Any Worthy "Upgrade" from the Suhr RL:IR?

Bardagh

Bardagh

Well-known member
I've had a Suhr Reactive Load IR for a couple years and got a lot of good use out of it, especially before I built out my studio area in my basement. However I use it less and less because 1) I don't need to use it often and 2) with some amps the way it handles the low end bugs me. It seems at once both a little too compressed and squishy but also kind of like its letting some unnatural bass resonance through unaffected. With some amps in particular there seems to be some big "whump whump" bass that it lets through in a weird way that the amp does not produce through any of my cabs. It's the worst with my Deliverance.

Maybe its the built-in impedance curve, I'm not really sure. I should probably experiment with comparing the sound from using the load box alone versus while also being connected to a cab (which disables the reactive load portion and then the device just functions as a pass-through amp DI) and see if what ends up in the DAW is very different.

Regardless, I still have a use for this kind of device but I'm wondering if one of the other ones that have come out like the Fractal load box, the Driftwood, or even that St Rock one would be worth "upgrading" to? I haven't seen a lot of feedback about these other devices, whereas tons of people have used and discussed the Suhr. I wouldn't bother moving on if it is only a very subtle difference.
 
I haven't noticed what you are describing with the Suhr RLIR, but knowing the impedance curve they used it doesn't really surprise me a bunch on issues you are having with some amps. You can run the Suhr RLIR in parallel with your cab and see what you think, that will lessen the effect of the Suhr. If could be with your Deliverance that you may be better off with a more restive load.

I am doing a lot of reamping (slaving) and I have been thinking of getting the Fractal X-load. The AMT PE-120 looks really cool as well, but not sure if you can get it. https://amtelectronics.com/new/amt-power-eater-120/ I am aware of the Driftwood, but I remember seeing the price and it being higher than some of the other options, but so is the AMT. Fryette also makes a load box with just their load from the power station, but when I have compared the load in the PS-2 to the suhr, I found the fryette to have more low end response and not be as clear, tweaking the settings on the fryette and they still sounded different.
 
blackba said:
I haven't noticed what you are describing with the Suhr RLIR, but knowing the impedance curve they used it doesn't really surprise me a bunch on issues you are having with some amps. You can run the Suhr RLIR in parallel with your cab and see what you think, that will lessen the effect of the Suhr. If could be with your Deliverance that you may be better off with a more restive load.

I am doing a lot of reamping (slaving) and I have been thinking of getting the Fractal X-load. The AMT PE-120 looks really cool as well, but not sure if you can get it. https://amtelectronics.com/new/amt-power-eater-120/ I am aware of the Driftwood, but I remember seeing the price and it being higher than some of the other options, but so is the AMT. Fryette also makes a load box with just their load from the power station, but when I have compared the load in the PS-2 to the suhr, I found the fryette to have more low end response and not be as clear, tweaking the settings on the fryette and they still sounded different.
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Hadn't seen the AMT one yet, but yeah that would probably be hard to get. I will do what you mentioned and compare the reactive load signal vs just the amp DI through the Suhr RL connected to a cab. I've always found it kind of odd the Suhr RL has a hi cut switch because nothing has ever sounded too bright through it, but too dark or too much bass definitely.
 
Bardagh said:
Hadn't seen the AMT one yet, but yeah that would probably be hard to get. I will do what you mentioned and compare the reactive load signal vs just the amp DI through the Suhr RL connected to a cab. I've always found it kind of odd the Suhr RL has a hi cut switch because nothing has ever sounded too bright through it, but too dark or too much bass definitely.
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The hi cut is mainly for reamping. When you introduce double impedance curves into your signal, there tends to be excessive high end.
 
Meeotch said:
The hi cut is mainly for reamping. When you introduce double impedance curves into your signal, there tends to be excessive high end.
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Ah ok, that makes sense. I've never used it for that purpose so never ran into that.
 
Meeotch said:
The hi cut is mainly for reamping. When you introduce double impedance curves into your signal, there tends to be excessive high end.
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Pretty easy to add the high cut switch to the standard Suhr RL, which I have done. I used the Suhr RLIR as a guide to do the mod.

Not sure on the fractal how hard it is to add a high cut, but as you mentioned only useful if you are reamping with a tube power amp. If you run into a SS power amp out of the reactive load IR, than no real need for the high cut.
 
Bardagh said:
I should probably experiment with comparing the sound from using the load box alone versus while also being connected to a cab (which disables the reactive load portion and then the device just functions as a pass-through amp DI) and see if what ends up in the DAW is very different.
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This is an excellent idea and I encourage you to try it. In our tests we found the Suhr was very good, but the amp delivered slightly brighter and thicker tones when it circuit (compared to a cab). This was consistent with number of amps and 4 x 12 cabs, and was performed under controlled, repeatable conditions. I'd have to dig out the notes outlining the exact areas of deviation, but I think it was a little exaggerated around 80Hz and 4k.

We also tested the Fryette and this was also close, but darker without any switches engaged at least. The Two Notes stuff was way off in the overall response. Haven't tried the St Rock or Fractal.
 
Have same unit, when I get tired of the built in IRs I’ll use the DI and go to IRs in the DAW. Changes the sound enough that I can get thru the day, plus I have a bunch of OH stuff I like to use as well.

