07:47 Two Notes Torpedo Studio 06:46 Two Notes Torpedo Studio (with 3rd party IR) 05:45 Universal Audio OX 03:42 Suhr Reactive Load 04:43 Fryette Power Station 2 02:41 Kemper 01:40 and a real mic'd up cab 08:49 and a real mic'd up cab (with EQ in the mix) Some time corrections.... This overview is excellent and really the only way to make an informed decision (most "pro" guys on youtube are able to make just about everything sound amazing) All software emulations are exhibiting some kind of nasal frequency shift when compared to the real thing. Close but....
I agree about the sound being a little bit worse compared to the real thing, but listening to that whole thing a couple of times I noticed myself to drift away from analytical thinking and just enjoying the music. Which for me is proof that all of these solutions(even those that I didn't like that much here) are capable of producing great results. Technology has come a long way, the differences are negligible
@@BigHairyGuitars Sir, you can pin this comment so that people who come see the shootout after all these years see it as the first comment so it is easier to find the times. Thank you so much for the shootout and love your kemper profiles.
The first clip sounds full and has so much life to it. All the cab IR's sound very close but like having a blanket over the amp. Some people say they can't tell the difference. When I hear a cab IR it hits me like a brick to the face every time. I just can't avoid it. The snare sounds insanely good.
That was GREAT! Thanks for taking the time to do this! I liked the mic'd amp tones best both with and without the EQ in the mix. I thought that the Suhr Reactive Load sounded great as well, and VERY close to it was the Fryette PS I thought that the OX was brighter, and a bit unnatural sounding, and the Kemper was a bit flat, and congested sounding compared to the others.
What stuck out to me more than anything was that number one was my favorite, that’s probably true in many of the comments I’ve seen here… But also, I found it interesting that my ears would pretty easily acclimate to whatever sound I had to listen to at that time. None of them were really embarrassing… Any of them would “work”… It’s just that the very first one was “the most traditional old-school way” of doing it and it’s still the best sounding technique for doing it. I’m going to pull this up in the studio in a few hours and hear it out there… Excellent job though… This must’ve taken forever to accomplish.
Well said, about it being interesting on your ears being able to pretty easily acclimate to all of them. I found that too. For me, number one was the best too, though.
Ray Torvalds - I find the same thing at home in a different way, I could be playing a balanced tone that I really like, then add a lot of treble with a stompbox and play for a while. If I then remove the treble, everything sounds so flat and lifeless even though it previously sounded great. It's weird how our ears and brain quickly change our impression of what sounds good.
The main thing that stands out to me is that example 1 sounded great so do we need anything else? I'd only say yes if you need to not be heard outside the room. I also thought that the rhythm guitars were not mixed as loud in some of the examples, but again; guitar-amp-cab-mic still dominates in my opinion. My question now is do I need one of those BE 100 amps!
Switching back and forth repetitively for about the past 15 minutes from real mic'd up cab to one of the load boxes, then back to the real mic'd up cab and another load box, it's apparent that none of them are dead on. However, at least to my ears it's obvious the Suhr is the closest to the source (amp and a real cab) tone, and in a comparison of load boxes where the most important thing is always which one sounds the most like the actual amp plugged into a cab, the Suhr is therefore the winner in my books! A lot of people seem to be focusing on the TONES they like here instead of that. I can understand people's liking the Torpedo and PS2 better because they sound very much brighter--in fact all of the load boxes do in comparison to the amp and cab which sound the darkest of the bunch--but it's important to keep in mind that it is not which tone sounds better, it's which load box sounds closest to the amp plugged into a cab ; ).
I wonder how much of that is actually the Torpedo WOS being way off. Would be interesting to hear each of these used as just attenuators to bump the volume WAY down into a mic'd cab and compare that to the full volume amp/cab.
Behind the amp and SM57 the Fryette definitely sounds the best to me. The Kemper sounds like a recorded guitar sound being played through monitors. Not bad at all but not very realistic compared to the real thing or through the Fryette. Great video! Thanks
Great sound from the amp, V30, 57, API. This recording has a full sound, round bottom that reveals some of the cab resonance. All of that is lost in the others. Thanks!
