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Post by pistolpete on Apr 30, 2020 10:06:41 GMT -7
Have one of these on the way. A fancy Reactive Load Attenuator with Quite a few extras. I plan to Use it with the GT. Just Curious if anyone has used one?
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Post by sharkboy on Apr 30, 2020 12:04:48 GMT -7
I’m leaning toward getting one or two. Please do share your experiences.
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Post by pistolpete on Apr 30, 2020 12:27:33 GMT -7
I’m leaning toward getting one or two. Please do share your experiences. Most Definitely
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Post by steiner on Apr 30, 2020 14:11:03 GMT -7
The OX is like a good pair of glasses. Guitars sound like you're in the recording studio. The option to have two cab mics and another room mic gives a depth that implores lust. Onboard effects are stellar! Never have I discovered one tool that inspired me to play like the OX. After 4 months, it still has that Wow factor. Start with the 130(?) presets and enjoy! I took my time learning what changes are available because the presets are that good. Just plug it in and go! It's very augmental; you can get into every factor of the sound and tweak - speakers (New to worn), cab (1x10 to 4x12), mics, volumes, reverb, equalizer, delay, compression, even the 6 loaded rigs available with the front selection knob. Get a dedicated ipad and explore while you hear your amps better than ever before. Make sure you have the latest updates. The folks at UA really did this justice. Not all is glorious... I've spent over $1k in the past weeks on tubes, including 6 quads of 6N14Ns from perryr (Great guy BTW). There's nothing better than a freshly tuned amp running on all cylinders! The OX will teach you that. Congrats and enjoy the journey!
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Post by GuitarZ on Apr 30, 2020 16:04:24 GMT -7
I've had mine for almost two years. So, basically, my input is "What Steiner said". You'll enjoy it when you get it!
I'm a big fan too. I mostly use it for recording and jamming with headphones. The room mics are the 'magic' for me. As Steiner says, the speakers and micing combinations sound really good. You start to add the room mics in and it feels really good.
I'm not sure I shared the following here. Long story short is we did a benefit last year where space and volume were going to be key constraints. So, I thought I'd try to just go Ghia --> Ox --> PA. The recorded tone from the PA sounds pretty close to what I hear with my headphones. The only downside was I didn't have my Ghia visible, and no one could see my "Z".
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Post by steiner on Apr 30, 2020 17:57:54 GMT -7
Nice work! That was fun.
Probably shouldn't admit that there's a Boss WAZA TAE headed here. Did I say I'm enamored with this technology?
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Post by pistolpete on Apr 30, 2020 19:06:57 GMT -7
Thanx for all the Info Mates, learning the ins and outs of the OX will ease the lockdown blues. And it seems like there are a few different approaches you can use to get the tones either live or recorded. 🤙
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 6:16:44 GMT -7
It's a truly fantastic piece. I have one at home and bought one for the studio too.
The simplest way I explain it is that it's the sound of your amp, not an approximation or a simulation.
Also in over 30 years plus of having some sort of home studio using the OX I never think "well, I may need to re-do this at the big studio".
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 10:49:35 GMT -7
Thanx for all the Info Mates, learning the ins and outs of the OX will ease the lockdown blues. And it seems like there are a few different approaches you can use to get the tones either live or recorded. 🤙 It's probably one of the easiest pieces of gear to get going. Let me know if you hit any snags.
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Post by GuitarZ on May 1, 2020 12:46:12 GMT -7
I second Eric's comment on ease of use. When I first got it, I wanted to see how it compared to my IsoCab/SM57 setup and spent a good deal of time tweaking things, recording both, comparing, tweaking more, etc. It finally dawned on me that the UA engineers were probably smarter than me and had a whole lot more experience. I started dialing up their presets and never looked back.
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Post by GuitarZ on May 2, 2020 8:32:25 GMT -7
Hey. One quick tip. Definitely download the iPad app and mess with that. There's an amp power setting that is defaulted to 100 watts for all of the presets. If you're using an amp 50 watts or less, switching that to the 50 watt setting definitely makes a difference for my Ghia and Maz Jr in terms of presence and volume.
90% of the time, I use the six presets I have set up. This thread inspired me to open up the iPad and dial through some other speaker combinations. It's fun hearing the different textures.
