DSM & Humboldt Simplifier X Amp/Cab Simulator

For some time I have been looking for a tube-less solution for playing at home, sometimes loud, but also with headphones. I have tried several products from two notes and even an Ampero II, but I could not get along with them, with my rig they all sounded thin or super sterile or overly compressed.

I bought the Simplifier X out of curiosity without much expectations. I am using it through an audio interface and audio monitors. The tones that I am getting out of this little device are insane, but more importantly, the feel is great. It does clean, edge of breakup, and higher gain quite well, while keeping the picking dynamics.

Most of the youtube reviews that I have seen sound worse than the tones I get at home, I suspect they over use the power amp gain. Which probably means that you will need to spend some time learning how to use the controls. The most representative demos that I have seen are the ones by the actual designers of the pedal, some of them in Spanish.

Totally recommended, it is the first non-tube solution that keeps me away from playing my 5F2a clone. If you don't need the parallel setup, the mkII is probably all you need.

My only complain is that the spring and ether reverb modes are super wet, and they go from nothing to "almost too much" in a very little turn of the knob. Thankfully, the plate reverb has a lot more headroom.

Simplifier is not a simulation of valve amp, but its equivalent alternative! In a small format I have the ability to play through Fender, Vox and Marshall without any delay. The dynamics are the same as a valve amp.
Maybe sonically, on a recording, a digital solution with IR will be closer to the orginal, but the Simplifier feels completely different, it's the real thing, a quiet valve amp.
The controls behave the same as they do on the valve amp. For example, the resonance is just as dirty at the extremes as on a real valve amp. Unbelievable.
The sound possibilities expand immeasurably TS808 style Overdrive with buffer. On the real amp judges better the true bypass OD, here the buffered TS808 is very, very interesting.
(I use Behringer TO800 with replaced op amp by the right one, original JRC 4558D, because it is essential )
Playing guitar with the Simplifier X is highly addictive and I enjoy it much more and longer than with a real 15W quiet tube amp.
The Simplifier may be the best choice for quiet guitar practice in all of history.
Reverb is great, just what I need to hear.

I got this for multiple reasons.
1. I wanted to be able to leave my amp at home sometimes because it is heavy. My amp has an FX loop, and this replaces it without any issues.
2. I wanted to practice silently at home.. Simplifier has an aux input and headphone out so that makes it ideal for that purpose.
3. Multiple amps and sounds. It has 6 preamps, 6 poweramps 3 cabs and 3 mics, plus any combination in between. More than enough for any need. Perfect for gigs, practice, studio...
4. Backup for gigs if my amp dies.

The build quality is perfect, no issues here..
Don't be intimidated by many knobs, it behaves as a 2 channel amplifier and once you start playing with it, it becomes really simple. You can set it up in a matter of minutes and get a great tone.
Tones are pristine, clear, enough bass, the pots react to changes as one would expect, so the toneshaping possibilities are endless.
The main reason I fell in love with it is the way it responds to guitar volume pot and playing dynamics. It really is like a good tube amp, if you play hard, it overdrives, if you play light it cleans up, if you roll the volume down it cleans up, and in this aspect it is just perfect. Also, there is no latency or that weird feeling when you play other digital modellers, it really feels just like an amplifier.

The only "issue" I got (not issue, does not make a difference to me) - there is a slight buzz in headphones when nothing else is connected to it. It happens because there is no grounding, and it is mentiones in the manual. Does not happen when I connect other pedals or through a mix.

All in all, if you want to go ampless or need to practice silently or need something for the studio, just get this.. simple, effective, gets the job done, sounds fantastic, feels fantastic.

If you are here, just buy it.

I was searching for an amp substitute, that would allow me to play silently through headphones, connect to my pedalboard and would allow me to connect to a DAW and record. I considered several options, tried some and ended up pulling the trigger on this. It's kind mind-blowing how close to a real amp this feels like. It's not just the sounds, it's more about the dynamic response and the way it feels. It's kind of hard to explain, but try one and you will understand :)
There are a lot of possible connection options. I am running mine after a compressor, an archer and a fuzz/dist, with delay, modulation and reverb pedals in the stereo fx loop, coming out through the two xlr to the audio interface.