Reactive loads, IR

MrDowntown

Well-known member
Anyone still using these?…suhr rl/Ir, captorX, etc…

they seem like yesterday’s news….but appear to be holding their street value.

the digital stuff has become so good especially for night time/silent recording, at home type stuff… just curious
 
Plenty of people still use them, especially live. I use my driftwood loadbox all the time, especially when I need something quick. The digital stuff is great, using a loadbox is great, using a mic and cab is great. There’s so many options and they all have perks and minuses.
 
Are you guys using them at home? The “cranked amp” (scenario) into the LB played back through monitors or similar?
 
I use my Suhr reactive load ir with my BE100 deluxe every day. I use the celestion suhr IR Greenback 57 bright. I can play my amp cranked with all of my effects without waking up my kids. I can't imagine not having it.
 
Are you guys using them at home? The “cranked amp” (scenario) into the LB played back through monitors or similar?
Yeah, I use mine to play my amps quietly at home. I usually run the line out into an Axe FX or my interface, then add effects and IRs there, and play through 8" studio monitors. I don't mess with reactive loads live, I want less shit to setup at a gig. I bought a Badlander awhlie back that has a load built-in, so I can take that line out to the PA instead of miking the cab if I want, but a lot of the dives I play are small and we just use cabs lately. IR and load boxes have been the hugest advancement in guitar technology in the past couple decades and make getting quality tones at home easy. I used to dick around with isolation boxes and all sorts of shit before this. I still use modelers too, just depends on mood and what I'm trying to do that day.
 
My bedroom studio setup: Line 6 HX Stomp into ENGL Artist Edition into Suhr Reactive Load.

I usually use the HX Stomp before the amp for OD and other FX, but it also works really well as a preamp modeler into the FX return of the amp. A very flexible and great sounding hybrid setup. Best of both worlds IMHO.
 
SRG Mark III or a JP-2C into a Powerstation and then a single 12" cab in a 10 x 12 room.

That not old news.
 
What are you talking about.. there's heaps of guys using tube amps with loads and IRs. Many argue (including me) that this option sounds better than a full digital rig
I think he just means that talk about IRs and loadboxes has died downa bit since their advent. When they were new, it hot shit across all the forums. Now they aren't the new thing, they are practical and reliable, everyone uses them, so there's a bit less hubbub on the boards because they've become common knowledge.
 
Reactive Load boxes and IR’s are basically the newest and most exciting tech to come out of the guitar industry since modeling. “Yesterday’s news” is the last thing I’d call it.

And the best examples of Reactive Load tech so far only emulate the impedance curve of a single, specific 8-ohm Marshall 4x12 with Greenbacks. And IR tech is advancing all the time. Fractal just announced new “FullRes” IR tech literally yesterday, which is an IR format that supports super long IRs that capture the room reverb of whatever room the cab IR is shot in. Basically it’s “room mic” IRs. There is sooo much farther this tech could go. And funny enough quite a few non-forum-going guitar players don’t even know about it yet.


Omg yes this. I’ve got a Kemper and Axe III. They fucking suck. Sorry they do.

This is very much not my experience. I don’t have a Kemper so I can’t speak to that but the Axe-Fx III is so close now it’s kind of unreal. Do the Axe’s amp models sound exactly like my specific tube amps? No. But do they sound *as good as* my specific tube amps? Personally I think they do, yeah.

Also there’s nothing in the industry that even comes close to the Axe-Fx’s effects capabilities. Even if you don’t use the modeling, it would be worth it for the effects alone.

The worst critique I can give about the Axe-Fx is that I think it’s really unsuited for live environments or sessions where you have to tweak sounds fast. If you have a laptop running the editor software and a mouse, it’s doable, and if you have plenty of time to dive into building sounds, it’s basically unparalleled. But if you’re playing out somewhere and you need more mids or less gain or something NOW, then yeah it’s going to be annoying.

But overall it certainly doesn’t suck. Not even close.
 
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I use the Suhr RL in parallel with a speaker cab to knock down a few dbs.
Haven't used IRs since getting a Rockman X100.
Tried some digital solutions, not a fan.
 
Agree with you mate but i had to laugh at this... only because the AxeFx guys were saying this about the AxeFx Ultra firmware 5 update back in 08' 😂.

It's always going to be "so close now!"

Hah, yeah they have been saying that for a while now I’ll give you that. I think it’s been true for a long time with some amp types though, like some of the super high gain stuff, but it definitely hasn’t been true for other types. Recently though, all those elusive edge of breakup amps have come a very long way, and they sound great now.


and to get back on topic...

Are you guys using them at home? The “cranked amp” (scenario) into the LB played back through monitors or similar?

Yep, that's how I use mine. Sometimes I run it with IR's and studio monitors and sometimes I run it straight into an SS amp and cabs.
 
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Right on! Appreciate the thoughts and feedback guys…

As far as the digital stuff having caught up…to expand on that a bit: Unless I’m misunderstanding, which is likely, with the Load/IR scenario your amp signal is tuned into 1’s & 0’s, like that of a digital rig. It’s then played back to you with simulated cabinets (the Same-ish IRs used on digital rigs), also 1’s & 0’s. The 1’s & 0’s thing is oversimplifying what’s really taking place I realize, but it’s all sorta digital once you hit the out-going side of the LB, correct? Again may be misunderstanding.

So, as one guy above posted the digital rigs don’t sound exactly like his specific tube amp, but “as good as” (or I guess very close/similar). So arguably the RL/LB/IR is a “better” digital rig. :dunno:

I messed with the Suhr RL a few years ago…w/o the on board IR’s though it was as just ok. I’m interested in what the RL/IR will do. I may get one this week and give it a whirl. I’m always geeking over the “tone” from a pushed power section but without the volume. A fail to recall the effect/sensation of the speaker in the room moving air…. But that’s not really what I’m after. 😀

thanks again for conversations
 
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