Two Notes vs Ox vs Suhr vs Fryette vs Kemper vs Cabinet
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- I have a pile of cab simulators and load boxes, and I put them to the test! This is a cover of a new Zakk Wylde BLS tune, "Betrayal".
Amp is a BE-100. Be sure to also listen in a different order (flipping around). To get a real feel for the difference in sound.
The IR I'm using is from Celestion's Greenback pack:
G12M GREENBK 4x12 C HI-GN 121+57 CELESTION
www.celestionplus.com/product...
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Hi, my name is Michael Nielsen. I'm a composer/producer. I write music for movie trailers, video game soundtracks, commercials, movies and tv shows. This channel is dedicated to guitar related gear and music production. My production and publishing company is called Ninja Tracks. My guitar sound design is available for Kemper, TwoNotes, THU Overloud, IK ToneX, and IR's.
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► MY SOUNDS - www.bighairyprofiles.com
► COMPOSER WEBSITE - www.michaelnielsenmusic.com
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► NINJA TRACKS - NinjaTracks.com
►MY MUSIC -
open.spotify.com/album/1KiGip...
open.spotify.com/album/301hV3...
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►LINKS TO PRODUCTS -
BHS Iconic Tones Vol1: Hair Metal for Overloud THU:
www.overloud.com/products/bhs...
Big Hairy Guitars Cab IR's: bighairyprofiles.com/products...
Two Notes - BigHairyGuitars Pack: store.two-notes.com/en/home/8...
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Overloud TH-U Rig Packs: www.overloud.com/rig-librarie...
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00:00 intro
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)
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....
Thanks for the times Robert!
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
Fryette sounds absolutely killer!
Yes, you are correct....but, I bet you, in a real blind test without being aware which one is which, we wouldn't be so sure :)
@@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.
Fryette had that "something" I liked. Focus and presence. Good cut through. Thx dude.
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.
Thank you!! I've been looking everywhere for this exact demo.
I asked a question on your unboxing and days later this video pops up, awesome job as always Michael!
Awesome playing ! Awesome riffs ! and perfect sound with real cabinet !
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!
The sickest riffs!!!
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.
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.
Killer comparisons, love all your vids brutha!
dude , your play and your sound are great! all of them sound good!
This video made me subscribe. Great comparison and tasty playing!
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.
Awesome playing, Michael! That Friedman would make a can of cat food sound wonderful. Great amp! Regarding the simulators, the Kemper sounds amazing!
I liked the head into an actual mic’d cab everytime. First tone with a basic 57 sounded the best to me.
Another amazing video.
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!
What song is it?
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!!
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. 🤘🤘🤘
Great video man and excellent playing.
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 ! *_*)
Always the best sound on CZcams.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Fantastic video. You're the man!
I don't care what sounds best...they all sound great. Killer composition and chops! Now release that Friedman BE profile pack!!!!!!
+1
the song is Zakk Wylde though ;)
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! 👍🤘
Entirely excellent demo!!!
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%
All sounded really good ! However , the cab mic'd with the 57 was my favorite
Epic vid Michael. That Gibson stole the show !
Great playing man!
In this demo top 3: I liked mic'd up first, then the Kemper, then Fryette. Such a cool demo.
The Kemper definitely did that "tightening and embiggening" of the low end thing that it does. Part of the charm of that box.
Love your video’s bud!! Keep up the tone..🔊🔊🔊
Badass riffing Michael!
all sounded great, so just use whatever you want/need
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.
It is indeed.
Jhon Ackerman 08r
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!
Great riffs!
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.
kemper is
Great demo !
fantastic playing
This is a great demonstration of the Kemper "cocked wah mids" thing they do.
Did you find it any easier to get those tones to work in the mix than others?
Yeah. That is the constant challenge with the Kemper. I'll usually profile a sound many times, in different ways before I land on a profile that represents the amp, and doesn't have the cocked wah effect. Getting them to work in a mix? Yes, I'll do another video that talks about that. It's kinda of a discussion. Thanks for watching!
Michael Nielsen perhaps a video illustration on likely profiling tips would be cool? :) If I remember correctly you had mentioned to me about compensating with micing. Personally I have tried refining in gazillion ways -- and proper refining helps. At best It gets close, and it's possible to confuse people in a recording, very much depending on what one plays.... But run a DI of a simple melody vs the amp and you see the added "rasp" that comes with the profile.
Some may even like this because it can create the impression that kemper "cuts more". I personally don't, because it tends to alter the "feel" of the amp. Quite often comparing direct amp signals I find that it is relatively small tonal nuances that give each amp its special character -- And some of that tends to get lost because of the above issue. If given tones A and B are truly identical so is the feel (latency apart).
That OX sounded pretty freakin' good!
Really great playing
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!
My personal favorite was the banana.
Jokes aside I think the most natural ones were the OX and the Suhr Reactive Load (which I own). 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. :)
Excellent work! I feel the real mic'd amps have a little more "sizzle", whereas the IRs tend to "round out" the sizzle a little perhaps? They all sounded great though! And your drums sound huge! What do you use for drums?
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
I actually like the teeny bit of color the PS100 adds tonthe mids.
I was looking for coverage on the OX and didn't know Fryette, it sounded outstanding.
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!
The Banana eating is the best part.. haha..
Great video and thank you for doing it, really enjoy watching it. Keep doing it
Cheers ..
Sage Benado.
