It works. It just sounds horrible. I ordered it as a hopefully simpler and more reliable option to micing a cab for live use or home recording. Unfortunately it makes your guitar sound like utter garbage no matter how you use it. I wasted enough time in my home studio and rehearsal space with the band. The cab sim is completely useless and the attenuator just gives you thin and fuzzy. Unfortunately, it took me awhile after getting it to experiment and didn't save the original packaging. Should have just returned it when I could.

I got a fender blues deluxe and wanted that cranked sound but didnt wanna blow my walls apart lol. Got this attenuator and it lowered the volume amazingly, now i can play with the tubes hot and saturated without risking the tone.

I purchased this item to help with a direct recording solution. I have these great tube amps, but my room sounds terrible, not to mention all of the sleeping people. So, I got the Captor in an effort to achieve silent recording. This really went above my expectations. it is incredibly simple to use and with two line outs, one with a cab sim and one without, it makes 0 latency recording super easy. Just monitor the wet out and record the dry. I think the only thing I wish they would improve is the choice of cab sim on the wet out. Granted you can turn it off and use a cab sim loader pedal, but I'd love to see a couple of choices. Other than that minor issue, this thing makes recording a breeze.

This is a fantastic workhorse for capturing the power tube saturation of all my tube amps. The wall of sound plugin lets too much high-end through regardless of cab model chosen. I instead use the direct sound through other cab IR's in Logic.

First and foremost, I consider the Torpedo Captor to be an interface box for a tube amp. It does this function really well, including the cab sims that are adjustable (in software.) And I prefer this option over the emulated cab output options built into modern tube amps. The attenuator is an afterthought, but it is a nice feature to have. You only get the -20db out option. Otherwise, it's a passthrough to a physical cabinet so that you play through both that and out to something like a PA from the Torpedo's frontside DI or TRS.

I consider the -20db attenuation to be plenty good. And for anyone not liking what attenuation does to your low and highs, there's two reasons for this. When the load attenuation increases, your amplifier's output impedance also increases regardless of whatever amp you use. And at lower output volumes, the human ear detects less of the lows and highs. The way to correct this is to simply adjust the eq on the amp. Or use an eq pedal. There is nothing wrong with the attenuator. It's just physics at work.

So, if you're wanting a rather flexible interface box for your tube amp, the Torpedo Captor is a nice solution. Otherwise, there's lower cost attenuator options that will do a good job, albeit performing a limited and specific task. I only took off 1/2 star because it does not have a dedicated headphone output. For me, that would have completed its interface capabilities.

I'm recording a 5150 iii 50W amp into this load box and it sounds great!! I'm using York Audio IRs and it's the best tone I've gotten so far. Better than amp sims and better than trying to mic a cab myself. The silent recording is also a huge advantage since I can now write and record whenever I want.

Came without a power of supply. Those're cheap though.

See video

You know what this is, you know what it does. It's a nice recording tool to have on hand and seems to work well. My one complaint is that I wish there was a button or switch to mute the speaker output without having to just unplug the speaker. Doesn't seem like even the more expensive version has such so I dunno.

This is great for silent DI! 3rd party impulse cabs seem to be better. I already have an Iron Man built into my amp. But I have played with others! If going for cheap and just attenuation Bugera is better, but no treble compensation and no silent DI. If looking for the full package at $ go with the Weber Mass 100. It provides it all plus 2ohm-16om selection, true bypass and full EQ on DI out with true silent recording.

If you just want to silent record get this! Usually best to grab on a sale around $ is fine. That's why I bust it as I didn't need the extra $ on the Webber. But if starting from the bottom and not wanting to spend a fortune. Go Webber!

I will recommend a 100% the Torpedo 8! First of all, it protects your amp and speakers of damage caused by utilizing your amp in a 100% without any volume attenuation. Also, it is great for quiet practicing in a very moderate volume, without compromising that rich valve tone that only tube amps can provide. You won't have angry neighbors knocking at your door. An awesome tool for recording; this is an all in one unit that will facilitate guitar players of all levels.

Many thanks to my Sales Engineer, Logan Miller for recommending me such great product.

When I initially got it, I got integrated in my set up I recorded some sample tracks and thought I wasn't getting as good results as I had in the past. My initial thoughts were the ISO cab/Sure 57 mic combo delivered better results. Then, I found a decent set of IRs and a plug in to use to load them….and the results have blown me away. Clear crisp results wether high gain, crunch, or clean. The iso cab kind of fooled you with a slightly bommier low end sound that out of a mix sounds cool. In a mix where it counts though…..this is where its at.

Works great with my 5150, xxx, vtm, mesa boogie ta 30..its cool asf. Had it for 4 years

Works great with my 5150, xxx, vtm, mesa boogie ta 30..its cool asf. Had it for 4 years

When I first got it plugged in and tuned on it had a ridiculous amount of high end feedback. Piercing high frequency squealing! like uncontrollable even at really low gain and low volume. After experimenting I found the issue went away when I plugged my amp head into the same outlet as my computer but with a heavy gauge extension cord. It made no sense but it works great now. weird ground loop or something. I haven't tried it with using an adapter, only phantom power. But outside of that weird problem, I really enjoy it!

So, I have used these last couple years in my home studio with a roaring Plexi type amp. Very practical for home use, no volume problems.
If set correctly, and utilize the balanced output with 48volt phantom power, you are all set for direct recording into speaker impulse responses.
The tone is way beyond other attenuators from years past. The balance of tone is spot on. Hi end and bass are represented nicely.
If you have trouble getting a good sound, something is wrong. Two Notes dialed it in perfectly.
The fan noise is not an issue, as I monitor through monitors and track with a bit of volume.
I do not connect speakers up. Great for not disturbing others, and neighbors below if you are in an apartment.
Using it live is great too. Though it is set at -20db cut in volume, you will find it works great with a drummer and allows you to mic your rig. In other words, it is not too loud, yet not designed to be variable. Which is ok by me.
Other more expensive units out there if you want more flexibility. For the money, you cant beat this
After using it and getting accustomed to the results, my hi gain amps are gathering dust. Goes back to the old Marshall full up NMV goodness. Which the Captor, I get all the harmonics and dynamics of using a cranked Plexi. Have discovered, my Soldanos sound inferior to this type; output tube distortion.
I repeat, if you have unhappiness due to supposed limiting, sound quality something is wrong in your setup.
Very affordable for the man on a budget. It does all you need especially for my needs for home recording.

