Connecting Torpedo live to my cab

[PBGas]

Ok - So....here is my question of the day on this fantastic Torpedo Live unit that I have and enjoy so much!

I've looked several times at the instructions and perhaps I didn't see the forest for the trees.......

If I want to run this in a live setup with FOH while monitoring through my 4x12......here is the dilemma that I am pondering:
I take the 8 ohm out of my head into the speaker in of the Live. No issue there.
Now....if I want to use my cab....here is where I am stuck. My cab is 16ohms.

Do I simply go out of the Live speaker thru and into my 16ohm cab even though it has an 8 ohm load going to the live or do I simply run my cab out of the 16ohm load on my head combined at the same time that I have the 8ohm load from my head going into my Live?

I don't want to blow anything up. It's been easy in the past with matching cabs becasue that was self-explanitory in calculating which output you would run it out of....but this.......

Any help is appreciated!

 

[guillaume_pille]

The rule is the same of Live and VB-101 :

Match you amp output impedance with you cabinet impedance.

If the cabinet is 16 Ohms, you need to take the 16 Ohms speaker output of your amp.

The Load in the Live is INVISIBLE when you connect a cabinet.

 

[PBGas]

Ahh....I see!

That would make perfect sense. I was worried that the amp head would also see a load from the live as well and that should be calculated into it. I normally would have just taken the line out from my head into the live but that is already emulated and does not sound as good at all.

Makes perfect sense.

By the way, thank you so much for the great customer service! I know you folks were at the Messe show but even there, you were able to help me out with the serial number issue with my WOS program. Outstanding!

Thanks very much Guillaume!!!

 

[guillaume_pille]

We try to help as much as we can

 

[Mr. Pentatonic]

Follow up question to this. Without the load being used, will the front of house get exactly the same tone as if it was the load for the head? I just want to make sure that I don't dial in a great tone at my home, using the live as a load, then get to a gig, run it through to the cabinets and have the FOH getting a different tone than I want.

 

[guillaume_pille]

Without the load being used, will the front of house get exactly the same tone as if it was the load for the head?

As the amp will see a different load, the tone will change. I cannot say if it will be a huge are small change, as it depends on the difference between our load and the cabinet load. There shouldn't be a world of difference though, but I can't say it will be identical.

 

[steve_k]

Follow up question to this. Without the load being used, will the front of house get exactly the same tone as if it was the load for the head? I just want to make sure that I don't dial in a great tone at my home, using the live as a load, then get to a gig, run it through to the cabinets and have the FOH getting a different tone than I want.

The difference will be in what you dialed in the digital tone through. The cab you plug into only bypasses the digital load. The direct signal will be as you set it. I set mine using FRFR monitors. Dialing it up through anything with a flat response vs. farfield will be better. Once FOH gets the signal, they can almost set a flat EQ and get the same thing. Then, the soundman can season to taste through the PA system.... But, from my experience with it, it would be hard to get a bad tone to the FOH if you are dialed up anywhere near acceptable into monitors.

 

[Mr. Pentatonic]

Follow up question to this. Without the load being used, will the front of house get exactly the same tone as if it was the load for the head? I just want to make sure that I don't dial in a great tone at my home, using the live as a load, then get to a gig, run it through to the cabinets and have the FOH getting a different tone than I want.

The difference will be in what you dialed in the digital tone through. The cab you plug into only bypasses the digital load. The direct signal will be as you set it. I set mine using FRFR monitors. Dialing it up through anything with a flat response vs. farfield will be better. Once FOH gets the signal, they can almost set a flat EQ and get the same thing. Then, the soundman can season to taste through the PA system.... But, from my experience with it, it would be hard to get a bad tone to the FOH if you are dialed up anywhere near acceptable into monitors.

Well, I would be setting the digital tone at home, with my Emplexador plugged into the Torpedo live as the load. Which means the the amp will be set to 8ohms. My cab is 16ohms. So as stated by Two Notes above, if I use the cab at the gig, I have to set the amp to 16ohms, so the Torpedo will be seeing a different load, which may effect the tone. I guess the best way to deal with this is to record the Torpedo direct and then with the cab hooked up at home and see if I hear any difference.

