This website uses cookies to improve your experience. To use an attenuator, connect a speaker cable from one of your amp's speaker outputs to the attenuator's input, and then connect another speaker cable from the attenuator's output or through jack to the speaker cabinet's input jack. Although amp attenuators are usually not a hot topic among guitarists, they can be of extreme importance. We'd love to save your interests, but first we need to know who you are! Do not pay more just because you know the brand, because you can get ripped off. Some people like this alteration. Our team has prepared this guide to help you choose the best guitar power attenuators in 2021 and understand why they are important for achieving that perfect volume and tone. You may have heard some people say that attenuators burn out tubes faster. Instrument patch cables are not designed to take that level of signal, and if they fail you risk seriously damaging your amp. A guitar power attenuator is a piece of equipment that is placed between a guitar tube amp and speaker to alleviate volume. One thing that sets Rivera RockCrusher apart from its contemporaries is its internal reactive load network, as opposed to the more resistive load that is utilized by other attenuators. Explore our collection of buying guides across all instrument types. They look similar but work differently. Buying Guide: Guitar Amp Attenuators | Reverb Use the attenuator at the bare minimum required and not anymore if you plan on recording or gigging with your tamed amp. Using an attenuator is not that difficult because usually it can just be plugged in between the speaker and amp by unplugging the cable between them. Suitable for a maximum of 80W. Amp attenuators can be the difference between a fantastic tone or a mediocre one. Attenuators have been around since the 1970s, and the first models were purely resistive. This is because these come from people who have purchased and used the product, and are now telling about their experience with it. Another concern is how do you know about the quality of an attenuator, especially when you are buying it online. Well built and durable, the Brake Lite allows you to get fantastic amp tones at very low volumes. This attenuator lets you get the best of your amp so you can practice any time, and comes in a very compact form factor that is also simple and affordable. Second, it lets you send your ideal tone to a speaker, recording interface, or FOH without losing quality. With its rugged looking, utilitarian design, the Suhr Jim Kelley guitar power attenuator clearly looks like it takes no nonsense when it comes to taking the signal of a guitar amplifier and taming its volume without neutering its sound. The higher-power versions can be expensive. In short, a fantastic option for folks that love their vintage tube amps. home audio: How much current flows through my speaker amplifier's output? Stereo amplifier producing hum on certain conditions. I don't mean open up the amp -- I mean put a potentiometer between the signal source (mic preamp, CD player, etc.) Potentiometer/attenuator between amp and speaker, Building a safer community: Announcing our new Code of Conduct, Balancing a PhD program with a startup career (Ep. A durable and well-built attenuator that is easy to use. Sweetwater has a guide you should check out. Reactive attenuators are a bit more complex, containing a system of resistors and capacitors designed to actually imitate the impedance curve of a speaker. Attenuator FAQ - Weber Speakers I am presently living in Austria, and I really cannot find anyone who deals with it in Europe. And when you have the pot set to 8 ohms, it will dissipate 40 watts and the speaker will dissipate 40 watts. Use MathJax to format equations. Exclusive deals, delivered straight to your inbox. Here's how it works: mount the Brake-Lite to your favorite head or combo amp (mounting screws are included), and insert the attenuator between your amp and speaker stages. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Insufficient travel insurance to cover the massive medical expenses for a visitor to US? Verdict: The Bugera PS1 is a good passive amp attenuator with a simple and intuitive design. Help Support This Content! With an attenuator, such as the Rivera RockCrusher or Radial Headload, you can bring the volume of a loud amplifier way down, to conversation levels or even lower. On the other hand, if all you want is to have your amps sweet spot reproduced at a lower volume, then a simpler attenuator should do. Only buy a product if you think it will provide value for the price you are paying. Reactive vs. resistive systems aren't the only considerations to make when it comes to choosing the best attenuator for you. Attenuator Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster While an attenuator preserves the amps overdrive color if you use too much, meaning you crank the main knob that tames the amp, the sound starts to suffer In the same way as too much distortion kills the tones dynamics. As long as you set it up to go between your amp and speaker it'll do the job and actually works particularly well with combo amps. It is a good option for beginners and students and offers functionality and convenience while being truly affordable. A Power Attenuator is essentially a high-tech post-preamp and power amp volume knob. The unit itself is versatile, able to function with many different amplifiers up to 100 watts at four and eight ohm loads. This version expands on our previous designs by incorporating a built-in reactive attenuator that can be used as a load box for silent recording along with a transformer isolated D.I. Built like a tank, this guitar amp attenuator is durable and will last, while helping ensure that your prized vintage tube amp does so as well. With its bright purple appearance and sturdy build, this unit not only looks great but serves to retain the feel and spirit that we love when we blare our amps into oblivion, only at a much more contained/subdued level. These tools are of great help for tube amps, particularly vintage model s. Attenuators can be used with combo amps as well as separate amp heads. Questions about Attenuators & Simulators? This attenuator is a fantastic option for guitarists of any style and level but may seem a bit too large for those that are looking for ultimate convenience. rev2023.6.2.43474. