Friedman IR-Load

[JiveTurkey]

Love you guys!

 

[paisleywookiee]

Love you guys!

I love most. There's about three of you I can't fucking stand.

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

What? You want a forum where folks only commented about products they loved? I get being annoyed when someone brings five year old baggage to the table every time a certain company blinks, but surely there’s room for an annoying twat to be annoying for a couple of pages early in a thread about a new product?

You can comment what you want, but when someone invents a wheel and you wish it was a wheel chock most people are not going to read complaining about not being something it's not and think it was worth reading.

 

[paisleywookiee]

From the video, $1499

Fan cooled, hope it's super silent. Dislike fan noise.

I wish it were cheaper, but it is what it is. I think the TAE is around there too, as is the Reload II.

EDIT

Oh wow, the Reload's only $1099. No IR output though. So close to perfect.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Can it work with Mesas, unlike the TAE?

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Love you guys!

I do like pickles -- both dill and sweet! See, I'm super easy to get along with

I will say that Big Hairy's videos sounded great, so I don't doubt for a second that folks can get good sounds out this thing and if you get it and it does the thing you want it to do, I'm super happy for you. One can not remotely understand a piece of gear to the point of finding it annoying but still take joy in watching others make music with the piece of gear

 

[paisleywookiee]

Can it work with Mesas, unlike the TAE?

Dave said up to 200w in the video, higher theoretically. So, yes?

EDIT

I'd trust Dave with developing a quality load more than BOSS, though I do love BOSS in general.

 

[ejecta]

From the video, $1499

Fan cooled, hope it's super silent. Dislike fan noise.

Yeah that’s beyond what I’d spend on this. I’ll definitely wait for used prices.

 

[Whizzinby]

Yeah I kind of fall into the skeptical cautiously optimistic camp, but I need to see some demos of people walking through it, and get some feedback from you guys using it.

I have a membership in the BAD Fan Club so I’m completely down for this to kick all sorts of ass.

But I’m still not quite convinced sure why I’d want digital processing and class D solid state involved to load/attenuate/reamp. The PowerStation just seems like a cleaner approach, but I don’t know how much the auto impedance sweeps thingy or whatever other sauce they baked in makes the difference.

As a power amp, it would have been cool for them to have the other PA sims like the pedal does apparently, but this box has Friedmans name on it, so I guess I get it. If that model scratches the itch then you’re off and running. If not you’re kinda cooked.

+100 for a rack ear config.

 

[paisleywookiee]

But I’m still not quite convinced sure why I’d want digital processing and class D solid state involved to load/attenuate/reamp. The PowerStation just seems like a cleaner approach, but I don’t know how much the auto impedance sweeps thingy or whatever other sauce they baked in makes the difference.

The digital processing/machine learning is to understand the SIC of your cab, and thus have the power react more as a tube power amp would. Much like (this is conjecture, since I obviously don't have details) how Fractal's cab block allows for this flexibility manually. It definitely affects feel/sound, even though it's DSP.

I think the PS-2/PS-100 is a fantastic device, both in terms of functionality as well as tone. But I wouldn't trust Fryette as far as I could throw him. Seen way too many broken amps and a couple Power Stations, and their support has been IME dogshit.

 

[Tanax]

I'm still confused as to what this actually does differently?

Reactive Load between amp and device is nothing new.
Stepless attenuation is also nothing new.
Built-in IR-loader is nothing new.
Stereo amplification is also nothing new.
Stereo effect loop is nothing new.

The only thing that seems to actually be new is the reactive attenuation, which opposed to reactive load, is the step between the device and the speaker. Not only is it reactive but also dynamic, meaning it can learn different cabs and react specifically for that cab?

 

[Blix]

The only thing that seems to actually be new is the reactive attenuation, which opposed to reactive load, is the step between the device and the speaker. Not only is it reactive but also dynamic, meaning it can learn different cabs and react specifically for that cab?

Yes, and for an SS amp that's huge, well if it lives up to the expectations they have set.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I'm still confused as to what this actually does differently?

Reactive Load between amp and device is nothing new.
Stepless attenuation is also nothing new.
Built-in IR-loader is nothing new.
Stereo amplification is also nothing new.
Stereo effect loop is nothing new.

The only thing that seems to actually be new is the reactive attenuation, which opposed to reactive load, is the step between the device and the speaker. Not only is it reactive but also dynamic, meaning it can learn different cabs and react specifically for that cab?

Who else does all of this in one device? BOSS TAE, and........what? And yeah, the ML power amp is potentially quite significant.

