Torpedo Power Amp Sim Settings

gtrgriff3

Member
I've always struggled with the power amp simulation in the WOS plugin and my Torpedo Live... I guess mostly because I don't typically play preamps separated from their power amp counterparts, I wasn't sure what effect the power amp has (and the fact that the controls don't work the way I expect them to in the power amp sim, so I get lost quickly.)

Finally, I plugged my Egnater/Rocktron IE4 (still my favorite preamp of all time) into the power amp return of my old Egnater MICA100 head (the old Bruce built version) and set it up the way I like to play it.

Through a little trickery with my Kemper profiler and a Suhr reactive load I was able to A/B back and forth between the sound of the preamp running through my Tube power amp section that I love, and the Torpedo Live with JUST the power amp and EQ on (no cabinet.)

I was listening through my CAA 2x12 cab with 1 scumback M75 and 1 J75. So it's pretty greenback sounding but I was able to play loud and get a good frame of reference.

I tend to run the "Depth" control very high on this cab because it can handle it, so there is a lot of really low end that the Torpedo won't quite produce. However, I'm not sure it's a big deal in the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't want those frequencies in a mix anyway.

So, going back and forth between the two I came up with the following settings. YMMV, of course, but if you're new to using the power amp sim hopefully this will give you a place to start. If I were going to modify anything I'd lower the bass first and then add mids back in. Believe it or not, this is not a scooped out metal sound I was using, it's more an AC/DC style rock crunch tone I used to come up with these:

Volume - 8 (I don't overdrive the power amp section of the Egnater, and this doesn't seem to add any sizzle from overdriving it.)
Presence - 100% (my understanding is decreasing this number decreases the "effect" of the power amp sim and that's what I hear. I can't imagine why I would not want it to be 100% "on" and I didn't like it anywhere else.)
Depth - 57% (increasing from this point adds low mids to the tone, decreasing removes the highs and low which are already a little thin to me, but season to taste.)
Pentode (as opposed to Triode)

EQ
120Hz +3
360Hz -1
800Hz -4
2K -1
6K +2

Hopefully these settings can be helpful to someone else struggling to get a "real world" example. It's not perfectly the same, but it's really close and if I were doing a gig with that preamp and just the Torpedo Live I would be fine with it. The best part is I can't really tell a difference in the feel at all. In fact, at one point I thought I was playing the power amp version and I was actually playing the Sim version.
 
Which tube sims were you using?

It's best to run the Presence high to start with the TN tube power amp sims, excepting perhaps the 6L6's which I tend to start a bit lower due to their additional low end. Depth and Volume to suit of course, and the EQ is powerful as well.

Typically a little tube power section color goes a long way as it does with the real deal, and always try to have a good strong input signal (say -3 to -6 peaks etc depending on the dynamics of the input).

I agree, the Two Notes tube power amp sims sound and feel great.
 
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