Grendel Sound Dead Room Isolation Cabinet

I am reviewing a 1x12 isolation cabinet from Grendel Sound with a Vintage 30 speaker. I chose this cabinet over other ones available because it accommodates not one but TWO mics. Also, the construction appeared to sound based on their website.

I purchased an iso cab primarily for reamping at night or when the kids are sleeping.

I have a wide variety of music that I will be using it for but primarily metal, high gain amps. Specifically, a Krankenstein, EVH 5150III, and a Randall T2.

I tested it with a Neumann U87 and AKG D112 simultaneously so that I could blend the midrange and top end of the U87 with the low end of the D112. I used a Little Labs IBP Phase Alignment Tool so that I could place the mics wherever I wanted and they would stay in phase regardless of mic placement or patterns.

The sound was nothing short of brilliant! To be honest, it's not the same as micing a Krank 4x12 cab as the sound is slightly less "open" (as can be expected from any isolation cab). But a bit of EQ fixes this. And the sound quality is superior to any amp modeling simulation anywhere-- the sound of real air moving is essential for this type of music.

I could hear the sound leaking a bit more than expected but when I opened the door I couldn't believe how loud it was. The sound absorption is incredible.

The construction is flawless. VERY sturdy. I would feel safe to take this on the road, even though I will be using it primarily in the studio.

I don't understand these negative reviews-- I wonder if they are all from the same disgruntled person? Alex was extremely helpful, he went above and beyond what any other company would do. I live a few hours from Grendel Sound and he let me pick up the cab which saved me a lot on shipping. He also helped me pick out the appropriate speaker for the type of music I'm recording. He added a speaker grill at no cost! Then, when I was having a problem with a ground loop while reamping, he helped me find the weak point in my gain staging so that my guitars are clean as a whistle even at high volume and tons of gain. Alex has developed the best product in its class and he stands behind it.

I am a gearhound and I have way too much equipment to list. Suffice to say, I have been collecting gear for my home studio since the mid-nineties.

I would definitely buy this again as it's already proven its worth in the few days that I've been recording with it.

I would kill for a 2x12 version of this cabinet!

This is a paid customer's response to Alex Knappenberger's posting.

I ordered a cabinet based mostly on Knappenberger's comments posted here. At best, this small business owner seemed sincere and worth giving a second chance. Unfortunately, that was a mistake. Knappenberger has failed to improve any sort of situation in regards to customer service. In fact, it may have gotten worse.

On June 11th I paid and ordered a Grendel Dead Room and I haven't heard from him since. Not even a acknowledgment that he received my numerous emails and phone calls. And its not like I'm hammering him with emails...I'm giving him days at a time to respond. Prior to that, he was more than helpful by returned my emails within minutes.....until he got my money. I was even re-assured by Knappenberger at the time of purchase that he had the product in stock and ready to go. This was not the case. I even sent him a few questions as a interested potential buyer (under a different name) and he right there with a fast response, when he thought I was someone else ready to give him money. So he is seeing his emails regularly.

His website has the same old song and dance about needing to get organized, but really its all talk. It would seem that he is more interested in posting inane videos of himself on youtube (check out user killersondz), rather than working on correcting his business practices, or lack there of. I strongly urge everyone reading this page to checkout Harmony Central's own forum as well as Gearslutz.com for a few different posts, concerning Knappenberger and Grendel Sound.

At the end of the day - and based on first hand experience trying to deal with this joker - I'm forced to conclude that Grendel Sound isn't an actual business. It's just a kid who is more concerned with goofing off with his friends, spending whatever little amount of money he makes off of the occasional sale of a cabinet, rather than investing and growing his business. Grendel Sound is beer money to Knappenberger and because of that, he will never treat it seriously and customers unfortunate enough to pay for a product will lose. I know of myself and at least three other customers currently in the middle of losing money to this fraud. Currently, I'm filing complaints with Canton Ohio's BBB, the FBI's internet fraud division, USPS mail fraud, as well as the Canadian counterparts. Do I expect to get results for myself? No. But I do hope it puts up enough flags to deter Knappenberger from ripping off anyone else.

As a interesting note: Grendel Sound's paypal account provides a overview of transaction histories. The amount of verified sales is 54. Not the "nearly 1000 cabinets" in his two years of operation. That, of course, leaves roughly 950 cases of unverified paypal user account purchases...which sets of warning bells because a 50:950 ratio would happen. In other words, the percentage of unverified (payment ultimately backed up by a credit card) customers making a purchase in excess of $400 is very suspect. As musicians, its no secret we're the living poor....if it wasn't for credit, we'd have no gear at all! So its hard to believe Knappenberger's "overwhelmed with orders" angle...it kinda makes one lean more towards the opinion stated above.