I read the reviews and watched all the videos on the Torpedo 8 and I was dead set that this was my ticket to creating guitar tracks straight from my tube amp into my DAW and I could do it silently. Well, the silent part was accurate. You can in fact use this to record, but I found the "Wall of Sound" software to be extremely clunky, hard to use, confusing, and none - and I mean none - of the VST's sounded good. I spent days changing settings on my amp, on the Torpedo, inside WoS, and after buying a couple of virtual cabs and endlessly tweaking the settings on all the above, I'm done. I threw in the towel. I just could not get a decent sound out of it, not matter how hard I tried... but maybe my expectations were too high. One other aspect of the Torpedo which everyone raves about is the attenuation but in my trials I found that it *barely* attenuates the amp signal. Not even worth it. Why not just throw an EQ pedal into the loop and turn the volume down? All in all this product was a hassle and I regret buying it but maybe I was one VST away from fixing the issue.

This unit is very light weight and inexpensive. It does what it supposed to but there are a few drawbacks that kept me from making this my go -to unit. Drawback number one, the attenuated signal does not reflect accurate amp tone. There is a reason for this. When the load box is bearing the entire load it is providing a reactive impedance curve very similar to that which a speaker would have and it sounds great, very accurate. This curve is important for achieving the feel and tonal dynamics familiar two guitar players who play through amps and cabs. However when you are using the attenuated signal to drive a speaker cab at a lower volume, your amplifier is receiving two different impedance curves, one from the load box and the other from the speaker cabinet, as a result the tone drastically becomes more crispy and thin in my experience. It doesn't necessarily sound bad but it definitely does not sound accurate.

Drawback number two, there is an analog limiter built into this unit it would seem, when I record through this unit my waveforms are clipped like a brick wall limiter, this also happens when using my 30W setting on the amp so it is not a matter of sending too much level to the captor. The Suhr reactive load, which does not have an attenuator FWIW (unrelated to limiting), does not experience this brick wall limiting, it passes the full waveform unlimited. Now, yes as a matter of course there will be limiting applied to this guitar signal anyways in mixing but I like being able to choose how much limiting is applied and doing so after any equalization/effect adjustments needed. The resulting sound can at times sound fatter and louder than competing products but it can also sound muddier and flatter. I personally like the sound of the suhr best.

Drawback number three, that blasted fan! This unit has a rather loud fan that comes on with almost every single note when I am playing my 100 W amplifier at 60% on the Master volume. This caused me to have to isolate the unit 15 feet from where I track and I can still hear it since you can't cover it to allow ventilation. Once again the SUHR reactive load did not have this issue, it does have a fan but I almost never heard it come on. If only the SUHR had an attenuated output for when I want to play through the cab at a reasonable level while having my master up a bit. Any ways,
This is definitely a decent unit and I like how lightweight it is, small and portable, and it does not require any power unless you are using the simulated output. It is also Fully analog unlike the captor X which converts your analog signal even if you're not using the internal impulse responses.
I was looking forward to trying the Mesa powerhouse what does have not been in stock. At some point I will compare the SUHR to the Mesa.

I use a Mesa Boogie Triaxis/2:Ninety setup. No Sim even comes close. I was making a new album and started setting up all my mic, treating the room, etc... Then saw this. I've owned this for over 6 months. I'm blown away. This along with the Wall of Sound software is spot on to the original rig. In fact, it's better. There's no room noise. And I can choose expensive microphones that I don't own. I can spend hours moving the mic around in the software tweaking my tone. So easy to set up and record. Want to record in the middle of the night in a tiny apartment? Go ahead, it's silent. I run directly into an Apollo twin> Cubase 11. Great work flow, great sound, it has made recording fun, like it should be.
Then, I wanted to record my Bass directly. No problem. I bought a Mesa bass cabinet sim in the Torpedo software. It sounds Amazing. So many cabs and speakers to choose from. This is the best my bass or guitar have ever sounded on record.
Shout out to Christian Baer, my sales Engineer. He has really made all of this smooth and easy. So helpful. I hope Sweetwater never changes.
Get this product if you record!

This black box couldn't be any more streamlined and perfect. It just sounds great for direct recording. Remember that the IRs you choose will vary your results greatly, so if things are sounding fizzy or thin, or muddy, or whatever else, it's most likely NOT the Captor to blame, but the IRs you are using. Try a bunch, settle on a few that make your ears happy, then spend some time tweaking them. Treat the IR like a real cab and use your amps EQ and pedal controls to tweak the sound to suit the IR. I use the Captor with Wall of Sound, GGD Zilla Cabs, and Neural DSP Plini (cab section only) and it's great with all of them, provided the IRs I've got loaded are ones that suit what I'm doing. The attenuation feature it great. -20db is a nice spot for home playing and really lets you get your amp tubes working. Amazing that for attenuation, no power source is needed. For direct recording, you'll need a power source, but equally as brilliant is the Captor just uses Phantom Power from your XLR preamp. Could NOT be simpler. Strikes against it...? The built in analog cab sims really are not very good, but to be fair I've never heard an analog cab sim output that I actually liked. But with all the IR options out there, who cares?

Just get it. I dont think there is a more valuable tool a guitarist can have than this. -20 dB attenuation, built in cab sims, the ability to play your tube amp silently. Just perfect.

I didn't realize this attenuator is forever locked in at -20 dB. It also smushes your tone into an ugly twin of its former self. It'll do the trick, but a 20dB reduction isn't worth the money in my opinion. I still wouldn't be able to, say, play my Rectoverb 25 half stack in an apartment late at night with this thing.

This is not going to compete with the oxbox, or anything in that proce range. Thats just reality. That being said i own two of these now and they are rugged, forgiving, and well made. I do not care for their built in IRd because they feel a bit dark and lacking mids so i use my own IRs and loader. All that being said, i would/will biy a third, reliable, consistent and forgiving

Use this for attenuation of my Friedman Runt 50. Fixed -20db works great for stage, practice. Very transparent does not alter amp signal to cabinet. I have not tried the cab sim direct signal yet. The Friedman Runt 50 has the same feature. Excellent Sweetwater service & price as always.

