Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

[JeffB]

Who has played/owned one of these?

I find myself (heresy , I know) playing my XT Live through the Rivera more than the Rivera itself (due to volume restrictions for the most part). A waste of a great tube amp really.

But there is no doubt direct and through headphones, the XTL is losing some serious mojo and warmth the Rivera's tubes provide. So I'm considering one of these reactor amps (and would sell the Rivera obviously)

HC reviews are 99% positive....Whatdya think?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I tried one a while back and they are VERY cool...all the ease and all the choices of a POD in a "real" amp that you can pickup and carry around. I have considered getting one to use as a practice amp. That said...I would not sell a real amp to get one...

[JeffB]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

Thanks Christian...

It's really just an issue of practicality for me (and somewhat an issue of funds). I don't play much out, so the Rivera is kind of "wasted". I'd hate to get rid of it, but as I said the XTL is getting all the play time cos it sounds much better at apartment levels. I won't get rid of the Rivera if the Atomic won't provide the same amount of warmth.

I've been able to nail some of my fave Marshall tones w/ the XTL that the Rivera can't quite get (The Rivera kills it though for clean sounds)

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I hear ya Jeff...I thought that my POD was a tool for recording in am apartment...it's not a good idea to crank a a 50 1/2 stack in an apartment to get e killer crunch! I tried out the Atmoic with a POD at a local shop and it was a very cool, small "amp" I would have done small club gigs with it...IMO it sound far better than Line 6 amps. It's about 20 watts, single 12 and I thought it had a great sound...if you get the 4 button foot switch or the big floorboard to go with your POD, it's a pretty damn good sounding, small, easy to move around rig...and to be honest for 20 watts it was pretty damn loud!

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

There are a few guys on here that own them. Maybe they'll chime in. I've heard nothing but good things about them. I've been tempted to get one myself.

[Simon_F]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

If you like the tone of the XTL through the Rivera aren't you better off just keeping the Rivera? That way you have everything covered - XTL through Rivera for playing at home, Rivera alone for when you get to crank it.

I just have a feeling you'd regret selling the Rivera.

My Tech 21 gets all my play time these days (due to pesky volume restrictions), but there's no way I'm parting with my Jubilee.

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I must be thinking of the wrong thing.....isn't the Atomic Reactor just a power amp that houses a POD or the like, box type modelling preamp?

I was gonna say give the TECH21 Power Engine a shot too. 60watts of transparent power....well, here....read this from TECH21:


The Power Engine 60 is an all-purpose 1x12 open-back, powered extension cabinet. Each packs 60 watts of transparent power, with a special design Celestion® speaker and a handsome exterior, which perfectly complements our Trademark 60, Trademark 30 and Trademark 10 combos. It will accept XLR and 1/4” inputs and includes a balanced XLR output to ‘daisy-chain’ with other Power Engine 60s. Knowing that not all rooms are created acoustically perfect, you can compensate for less than ideal environments by adjusting the on-board, active three-band EQ.

Continuing our tradition of designing multi-functional products, the Power Engine 60 can also be used with any direct recording device or acoustic pre-amp, analog or digital, tube or solid state, in stompbox or rackmount formats.

Wherever your tones come from, make the Power Engine 60 your destination for portable, pure reproduction.

http://www.tech21nyc.com/pe60.html

[JeffB]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

Thanks everyone...

I looked at the PowerEngine to be honest...but, I think the XTL *NEEDS* those tubes to warm it up. I'm not digging it at all for recording direct or listening through headphones. I'm afraid with something "transparent" like the PE, I'm going to get the same err...ahem..."less than warm" tones as going through my compy/headphones.

Indeed, I *may* regret it Simon. Have regretted a great many sold pieces of gear But If $500 amp can do same job as $1400 amp is currently being relegated to.....

And I've always got the 1987X for playing out if need be.

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I gotcha....good tip; I was thinking of getting one of those POD XTs, but to be honest, I didn't think the clips on their site were that good.

AaronL sent me a copy of his take of "Cold Gin", which was done with the POD XTL....and was quite good....

I guess I need to try one out myself to be sure.

That M-Audio Black Box looks interesting too.....but that's another topic!

Good luck Jeff!!!

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I must be thinking of the wrong thing.....isn't the Atomic Reactor just a power amp that houses a POD or the like, box type modelling preamp?

Yup!

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

Yup!

AAAHHHHH....I wasn't aware it had tubes in it.

COOL!!!!

[RiffRaff]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I had one for about a year, I was using it with a Vox TonelabSE pedal board. It does a good job of warming up the "digital" sound of the modeling device. It was plenty loud, I had two for awhile and ran them in stereo - plenty of volume for smaller gigs. Here's the down side, these amps are VERY directional - I found it damn near impossible to use it without having it on an amp stand so I could hear it (the people out in front of me were getting blasted). Because they are low wattage they will start breaking up on their own - okay if your looking for an EL84 type of distortion, not okay if you looking for something else, in some cases it totally conflicted with the grind I wanted from the amp modeler. When I visited the winter NAMM I stopped in to the Atomic booth - they were displaying a 50 watt (6L6) version of the same amp - I'm not sure if it's in production but it looked promising - much more clean power. I wound up selling the set and picked up a Peavey Classic 50/50 stereo power amp, it uses EL84's, 12AT7 and 12AX7 tubes and was very transparent (and loud - 100 watts mono when bridged), I used it with a 2x12 avatar cabinet and the tone I got from the rig was far better than what the Atomic could deliver. I picked up both the peavey amp and the avatar cabinet for almost the same price I paid for just 1 atomic (I bought them used of course - peavey no longer makes the classic 50/50 amp and avatar cabinets can be had for very low prices on ebay). But generally speaking the atomic does warm the modelers up.

[JeffB]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I gotcha....good tip; I was thinking of getting one of those POD XTs, but to be honest, I didn't think the clips on their site were that good.

Yup, I agree. And the pre-sets suck too. I've found you really have to fiddle with them to get great tones out of them. I totally abhored all the other line6 products I'd tried but the XTL through my current Rivera sounds great at low to moderate volumes. The amp doesnt have anough headroom for high volume.

Good luck Jeff!!!

Thanks!

RIFFRAFF,

THANK YOU for that detailed response. Precisely the kind of info I'm looking for.

[clint_41]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I have the Atomic 112 with a POD 2.0, and i love it to death. i have the full size floorboard for the 2.0 as well, and it makes for a very simple, versatile and great sounding rig. the amp IS in fact very directional, but if you get it off the ground and tilted, it helps a ton. so far, i have only had band practices and small shows with my Atomic. It is plenty loud with bass, drums, singers and another guitar (we play blues, rock and funk). Not to mention the tone never fails to blow me and other people away. The biggest show i played was in the gym of my high school for about 1500 people, and it did fine. i bought a sm57 in case of larger shows so i can mike it and put it into a PA, but i havnt done that yet (i will post a review of that setup whenever i happen to use it). The bottom line is the Atomic sounds amazing with a POD loaded in it. Hands down, it is the most convenient and best sounding way, IMO, to play a POD live. I think you will be very happy in purchasing one of these fine amplifiers. good luck

[LesStrat]

Re: Atomic Reactor Modeling amp thingy?

I'd like to try one myself.

For now, I'll keep playing direct to the PA.

Currently, my setup is: Guitar-->Dynacomp-->POD xt Live-->direct box-->PA

I use the direct out from the direct box to send a signal to a Hartke B30 that I use as a monitor.