ROCKBOARD MOD 5 Cab SIM + DI Patchbay Instruction Manual

: June 6, 2024
: ROCKBOARD

Table of Contents

Introduction
Precautions
Main Features
Mounting
Setup & Operation
Cab Models
IR Loader Software
Firmware Update
Specifications
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ROCKBOARD MOD 5 Cab SIM + DI Patchbay Instruction Manual

Thank you for purchasing a RockBoard® MOD 5 – the new portal to your setup!

Introduction

The RockBoard® MOD 5 Cab SIM + DI Patchbay offers customizable, IR-based stereo speaker cabinet simulation, an active DI box, as well as a simple solution to organize all the connections to and from your effects setup. Whether you are using a RockBoard® or any other brand pedalboard – the MOD 5 will open completely new possibilities. The speaker cab simulation & DI let’s you go direct, providing YOUR sound, whatever backline is being provided at the venue you’re playing. You want to use your favorite cab? No problem, load an impulse response of its sound into the MOD 5 and you have it with you, wherever you go. The patch bay part is designed to route connections from underneath your pedalboard to its front, in order to give you a central access point to your setup and tidy up your connections. For silent and on the road practicing, the MOD 5 also provides a headphone amplifier with adjustable output volume.

Precautions

Power Supply

Please connect the designated AC adapter to an AC outlet of the correct voltage. Please be sure to use only an AC adapter which supplies 9V DC (-) center power. Unplug the AC power adapter when not in use or during electrical storms.

Connections

Always turn off the power to the device as well as all other equipment before connecting or disconnecting. This will help to prevent malfunction and damage to any of the devices used. Interference with other electrical devices Radios and televisions placed nearby may experience reception interference. Operate this unit at a suitable distance from radios and televisions.

Cleaning

Clean only with a soft, dry cloth.

Handling

Do not apply excessive force to the switches or controls. Do not let paper, metal, dirt or other objects come into the device or its connections. Take care not to drop the device and do not subject it to shock or excessive pressure. To avoid deformation, discoloration, or other serious damage, do not expose this unit to any of the following conditions:

Direct sunlight
Strong magnetic fields
Excessively dusty or dirty environments
Strong vibration or shock
Heat sources
Extreme temperature or humidity
High humidity or moisture

FCC certification

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

This device may not cause harmful interference.
This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

Main Features

IR based speaker cabinet simulations
6 integrated IRs based on popular guitar and bass cabinets
Support of custom IRs (max. 1024 pts.)
Active DI Box
Selectable MONO/STEREO input
Selectable UN/BALANCED output
Connects to PC/MAC editor via USB
Integrated Headphone amplifier

Front

**Back

**

Mounting

For mounting your new MOD 5 onto a RockBoard® pedalboard, there are multiple options. You can either mount it in its MOD slot (available on all RockBoard® pedalboards except DUO 2.0 and 2.1) or detach the MOD’s front plate and mount it on top or underneath your pedal board.

Mounting on a RockBoard® Pedalboard

Please follow the below steps to mount your MOD 5 in the MOD slot of your RockBoard® Pedalboard.

STEP 1
Remove the rubber frame of your RockBoard®’s MOD slot.
STEP 2
Turn the RockBoards® pedalboard upside down.
STEP 3
The MOD mounting screws are self-tapping, they will cut their own threads into the pre-drilled mounting holes in the RockBoard®’s front. Use a TX10 screwdriver to screw the mounting screws in and cut the threads. Should you do not possess a TX10 screwdriver, a wrench is included with the MOD. For the first couple of rotations the screws will be hard-going, as they have to cut the threads into the surrounding material. Please be careful not to screw them in at an angle.
STEP 4
Once the tips of the screws are sticking out on the other side of the holes and the screws become easier to turn, the threads have been cut properly. Now remove the screws again.
STEP 5
Next, load your chosen MOD from the front into the slot and screw in the mounting screws until the MOD’s front plate sits flush with the face of the board.
STEP 6
For added security, you screw on the counter nut on the back. Now the MOD is ready to be connected with your setup!

Detaching the MOD 5’s front plate

For mounting the MOD 5 All-in-One Patch bays on top or underneath your pedalboard, you will have to detach the Front plate, so it will fit flush onto/under the board surface.

Remove the screws as indicated below to release the front plate from your MOD 5 using a PH2 Phillips head screw driver. The mounting nuts of the jack sockets do not have to be removed!

Mounting on a non-RockBoard® pedalboard

There are multiple ways of mounting your MOD on a non-RockBoard® pedalboard. You can either mount it directly to the board surface using hook & loop tape or another re-closable fastener.

Additionally RockBoard® offers the MOD Rack for mounting your MOD in various ways onto, into or underneath pedalboards of other manufacturers. For mounting your MOD using the RockBoard® MOD Rack, please refer to the MOD RACK manual.

Please follow the below steps to mount your MOD in the MOD slot of your non RockBoard® pedalboard.

STEP 1
Release the MOD’s front plate by removing the screws indicated above.
STEP 2
Apply self-adhesive hook tape or another re-closable fastener to the underside of the MOD housing.
STEP 3
Apply self-adhesive loop tape or another re-closable fastener to the position of on or underneath your pedalboard where you want to place your MOD 5.
STEP 4
Bring the two sides of hook & loop tape or your other re-closable together attach your MOD. Now the MOD is ready to be connected with your setup

Setup & Operation

Setup example

Thru-Connections

The RockBoard® MOD 5 Cab SIM + DI Patchbay is designed to act as central access point to your effects setup.
The A, B and C TRS sockets are wiring through connections from the front of MOD 5 to the corresponding sockets on its back. This allows you to setup your effects rig so that you only have to connect cables to and from the front of the board, instead of having to fiddle around underneath it when setting it up for a gig. All three through connections can be used in either direction and for control as well as mono or stereo audio signals. There are many different setup possibilities for the A, B and C sockets. Please find an example using the 4 cable setup under the section sample setup. However, many other ways of using the A, B and C sockets are possible, depending on your effects rig. Feel free to experiment, in accordance with the specifications and intended use of other equipment you use the MOD 5 with.

