UA OX Attenuator - Everything you want to know!
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- I do a pretty extensive test of the UA OX attenuation capabilities. 50w Fender Bassman head into a 1x12, and a 100w Marshall head into a 4x12. Listen to the actual level change, then I do it again with the volume compensated so you can hear all of the changes at the same volume but only hear if there's a change in tone.
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Finally somebody’s talking about the attenuation side of this thing as opposed to just recording and software
Anyone with an ox will tell you that it’s terrible as a continuator. There are only four settings one is so quiet I can’t be heard, the other so loud it can’t be played in the house, and all of the attenuation sounds dark. I have for attenuators and the ox finishes fourth. I sold it for a torpedo and it was my best move. I made enough money to buy the torpedo and a guitar. lol
@@Somnospeed Thank you! 👍🏼
The way you did this video is how attenuator video should be done. Thank you.
Michael Berry thanks! Love your avatar!
This was an awesome review, man! Really in depth and I feel like you understand what you’ve got in front of you. I’ve been wanting to invest in one of these but just doing all of my research and one common misunderstanding through a lot of guys videos that I’ve noticed that you brought up. An attenuator is solely a volume distribution. There’s eq curves that naturally happen with every attenuator out there because that’s the science of it. I see bad reviews on this and I’m like, when you loose top end at a lower volume attenuation, which is natural, go to your amp eq. It’s like guys forget that their amp has more than just a volume knob. Bravo man!
Dude, how do you not have a ton of subscribers. Your demos are really in depth, great gear and awesome playing. This box, man it looks like my cable box in 1981. I think it was called "ON TV". Excellent unit though, does a lot.
JamCave Studio my theory is simply demographics, Mike is just too mature, too down to earth, successful pro, while the other youtubers that are more popular are basically immature, younger, dreaming rather than doing, more people in youtube are like that. Ask yourself who buys friedmans, that's mike's audience
Ha! ON TV! Totally remember that!!! The "ON TV" people... that's my crowd! hehe thanks a ton for watching!
I subscribed... I love the videos!
You do a tremendous job. You’re thorough and you manage to address every question that I think of as they logically arrive in the videos. Real nice work.
Excellent video! This OX attenuation review is EXACTLY what I was looking for (and couldn't find anywhere else). I appreciate you normalizing the clips for a direct tone comparison. In addition, comparing the OX to the Marshall master volume at the end was a GREAT call. I've been noticing your videos are consistently informative (without all the factory baloney we can read about ourselves elsewhere). I like your direct opinions/comments based on your preferences and studio experience too. Subscribed.
Thanks Johnny! Much appreciated!
I love the diversity of the comments. These OX demos seemingly make me not want to get one. They make me want to play my amp loud and proud. Iso booth, or whatever it takes. Great demo's, thanks a lot for your contribution!
This is the best review regarding the attenuator. All the other reviews I’ve seen focus on the recording capabilities and don’t really talk much about the attenuator
Thanks for this excellent video. I don't think anyone else has provided this valuable information in such a formal way.
Terrific, professional, and informative are words that come to mind. Thanks again, Michael! You’re starting to pop up on my feed, which is a good thing.
Thanks Patrick!
That tele bassman tone is outstanding.
EXCELLENT VID! YOUR ON THE UP N UP. U HELPED ME DECIDE TO GET THE OX. EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! THANKS
Thanks for the review man! Very interesting sound comparison
Fender
Full 4:56
+5db 5:19
+10db 5:41
+20db 6:04
+35db 6:25
Marshall
Full: 7:35
+5db 7:49
+10db 8:06
+20db 8:20
+35db 8:35
Really impressive job that you did here on the vid, Mike! This is EXACTLY what Pete Thorn didn't cover (he killed the software part, though). Much thanks! Amp 7, OX #2 vid time 11:10 is prob the sound I didn't care for the most.. but REALLY ..it's how this fits into the track... but really fantastic review that you obviously spent a shit load of time filiming, editing, and recording. It's not lost on me! keep 'er lit!