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Post by DeanG on May 2, 2020 9:54:00 GMT -7
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Post by pistolpete on May 2, 2020 17:18:19 GMT -7
I’ve only used the attenuator so far in the OX and I’m really happy. Volume at noon and tone at 10 o’clock on the GT, # 3 on the attenuator Its just mind blowing. All the frequencies are Intact. All the harmonics, and most importantly The feel is there. The GT has such a great Sag when its really cookin’, and its still there at a perfect volume. I’ll investigate the Rigs next. Looks like alot of fun.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2020 18:57:23 GMT -7
I’ve only used the attenuator so far in the OX and I’m really happy. Volume at noon and tone at 10 o’clock on the GT, # 3 on the attenuator Its just mind blowing. All the frequencies are Intact. All the harmonics, and most importantly The feel is there. The GT has such a great Sag when its really cookin’, and its still there at a perfect volume. I’ll investigate the Rigs next. Looks like alot of fun. Do you have some sort of home recording setup?
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Post by steiner on May 2, 2020 20:32:10 GMT -7
I’ve only used the attenuator so far in the OX and I’m really happy. Volume at noon and tone at 10 o’clock on the GT, # 3 on the attenuator Its just mind blowing. All the frequencies are Intact. All the harmonics, and most importantly The feel is there. The GT has such a great Sag when its really cookin’, and its still there at a perfect volume. I’ll investigate the Rigs next. Looks like alot of fun. Slap a set of headphones in the jack and fall in love!
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Post by pistolpete on May 3, 2020 17:26:05 GMT -7
My studio cans are the next step to check out the Rigs. And no, no home recording equipment as of yet. I’m still pretty intrigued with the attenuator with different guitars and effects. I’ll get there.
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Post by zpilot on May 5, 2020 23:56:56 GMT -7
Well I could not justify the price of the Ox considering where and how I would use it. I have opted for the Strymon Iridium instead. I think it is actually going to work better for me being able to only take a pedalboard certain places such as church and not needing an amp, which they don't like anyway. There are not as many IR's in the Iridium but I think the ones that are there will do the job. If not there is the option to download others. Everyone claims the built in amps sound good and I can still bypass the amps and use one of my real tube amps through the speaker IR's if I choose. I have one on the way.
Heck, I can buy this AND a Micro Vent AND another good pedal and have money left over compared to the OX. To me that was a no-brainer.
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Post by GuitarZ on May 6, 2020 12:34:10 GMT -7
The Ox isn't cheap. However, it does allow you to plug your amp in and crank it to whatever level you want. I think I had my AirBrake before my Ghia. I've basically never played the Ghia without the volume max'd. It's sounds great running it into the Ox wtih a nice Celestion Greenback 4x12. That's all worth something. I've said this in other threads, but the whole technology has arrived. After moving from my Line 6 POD to Z's/IsoCab, I figured modeling could not replace the real thing. The Kemper, Ox, Iridium, Suhr, etc have proven me wrong. Next step is add tactile transducers (which are available) to feel the rumble of a power chord and maybe someone can invent a fan-like transducer to get your jeans flappin'!
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Post by steiner on May 6, 2020 13:19:40 GMT -7
Well I could not justify the price of the Ox considering where and how I would use it. I have opted for the Strymon Iridium instead. I think it is actually going to work better for me being able to only take a pedalboard certain places such as church and not needing an amp, which they don't like anyway. There are not as many IR's in the Iridium but I think the ones that are there will do the job. If not there is the option to download others. Everyone claims the built in amps sound good and I can still bypass the amps and use one of my real tube amps through the speaker IR's if I choose. I have one on the way. Heck, I can buy this AND a Micro Vent AND another good pedal and have money left over compared to the OX. To me that was a no-brainer. It sounds like you might enjoy the 125 presets available with the OX. Certainly, buying and storing the multitudes of cabinets, speakers and microphones justifies the price. The OX will pay off faster if you decide to record. The room mic is technology I will never go without again. Imagine being able to send recording studio sound with your favorite Z to the front of house.
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Post by zpilot on May 6, 2020 23:59:26 GMT -7
Hey, I'll be the first to say that the OX has a ton more options. The Iridium has several room size effects also; just not as many. I have been in a studio where we started out with a room mic in their preferred location and then moved it around. After several tries we wound up with it back in the original place. The engineer said 90% of the time that is where it ends up. I can see a studio going for the OX as it is a very useful tool able to cater to many different tastes. I'm only going to need a couple of settings and the consensus I hear from reviews is that Strymon got these few right.
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Post by GuitarZ on May 7, 2020 8:41:39 GMT -7
I'd say they're all good tools. One cool thing I found when downloading some Celestion IRs, in addition to the room mic positions, they include a rear speaker mic. That struck me as 'genius' if you're trying to really capture an open back cabinet sound. I'm guessing it's an old studio technique, but it was a cool trick to learn.
