Blending Eleven Cabinets

In this example you’ll see how to take the output of one Eleven amp and send it to multiple cabinets so you can blend different cabinets, multi-mic one cabinet, or both.

To blend multiple cabinets:

1 Choose Tracks > New.

2 Configure the New Tracks dialog as follows:

Create one mono Audio Track.

Click the Add Row button.

Create three mono Aux Inputs.

Click Create.

3 In the Mix or Edit window, configure the audio track by doing the following:

Click the audio track Input selector and choose your guitar input (the audio interface input your guitar is plugged in to).

Click the Output selector and choose Bus 1.

Click the Insert selector and select Eleven.

4 Select all three Aux Input tracks by Shift-clicking their Track Name displays (make sure your audio track isn’t still selected). This lets you work with the three Aux tracks “as one” in the next few steps.

 

Three tracks, selected

5 Hold Option+Shift (Mac) or Alt+Shift (Windows) while doing each of the following:

Choose Bus 1 from the Input selector of any of the three selected Aux Inputs.

Click the Insert selector of any of the three and select Eleven.

Click the next available Insert selector on any of three selected Aux Inputs and select the TimeAdjuster (short) plug-in.

6 Open the Eleven plug-in on the audio track and click the Cabinet Bypass to bypass Cabinet and microphone processing.

7 Open one of the Eleven plug-ins on any of the three selected Aux Input tracks and Opt+Shift+click (Mac) or Alt+Shift+click (Windows) the Amp Bypass switch.

8 Solo the first Aux Input track.

9 Click to open the Eleven plug-in window on the first Aux Input, and do any of the following:

Choose a cabinet.

Choose a mic and its position.

Adjust Speaker Breakup as desired.

10 When you’re done, close the plug-in window and then unsolo the track.

11 Solo the next Aux Input track, and repeat to configure its cabinet and mic settings.

12 Repeat for other Aux Input tracks to configure their cabinet and mic settings.

13 When you have set your cabinet tones, make sure to un-solo all the Aux Inputs and begin playing so you can hear the combined tone of all three cabinet channels.

14 Do the following to continue:

Balance the tracks using the volume faders on the Aux Input tracks.

Try different pan positions for each Aux Input track.

Evaluate the phase relationships of the combined signals and adjust accordingly (see Phase Considerations with Blending in Eleven).

If You Plan on Blending Cabinets

The Eleven plug-in emulates the variation in cabinet response that is unique to each amp/cab combination. In the physical world, these variations are the result of the distinct loads put out by each amp, and the way the cabinet handles (responds to) that particular type of signal. Though subtle, the effect of this is a unique cabinet resonance.

In each Eleven plug-in you insert on a track, the currently selected Amp Type has a similar effect on the sound of its current cabinet, even when the amp section itself is bypassed.

This does not mean that the (bypassed) amp settings affect the cabinet tone, only the chosen amp type. This could bring just the right amount of extra low, low-mid, or mid-range response to the cabinet.

Different amps can also have a different number of stages, which can affect polarity. See Phase Considerations with Blending in Eleven for more information.

How Do I Use This?

Here are a few suggested ways you can pair Eleven’s amps and cabinets:

To accurately capture the sound of one amp split to and driving multiple cabinets, make sure the same Amp Type is selected in all the Eleven plug-ins (all the cabinets as well as the active amp).

For maximum variety, mix and match bypassed amps with active cabinets.

For realism with the combo amps (such as the Tweed Lux and AC Hi Boost), make sure to use their default cabinets.