As of today, Knappenberger's paupal account if frozen, so writing all this might be moot. However I hope it serves as a warning to those thinking about buying anything from this individual in the future. Y'know....when he sets up a new paypal ID with a different bank account. It'll happen...trust him.

Alex Knappenberger here. In response to the comments regarding customer service I will say those are well justified and undisputable. I however feel the need to clearify the cause of all customer service issues here, which is simply production time and lack of stock on hand. For the last year and a half these cabinets have been backordered, maybe 20% of my customers have had their order shipped out in an acceptable time frame. This was originally due to the exceptionally low price of the product, which caused orders to pile in weeks ahead of what I was working on.

Every back order placed with me I have sent an e-mail basically saying "This is where I am at on the production, this is the shipping time frame, would you like a refund?" I have never once recieved a "yes, please send a refund" at this point. The problem has arised when the (respectively) overly-anxious customer starts shooting e-mails and phone calls to check the status of the order. No problem, I'm happy to assist you; however historically I have been overwhelmed with my work load and daily life that I just cannot respond in a timely manner before the customer feels like they are getting the shaft. This will end up in a Paypal dispute or trash talking on reviews and/or internet forums (respectively).

The good news is I have finally accomplished what I originally intended to do over a year and a half ago; to have a stock on hand ready to ship out in a timely manner. I apologize to my customers who have had to wait on backorder, I can understand how frustrating that would be, I love gear and I would get extremely anxious in that situation after spending money.

On the other hand, I want to thank you all for helping me accomplish what was merely a dream just 2 years ago. I learned all I could about what makes a quality speaker cabinet, wood working, joinery, everything; then I went and bought the equipment and got to experimenting. I now have more knowledge about speakers and enclosures then I believe anyone should as it might get dangerous one day.

Anyone that states they are not satisfied with the product has not asked for a refund as out of the nearly 1,000 cabinets sold thus far, I have only had three returns. So if you are not satisfied with the metal tone of the cabinet I have no gripes about you sending it back. I will however recommend to try a different speaker, microphones (MD421, RE20, Audix i5, SM57), placement, and very importantly, reverb; ideally convolution reverb. This cabinet is more picky then a 4x12 loaded with the same speakers but when I use it to track bands live in my studio, I do not have that hard of a time getting it to sound as big as any cabinet out there.

Please pay close attention to the proximity effect as this cabinet is already designed to be rather heavy on the bottom end and the proximity effect of most dynamic and condenser microphones can boost the midbass to extreme levels. I recommend turning down the bass on your amp and if you do not have a microphone such as the MD421 (with prox. effect roll off) or the RE20, you will definitely need to EQ out below 400hz or so to get rid of the midbass boost.

Thank you.

Isolation cabinet with a 12" speaker (any brand will work provided your amp can handle it). Two mic jacks and two speaker cab jacks. Optional speaker grille that covers the speaker so you can close mic it at close range. Two handles built into the top for carrying/lifting. Side door opens for access to speaker area (lined with foam) and short semi- adjustable mic stands. Rubber feet on the bottom.

The foam lining on the inside does not reach to all corners. You can see the bare wood there and may affect the tone (see next category). The mic stands, while bendable, are relatively short and do not allow much range of motion or positioning. They are also permenantly mounted to the inside of the box.

Tone is obviously very subjective, so here is what I am using for this review:

Amp: Mesa Boogie Roadster 100 watt head
Speaker in Dead Room: Celestion G12K100 12" speaker (provided by Grendel Sound)
Guitars: Schecter XXX and C1 models with Seymour Duncans and/or DiMarzio

Normally, I play the Mesa Roadster through a Mesa Boogie 2 x 12" 3/4 open back cabinet, so I am trying to replicate that sound as best as possible through this iso cab.

Mics I have tried: Shure SM57, Sennheiser e609, Behringer B1 & B2 condenser mics

The clean sounds are very nice. Pretty much any mic that I tried sounded good in just about any position. Guitar pickups sound good in all 3 positions.

On the other hand, getting a good metal tone has been extremely difficult. Metal sounds were very bassy sounding and resonated somewhat off of the floor (even on a carpet).