 

[Whizzinby]

The digital processing/machine learning is to understand the SIC of your cab, and thus have the power react more as a tube power amp would. Much like (this is conjecture, since I obviously don't have details) how Fractal's cab block allows for this flexibility manually. It definitely affects feel/sound, even though it's DSP.

Yeah I get this.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

I'm still confused as to what this actually does differently?

Reactive Load between amp and device is nothing new.
Stepless attenuation is also nothing new.
Built-in IR-loader is nothing new.
Stereo amplification is also nothing new.
Stereo effect loop is nothing new.

The only thing that seems to actually be new is the reactive attenuation, which opposed to reactive load, is the step between the device and the speaker. Not only is it reactive but also dynamic, meaning it can learn different cabs and react specifically for that cab?

I don't think it's supposed to do anything "new". It's Friedman's take on a type of product that seems popular right now. So we have more options, which is not a bad thing.

Dave has a lot of experience with W/D/W rigs, loads etc so it should be interesting. I already have a Power Station but I am considering checking this one out.

 

[Chocol8]

The PowerStation just seems like a cleaner approach, but I don’t know how much the auto impedance sweeps thingy or whatever other sauce they baked in makes the difference.

The main selling point of the power station is it puts everything in one box. The load is good but not great. The power amp is also good but not great. It’s been a box that showed a ton of promise but I have been waiting for years for someone like Suhr to build something similar but better, and this seems like it could be it.

The 3 stage load they are talking about has the potential to match the impedance curve of a real cab audibly better than the PS load. Heck the Suhr boxes already have for a long time, which is the biggest reason I have never been satisfied with the Fryette boxes.

The power amp has the potential to be better sounding, with less heat, better reliability, and stereo.

Then the entire thing is midi controlable so you can change volume levels, presence and depth etc on the fly from a foot controller. Thats a killer feature for live use.

 

[politoleo]

The main selling point of the power station is it puts everything in one box. The load is good but not great. The power amp is also good but not great. It’s been a box that showed a ton of promise but I have been waiting for years for someone like Suhr to build something similar but better, and this seems like it could be it.

The 3 stage load they are talking about has the potential to match the impedance curve of a real cab audibly better than the PS load. Heck the Suhr boxes already have for a long time, which is the biggest reason I have never been satisfied with the Fryette boxes.

The power amp has the potential to be better sounding, with less heat, better reliability, and stereo.

Then the entire thing is midi controlable so you can change volume levels, presence and depth etc on the fly from a foot controller. Thats a killer feature for live use.

Shur and PS have two stages, from memory only Captor and OX have a single stage.
2 Stages are already good enough, 3 stage costs more, but is essential for that last bit of mid punch in the 1K region

 

[Chocol8]

Shur and PS have two stages,

I don't know the topology of the PS load, but the Suhr is noticeably better to my ears.

 

[ejecta]

I think the PS-2/PS-100 is a fantastic device, both in terms of functionality as well as tone. But I wouldn't trust Fryette as far as I could throw him. Seen way too many broken amps and a couple Power Stations, and their support has been IME dogshit.

Just out of curiosity how many Freyette amps and Power Stations did you personally see break? It may affect what I buy from them in the future.

 

[Whizzinby]

The main selling point of the power station is it puts everything in one box. The load is good but not great. The power amp is also good but not great. It’s been a box that showed a ton of promise but I have been waiting for years for someone like Suhr to build something similar but better, and this seems like it could be it.

The 3 stage load they are talking about has the potential to match the impedance curve of a real cab audibly better than the PS load. Heck the Suhr boxes already have for a long time, which is the biggest reason I have never been satisfied with the Fryette boxes.

The power amp has the potential to be better sounding, with less heat, better reliability, and stereo.

Then the entire thing is midi controlable so you can change volume levels, presence and depth etc on the fly from a foot controller. Thats a killer feature for live use.

Yeah I use the Suhr RL as a load box and I’ve never had any issues with it playing nice with my amps. I’ve read about all of the RL’s boxes maybe working better with some amps more than others, but it’s never given me any grief with mine.

I had a PS for a couple years and it always kicked ass. Back when I cared enough to conduct such “tests”, I volume matched with it on versus off and I couldnt tell any meaningful difference. Eventually I just bailed on attenuating at all though since none of my amps are NMV amps and I’m content to jump over to a modeler if I can’t play at volume.

I get the kitchen sink appeal here, just hesitant/cautious about the magic bullet here for the individual functions. We need you and a couple others to get one and suss it out.