I don’t have one, but here’s an online review I came across:
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@ColdRoomStudio Well, the review don’t let room for dreams.
Anyway, if I can test one for free, I’ll try and records some clips for people to compare.
I recently bought a Koch twintone amp that has a direct output built in. I’ll have this as another comparison. (by the way this koch amp sounds awesome to my ears)
Cheers!
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I’ve heard good things about them!
But in the genre of amp-names-that-sound-like-willies, no one can trump the “Wangs” amp I had.
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I’ll if I can get this one too.
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Hi there,
@ColdRoomStudio, @holster, @Cirrus, @Greg_L… So I tested the cab clone…I didn’t spend much time on it but here are some clip I’ve made.
So you juge!
I’ve recorded the same riff with distortion and with a clean sound. I used the Mesa CabClone, my Koch amp direct out, SM57, RODE NT2.
The Amp is a Koch twintone with a Marshall 1960 Vintage cab.
Can you guess which is which?
Clip 1:
Clip 2:
Clip 3:
Clip 4:
Clip 5:
Clip 6:
Clip 7:
Clip 8:
PS: I didn’t spend much time on mic placement…so this could be a clue…
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Will have a listen when I can… Currently manning a stall at a music festival.
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Hmmm…no file names… Ok …
Line 1. Left - Cab, Right - Cab Tone
Line 2. as above
Line 3. as above
Line 4. Left - Cab Tone, Right - Cab
Completely wrong, no doubt 
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@ColdRoomStudio normally the files are named clip 1 to 8…but I don’t know why the names aren’t shown…anything special to do when you import a audio clip?
Ok, I edit my post and wrote down the clips’ numbers. Hope it helps
Just to make it clear, there are 4 different sound captured:
Real Sm57
Real Rode NT2
Koch amp direct out (speaker emulated)
Cab clone (closed back emulation)
One time for distorted sound and one time for clean…so 8 clips
I bought one the day they came out and found it a good way to run my Dual Rec in our electronic (headphone) mix rehearsals but could never get a great sound of out if. Tended to find it made my signal sound too hot and couldn’t get my sound right. I probably should have spent a bit more time looking into what I may have been doing wrong but ended up flipping it in the end. However I recently upgraded my amp to the Mesa JP-2C which have the cab clone built in and I have to say from my limited use of it so far, the sound is awesome. I’ve heard mixed reviews using the headphones out, I use the XLR balanced out to an interface/desk and find this to be where its at.
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Based on the quick experiment I’ve made, it’s not bad at all…certainly usable
OK so as @ColdRoomStudio is the only one who played the which is which game…here are the answers:
Clip1: Koch direct out (emulated speaker)
Clip2: Mesa CabClone
Clip3: SM57
Clip4: Rode Nt2
Clip5: SM57
Clip6: Rode NT2
Clip7: Koch direct out (emulated speaker)
Clip8: Mesa CabClone
Cheers!
I dont what the vote is but I liked 6,7 best. Clean.
For crunch probably 1,2.
there were some room tones that sounded like bleed-over room mics, too much room, mics not close enough. getting that boxy sound…imo.
Didnt sound like anything I couldnt do with a plug-sim amp though which made me feel good about my setup compared to a Mesa Boogie Tube Head amp…
nice bit of work! love the shootouts! great job!
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Oh yes, there is a lot of room tone on clip 3 and 4…real mics on a real amp…and a real room 
What I hear is that for.distoreted sound the CabClone will be faster to mix…for clean sound, I’m not that sure. Same with the Koch amp direct output.
I hear no significant gain bewteen the DI from my amp or the CabClone…
Well…I don’t know
How did you get the SM57 and NT2 to sound that horrible? Did you wrap them in a blanket or something?
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Ah ah ah, well I just throw them close to the cab…one on each side…nothing else… But I think my talent has done the rest 
I gave it a second thought after @ocnor comment…For the price of a sm57 and a nt2, you can get the mesa CabClone.
You can get descent to good result (I’m pretty sure one can) without any mic placement issue or room treatment issue.
I can see it as a good thing for most of home recordist.
According to my poor experience, I can imagine the Mesa CabClone beeing more helpful on distorted sound.
Ok, then you’ll face some problems when recording some combo amp.
I’m sure I can get descent sounds out of the mics too with some precautions and with some room sound deadening…
Last question, is the Mesa CabClone better than an amp Sim? Well I don’t think it is. It’s just a good way of not, or less, frustrate a guitarist that has spent 2000$ in a amp head.
I’m also pretty sure that there are better option than the Mesa CabClone…the Koch loadbox seems to be one.
Cheers!
I listened quickly and just decided clips 2 and 6 were what I would pick as the best takes. The CabClone definitely sounded better to me then the Koch direct out, it seemed more naturally compressed and better with the overtones. Funny that I thought the real mic was better on the clean sound. Most of the clips would be usable in any event.
Thing is, thinking purely from a recording standpoint, for less than the cost of a Cabclone, you could get an attenuator that functions as a load, record your amp direct, and use any of thousands of good impulse responses (Celestion just released official responses for 1x12, 2x12 and 4x12 cabs for every guitar speaker they make) to get a far, far better sound - and a much wider range of tones. And the attenuator can also be used as… an attenuator, which solves the problem of hitting the sweet spot live.
That’s my thinking, anyway. With the Cabclone, you’re just stuck with the three tones on the switch.
I’ve not had a chance to listen to the clips you made @Kakeux , but I’m not sure why you’d want to compare the cabclone against haphazardly positioned mics?
@StylesBitchley I found too that the miced clean sound are better when it’s the opposite for distorition.
@Cirrus well the purpose was to test quickly a tool that I borrowed for a short time…Anyway, I can see the benefit of having such a tool in the home recording business…faster and maybe cheaper than a mic and a treated room.
I’m definitely looking for the attenuator feature but with some easy recording features too. Koch loadbox can offer it…I’ll check it soon.
At first I also wanted to test direct output with recabinet plugin…none of the CabClone or my Koch amp offers DI without cabinet simulation…
Cheers!
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