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Reactive Load Boxes


Bad Mac

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I've been doing some research in this department. My requirements are attenuation, dummy load, silent recording and headphone out. My Super Reverb wants to see a 2 ohm load and my Champ is 4ish.  My other amps have impedance switches.That throws a monkey wrench into the works.

I would have pulled the trigger on one of these but they never returned my email http://www.aracom-amps.com/products/prx150-dag It would have solved some impedance problems but I would have needed to use an interface or use a headphone amp for silent late night playing. It would have been stellar for gigs.

The Captor X has a great feature set but the attenuation is limited to -20 db and -38 db. The impedance is fixed but otherwise seems great at that price point. This wouldn't be ideal for gigs.

The Suhr Reactive Load IR looks interesting but I don't think it works as an attenuator. I need to research this more.

The UA OX looks awesome and has selectable impedance it's at a different price point. The Two Notes Torpedo Live and Boss Waza would be worth a look at this price point.

The Fryette Power Load IR ( no attenuator) and Power Station ( no headphone out ) shouldn't be overlooked.

All of these units get good to great reviews and there are lots of videos and sound samples out there.

It seems like there is a lot of give and take feature and price wise. So far I’ve ordered a Weber Z-Matcher https://tedweber.com/z-matcher/  and I’m leaning towards the Captor X.  The Two Notes Wall of Sound plug and app look interesting. The only thing I would be sacrificing is attenuation for gig use.

Let us know what you decide.

Rocky

 

 

 

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I've owned all of them.

Suhr has the best Reactive-Load... but the IRs are limited to 1024-Samples (short).

 

Captor X allows you to run a pair of simultaneous Cab IRs.  The Reactive-Load isn't as nice as the Suhr... but the IRs can be up to four times the length (plus you can run two simultaneously).

 

OX Reactive-Load isn't as good as the Suhr.  Cab models aren't IRs... they're slightly more dynamic models. 

UA Plate Reverb, Dynamics, and EQ are familiar to those who've used UAD/Apollo.

 

You really can't make a bad decision from any of the three.

IME, None is totally heads and shoulders above the others.

You can get good/great sounds out of any of the three.

 

I still have an OX and Captor X

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Have also had the Boss TAE.

You can tweak the TAE's Reactive-Load (bottom and top) for the specific amp.  The only one that allows this.

Again, you can achieve good/great sounds.

I didn't care for the onboard SS power-amp.

 

Can't go wrong too far wrong with any of the above.

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9 hours ago, Bad Mac said:

Two Notes Captor X, Suhr Reactive Load IR or Universal Audio OX?

Tried 'em all. Compared them to my Palmers (PDI-03 and -09).
Sorry to all, but I was not impressed. Sent them all back.
My greatest fear with the OX, terrible integration with Windows (and if IIRC about 128 samples late with the optical cable)
IF it stays on the market there will no doubt be a "mkII"; of course, maybe not, what do I know...

One of the very, very rare times I have disagreed with Jim....

t

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In all fairness Aracom did get back to me:

Thank you for your interest in the ARACOM power attenuators. 

You might be aware of the PRX150-DAG's unique Impedance matching feature:

* Impedance Matching Technology (Patent Pending)
  Independent input and output impedance selector switches:
  - from the amplifier and into the attenuator, select from: 2, 4, 8, 16 ohm
  - from the attenuator and to the speaker cabinet(s), select from: 2, 4, 8, 16 ohm
    Uniquely allows 16 possible Input and Output (Amplifier to Speaker Cabinet)
    impedance combinations

Your Champ can run into the PRX150-DAG Input set at 4 ohm. You can set the PRX150-DAG's Output Impedance set to whatever the impedance of the speaker or impedance of the cabinet.

A headphone can be used with the PRX150-DAG, with the use of an inexpensive Hi to Low Impedance converter (cord).   This would plug into the PRX150-DAG Line Output jack, which has a  Volume Control knob.  The PRX150-DAG can be used as a Load Box, for silent recording or headphone only use.  You would need to read the instructions in the Owner's Manual for the Load Box instructions.

 We are shipping the PRX150-DAG on a weekly basis, but there is a wait list.  The lead time is approximately 3-6 weeks if you were to join the wait list now.
The current price of the PRX150-DAG is $875 + shipping.

* If you are interested in getting on the PRX150-DAG wait list, please provide me with your full name, shipping address and phone number.    

*  No deposit required to get on the wait list.   I just ask that you be sincere about purchasing the product when your name comes up on the list.

Rocky

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14 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

One of the very, very rare times I have disagreed with Jim....

 

No worries!  This is your area of expertise.   😉

The OX (or any of these units using digital processing) will have some amount of latency.

  • Suhr Reactive-Load IR:  ~1.2ms
  • Captor-X:  ~1.2-4.8ms (varies depending on length of IRs)
  • Boss Waza TAE:  ~2ms
  • OX:  ~2ms (similar technology to their "Unison" plugins for Apollo)

Is it the sound/feel that you find inferior to the Palmer boxes?