Plug ins are great, pre amps are great, but if you already have a tube amp you love and can swing the extra money for this, you don't need those other things. This is the best way to record quietly in a cost effective/bedroom type way. I love it!

Years of playing with amps has always been great but the second the clock turns 10 it's game over for studio work. This has changed everything the fact you plug your head into this and it works right out of your computer is amazing I can play all night if I like. The learning curve from the software is something else but once you know what you want and figure it out this rules so hard very happy with this unit.

It's a good "introduction" to silent amp recording / DI / speaker simulation, it's solid and it works. But it sounds bad.

Makes my DSL40C clip in a bad way even on the clean channel. Causes spikes in the DAW that are hard to manage. Sounds kind of scooped, muddy, and harsh, at the same time. Makes good IR files sound bad compared to better DI's. Don't blame the IR, it's the Captor.

Wall Of Sound application is kind of a mess, but it's 'OK' if you don't have something else.

There are many other better options on the market for less, similar, or slightly more money. Right now I'm using a Countryman 85 bought from Sweetwater as the Speaker DI, and it immediately sounds 100% better than the Torpedo Captor. Although with the Countryman you would need a secondary load box if you want to get silent or quiet. I'm looking for other options, to be set free from the Captor.

Nicely attenuates a driven Blues Jr IV for home use, and perfectly translates a creamy tube tone for direct input playing/recording. Setup was a breeze. Yet again, Sweetwater's Nick F. helped us brainstorm and solve an issue.

I wanted something to tame my new Fender Super-Sonic without sacrificing the amp's sound. Bryan recommended the Two Notes and I'm glad he did. Without it the Super-Sonic is too loud for home practicing. With it the neighbors won't complain but my family can still hear me but they don't complain. It's a straightforward way to cut the volume without altering the amp's quality sounds. I'm glad I have it.

Works great in the Studio and on Stage!
I needed the freedom to use the Captor 8 separately. This works great for me. Your mileage may vary.
If you have no need to use the CAB M as a separate piece, you might consider the Captor X. Either way, it's a great product.

The only thing I use on this is the attenuator function. It works well for this, but don't expect to be able to dime your high power tube amp and play at bedroom volumes. What it will do is allow you to push your amp into it's sweet spot with slightly lower volume. I'm using this one on a Marshall Origin 50 and with it's built in attenuator set to 1/2 power plus the Two Notes, I can comfortably play with the master at about 12:00 without my neighbors complaining.

I did a TON of research on items like this. I own a Mark V 35 and the built in CabClone was good. I wanted to step up the quality and have some extra options. This thing along with the Two-Notes software fits my needs. The fact that I can send my Ampeg SVT Micro VR direct to the Two-Notes software for a bass rig was a bonus. I did look at other options and for the price this fit my budget and is better than I thought. I can crank the amp up and really get those tubes going. My recordings already sound better without having to use mics. The half star deduction is due to the fact it does not have a way to choose the ohm rating which may have increased the price anyway.

Note that this review does not reflect on Sweetwater and their great service. They always treat me great and I have nothing but good things to say about Sweetwater. This is a product review only.

Before buying the torpedo captor 8 I had read so many good things about it and I really wanted to like it. When I first got it I didn't do much recording I was mostly using it for its attenuation feature and that works great. That is why I'm giving it 2.5 stars because it does half of what it supposed to do.

When I started recording the unit had a very loud hum or buzz. Also the recordings sounded really muddy. I tried different variations( I used the internal cab sims, the wall of sound, and other cab sims) but always got a muddy recording. I tried different cables (xlr and trs) but got the same results. Finally I asked my sweetwater rep about exchanges and he sent me a new one right away.

With the new unit I did not get that loud buzzing noise so I was so excited. But unfortunately my recordings still sounded super muddy no matter the variations a tried. I have a fender deluxe reverb and I could not capture its essence. The recording always come out muddy and not in a usable way.

I have about three to four amps that I wanted to use the attenuator on ...a Marshall 50 watt head a marshall VC 20 watt head both made in england... also another Marshall Origin head ...I am so disappointed with this attenuator that it just sits on a shelf in my studio! I also have the Radial Prodigy attenuator and it puts the two notes to shame...I had a Rivera Rockcrusher which cost 500 bucks and I sold it for 300...The fryette power station is the thing to have...just haven't got it yet...but I dont get what everyone is saying about the captor...it is crap!

Got this so I could start tracking tube amps silently. I work out of a home studio, so recording tube amps at ideal levels wasn't exactly practical, so I got this box. It's an absolute breeze to use. I've only used it as a load box in conjunction with the Wall of Sound plugin for cabinet simulation, so I haven't used the attenuation feature. The built in cab sim is kinda meh, but that's totally okay, because the Wall of Sound plugin is included, and it comes with a very nice selection of cabs straight out of the box. I really like the Zilla 2x12 and Mesa 4x12 for prog/metal stuff. The install and activation were a breeze and it works flawlessly with Studio One 4 Pro. Wall of Sound is honestly worth it's own review so the fact that it's included is super nice. Super good stuff all round.

I first tried the product with the built in VST and I did not like it. I was disappointed sue to latency. Of course, my 5 year old computer might need to get sold. However, the product redeemed itself by allowing to crank my marshall and the built in WoS IR in the box should awesome. I also like the option to load my amp AND still provide power to my cab. To explain, my Marshall (100 watt total) sends 50 watts at 8 ohms to the load box just like a cabinet. Then the 8 ohms get sent to my cabinet at 50 watts.

Performs just as advertised - great innovative piece of gear - brings your tube amp to life at lower volumes and it does much more than that - amp cab sims with effects and mic sims -

Just get this bad boy. It is so user friendly and easy to use. I hooked it right up with my Mesa/Boogie Mark V 90 and instantly got an incredible tone with my ML Sound Lab impulses! The sound is so close and in your face. I highly recommend purchasing one of these for recording. I know they have a few different versions of this (Actually I "think" they do lol), but this suits my needs just fine. Nice, quick, and to the point. CRUSHING TONE with a good amp of course!

