Four <$250 Re-amp boxes - shootout!

[MetalMGH]

Hey guys, I'm new here, but was referred to this contest by mintcheerios over at the Andy Sneap forum, where I'm a regular poster. One technique that we're really fond of over there is re-amping, the process of capturing the dry signal from a guitar (or any other electric stringed instrument) via a DI box and then playing it back through the amp, with a re-amp box providing the necessary impedance and level conversion. But with four re-amp boxes available on the market for under $250, which sounded best? That's what I set out to determine!

The four boxes are:

Radial X-Amp ($200, active)
Radial ProRMP ($100, passive)
John Cuniberti Reamp V.2 ($200, passive)
Little Labs Redeye ($225, passive)

So I asked members of the Sneap forum to loan me their re-amp boxes for the sake of the test (I already owned a Little Labs Redeye), and two were kind enough to mail me theirs (a ProRMP and a Reamp V.2). This left the X-amp, which I found for a good price on ebay, and snatched up for the sake of the test. Each file (a, b, c, d) is a different re-amp box, and all the info about equipment used and methodology is in the attached .txt document (HOWEVER, the answers are there too, so don't look until you're ready!)

Here they are:

[magno]

C A B D
My order of preference from favorite to least.
The biggest difference in sound was C compared to the rest. I'm going to guess this was the active box( Radial X-Amp), and it has probably colored the sound the most. Maybe that would be beneficial to the final mix, maybe not.
D seamed the dullest to me, I'll take a wild guess that it's the cheap one(Radial ProRMP).
A wild guess that A is the John Cuniberti Reamp V.2, it's a V.2 so it must be better than the Little Labs Redeye, which only costs more because of the abundance of knobs.
Let's see if my logic is as strong as the Vulcans.

[MetalMGH]

Originally Posted by magno

A wild guess that A is the John Cuniberti Reamp V.2, it's a V.2 so it must be better than the Little Labs Redeye, which only costs more because of the abundance of knobs.

"It must be" is a pretty decisive statement man, and I'm not so sure that's the case - the differences between the Reamp and Redeye (besides using different transformers, which of course are the main determiners of the sound) amount to a couple of extra switches and 1/4" plugs (and accompanying PCB routing) on the Redeye, hardly overly expensive stuff that would require a compromise in transformer quality to put it at its price point, I'd say. And furthermore, "better" is a pretty hard term to define, since we're talking about how something sounds here, a judgement firmly rooted in opinion

[MetalMGH]

And for the record, listening through my monitors that I know quite well in my semi-treated room (tri-corner bass traps), I really can't hear any differences significant enough that they would matter in a mix!

[magno]

My opinion on what sounds best is at the top of the post, the rest should mostly be considered humor and should have been post script.
I've never used a re-amp box, but I would want the thing to just get the signal from the recorder to the amp without coloring the sound. How am I supposed to judge that?
I didn't bother checking out the specs on the devices, I didn't want it to influence my GUESSING as to which box was which.
I thought C had the fullest spectrum of sound while nothing sounded "squashed". I'm assuming that it's the "best" because it's let all the signal through unaltered by the inferior transformers of the rest. But how would I know that it's the one that sounds the "best" when you didn't provide us with a sample of un-re-amped guitar?
I wanted to be logical but I didn't have anywhere to start.

[MetalMGH]

Originally Posted by magno

My opinion on what sounds best is at the top of the post, the rest should mostly be considered humor and should have been post script.
I've never used a re-amp box, but I would want the thing to just get the signal from the recorder to the amp without coloring the sound. How am I supposed to judge that?
I didn't bother checking out the specs on the devices, I didn't want it to influence my GUESSING as to which box was which.
I thought C had the fullest spectrum of sound while nothing sounded "squashed". I'm assuming that it's the "best" because it's let all the signal through unaltered by the inferior transformers of the rest. But how would I know that it's the one that sounds the "best" when you didn't provide us with a sample of un-re-amped guitar?
I wanted to be logical but I didn't have anywhere to start.

Ah ok, the only humor I perceived was the "Vulcan Logic" line. And IMO you're thinking too much about it; you seem to like the sound of C the most, so there's your answer right there I would think Here's the thread on the Sneap Forum where I posted this, btw, in case you guys wanted to see their responses.

[alakis]

Great thread metal!
I was wondering to buy a Radial X-Amp, now I'm sure gonna buy it!

[MetalMGH]

Cool man, glad it helped! Personally, if I didn't have a re-amp box and heard this shootout, I wouldn't buy the X-amp simply because it's annoying to have to plug it in (and it's got a decent-sized wall-wart too, ugghh), but it definitely sounds good!

[brandondrury]

GOD!

First of all, let me commend you on your wicked guitar tone! With equally badass drums and bass behind this, it would sound robo huge! I'm usually not a fan of Rectofiers, but you got all the good stuff out of it without any of the bad. Great job! What guitar were you using?

I like D the best. It sounded the "most alive" whatever that means. I thought C sounded the "least alive".

That's funny because I own the Radial X-amp. I wish I would have listened to clips of these before buying it last summer.

In the end, they all sound damn good because the tone is so killer. If a guy was capturing the kind of tones you were, it would make sense to spend the extra bucks for the Redeye, but otherwise they are all pretty good.

As usual, even though this is a rocking tone, you did it with a 57 and stock audio interface preamps. I've recorded zillions of guitars that don't sound this good using my Vintech 1272 > Distressor > Mytek setup. Great job dude!

[MetalMGH]

Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate it! I used my Ibanez Prestige RGA321 (mahogany body w/ thick maple top, bolt on maple neck, fixed bridge) with an EMG81 in the bridge spot. Really, the main thing is a lot of practice placing the 57 (and recognizing the effects different placements have on the tone so I know how to change them), as well as being able to tweak the amp while having it right next to me (I have like a 40 ft. speaker cable that I run to the cab in another room so I don't deafen myself haha). The Tube Screamer is a must with Rectos as well!