SSS report with sounds and pics

[12afael]

I mount part of the SSS , just the 10k pot and the diode array and I did some test to it.
I put a 1000Hz sine wave and with audiotester I take the frequency responce and the wave form.
Here is with the sat at max.



here at with the sat at the min.


then I put a triangular wave to see the knee of the saturation at max. very smooth!


well this is about the sound so sufficient pictures, now the clip.
I use a engl clone preamp - sss - marshall spk sim - soundcard.
I´m a heavy metal fan but as I know not all people have metal Prof ears I record something more soft
you can hear the difference on a distorted and compressed sound with the sat control .

at the begin you can hear a stereo record on left the saturation is at max and on right the sat is at min.
you can use the pan of your player to hear the difference.
on sec 15 you can hear it with the sat on what I think sound good , then on sec 23 with the sat at min again.
you should hear a vol difference due the compression(saturation) .

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=50F7239B175A72CC

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=BC99561773BDC936 (is the same wave)


still I´m not sure if I like it or not , so , what do you think?

[george]

WHAT is a SSS?? 

[RLBJR65]

STMs' Speaker Saturation Simulator.
http://aronnelson.com/gallery/STMs-Circuit-Ideas/Speaker_Saturation_Simulator
Here is an untested layout.
http://aronnelson.com/gallery/Richard-Boop-RLBJR65/SSS

[bancika]

Interesting, I'll probably build this with my next speaker sim.
You should make one clip with dry signal on one channel and SSS on other and it should have some clean sounds (Sultans of Switng, maybe )
Thanks for report.

[markm]

Sounds kinda like a Hi-Gain/Fuzz circuit to me.
Can it get some milder breakup?

[bancika]

Doesn't hi-gain/fuzz part come from engl preamp?

[markm]

 
I'm not sure.
I was thinking that it came from the SSS.

[bancika]

It shouldn't do that, only "mild overdrive" on MAX saturation settings.
Compare left and right channel, there isn't much difference in gain

[markm]

That's kinda what I thought.
So I guess it is the preamp?
I'd like to hear the SSS on it own.

[12afael]

the dry signal is very close to the sss with the sat at min.

here at the forum you can find some samples of a clean guitar with the SSS.

the distortion sound come from the ENGL preamp using just 3 stages of 12ax7.

Compare left and right channel, there isn't much difference in gain

it is a pasive circuit so I think you can´t call it gain. but you´re right there is not a big change on saturation it is very subtle , it compress a little as you can see if you open the wave on a audio software.
the change should be subtle because the speaker just come in saturation at high volume.

[stm]

It is not so easy to make a fair comparison because the first part is stereo and the last two sections are in mono and there is a small level difference.

From what I hear I think the two riffs at the beginning (stereo) sound great.  The central part (where you say it is the optimum setting according to what you say) sounds better than the very last part, IMHO.

I never thought in trying the SSS with already distorted signals, although it makes sense if you think deeper about the physics of the devices involved in the last part of the amp chain:  the output transformer and the guitar speaker.  One os f the distortion pheneomena these devices certainly have is soft clipping due to saturation of the magnetic materials at high power levels.

Also, there have been some russian speaker emulators that use N-channel and P-channel JFETs as buffers/amps that do introduce some nonlinear response in a similar fashion as the SSS.  Based on the audio samples sounded quite good an convincing.

Originally I tried the SSS on clean guitar signals as a means to add some mild overdrive and a touch of harmonics.  The results were interesting and pleasant. This circuit can deliver a very mild overdrive and at the same time the signal brightens up a little due to the extra harmonics, and has some feeling of compression as well, which I guess it might make a great bass overdrive.

This circuit just EMULATES a FRACTION of the behaviour associated to an output transformer and speaker. It is good and useful in my personal opinion, but it is not the Holy Grail per se.

[markm]

Maybe a design similar to or, along the lines of the SSS would be a great addition to the Runoffgroove menu
Would love to see something like that from you guys as all of your projects are cool!

[12afael]

for me a good distorted sound come from the saturation of all stages preamp , power amp , transformer , speaker , mic ,(tape).

the sss help on some parts , not all,  but is a good addition to a speaker emulator .

amt have a stompbox with the best speaker emulation that I`ve heard.
http://www.amtelectronics.com/eng/filerec_files/california.html

[markm]

I built a SSS today and with just guitar only on the input,
There's very little break-up if any at all.
Maybe slightly on the very top.
I bet if one were to remove a few of the diodes, it would improve the break-up some.

[12afael]

I bet if one were to remove a few of the diodes, it would improve the break-up some

you can do that, but it will change the saturation curve. just understand that this is not a distortion box

[markm]

I bet if one were to remove a few of the diodes, it would improve the break-up some

you can do that, but it will change the saturation curve. just understand that this is not a distortion box

Yes I see what you're saying.
Lately I've been exploring various avenues and circuits for a "better"
slight break-up overdrive.
Don't get me wrong, I really love the sound of my OD250 clone but,
I'm looking for some other alternatives.