeed interact with Speaker Drive, as the manual states.

View attachment 38375
Click to expand...

Derp, that makes sense... did not check the manual =/

About to run through the test you just described.

Any thoughts on whether or not its accounting for the modeled amp's output? If we assume setting Speaker Drive to "1" scales the effect to an appropriate amount for the amp, then we could assume that a cranked SLO-100 should give lots of speaker distortion while a Citrus Terrier should give little if any.
 
Ok, if you really want to confirm this experiment... run the SLO with Master Volume dimed and Speaker Drive dimed too.. basically turns into a square wave! Brining down the MV reduces the effect, as described.

Also, it seems that the Axe-FX *does* intelligently do some scaling of the Speaker Drive parameter based on current amp model. With maxed out settings the effect is far less with the Terrier than with the SLO.

The only remaining question is what is the "correct" Speaker Drive setting for the Amp block, assuming you're using the "stock" cab for the amp? If I were to guess that would be "1". Most people seems to like it between 1 and 2.
 
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