Two Notes Reload II, with "Celestion-Approved Load"

[paisleywookiee]

Well, this was wayyy back in the early 2Ks when resistive loads were the only thing available to consumers. Everybody on the old Plexi Palace gear forum had one. That's where myself and Ed DeGenaro (of THD then) hung out (among others). Reactive loads didn't come along for at least another decade-plus.

And actually, it depends on how you use it. It's fine for shaving off a few dBs as an attenuator, but beyond that any resistive load is gonna suck.

It's fine for bench work when you need to say, bias the power tubes (set to "Load").

Also set to "Load", can sound great in a slaved setup (which is why I dusted it off)... I'm revisiting slaving and I'm getting some pretty killer results.

So, I have my old THD HotPlate (resistive), and my much more recently acquired Suhr RL (non-iR, reactive).

I hated it, for any use. I tried it with a Mesa F-50, DC-5, and Stiletto, as well as a JSX. Didn’t sound good for any purpose. But yes, it’s all that was around. Until the Rock Crusher came out, which was WAY better.

Me too. It makes zero sense that it's in this forum. It's 100% analog per Two Notes themselves.

With time and therapy, you’ll be able to forgive me.

 

[HotRats]

I have to admit, after reading all this, I still don't know what or whom the reload ii is actually for?
To me it's just an overall weird product.

It obviously is heavily based on the Power Station.
For me the Power Station always lacked a balanced IR output, but this "All tube, play your tube amp (with the tubes in it) as loud as you want, with tubes, did I say tubes?" kinda made sense to me.
Now, this thing supplements the tubes for (I'd assume) class D power amps. In Stereo.
Why?
This thing ain't cheap.

The "approved load response" nonsense:
Firstly, I don't really understand this impedance curve debate to begin with: If you can't make compelling recordings or live shows with the Captor X, it's clearly not a problem of impedance curves making meaningful musicking impossible.
That said: A somehow compromise combined impedance curve won't stop that argument.
It would take selectable, precisely modeled curves for different cab models to cater to that crowd, and the reload ii just does not deliver there.

In the studio, I'd want a IR out, to be able to commit to tones fast.
And there the whole stereo loop thing does not make sense to me, either.
If you are inclined to do IR in the box, why would you want to commit to FX on the input with all this convoluted hardware trouble?
Without even having a dry DI signal?

Live, this looks really fun as a WDW-interface.
But then I'd want three IR-outs to go to FOH or a multitrack recorder, (or, again, at least three DI outs, to slap on IRs on later, when recording).
And for a WDW interface this thing seems excessively expensive for what it offers.


I don't get this.

I don't get this product either.
A 1.000€ Two Notes product without a virtual cab out makes no sense to me

I might be wrong here but what players primarily expect from a Two Notes product is a box wiith an XLR out with some kind of virtual cab applied to it and then some extra cool features around it.

I have a cab m+ that I love because is small, super easy to use and does what it's supposed to do: take the power amp out and apply an IR to it.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

I hated it, for any use. I tried it with a Mesa F-50, DC-5, and Stiletto, as well as a JSX. Didn’t sound good for any purpose. But yes, it’s all that was around. Until the Rock Crusher came out, which was WAY better.

I would say it works best with 60's - 70's Marshall circuits (Plexi, 2203 for ex.)... i.e. that level of gain.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I would say it works best with 60's - 70's Marshall circuits (Plexi, 2203 for ex.)... i.e. that level of gain.

I guess I’ll have to believe you, as that’s something I’ve ever been after. Though my friend has 2203’s and Jubilees, and hated it too.

 

[Tanax]

With time and therapy, you’ll be able to forgive me.

 

[paisleywookiee]

 

[Whizzinby]

 

[Orvillain]

Well, this was wayyy back in the early 2Ks when resistive loads were the only thing available to consumers.

Aye. I was there!

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Well, this was wayyy back in the early 2Ks when resistive loads were the only thing available to consumers. Everybody on the old Plexi Palace gear forum had one. That's where myself and Ed DeGenaro (of THD then) hung out (among others). Reactive loads didn't come along for at least another decade-plus.

And actually, it depends on how you use it. It's fine for shaving off a few dBs as an attenuator, but beyond that any resistive load is gonna suck.

It's fine for bench work when you need to say, bias the power tubes (set to "Load").

Also set to "Load", can sound great in a slaved setup (which is why I dusted it off)... I'm revisiting slaving and I'm getting some pretty killer results.

So, I have my old THD HotPlate (resistive), and my much more recently acquired Suhr RL (non-iR, reactive).

Well technically there were attenuators that introduce the bass bump and treble rise via inductance and capicitance post the grandaddy of them all the Altair PW5 which was resitive.
Some by way of inductors, light bulbs, or fans.
Iirc the time line was something like this...
Rivera Super Sink in 78, and Jim Kelley around the same time, then Scholz Power Soak, Palmer PDI, to THD Hot Plate, Marshall Power Brake, Trainwteck Airbrake, Weber Mass until the 2000s...