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Post by zpilot on May 7, 2020 8:50:56 GMT -7
I'd say they're all good tools. One cool thing I found when downloading some Celestion IRs, in addition to the room mic positions, they include a rear speaker mic. That struck me as 'genius' if you're trying to really capture an open back cabinet sound. I'm guessing it's an old studio technique, but it was a cool trick to learn. Do you remember which IR that was? The Iridium comes with software to use those.
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Post by GuitarZ on May 7, 2020 9:34:42 GMT -7
I bought a few directly from Celestion. All three open back cabs include four mic types between close mic'ing and room. The 57 folder includes a rear mic. It definitely added warmth when mixed in. I do miss that option with the Ox open back cabs even with the room mics. I think I bought their mix & match offer for 5 cabs for $29.99. Always wanted to try a Blue. It looks like I have one Red Wire Impulses cab. It's a Marshall 1960A-G12M cab. It's closed backed, but I do see back cab mics in their ambient mics folder. Talk about options, they give you no less than 17 close mic types with each having 36 positions. I could swear that I downloaded their free option for signing up, but it only offers four mic types (or maybe they changed it). Here is their sign-up page if you want to try their free cab: redwirez.com/pages/the-marshall-1960a-ir-pack
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Post by GuitarZ on May 7, 2020 10:52:21 GMT -7
Here's something else to try. It's a free download from Celestion. I forgot to mention above, but included with the Celestion array of mics, positioning, etc, they also provide a few pre-mixed combinations. And, I was thinking, they probably include the rear mic in those. Otherwise, if you want to mix close, rear, & room mics yourself, you're IR box has to be very versatile or you need to have some PC software to do it yourself. I downloaded a previous free Celestion offer mixed by Cenzo Townshend (who I don't know). This new offer seems to indicate it's a closed back 1x12 Vintage 30 and an open back. If it's similar to what I downloaded, you only get one or two of the IRs, and they are already mixed with close mics and room. And, I noticed it says he mixed in the rear mic for the open back. So, you might be able to get a feel for free. And, it's simpler where you'll have only one or two IRs to mess with vs 50. www.celestionplus.com/free-download/
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Post by GuitarZ on May 7, 2020 10:53:46 GMT -7
Hey! After hijacking this thread for some IR talk, we really want to know if Pistol Pete plugged in his headphones with his Ox yet. Crank up that room! And, no cheating with leaving your real speaker on for feel.
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Post by zpilot on May 7, 2020 12:20:29 GMT -7
Hmmm. Some of the IR's that come with the Iridium are actually from Celestion. One being a 1960 with 25 watt Greenbacks. The mic is not spec'd but I imagine the default choice would have been a 57. Another is a 2x12 open-back with Vintage 30's.
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Post by steiner on May 7, 2020 13:06:51 GMT -7
GuitarZ - What have you done!!!? After having loaded all the new software to control and edit the WAZA TAE, I was set to hook up to the laptop and edit the settings. As a noob to all this, I read about IRs and watched all the good info float past my wheelhouse. Having just finished the collection of physical 12" AlNiCo speakers (blue, gold, cream and ruby), I now see I can test the same speakers with IRs! Oh goody! Another rabbit hole... Thank you for the links!
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Post by GuitarZ on May 7, 2020 13:17:43 GMT -7
Hmmm. Some of the IR's that come with the Iridium are actually from Celestion. One being a 1960 with 25 watt Greenbacks. The mic is not spec'd but I imagine the default choice would have been a 57. Another is a 2x12 open-back with Vintage 30's. I'd be willing to bet if the IRs are from Celestion, they're loading one of the pre-mixed versions using multiple mics and room. That's good. I learned the UA engineers are better at mixing and EQ'ing the mics vs me. While the Celestion IR packages offer all of the individual mics, they also provide a few pre-mixed/EQ'd mic combinations. That's hitting the E-Z button.
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Post by GuitarZ on May 7, 2020 15:24:50 GMT -7
Another rabbit hole... Thank you for the links! Rabbit Hole Indeed. Due to this thread, in between work calls, I was bringing up all of the few different IRs, listening to them, comparing them against the Ox sounds, etc. I almost downloaded some additional IRs. Just before going over the cliff, I decided to just pull out my acoustic guitar.
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Post by steiner on May 7, 2020 15:44:00 GMT -7
Another rabbit hole... Thank you for the links! Rabbit Hole Indeed. Due to this thread, in between work calls, I was bringing up all of the few different IRs, listening to them, comparing them against the Ox sounds, etc. I almost downloaded some additional IRs. Just before going over the cliff, I decided to just pull out my acoustic guitar. A Capitol idea!
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