Finicky but awesome

For someone who mostly lives in an analogue tube-based amp world this was a revelation to pair with Origin Effects amp recreation pedals and their matching IRs for headphone-based playing of exceptional sound quality and feel, and also for use with an FRFR cabinet. Having said that, I have to read the manual ever time I add a new IR, largely because I don’t do that often; if you did it would be second nature to you but I do find that all a bit finicky to use. Still, highly recommended!

Preferred Settings + Usage:

A pretty much perfect product, more 4.5 than 4.

Only once in a while you buy a piece of gear and everything is laid down so well you feel right at home even the first time you turn it on. The Torpedo C.A.B. M(+) is one of these products.

Who needs it?

Anyone who needs a post preamp, or post loadbox all-in-one solution.

What does it do?

Preamp simulation, Power amplifier simulation, Impulse Response loading, Noise Gate, Semi-Parametric Equalization, Virtual mic'ing, preset saving/recalling and many more.

Why would I need this when there are free plugins that can load Impulse Responses?

Because its meant to be used untethered from a computer, even though you can profit from connecting it through USB and use the Torpedo Remote software for configuring the C.A.B. M instead of using the onboard dials, or iOS/Android app. It's like 10 plugins onto one single pedal-format piece of hardware.

Where do I use it in my signal chain?

Either after a preamplifier (like the KSR Ceres, the Orange Butler, Effectrode Blackbird, JHS Clover etc) or after a load box (Two Notes Captor, Mesa Power House, Fractal X-Load) when used to record from an amp. If used after a preamp you can profit from the power amplifier sim which covers many types of virtual tubes and Volume, Contour and Pres controls before hitting it with either Two Notes own DynIR Virtual Cabinets or classic Impulse Responses and if used after a load box you keep the Power Amp Sim OFF and use DynIR or Impulse Responses. It is meant to be the very last piece of gear in your chain, however you hook it up.

What are its competitors in this category?

Mooer Radar, NUX Solid Studio, ENGL Cab Loader are its direct competitors. They all have some sort of power amp simulation with choice of virtual tubes combined with Impulse Responses loading. If your setup is going towards using an amp, any other Impulse Response loader will do the job as IR loading is concerned. It's the power amp sim really and then other features that sets the CAB M, Radar, Solid Studio and the ENGL apart from the other Impulse Response Loaders out there.

If you plan on using it with an complete a standard guitar amplifier you basically have two choices: getting your signal out of the speaker output into some type of load box and then into any IR loader really, or you get your signal out from the FX Send (provided your amp has an FX loop) and straight into something like the CAB M and turn On the Power Amp sim to get the best out of the preamp from your amp and let the CAB M do the rest. Doing it this way has its quirks though, as you will have to keep your speaker connected if you don't use a load box. But all in all, except if you already own a load box or plan on buying one in a near future, the CAB M and its main competitors are the best piece of gear to complement your setup.

So why the CAB M then?

There are a few reasons that sets the CAB M apart from its competitors.

• Speaker Pass Thru: You can actually connect the speaker output of your amp to the CAB M and then route the signal to your speaker cabinet. This allows to have a direct, IR -loaded, balanced signal to front of house when playing live and still be able to use your speaker cabinet. This feature alone makes the CAB M a stellar tool for live sound engineering.

• DynIR: While Two Notes' own take on Impulse Responses might not be absolute best out there, it's actually very useful to understand exactly how mic'ing of cabinet works. Using the Torpedo Remote software/app you get a GUI with dozens of features like advanced mic'ing of virtual cabinets, mixer and more. DynIR are priced fairly for their level of complexity and actual usefulness, many Virtual Cabinets are around $10 USD so you can try a couple for not much.

• DynIr AND IR: You know what would have been real bad? That Two Notes created a product that is only compatible with their own DynIR series products. They could have as DynIR are very good, but they didn't, and now you can choose between what you actually like the best. There are shortcomings to it which I will talk about later but all in all: it's supported and works flawlessly when loaded.

• Preamp: What? That's a feature that is often overlooked when talking about the CAB M. The virtual preamp allows you to use the CAB M as a pedal platform; place your favourite overdrive or distortion in front of it and that's it, you basically have a whole rig capable of producing serious tones just like that. It may not be the best preamp sim out there but this feature by itself makes the CAB M a true all-in-one solution post gain-stage.