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.
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
great stuff! was wondering about those banana girls as well lately - good job on that too ! =)
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
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.
Damn. The real thing sounded the best, but you're right, they all sound good!
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.
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)
Great vid!
Man that Friedman sounds crazy good!
GOD DAMN When everything kicks in a @1:47. Everything sounds great, I still think number one sounds the best.
Great video, thanks for putting it together! I have a Kemper but always wonder if the grass is greener with one of these other boxes and a real amp. I have tried many modelers and never liked any IRs, always something stiff or thin about them. I do think the 1st clip of the miced amp is best, but I'll stick with my Kemper after hearing this comparison. Don't have any amps anymore and don't need em!
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.
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.
Great playing like always. I am curiosity how is the feel of playing through them? More different than recording? what is the song? Thanks
Hey Michael, good work !
I would be interested in a comperison of the attenuators (only) miced with the original cabinet.
For me its still interesting to mic a amp, because of the original speaker/mic/room sound and to build my unique sound. but it I ask myself if it makes sense to record with a attenuator to avoid extreme loudness.
do you have experience with this?
Great Test, great battle royal!!! They all sound excellent. Are you going to share the KEMPER Profiles?
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 want this kemper profile buddy ! Its great!
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!"...
everything with the be 100 is absolutely killing imo ! I prefer the very first one with the mics (in the mix, isolated it's different)
Man, I want the tabs to that song please!!
Great playing!
The BE to can was heads and shoulders above everything else, and I probably liked the Kemper in second place.
The other thing that stood out to me was that while the BE was so much better when in stand alone, it was much harder to distinguish once in the mix.
I think we all (including me) spend too much time listening to demos (okay, GREAT demos, with GREAT guitar playing Mr Nielsen) trying to work out if we have the "best" gear, instead of practicing, and then writing great songs. There's a reason why "the old stuff is the best" and it's because they were forced to work with what they had because there weren't so may options. Oh god, I sound like an old fart, don't I? :O) Subscribed!
Great vid and yep, nothing beats a good head and cab. Speaking of good head.. 13 million likes incoming for Banaman!! Lol \o/
Bwahahaha!
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.
Very interesting .... I own a Power Station but I am not using to record, looks like it sounded very cool here !!! Real cab was my fav, followed but Fryette ... itneresting as I was planing to buy an OX ... mmm
The mic´d up cab (both versions) sounded fantastic! Nice riffage to, was thinking Zakk even before I read the description ;-)
I´m a Kemper owner myself and I think it sits nicely in the mix in this demo, maybe too compressed though. But it´s lacking some of the raw (in a good way),
beastly sound of the mic´d cab.
Any difference in how all these they "feel" to play through?
Thank you for yet another great video!
Great! Funny to see that for nailing the Sm57-Vintage 30 sound on other stuff you sometimes have to use GB G12M speakers... Funny because a GB and a V30 are really different soundwise! But as you said, the final sound what was important!
So it still drop a question: does those speaker IR always realy near the original product?
Thanks for these! I'm torn between the Suhr RL and the Fryette Power Load for direct recording. I like the fact the Fryette has it's own speaker emulator, but based on videos it sounds like the Suhr may be slightly more transparent? Does the Fryette add compression? Is the speaker emulator good enough I'll be happy with it or will I end up buying a Torpedo CAB or similar anyhow? I'm looking for best tonal options since I have some nice amps, but simplicity is cool too! Which unit do you prefer in person?
Very nicely done Micheal and great timing. Obviously the miked cab sounded the best. I think the last recording with the Two Notes Studio came next and then the OX. However, I did think the slight volume changes of the solo effected judgement just a pinge and the different solos but not enough to alter final opinions. I liked the Kemper also but I find the issue with the Kemper/Axe-FX is dinamics. The sound is really quite good but I miss the tubes breathing with the dinamics of the player. Kind of like a drum machines flaw. Im just thinking that a Re-Amped version of the same test might have been more accurate, but it probably would not have changed my final opinion. Great playing and tune. Love the clean look of your stidio and those speakers. Just sayin. LOL. Keep up the great work and thanks very very much for this much needed video that we were ALL waiting for.
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!!
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.
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)
Great comparison, thanks! while i am all for the banana (for sure!), may i ask, in which mode you used the Torpedo Studio? Reactive or Resistive load?
The Kemper and real amp sound the best to my ears. Dug the Fryette a bit as well. What are you using for drums here? They sound great!
You are hilarious, man! Oh yeah, great video, too.
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).
Well, you showed that I prefer greenbacks, even if via IR. Fryette and Suhr sounded best to me. I liked the Ox, but a bit too much speaker sizzle.
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.
great digital sound
Great video! Reload Studio and Kemper win in my opinion.
Great comparison. There's nothing like pushing real air! But all of the load boxes and Kemper sound really good - 90-95% there. How big is your iso room where you tracked the cab? I've been thinking about burying a cab in a closet with a lot of absorption, but not sealing it completely so the low end has room to escape and breathe. Seems like you need a certain size room to avoid getting weird comb filtering though.
Hey Michael. Thanks for the comparison video! Would you be willing to upload these clips onto a more audio friendly platform like SoundCloud? Thanks!
You should make IR of your cab and use the same impulse every time to really compare what the machines really sounds like
That would eliminate the UA Ox. It doesn't allow third party IRs to be loaded. Fair enough for the others though.
Nice!