Two Notes Audio User Group

[MrDinsdale]

First off, I'm a big fan of the Opus and bought it pretty much as soon as it came out. It hasn't left my board since then. Second, though, is my current question. I usually lean towards dirty, overdriven tones. The Opus definitely has those in spades. I've struggled with getting a good clean tone though. I'm talking something really clean...like you'd hear from a lot of the jazzier players. Has anyone found good settings in the Opus to get this sort of tone?

FWIW my main bass is an Ibanez BTB865SC with a Lusithand Double NFP preamp.

You could always just bypass the preamp and just have the power amp and cab. Sounds great!

I've had it a couple of hours so take any advice with a pinch of salt

 

[lucas303]

You could always just bypass the preamp and just have the power amp and cab. Sounds great!

I've had it a couple of hours so take any advice with a pinch of salt

Sure, but I'm trying to get ideas from anyone who may have already found a configuration in Opus that gets close to what I'm looking for.

 

[Ross Davies]

First off, I'm a big fan of the Opus and bought it pretty much as soon as it came out. It hasn't left my board since then. Second, though, is my current question. I usually lean towards dirty, overdriven tones. The Opus definitely has those in spades. I've struggled with getting a good clean tone though. I'm talking something really clean...like you'd hear from a lot of the jazzier players. Has anyone found good settings in the Opus to get this sort of tone?

FWIW my main bass is an Ibanez BTB865SC with a Lusithand Double NFP preamp.

Ross from Two notes here! Great to hear you are enjoying OPUS. Are you running the latest firmware? If so, there is a TSM model in there called Foundry Bass which is super clean! I usually combine this with a 6L6 poweramp config with very low volume and depth settings for a nice clean! Let me know if this helps!

 

[lucas303]

Ross from Two notes here! Great to hear you are enjoying OPUS. Are you running the latest firmware? If so, there is a TSM model in there called Foundry Bass which is super clean! I usually combine this with a 6L6 poweramp config with very low volume and depth settings for a nice clean! Let me know if this helps!

I'll give that a try, thanks. What mic(s) and cab are you using with it?

 

[Ross Davies]

I'll give that a try, thanks. What mic(s) and cab are you using with it?

Well, here is the thing... when I am looking for an uber clean, I dont tend to use a cab sim at all - just some subtle EQ using the Custom Mode EQ! If I am dialling in a bit more grit, then a cab is 100% necessary!

 

[meisi]

What if you want cab sim enabled for clean?

It’s not like you can’t do that with an amp, so curious about the opus in this regard.

 

[lucas303]

What if you want cab sim enabled for clean?

It's not like you can't do that with an amp, so curious about the opus in this regard.

I'm curious about this too!

 

[Ross Davies]

What if you want cab sim enabled for clean?

It's not like you can't do that with an amp, so curious about the opus in this regard.

Well you can certainly enable one for sure - my advise though is a 1x12 or a 1x15, mic'ed with a single dynamic mic, just off centre and close to the grille. I find larger cabs have too much harmonic content for my cleans which I prefer defined. In terms of real amps, I always opted for a parallel rig where I would send a shaped DI pre the amp to FOH and simply use my amp for monitoring - again, I found in the context of my tone, this was a much better solution. I dont play live that much any more, however if I did, I would definitely use an OPUS (and ReVolt), bypasses cab sim to FOH. For Guitar it is a very different story!

 

[meisi]

Well you can certainly enable one for sure - my advise though is a 1x12 or a 1x15, mic'ed with a single dynamic mic, just off centre and close to the grille. I find larger cabs have too much harmonic content for my cleans which I prefer defined. In terms of real amps, I always opted for a parallel rig where I would send a shaped DI pre the amp to FOH and simply use my amp for monitoring - again, I found in the context of my tone, this was a much better solution. I dont play live that much any more, however if I did, I would definitely use an OPUS (and ReVolt), bypasses cab sim to FOH. For Guitar it is a very different story!

Respectfully, I'm trying to interpret your response in a succinct understanding -

Your recommendation seems to be to disable cab sim for bass, always?