I think that little difference in tone is due to ... the volume. I often come across opinions that the sound is no punchy. A 12-inch speaker needs to be boosted with the appropriate power and volume, then we get all its advantages. and that also applies to recording. So what if you turn the master up to 3/4 as a blast and the diaphragm movements will be like with 1/4 😝 I do not have an OX Box yet, but I use the Marshal Plexi plug from UAD / Softube. And despite the opinion that others are better (I don't want to mention names), this plug from Universal Audio sounds the most realistic and I think that in the case of OX Box it is also like that 😃 it has a price, like any UAD product, but this is the price of quality and with the OX Box you also get professional reverb and delay. During the concert, you can connect the amplifier to the lines without tearing the loudspeaker 🤔 the sound operator will love you 😂
Great and thoughtful review. This really laid out what the box does in a way I haven’t seen in other reviews, which are mostly on emulation issues
Thanks for this video! Well done! Helps to take the decision to buy that box!
Love my ox
Nice approach for comparing different attenuations ! :)
Man wish my stuff went up to a million,as always great stuff.
Gret video! Congratulations ❤😊
nice job , glad you came around to the Master Vol on the Marshall
I love the faces people make playing guitar. I have my own silly faces that my wife makes fun of. This guy is awesome.
People like Michael are why the internet is so remarkable. Thanks for your videos sir!
Also, Marshall knows what they're doing with those Master Volumes :-)
Thanks for doing this - my experience with my OX is exactly the same as what you found with the Marshall when volume matching (except for me it’s with my Ecstacy and BE100). They both lose that top end brightness / presence and I’m not quite sure if I like it or not - especially if comparing to other options available. I emailed UA and asked if this is normal for the OX or if my unit was faulty? The response so far was that they haven’t heard of anyone having this issue on their forum!? Maybe everyone on their forum is using a Fender! Good to see that you get exactly the same results as me - maybe they’ll now acknowledge that it does do this after all.
Would be great to see how the OX compares directly to the Fryette PS2 for attenuation!
+1 for a comparison on reactive load attenuator performance & also vs the Rockcrusher and 2notes Captor
Same issue here with Victory V130 amp - not good, I have to contact UA too.
Paul Kellett Have UA given you a better answer yet?
Hey Paul, I have been reading a lot about the Ox and Marshall amps. What impedance did you use? I read a lot of people saying in the forum that with marshalls, the ox works much better with 4ohm than 16 ohm. If you used 16, may be you should try a lower impedance. Can you check that? I have 2 JCM 800 2203 and I am interested in buying the ox. That information is a game changer to me
Ok, the sound on the marshall is changing quite a bit. But i still like the character of the OX. I think i will love this device. Thanks for your demo.
Of course the good thing is that you can still get a great sound with the Marshall if you use the line out to FOH and the UA software. Must get this.
True. There's a ton of options there
I have a Small Box 50 and bought the Ox to help bring the volume down when pushing the amp. Although the speaker emulator is really good, the attenuator settings from 1 - 4 are horrible and sound like muffled shit. Setting 5, the max setting, sounds like the amp but is only slightly reduced in volume. Im returning the unit and am just going to run the amp as I did before, then use the Direct Line out of the amp to run int Garageband and use the speaker emulators there (surprisingly good).
I'm glad I read this. I also have a SmallBox and would like to crank the master volume more but it gets so loud. I was considering getting the OX but I think I might try the ToneKing Ironman II instead. Did you end up finding an attenuator you like with the SB?
@@cardbored_ unfortunately no, I actually sold the SB for a Soldano SLO 30 which I LOVE. I have heard really good things about the Boss Tube Expander, although its more money, its more for live playing/attenuation. If you go for the Ironman, please let me know how it goes. And check out the Soldano vid on my page, sounds sweet.
it really farted that Marshall tone up at settings 3 - (-10db) A hot plate at -12DB holds up better.
I'll no-joke pay you to do a vid using this with the Bogner Ecstasy, comparing that to using the old/half-power modes and just the master on the Bogner. I'm a mostly at-home player, but I love that Bogner blue channel tone.