This worked perfectly for my home situation and needs. I was looking for a way to record my '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb (22W) amp without making a ton of noise. Connecting the Captor to the 8ohm speaker out of the Deluxe Reverb (with a speaker cable of course) allowed me to run an XLR straight to my audio interface. Boom! Easy at home tube amp recording—where you can crank the levels to get that awesome tube saturation—without having to set mics or blow out your windows. The onboard speaker simulation is pretty great if not a little flat. Depending on your choice and experience with Impulse Responses, you can always tweak the onboard sound through whatever DAW you use with EQ, compression, etc. But the box also comes with a free license to Wall of Sound, IR software that provides tons of cabinet simulation options to run straight through your DAW. With the number of rooms, cabinets, and mic choices, you'd be hard pressed to find a sound you didn't like—and that's just with the free options.

The -20db attenuation is good, but it's not the main function of this box. I can definitely get break up on my 22 watt amp at just over TV level volumes. That alone would be worth the price of admission. It's a great buy and will be a staple in my at home recordings.

I love this little box.

Combined with software for speaker/mic emulation I can get recordings that sound really good.

Before I was messing around with different microphones, and was feeling apprehensive about spending more on new mics/speakers to get 'the sound'.

This lets me crank my amps to the point of that beautiful tube saturation compression, while making quality recordings silently and choosing the mic/cabinet combo afterwards. It really is a game changer for a home studio.

I have my best ideas at night and now I can capture them whenever I have them, not worrying about noise or annoying people around me by playing the same track over and over.

The -20dB feature is nice for jamming solo although on a 15W amp it's pretty quiet.

Cons- the on board speaker emulation is terrible, don't use it.

Pros- phantom power means no cables, silent recording easier + sounds better than mics

This was a good purchase. Great for recording guitar on a tube amp if you don't have a place to be loud and a bunch of expensive microphones.

I bought this because it was cheaper than my other purple load box, and I wanted to be able to record two amps at one time. Turns out it just sounds better and my amps feel better playing them thru this than my old purple load box. So I ordered a second one.

Totally blown away!!! The best attenuator out there. I run my Germino Lead 55 LV, run a variac at 90 volts, all controls are on 10……… you get early Edward Van sound at a listenable level... Unbelievable.

Mind you, this is best with NON MASTER VOLUME amps.

Hi gain amps don't need it, that's the whole point of those... trying to replicate the sound of output tube distortion.

If you have an old Marshall, Fender, whatever.... where you turn it up to get the sound, the Captor cages the high volume and has a nice crisp sound … Must have for any of these amps. Buy this or the other Two Notes load boxes... totally awesome.

the captor has been working great for me,and doing axactly what I needed it to do.I needed something to get the sound and feel of my "Tube amps"into my "Daw"Recordings,Without Breaking The Bank...........Well,The Captor Is Doing That Flawlesly.
I,m Very Happy With how its working for me........I,m Expecting to get some incredable guitar sounds recorded in my songs.....Highly Recomended!

This product does exactly what you're wanting it to do! The built in cab sim actually sounds pretty good but if you don't like it then you can just bypass it and use whatever Impulse Responses you like. And having it include an attenuator is fantastic. I used both the cab sim and the attenuator at the same time so I could get a mic'ed cab sound but have the cab sim as a backup if I don't like how the mic'ed cab sounds later on. I was having trouble getting my Blackstar HT Stage 60 loud enough to get a good sound without being too loud in an apartment. The attenuator solved this situation. I can set the main volume to 9 o'clock to get a good sound without rattling the rafters! Worth every penny. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it doesn't have a headphone out and it's not switchable between 4, 8, or 16 ohm impedance, you have to buy a specific ohm rating.

I hauled my Mesa Nomad 100 to Sweetwater just to try this. I brought stereo fx and a Hughes and Kettner Red Box Classic for stereo fed from the Mesa Nomad 100 used as a master. I ran the amp at 50 watts. Used the 8 ohm speaker out from the head into the Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8. I didn't use any speaker cabinet. Sweetwater let me use a Mackie Mixer to audition the signal from the Two Notes and H&K Red Box. The Red Box was much quieter, but I was able to balance the stereo signal. I thought the analog speaker simulator sounded great. The Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8 has 3 options, Guitar, Bass, or none. This is where you can utilize software downloads and use the IR Wall of Sound software. I plan to get to get a 2nd one down the Road. I will be doing a full demo on my You Tube channel: JRPowell3_Music. I love how I can use my Tube amp safely without a speaker.

Having read other reviews I was excited to try the captor. Technically it does everything the company says it does. I used a mic cable with phantom power (make sure you either have that or buy the separate power plug!). It sounds ok. I like the WOS plugin quite a bit, but the quality of the capture from my Mesa Boogie Mark V and Blackstar amps isn't as good as I expected. Lots of pick and string noise and it just doesn't sound natural to me somehow. When I first went to the company website it was down and I got a 404 error. When I tried again later I had a hard time finding what I was looking for. Overall I'm disappointed - I get a similar sound from the Helix and other virtual amps. I may try the Ox or some other units, but I think it's back to recording with microphones for me.

So we updated the sound system and remodeled the sanctuary at our church. Long story short, had trouble getting a line out from the organ. OEM wanted $4,000 to provide it. Bought two of these and it sounds great. The low end response is slightly softer than the rest of the frequencyies but is probably not noticeable for most folks. Quick delivery and customer service was excellent. Head and shoulders above another online retailer from which I I had originally ordered. Sweetwater just jumped to the top of my list.

For $... you're not going to get much better. I run my EVH 50 watt straight into my DAW and get a great tone using the onboard IR. Couple this unit with the Wall of Sound software and you get even better tone with tons of Sound options. I was using Bias but this unit allows me to free up some processing on my computer. Also I can use my own tube amp which is what I wanted to do in the first place. I should have went this route earlier and will definitely upgrade this unit in the future. Obviously there are better options at higher price points but for the price this thing will do what you want in a studio setting

First and foremost, hat's off to Andrew and the gang at Sweetwater. I ordered this on the 7th of December, it arrived on the 10th. I own an older Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, to my ears, it sounds best with the volume knob between 2 and 6. If you know anything about the Hot Rod Deluxe than you'll know even at 2, it's too loud for home use, unless your home alone. The Two Notes Captor along with the Wall Of Sound works perfectly for silent recording. At this price point, it's a must-have for any home recording enthusiast with a tube amp. Built to last and work as advertised.