If you want a clean 8x10 fridge sound in your recording/headphones, you're suggesting to accomplish this how…?

 

[Ross Davies]

Respectfully, I'm trying to interpret your response in a succinct understanding -

Your recommendation seems to be to disable cab sim for bass, always?

If you want a clean 8x10 fridge sound in your recording/headphones, you're suggesting to accomplish this how…?

Thanks for getting back to me. Not at all - I was simply outlining my personal preference for a clean tone. If you want an 8x10 Fridge sound, then you will most definitely need a DynIR emulation - however this will impart some harmonic content that may counter the clean you want to achieve! The key is testing for sure as ever rig and need is different.

For recording by the way - head into the cog menu and select the line out to feed a signal pre the cab sim; then record both the XLR and Line outs (essentially a wet and a dry) - this gives you the option to add another cab sim that may work better in the context of the mix at a later stage! This has saved me countless times in the past!

 

[meisi]

Thanks for getting back to me. Not at all - I was simply outlining my personal preference for a clean tone. If you want an 8x10 Fridge sound, then you will most definitely need a DynIR emulation - however this will impart some harmonic content that may counter the clean you want to achieve! The key is testing for sure as ever rig and need is different.

For recording by the way - head into the cog menu and select the line out to feed a signal pre the cab sim; then record both the XLR and Line outs (essentially a wet and a dry) - this gives you the option to add another cab sim that may work better in the context of the mix at a later stage! This has saved me countless times in the past!

Totally understand that, and desire to record wet and dry for latter plugin magic.

For sake of my question I’m considering the opus as an all in one solution, so maybe it’s not the best avenue if I’m looking for clean cab emulations without extra devices in the signal.

I’m relatively new to the IR world but as an uninitiated learning about harmonic content issues with cleans I’m not convinced this would be the right solution for me.

 

[Ross Davies]

Totally understand that, and desire to record wet and dry for latter plugin magic.

For sake of my question I'm considering the opus as an all in one solution, so maybe it's not the best avenue if I'm looking for clean cab emulations without extra devices in the signal.

I'm relatively new to the IR world but as an uninitiated learning about harmonic content issues with cleans I'm not convinced this would be the right solution for me.

Thanks for getting back to me.

The OPUS can certainly function in terms of what you need I believe, it's more about understanding what kind of clean you want - maybe our clean needs are quite far apart. If you have some examples, I'd be more than happy to take a listen and let you know what's possible!

With any IR or cab sim, they essentially provide a complex filter to your sound output and with this additional exaggerated harmonic content - some players love this (I know I do for more gritty tones), however in the context of a pure clean, you may find a cab sim isn't needed - for me personally, the core of a clean lies in the preamp, adding a touch of warmth and body to the tone - as noted before, if I need something extra, a cab sim using a 1x12 or 1x15 cab is my go-to.

 

[lucas303]

Ross from Two notes here! Great to hear you are enjoying OPUS. Are you running the latest firmware? If so, there is a TSM model in there called Foundry Bass which is super clean! I usually combine this with a 6L6 poweramp config with very low volume and depth settings for a nice clean! Let me know if this helps!

Apparently I'm behind with my firmware updates! Is 5.45 the latest Opus firmware version? I did the Torpedo Remote update and now the setup screen says my fw version is 5.45.

 

[meisi]

Thanks for getting back to me.

The OPUS can certainly function in terms of what you need I believe, it's more about understanding what kind of clean you want - maybe our clean needs are quite far apart. If you have some examples, I'd be more than happy to take a listen and let you know what's possible!

With any IR or cab sim, they essentially provide a complex filter to your sound output and with this additional exaggerated harmonic content - some players love this (I know I do for more gritty tones), however in the context of a pure clean, you may find a cab sim isn't needed - for me personally, the core of a clean lies in the preamp, adding a touch of warmth and body to the tone - as noted before, if I need something extra, a cab sim using a 1x12 or 1x15 cab is my go-to.

Thanks. Makes sense and by all means I agree there are shades of gray when discussing “clean” and everyone has their preference.

approx what frequencies are the harmonic content added? Are we talking around 1khz or well above, say 3khz?