I'm watching this for the first time 3 years after you posted this. I was thinking the same thing but wasn't sure if I was losing it and just being biased to the real cabinet. So I agree with you 100%
what is crazy is that ALL of the reactive load boxes all shape the signal - compression, character and resonance bumps like eq- there are more boxes and there have their attributes.... the driftwood and red seven sounded the best I have heard solo and in the mixes and in dynamics/hamonic info
Wasn't expecting a BLS/Zakk Wylde cover tune- you killed it- was a nice surprise. In regards to the gear - either would certainly do a killer job. I tend to think that there are many other variables that contribute greatly to a persons "guitar tone" such as a persons technique, and overall mix. Again - well done!
01:40 and a real mic'd up cab 02:41 Kemper 03:42 Suhr Reactive Load 04:43 Fryette Power Station 2 05:45 Universal Audio OX 06:46 Two Notes Torpedo Studio (with 3rd party IR) 07:47 Two Notes Torpedo Studio 08:49 and a real mic'd up cab (with EQ in the mix)
Took quite a while to actually find a video comparing an ox (specifically the one I'm looking at) to an actual cab. Thanks for the very informative resource!
Outstanding demonstration. Thank you very much. EDIT: The more I listen to the demo, the more I like the Fryette in to WOS and the Ox. As of right now, I'm actually picking the Fryette/WOS combo as my favorite. Ox and head/cab/mic are neck and neck. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All of the units sounded really good raw and mixed. I have a very slight preference for the head/cab/mic combo in the first demo with no EQ. It's not as clear as the others, but in that, it muffles the "swik" or "swish" sound that I'm hearing from the others. Not digital fizz, but maybe just more apparent string noise. Just a little something i'm hearing more from the other demos, including the EQ'd head/cab/mic one, but not as prominently as the boxes. The Fryette and Ox demos are my number 2 and 3. Again though, all of these sounded very good. Would have no problem using any combination here. Michael, if you plan on doing more tests and demos like this, can you incorporate your AX8 if you still have it or an Axe FX III if you plan on getting one? Would love to hear how the load boxes and Fractal internal IRs work together. And the banana bit was hilarious.
Great job. Like you said they are really good. To my ears I liked the first pass of the Friedman straight in then the Fryette. Just something about the chunkiness of the rhythm that others didn’t have and I could actually hear some more fine details in the lead part that really set it apart. 🤘🤘🤘
This is the best! thanks for this really clear comparison. For me, getting the tone closest to the mic on the amp is the objective. That's the benchmark so thanks for including that! Kemper sounded closest to it.
Well, you proved that all of these options will do the job really nicely! Highlight here though is your badass playing :D I just bought a Kemper recently, having a blast with it.
Mic'd with mix, then Kemper were my fav. They sound identical as well. The reason I prefer them is because the natural smooth sound. The Ox is just a bit too much, sounds more like a plugin than an amp.
They all sound good. I like the Two Notes the best, but the straight up sm57 through the API is just heaven. So much life and dynamics in the tone. It's the harmonic overtones that really make the difference. The loadboxes sound really good and %99 of people would never know the difference. But when A/B them, I like having that little 5% extra ummph that cabs through an sm57 gives you. And I have an AxeFXIII and a Two Notes in my studio.
it all sounds great/pro level....and I'm so happy I have my Kemper AND my tube amps plus all the options like sm57,IRs.... if my little home studio would catch fire and I'd only had time to grab my Kemper, 2-3 guitars and a few pedals I could live with the grief (as a guitarist)
@@CafeCodeBunny nice. I've heard plenty of good reviews and good clips of the OX but in this specific clip it was my least favorite. when you say you use it for a reactive load, do you mean you then run into a computer for cab simulation in the box?
Fascinating. Thanks for the comparison. Well done. The simulations are impressive for a "zero volume scenario" but API + real mic on real cab is still the most natural sounding of the bunch. No question. Richer, smoother, and more open. That said I'm sure for most consumers of these products the whole point is that they *can't* crank a real amp and mic it at home so these are the next best option. Fryette had the "grunt" but not the sparkle. OX was impressive w bite but harsher, more scooped low mids, and more compressed than the real thing. Good work!