I now have two of these. It's important to note that I never wanted these for their cab emulation. I already have the Torpedo CAB, and I have these to load my tube amps, get an unaffected line out, then feed into the Torpedo CAB. By now I suppose I should have just bought the Torpedo Live, but this has been a piecemeal rig I built over a few years. The built in guitar cab sim isn't great, but it is a little better than my Boogie with the built in Cab Clone. I could use it in a pinch, but the real reason I have these is to use IR's. The reactive component of these seems legit, too. I can definitely feel it when compared to the Cab Clone. I also tried a Rivera product in a similarly close price range and had to send that back (I will review it too).
However, the built in bass cab sim DOES work for me. I use these on my bass amp and get a nice tone, but bass is easy.
I don't use the attenuation, but I did try it a few times. It seemed to take some low end out, or maybe the attenuation didn't let my cabs scream. Either way, for practicing at home it was VERY nice to have that feature. The amp felt great, and so did my eardrums. I would still record with IR's if I wanted silent/quiet recording.

Probably just me. But for direct recording this really isn't all that. Doesn't sound anything at all like my amp. The WoS helps. But you can spend a great deal of time going thru IRs to find the one that sounds closest to the mic'd amp. Bought this after months of watching vids. No clue how they're getting such great tones. So, yeah, probably me. Still not jumping for joy. And I do a lot of direct recording (with other hardware). With Two Notes' rep thought this would be .... better. Have not tried it as an attenuator yet. It might shine that way. Got to say, it's built like a brick. Feels very solid. Just kinda flat thru the built-in speaker sim. If someone wants to tell me how to use it better, I'm all up for that.

I've bought quite a bit of guitar gear over the last year. (Most of it from Sweetwater!) The torpedo captor is just flat out amazing. Everything it does, it does extremely well.
First off, the attenuation. If that is all you want this box for, it does a good job. Minus 20db is more than you'd think, but a100w amp is still going to be pretty loud once you get the tubes cooking. That said, there is very little tone suck at all compared to the Bugera PS1 I ordered at the same time as this. I could see this being very useful in an on stage situation.
Now my favorite feature, silent recording with the wall of sound plug in. For reference, I have a 100w Engl Fireball and a Mesa Rectifier 4x12 cab. I run the fireball into the captor, then into a focusrite 2i2, and into reaper. Loaded up the mesa rectifier sim in WoS, miked with the sm57 and I was blown away. The sound, feel and tone was SPOT ON. Then it gets really fun. Being able to change mics and every imaginable different placement is easy and intuitive. Then start going from room to room. It inspires creativity like nothing I've came across in years. It's literally like having a studio (multiple studios!) at your disposal, whenever you want it.
Hands down one of the best purchases I've ever made. Well worth every penny, and then some!

Let me just start by saying the 4 star rating is for the product. Sweetwater themselves get a full 5star for their stellar customer service. Within minutes of placing my order, I received an email asking me to confirm my phone number (butter fingers that I am I typed the area code wrong). Within seconds of replying, my phone rings. Ed from Sweetwater, wanting to go over the order with me and make sure everything was correct! Ed explained everything about the product and the sale to me (international order and all...as I'm in Canada) and once we confirmed everything was ok he thanked me and said the product would be shipped out shortly. I figured, cool he'll put it through and it will get shipped in a business day or 2...nope! I don't know if Ed took the thing to DHL himself...but 15 minutes after the phone call I received a DHL tracking number and confirmation my package was on the way! The only "negative" I could say, is that the shipping was marked as DHL, when in reality it was DHL part of the way. No biggy. Over all the product still came out cheaper than my local shop, and I didn't have a 4-6 month long wait.

On to the product!
Why did I buy this? well I live in a condo, so I can't crank my amp. I like recording myself playing guitar, but having to spend an hour setting up mics and getting the perfect placement etc just puts me off. VST amp sims are...good....but I own a mesa mini rectifier for a reason... For a tiny amp..it's LOUD.

Need a solution to quiet your amp a little? Check
Want to be able to record silently? Check
Need some surprisingly decent cab sim? Check (it really is surprisingly usable!)

Registering the captor will also get you some 15 or so (something around 15 anyways) cabinet impulses to use in recording with Wall of Sound (Two-Notes cabinet sim VST)

I can now put the mordern lead channel at a reasonable volume to get a decent sound and then go through the attenuator to keep things on a neighbour friendly level.

Setting this up to record my amp as DI in my DAW was as simple as plugging in 2 cables and selecting the channel to record off my interface in my DAW. As stated above using the built in guitar cab sim, works well but is limited. (You can switch to bass sim for some interesting low end). This thing however really shines when you load up Wall of Sound over it. Want to see what a mix of a shure 57 at the back of a rector cab would sound like with a ribbon mic set to center of the cone of a VOX amp? no prob its clicks away. Being able to drag the mic around to find the perfect tone and then be able to save it as a preset is a god send. No more fiddling with mic placement manually!

Over all, for the price this was a great purchase. The ONLY con I would say is that the speaker out is either a straight out or attenuated to -20db. I wasn't sure how big or small -20dbs would be. Trust me..it makes a DIFFERENCE, I however would have liked a bigger choice (if not a knob to go form -100db to -0db) maybe a switch for -50 or -20? I was kinda hoping I could dime out the rectifier and keep things reasonable...but no such luck. Also if you don;t want to use this with a console with phantom power, I believe you will need to find yourself a 9v plug, as it doesn't seem to come with for some reason (luckily I have phantom power, so..good to go)

I have a hand-built tube bass head that a good friend designed and built for me. (I know. It's a long and happy story.) The head is rock-solid but with a necessarily simple signal chain: a single speaker output. I'd largely given up using it in favor of a nice-enough solid-state combo with an XLR out. I knew solutions existed, but the ones I knew about were either crazy expensive, or generated little enthusiasm in the community.

