Two Notes Audio Engineering

I use it for computer music, straight from XLR into the mixer with the amp emulation on, into presonus monitors. Various guitars, from dirty hbs to the thin clean sound of a Telecaster. A Zoom G3 is in the fx loop, only for its modulations. Before the Le Clean, I often use various ODs/distortions: boss, tube screamer, MI audio... I’d been looking for a way to listen to my favourite pedals on my computer music setup. I tried many "emulated output" tube pedals hoping to get the typical tube sound to accompany a backtrack from Youtube, all this without having to turn the tube amp on which would wake the neighbours, wife and baby up. AMT ss 11, blackstar, vox, and many others… so when i saw this brand (a leader in amp emulation) that started a pedal line, I went for it, that was exactly what I was looking for. Plus, it has a real 12ax7 inside? Oh joy! The Holy Grail of tube sound was taking shape in my dreams. Really tempting : an FX loop, Fenderish clean sound, MIDI, yeehoo ! GAS, here we go again, I bought it straight away! After a few days and leaving behind the euphoria of having a newly bought toy, here’s my review. First it’s NOT a pedal to be put in a pedalboard. It’s not made for it. Fans of Fenderish bluesy overdrives, go look somewhere else! A tube won’t turn your amp into a Fender Super Reverb! Even in the fx loop it doesn’t have the impact it would have on a music-dedicated computer. But, it becomes the perfect tiny amp for the computer musician. Clean sounds are so detailed – it’s just exceptional. Crystal-clean sounds. Add a bit of reverb, a tape echo and you’re there ! With it, I got clean sounds I didn’t expect from a Les Paul. With a Tele, you get such a rich, defined clean note sound that no DAW or basic recorder can render. But as I announced it, the biggest cons I can find it is its gain. Barely do you push a Fender amp that the note gets a little dirtier, so you push it to get a bluesy sound but no more – otherwise it becomes a really dirty distortion. Her, you even wonder why two channels. The first is so well-behaved that even pushed to its limit you keep a (Le) Clean sound! The second one is heavier, thickier, but again you hardly find how it’s supposed to resemble the Fender that supposedly inspired it. Too well-behaved again. And, there’s the fusion mode. The A & B channels can be mixed together, in series or parallel. And the hot fusion (A+B) finally starts to sound a bit like a Fender. I only use it this way, playing on the gain and volume settings (both those of the pedal and guitar). This mode deserves all due respect, even if it’s still hard to find the delicious harmonics of a tube amp. Now let’s talk about what most makes me fall for it, either in bypass or A channel: the addition of pedals. I keep on adding OD/distos to it, and I’m surprised to find exactly what I like. Without an amp, just on presonus monitoring speakers. i discover the proper character of each pedal with a great pleasure. The typical tube screamer, the SD1, the super crunch box, and even a really dirty fuzz deserve to be heard through this pedal, or should I say this “musical re-routing tool for computer music” should I say. Tube pedal lovers, don’t look this way ; but computer musicians, there’s a real chance this is what you’re looking for. PS: I’ve never had a technical problem with mine, the LED, contacts and tube are alright even after transporting it in a backpack – no problem. edit on Aug 7, 16 : after a while i decided to change the tube, as i was growing frustrated with the lack of gain and personality of the pedal. I didn’t take just anything, I chose a… 1959 phillips miniwatt 12ax7 which was in an old radio from my grandpa in the attic. Changing the tube is very easy, just unscrew the 4 screws in the back and there’s enough room to tweak the 12ax7 (the original one is a ruby) so as to take it out. Easier than on a Blackstar. Real MADNESS ! The A channel has become a vintage Fender amp. The notes’ depth and reactions are unbelievable, it sounded so beautiful I couldn’t believe my ears! Lively. Reactive. I barely touch the strings, the sound is only slightly dirtied and I’m in it, its identity keeps getting heard with a gain the Stones wouldn’t disapprove of. Alas, a lightning when I started it indicated a problem: the preamp stayed mute on the B channel, and even more in A+B mode. For security reasons and in order top spare the components, I took the Philips out and put a Tung Sol instead. It clearly has less character, but it’s still better than the original ruby ECC83 – which to me is a very bad choice. I’m only telling you that to encourage this pedal’s owners to change the original tube for another at your taste, which proves the quality of this model. Really astounding and realistic, amp-worthy if you find the tube that suits you. As for me, I’ll go after a NOS 12ax7… or loot among the old radios scattered around in my attic – you never know! :mrgreen:

