I tried a Captor X

[Guitarjon]

I've been using my trusty Fractal Audio LB-2 reactive load for years now and while I love it for what it does, it's not really capable of doing more then providing a load for my amps. So I started looking at other reactive loads to see if I could spice things up a little for my studio and of course the hyped Captor X came to mind. Luckily I was able to get my hands on one so I started to mess with the unit as soon as it arrived.

Man, this thing is insane... It can do so much but a lot of those things are just so convenient and handy. Simple things like the noise gate and eq can make all the difference but being able to control all the parameters wirelessly is pretty game changing to me too!

So I made a little review video with some audio demos using the stock virtual cabs. In this video I try the Captor X with my ENGL Fireball 100, Orange TH30 and Marshall SC20H. I think it sounds pretty good and I really enjoyed working with it so far! The next test will be to see how it sounds with my OwnHammer IRs and I'm also looking forward to comparing the sound of the Fractal and Captor loads through the same IR, just to see how that makes a difference.

Here's the video:

 

[guitar_player4_2_0]

Dude, your demos rule!

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I'd like to see you try it with your rectos. I don't recall the specifics (@KnightBrolaire help me ) but IIRC the modern modes of the Rectos don't play well with the Two Notes loadboxes. Would like to hear the Captor X compared with your Fractal loadbox with your Rectos.

 

[Guitarjon]

Dude, your demos rule!

Cheers mate!

I'd like to see you try it with your rectos. I don't recall the specifics (@KnightBrolaire help me ) but IIRC the modern modes of the Rectos don't play well with the Two Notes loadboxes. Would like to hear the Captor X compared with your Fractal loadbox with your Rectos.

I'm sure I'll try that soon! What is it about the sound of those amps with the Captors that makes it sound off, if I may ask?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I'd like to see you try it with your rectos. I don't recall the specifics (@KnightBrolaire help me ) but IIRC the modern modes of the Rectos don't play well with the Two Notes loadboxes. Would like to hear the Captor X compared with your Fractal loadbox with your Rectos.

Cheers mate!



I'm sure I'll try that soon! What is it about the sound of those amps with the Captors that makes it sound off, if I may ask?

basically dual rectos in modern mode are supposedly more sensitive to impedance changes and the captors use a more generalized impedance curve than other load boxes.
https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/digital-vs-reactive-loadbox-opinions.335026/

 

[sakeido]

Awesome vid as always! I keep wondering if I should swap out my perfectly good Captor for the Captor X...

 

[AussieTerry]

I love my Captor X, I don't think I will ever part with it, with 2 kids under 15 months I can blast my Ironheart 60 head at 10pm at night and only I can hear it.

Shit you can make a 100w amp your bedroom practice amp. Its the greatest guitar device since the creation of the amp.

 

[metaljohn]

I like mine a lot. The only thing I haven't tried is seeing if the gate, EQ, enhancer and reverb would work while playing through a real cab with the IR disabled.

 

[mongey]

I'd like to see you try it with your rectos. I don't recall the specifics (@KnightBrolaire help me ) but IIRC the modern modes of the Rectos don't play well with the Two Notes loadboxes. Would like to hear the Captor X compared with your Fractal loadbox with your Rectos.

I have a torpedo live and it works with the dual for me. Def needs the right ir though. It sounds terrible through some of the stock cabs.

 

[Guitarjon]

Awesome vid as always! I keep wondering if I should swap out my perfectly good Captor for the Captor X...

Thanks! I guess it depends on which of the extra features you'd need? I expect the regular reactive load functions to sound the same. All the 'bells and whistles' are awesome though.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I might be wrong but doesn't the CABM with the most recent update do the same thing as the Captor X's software? I'll have to check mine to make sure.

 

[DudeManBrother]

I might be wrong but doesn't the CABM with the most recent update do the same thing as the Captor X's software? I'll have to check mine to make sure.

Software wise yeah basically the whole current line has the same capabilities. The cab m does not have a reactive load like the cap x though. Hell, even my Torpedo Studio doesn’t have an attenuator like the cap x does.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Software wise yeah basically the whole current line has the same capabilities. The cab m does not have a reactive load like the cap x though. Hell, even my Torpedo Studio doesn’t have an attenuator like the cap x does.

I just just making sure because, instead of replacing your Captor with a Captor X, just get a CabM.

 

[AussieTerry]

I like mine a lot. The only thing I haven't tried is seeing if the gate, EQ, enhancer and reverb would work while playing through a real cab with the IR disabled.

Big NEGATIVE, if you play it through monitors, cans etc you get all the effects and etc but if you through a cab it works purely as an attentuator.

On that i just tested mine as an attentuator so goood.

And FYI for all of you, you DONT need the power supply plugged in when using it as just an attentuator.

 

[broangiel]

Did they improve the load in the X? The impedance curve in the original Captor is a far cry from what an actual speaker/cab load would look like.

 

[MrWulf]

I mean their impedance curve is for using IRs. There's no point of using a specific actual speaker/cab load when you are going to use different cab IRs.

 

[broangiel]

I mean their impedance curve is for using IRs. There's no point of using a specific actual speaker/cab load when you are going to use different cab IRs.

I don't think the use of IRs negates the value of a better load profile. One's going to affect the feel, the other will affect the sound. If it had no bearing on the end result, the likes of Suhr and Fractal wouldn't have put any effort into matching their impedance curve with, at least, a very general representation of what a "real" load looks like.

 

[MrWulf]

Not particularly, no. In a lot of shootouts between different load boxes, different ppl will gravitate to different ones, with the same IR and different "impedance curve". So clearly, the impedance curve isn't the most important factor when it comes to loadbox.

And if Captor X is good enough for professional sound engineers like George Lever, it is good enough for me and everyone else.

 

[broangiel]

Not particularly, no. In a lot of shootouts between different load boxes, different ppl will gravitate to different ones, with the same IR and different "impedance curve". So clearly, the impedance curve isn't the most important factor when it comes to loadbox.

And if Captor X is good enough for professional sound engineers like George Lever, it is good enough for me and everyone else.

I didn't say it was the most important. And if all I have to do it find a professional who uses a Suhr RL, for example, to validate my preference, then check out Misha Mansoor. If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me and everyone else.

 

[MrWulf]

I'm not a Misha fan so you are kind of barking the wrong tree there, you are also missing the point. A "better" load profile is subjective as I already stated. You need to put in context what the product is for and why it is so. If you want something that closely resembles a speaker load box, then go for those that have that feature. It is simple as that.