Two Notes Opus ..... any users here (?) ..... thoughts / comments (?)

[BenIfin]

Hey all !

Been listening to some Opus Videos and an very intrigued - they are only Y/T video's but T/N *seem* to have really nailed this from what I hear .

Any users here ?

Thoughts / comments ?

Awesome ? Great ? Good ? Bad ? Sh%t ?

I am *not at all* put off by the lack of Amps and lack of EFX ...... am just curious about how people here are finding the Amp and Cab sounds and [subjectively] how it "feels" and "responds to dynamics" when playing (?)

Thanks,
Ben

 

[UncleJesse]

I am also curious. I tried a Two Notes Revolt and thought it sounded terrible so I was a little apprehensive about trying out the Opus but it looks great for a pocket backup rig.

 

[PBGas]

I had one and thought it was great! I liked the tones on it and was able to get some great sounds from it. I ended up selling it because I needed something with more features built in for me so I can use it easier as a backup for my Axe III. I got an FM3 Turbo and use it instead on my tech desk at work and as a backup for when I play live. I wanted to keep the same system familiarity to make things easier and truth be told, I love the Fractal amp models and the familiarity with using the system.

Opus was super easy to use and worked great!

 

[BenIfin]

I had one and thought it was great! I liked the tones on it and was able to get some great sounds from it. I ended up selling it because I needed something with more features built in for me so I can use it easier as a backup for my Axe III. I got an FM3 Turbo and use it instead on my tech desk at work and as a backup for when I play live. I wanted to keep the same system familiarity to make things easier and truth be told, I love the Fractal amp models and the familiarity with using the system.

Opus was super easy to use and worked great!

Thanks. Was it possible to tell / do you recall if the switching between pre-sets is gapless -and- does the Reverb spill-over correctly (?)

Ben

 

[dronerstone]

As a CAB M+ owner, I think the Two Notes stuff can sound pretty good (if you're open to long tweaking) but the omission of a proper FX loop still makes me a little angry, so I'll stick to my Helix Floor for headphone playing.

Two Notes customer support seems top-notch though.

 

[aivoryuk]

Two Notes customer support seems top-notch though.

I'm a member of the Two Notes Facebook group (I only have some of the Dyn Irs) but they do seem to be very responsive and helpful.
I wouldn't mind trying out the opus just for the power amp simulation to pair with my Friedman IRX but would depend on the overall latency of the unit.

 

[JasonE]

If I didn't already own a C.A.B.M.+ I would buy the Opus. The unit I have sounds fantastic and I would expect that plus more from the Opus. I was very surprised at how good these units sound by just plugging some pedals into the front of them and running an XLR into my interface. Quick to do and sounds exactly like what I was looking for. I am glad I tried this. It as so much easier than dialing up tones on one of my modelers. I should probably say that I am really an amp and pedal guy so this approach really works for me. I am able to use the pedals I love the sound of with my amps and am getting those tones with the Two Notes unit.

 

[AmyTwonotes]

Hi All,

Amy from Two notes here! With regards to the preset switching, the switching time depends on the parameters that need to be changed however two presets with the same DynIR settings will result in quicker changes. There's also no Reverb spillover!

If you have any further questions, please let me know!

 

[Enchilada Jones]

I am also curious. I tried a Two Notes Revolt and thought it sounded terrible so I was a little apprehensive about trying out the Opus but it looks great for a pocket backup rig.

I too had a Revolt and wasn't really impressed, I had the Cab M+ and it was more useful although the amp modeling sounded better than Revolt it was limited in variety and the clean stuff was better than the dirty stuff.
I took a chance on the Opus and quickly sold the CabM+. No regrets at all.

The amp modeling in Opus is a good deal better and it looks like they will be supporting it as they already sent out three new amp models and they are really good. If it only had a good tape delay in it....nudge wink @TwoNotes

 

[FuzzyAce]

My honest assessment:

Portability -- something that's small and can easily fit on an existing pedalboard.
Actually quite easy to edit from the pedal screen, didn't take me long to figure it out. The edit software is simple too.
A decent assortment of amp models currently, ok reverbs although delay would be nice too.
I like the fact that you can really tweak the tone in a number of ways from the power amp sim, the eq and enhance sections.
The presets from early on sounded so so to not very good. Haven't tried any of the latest though.
If sound is the very number 1 priority, no matter how convenient the unit may be, I'd say there are better options out there. Helix stomp for starters if you want to keep in a certain price range. But the Opus is reasonably priced for what you get though so it can work for a lot of people.

edit:
Also, I haven't tried the midi functionality yet although that's something I'll get to eventually. So that's another plus.

 

[kaysersoze]

I have one. I picked it up to pair with a Kingsley Squire. It's fine. The size is convenient, and it has a ton of tweakbility. But from an audio standpoint, I MUCH prefer the ToneX. I don't know if that's a capture vs. model thing (I seem to prefer the natural compression in captures FWIW). Btu when A/Bing the two, I'd say the audio from the ToneX is twice as good. Without going in to too much detail, I used a 1964 Vox top boost in the ToneX, and played it against the Opus with the preamp off (used the Squire). I tried various power amp and cabs, and settled on a few of the premium options I bought. ToneX was still better. The Opus is 100% usable though, and I'm not sure if I'll get rid of it, or make a super small practice board for the house.

One other note, the interface on the Opus is MUCh better than the ToneX. But so was my late 90's Rocktron unit...