DI & Cab SIM

The MOD 5’s cabined emulation and DI output will offer you realistic recreations of the sound of different speaker models via the use of impulse responses (IRs) directly into the mixing board or recording interface:

Connect your instrument or last effects pedal in your signal chain to the IR / DI IN socket on the back of MOD 5.
Using the MONO/STEREO switch, select whether the input signal should be processed as mono or stereo.
If set to mono, any signal that will be input on the ring channel of the IR / DI IN socket, will be routed to ground and not processed by the cabinet simulation and not put be put out though the XLR output.
For stereo signals, both channels will be processed individually by the cabinet simulation.
Connect the XLR OUT to your audio interface, FOH mixing board or other suitable PA equipment. Please make sure to deactivate Phantom Power on the channel the MOD 5 is connected! MOD 5 will not work via phantom power.
Using the BAL/UN switch select whether you want to put out a balanced or unbalanced XLR signal. For mono signals we suggest a balanced signal (BAL). If you input a stereo signal you can use UN will output an unbalanced stereo signal (Tip on pin 2 of XLR, Ring on pin 3 of XLR). When switching to BAL the input signal will be converted to mono and put out as a balanced mono signal through the XLR OUT.
Should you encounter ground loop hum or buzz, flip the GND LIFT switch in the up position. This will interrupt ground loops and prevent current running through the cable shield between the MOD 5 and the output device.
For silent practicing or headphone monitoring connect your headphone to the 3.5 mm / 1/8″ jack output in the front of MOD 5. Please note: the output of the Phones output will always be stereo. If inputting a mono signal, the same signal will be audible on the left and right channel. When inputting a stereo signal, tip will be left and ring will be right.
The headphone volume can be controlled by the Volume knob on the front of the device. Counterclockwise the volume diminishes, turning the knob clockwise will increase the headphone volume. Note: do not use the Phones output to connect to other audio equipment than headphones. This could lead to damage of the connected device.
The IR selector lets you select the desired cabinet simulation IR slot from 1 to 6. The seventh position turns of the cabinet simulation off, putting out a dry signal through the XLR and Phones Out.

Cab Models

The RockBoard® MOD 5 comes equipped with 6 stock IRs that cover a wide range of popular speaker types. They are based on the following existing cabinet models:

Default IR Slot

| IR (impulse response)|

based on …

---|---|---

1

| AC30.S 2×12| Vox AC30 Jmi 212 Silver Bell
2| 59Baceman 4×10|

Fender ’59 Bassman Tweed 4×10

3

| 1960AG 4×12| Marshall 1960A Green Back 4×12
4| UK.Citrus 4×12|

Orange PPC 412

5

| Rect.S 4×12| Mesa Boogie Rectifier Standard 4×12
6| B.SVT 8×10|

AMPEG SVT 810E

Please Note: All manufacturer names, trademarks and brand names mentioned above are property of their owners and not affiliated with RockBoard®. They serve the purpose of identification only.

IR Loader Software

The RockBoard® MOD 5 IR Loader is available at www.rockboard.net for MAC and PC.
IR Loader Software

It offers you a simple and quick user interface for uploading custom IRs to your MOD 5. Download the software and follow the steps of the installation. Once installed connect your MOD5 to the PC or MAC using the included Micro USB cable. For uploading your custom 3rd party IR simply select an IR slot and click IR Loader Software and select the IR you want in the file browser window that opens. Click OK to upload and the IR in the selected slot will be replaced with your custom IR.

Please note: IRs have to be .wav format with a max. length of 1024 pts.

To delete custom IRs and restore the factory default IRs simply click IR
Loader Software .

Firmware Update

On our website www.rockboard.net, we always provide the most recent version of the MOD5 IR Loader. The IR Loader package also includes a firmware package that makes the MOD5 compatible with the IR Loader software.

The IR Loader software automatically checks for compatibility of the MOD5. If your MOD5’s Firmware is too old, you can. Should your IR Loader software be outdated and not work with the firmware version of the MOD5, you will be informed that you have to download and install a newer version. Updating the firmware will have no, effect on the custom IRs you have uploaded to your MOD5. Should you wish to update the firmware version while working with the IR Loader, simply click on the IR Loader Software button. Then confirm that you really want to update to the current firmware version and the firmware will be installed on your MOD5. This can take a couple of minutes.

Specifications

Thru: 3 x 6.3 mm / 1/4″ TRS audio jack
Input: 6.3 mm / 1/4″ TRS audio jack (Impedance: 100 kΩ)
Outputs:
XLR female (impedance):
- 1/4″ mono audio jack (Impedance: 470 kΩ)
- 1/8″ stereo audio jack (Impedance: 10 Ω)
Sampling rate: 44.1kHz
Sampling accuracy: 24bit
Signal to noise ratio: 100dB
Frequency Range: 20Hz ~ 20kHz
Power requirements: 9V DC
Current Draw: 300 mA
Dimensions:
175 x 85 x 47 mm / 6 57/64″ x 3 11/32″ x 1 27/32″ (with front plate)
160 x 85 x 33 mm / 6 19/64″ x 3 11/32″ x 1 19/64″ (without front plate)
Weight: 470 g / 1.04 lbs.
Accessories: Owner’s manual, USB connection cable, mounting screws, nuts & wrench