When I heard about the Torpedo Captor, the general sentiment seemed to be, "Huh. This is a nice little box." So, while it's not exactly cheap, it's certainly not a $1k studio rack thing, and I figured I'd take a flyer on it. This thing has rekindled my love affair with that custom head. While the on-board cab sim is probably not anything to record with, it sounds really nice through a PA. I can get just enough on-stage volume to hear myself in the mix, and the sound guy does what he wants up front. Everybody wins.

I will say that the attenuated output isn't quite the thing with a bass amp, at least not with mine. I know the point is to let the amp run, but it sounded a little too ... much, too fuzzy and frankly a bit harsh. On the guitar side of things, however, it's a [expletive deleted] champ. My guitarist tried the attenuated output on a Dr. Z, and it did exactly what it's supposed to. With the amp volume up, his rig just ... sang a bit more, and at a more reasonable volume than previously. Odds are, our little musical family will have another Captor in it soon.

Yeah, it would be nice to have switchable impedance and variable attenuation, but that would drive up the complexity, and the price. As is, I would describe it as a versatile bargain: load box, (fixed) attenuator, dry output, cab-sim output. This is a win.

This thing is amazing and sounds just like my amp!!!!

I'm very happy to report that the Captor has exceeded my expectations. I'm using it in a home studio setting so I'm using impulse responses for the cab/mic simulation but it sounds amazing.

Although amp sims have gotten pretty good it is even better to be able to just fire up the amp and pedals and play. Sounds good through basic monitors and headphones connected to the computer. I only tested it with ~15 - 22 watt amps so I can't say how it will handle the 50 - 100 watt amps but with these smaller amps the internal fan would come on occasionally when running the amp full out.

It is also an incredibly great way to track guitars. With the high quality IR available I can get cab mic combos that I couldn't afford, don't have, or are impossible plus you get the benefit of professional engineering and phase alignment.

I play guitar in church, and our current arrangement prohibits me from having a guitar amp on stage. I do not like modeling amps and pedals much, so when I heard of this box, I was excited that I can use my tube amp and run the speaker load from the amp to the Torpedo Captor and then the DI out to our house mixer. It has a very good mic sim built in for guitar or bass.

Tried it out last Sunday and was completely blown away. My guitar tone hasn"t sounded so good since I was able to use my amp and mic it. And even then I could not really crank it. Now I can run my amp at any level and it sounds great.

Great price compared to other companies selling similar items for several times more.

This is essentially a review of a whole signal chain that is brought to life by the Captor. Signal Chain: Les Paul (490R+BB Lead Pro)-->MXR Il Torino-->Orange Micro Dark-->TC HoF (in loop)-->Torpedo Captor--> PPC112 (stock V30). So I run the amp w/ Gain and Shape at noon and volume at 11 o'clock with the -20db attenuation. Before the Captor I could only run the amp at .75 so it didn't even get past the first notch because I am in a dorm room. I AB'd w/ -20db and no attenuation and at 11 o'clock it was too deafening and scary to even try in my room. I then took a tone sample of the amp at -20db attenuation with the settings described above and then without attenuation at a similar volume level and it was nowhere near as good. The saturation level was crap and it just sounded like crap. When using the attenuation the full potential of the amp comes out and I couldn't be happier. The amp is still loud but it is very manageable. At the settings above w/ no boost it is classic Marshall w/ that Orange flavor and then I hit the boost for a slight increase in saturation and EQ shift for that Sabbath sound. Even though I am always wanting more gear, it is hard to justify it when this sounds so good.

First off, this product is great! The 2 things that drew me to this product is that I wanted an attenuator and something to capture a solid DI of my tube head into my interface. I have an EvH 5150iii 50w and I love it, but I have only been able to crank it a handful of times to get the experience I paid for. It does sound pretty good at lower volumes and I usually just practice at home with it at literally 1 MAYBE 2 when practicing at home. With the attenutaor function I have it at 4.5ish and it is a comfortable volume and I get that great saturation that I wanted to hear from my amp.

Next the DI capture is very nice. The EVH does have the preamp out but I would stick a headphone jack adapter in to mostly silence the amp and play and it didn't sound THE best but decent. I have plenty of great amp sims (mostly 5150 based) that I like but have never really been able to get the sound of MY amp out of them. With my amp and the Two Notes Burn It cab I get something very similar to my head and my Laney IRT2x12.

Don't care for the IR that is built in it, but I never intended on using it because I got this for the specific reasoning above. =D

So far, I am happy with the Captor as a silent recording tool. The built-in speaker sims, while not spectacular, are useful in a pinch (pleasantly surprised as they were better sounding then I expected).

The real magic happens when you download the free Wall of Sound Utility and load in the free cab IRs (not to mention any third party IRs you own like OwnHammer or Redwirez). The results are stellar as good or better than today's high-end modelers or VSTs.

Used the Two Notes Torpedo Captor with a Mesa Boogie Rectoverb 25 Combo. Used 48V phantom power to provide electricity for the unit (it does not ship with the required 24V power supply, so phantom power is a must). Tried it first as an attenuator, and was not able to get much benefit (to be fair, I use a 25W combo. I expect better results would be had from a 50W or 100W head). I was much more impressed when I disconnected the Boogie's Fillmore speaker and used the Captor for silent recording. I was able to get a nice tone dialed in through WoS with next to no latency. Down the road, if I invest in a Torpedo CAB or use some other IR loader like a Line 6 HX Effects, then truly zero-latency recording should be possible.

If I had it over again, I would have rather used a good tube head, not bothering with a combo. You could easily work with a head alone, no cab necessary.

Be careful to adjust master volumes and output volumes to prevent digital distortion. The balanced out is good and loud, prompting me to turn the mic pre on my Steinberg UR44 down, and the output level of the Captor never went higher than 9 o'clock. As for the Rectoverb, I ran it at 25 watts but to my surprise, I was never able to get my master volume especially high. Still happy with the results once I had all my levels adjusted, and I was pleased with the saturation and touch sensitivity for the silent recording session.