I am not really a fan of putting a mic directly on the speaker grille amd prefer to back them away a little bit. Since the limited space inside the cab and the mic stand do not allow for this too well, the SM57 did not work for me. The e609, though flat in physical design, sounded too brittle no matter where I positioned it (even with lowering the tone with the mic's own switch).

I got the best sound with the Behringer B1, but due to the size of the mic clip's threads, I could not use the with the provided mic stands. So, I had to lay the cabinet on its side and lay the mic on some pieces of Auralex foam. While this allowed me to back the mic away, it resulted in a hollow "boxy" sound, which really sucked. So, I turned the cab completely upside down, put two layers of Auralex foam on the bottom, and put the B1 on those and pointed it up at the speaker. For now, this is the best metal sound that I have been able to get, but it is by no means perfect.

All in all, this has been about a week's worth of positioning mics, turning the cab, adding/removing foam inside the box, and trying every conceivable amp setting/wattage option/rectifier selection possible. In fact, as of this writing, I have a Celestion C-90 on order (same speaker model that is in my Mesa cab) and will swap it out with the Celestion that is in the iso box. I only hope that improves the tone.

It seems solidly built and is quite heavy (60+ lbs with a speaker in it). I weigh much more than that and can sit on it while playing with no problem.

The door that accesses the speaker area fits tightly closed and has two locks on them to keep it from opening. Closing the door makes a huge impact on the volume reduction. There are basically no major electronic or moving parts so I don't see it breaking anytime soon.

Here now folks is what should be the ultimate determining factor for you in deciding if you want to get one of these...

Initial e-mails (sent early-mid Feb 2009) on tech questions, etc. were answered very quickly and things seemed to be going fine. I was even told that there were about 2-3 in stock. Oddly enough, just after I placed the order (a few days later), I was told those were sold and it would be another 2-3 weeks for a new one to be built. Also, I was promised a couple of free mic cables as compensation for the wait. I said that would be fine, and to just keep me updated on the build progress.

Communication/response time slowly trailed off over a period of a couple weeks (despite my repeated e-mails requesting updates) and replies soon became non-existent. At one point I was given a UPS tracking number, but there was no activity on it for almost 3 weeks (see below).

Finally, I had to call the owner (which went straight to voice mail), asking him to call me (which he did not do) but I got an e-mail back about 15 mins later saying that the cab was built and he was waiting on the speaker. Funny how that works.

I asked him to expedite the speaker, got no response, and I basically got fed up with waiting. I told him to cancel my order but I got no replies. Finally, I called the credit card company and basically disupted the charges (which itself took 3 tries). Amazingly, as I was talking to the credit card company and putting the dispute through on the 3rd try, I checked the UPS tracking number one last time and lo and behold the cab shipped.

So all in all, I ordered it in mid-February and did not receive it until April 6th. When I finally got it, the box it was packed in was pretty thin, and it was padded with spare US postal boxes that were flattened. There appeared to be no physical damage but I really think it should have been better protected.

Oh, and I never got the free mic cables...

I bought this model because the reviews on the Axetrak said they were boxy sounding, there was no choice in mic placement, and there is basically not much else out there in terms of iso cabs.

Would I buy this again? No way. It has taken me way too much time to not only get the damn thing, but also to try and get a good metal tone out of it. I've spent more time tweaking than recording so far and the whole endeavor has been a complete waste of time. I hope the speaker I have on order helps out the tone. Otherwise, I will have to try different options or might even E-bay it as a last resort. Needless to say, I wouldn't bother to even try to return it and get a refund.

When the customer has to track their order to the level of it becoming a second job (I do this kind of work for a living - no one can BS me about what makes for good customer service), it will make the customer remember the experience every single time they use (or even look at) the product.

I realize that Grendel Sound is basically a one-man operation, but seriously Alex -- get your girlfriend or someone else to check your goddamn e-mails and reply for you. No matter how well built your product is, it will eventually cost you more sales if you keep getting feedback like this.

Keep that in mind when processing your next order.

Of the several isolation cabinets I've tried in the past, this is the first one that has hookups for not one but two microphones inside at the same time. It also seems to have strong, sturdy, parts that I'd guess would last for some time, and I haven't had anything break so far but on the other hand I don't play football with or abuse any of my gear. The actual, real speaker inside is just that - a real speaker and not anything that imitates one. Grendel Sound offers a number of different speakers that you can order pre-installed, I got mine with a Celestion Vintage 30, and from what I've heard it is an easy do-it-yourself operation to change later. BTW, this seems to be made totally in the USA.