Fender comparison: 4:56 vs 6:25
Marshall comparison: 7:34 vs 8:34
MV vs OX: 10:17 vs 10:32
It’s useful even if the amp has a master volume... that way you can run the power amp Loud
Wow, the OX sounded no bueno with the Marshall but got super close with the Bassman. BTW, would you recommend the 25w Jubilee for a studio situation? Does your Jubi gets a lot of work in your studio?
Very well groomed in this video
:) I'm trying to get a hair cut more often. life's too short to be a shaggy noodler
Sounds really dark n muddy at lower settings. The thing people need to realize is the physics of what a speaker does at high volume as opposed to low volume. The movement of the cone at high volumes greatly affects how high frequencies are produced. Also the fact it's a reactive load, the louder the speaker the more voltage it is trying to produce which works against the amp. From everything I've heard you can get 90% of the same results with a post phase inverter MV, which also makes output tubes n stuff last much longer. And amp runs cooler over-all with PPIMV. Good comparison tho.
how do you record into your interface? sp/dif cable or line out ? your sound is really good!
hope you can help?
kind regards
Very nice video but one question... did you increase the mic preamp when attenuating to match the volume or did you just turn the volume up after recording at same mic preamp level?
Great review, thanks
Gimme some sugar, little honey natural bee. LOVE that riff.
I love this record SO much.
Excellent demo/review. Just in time for me as I'm about to get one mainly to use as an attenuation control for my 59 Fender Bassman Reissue.
One problem I may have, is that the Bassman amp uses a 2ohm speaker load, but the Ox only goes down to 4ohm input and output to speakers. I can easily rewire the 4 10inch speakers to 4 ohms, so that will keep things OK for the Ox output to speakers, but would the 2ohm input to the Ox from the amp mess the sound up or damage the Ox I wonder.
Well Well! first of all thank you for this excellent quality demo.... i am really surprised by the marshall performance and its gona seriously discourage me from buying the unit, how does the ox compare to the suhr in that domain?
The Suhr doesn't do any attenuating in any way. It's strictly a load box for recording and using an IR.
Sweet as always
Sos un genio! Saludos desde Argentina
Just subbed
I ear that the attenuated sound is eating the bite and the high ends. But the reason could be the speaker not being pushed enough, I am not sure.
Hey Michael. I have been reading a lot about the Ox and Marshall amps. What impedance did you use? I read a lot of people saying in the forum that with marshalls the ox works much better with 4ohm than 16 ohm. If you used 16, may be you should try a lower impedance
Always good very pro
So the conclusion is that the master volume works better than using your amp with high master volume and attenuating it with the OX.
Yes, the attenuator does not work well for high gain amps. Sounds like muffled shit.
Hi, many TNX for this could you please do the same with the fryette power station.
Yes! Pleeeeease!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I can do something like that.
An A/B would be awesome!!! I can pay you for your troubles in beer next time you're in Las Vegas!!! lol
Hey man, great review. Have you tried putting the OX through your mic preamps? Or do you always go directly into the interface?
Nice Video. Well done on doing something no one else has yet with the volume compensation in your DAW. Question: I am having issues with the actual volume coming into my DAW being low going through the Line Outs. Interestingly I tried 1/4 inch TS cables and that worked but again level through my apollo was pretty low and line out on OX was on 8. Then I tried 1/4 inch TRS and was having issues with the right channel working and the Left channel was not working at all. Is this because the Right channel is actually coming out stereo? I HALF pulled the left channel cable going into the daw and then it came on. BUT again, the volume level just seems very low. I would go digital out but the OX is not compatible with the Silver Apollo FW/Thunderbolt according to there docs and it didn't work when I tried it. Bummer.
ON FIRE!!!! Yes
Master volume it is! (For the marshall)
The fender was very impressive though. I wonder if it has to do with the level of compression already in the circuit (being that the marshall had more gain)?
seems they opted for the fender eq curve... the new Fractal load box has an option to flip between an American and a British tone
oh INTERESTING! I'll have to look into that.
Hey Michael. Great video. Interesting how the amps works different in the same attenuator device. That Jubilee has a great master volume, don’t you think? For Friedman amps do you think it’s nice to get an attenuator to achieve the sweet spot? Or you would say that Friedman amps has such a great master volume that doesn’t need attenuation?
