Scott Henderson Discussion

[nigel]

Hi Scott,
I just got the Suhr Reactive Load and checked it out with my Brunetti Mercury Head in conjunction with the Wall of Sound "Brit Vintage_C" cab. Although it's a cab loaded with V30 speakers it sounds...well...BEYOND AWESOME:-) Really fat and natural! So thanks for your recommendation:-)
But I have one question about the Suhr Reactive Load: When I play a note or chord and it rings out it there is a slight buzzing droning sound coming from the Reactive Load...it stops when the note or chord gets softer. Can you observe that with your load box too? I assume that this sound is probably normal when the Load Box is working. As I said it's not loud or annoying but I want to be sure that the Reactive Load is not damaged.

Thanks,
Nigel

[Scott Henderson]

Don't worry, that's normal - mine does it too. I guess when you pump that much sound into anything, you can hear it. Try the Fried25 4x12 - that's my favorite Two Notes IR. Glad you like the Reactive Load - I think it's playing a big role in making the IR technology sound and feel like the real thing.

[nigel]

Thanks Scott! I'll definetely check out the Fried25 4x12 and also the Ownhammer IR's that you suggested:-)

Greetings,
Nigel

[guitmac]

Hi Scott. Do you use the Balanced or unbalanced line out on the Suhr Reactive load? Thanks!

[Scott Henderson]

I use the unbalanced out because I go into the line in of my 1073 before the A/D converter. It's not necessary to do but I like the tone the 1073 adds.

Whether you run the Reactive Load into a mic pre or not, it definitely sounds better with the volume knob all the way up.

[guitmac]

Thanks a lot Scott! I have that preamp too.
So, do you set the reactive load volume and the gray output knob on the 1073 all the way up, and then adjust the volume with the red gain knob on the 1073 preamp?
Thanks again man!
You are the best!

[jason3000]

Hey Scott,

You mentioned you turn the Suhr load box knob all the way up. This is very interesting! Last time I tried this, I remember I had to turn my interface input insanely low to not clip. Maybe my memory serves me differently.

Is that what you do?

I think John Suhr advised for the best tone to put it at noon or a little above, so I didn't experiment too much after that point.

[Scott Henderson]

I'm not very experienced with interfaces, but I guess they're all a bit different in how they handle volume. I've been using an Apogee Rosetta 800 forever. It has no input control, and even when I turn the RL volume all the way up, the signal isn't hot enough for my DAW. I run the RL into a Neve 1073 - I like what it does to the tone, and I can add 3 or 4 db to get the volume where I need it.

[peter_heijnen]

It's also about the RL's output impedance. It changes if you work the volume pot. With the volume pot on 10 the RL's output impedance will be about 10k ohms. The lower you set the volume pot, the lower the impedance will be.

It matters if you want to use the RL's xlr out into a mixer preamp. A matching impedances ratio from one device into another device would be somewhere at 1:10. Most typical mixer's preamps have an input impedance of around 5k ohm. So you'd have to turn the RL's volume all the way down to match it's xlr out to the preamp's input impedance.