Do I need an Ox Box from Universal Audio?

lukedlb

I would like to begin recording the Hendrix covers I have been studying. It would be nice to get a studio quality recording rather than the iPhone memos I record to. I have a superlead and all the pedals necessary for Jimi. A real-world solution would mean buying decent mics, a mic preamp and the audio interface to my mac, not to mention the recording software (although garageband and audacity is already on my old 2008 macbook pro). A lot of time, money and effort went into getting the right cabs and speakers, not to mention the amps. While I do play the classic Hendrix songbook, I have much more interest in the more melodic and warmer guitar tones he got, so everything from clean to fuzz driven. Plus, I've been warned to avoid attenuation on vintage amps
However, I wonder whether going the ox box route might make everything simpler.
Moreover, I could also attenuate the amps and finally hear their true drive. 
Furthermore, I could play in the bedroom with headphones rather than down in the cellar with the risk of bothering my neighbours.

I'm hesitating from buying the unit as I would've expected an update by now, which does impact upon the used price if I have to sell on. In fact, there's one for sale near me for £800 so I could take a hit and still sell it on.

Thoughts? I did buy the Revival Drive to avoid attenuating the amp for my drive. But now that I'm curious about recording and would appreciate playing through headphone....

Unless you can persuade me to get other kit or recording equipment.

stickyfiddle

Do you have a really long coily, tone-sucky cable? (not joking!)

lukedlb

stickyfiddle said:

Do you have a really long coily, tone-sucky cable? (not joking!)

Actually, I eq it out if needs be. I made the effort to reduce capacitance in all my cables so that tone suck would be a choice, not a limit. Ear piercing screeching held at bay via a pedal. Mids boosted or thickened via fuzz or Klone. 

Wazmeister

Luke, the OX is a cracking device for sounds after you're amp. That is, room mikes, cabs and verb/delay. Sounds awesome and the iPad feature is cracking...

However, as an attenuator, i didn't rate it as much. It attenuates on clicks (not freely like a Fryette Power Station), and I found it didn't reproduce the actual sound of my Rambler. It could have been user error, but my amp(s) definitely sounded different.

The Fryette PS was superb as an attenuator style unit.

What about the new Boss thingy ?

lukedlb

Wazmeister said:

Luke, the OX is a cracking device for sounds after you're amp. That is, room mikes, cabs and verb/delay. Sounds awesome and the iPad feature is cracking...

However, as an attenuator, i didn't rate it as much. It attenuates on clicks (not freely like a Fryette Power Station), and I found it didn't reproduce the actual sound of my Rambler. It could have been user error, but my amp(s) definitely sounded different.

The Fryette PS was superb as an attenuator style unit.

What about the new Boss thingy ?

So, attenuator aside (let’s consider it a bonus that works on some amps), would the ox box be a top choice for digital recording without real mics? Is there another option that does a better job?
Any reports on playability with headphones?

mrkb

Also consider the Boss tube amp expander, but it’s very new so no used options and a bit more than ox box.

lukedlb

Wazmeister said:

Luke, the OX is a cracking device for sounds after you're amp. That is, room mikes, cabs and verb/delay. Sounds awesome and the iPad feature is cracking...

However, as an attenuator, i didn't rate it as much. It attenuates on clicks (not freely like a Fryette Power Station), and I found it didn't reproduce the actual sound of my Rambler. It could have been user error, but my amp(s) definitely sounded different.

The Fryette PS was superb as an attenuator style unit.

What about the new Boss thingy ?

So, attenuator aside (let’s consider it a bonus that works on some amps), would the ox box be a top choice for digital recording without real mics? Is there an alternative for only post amp reproduction?

andy_k

Mooer radar is a cheap option, but still needs a load box. Plenty of options in there, plus the ability to load IRs.

lukedlb

andy_k said:

Mooer radar is a cheap option, but still needs a load box. Plenty of options in there, plus the ability to load IRs.

Does my amp’s speaker output go into the Mooer?

Branshen

lukedlb said:

andy_k said:

Mooer radar is a cheap option, but still needs a load box. Plenty of options in there, plus the ability to load IRs.

Does my amp’s speaker output go into the Mooer?

It can't without a load box. One option is the new Suhr reactive load IR. 

lukedlb

Branshen said:

lukedlb said:

andy_k said:

Mooer radar is a cheap option, but still needs a load box. Plenty of options in there, plus the ability to load IRs.

Does my amp’s speaker output go into the Mooer?

It can't without a load box. One option is the new Suhr reactive load IR. 

I remember £600 from another thread. Not so far from a used Ox. 

Pablocrackers

Wazmeister said:

Luke, the OX is a cracking device for sounds after you're amp. That is, room mikes, cabs and verb/delay. Sounds awesome and the iPad feature is cracking...

However, as an attenuator, i didn't rate it as much. It attenuates on clicks (not freely like a Fryette Power Station), and I found it didn't reproduce the actual sound of my Rambler. It could have been user error, but my amp(s) definitely sounded different.

The Fryette PS was superb as an attenuator style unit.

What about the new Boss thingy ?

I feel the same about my Ox absolute best recording device ive tried really realistic sounds and feels just the like the amp and cab plus you get studio quality verb, fx and 1176 compressor but i hate the attenuator! Maybe i hate all attenuators tho never found one that stays true to the amps tone!

lukedlb

Pablocrackers said:

Wazmeister said:

Luke, the OX is a cracking device for sounds after you're amp. That is, room mikes, cabs and verb/delay. Sounds awesome and the iPad feature is cracking...

However, as an attenuator, i didn't rate it as much. It attenuates on clicks (not freely like a Fryette Power Station), and I found it didn't reproduce the actual sound of my Rambler. It could have been user error, but my amp(s) definitely sounded different.