Hey Michael. Great video thanks. I was wondering if you have tried the ironman II mini attenuator and if you did what was your opinion on it. Thanks.
Hi Michael, great video. Lots of work went into that. I know i'm a year late on this but i just got a Marshall DSL40 so guess what? I'm looking for a load box/attenuator to go with it. Crazy that the Ox costs more than double the amp. Anyway, i have a question. I heard a noticeable degradation in top end as you attenuated the Jubilee. Do you think this might be common to all Marshalls or just that one. As you may know the DSL has master volumes for both the clean and dirty channels, as well as a 20db attenuator switch. I haven't heard the amp at full tilt 40 watt, let alone 20 watt so i just don't know how it sounds compared to my lower level outputs. Ahh, my question - am i wasting my money buying an Ox? If so, the DSL has an emulated line out which sounds like sh*t. Should i just look at cab sim software and use that? (sorry, that's 2 questions)
The difference in tone with the marshall could be just the lack of feedback on most attenuated settings. It's more apparent with marshall just because gain is highernthan the fender.
To prove or disprove this assumption you should do the same experiment playing the guitar in a different room (far away from the amp) or with a recorded DI track.
Great job.
Hmm, thought I posted but I don't see it. Anyways, thanks for doing these videos. I'm perplexed why the OX performed so differently between the Marshall and the Fender. Have you tried the OX with the Marshall master low to see if it behaves the same way as the higher volume? Maybe the OX reacts differently when being slammed. IDK
Hi Michael, would you please comment is OX a good attenuator? I understand it can do far more things, and RUclips compressed the audio.
Another great demo.
I have to say, I'm not exactly liking the Ox so far in it's various functions from what I've seen. I'm not sure if it'll be a situation where UA gathers lots of info this first go round and comes back stronger with a second Ox, or if like you showed in this video, the Ox is just highly amp dependent on how it reacts.
There is one exception though. When comparing the raw tracks you put up the other day, I really like the way the Ox sounds on the palm muted parts in your demo and how it compares to the real cab. Those seemed the most similar.
I don't know. You're demos are very helpful, but I'm still back and forth on a lot of things with the comparisons of the reactive loads/speaker replacement devices. Much to think about.
It has the ability to take firmware and software updates, I’m sure once they get more feedback on real world performance they can fix issues with a free update rather than offering an upgraded box
I like Nocasters!
Great video!!! Do you prefer the attenuator of the ox or the fryette ps2? Thanks!!
Damn! what a dilemma. I would prefer to listen the tele trough the marshall... but nice vide tho. Why could be the reason the OX didnt make it with the jubilee as good as with the bassman? thanks for the video man! greetings from quito ecuador.
EPIC! 😎👍🏻
thx, may I ask which year/model is that les paul and which pickups are on it? thank you
I’ve been thinking about buying the ox box. Would it make my amp sound better being that I could turn up the volume to say five then attenuate it to I can play it at home sounding killer without blowing my ears out.
Yes it will do that. However I prefer the Fryette PS-2 power station to do that. It takes 100% load the reamplifies it through its 50w tube power amp. Sounds great!
The OX is great for direct recording and a good load box, but if you’re only going to use the attenuator, there are less expensive alternatives
Yes, "recording artist" technically spells out the fact that the artist's sounds likely were made in a studio. BUT, the rest of us gig.
Have you tried it with a rack pre and power amp? I read it won’t work with solid state amps but I guess it’s ok with a fryette powerstation and a preamp?
Didn't like what the Ox did, at all - much preferred the MV sound on the Marshall. I've tried tens of attenuators makes, and Aracoms are the only ones I will use now (when I have to use one, at all.)
*Thanks for the review, tho' - it was really well done! 👍🏼
Michael, just curious, but when you say the attenuated settings are fixed, can you compensate for volume with the master or is that bypassed?
So the OX only has several preset levels of volume reduction. Once you've set that, you're welcome to adjust any settings on your amp, including master volume (if it has one). If you have a modern master volume amp, I wouldn't buy the OX *just* for the attenuation. But it's a nice bonus, and if you mostly use VOX, old Fenders or old Marshalls, etc, then it's a great option.
