What connection options are there for the BluBOX?
There are various ways of integrating the BluBOX into your setup. It can be looped between the guitar amplifier and the guitar speaker, it can be used in conjunction with a load box for silent recording, and you can even connect preamps or pedals directly to the LINE IN of the BluBOX if you don't have an amplifier.
The BluBOX is particularly convenient for AMP1 users because it can be used when connected to the loudspeaker output of the AMP1 without having to connect a loudspeaker or load box.
The connection options of the BluBOX at a glance:
NO MIC - The BluBOX between power amplifier and guitar cabinet
For excellent recording sounds without complex miking, the BluBOX is looped between the SPEAKER OUT of the amp and the speaker (cabinet). In this way, the microphone, the microphone stand and all negative side effects such as crosstalk and footstep noises, disappear. What remains is a constant sound. The BluBOX is simply connected to a mixer like a microphone with a microphone cable. As with a "real" microphone, the transformer integrated in the BluBOX prevents potential hum. Of course, you can also use the signal from the BluBOX in combination with the microphone-based guitar speaker.
NO CONE - The BluBOX between power amplifier and load box
If you can't - or don't want to - use a guitar cab and still uncompromisingly enjoy your beloved tube amplifier with full power, you can use the BluBOX with the tube amp and connect a load box instead of a guitar cab. The load box is silent, converts the power of the power amplifier into heat and prevents the tube amplifier from being damaged.
NO AMP - The LINE IN on the BluBOX
Although the BluBOX was designed for use with guitar amplifiers, it delivers fantastic sounds straight into the console even when pedals or preamplifiers are connected directly. Simply connect the last pedal on your pedalboard or the line out of your preamp to the LINE INPUT of the BluBOX and do without a guitar amplifier at all. It couldn't be more compact!
BluBOX and AMP1 - no load needed!
What is special for AMP1 users is that they can connect the BluBOX to the loudspeaker output of the AMP1 and use this combination without a loudspeaker or load box. The AMP1's unique, innovative power amplifier is ideally suited to delivering all sounds - even fully turned up to saturation - without a connected loudspeaker box or load box. The cabinet sound then comes from the BluBOX.
A comparison of all connection options
Further helpful tips for connecting the BluBOX:
Can the BluBOX change the sound of my guitar cabinet?
Since we are confronted with this misunderstanding quite often, the answer comes here in big and bold letters:
The BluBOX cannot change the sound of the guitar speaker cabinet connected to the THRU!
The speaker simulation of the BluBOX is available at the BALANCED MIC OUT and the LINE OUT. From there it can be connected to a full-range (!) active speaker (e.g. a monitor, etc.), to a mixer, DAW or headphones. Both connections can be assigned and used at the same time. The BluBOX virtually replaces the microphone-mounted guitar box.
The emulated signal is not intended to be passed on to a guitar cabinet! That would not work at all, because so that the speaker simulations of the BluBOX can be reproduced as true to the original as possible, the emulated signal must be processed and outputted neutrally. Therefore, the recommended connection is to a sound-neutral full-range speaker, mixer or interface, etc.
A guitar cab, on the other hand, has its own sound character, which colors the incoming signal extremely and almost "falsifies" it in a way - the BluBOX captures precisely these characters of different guitar cabs. Sending the emulated signal from the BluBOX to a guitar cabinet therefore makes no sense, because it would be like placing a microphone in front of a guitar cabinet and then connecting the microphone to another guitar cabinet.
The unprocessed signal that arrives at the SPEAKER LEVEL IN is present at the THRU of the BluBOX. So this is the connection that is used to route the SPEAKER OUT signal from the amplifier to a guitar cabinet, unprocessed.
In other words: the BluBOX is intended to simulate one of 16 different loudspeaker cabs and then connect them to the mixer. This saves you having to mic the guitar cab, or you can even play without a cab - not to mention the advantage that you not only have one (your own) cabinet, but 16 different cabs to choose from. If you want to connect your own guitar cabinet anyway, it goes to the THRU, where the unprocessed input signal is available.
Which cables are used to connect the BluBOX?
To connect the BluBOX to the AMP1, both instrument cables and speaker cables can be used, depending on the configuration. Here you can find out which cables you should use for which application:
No loudspeaker or load box in the game: patch cables allowed
The AMP1 has the enormous advantage that it can be operated without a payload, i.e. without a loudspeaker or load box, despite the tube in the power amplifier. The best sound results are obtained by connecting the SPEAKER OUT of the AMP1 to the SPEAKER LEVEL IN of the BluBOX. If no loudspeaker is connected to the THRU of the BluBOX in this scenario, the AMP1 and the BluBOX can be connected with a normal instrument cable/patch cable.
Loudspeaker or load box being used: speaker cable
However, if a loudspeaker or a load box is connected to the THRU of the BluBOX, speaker cables should be used for both cable runs (i.e. from the AMP1 to the BluBOX and from the BluBOX to the loudspeaker), because in this case power flows - and in case of doubt up to 100 watts of it!
Of course, this also applies to connecting the BluBOX to other amplifiers, especially to tube amps, where a loudspeaker box or a load box must be connected to the THRU of the BluBOX. Here, too, please only use speaker cables for all cable runs.
Can the LINE IN and the SPEAKER LEVEL IN of the BluBOX be used at the same time?
LINE IN and SPEAKER LEVEL IN on the BluBOX VSC can be assigned a plug at the same time, but as soon as the LINE IN is assigned, the SPEAKR LEVEL IN is switched off.