 

[aivoryuk]

I thought the IRX had power amp modeling?

It does - but always nice to play with different settings.
I think the opus has the same as WOS plugin which sounds ok.

 

[BenIfin]

Hi All,

Amy from Two notes here! With regards to the preset switching, the switching time depends on the parameters that need to be changed however two presets with the same DynIR settings will result in quicker changes. There's also no Reverb spillover!

If you have any further questions, please let me know!

Thanks Amy :)

Hopefully the Gap switching time and spillover is on "the list" to be "fixed" in a very soon to be released FW :) (?)

Just a broader general question ...... by all reports "Genome" is due to be released imminently - probably / almost certainly at NAMM in a week or so - not asking for details or anything ..... but would I be right in expecting that the Opus pedal will receive the new "Genome" update free of charge when it is released (?) .... to replace the Torpedo WOS that it originally came with (?)

Thanks,
Ben

 

[PBGas]

Thanks. Was it possible to tell / do you recall if the switching between pre-sets is gapless -and- does the Reverb spill-over correctly (?)

Ben

Sadly Ben...I don't recall.....sorry about that....

 

[Bruce]

I am also curious. I tried a Two Notes Revolt and thought it sounded terrible so I was a little apprehensive about trying out the Opus but it looks great for a pocket backup rig.

Really? I really dug the Revolt, personally.

 

[UncleJesse]

Really? I really dug the Revolt, personally.

I probably wasn't the target for these since I would only use the American clean channel and I thought it was lacking. But I didn't spend all that much time with it.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

If they replaced the analog preamp stuff in the Revolt with all the amp modeling, EQ, power amp modeling, etc that is in Opus.
Let you have a few Dyn IR's loaded instead of the analog speaker sim. Maybe use the tube for input mojo and for boost.
Add midi preset switching and have the effects from Genome like stereo reverb and delay.
And make it have USB interface capability it would be perfect! The 'Grand Opus'lol!

As it is the design it has is really great but the sound was kind of fuzzy and flat/lifeless compared to other amp/preamp pedals. Sounds like what could have been a decade old Boss 'katana pedal'. For the price it is a decent value though, could give a lowly combo amp a much needed improvement, Really what it is for I think.

 

[Bruce]

I probably wasn't the target for these since I would only use the American clean channel and I thought it was lacking. But I didn't spend all that much time with it.

Fair enough. I too have written off gear that once I circled back around on it much later, I was surprised.

 

[BenIfin]

If they replaced the analog preamp stuff in the Revolt with all the amp modeling, EQ, power amp modeling, etc that is in Opus.
Let you have a few Dyn IR's loaded instead of the analog speaker sim. Maybe use the tube for input mojo and for boost.
Add midi preset switching and have the effects from Genome like stereo reverb and delay.
And make it have USB interface capability it would be perfect! The 'Grand Opus'lol!

As it is the design it has is really great but the sound was kind of fuzzy and flat/lifeless compared to other amp/preamp pedals. Sounds like what could have been a decade old Boss 'katana pedal'. For the price it is a decent value though, could give a lowly combo amp a much needed improvement, Really what it is for I think.

I haven't played an Opus in person so am basing my comments on numerous Y/T video's ... yep .. I know :)

We clearly have different ears :) ... not at all a bad thing !

What has struck me and my ears is just how much it doesn't sound fuzzy / fizzy / flat / lifeless .. to me it seems to sound and respond in a very "real" way.

And as for Katana's ...... every time I see and hear a demo I am stunned at how amazing they sound ... sure the amp selections are limited but they hang with anything out there ..... demo in point



Ben

 

[Enchilada Jones]

I haven't played an Opus in person so am basing my comments on numerous Y/T video's ... yep .. I know :)

We clearly have different ears :) ... not at all a bad thing !

What has struck me and my ears is just how much it doesn't sound fuzzy / fizzy / flat / lifeless .. to me it seems to sound and respond in a very "real" way.

And as for Katana's ...... every time I see and hear a demo I am stunned at how amazing they sound ... sure the amp selections are limited but they hang with anything out there ..... demo in point



Ben

I have a Katana Artist mkii and it does sound remarkably good. Remarkable because early Boss/Roland amps didnt sound very good, that was the contrast I was trying create…old Boss. Not the newer stuff.

I bought the ReVolt based on those videos you saw, and I also thought the device sounded good there, but only the clean channel lived up to expectations in my hands on use. Actually it was really good with the boost turned on.
The crunch channel was passable and the higher gain sounds like a Soldano, a sound which I generally love but the breakup is annoying. It’s kind of fuzzy in a bad way. And backing the gain down didn’t reduce the annoyance. I even put a slightly lower gain tube in and it seemed to help but not enough. And it was a bit noisy too.
It was a short honeymoon as I recall. But for the price it isn’t a terrible tool. If you are going to use it to augment a real amp it’s good. As a standalone DI to DAW or monitors it gets outdone by a modeler in my mind.

To be fair, if I recall correctly, I bought the BlugGuitar Amp1 ME at the same time so really the ReVolt just didn’t have a chance.
That and the ReVolt was marketed with the tease that it comes with 10 DynIR’s but they meant you get Wall of Sound and those IR’s for free but the ReVolt doesn’t load them onboard, it only has a mediocre analog speaker sim. If the ReVolt could load the DynIRs and run the power amp and EQ of Wall of Sound it would be so much better. I think it was designed to be a way to expand a real amps channels more so than being a stand alone solution.