Fwiw, every one of those companies used the marketing of cranked tone at whisper volume which was/is not realistic.
However turning a 100 water into a 30 water definitely helped.
But that really wasn't a thing until bedroom metal tone.

Plus in the rack days we all turned big heads into preamps.
My first Rivera Rack in the US in 88 had two huge resistors in back to load down the amps, process the line level through fx post power amp distortion and send it to power amps.
The line out thing became a lot easier to do in 89 with a H+K Red Box.

I've been doing this as early as 81 or 82 in Germany.

This approach is what got to the Fryette and Im guessing that's what the TwoNotes is doing.

My old Rivera Rack that was their brochure pic for 88 and 90.

 

[laxu]

I don't get this product either.
A 1.000€ Two Notes product without a virtual cab out makes no sense to me

I might be wrong here but what players primarily expect from a Two Notes product is a box wiith an XLR out with some kind of virtual cab applied to it and then some extra cool features around it.

I have a cab m+ that I love because is small, super easy to use and does what it's supposed to do: take the power amp out and apply an IR to it.

Two Notes offers way cheaper products like the Cab M+ or OPUS for that already.

To me the Reload II is like a Power Station with wet/dry/wet rig capabilities. If I didn't own a Fryette PS-100 already, I think I would be interested in this just to build a stupid, big home wet/dry/wet rig.

This might be for someone who wants to run e.g a cranked Plexi on stage, and then needs to bring a somewhat heavy extra box to make that happen at sensible volumes. With this setup, they could bring an extra cab to do a wet/dry rig without any additional weight besides the cab.

I get that not having a built-in IR loader means you aren't able to run a cab sim signal to FOH, but at the same time I see the Reload as a long-term proof product when it has no digital component. As cab sims evolve you can plug in better gear to it without having a feature end up as "that old thing".

If you want to record, then you have the software component included for cab sims.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Two Notes offers way cheaper products like the Cab M+ or OPUS for that already.

To me the Reload II is like a Power Station with wet/dry/wet rig capabilities. If I didn't own a Fryette PS-100 already, I think I would be interested in this just to build a stupid, big home wet/dry/wet rig.

This might be for someone who wants to run e.g a cranked Plexi on stage, and then needs to bring a somewhat heavy extra box to make that happen at sensible volumes. With this setup, they could bring an extra cab to do a wet/dry rig without any additional weight besides the cab.

I get that not having a built-in IR loader means you aren't able to run a cab sim signal to FOH, but at the same time I see the Reload as a long-term proof product when it has no digital component. As cab sims evolve you can plug in better gear to it without having a feature end up as "that old thing".

If you want to record, then you have the software component included for cab sims.

That's how I see it.
Now that said, having to bring an IR loader in addition to the load I might as well use something else.

And the more I think of this the load/line out aspect of things I might as well get a a Suhr Reactive load and KMA Endgame and if I'm married to wet/dry a Class D power amp and do more.
Plus leave whatever I don't need home.

I've been using an Ox forevef and even had gotten an Ox stomp. And Endgame
But I literally the MkV:25 with its build in load and speaker sim is my go to these days.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Yup. I had one, and it was an extraordinary turd.

They single handedly put me off the whole idea of attenuators and load boxes for a long time.

I think I would be interested in this just to build a stupid, big home wet/dry/wet rig.

Wouldn't that require 3 power amps? 2 poweramps will get you wet/dry. So you’d need a pair of them or another amp to actually do WDW.

I tend to prefer loading IR’s in a plugin, but given what Two Notes are best known for, I don’t think it would be too difficult or even expensive to include one of their most commonly used circuits in here. They must buy the parts for those in insanely huge quantities because they’re in so many products. This is a £1000 product, even their most consumer grade products have IR loading abilities, and it’s even something that gets licences and thrown in to other amps as a bonus.

There’s that new Fryette box that has an analog cab sim as well as digital as a kind of backup/alternative.

I don’t think I’d personally use the Two Notes cabs anyway, but I’d imagine most existing Reload and Captor users are going to find it weird that it’s missing. I think given how much the Reload II is trying to achieve, it would have been a sensible addition (and even more so if they could have the software interact correctly with the load box settings).

Spoiler: TRIGGER WARNING

Side note but the whole concept of W/D/W drives me nuts. Better off calling it L/C/R, and It’s bedroom cosplay fantasy stuff of guitarists telling themselves it’s really important to “their sound”. For most guitar sounds it’s either pointless or bad sounding, and if you happen to be positioned at the right point in the room, you might get a kick for about half a second. Atmos is (largely) bullshit too

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

They single handedly put me off the whole idea of attenuators and load boxes for a long time.

Wouldn't that require 3 power amps? 2 poweramps will get you wet/dry. So you’d need a pair of them or another amp to actually do WDW.

I tend to prefer loading IR’s in a plugin, but given what Two Notes are best known for, I don’t think it would be too difficult or even expensive to include one of their most commonly used circuits in here. They must buy the parts for those in insanely huge quantities because they’re in so many products. This is a £1000 product, even their most consumer grade products have IR loading abilities, and it’s even something that gets licences and thrown in to other amps as a bonus.

