Do the UA OX box speaker simulation algorithm's sound better than standard IR's?

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Eazy-ESP said:
So how do we “do it right”?
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Start with a good load, the Suhr is hard to beat and affordable. The load in the OX, Boss TAE, Two Notes - all of those feature-laden boxes aren't very close to the impedance curve (which effectively translates to EQ curve) as a real cab.

Get a handful of IRs from guys that know what they're doing like Mirror, Titan or Ownhammer. Make sure all your gain staging is good, pay attention to any points of clipping, unwanted saturation. Learn to dial in your amp for recording, no just want feels good in the room. Go easy on the master volume if your amp has one. Then experiment until it all starts sounding good.

Past this, you can look into making IRs of your own cabs. That's a whole other topic but if you own something you love, and really want to capture, it can be a very worthwhile exercise. Good luck!
 
“Start with a good load” Bit more extreme than I wanted to go, but I do want good tone!
 
Chronic Narnia said:
I wish the loop was incorporated unit the kind out but sadly it’s only usable on the power amp side.
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100%!!! It’s my only gripe as well!!

I reached out to fryette about it and the response was to use some y cable method and I was like…yea I’ll just add effects in post lol

Pain in the ass but as Mr Fryette says “there’s always more features to add, gotta stop somewhere” hahaha
 
I really enjoyed working with the OX box. I love UAD's GUIs in general. But when I used it I was having a hard time dialing in something I liked with any load box, and I've tried Captor, Captor X, St. Rock React 1, Ox Box, Suhr, Suhr IR, and Fryette PS-2a. Anything to try to avoid mic'ing up a cab in the room next to me and having to deal with all that. But in the end, mic'ing was really the easiest solution because it's much less fussy than dialing in IRs IME. Now I've made some adjustments to my setup and think I could possibly do it better if I tried the loadbox/IR method again, but I've already invested in nice mics and preamps so I'll stick with that for now.
 
Nashville Riff Co said:
100%!!! It’s my only gripe as well!!

I reached out to fryette about it and the response was to use some y cable method and I was like…yea I’ll just add effects in post lol

Pain in the ass but as Mr Fryette says “there’s always more features to add, gotta stop somewhere” hahaha
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Interesting….I wonder what the setup is. I use a modeler for the IR and effects but I would love to use a noise gate after the line out but before the input to the modeler/DAW. For now I just run it in the loop of my amp but I have to switch it out when changing amps.
 
ZEN Amps said:
Past this, you can look into making IRs of your own cabs. That's a whole other topic but if you own something you love, and really want to capture, it can be a very worthwhile exercise. Good luck!
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This is what I use the vast majority of the time. I don't have a problem getting good sounds out of most basic IRs, but I know some people do. And at least for me, it feels easiest to have a familiar sound that you've miced a bunch (like your own cab). It makes it easier to tweak because you have a good idea of the baseline.
 
I think the ox is okay, but for the price there are other more realistic options out there.

The impedance curve is a bit like the two notes stuff which isn’t the most realistic. Depending on if the amp you use having negative feedback or not can make a pretty big difference how this winds up sounding.

I use the st rock, which is awesome. If I wasn’t using that I would be using a suhr reactive load which is also great.
 
Chronic Narnia said:
Interesting….I wonder what the setup is. I use a modeler for the IR and effects but I would love to use a noise gate after the line out but before the input to the modeler/DAW. For now I just run it in the loop of my amp but I have to switch it out when changing amps.
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I just searched my inbox and it seems I’ve deleted the email. If you email the main customer service email, they’ll get back to you quickly.

I know some people have had bad experiences but mine have mostly been quick/decent.

I’m happy re-email too if you’d like
 
Literally won an Ox Box from a Premiere Guitar giveaway and wish I had the Tube Amp Expander instead sometimes... good sounds though.
 
a few things- people need to compare these devices in different categories- as a load box, as an attenuator, as an ir loader etc.

I’ve owned a power station but didn’t use it outside of a power amp for my axe fx, and a TAE. The TAE definitely colored the sound compared to the recorded tones I’ve gonna with mics- this seems to be based on an impedance curve of a loadbox- something people have ranked in video comparisons such as this one



As attenuation goes, it seems that consensus is that fryette does this best- there will always be issues related to amps needing to move air in the room in general, and fryette has the additional complication of not really being attenuation- it’s a loadbox that then re-amps the signal from the loadbox.

In terms of IR vs recorded tone, considering an ir is essentially a final EQ of the sound imparted by the cab, a properly done IR will sound completely identical to the sound captured by the mic used in an ir using the cab and speakers used in the IR- there are plenty of people who have tested this- the differences in tone are not in the ir itself, and rather the impedance curve of the loadbox.

All in all, if you can record at volume and know how to mic a cab, it’s fun and sounds great. If you can’t record at volume or don’t know how to mic a cab, it’s up to the loadbox and ir themselves whether you will get a result you like.

I do believe that many if not most loadboxes inherently impart a certain sound that homogenizes the sounds of amps and makes them sound more similar that the micced versions would sound- which is how you get comparisons where people think two amps sound the same, but the creator says they sounded more different in the room. This is not the same as saying a cab, speaker and mic impart a certain sound on every amp- while this is true, you can still hear the sound of specific amps differ. I compared to hermanssons micced, and while both amps are relatively similar sounding, and the same cab and mic and speaker etc were used, the two definitely sound different. If I were to use certain loadboxes however, you might get a result where a wizard hell razor and Hermansson sound nearly identical- as the loadbox “homogenizes” the sounds of all amps.

If you read all this, you need to find better ways to fill your free time.
 
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