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? It features a simple design that is intuitive to operate and delivers on the promise of great tone at lower volumes. Attenuators can allow you to do one or more of the following with tube amps: Play without a cabinet connected Besides giving you a great tone, the PSE1 also allows you to use speaker impulse responses in your DAW. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. For the guitarist who wants to capture their performance through their amplifier yet keep things at low levels in the recording studio, the Two Notes Torpedo Reload guitar power attenuator is a must-have. One of the reasons that players love tube amps is because of how inherently characterful they are, especially when driven and pushed in just the right way to just the right limits. Our Marshall JCM 800 was still loud, so we wanted to try an even quieter setting. The two leaders met in person Monday at the White House after a "productive" phone call on Sunday about the debt ceiling. This unit is compatible with tube amps up to 150 watts and is a great choice for professionals that need the best. To learn more about our cookie policy, please visit our Privacy Policy. Then you may want to look into attenuators that offer effects, cab simulations, etc. What do the characters on this CCTV lens mean? Verdict: The Two Notes Torpedo Captor X is a good choice for those looking for a Reactive Loadbox DI and Attenuator for an 8 ohm amp. Boss WAZA Tube Amp Expander Amplifier Attenuator, Features: Built in cab/mic sims, USB Interface functionality, 100w of A/B power, Benefits: Maintains cleans at higher volumes, Expands your tonal capabilities, Easy line in recording, Dr. Z Brake-Lite Stand Alone 45-watt Attenuator, Features: 5 Attenuation levels, Parallel speaker outputs, Accepts 4, 8, or 16-ohm loads, Benefits: Tone control at any volume, Ideal for bedroom practice, Simple operation, JHS Little Black Amp Box Passive Amp Attenuator, Features: Solid metal construction, Passive operation, Single knob design, Benefits: Easy operation, No power required, Preserves sound quality. The amplifier has a single volume knob which controls volume of both channels at once. A lot of advanced attenuators cost more, but it is important to analyze if you really need the latest features. How To Use an Attenuator With a Combo Amp - GuitarFortune There is nothing worse than spending money on an attenuator only to find out it will not work with the amp you have. But they can become problematic when you're after that tonal sweet spot in a place or under circumstances that can't accommodate the required volume. Amp attenuators are positioned between the output of the amp and its destination, be it the speaker, console, interface, etc. Always use speaker cables between the amp and the speaker, whether or not there's an attenuator in there. We then moved the knob to the 3rd and 4th settings for 8 dB, and 11 dB of attenuation, respectively, and got that killer tone but a neighborhood-friendly level. A lot of attenuators have heat dissipating devices inside the unit, so this should not be much of an issue. This unit also offers speaker simulations and a collection of onboard processors. The better ones go much lower and are used in large venues such as sporting facilities (with much better speakers). Its surprisingly high, dependent on design and how much NFB is . The Best Guitar Power Attenuators in 2022 | Top Reviews by Bestcovery We turned it down a bit to also get the beautiful clean traits of our amp, but still at a low volume provided by this attenuator. This gave us yet another option to further manipulate our ideal tone. It can be used with amps of up to 100 watts and is also very well built. Boss has been a top name for guitarists for decades. You can choose among -0 dB, -4 dB, -8 dB, -12 dB, and -16 dB. However, if you really want to keep your tone intact, investing in a reactive one can be worth it. Further options to have greater control over your tone include amp emulation, EQ tweaking, re amping, and more. The second time was when I started recording professionally in studios and understood how massive a loud amp sounds when recorded through a mic. One YouTuber runs you through his finished work, suggesting a stylish homemade solution of putting an electrical box inside the chasse. But for many players, resistive attenuators are perfect for their needs and just as capable as higher-priced and higher-hyped units. These are available for both 70V and 25V distributed loudspeaker systems. This DI has been used by a variety of acts, including Radiohead, Aerosmith, and Rascal Flatts. Operating the Brake Lite is easy thanks to its straightforward design. The Mesa/Boogie Powerhouse Reactive Amp Load Attenuator is a reactive load box and attenuator that keeps your amps tone and feel regardless of volume. We loved how this unit paired up with our Marshall JCM 800, allowing us to dial our beloved sounds at their best, but with the ability to lower the volume while keeping the tone. Next, we tried the 2 settings for 5 dB of attenuation. Harley Benton, Bugera etc. However, this is no ordinary guitar amp attenuator. This as I understand is not the right way because the potentiometer required will have to handle 80 watts of power, and thats why a volume knob is used at the input of amplifier instead of output. Resistive attenuators have a network of resistors that absorb the power from the amp, give some of it to your speakers, and the rest is released as heat energy. Maybe I'll get a USB DAC sometime in the future, but not at the moment. 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The AmpRX BrownBox entires design is based on the fact that tube amps are engineered to run at an optimal voltage but the standard 120 V/AC outlet current is generally too high. They replicate the ohm load of a speaker so the amp doesn't "know the difference". Two of the most important factors that you must consider when purchasing an amp attenuator are your amps output power and its output impedance.