• Bluetooth/USB/Software/App: CAB M has onboard Bluetooth! You can load the Torpedo Remote app from your phone, and control the CAB M from there. Very Eventide-y! All the features are there combined with a very pleasing looking GUI, and it's pretty responsive too with very little lag. Same features and similar GUI available on PC/Mac with Torpedo Remote software available on Two Notes website. But it's not like using the two onboard dial is hard either: once you've seen the app/software, you instantly understand how to use the clickable dials for fast setup. Very impressing tech from such unit.

• Supports IRs up to 200ms: Now that's a great touch, and while it does not tap the 500ms mark support, many engineers will say that past 200ms it's not speaker response anymore but only room sound.

But here are the cons, the shortcomings and limitations:

• While Impulse Responses are fully supported on the CAB M, you quickly understand how this piece of gear was designed to use with Two Notes DynIR. Read this: the SD card browser does not supports ANY level of folders. What does that mean? Well say you already own a good collection of Impulse Responses from Celestion, OwnHammer, York Audio, whatever. IRs are in separate folders depending on the mics used, their length and frequency. That's as much folders by cab collection you have. You load a perfectly managed IR .wav files library with corresponding folders onto a SD card, pop it onto the CAB M and then get a message saying the files you are trying to access are not visible. Yup that's heading exactly where you think it does: you have to load ONLY .wav files within the SD card's Home folder and that's it. No folder at all. You now realize all the hours you spent managing folders and directories are ruined to nothing and you now have to figure out how microphones are identified within your .wav file names and so are speakers.

• It does not have MIDI but the previous gen did: Torpedo CAB M is the follow up to the classic C.A.B. which was way larger, had weaker processing weaker and much more shortcomings. But one thing it did have was full MIDI support with in/out 5-pin full-sized DIN connections on the back. Two Notes stated that they basically "traded" MIDI support for Bluetooth on the CAB M. Bluetooth is very nice, allows easy setup, but really was it worth ditching MIDI for it? I mean there are only so much settings you can play with to find your favourite IR settings, once it's setup to your taste, how many times will you need to makes changes that require the GUI, while you could actually just change it using the unit's dials? With a resurgence of MIDI support with popular foot controller companies like MorningStar FX, Disaster Area and others, it would have been really nice to be able to change IR depending on the settings of digital amp processors one could use before the CAB M, like using a JC-120 emulation with a Jensen IR as Rhythm, and AC-30 emulation with Alnico Blue IR as lead and be able to switch between them? The CAB M does not allows that.

• It's mono: How I wish this thing was Stereo. I have a collection of stereo Source Audio pedals that would have very much liked to be used as they're intended to. It may sound like a far-stretched ask, and their higher-end offering the Torpedo Studio has Stereo in/out, but it's so small I wish they made it just a tad bigger and get 2x XLR outs. In fact if Two Notes or another company makes this I will instantly switch to it. There are many affordable, Stereo IR loaders and some even have MIDI support (like the Yerasov IRon Cab) but they unfortunately don't have power amp sim, which is crucial for a amp-less, pedals-only setup. So it's not like any other product is offering it in this format right now, even less in the CAB M price range.

• It's 12V: now this is something to think about if you are not the proud owner of a modern, multi-voltage, isolated outputs power supply like a Cioks or Voodoo Labs. You may need to use its own power supply and that can be cumbersome when planning a pedalboard built.

• All connections are on the sides, none on the top: They get a free pass for making such an incredible product but I really wish the next generation has all connections on top, even if it means making the thing wider. If my Source Audio pedals didn't had such a great quality/value factor I would ditch them all just to get something with connections on top, that's how much I had side connections.

That's about it, its shortcomings are not huge problems and I guess one could get 2x units, make it Stereo or with different IR on each one and switching between them, so the problem may be more finance-related than shortcomings. I really enjoy using this unit, it's one of the best thing I ever bought and paired with my KSR Ceres it's just a match made in heaven! You can find them used for cheap nowadays, so go get one ASAP, it's really THAT great!

Impressive little box

I'm going ampless in my LIVE rig and it can be done with the Cab M+, just amazing !!!