Suhr reactive load sounds like it's clipping?

  • Thread starter Thread starter GregM
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GregM

GregM

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Anybody else notice this? I found a post by John Suhr from a couple years ago saying it was impossible but I'm getting something that sounds like clipping, whatever it is. My JJ has too much headroom on the clean channel so I was driving it harder than I normally do (I don't play out anymore) to try to get some breakup. With the master at down around 2 once I bring the clean channel volume past about 6 (~1-2:00) it sounds exactly like clipping. It's happening in the reactive load rather than the interface/DAW. Not sure if there is something wrong with my unit? It should be able to handle more power than that if it's rated at 100 watts.
 
Could this be the cause? What's your chain look like?

 
Cool video but not really my case. I'm actually trying for breakup but the reactive load isn't taking the power for some reason. My chain is the amp to the load, load to a Focusrite 2i2 then to the DAW. It happens no matter what I set the output of the RL at or the input level on the 2i2. It sounds fine if I keep the amp volume lower. I'll post a clip later tonight.
 
Do you have the ability to play it through a speaker without the load to see if the amp is clipping? I know my Engl SE can sound digital if I try to make the clean channel and crunch channel act like a traditional Fender or Marshall, doing exactly what you are going for.
 
I'm interested to hear what the OP finds out with this. I have two Suhr Reactive Loads and have ran two NMV 1959 SL amps on mine wide open and haven't experienced anything like this. My Suhr RLs have both been great. I don't use them for direct recording. I use them for slaving and re-amping FWIW.
 
I'm going to try another amp with it tonight and I'll report back.
 
It wasn't the reactive load.

The problem had never happened before when playing the amp through the cab. The difference is that I normally have the channel volumes lower and use the master to raise and lower the overall volume. Through the RL tonight I verified that the problem is only there if I raise the channel volume high. If I keep the channel volumes lower I can dime the master and it sounds perfect through the RL.

The issue appears to be that I'm putting too much power through the MXR 10 band that I have in the loop - I found I can make it's lights flash while playing when the volume gets high enough. The problem only shows up when I put more power through it with preamp volume. Once I get between 6 and 7 on the preamp volume then it completely goes to shit. I've had the EQ in the loop almost the whole time I've had the amp, but it's never given a problem because I always use the master and channel volumes were left lower.
 
Not sure if it's the same thing, but when I first bought my SRL Load, I had similar issues. Playing low it was ok, but after a few minutes or if I turned the amp up, it would clip and sound fuzzy, like playing through a telephone line. It turned out to be my speaker cable, once I replaced it, never had the issue again.
 
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