Best Cab Emulator/Load Box?????

xJonnysixstring

I am struggling with BIAS software as anything other than a stop gap in the studio (why did I sell my kemper!) I have a few nice amps wondering what people recommend as far as Cab Emulators/Load boxes? Micing cabs is not really practical before 6pm as my studio is in an industrial estate, Mesa Cab Clone looks good but gets slated, any alternatives out there? 

Norwegian_Blue

Two Notes Torpedo Live! Pricey I know, but seriously impressive, and all I'll send to a desk live now, regardless of what mic are available. Or get a reactive load and run Impulse Responses if it's just studio work?

guitarfishbay

Two Notes are highly regarded

Dodge

I've had some success with a Palmer load box, but most analogue speaker sims are crap, the Palmer included.

You will want some sort of reactive box, the resistive ones lose a lot of detail in the sound (which could be countered with a bit of EQing before it hits your speaker simulator).

The best solution for speaker simulators these days is an impulse response, perhaps something like the AMT Pangaea?

xscaramanga

I agree that impulse responses are definitely the way to go. If you want an all-in-one solution, the Two Notes Torpedo Live, which Norwegian Blue mentioned, is a load box which runs IRs: http://www.two-notes.com/en/hardware/torpedo-live/index.html

I haven't used one, but I like the concept.

I use a Sequis Motherload Elemental. The onboard analogue emulation is useable but I don't love it. I take a signal from the FX send and add IRs for recording, and I've had some killer tones.

xJonnysixstring

I will check out the impulse, cheers guys, this is simply for studio work.

LeeCassidy

Dodge said:

I've had some success with a Palmer load box, but most analogue speaker sims are crap, the Palmer included.

You will want some sort of reactive box, the resistive ones lose a lot of detail in the sound (which could be countered with a bit of EQing before it hits your speaker simulator).

The best solution for speaker simulators these days is an impulse response, perhaps something like the AMT Pangaea?

I use a Palmer PDI-03. I've been in this loadbox and impulses game for a good few years now, and I've been very happy with the Palmer.

What I do is send the signal into the loadbox, then take a DI from that and send it through an impulse in my DAW. Both the PDI-03 and PGA-04 have facilities for this (I've had both). At this point, I'd only recommend a Two Notes over them or similar devices, like Suhr 's Reactive Load, or Koch's Loadbox II, if for some reason you can't or don't want to have a DAW in the mix. Otherwise , so long as the device has a reactive load, they're all going to sound the same. I say that because a reactive load being better than a resistive load the received wisdom on the internet, however...

The CabClone is s resistive load, and I did a comparison between it and my Palmer, which is reactive, using both devices in-built simulation, and they basically sound the same to me. Neither sounded good, and shared a very similar characteristic. The CabClone I used is the one built in to my Mesa head, which only has the simulated output. But the standalone one has a separate unfiltered output that you could apply an impulse to. I haven't heard anybody try this, but I bet it would basically sound indistinguishable from a reactive loadbox going through an impulse.

Can post the comparison video if anybody is interested.

hubobulous

I would absolutely recommend the following:

• Two Notes Torpedo Live
• Suhr Reactive Load Box
• Rivera Rockcrusher Recording

If it doesn't need the Load Box element, the Two Notes Torpedo CAB is also excellent.

Dodge

LeeCassidy said:

Dodge said:

I've had some success with a Palmer load box, but most analogue speaker sims are crap, the Palmer included.

You will want some sort of reactive box, the resistive ones lose a lot of detail in the sound (which could be countered with a bit of EQing before it hits your speaker simulator).

The best solution for speaker simulators these days is an impulse response, perhaps something like the AMT Pangaea?

I use a Palmer PDI-03. I've been in this loadbox and impulses game for a good few years now, and I've been very happy with the Palmer.

What I do is send the signal into the loadbox, then take a DI from that and send it through an impulse in my DAW. Both the PDI-03 and PGA-04 have facilities for this (I've had both). At this point, I'd only recommend a Two Notes over them or similar devices, like Suhr 's Reactive Load, or Koch's Loadbox II, if for some reason you can't or don't want to have a DAW in the mix. Otherwise , so long as the device has a reactive load, they're all going to sound the same. I say that because a reactive load being better than a resistive load the received wisdom on the internet, however...

The CabClone is s resistive load, and I did a comparison between it and my Palmer, which is reactive, using both devices in-built simulation, and they basically sound the same to me. Neither sounded good, and shared a very similar characteristic. The CabClone I used is the one built in to my Mesa head, which only has the simulated output. But the standalone one has a separate unfiltered output that you could apply an impulse to. I haven't heard anybody try this, but I bet it would basically sound indistinguishable from a reactive loadbox going through an impulse.

Can post the comparison video if anybody is interested.

I did the same.  Mine was a PGA-4 which is 'reactive', although not really representative of a real impedance curve (it's just an inductor inline with the load resistors).  I did exactly what you did and run the line out into my DAW and used IR's.  I will do the same again when I've sourced / built a 16 ohm loadbox to match my AC30's.  It's the best low volume solution I've found.

The built in simulation of the Palmer was pretty crap, it's just a high frequency roll off like most of the other ones out there.  It doesn't surprise me much that with that sort of filtering that the reactive vs resistive load doesn't sound very different.  Using IR's is a completely different kettle of fish though.

Here's a good example (not mine) of someone switching between a reactive and resistive load box through IR's:

LeeCassidy

That's interesting to hear. I'm not sure what the 'reamped through solid state' means, but you're right, there's clearly a difference there. Thanks!

Edit: Relistened to that clip on my monitors, and the resistive load sounds like it could sound very similar to the reactive if an Impedance Curve impulse was added to it, like the ones Redwirez includes in their packs. 

ICBM

Sequis Motherload.

wellsyboy

had a sequis motherload - excellent! have torpedo live - best thing I've used - cab clone had one on a mark 5 25 - meh!

digitalscream

If you don't mind running at low power output (< 15W), AMT do an excellent little box here:

http://amtelectronics.co.uk/accessories/pe-15

Mine just turned up today, and it compared very favourably with the 100W load box that randomhandclaps made for me. I'm going to be doing a demo video at the weekend with the JCA50H and JCA22H. Also, if you want one of those, use the coupon code "FB10" for a 10% discount exclusive to Fretboard members.

For the cab emulation, I use Two Notes Wall of Sound III in Reaper ***. I use the Buddha 2x12" cab model in stereo, along with left/right room impulses from the RedWirez Mesa V30 pack.

All told, that's the same functionality as a Torpedo Live, but for about £110 as opposed to £650. If you only want it for home/studio use, it's a no-brainer.

EDIT ***: On a personal note, the shocker here was that Wall of Sound III actually works under WINE in Linux. That might not sound like a big thing, but trust me...it was almost as surprising as BFD3 working.

Deijavoo

+1 for a @randomhandclaps box. 

digitalscream

It's also worth noting that the AMT and the one randomhandclaps made are both reactive load boxes, not resistive. I have a RAT Amps resistive box here too, and it sounds balls by comparison. The main differences are in the bass and low-mids - they're a lot fuzzier with resistive boxes, and I found that all the resistive loads I've used make every amp sound pretty much the same. That's not true of the two reactive loads I have.