Fryette Power Load IR vs Suhr Reactive Load IR vs Friedman IR-Load

[mermer]

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

I'm finally getting my first load box for recording with my amps, and I'm having a bit of indecision here. Initially, I was pretty sure I'd just get an OX, but after reading the reviews and watching the videos, the 44.1 kHz frequency, the inability to add an extra IR, and the connection issues people mentioned have led me to look elsewhere.

Now I have three options: Fryette Power Load IR, Suhr Reactlive Load IR, and Friedman IR-Load. I was feeling closer to the Suhr RLIR until I saw this video:


To my ears, the Fryette PLIR sounds fuller and closer to a real cabinet. Also, it has two three-way switches to change the character, which I think will prevent me from looking for another IR, let’s say if I want to add a bit more treble.
It also has an Analog Cabinet feature – which might not be very useful for me since I mostly play with high gain, but it's still a plus. However, the Suhr RLIR is more popular because many people I follow on YouTube use it, so it's still appealing. Another plus is the variety of the stock IR's that I am more familiar of in comparison to Fryette PLIR's stock IR's using mostly Fane speakers which I have not tried before. Still, this can be solved with adding third party IR's but I do not want to enter another phase of option paralysis there, just want to plug and record my own music in the best way possible. The unit should be "invisible" to me so that I can focus on other aspects.

The Friedman IR-Load also looks very promising. I don't care about attenuation since my amps already have good master volumes, it's fine if I want to play in a room. Still, I'm sure this is also a great product.

Now I'm undecided about which of these two to choose. I would appreciate it if you shared your experiences and thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Jakem]

I own a Suhr RLIR and I like it a lot, no experience on the Fryette. I basically always use York Audio or ML Sound Lab IRs and they sound great so the stock IRs are just backed up on my iPad. However I am eagerly waiting for the Friedman IR load to hit the shelves because I am tempted to buy another 1x12 to be used in stereo with Friedman’s stereo power amp.

 

[mermer]

I own a Suh RLIR and I like it a lot, no experience on the Fryette. I basically always use York Audio or ML Sound Lab IRs so the stock IRs and they sound great. However I am eagerly waiting for the Friedman IR load to hit the shelves because I am tempted to buy another 1x12 to be used in stereo with Friedman’s stereo power amp.

Thank you for the response! Yes the Friedman IR-Load seems very promising and can be done a bunch of things using that, not just a load box. It would be more expensive than the other two options but it also provides more functionality.

 

[Jakem]

Thank you for the response! Yes the Friedman IR-Load seems very promising and can be done a bunch of things using that, not just a load box. It would be more expensive than the other two options but it also provides more functionality.

Indeed!

 

[mermer]

Any other thoughts?

 

[mermer]

Anyone?

 

[PurityS.L.G]

I've owned the Suhr and still own the Fryette if that tells you anything. The Suhr did sound great but the Fryette has way more tonal options if you opt to go that route on the unit, which was a huge selling point for me. It can match just about any speaker sound you could want. I've finally got some custom IR's I've made that I now use 99% of the time instead but its still nice to have the option to sculpt your own sound.

 

[mermer]

I've owned the Suhr and still own the Fryette if that tells you anything. The Suhr did sound great but the Fryette has way more tonal options if you opt to go that route on the unit, which was a huge selling point for me. It can match just about any speaker sound you could want. I've finally got some custom IR's I've made that I now use 99% of the time instead but its still nice to have the option to sculpt your own sound.

That helps a lot thanks. I think the Friedman IRL comes in Q4 so I will juts buy a Fryette to see myself

 

[Corey James]

I have the Fryette and an ox and enjoy them both

 

[mermer]

I have the Fryette and an ox and enjoy them both

How would you compare them? Biggest drawback for the ox is 44.1kHz rate with the 1x12 impedance curve

 

[Corey James]

I like the ox a lot and appreciate the PLIR. No regrets on either.

Throw headphones on, if you want to check this out.

One in each ear, read the description afterwards:

 

[mermer]

I like the ox a lot and appreciate the PLIR. No regrets on either.

Throw headphones on, if you want to check this out.

One in each ear, read the description afterwards:

What a room man, enjoy all of them in good health!

I trust your ears, feelings more than what I can capture from the youtube video. I would be glad if you compare them in terms of usability, sound, feel etc.

 

[Corey James]

They are both fantastic. I’m sorry I can’t make it that easy.

