interface likes a cooler signal), and you’ ve got the two unsung heroes of any session: Ground Lift to kill a buzz and Phase to flip polarity when a doubled part suddenly sits right. Plus, the voicing switches that actually change the feel.
A lot of DI boxes give you a“ cab sim” that’ s really just an EQ curve. The PurePath’ s analog sim is voiced around three simple, choices that interact like mic position, cabinet, and speaker do in a room:
• Mic: Edge / Center— Center is more present and forward, great for lead lines that need to cut. Edge pulls back a little high-mid bite so rhythm parts sit in a mix without getting spiky.
• Cab: Open / Closed— Open feels looser in the lows with a little air around the notes; Closed tightens the bottom and focuses the image. Think combo versus 4 × 12 behavior without the backache.
• Speaker: Ceramic / Alnico— Ceramic is punchier and a touch quicker on the transient; Alnico is softer on the attack with a syrupy upper-mid bloom. It’ s not just a treble knob— it changes how the“ speaker” seems to break up. doesn’ t change every time someone bumps a mic stand, and you still get the on-stage interaction that makes you play better. Load Select: External Cabinet makes that a one-flick decision.
Fly date: Backline cabs are a lottery and that’ s scary. Bring the PurePath, match the head’ s impedance, go Silent if the cab is terrible( or External Cabinet if it’ s decent), and hand the engineer a balanced line that sounds like a mic’ d cab. Your tone stops being held hostage by whatever 4 × 12 is lurking under the stage. small enough for a gig bag( 178 × 190 × 102 mm) but dense( 2.72 kg) so it doesn’ t skate across a desk when you plug in a stiff speaker cable.
• Impedance options cover the oddballs( 2 / 4 / 8 / 16 Ω), which matters if you live with vintage heads.
• Can be used with or without an external cab— Silent for recording / practice, External Cabinet for live monitoring while still sending the DI.
• Level 0 / – 20 dB keeps your interface happy without needing a pad in the DAW.
Between those three toggles you get eight different colors, and they’ re spaced so you actually use them. I found myself reaching for Edge / Closed / Ceramic * for tight rhythm guitars, * Edge / Open / Alnico for clean-tomean edge-of-breakup parts.
IN THE ROOM, AT THE GIG, IN THE DAW …
Bedroom / session scenario: Head set to the sweet spot, PurePath in Silent, XLR straight into the interface. No latency from an IR loader, no cab in the room. The amp still feels right under your fingers because it’ s working into a load that behaves like a speaker.
Concert / Church gig: Run the head into the PurePath, out to your 2 × 12 at the stage volume you like, XLR to front-of-house. The sound person gets a consistent feed that
WHAT IT’ S LIKE TO PLAY?
I ran the PurePath with three amps: a Bad Cat Hot Cat that loves to bloom, a Bad Cat Mod Shop Black Cat 30 that barks when you push it, and a Dr Z Max 38 that I always love to push. In every case, the amp felt like itself. With the Hot Cat head right at that edge where the power section starts to compress, rolling back to 7 on the guitar cleaned up without getting thin; digging in made the low end clamp down a beat after the attack— exactly what you expect when a real cab pushes back. Resistive loads tend to make that transition feel binary. Here it feels like a slope.
WHAT MAKES IT GIG-PROOF?
• Made in Korea, chassis-mounted jacks, pots and toggles with a positive feel. It’ s
WHO’ S IT FOR?
If you love the way your amp feels when the power section is working— and you’ d like to have that feeling at any volume— the PurePath is the shortest line between idea and result. It respects your amp, it respects your hands, and it gives you just enough control to shape the tone without turning you into a systems administrator. It’ s the kind of tool you toss in the bag and then wonder how you played without it.
Bad Cat didn’ t set out to replace your favorite cabinet. They set out to make sure your amp still thinks that cabinet is there— even when it isn’ t. Mission accomplished.
$ 449 BadCatAmps. com
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