Then, once you’ve found your guitar’s revolver of tone, you can patch them to the device for easy switching. The OX has six pre-configured setups, but you can configure your own setups using the companion software. If you’re open to tone modeling, you can use up to twenty-two cabinets modeled after well-known cabs from Marshall, Fender, Vox, and more and up to six different microphones using the OX’s companion software. It also makes a beautiful display! And a few tonal offerings to pique the interest of guitarists looking to get sounds that may not solely be from their current setup. The OX is a reactive attenuator that offers much more than just attenuation. If you’re a guitarist looking for more tone options and hoping to record those options in less-than-ideal locations, the OX Amp Top Box by Universal Audio may be for you. The 12 Best Guitar Amp Attenuators 2023 1. Unfortunately, this complex design, coupled with manufacturing costs, chassis designs, and extra features, leaves little room for affordability. Reactive attenuators use a combination of resistors, capacitors, and coils to emulate the impedance curve of a speaker load. However, resistive loads do not mimic the characteristics of a speaker.Ĭapturing the characteristics of a speaker load is where the more costly reactive loads come in. Resistive loads are easier and cheaper to manufacture since it simply involves a series of resistors to soak your amp’s power and dissipate it as heat many crafty individuals choose to create their own for a fraction of the cost. Attenuators are divided into two camps: those that provide a resistive load and those that provide a reactive load. It comes down to the type of load the attenuator provides (mostly). Many attenuators offer tonal controls to help alleviate any tonal changes you may experience. But all is not lost! You can adjust your signal’s frequency response post-attenuation or compensate for it pre-attenuation to retain your holy grail of guitar tones. Unfortunately, this means in an effort to look after our hearing and the hearing of others, our amp’s tone can lose some of its defining qualities at lower volumes. And so, as volume decreases, so too does our perception of bass and treble frequencies. Our ears are naturally more sensitive to the mid to upper-mid range since this range is heavily relied upon for clear communication. The balance of frequencies fluctuates as the volume changes. The human ear does not perceive sound equally at all volume levels. The very things we aim to please are often the reason behind our displeasure. The main culprit behind the possible loss of tone is our very own ears. Your setup’s tone and sound quality can be affected when using an attenuator, but not for the reasons you may think. Does An Attenuator Affect Tone & Sound Quality? But good news! The tonal sweet spot we guitarists strive for when driving a tube amp is often not found at 11. Remember that the more power you deliver to the tubes, the shorter their lifespan. In addition, since attenuators allow you to push your amp’s output harder without hearing the effects, it can be easy to drive the tubes past their limit for extended periods. Matching impedance levels has less to do with the attenuator itself and more with the general law of electronics when connecting a load to an amplifier. The Ohm rating signifies your amplifier’s resistance to the flow of current produced and mismatching the impedance levels can adversely affect your setup-E.g., blowing the amp’s fuse. When purchasing an attenuator, you’ll need to consider your amplifier’s impedance rating-marked by a Ω symbol on the back. 6 Conclusion Are Attenuators Safe Or Bad For Your Amp?Īttenuators are perfectly safe for your guitar amp! As long as you use the correct one for your setup.
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