The brainchild of Manuel Jano Acevedo of Humboldt Electronics and Daniel Schwartz of DSM Noisemaker, the DSM Humboldt Simplifier X is the newest member of the very successful family of Simplifier amp and cab simulators, and also the most beastly, as it appears obvious from the borderline insane number of controls.
There is no need to reiterate the praise for how this fully analog device sounds, since its original version and MkII update received glowing reviews from a variety of sources. This X version is a dual/stereo version of the original, with a bunch of add-ons.
Imagine having two whole amps on your pedalboard, but in one neat little box! That’s basically the Simplifier DLX. It’s a stereo preamp and cab sim that lets you set up two totally independent sounds. You can go classic clean and dirty tones, or get wild and create crazy wet/dry effects.
Each channel has three classic amp tones (voiced after Vox, Marshall or Fender amps) to choose from. Plus, a witch lets you crank up the distortion or keep things smooth. There’s also built-in cab simulation (with options for Combo, Twin or Stack), reverb, and even a power amp emulator – all adjustable for each channel.
The FX loop is stereo, allowing you to make the most of creative pedals like delays and reverbs. It even has a headphone jack for silent practice and an aux in for playing along with backing tracks.
The balanced XLR outputs let you send your sound straight to the mixing desk, a special setting for creating wide stereo effects from your mono signal, and an FX loop to send stereo effects to two separate amps.
Here’s the full list of features:
- Pedalboard-sized analog preamplifier with onboard power amp sim and cab sim
- Gives you 2 full independent stereo channels
- Great for rhythm-lead duties or creating elaborate wet/dry direct sends
- Totally analog signal path — no latency, no aliasing
- Perfect for fly dates, commutes, and Sunday mornings — no amp or cab required
- An ideal pack-in pedal platform
- A key ingredient in creating a silent stage
- Stereo balanced XLR outputs allow you to send a signal straight to a soundboard or stereo FRFR setup
- Powerful 135mW headphone amp lets you monitor directly from your pedalboard
- Auxiliary input for live monitoring jam tracks and MultiTracks
- 3 onboard analog amp voicings (AC Brit, American, MS Brit) per channel — each with unique gain and midrange characteristics
- 3-way Mode switch helps you slather on the saturation or dial up the dynamics in a hurry
- Analog power amp sim section 3 tube types (6L6, EL34, KT88) and Resonance/Presence controls captures the stiffness, compression, and saturation of your favorite tube amps
- Stereo analog cab sim with 3 assignable cab emulations (Combo, Twin, Stack) and directivity controls per side
- Stereo amp pass-through lets you monitor FX pedals through stage amps
- Spread switch converts mono signals to pseudo-stereo for inspiring faux double-tracked effects
- 2-button footswitch included
And here are the videos!