This thing sounds great - At first I thought the AxeTrack was good, but when I hooked this up I was blown away - For an isolation cabinet, this is about as real as you can get. I didn't need to EQ the heck out of it like with the AxeTrack, and it also doesn't sound too boxy like both the AxeTrack and the Randall that I've tried. ...And yes, it is called a "Dead Room" for a reason, so that when mixing you can easily add your own reverb, chorus, etc. how you like it. So far I've plugged two solid state and one tube amp into it and they all sound better than my past isolation cabinets and my Ultra-G DI. I'd say that if your setup - amp head, pickups, guitar, FX, etc. - sounds good out of a standard guitar amp cabinet then you should be able to get a good sound out of the Dead Room.

I haven't had this product for a long time, but as I've said it seems durable and I don't expect to have any problems with it in the future, but as I've also said I'm careful with my gear and I don't abuse any of it.

I've only needed to contact Alex (the owner) about order status while waiting for it to arrive at my apartment, once I got it I haven't had any further need to do so. When I first ordered I sent an email because the PayPal site gave me errors (PayPal's fault, not Grendel Sound's) and Alex sent a reply that the order did indeed process OK. I had to wait a while before he could ship one out to me and didn't get too many other replies about order status afterward, but since placing the order I did a little more research on the Grendel Sound and have to say that I can't blame Alex - His company is very tiny as it hasn't been around a long time, and it seems he easily gets overwhelmed by too many orders at once for Dead Rooms, as so many people seem to want one. For the record I'll say that when he did have the time to reply back he was friendly and polite, and does indeed seem like someone who will follow through and make sure the customer gets what he or she wants.

Overall, this is a great product, it does what it is supposed to do and it does it well, perfect for high-rise apartment-renters like myself who want to record a real guitar sound in a DAW without breaking rental agreements, local sound and noise laws, etc. from complaining neighbors. I'm glad I got this iso-cab, I don't think I'll ever trade it away like some of the other one's I've tried, this one's a keeper.

The Dead Room is a well constructed cabinet with solid fit and finish. The lid fits solidly, tightly. I appreciate the dual in and out connections and mic placement flexibility. The size is great, too -- fits in small spaces, and is easy to move. I like the smooth rolling wheels. We currently use three of these Iso cabs for live sound. We have amps on the platform, but the speaker outputs on the amps are run to jacks in the floor pockets on the stage. That runs our connections back to the Iso cabs, which are in small room off stage. It let's us change bands quickly and let's guitarists crank their amps to get that output tube warmth, while keeping the sound completely controllable for our engineers.

We use a british lead in the cabs, based on Alex's recommendation, and we're very happy with both the cabinet and the speaker choice. I can get the same sound of micing an amp to the FOH, but without the issues of a loud amp. It's very natural to the amp and speaker choice. There's no boxiness or standing waves in the Dead Room (an issue I've heard from other cabinets). I highly recommend using this Iso cab for live venues who want sound quality at controllable volumes, and for recording studios.

It's a well built cabinet with heavy duty hardware and good connections/connectors. Not much to go wrong, and nothing has in almost a year of constant use.

Took a while to get after placing the order (it was an advance order), but they kept me updated. We're so used to everything NOW, and I think we're more than a little spoiled by that. During the order-to-shipment time, Alex was helpful in determining which speakers to use, and open about status. Ultimately, it was worth the wait.

Since then, I haven't had a reason to contact. I seriously doubt I'll be dealing with a repair issue on this cab.

I'm about to buy a fourth Dead Room for our recording studio. I'm the sound department head for a christian venue that runs worship teams 24/7, overseeing multiple sound systems and also central in design/setup/running systems for larger conferences. I lead worship here as well, usually from acoustic or electric guitar. Also a tube-amp builder in my spare time (we use my custom amps on stage with the Dead Rooms). Been a guitarist for 15 years. I've worked in studio and live sound, and this is the best isolation cabinet I've heard.

I used one of these for a session and I was amazed at how well it sounded thus I went off to buy one myself.

The one I used had a British 80 in it sounded very smooth and responsive.

It was very top heavy and looked like it could be a problem with the hardware over prolonged use but the hinges were heavy duty.

This is where this review comes into focus. I contacted Alex At Grendel Sound via email since they have no phone number. My email was not answered for four days. I thought to myself is this guy really running a web based business? I reciprocated the email which after an additional three days was not returned. Finally I emailed him on his ebay account which still took two days to respond. When I was ready to buy the cabinet I couldn't get this guy to respond period. I sent email after email on both ebay and his company email from his website with absolutely no response for days. I finally bought an axetrak which he persuasively talked me out of because it has a 6.5 inch speaker. He said they sound horribly tinny and were "useless" which is not true they sound just like his do.