The Fryette PS was superb as an attenuator style unit.

What about the new Boss thingy ?

I feel the same about my Ox absolute best recording device ive tried really realistic sounds and feels just the like the amp and cab plus you get studio quality verb, fx and 1176 compressor but i hate the attenuator! Maybe i hate all attenuators tho never found one that stays true to the amps tone!

How’s playing with headphones direct on the ox?

Pablocrackers

Awesome, cant imagine getting a better result perhaps real mics get a tiny bit more life about them but its really close

EricTheWeary

I was watching the Buddy Miller video on Premier Guitar and he uses one for recording now. Says he can’t hear the difference to mics. Not that I know much about them but that’s a pretty high level of recommendation. 

lukedlb

Pablocrackers said:

Awesome, cant imagine getting a better result perhaps real mics get a tiny bit more life about them but its really close

I’m almost sold. What do I need to connect to my MacBook Pro (2008)?

goldtop

lukedlb said:

Pablocrackers said:

Awesome, cant imagine getting a better result perhaps real mics get a tiny bit more life about them but its really close

I’m almost sold. What do I need to connect to my MacBook Pro (2008)?

Depends. Does that MacBook Pro have one of Apple's combined 3.5mm analogue + digital inputs? If so, you could use a bog-standard optical SPDIF coax cable and one of these widgets: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OPTICAL-TOSLINK-CABLE-LEAD-ADAPTER-TO-3-5MM-MINI-TOS-JACK-PLUG-ADAPTOR-SPDIF/272297158420

(The Ox is a bit weird in that it has all of the necessary USB connections for audio out to an attached Mac/PC/iPad but it lacks the firmware to do it. Maybe that will come in an update?)

lukedlb

goldtop said:

lukedlb said:

Pablocrackers said:

Awesome, cant imagine getting a better result perhaps real mics get a tiny bit more life about them but its really close

I’m almost sold. What do I need to connect to my MacBook Pro (2008)?

Depends. Does that MacBook Pro have one of Apple's combined 3.5mm analogue + digital inputs? If so, you could use a bog-standard optical SPDIF coax cable and one of these widgets: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OPTICAL-TOSLINK-CABLE-LEAD-ADAPTER-TO-3-5MM-MINI-TOS-JACK-PLUG-ADAPTOR-SPDIF/272297158420

(The Ox is a bit weird in that it has all of the necessary USB connections for audio out to an attached Mac/PC/iPad but it lacks the firmware to do it. Maybe that will come in an update?)

specifications suggest this:

• Combined optical digital input/analog line in (minijack)
• Combined optical digital output/analog line out (minijack)

for this model (I've substituted the HD with an SSD):
https://support.apple.com/kb/SP503?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US

Is there another possible solution from that info?

goldtop

So that would do just fine, and is by far the cheapest solution (about £10). And has the benefit of no extra drivers to load (and maintain).

Most people, of course, use an audio interface and you'd have the option of Firewire or USB - and then you'd use the analogue output of the Ox into one of the analogue inputs on the audio interface. More £££s, more hassle - but ultimately more flexible as/when you want to use other analogue sources and/or studio monitors, etc.

andy_k

our options these days are pretty limitless.
If you really want to use your amp, I would suggest either the OX box, I think it does what you want, or you could buy or build an Iso cab.
My own experience has been with the Mooer Radar, I have a modded Marshall Class 5 head, which has a built in load, so I tried the Radar on that for IRs, worked ok, But then I got just as good results using the Radar after a 5150 OD, into a Focusrite Scarlett, into Reaper.I split the signal before the pedal, and got a DI which I then used amp sims and IRs in Reaper, apples and oranges I know, but when it was in a mix it all sounded fruity.
Think of budget and upgrade a bility, the Radar is a handy little tool that does a lot for a ton, If your amp sees the correct load, you could still use the radar from the FX loop, Line out  or whatever you have.
I also have a couple of attenuators, a powerbrake, and a weber Mass, both have line outs to allow silent recording, so that could be another option, some of the good attenuators are very good.

dindude

lukedlb said:

Pablocrackers said:

Wazmeister said:

Luke, the OX is a cracking device for sounds after you're amp. That is, room mikes, cabs and verb/delay. Sounds awesome and the iPad feature is cracking...

However, as an attenuator, i didn't rate it as much. It attenuates on clicks (not freely like a Fryette Power Station), and I found it didn't reproduce the actual sound of my Rambler. It could have been user error, but my amp(s) definitely sounded different.

The Fryette PS was superb as an attenuator style unit.

What about the new Boss thingy ?

I feel the same about my Ox absolute best recording device ive tried really realistic sounds and feels just the like the amp and cab plus you get studio quality verb, fx and 1176 compressor but i hate the attenuator! Maybe i hate all attenuators tho never found one that stays true to the amps tone!

How’s playing with headphones direct on the ox?

Honestly, it sounds incredible with phones.

I’ve hated every headphone solution I’ve tried (modelling / IR’s etc.) - but having very young children needed to find a silent solution. I now prefer playing through the OX with cans than without at home. With the room mics, and the exceptional studio reverb / delay it’s an incredibly immersive experience. It’s also very very flexible but easy to get your arms around, plenty of mics / cabs without overkill and no temptation to load 3rd party IR’s and go down that rabbit hole. And with no screen, once I’ve set up some “rigs”, I just plug and play and forget it’s got digital wizardry. 

I wouldn’t worry about obsolescence either, it’s a stand alone piece of kit that’ll sound good in 20 years time. And UA don’t chuck things out on a whim.

One of the best pieces of kit I’ve ever purchased.