I like the unit overall. The built-in speaker sim is a nice option to have as a backup (both voicings are useful). The results when using WoS plugins and impulse responses are amazing. If you are able to hold out for Torpedo LIVE, you will enjoy the same reactive load box performance but also have truly amazing Two Notes cab IRs and power amp modeling. But if $ is too steep, the Captor is truly affordable... and performs very well. I expect it to be using it for years to come.

This thing has been great ever since I got it.

It's primary use in my house is as a DI for my raw amp sound into an IR loader for good quality recordings. I hear it has the in box IR but I've never used it. No need to with OwnHammer.

I just recently tried it as an attenuator and it's great. The - 20 seems to be the sweet spot BUT it does seem to scoop the mids a bit which stopped me from giving a full 5. Maybe this is just the nature of the beast with attenuation?

Other than that one of the best things about this piece is that it DOESN'T NEED TO BE POWERED. Maybe that's obvious but I didn't know at the time and with the power strip slowly losing space it's great to have a piece of gear that doesn't need to be plugged in to power.

I got this to use with my Dual Rectifier at home: for cab attenuation and for silent recording. The attenuation is fine, I can "turn up" the amp and overcome the low-volume issues that happen with the Mesa's parallel FX loop without it being very loud. The silent recording is a different story. The built in cab emulation isn't very good so I'm using it with Two Notes' Wall of Sound VST plugin. I demoed a few of their cabs and found a couple that sound ok so I'm testing out this capability further with EQ and any other necessary FX to see if I can get a realistic sound that I'd be happy to put in my music.

My son plays electric bass in an in-ear only stage situation.....no speaker cabinets & no monitors. Has gone through a myriad of stomp box emulators/pre-amps over past 5 years. Until now he has not been able to deliver a true gutsy, broad bass tone. He is now using a Hartke head speaker-line direct into the Torpedo Captor and into the sound system via XLR cable; delivering the bass-head tone to the sound system. Everybody heard the difference immediately. It is bigger, heavier, but badder than a traditional direct box and the results speak for themselves.

This is a great loadbox if you want to use a tube amp and cabinet impulses. If you want a variable loadbox to still use a cab, there are probably better options out there than this one. But if you want to go direct and use an IR Loader ...how can you beat this? I don't understand Two-Notes' math, Captor+CAB essentially equals a two notes Live but you actually spend less buying the Captor and CAB separately as opposed to going for the Live. Maybe the price on the CAB and Live will be coming down in the future, as there are cheaper options for IR Hosts coming into the market lately. From what I've seen the two notes stuff still out performs the competition based on spec's alone.

I have not even bothered to try the built in analog speaker sim, i have been convinced already and a good digital speaker sim is far better than any analog counterpart, but it's always good to have a failsafe.

This loadbox has features I haven't used yet, like the line out and speaker simulator. I can't speak to those features. I bought this for one simple reason...to be able to use my Mesa Rectoverb at home, and be able to have some actual control over the volume level.

With the captor between my amp and my cabinet, I can now turn the amp up without having to walk a razor-thin line between no volume and window-shaking neighborhood disturbance!. Where I was barely opening the throttle before, now I'm at perhaps 1/4 throttle at the same volume! In a small venue, it might let you run at 1/2 or 2/3 where you'd have been at 1/4 before. But don't be fooled...even with this attenuator, your amp is still gonna get loud! If you want to run your amp wide open, and still keep the volume at bedroom levels, this is probably not going to do what you want...it doesn't have that much attenuation! You will probably need a more elaborate load box for that sort of versatility. But if you just want to reduce your volume enough so that your amp is closer to it's sweet spot without getting you evicted, it might be worth a try.

I like it enough that I'm going to buy a second one in for my other rig!

I think some of the "reviewers" here may be a bit mislead. The captor is fantasic at being a loadbox that sounds and feels wonderful, and also has the option of a simple cabinet emulation "just in case". However, the intention is to use it to get the sound of your amp before it hits the speaker, and take that sound into your DAW or mixer to apply impulse responses of your choice. It does come with Two Notes Impulse response loader as well. Many of the low ratings here are because some were expecting it to be the Two Notes Torpedo Studio Digital Loadbox/Attenuator but at $1400 less. Sorry, that's not the way it works. So to those out there looking for a GREAT loadbox for your preferred IR's - look no further. This piece of hardware works beautifully.

I use a tube amplifier (Fender Supersonic) at home and when I practice things can get loud. I have a digital amp to allow me to play with headsets as well as use AmpliTube, etc... But the tones from the digital amp were never as good as my beloved tube amp. I even tried going from my effects out into my DAW and a cab simulator. I decided to give the Captor a try and it"s amazing. I takes a little bit of time to learn the set-up, set the levels to prevent clipping,

I can go:
Amp > Captor > Focusrite 6i6 > Reaper with Wall of Sound VST plugin that came with the Captor
Amp > Captor > Focusrite 6i6 with monitoring using the cab sim on the Captor (Mic out on Captor)

All sound fantastic, I can use all of my drive pedals into the amp and it"s also a great recording set-up.

Two Notes make some nice products, their "Studio & Live" are both pro level devices, the Captor is Not! It does a very nice "Tone Reference" to your amplifier of choice but if you have the ears & skill using an SM57 and Royer 121 is "Where the Professional's Live" beautiful and accurate. The funny thing is guitarists with their High-Priced Boutique amps (I'm one of them) would run through a "Cab & Spkr SIMULATOR?" even a Marshall or Fender tone is similar but not exact (if Close enough is good?) I like the convenience of recording direct to DAW and low level Headphone monitoring. In serious recording I wouldn't use IR technologies, only for "Scratch Tracks" you can fool yourself and try to justify, but you'll always get a "Compromised Tone" Not the tones from the great, that comes from great microphones, tube preamps, audio interface & DAW (if an AMPEX 2" reel to reel @ 30ips is not available). The Captor is very quiet, phantom powered, easy to connect and operate. I was hoping it had the Two Notes Studio & Live capabilities but this device is "Truly for the Novice & Entry Level player". On board Cab-Sim is Horrible, "Ownhammer" Cab Sims sound Way Better than TN!!! I wish there were music retail businesses that don't bombard you with "Marketing" and have real world experience not "Reading from Product Specifications" as experts???