PLIR has a lot of other routing options and I just haven’t tried them.
It’s interesting because it has a different family of speakers. I have 5 kinds of celestions in my room that I can reference or use. I don’t care to mic them anymore, PLIR come with speakers that sound great layered with the ox, ironically, I may load the SUHR Greenback packs into it to try. Michael Neilson did the impulse responses, and I also liked his green back in particular that I purchased and loaded in.

John Suhr & Dave Friedman will talk you out of the ox. I got mine really early and didn’t know that. The ox is the easiest one to get a fast sound with if you choose to use their presets. Their presets are absolutely awesome. Just start scrolling through something that you might recognize and you get that sound very very fast. I got a three button foot switch hooked up to it so I can turn off compression, reverb, and delay when I’m recording if I wanted to go dry into the DAW.

 

[mermer]

They are both fantastic. I’m sorry I can’t make it that easy.

PLIR has a lot of other routing options and I just haven’t tried them.
It’s interesting because it has a different family of speakers. I have 5 kinds of celestions in my room that I can reference or use. I don’t care to mic them anymore, PLIR come with speakers that sound great layered with the ox, ironically, I may load the SUHR Greenback packs into it to try. Michael Neilson did the impulse responses, and I also liked his green back in particular that I purchased and loaded in.

John Suhr & Dave Friedman will talk you out of the ox. I got mine really early and didn’t know that. The ox is the easiest one to get a fast sound with if you choose to use their presets. Their presets are absolutely awesome. Just start scrolling through something that you might recognize and you get that sound very very fast. I got a three button foot switch hooked up to it so I can turn off compression, reverb, and delay when I’m recording if I wanted to go dry into the DAW.

Thank you for the explanation, I appreciate it.

I do not have much experience with recording and searching for a device that will cover the most ground with it's performance. So I do not know how to alter this 44.1 kHz rate instead of 48 kHz, or even is it a big deal but it's definitely a con. To be honest included set of speakers in the OX are more than enough for me. Still, the settings on the PLIR, included set of Fryette cabs, especially with F70g speakers (there are many IRs for celestion speakers, curios about OwnHammer) are very tempting.

 

[Corey James]

Thank you for the explanation, I appreciate it.

I do not have much experience with recording and searching for a device that will cover the most ground with it's performance. So I do not know how to alter this 44.1 kHz rate instead of 48 kHz, or even is it a big deal but it's definitely a con. To be honest included set of speakers in the OX are more than enough for me. Still, the settings on the PLIR, included set of Fryette cabs, especially with F70g speakers (there are many IRs for celestion speakers, curios about OwnHammer) are very tempting.

What are you using for an interface?

Chances are you going with a quarter inch cable out of your load box and into your interface.

That means the bit rate doesn’t matter

 

[mermer]

What are you using for an interface?

Chances are you going with a quarter inch cable out of your load box and into your interface.

That means the bit rate doesn’t matter

I currently have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 but considering buying a better one as well. Considering UA Apollo Twin

 

[Corey James]

I currently have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 but considering buying a better one as well. Considering UA Apollo Twin

There’s so many good things out there that you can’t go wrong.

May I suggest this? Somebody I know on this forum who’s more experienced than I am pointed me in this direction and I’m really glad I went this route.

I have six of the inputs dedicated to various recording solutions for guitars and amps, and that leaves 2 open for microphones.
With the second monitor out, I can run into a DI box for reamp. And if you ever go for outboard rack gear, this is already set up.

Their preamps and converters are top-notch for the dollar.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iD48--audient-id48-usb-c-audio-interface

 

[blackba]

I have the Suhr RLIR and like it. The IRs being turncated to 20mS has not been an issue.

I did compare the load in the Suhr RLIR to the Fryette Power station reactive load and liked the clarity of the Suhr and the thump of the Fryette, but overall preferred the Suhr.

No Experience with the Fryette PLIR or the Friedman, but the Friedman has me interested, but its a bit late to the party for me.

 

[stratjacket]

I had the Fryette and the Suhr. I sold the Fryette and used the Suhr for maybe 10 years. They are both good, but the Suhr has more bite to me that I liked. Last year I got the RedSeven EVO and been using that 100% off the time. It has stereo out outputs that feed into the AxeFx for stereo effects and I can put different IRs on each L and R side.

 

[GrimTrigger]

I had the Fryette and the Suhr. I sold the Fryette and used the Suhr for maybe 10 years. They are both good, but the Suhr has more bite to me that I liked. Last year I got the RedSeven EVO and been using that 100% off the time. It has stereo out outputs that feed into the AxeFx for stereo effects and I can put different IRs on each L and R side.

Are you favoring the RedSeven because you’re using it to load the actual L and R IRs? Could you go mono out from the Suhr into the Axe and load two IR blocks on the grid?