st.Rock REACT:IR II (new version of the reactive loadbox)

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcstinger
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mcstinger

mcstinger

Well-known member
I happened to discover that a new version of REACT:IR II is on the market. It is probably a fresh product. The manual on the website still refers to the first version.
What pleased me was that the headphone output is a 1/4" jack. What did not please me was that it's no longer a rack device. A matter of taste, of course. I personally hate boxes of all kinds, which cannot be stacked on top of each other in a normal way and from which cables stick out in all directions. I also don't understand why the thru output and the attenuator output are not combined into one jack, i.e. switchable with a front panel switch. It's not exactly my hobby to shuffle the cables on the back of devices.

https://st-rock.com/reactirii/

For now, it's in sufficient quantity in the web shop. https://st-rock.com/shop/reactirii/

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Agree on what you mentioned. Wish it had a rackmount kit (maybe it will in the future) and a combined jack for attenuation and through. I didn’t see it described clearly on their page what the difference between mode I and II is?
 
Agree on all your points @mcstinger.

The dimensions look like it could be rack mountable as it is 18.5 inches wide and just shy of being a 3U, but yeah, big miss if it is not. Same with the through and attenuator outs, but I’m not technically informed enough to comment on why those outputs couldn’t be combined.

One thing I don’t like about my Fryette PS-100 and previously my PS-2A is the need to physically unplug the speaker out to go into real silent mode instead of allowing one to switch the unit into silent mode from the front…nobody likes reaching into the back of a rack….

Does anybody have an insight into why one would choose a passive load over a reactive load?

Very impressed with this brand for innovating and getting a new product line out given the difficult situation in the Ukraine. I wonder what customer support will look like by the end of the summer.
 
GrimTrigger said:
The dimensions look like it could be rack mountable as it is 18.5 inches wide and just shy of being a 3U, but yeah, big miss if it is not. Same with the through and attenuator outs, but I’m not technically informed enough to comment on why those outputs couldn’t be combined.
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Dimensions regarding to the product info are width x depth x height: 300x 170 x 73 (mm), it's approximately 12 x 7 x 3 inches. This info is from the product page. On a shop page is probably info about shipping dimensions. It would fit a 2U rack shelf.
 
cm….mm….:unsure:🤪 Thanks for the correct dimensions

Still curious about the passive v reactive load use…
 
GrimTrigger said:
Agree on all your points @mcstinger.

The dimensions look like it could be rack mountable as it is 18.5 inches wide and just shy of being a 3U, but yeah, big miss if it is not. Same with the through and attenuator outs, but I’m not technically informed enough to comment on why those outputs couldn’t be combined.

One thing I don’t like about my Fryette PS-100 and previously my PS-2A is the need to physically unplug the speaker out to go into real silent mode instead of allowing one to switch the unit into silent mode from the front…nobody likes reaching into the back of a rack….

Does anybody have an insight into why one would choose a passive load over a reactive load?

Very impressed with this brand for innovating and getting a new product line out given the difficult situation in the Ukraine. I wonder what customer support will look like by the end of the summer.
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Unplug the cable from the cab end instead?
 
Definitely a step in the right direction with features I would like to see personally. And not a bad price in the least for everything it offers, would love to grab one.
 
I had the first one and it kicked ass. I still prefer mic'ing cabs when I can but this is a great alternative. Looking forward to seeing the Count's demo of this one.
 
Soundstorm said:
I had the first one and it kicked ass. I still prefer mic'ing cabs when I can but this is a great alternative. Looking forward to seeing the Count's demo of this one.
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Micing is king for sure. But to me this is the next best thing. With the reactive and resonance turned on it’s very hard to tell when A/Bing. If you make your own impulse with it, then A/B I can’t really tell the difference.
 
GrimTrigger said:
Not a technical guy here, but my fat gut tells me doing that would fry my Fryette.
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I leave nothing plugged into mine and on silent recording and nothing happens. Are you turning the power amp on for some reason? You don’t even need to plug in the power cable if you’re using the PS for silent recording.
 
Chronic Narnia said:
I leave nothing plugged into mine and on silent recording and nothing happens. Are you turning the power amp on for some reason? You don’t even need to plug in the power cable if you’re using the PS for silent recording.
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I think unplugging the cab from the output of the Power Station is inevitable. If I use the Power Station in silent mode (power amp off), but have it plugged into my cab, the amp's full strength will come through and it is loud AF, however loud the amps is. The solution is to keep the power amp on with the volume at 0, but it is not perfect because a bit of sound still comes through the cab. If I were to keep the power amp, leave the cab plugged in at the back, but unplug it at the cab end, I would melt the Power Station's output transformer.

In summary, as I understand it:

power amp off + cab plugged in at both ends = loud sound
power amp off + cab plugged in only at Fryette = melt the amp?
power amp off + cab unplugged at both ends = silent recording (this is what you do, makes sense)

power amp on + cab plugged in at both ends = sound comes through, even with the Fryette volume at 0
power amp on + cab plugged in only at Fryette = melt the Fryette output transformer
power amp on + cab unplugged at both ends = melt the Fryette output transformer

So it is inevitable to have to reach into the back of the rack to disconnect the cab from the Fryette when I want to go fully silent.

It would be nice to be able to safely disable the Fryette 'speaker out' from the front of the unit.

Update: Updated my post to avoid misleading information about Fryette's PS-100. The volume knob does indeed cut all the signal out to the cabinets if you have the unit powered on and in operate mode (standby off). Turns out I have a ground loop that creates issues with the volume knob. Once the ground loop is removed, the volume knob works as intended. There is no need to disconnect the speaker cable from the back if you want to play silently.
 
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Vasilius said:
I missed the moment when Suhr became the standard for lodbokes...
but you can check here
https://thegearforum.com/threads/st...requency-response-graphs-included.5723/page-3

Comparing loadboxes is eqivalent to comparing of rubber women.
Need compare loadboxes to cabinets.
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I mean, maybe you'd know more than me on the subject but my understanding is that the UA Ox Box and Boss TAE came out several years back and were pretty wildly popular, and kind of introduced the concept of reactive load boxes to the public at large, but their attempts at emulating real impedance curves were fairly primitive, not all that accurate.

When the Suhr RL came out with an impedance curve that was actually close to the real thing, people finally had a loadbox with a curve good enough to be considered "realistic" and because it emulated the curve of a particularly great cab, it happened to sound great too. Of course it's not the "official" standard but it is kind of the unofficial standard for load boxes because it hit the market at the exact right time and was widely available.

Since the offerings from companies like Fractal Audio and your company, St. Rock, started getting popular as well, things have gotten really interesting.

Your React IR II looks awesome and has a great feature set all around. I'd love to try one.
 
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