Overall the Two Notes Captor is "Decent" I should have bought the "Suhr Reactive Load" so much better Quality and Tone for a little more, not as many options as the captor but most of the options are so-so at best. This is 40yrs of experience in the music industry.

This was not a tough decision at all for me to pick the Captor for an amplifier load box. When I saw that is also came with extra Wall of Sound cabinet models, I was definitely sold. I already use WoS and love it. The cabinet licenses you get aren't just some of their throw-away models, but some of the really good ones. Brownyback is one of my go-to models and it comes with the pack as well as some other classic cabs. I ran the Captor from my amp to my interface with the balanced out and used the phantom power on my Focusrite. Awesome. No extra power cables and a balanced output. Just set the cab sim on the Captor to off and load up the WoS in my DAW and I was running. It worked great. Ran a 100w head at about 50% for an hour and the Captor never even got warm. Never heard the fan either. Yes, unfortunately the onboard cabinet simulator is a little flat and drab. If you need it for live situations, a little presence or EQ at the board will probably help.
The little extra present for me was the fun of the attenuator. I never really expected to used it, but I had a blast with it. I used it on a Soldano SLO, 100w Carvin V3, and a Marshall 1987. the 20db attenuation is a lot. I was able to crank the Marshall to 10 and it was still comfortable. It will still get you kicked out of an apartment but not painful for the house.

Given the two notes reputation I had really high expectations of this unit I had looked into many other two notes products in the past, but could never justify the cost for my needs, the Captor filled that void. I simply needed a solution to track guitars at home without having to crank my PRS Archon. I've tried a bunch of different digital amp simulators and they just never did the trick and never sounded authentic or dynamic. Having the ability to run a full bore 100 watt tube amp silently with digital cab sims changes the game. You get an extremely close representation of what your amp sounds liked mic'd up and cranked. The one area I was slightly let down by was the onboard cab sim. With my Archon it really didn't do much for me, but I really didn't have any intentions of utilizing it from the start, so for me there is no devalue here. It is much larger than I anticipated and built like a tank, huge plus!

The attenuation feature is fantastic. Would it be cool to be able to adjust the attenuation? Of course, but its honestly a great level of attenuation for home use. It allows the amp to be opened up a ton and not blow the paint off the walls. When I do feel the need to mic up the cab, the Captor allows me to get great tube tone at reasonable volume..SCORE.

The included Wall of Sound plugin is great. I would have liked to have a few more IRs to work with out of the box (18 included with license) but you are able to "demo" their full range of IRs within the plugin and purchase the ones that sound best. Where the Captor really shines though is when 3rd party IRs. With a few Ownhammer IRs I was absolutely stunned at how authentic my guitar tone sounded. I had a few issues getting my license to work properly with the Wall of Sound Plugin when downloading the software, turns out when entering the serial number from your device it is case sensitive***. Two notes tech support responded back to my support ticket request within 30 minutes. Huge thumbs up to Two Notes!

Lastly, Clint Bransteter was fantastic to work with as always. I had been waiting for the Captors to be back in stock and Clint called me as soon as they got one in. Customer service at Sweetwater is top notch. Very pleased with Sweetwater and my Captor!!!!

This is a total game changer for me. I can't really comment on ALL of it's supposed applications as I have and will only be using it for one thing. Recording big *** tube amps in my home studio quietly. The built in speaker sim is ok, nothing special, but I don't use it. However, this in combination with some high quality impulses like the OwnHammer stuff is just awesome. At this price point, I don't think I could possibly be happier.

I mainly bought this to use the attenuated output so I can run my amp harder at a lower volume. The attenuated sound is best described as thin and fizzy. I doubt my unit is defective, so I give this a no go.

The silent recording feature works as intended, I can run my amp pretty hard and it sounds great with a cab impulse, no fizzy tiny sound here.

I unfortunately cannot recommend it, as the attenuated sound really bad. My amp is a 6505+.

Also forget the onboard analog cab, it just plain doesn't sound very good.

First, I am a big fan of Two Notes. I've been a CAD and Torpedo Live user for years and I find them indispensable for silent recording and consistent front of house live guitar sounds. So I was extremely excited for this product - an all-in-one solution for live guitar (load box for stage volume control, DI out to send to the board so no mic'ing, etc etc), and it does what it's supposed to very very well. Great sounding, super user-friendly, and small footprint.
That being said, I think it's a tragic oversight that Two Notes has only included 1 fixed guitar speaker sim on this unit, and doesn't allow you to change it. Why on Earth would they not make this unit comparable with Wall Of Sound so each user can load up their 1 speaker sim of choice and carry that with them everywhere? Instead they leave you stuck with a one-size-fits-all single speaker sim with no ability to change it. So whether you use this unit with a Vox combo, a Twin Reverb, a Mesa Dual Rectifier, or a Marshall Super Lead, you only get one choice for what the speaker sim sound like...
That, to me, is quite unfortunate.
The unit is a good deal at $ for what it provides (and it does its job VERY well!), but frankly I'd have paid $ just for the added feature of being able to upload the speaker sim you want. Too bad, hopefully they'll get enough similar feedback to upgrade the design in the future to accommodate this.

This is a New device from Two Notes that I was really hoping to fulfill the same results as the Torpedo Live and Studio. It's a less expensive piece of hardware and "it really shows it!" especially if you use the Two Notes "WOS" terrible cab simulator, very limited. The other After Market companies have far Superior IR Technologies, if you can't afford the Better in every way "Live & Studio" this is better Nothing! If your a truly Serious Guitarist and looking for the "Very Best Guitar Tone" in an IR, look at the "Suhr Reactive Load" I own TN Live, Captor & Suhr and by far The Feel & Tone of the Reactive Load "Smokes Away" the Captor. The Captor is a CHEAP device that's trying to Jam as much options in one unit, Sacrificing Tone! It has the Name of Two Notes which the "Live & Studio" are wonderful products but that's about it. What the Suhr Reactive Load doesn't have is the Attenuator which is very helpful, there are of course additional options of the Captor but like I mentioned, a lot of options but tone that is "Disappointing!" Some will try to Validate and convince themselves and willing to live with it, but their trying to achieve tone from an "Inferior Device" sorry to say.