 

[Ross Davies]

Apparently I'm behind with my firmware updates! Is 5.45 the latest Opus firmware version? I did the Torpedo Remote update and now the setup screen says my fw version is 5.45.

Thanks for getting back to me. What Preamps can you see in the TSM-Preamp Section in Remote out of interest? That is the latest firmware we have released!

 

[Ross Davies]

Thanks. Makes sense and by all means I agree there are shades of gray when discussing "clean" and everyone has their preference.

approx what frequencies are the harmonic content added? Are we talking around 1khz or well above, say 3khz?

Ha! Indeed, preferences are always the key that's for sure.

In truth it depends on the cabinet emulation, however it is across the board in most instances - it is nearly like a subtle non-regimented comb filter. Note that this is exactly what a real-world cabinet will do to the tone as well! For example, if I switch between my 1x15 and 1x12 real world cabs, the sound output is distinctly different harmonically.

I have a suggestion! Why dont you try the trial of GENOME on our site - we have the same TSM Amps from OPUS built into this as well as our DynIR Engine so you could actually give this a go? You can access the trial by heading here: GENOME - Out Now

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[meisi]

Ha! Indeed, preferences are always the key that's for sure.

In truth it depends on the cabinet emulation, however it is across the board in most instances - it is nearly like a subtle non-regimented comb filter. Note that this is exactly what a real-world cabinet will do to the tone as well! For example, if I switch between my 1x15 and 1x12 real world cabs, the sound output is distinctly different harmonically.

I have a suggestion! Why dont you try the trial of GENOME on our site - we have the same TSM Amps from OPUS built into this as well as our DynIR Engine so you could actually give this a go? You can access the trial by heading here: GENOME - Out Now

Let me know if you have any questions!

Very cool, so effectively if I run my bass into my interface into genome (trial) it will be the same processing as if it were done solely on the opus, just my Mac playing the role for compute?

Pretty cool if so. I will have to do some fiddling and check it out. Great avenue for you guys to get more hands on demos up and going, as well!

 

[lucas303]

Thanks for getting back to me. What Preamps can you see in the TSM-Preamp Section in Remote out of interest? That is the latest firmware we have released!

Sorry for being unclear. I meant that after updating I saw it as version 5.45.

While I had it hooked up to update I took some of the other cabs for a spin and decided to purchase the Subway 1x15. So far I'm making good progress on a clean tone with the Foundry preamp and the Subway 1x15. I might leave the power amp stage turned off for this preset though...but I need to keep experimenting. Thanks for your help and input.

 

[John D Harris]

First off, I'm a big fan of the Opus and bought it pretty much as soon as it came out. It hasn't left my board since then. Second, though, is my current question. I usually lean towards dirty, overdriven tones. The Opus definitely has those in spades. I've struggled with getting a good clean tone though. I'm talking something really clean...like you'd hear from a lot of the jazzier players. Has anyone found good settings in the Opus to get this sort of tone?

FWIW my main bass is an Ibanez BTB865SC with a Lusithand Double NFP preamp.

Give this a try:

Opus Preset - Aviator with no power amp and Standard Powerhouse 1000 cab.

It might at least get you in the neighborhood of where you want to be, but the cab has to be purchased off Two Notes website.

I'd suggest you start off with either your bass in passive mode or with the onboard EQ flat.

Keep in mind I'm using a Cort B5 Element in passive and it has Ernie Ball Cobalt Flatwounds that are about 7 months old.
I'm just using the Opus with a pair of decent headphones.

Below is a straight Fridge preset.

Opus Preset - no pre, no power amp, Fridge with minimal EQ.

If you need one like the first one, but with an included cab, let me know what cab and I'll see what I can cook up for you.

 

[meisi]

@Ross Davies I feel like a dunce asking, but I cannot seem to get genome trial to work on my Mac. Audio interface works fine with other software such as garage band, but when connected to Genome, I get no input audio. Test output button works just fine through the interface output.

Any ideas?