This Alex guy is a real piece of work he responded finally with a very nasty email, I was absolutely blown away by its content. I felt like I was dealing with a prepubescent teen or someone who has a serious drug problem who's maturity and professionally is completely lacking. I would steer away from this company from the sheer perspective of its incredibly poor almost nonexistent customer service and unprofessional behavior. Other iso cabinets are available on the market, do yourself a favor buy elsewhere.

As a business owner Alex is a complete zero! I wanted to buy his product diligently, I had been looking for months at iso cabinets until I used one. I tried for several weeks but couldn't complete the transaction with this company, it was unbelievable after trying so hard. Something is really wrong with this person.

Speaker Isolation Cabinet. I got mine with a british lead 80 watt speaker made from Warehousespeakers. I wanted this for use in home recording and live use to keep stage volume down and crank the hell out of an amp. comes with two goosenecks to mic the speaker, 2 mic cables for the inside. speaker jacks.

Cuts the volume a lot. You can still hear it a bit but jeez for putting my amp anywhere from 6 to 10 will damn near shake the walls so you have to expect to be able to hear something. With my amp cranked like that I wouldnt see how a naughbor could hear it through a wall unless it was touching the wall maybe I don't know. It works awesome. I tried what the video tried which is recording with it open and with it closed. Very very very tiny difference and not in a bad way. Sounds great.

only had about a week so we'll see. Im guessing a 10 here but after a good year or road use then I'll have a better rating for this part.

Tend to have to wait a little bit to get one but there are busy and that is understandable. Alex answered my questions before I ordered it.

very very kick ***.

This is a brand new 2008 Grendel iso cab from March`s production run. I ordered the "Dead Room" empty and supplied my own Celestion Greenback 8ohm speaker. The "Dead Room" comes covered in a very nice black "carpet" covering (very sexy!). Others have stated the features of this isolation cab (wheels, soundproofing, etc...), so, I am just going to mention a couple of minor complaints/concerns. Though this is a well thought out isolation box, I did have a problem with getting the Greenback into the cab. The supplied goosenecks had to be bent and then I had to angle the speaker just right to get it in. It was a very tight fit and could have scratched the paper cone on the gooseneck if not careful. Would like to have a handle on the lid for easier lifting; you either have to lift it by grabbing both sides with your hands or by the front latch. Neither method seems that reliable to me. But, honestly, this is one of those things that once you get your mics setup you probably dont have to worry about it again. Just close the lid, lock it, forget about it.

Being an apartment dweller leaves one with little choice when it comes to cranking their amp up to 10. Digital modelers/software never did it for me, they always sounded sterile. Analog Speaker sims do a decent job but still dont quit "nail it". I have turned to iso cabs in the past but have hated what they have done to my recorded sound. Great ideas but bad execution. So, I was skeptical when I heard about the Grendel but thought that I would check it out anyways. I am glad that I did! The Grendel does not color my tone in any way. It is nice to find a product that does what a company claims it does.

This is a well built cab. I wouldnt expect any problems at all. My only complaint here is that there were some wood flakes and chips on the inside of the empty chamber; nothing was broken, just junk from when the cab was built that didnt get cleaned out. I just cleaned that out myself; no big deal.

Though there was a shipment delay due to some production issues, Alex communicated about those setbacks to me via email. His response time was pretty good.

Other than a couple of minor complaints, this thing is awesome! It is an isolation room that does not affect your tone. I would certainly buy this again if something happend to it.

It's an isolation cabinet! It does a great job at what it supposed to do. It provides two mic mounts and two connectors. I'm very impressed with this cab. If I would have known before what I know now, I would have bought one as soon as my studio was done. If you are recording, you gotta have one.

I'm getting fantastic sounds on my recordings. The cab completed my setup. Using a THD Bivalve into the isolation cab, then into a preamp, then a compressor, then an Aurial exciter, then a TC electronis M350 for my modulation effects if I want them , then into the computer( M Audio sound card). Perfect setup. Crystal clear tube tone. You don't need any pedals. Just crank the amp.
I bought mine with the British Lead speaker installed. With everything, the total was 398.00 delivered.

I just got it but it is built sturdy and looks good too.

Alex is very prompt and effecient.

If your looking for an isolation cab, stop researching and buy it. The price is right and you'll be happy. Sell a couple pedals and you'll have the money.