Michael Nielsen If you get this/are familiar with them, I have a MusicMan 212-65 and VHT Classic 18 (sort of a darker Vox clone). Any thoughts?
Hey Michael any idea how soon UA plans on updating the cab/mic selections?
how soon, not sure. i've heard that they are definitely working on updates.
What desk do you use?
Marshall seems to muffle. Like I have cotton in my ears. The Fender stayed big and open. I love the sound of a big Fender but damn, that Marshall sounded amazing when wide open. Feel like the Marshall only sounds good cranked and not attenuated, Fender sounded great no matter what. Other than that.... I didn’t realize your fly was open, May have to watch again and laugh. Lol. Good video brother, thanks for the comparison because most just show “here’s what it does” and only use one amp.
Thanks man. Yeah, I'm not really sure why there was a dramatic tone change with the Marshall, and very minimal tone change with the Fender. I have to try to get my hands on a 50w Marshall. Maybe that's why.
Same issue here with a Victory V130 amp - pretty annoying. Also wondering why there is no bypass for the attenuator - setting speaker volume to 0 means speaker disabled but setting 5 still attenuates.
Here is what UA support said about this video: "We reviewed the video that you linked to as well. Overall, I really enjoyed his comparisons and commentary. However, there may be methodological issues with how he conducted his tests. We noticed that the waveforms are squared off in some of the screenshots of the volume-compensated clips, which seems to indicate that a limiter was used. This would affect the sound and throw off the test results." The fact that I'm running into a similar issue is caused by the Fletcher Munson curves. The only way to have no attenuation at all is to not use OX - this was a design choice by the developers :-(
"Waveforms squared off" - That happened because the volume change from the OX's attenuation brought the amp down SO low, that there was barely any signal left. I did not want to adjust the mic pre levels because I know from experience that the mic amp has a different sound at different levels. So there really is no perfect way to test this. The lowest attenuation setting was barely a whisper and I had to boost it about 30db!!! 30 db in a mix is essentially ON or OFF. :) There was no limiter used. The squared waveforms could simply be how Logic Pro graphically renders VERY low levels. It's possible that the different record levels at the converter is changing the sound a bit, but there was drastic changes in the sound starting with setting 3 on the OX, and that was still a very healthy signal. I'm using Apogee Symphony converters with a Antelope clock recording at 24/48. The converters are pretty crystal clear down to very low levels. There's no point in recording 96k for RUclips. :)
"No attenuation at all is to not use OX" - well THAT's interesting. I don't know why they wouldn't include a "pass through" setting. Although at the massive volume level, the difference between OX on 5 and no OX, is pretty minimal.
Thanks for the info!
thx for the video! I ask me if it works with my musicman amps, they are hybrid, what will happen?!?
You cost me $1200. I ain't really complaining. :-)
So should I get rid of my THD HotPlate and get this?
Power Station or UA OX.
@@BigHairyGuitars Mort transparent than the Hotplate?
@@DavidBrown-it9ig I haven't had the Hotplate side by side, but when I used to own a hotplate, I only felt like it was transparent in the first few notches. The Power Station and the OX feel more dialed in to me... for whatever that's worth. It's worth trying one out to see what you like better.
The Distortion characteristic to my ears got More ratty sounding the more you attenuated. The marshall got decidedly fizzy
This clip failed to deliver adequate banana consumption.
I had the ox attenuator and I sold it. It is outstanding for recording and headphones but it is terrible as an attenuator. I have a $50 attendator that sounds way better than the ox. In fact I have four attenuators abs the Ox sounds the worst. Totally darkens the tone so it’s unusable Unless you just want loud and don’t care about tone. Great device if it cost $500. But a total rip off at its current price. Even used.
TOM PETTY!!!!!!!
I'm sorry. IDK why, but it all sounds awful. Fortunately I've seen some other videos, otherwise I'd get a pretty bad impression of the Ox Box.
why do caucasian guitar videos always have to be distorted?? about 95% of european video pertaining always distort the signal. Kinda makes sense mentally I guess to those who like drugs.....instead of living clean.....LOL