I'd been after a preamp to complement my torpedo cab for a while. I've used several models in the past: H&k, AMT ss11,Blackstar, Fredamp 800 (not enough gain for my taste) . While clean sounds were most often acceptable, no way to get a REAL high gain. Now, I've found what I was after: a compact preamp with not two but 4 channels! Channel A : a very good cleansound, it reacts well to pedals (both before and after). Channel B : A lot of demos insist on its high gain, and it is great indeed. The tube does a lot to shape the outcoming sound, it's the best I've ever had. Yet, in low gain, it's also VERY good. It's not a shredders-only preamp, a lot of sounds can be achieved with it, espacially using the... Fusion mode : This is where it's getting extraordinary. You can get the sound of both channels, either cascaded or in parallel with a mix setting. This allows to get an overdriven sound based on a clean one, allowing each note to sound clear and detached. You'd almost regret the impossibility to make presets, like with a multi-effect. With the output going straight into my torpedo CAB, I get an incredibly wide array of sounds, particularily with channel B's equalizer which allows to dine tune the mids. Connectors : very complete with effect loop, heacphone out, midi, direct out with speaker emulator... How did they manage to get all that fit into it? The box looks sturdy and professional. Sole little cons: the direct out with emulated speaker. It can do the job if needed, but it's light years away from the sound quality you'll get out of a CAB or real amp. Especially since the Wos speaker emulation software is included. Expected for a long while, this French-designed product is the perfect tool for any guitarist wishing for a light and high-performance tube preamp. In a short time, you get a great sound and can spend time to refine it and mix with the Fusion mode. I haven't tried the rest of the Two Notes series but this one suits me really perfectly.

Hi all, I’ve owned it since it came out. I played it live at La Cigale, an important venue in Paris. I play an active Fender Precision in genres close to Royal Blood, The Black Keys, Black Pistol Fire (even though they don’t have a bass player). Needless to say I like a bass sound to be very heavy and aggressive, with a nice compression. I’m very happy with that purchase. The A amplification gives the low frequencies a huge punch, while the B channel provides very aggressive mids. The possibility to mix both channels is a real asset for this pedal as it allows to keep channel A’s precision while distorting it using channel B. For my live sets, I keep channel A on at all time and add B or another distortion (Moof MF Drive) for passages where I need to sound louder. The only cons I’ve found so far is that the two switches are located a bit close to each other, so when in a hurry you sometimes end up pressing the wrong one. It also causes problems when intending to switch the both of them on or off, as sometimes only one of them gets switched. It seems sturdy and well-built, but we’ll see how it ages. In the end, I’m very happy to have bought such an ambitious product, all the more as it is French – ok, and a bit Chinese, too!

I use the captor X for playing home and recording without microphone nor speaker. It s pretty easy to setup You plug your amp in the captor then run it out to your speaker, your computer, and or headphones. It s really good to have an IR for recording silently. My only frustration is that I "feel" the IR...I mean it s always a little caricature of the supposed speakers or combination. The good point is it sounds very neat and pro and clean. the con for me is it sounds TOO perfect not really subtle and orgsanic. It crunch very early while compare to real speakers and cabinets. And it color s the sound way more IMO. I will do my own IR and test it very soon... It s great the way the first Line 6 pod were. You love it instantly and then you realise it s not so great and get back to your real amp (here your cabinet). This been said you really want to have one in your back pocket when you want to plug in a mixing board or can t use a proper amp.