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Digital Dual Amp Rig – A Dual Rig but in modeller form!
Introduction
So, this article and video are pointless if I am honest. It is just something I wanted to try! Can you use two modellers in a “traditional” dual amp rig? We have all seen and heard the standard dual amp set up. Using two amps with a splitter to run them at the same time. However, can you swap the amps out for two modellers? What does a digital dual amp rig sound like? What is it like to use as well?
I am fully aware that most modellers have dual outputs for this reason. This brings me back to the “pointless” part of this article. I just wanted to see if I could use two modellers, which are very different and can be bought for very different prices! However, how do they sound together? Can I take two items which are designed to save you space and make them a lot more complex and take up a lot more space!
The Gear I will be using
Let us go over what gear I will be using for this silly digital dual amp experiment! It only really takes three things to complete this (ignoring the guitar and various cables). So let me talk about the three main things I will be using.
Neural Nano Cortex
The “big boy” modeller I will be using is the Neural Nano Cortex. This is a very professional and expert modeller. Designed to give you a whole rig in a small and easy-to-use unit. I have done a full review (Review Here) if you want to know my full thoughts. This will be used as my “Dry” Amp. Just giving my raw amp sound and dirt.
I won’t be using any effect inside of the Nano Cortex. What you will hear will be the raw amp tone. However, I will add a few things in front, but I will get onto that shortly.
Sonicake Pocket Master
The second modeller I will be using is the Sonicake Pocket Master (Review Here). This is a super affordable and amazing-sounding modeller. Being this small and with minimal buttons, it can be limited, so I am excited to see how it sounds in a dual amp rig. I think I will be using the Sonicake Pocket Master for the wet effects. All the delays and modulation will be on this device!
I could have bought another Pocket Master and used two of them, but I want to try two different modellers that are at two different price points. Plus, I had both of them lying around.
BrightOnion Splitter
For the actual splitter, I will be using my BrightOnion Splitter (Review Here), which is an amazing little device that helps take your signal and split it for two amps (or modellers in this case). It has the option to reverse the phases and also a ground lift option, meaning you will get the best quality sound you can.
What I love about these is the price and the build quality! They are great devices and are made by a small company and made in the UK.
Tone City Durple
There will be a few sections where I will be running a pedal into the front end of both amps. For this I will be using the Tone City Durple (Review Here). This is a super nice pedals that is very affordable. I am using it as a mid push and a small volume push while adding a slight bit of grit to the sound. Just to see how the modellers cope with it.
Having the tone and mid controls will allow me to see how this rig reacts to having their amp modellers pushed. Do they sound good paired together when they are getting pushed into overdrive or their mids are being cranked?
The Setup
Let’s talk about the setup briefly! It is very simple; you just have to make sure that you have a splitter. As mentioned above, I am using the Bright Onion Splitter. I plug my guitar into the input, and then one of the outputs goes to the Nano Cortex, and the other output goes to the Sonicake PocketMaster. Then, from each of the modellers, I ran the mono outputs straight into my audio interface. All the cab simulation was done inside each of the modellers.
Below is a diagram of how I set this dual amp rig up. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of how you can set up a similar rig if you want to.
The Sounds
Check out the sounds below! In the video, I sit down and play through the Digital Dual Amp rig. Throughout the video, you will hear one of the modellers and then both of them. This will allow you to see how the modellers are set up and how they sound on their own! One with all the wet effects and one with the dry crunch sound. Gave for an interesting mix!
After that, I put the Tone City Durple in front of the rig. I wanted to see what it would sound like pushing both amps due to how I had them set up.
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"It is understandable why some people don’t get one or gel with the Tube Screamer!"
What are my thoughts?
So what are my thoughts about the digital dual amp rig? Well, firstly there is no getting over the fact that it takes a lot of setting up! There are a lot of cables involved! More cables than using actual amps! So if you are going to be doing this at home then prepare yourself for the rat’s nest of cables and gear!
Sound-wise, it is amazing fun! You are able to create a huge array of dual amp set-ups! Thanks to modellers containing 100’s of amp types and effects you can experiment with loads of different setups! I was very surprised at how well the whole rig responded to my volume! This was even more apparent when I added the pedal to the front end! I was super impressed! It sounded killer to my ears. Everything sat nicely and blended lovely.
I did notice that keeping the wet amp clean (with the delay and reverb and chorus) with the dry amp more overdriven makes the sound very warm and driven but adds that top end clean sound over the top and allows the transients to come through! This also means that the delays and reverbs are clean and won’t muddy up your sound.
"The in-the-room feel isn’t there! I was still listening to this rig through headphones!"
What is it good for?
It is a great way to play around and experiment with dual amp and dual amp set-ups without needing a large room and loads of volume. I will keep messing around with amps and effects in the future and seeing what sounds I can come up with! Having so many amps in both devices means the world is your oyster when it comes to dual amp rigs!
There was a big downside that I noticed, comparing this to using something like two Boss Katana’s (using one with effects and the other one dry). The in-the-room feel isn’t there! I was still listening to this rig through headphones! You could hook them up to FRFR cabs or FX returns but that defeats the point of this experiment. In this case, how I had them set up, it was still very “closed” sounding. No sense of space and “biggness” that you get when using two amps.
"You could buy two Pocket Master’s and a splitter for a lot less than a quad cortex and you will be able to play around with dual amp set ups."
Final thoughts!
Of course if you have a high end modeller then you will be able to do this all inside that modeller. Something like the Quad Cortex will be able to do all of this and have many more options for outputs. They are a bit more expensive than the Sonicake Pocket master though! You could buy two Pocket Master’s and a splitter for a lot less than a quad cortex and you will be able to play around with dual amp set ups.
Conclusion
What do you think of the results? Do you think they sound good? I think the results were great and I would 100% recommend that if you can do this, then you give it a go! I am fully aware that this is a lot to set up and will require a lot of extra gear. However, you can get some amazing sounds and effects from it. Great for recording or re-amping.
This digital dual amp rig was a super fun experiment to do and something I haven’t seen anyone else do! I think it is fun and a great way to mess around with a dual amp rig. This digital dual amp allowed me to mess with effects and amp types while keeping the rig fairly small and compact! You could easily take what you built within the modellers and transpose that onto a full ring with amps and pedals!
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Gigs & Guitars Affiliate Links:
- Neural DSP Nano Cortex (Thomann Affiliate)
- Neural DSP Nano Cortex (Andertons Affiliate)
- Tone City Durple (Thomann Affiliate)
- Tone City Durple(Andertons Affiliate)
- Andertons Affiliate Link
- Thomann Affiliate Link
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