There’s that new Fryette box that has an analog cab sim as well as digital as a kind of backup/alternative.

I don’t think I’d personally use the Two Notes cabs anyway, but I’d imagine most existing Reload and Captor users are going to find it weird that it’s missing. I think given how much the Reload II is trying to achieve, it would have been a sensible addition (and even more so if they could have the software interact correctly with the load box settings).

Spoiler: TRIGGER WARNING

Side note but the whole concept of W/D/W drives me nuts. Better off calling it L/C/R, and It’s bedroom cosplay fantasy stuff of guitarists telling themselves it’s really important to “their sound”. For most guitar sounds it’s either pointless or bad sounding, and if you happen to be positioned at the right point in the room, you might get a kick for about half a second. Atmos is (largely) bullshit too

Well the dry amp has its own power amp, so all that's needed is a stereo power amp for both wet sides.

 

[laxu]

They single handedly put me off the whole idea of attenuators and load boxes for a long time.

Wouldn't that require 3 power amps? 2 poweramps will get you wet/dry. So you’d need a pair of them or another amp to actually do WDW.

The Reload manual says it's basically "run your tube amp's one output to the Reload, and another output to a cab. Of course you lose the attenuation in this scenario.

 

[Orvillain]

Side note but the whole concept of W/D/W drives me nuts. Better off calling it L/C/R, and It’s bedroom cosplay fantasy stuff of guitarists telling themselves it’s really important to “their sound”. For most guitar sounds it’s either pointless or bad sounding, and if you happen to be positioned at the right point in the room, you might get a kick for about half a second. Atmos is (largely) bullshit too

Atmos I guess is a sound track thing, but I agree on WDW. I've tried it a couple of times, and it just offers complexity at the expense of tones - IMHO.

The gold standard for me is pedals into a high gain crunchy tone through a 4x12. Stereo is fun, but not something I do all the time, although I do want the capability. But not for live use.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Atmos I guess is a sound track

I get (and enjoy) atmos for cinema, and even video games where you might be moving around and changing direction I can understand the benefit for spatial mix. and MAYBE for some experimental/art type projects, music could be written for an atmos rig where you sit in a certain position and experience it a certain way. But as soon as you are listening in another environment, or even worse, some kind of "approximated" experience via soundbar/headphones you're just getting a rehashed dishwater version of the intended mix.

It's how I feel with stereo guitars - on a recording, fine - you know that a listener is LIKELY to be listening on a stereo rig. Anywhere else, you can't really guarantee what the listener is going to hear, and you don't really have a great deal of control of what you are sending to the L and R speakers. So you just get corny panning effects, ping pong delays and puke inducing microshift. If you're positioned in the middle you might hear it as intended, but the likelihood is you'll get some kind weird balance that makes it sound even worse.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

I get (and enjoy) atmos for cinema, and even video games where you might be moving around and changing direction I can understand the benefit for spatial mix. and MAYBE for some experimental/art type projects, music could be written for an atmos rig where you sit in a certain position and experience it a certain way. But as soon as you are listening in another environment, or even worse, some kind of "approximated" experience via soundbar/headphones you're just getting a rehashed dishwater version of the intended mix.

It's how I feel with stereo guitars - on a recording, fine - you know that a listener is LIKELY to be listening on a stereo rig. Anywhere else, you can't really guarantee what the listener is going to hear, and you don't really have a great deal of control of what you are sending to the L and R speakers. So you just get corny panning effects, ping pong delays and puke inducing microshift. If you're positioned in the middle you might hear it as intended, but the likelihood is you'll get some kind weird balance that makes it sound even worse.

My going stereo live was cut shirt when the drummer got a summed mono feed in his monitors with all kinda phase cancellations.
And that was for 1000 seaters with good sound systems.

So it was a very short lived experiment

 

[HotRats]

Two Notes offers way cheaper products like the Cab M+ or OPUS for that already.

To me the Reload II is like a Power Station with wet/dry/wet rig capabilities. If I didn't own a Fryette PS-100 already, I think I would be interested in this just to build a stupid, big home wet/dry/wet rig.

This might be for someone who wants to run e.g a cranked Plexi on stage, and then needs to bring a somewhat heavy extra box to make that happen at sensible volumes. With this setup, they could bring an extra cab to do a wet/dry rig without any additional weight besides the cab.

I get that not having a built-in IR loader means you aren't able to run a cab sim signal to FOH, but at the same time I see the Reload as a long-term proof product when it has no digital component. As cab sims evolve you can plug in better gear to it without having a feature end up as "that old thing".

If you want to record, then you have the software component included for cab sims.

ok, let me rephrase it:
what this product does is obvious, what I don't understand is why a brand known for its virtual cab didn't include the main feature they are known for in this product, in 2025.

 

[paisleywookiee]

ok, let me rephrase it:
what this product does is obvious, what I don't understand is why a brand known for its virtual cab didn't include the main feature they are known for in this product, in 2025.

He literally covered that in the post you quoted.

 

[HotRats]

He literally covered that in the post you quoted.

Oh well I covered that in my first post actually.
We're going full circle here