I think the only thing this video really proves is that we're in the golden age of gear, none of this sounds "bad" and really I don't think people would notice the difference had they been listening without knowing what it was. It's not like someone listening could tell "That's a Kemper" or "That's an OX Box!"...
I did a blind listen to your samples to avoid any bias... once on my iPod headphones and on my $500 studio headphones. They all sounded good! I preferred 1...2... and 4. Great video man! 👍🤘
To me the Fryette / Torpedo combo sounded best followed by the Suhr / Torpedo combo. And yes, I preferred them over the miced cabinet because of the tighter and more controlled sound. There was less hiss and fuzz in their sound. Torpedo on itself sounded also controlled and focused but was missing something with the first example. The second setting sounded better to my ears. The OX sounded somewhat crappy on the mids. The EQd cab / mic combo was better than the unprosessed. These are my impressions. Thanks for doing this. I really needed to hear this comparison. :) I had narrowed it down to the OX and Power Station 2. Now I got the answer. :)
You can get great sounds with any of them. I bet you can also get closer e.g. when digging into the parameters of the Ox or the Two Notes. For a home studio use I would be happy with any of them. For an album recording a mic'd up amp is the way to go
To my ears mic'd real amp sounds the best, the fullest, richest and the thickest sounding. Followed by Kemper, which sounds a little less raw than the 1st track but still has the most of everything like the real amp does. I have 3 Friedmans (2x BE and JJ) and a Wizard MTL, just recently sold the Kemper (loved it btw), so I'm kinda familiar with the things that are put for display in this vid... Your vids are always big fun to watch, keep them coming!
Interestingly as a mastering engineer, even the "real" cab ends up sounding exactly like the Ox, Two Notes etc. units. After the mix and on to the mastering stage, gear like Weiss comp, limiters and Sontec eq's it gets smoothed out all pretty with a consumer smiley curve. Most of the guitar edge as some here have pointed out, goes away a little to make it more "sounds like record" cliché. Tool's "Jambi" is a great example. It has mucho attitude but is "sounds like record" smooth. I like all these pieces of gear, but the solo in particular cut through best (as always) with the real cab and 57.
Nothing like the miked cabinet - there’s just more girth - even listening on an iPhone. The amp into the Torpedo studio (second to the last) was the closest, but still seemed to lack the low end punch.
Wow, you sir are a genius! That was excellent! You got them all to sound really good, hard to choose a clear winner. I’d say if you can engineer anywhere near what you just did that’s a win. Oh and nice riffs.
The BE-100 Through the Bogner Cab with a 57 Microphone No EQ or Compression Donkey Punches' all of those silly reactive load and IR boxes, turn it up and let the speakers , cab and Microphone do what they were born to do!
I had no idea that if you held Zakk Wylde down and shaved off his beard and cut his hair he'd look like an unassuming game developer. Awesome playing Michael!
I missed this video and It´s wonderful for me because I use the Torpedo WoS, but what killed me was the banana thing, I almost fell off my chair laughing!!
They all sound good. Most people here (except Michael) wouldn't be able to tell which one is which if we didn't know :) I am here for the banana anyway.
Great video! I was wondering exactly what some of these units would sound like compared to each other and it's super close. A few sounded better in the mix and thicker but it was great to hear.
Hi Dave /Marc , I like the Fryette ! *_*) ,, i wonder how the Marshall SE 100 speaker emulator be compared with theis ,,, I have 3 of them ,, I know Adje Vandenberg still plays with this SE100 and Joe Satriani still records his studio album with the SE100 ! *_*)
Great video Michael. The other element is speed to get the tones you are looking for. This is where the Ox excels for me-with a modeller or with a reactive load and IRs just get sucked down a rabbit hole. The Ox is just so quick and easy to get great tones in my opinion. You made all of these options sound really, really good.
The amped cab had a really nice high end sizzle and presence while also having a full sound to it. I think the UA OX really nailed it and sounded the most lifelike. However, if that was the specific sound you wanted, I wonder if EQ or other IRs could do it for you with the other set ups. When you tweaked the Torpedo, it also got close to that original tone. Great comparison, thanks for the video.