 

[steve_k]

Follow up question to this. Without the load being used, will the front of house get exactly the same tone as if it was the load for the head? I just want to make sure that I don't dial in a great tone at my home, using the live as a load, then get to a gig, run it through to the cabinets and have the FOH getting a different tone than I want.

The difference will be in what you dialed in the digital tone through. The cab you plug into only bypasses the digital load. The direct signal will be as you set it. I set mine using FRFR monitors. Dialing it up through anything with a flat response vs. farfield will be better. Once FOH gets the signal, they can almost set a flat EQ and get the same thing. Then, the soundman can season to taste through the PA system.... But, from my experience with it, it would be hard to get a bad tone to the FOH if you are dialed up anywhere near acceptable into monitors.

Well, I would be setting the digital tone at home, with my Emplexador plugged into the Torpedo live as the load. Which means the the amp will be set to 8ohms. My cab is 16ohms. So as stated by Two Notes above, if I use the cab at the gig, I have to set the amp to 16ohms, so the Torpedo will be seeing a different load, which may effect the tone. I guess the best way to deal with this is to record the Torpedo direct and then with the cab hooked up at home and see if I hear any difference.

Yes, you are right about that. After I sent the reply, this came to mind. So, if you are using an amp that is output impedance dependent (anything Plexi/Marshall) you will maybe hear a bit different response. Also, when you set it up as a digital load only, you are going to be attenuating the volume with the amp at a higher volume than normal to get the goods out of the amp. When you plug the cab in, depending on your venue and the level you set the amp/cab up at, you will likely get a bit different signal to the FOH.

Me, I leave the cabs at home. Only thing I use a cab for anymore is to set my drink on.....

 

[Mr. Pentatonic]

Follow up question to this. Without the load being used, will the front of house get exactly the same tone as if it was the load for the head? I just want to make sure that I don't dial in a great tone at my home, using the live as a load, then get to a gig, run it through to the cabinets and have the FOH getting a different tone than I want.

The difference will be in what you dialed in the digital tone through. The cab you plug into only bypasses the digital load. The direct signal will be as you set it. I set mine using FRFR monitors. Dialing it up through anything with a flat response vs. farfield will be better. Once FOH gets the signal, they can almost set a flat EQ and get the same thing. Then, the soundman can season to taste through the PA system.... But, from my experience with it, it would be hard to get a bad tone to the FOH if you are dialed up anywhere near acceptable into monitors.

Well, I would be setting the digital tone at home, with my Emplexador plugged into the Torpedo live as the load. Which means the the amp will be set to 8ohms. My cab is 16ohms. So as stated by Two Notes above, if I use the cab at the gig, I have to set the amp to 16ohms, so the Torpedo will be seeing a different load, which may effect the tone. I guess the best way to deal with this is to record the Torpedo direct and then with the cab hooked up at home and see if I hear any difference.

Yes, you are right about that. After I sent the reply, this came to mind. So, if you are using an amp that is output impedance dependent (anything Plexi/Marshall) you will maybe hear a bit different response. Also, when you set it up as a digital load only, you are going to be attenuating the volume with the amp at a higher volume than normal to get the goods out of the amp. When you plug the cab in, depending on your venue and the level you set the amp/cab up at, you will likely get a bit different signal to the FOH.

Me, I leave the cabs at home. Only thing I use a cab for anymore is to set my drink on.....

That's where I am trying to get to. Problem is, some of the clubs have limited monitor mixes. Without a cab, I have to be sure the monitor mix can accomidate my ability to hear and the rest of the band.

 

[guillaume_pille]

o the Torpedo will be seeing a different load, which may effect the tone.

Actually, the difference is not on the Torpedo part: the Amp will see a different load, hence its behavior may change (a little). The way the amp reacts depends for an important part on the load you plug to it (actually, it depends on the output stage design as well). It is hard to predict the real tonal change and it is entirely possible you don't notice an important change.

In my opinion, the huge difference will be your monitors/headphones VS the venue PA...

I guess the best way to deal with this is to record the Torpedo direct and then with the cab hooked up at home and see if I hear any difference.

Absolutely, that's the good way to understand what's happening.

And you should have for example some preset that work with your cabinet (by dialing with your cabinet hooked up), and some for Torpedo load only.