Let's talk load boxes!

[Desertdweller]

IMO there is some increasingly prominent “internet wisdom” that the Suhr RL is the “most accurate” reactive load out there. In reality, that may be true if you are aiming to reproduce the impedance curve of a 4x12 greenback cab (which is what the Suhr produces) - but that’s not everyone’s reality.

I actually recommend having a couple reactive load boxes so you have options. Use the Suhr to get your vintage Marshall kicks. Use the Captor with it’s more generalized curve that gets you a little closer to a 1x12 or 2x12 response, etc.

In reality I tend to find I usually just use amp modeling, as I’ve not found HUGE differences in using a good modeling platform over my amps and reactive loads. Sometimes I think I can identify a difference, sometimes not.

I’m just finding the Suhr RL to be the best sounding. IDK if it’s the most accurate, that’s honestly not a concern of mine, I just want it to sound good. Whether I’m using Ownhammer, ML, York Audio, Bogren, etc., I’ve always had to do some relatively extensive EQing to get it to sound the way I want from my Captor X. Mind you, it still sounds great and the Captor is a wonderful unit, but I have a seriously picky ear and I want it to sound a certain way, and I’ve just always had to EQ the Captor a lot. With the Suhr, it’s giving me a nearly perfect signal I can add any IR to and it sounds good with minimal or no EQ. I’ve recorded two songs with it recently and it’s making me want to go back and re-record everything I’ve worked on in the past year or two as it just adds so much more clarity over what I was getting with the Captor.

 

[ejecta]

I’m just finding the Suhr RL to be the best sounding. IDK if it’s the most accurate, that’s honestly not a concern of mine, I just want it to sound good. Whether I’m using Ownhammer, ML, York Audio, Bogren, etc., I’ve always had to do some relatively extensive EQing to get it to sound the way I want from my Captor X. Mind you, it still sounds great and the Captor is a wonderful unit, but I have a seriously picky ear and I want it to sound a certain way, and I’ve just always had to EQ the Captor a lot. With the Suhr, it’s giving me a nearly perfect signal I can add any IR to and it sounds good with minimal or no EQ. I’ve recorded two songs with it recently and it’s making me want to go back and re-record everything I’ve worked on in the past year or two as it just adds so much more clarity over what I was getting with the Captor.

Yeah I like the big Tone King but decided I needed another attenuator that would just load the amp so I can line out into my Helix for my Sunday gig. I picked up the Suhr RL and it’s now my favorite. The line out of the Tone King was just too dark comparatively. Sold off the Tone King because I really don’t need the notched volume drops either since I don’t have any non master volume amps at the moment.

 

[James Freeman]

Suhr reactive load, passive vs IR?

@MirrorProfiles
I really don't want to power the load for it to deliver signal.
Do you use yours with a DI box form the unbalanced output?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Suhr reactive load, passive vs IR?

@MirrorProfiles
I really don't want to power the load for it to deliver signal.
Do you use yours with a DI box form the unbalanced output?

straight from non-IR Suhr to A/D. The IR version gives a weak output with no power but the passive one has plenty to not need gaining up.

Same is true for Fryette and React IR. I suppose you could also use a padded DI from a speaker output while using a load

 

[James Freeman]

I suppose you could also use a padded DI from a speaker output while using a load

I wonder how the reactive load curve will be affected if I parallel a volume box into a passive DI box form the speaker jack.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I wonder how the reactive load curve will be affected if I parallel a volume box into a passive DI box form the speaker jack.

If I understand it right (I don't), then the massive difference in impedance means the DI has totally negligible influence on the load. Its like 8 Ohms vs 1,000,000 Ohms

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Also, is there any electronic difference between?

- Slave/DI out on the amp (speaker jack tapped with a resistor)
- Load box with a through to a cab
- DI on unused speaker output, cab connected to the other output

I feel like they're essentially one and the same

 

[Achilles]

I did a lot of experimenting with the different ways of doing this and found it's very amp dependent. In most cases with amps that get their tone from the preamp I just use the FX send as a DI output and then plug a load resistor in to keep the amp from getting damaged. If the power section of the amp adds a lot of the tone then either the Suhr or Tone King reactive loads are the best imo if you have the budget.

 

[James Freeman]

Also, is there any electronic difference between?

- Slave/DI out on the amp (speaker jack tapped with a resistor)
- Load box with a through to a cab
- DI on unused speaker output, cab connected to the other output

I feel like they're essentially one and the same

Yes, I think these three are the same.
Basically a voltage divider from the speaker jack, sometimes converted to balanced XLR signal with a small 1:1 transformer.

 

[DrewJD82]

Mine’s coming over this weekend.

 

[Orvillain]

The Two notes Captor impedance curve comparison

I own a TwoNotes Captor 8ohm. I've been using this load box for quite a while, but was never really satisfied with it. When I used it as a DI box between amp and cab, it was fine (the amp was seeing a real cab load). But when used as a load box, it sounded like the amp wasn't really getting a...

forum.fractalaudio.com

There are curve graphs from here. But if you checkout the Captor:

That doesn't really look like any real impedance curve I've ever seen, tbh.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

The Two Notes Captor is clearly an inferior product compared to the Suhr Reactive Load, Fractal‘s LB-2 or St. Rock‘s React:IR. The key to the success of this product was heavy marketing and a competitive price, not quality.

 

[paisleywookiee]

The Two Notes Captor is clearly an inferior product compared to the Suhr Reactive Load, Fractal‘s LB-2 or St. Rock‘s React:IR. The key to the success of this product was heavy marketing and a competitive price, not quality.

I’ve had two; you’re completely right, in that it’s not at all accurate. It does sound pretty good with its WOS DynIRs or whatever the fuck they’re called. BUT they completely fall apart with regular IR’s, whereas the regular Suhr RL is amazing. I kick myself every time I think about how I sold mine.

 

[Mongillo19]

I kick myself every time I think about how I sold mine.

Just had mine dropped off from Pitbull Audio for the TC100. It's a wonderful load box!

 

[paisleywookiee]

Just had mine dropped off from Pitbull Audio for the TC100. It's a wonderful load box!

Everyone loves a wonderful load!

 

[mk5]

So on the Suhr, the consensus seems to be:

RL > RLIR. Correct?

 

[jellodog]

So on the Suhr, the consensus seems to be:

RL > RLIR. Correct?

It is, unless you don't like the 10KΩ output impedance of the OG RL vs 600Ω of the RLIR.

 

[James Freeman]

So on the Suhr, the consensus seems to be:

RL > RLIR. Correct?

Yes.
Also, the RLIR doesn't output signal at all if there is no 9vDC power which is not a very good decision in my opinion, they could at least have the un-filtered output work without power.

 

[Achilles]

Pitbull Audio

I love those guys. Ever been to the store? The showroom isn't very large but the warehouse in the back is huge. You have to walk through it to use their bathroom. It's like OZ for guitar players in there.

 

[Mongillo19]

I love those guys. Ever been to the store? The showroom isn't very large but the warehouse in the back is huge. You have to walk through it to use their bathroom. It's like OZ for guitar players in there.

I have not! I'm across the country now so probably not anytime soon lol

I do also want to hit up the SW warehouse/showroom