Tried it?
 
saxxamafone said:
Going by his review I think he really likes both but prefers the St Rock.
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Yeah, I think I'd have to be there in the room to make the call. Each sounded good and it just depended on the settings and what he played. Just wonder what 'truncates the IR' means...in layman's terms.
 
Bardagh said:
I've had a Suhr Reactive Load IR for a couple years and got a lot of good use out of it, especially before I built out my studio area in my basement. However I use it less and less because 1) I don't need to use it often and 2) with some amps the way it handles the low end bugs me. It seems at once both a little too compressed and squishy but also kind of like its letting some unnatural bass resonance through unaffected. With some amps in particular there seems to be some big "whump whump" bass that it lets through in a weird way that the amp does not produce through any of my cabs. It's the worst with my Deliverance.

Maybe its the built-in impedance curve, I'm not really sure. I should probably experiment with comparing the sound from using the load box alone versus while also being connected to a cab (which disables the reactive load portion and then the device just functions as a pass-through amp DI) and see if what ends up in the DAW is very different.

Regardless, I still have a use for this kind of device but I'm wondering if one of the other ones that have come out like the Fractal load box, the Driftwood, or even that St Rock one would be worth "upgrading" to? I haven't seen a lot of feedback about these other devices, whereas tons of people have used and discussed the Suhr. I wouldn't bother moving on if it is only a very subtle difference.
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The driftwood smokes it, period. My buddy loved his RL, until he heard my driftwood loadbox… he sold his the next say. I think the suhr is good no doubt, but the driftwood wins big time, because of exactly the issues you are experiencing: the low end response.
 
SpiderWars said:
What does he mean when he says the Suhr 'truncates' the IR?

TBH, I preferred the Suhr in some cases.
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Truncating refers to shortening the IR. IR lengths are in milliseconds, and the suhr takes a, say, 500ms IR and “shortens” it (truncates) to a shorter amount of time. Two notes does this as well, all the way down to 20 or 40ms I believe. What you loose is information from the IR. I’ve never done a tone test of a short IR vs a longer one personally, but it’s generally accepted that longer IR’s sound more natural and better frequency response.
 
VESmedic said:
The driftwood smokes it, period. My buddy loved his RL, until he heard my driftwood loadbox… he sold his the next say. I think the suhr is good no doubt, but the driftwood wins big time, because of exactly the issues you are experiencing: the low end response.
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Do you have any issues on the driftwood just having a pad switch versus a knob to control the level? I know I could add a diy.re reamp box which I already have to give me an adjustable level, just curious how limited the switch is in the driftwood, as the level control on the Suhr is something I use often.
 
I mentioned this in another post a while back. I was against load boxes for a long time. I thought they all sounded like crap. I think part of it is that I mostly heard people using Two Notes boxes. After hearing the Boss I really started looking at getting one. The Suhr was one of the best sounding of all the boxes I looked to, and is the one I ended up getting. The boxes all kind of fell into something like 4 tiers with the Suhr and Boss being the top, the Ox just behind them, and then you had great second/third tiers with Fractal, Fryette, and a few others(someone would have to go look at my post to see what I said about the middle tiers). Again, these middle tiers were great and this is not a shot at any of those products. I would have been happy with any of them. The Two Notes products were the worst tier and the only ones I would not recommend. I only thought the Ox was slightly lower than the Suhr and Boss because it didn't handle high gain sounds quite as well, but it was probably the best for cleans and breakup. The reason I bring this up is that I don't think you are going fix any complaints by getting another load box. The Suhr is a fantastic sounding box in comparison to every other load box out there. But, like all boxes, they aren't going to be able to perfectly replicate the dynamics and feel of a mic/cab. It's just physics. They are going to be compressed and emphasize frequencies in areas that a cab might not. If you are used to a mic/cab, it's going to stand out as you have noticed. I think expectations do have to be pulled in a bit here. I would recommend using the Suhr as a load, running the line level/unfiltered signal into your interface, and loading up IRs in your DAW. This is exactly how I use mine and I have had absolutely no desire to ever replace it. There's even times where I have scratch tracked with the Suhr, and then re-recorded through my cabs and stuck with the track recorded through the Suhr. Running IRs in the load box is going to sound different than loading them in your DAW. I would also recommend Ownhammer IRs. I almost always find myself going back to them.
 
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blackba said:
Do you have any issues on the driftwood just having a pad switch versus a knob to control the level? I know I could add a diy.re reamp box which I already have to give me an adjustable level, just curious how limited the switch is in the driftwood, as the level control on the Suhr is something I use often.
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Unfortunately mine is an older one that doesn’t have a pad switch, which is a bummer because my amps go in supppppppper hot level wise for sure without it. So, I use the bray line out box that’s like 59 bucks, which solves any issue entirely. I would imagine the -20db pad on the new driftwood loadboxes is more than adequate to taming thr level.
 
blackba said:
Do you have any issues on the driftwood just having a pad switch versus a knob to control the level? I know I could add a diy.re reamp box which I already have to give me an adjustable level, just curious how limited the switch is in the driftwood, as the level control on the Suhr is something I use often.
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I have one as well. I find the pad works well and I can find a level that fits
 
peterc52 said:
I have one as well. I find the pad works well and I can find a level that fits
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I think we’ve chatted before Peter but I’m not sure, how are you liking the driftwood loadbox? I hope if anyone bought it after seeing everything I’ve written about it, that it hasn’t let them down. I only say this because I’ve seen virtually zero mention of it anywhere else online.
 
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