 

I'd like to see Suhr's reactive-load... along with Celestion's "SpeakerMix Pro" (dynamic Cab IRs)... in a hardware box.

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14 hours ago, bluzdog said:

Is the -20/ -38 db attenuator of much use?

Significant attenuation noticeably affects the sound.  Of those mentioned above, the Suhr doesn't have attenuation abilities beyond ~3dB

I was strictly interested in going cab-free (noise-free recording)... so attenuation wasn't a factor.

 

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2 hours ago, Jim Roseberry said:

Is it the sound/feel that you find inferior to the Palmer boxes

I just didn't feel like like it was "worth" it, just not head and shoulders better. The Palmer's work.
I will say the OX was probably the most intriguing, BUT that clunky iPad interface; no thanks.
I do believe that it has to connect to the PC, simple as that, and I didn't want to be "stuck" with
a mkI when the "New! Better than sliced bread" mkII comes along...

t

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17 hours ago, Jim Roseberry said:

Suhr has the best Reactive-Load

Interesting! In what way is this device better than competing products, such as Two Notes Captor? Can you elaborate? FWIW, I don't care for IR loading capability and only interested in high quality DI signal.

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23 minutes ago, Soundwise said:

Interesting! In what way is this device better than competing products, such as Two Notes Captor? Can you elaborate? FWIW, I don't care for IR loading capability and only interested in high quality DI signal.

John Suhr would explain it much better than I.

The simple explanation is that the impedance curve of the Suhr Reactive-Load is nearly identical to a 4x12 with Greenback speakers.  To my knowledge, there's no other reactive-load that's more accurate (in that regard).

The OX impedance curve is (IIRC) based on a 2x12 and not as accurate (an approximate curve).

Not sure what the Two Notes Captor-X reactive-load is based on (speaker wise), but it's also more of an approximate curve.

 

Two Notes IR loading/capabilities are far more advanced than the Suhr Reactive Load IR.

The Suhr is limited to running a single 1024-sample Cab IR.

Two Notes allows running/mixing two Cab IRs... each up to 4096-samples.

Cab IR loading is pretty spartan in the Boss Waza TAE.

 

1024-sample Cab IRs capture about 22-25ms (depending on the sample-rate).

Longer Cab IRs capture a little more low-end.

 

 

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47 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

I just didn't feel like like it was "worth" it, just not head and shoulders better. The Palmer's work.
I will say the OX was probably the most intriguing, BUT that clunky iPad interface; no thanks.
I do believe that it has to connect to the PC, simple as that, and I didn't want to be "stuck" with
a mkI when the "New! Better than sliced bread" mkII comes along...

I was just curious to hear your take on the OX.

I'm certainly not a fan of UA Developers' Apple bias.

UA hasn't really done much (firmware wise) to expand the OX.

It got a few new Cabs (including v30 speakers)... and the ability to use with Solid-State amps.

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I have nothing to compare it to, but i have a Rivera rock crusher. Super fun toy but i don't take it out. I wish I'd gotten it ten years earlier. 

I enjoyed looking at all these other options.

I don't need cab Sims... I could do those in the box if i wanted to.

I never use more attenuation than minus 20dB. I don't like being able to hear the guitar strings over the amp. When i get that low, i use headphones.

I really never go direct to the daw without micing. I need the practice with the Mic... Finding good placement. 

The richness of a cranked up tube amp can't be beat. 

Edited by Gswitz
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On 3/10/2021 at 11:58 AM, Soundwise said:

only interested in high quality DI signal

@SoundwiseI missed that your sole interest is in the dry guitar input.
Without a doubt the Little Labs Redeye 3D Phantom is the very best DI I have used ($290 at Sweetwater).
That being said, IS IT "head and shoulders" above what you are already using?
Also, this is the 2nd generation of the "Redeye" (it is now a "mature" platform, but some had to "buy twice" IYKWIM).
The only downside is that it is not available in a "500" model (when it is I will surely be one of the first in line).
I don't own more DI's than guitars (I'm ashamed to say), but I got a bunch (too many, of both).
If I was simply interested in using only Amp Sims, I could get by with the instrument input on the UFX interface.
I have a Radial X-Amp for re-amping the signal and the Redeye does that as well.

HTH,

t

what are you currently using?

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22 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

what are you currently using?

I'm happy with a custom order tube preamp (Trakhmann TubeColour). I don't record guitar or bass without it, because it makes guitar sound so much better regardless of AI preamps. And for reamping I send DI (recorded with the TubeColour) via DBX DI-box to outboard gear (tube amps, preamps, pedals, floor multi-fx). If any of my tube amp is used, I normally connect its output to the AMT PE-15 and send line level signal back straight to my AI, or mic cabs, or both.

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2 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

what the Trakhmann is actually doing

Well, it's a no frills tube preamp with just 2:1 amplification ratio, no tone or gain control. It matches the impedance and adds no distortion. Normally, you can hardly tell if there is any difference with it being on or off. But, the difference becomes very audible when you compare guitar signal recorded via AI's HiZ preamp vs TubeColour through line-in or even the same HiZ input.

Simply put, it's a vacuum tube based active DI-box.

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