My old tinnitus-addled ears struggle to discern enough of a difference to declare a clear winner. Clearly though, with the state of technology, there are multiple options that yield acceptable results.
I’ve only tried two here, Two Notes and now Ox I recently purchased. I’m digging the Ox more, aside from the attenuation just sounding better the app sounds pretty damn good too. The price of the Ox is obviously considerably more too though. On a side note I’ve always wanted to try out the Kemper as well but after this video I think I’m good with what I have now, thanks 🤙
I'm Here for the Banana!! It did it all. but everything sounded perfectly acceptable, and by that i mean professional release ready. the first was definitely the hardest hitting, though i didn't notice it until i really clicked around and really a-b'd the shit out of everything! i liked the fryette and Two notes load boxes the best, but that's because i play metal, and that open E string SLAYED on those. but all the load box's/amp sims had their own nasty frequency in there that added to the feel and made them sound just a shade better than the kemper, which had no harsh frequencies, leaving it vanilla tasting. it did NOT grab me by the gonads, even though i couldn't tell why until i a-b'd. The UA definitely had multiple nasty frequencies which was kinda cool, but also a bit much. (also i tend to think that nasty freq's sound worse in IR's than in real life, so stacking them via amp sim or ir doesn't really work for me).
It’s incredible how good all the load boxes sounded in the mix using the IRs. Very hard to say which one had been the best and depending on personal preferences. However great solution for silent and hq home recording with a monster amp.
Great shootout! Man, you must have a lot of $! I was expecting the like the OX the most (and it sounded great) but the straight up miked cab and the Fryette sounded the best to me at first listen. It's a little hard to hear my type of tone with EMGs but overall, this was really well done. Thank you.
Despite sounding different, they all sounded good. I definitely thought the Kemper and Torpedo sounded best and were most similar to the original mic'd up amp.
I watched the video a couple of times and for me the clear winners are the miked cab and the Ox. The Torpedo, which i also have, isn‘t in no case bad sounding, but in my opinion it lacks in terms of definition and realism. I’m sorry, but for me a Kemper isn‘t really something to consider. I played an Axe Fx for about 8 years, and as i returned to real amps, it was kind of a rebirth..😁 What i did last night, as an experiment so to speak, was to combine the Attenuator of the Ox with the virtual cab section of the Torpedo. I can‘t explain what the Ox did with the Torpedo, but the result was quite stunning...I was about to sell the Torpedo, but in that combination and in my setup, the sound is killer! I tried it with some Fortin & Zilla Cab‘s, an amazing experience for my old ears....
If I'm not mistaken the Fryette is the only one with an actual tube power amp and can be used to add an effects loop to a stock vintage Marshall Super Lead for example. So it's more than just a recording device. Sounds good too.
I wasn’t going to comment until I saw the banana but at the end, the I couldn’t help myself. Ha, ha, ha. The sense of humor in these videos is as god as the gear content.
Thinking I like the 1st mic'd up one best. Playing is great, song is awesome. Would love to play over that track you're using 🎸🤘😁 Thanks for taking the time and the effort putting this together!!
Frankly, they are all bloody excellent....Give any of these sounds to a mixing engineer and he'd be delighted. I really couldn't pick a winner - and that goes for a live situation too.
I have the impression that the Fryette has more headroom. It makes it a bit more open, keeps the low end intact and cuts through the mix quite nicely. It clips more naturally than the Suhr and the OX. The kemper really showed its limitations here. It sounds good, but cannot compare to the tube amp.
#1 The OX ! I love the cut and clarity of the OX, even better than the real mic'd cab. To my ears, it best captures the up front "in-your-face" essence that fits well in the track.
Real amp and Torpedo + WOS stand out for me as the thickest, most present ones... that being said they all sound great and the differences are not a deal breaker in any case.
I liked all of them okay, but side by side I thought the Kemper sounded the weakest. Somehow compressed and nasal. Surprising to me, as I'd really like one of their boxes. I really thought the Universal Audio OX Box cut through with a commanding sound. I may have liked it better than the mic'd cab.
