TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE REVIEW

If you’re a guitarist that doesn’t always find it practical to mic up your guitar rig when recording, or you’re fed up with being at the mercy of house engineers at gigs, then this might be the product for you!

As a user of the Torpedo Live's bigger brother (the VB-101) in my own personal studio, the opportunity to put its little sibling through its paces was something I was eager to get my teeth into. However, before we get to the nuts & bolts of the Live itself, I think it best that I give a quick introduction to Two Notes & their Torpedo technology for anyone who is currently unfamiliar with it.

Us guitarists are a unique bunch; no matter how much technology advances, we're still best served by good old analogue equipment & a decent set of valves. Many very clever people have tried to drag us kicking & screaming out of yesteryear by introducing us to digital technology that emulates our much beloved equipment &, while this may work for some, a good portion of us feel that these sorts of products always fall short.

I'm personally of the opinion that it's not that digital technology itself is an inherently bad thing, it's just that the guys designing & building this stuff have always come at it from completely the wrong angle. Why isn't there someone out there who uses digital technology to deal with the problems us guitarists face (i.e. the logistics of recording, volume issues & the like) in a constructive & practical way instead of trying to convince us to abandon the equipment we already have for stuff that's simply trying to imitate it? Well boys & girls, there is... they're called Two Notes & their Torpedo range does just that!

TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE - SO WHAT IS TORPEDO TECHNOLOGY?

Well, it would seem that the idea is to provide guitarists with products that allow us to use our existing rigs in situations where it would otherwise be impossible (or at least difficult) for us to do so. With this in mind, Two Notes started with the principle of convolution & impulse response synthesis & took it even further to develop their 'Torpedo Technology'.

TwoNotes' product range consists of a slew of products that use this technology to replace the traditional miking chain (i.e. speaker cabinet, microphone, mic-pre & studio acoustics) while leaving everything between our fingers & our amplifier's output to the real thing.

To put it in layman’s terms, they’ve basically taken a whole bunch of guitar cabs & microphones to a world class studio, measured how each & every possible permutation affects a signal & put all of this information into a convenient rackmountable box. We as guitarists can then simply plug our guitar amps into said box & mic it up virtually using any of the cab/mic combinations on offer.

The beauty of this approach is that we can use the gear that we’ve come to know & love & all of the tricky stuff suddenly becomes a doddle. Whether you record at home where noise levels are a concern, whether you’re in a commercial studio but like the idea of a virtual mic locker that’s all setup & ready to go (both minimising on setup time & allowing instant setup changes that always remain 100% consistent), or whether you want to use it on stage to provide a consistent sound night after night regardless of the venue, the many uses for a Torpedo really can make the guitarist's life a whole lot easier.

I would also venture to say that you’re likely to achieve far better results with a Torpedo than without one even if practicality isn’t a concern. Let me explain; say you have a gig coming up & you’ve just become the lucky owner of a new Torpedo Live; no longer do you have to worry about how long a soundcheck you’re likely to get, what microphones the venue has, or whether or not the engineer’s miking technique is up to par. You simply show up, hand him the end of your cable & tell him to plug it into a Line In on the desk & leave everything flat... that’s it, you’re done!

Also consider this: even if you are fortunate enough to have a world class engineer, the mics of your choosing & unlimited soundcheck time at each & every gig you do; you still have to compromise to a degree on sound quality as you will have bleed from the other instruments, room acoustics & crowd noise to deal with. However, with a Torpedo in your arsenal you have no bleed, no crowd noise & world class studio acoustics with you wherever you go (the world of live recording suddenly seems a whole lot more interesting)!

TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE - INTRODUCTIONS

The Torpedo Live, much like its bigger brother, the VB-101, is a rack-mounted unit that contains a 32-bit DSP armed with Torpedo technology as well as an analogue loadbox (think of it as an uber-intelligent DI for your amp). The unit comes preloaded with 32 cabs, 8 mics, onboard power amp simulation (for those guitarists who want to use it with either rackmount or stompbox preamps) & can handle up to a 100 watts RMS load with an 8 ohm impedance. Connectivity-wise it features an amp input, a line in, a balanced line out, a speaker output (which will disable the loadbox & pass your unaltered signal through to your cab should you wish to still use it) a headphone output, S/PDIF output, a MIDI input & USB. It also comes with Torpedo Remote software that enables you to control the unit & manage your presets from your computer.

In addition to this, users are able to load in additional IRs (Impulse Responses), which are available free of charge from the Two Notes website. Third party IRs can be used as well if you so wish. You can also download free software called Torpedo Capture that enables you to create your own IRs should you have the urge to do so.

TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE - CONNECTING IT UP

Even though the Torpedo concept is a new one, it really is very simple to get up & running. Simply plug your amp head into the input on the back (be sure to use the amp’s 8 ohm output), power it up & then switch your amp on & use as normal. If you are using the Torpedo Live in a live situation & wish to also have your regular cab connected up for monitoring purposes then simply connect your cab to the ‘Speaker Thru’ socket & the Torpedo will pass your unaltered signal straight through, True Bypass style!

TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE - USING IT

After extensive use of the VB-101, ease of use is probably the area that I was most concerned about going into the review. Given the fact that the VB-101 is a 2U rack unit (as opposed to the Live's 1U enclosure) that has room for a large screen & numerous dials & buttons, I was worried that the Live's more minimalist layout would render the unit a bit tricky to set up. However, I was very pleasantly surprised as the Live turned out to be much more 'plug-and-play' than the VB-101.

You essentially have one knob to set the input level from your amp, one knob to scroll through presets & one knob to set the output level (the latter two knobs also double to select the parameters & to alter them when in edit mode).

Another cool feature is that the unit has a security load that becomes active when it is switched off. This means that should your amp be accidentally switched on while the Torpedo is powered down then it will remain safe (please do note that your amp should not be played this way though).

TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE - THE SOUNDS

Well, given the fact that I don't have access to the exact conditions in which Two Notes created their IR's, I can't really do AB comparisons to tell you just how accurate they are. However, having used the VB-101 for over a year now I have had the chance to test this technology inside out & I can honestly say that it’s the finest speaker/mic simulation I have ever come across. When switching between cabs &/or mics the alteration in sound is exactly what I'd expect if I were using the real-world gear in a studio.

Suffice to say, after having gone through all of the mic & cab options on offer & dragging various mics around to various locations within the virtual room, I ended up setting up my signal chain exactly the way I would in the real world. However, the real beauty of it for me is that when I'm recording with the Torpedo Live, everything feels & reacts exactly like my amp because, well, I'm using my amp!

Probably the best way to sum it up would be to quote Michael Wagner (the producer & engineer behind many infamous guitar records from artists such as Extreme, Dokken, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica etc.): "I am really critical of simulation boxes, but this one meets my complete approval. I use it all the time."

TWO NOTES TORPEDO LIVE - CONCLUSION

Well, as I think you can tell, I'm completely smitten with the Torpedo line of products & I think it's possibly one of the most practical & useful advances in guitar related technology in recent memory. In an era of over-hyped digital imitating it's refreshing to see a company using cutting edge technology that respects & augments what we as guitarists &/or engineers already do.

The Torpedo Live is a fantastic little product that I would urge any guitarist, studio owner or engineer to consider should they be struggling with the logistics of miking up guitar cabinets themselves (be it live or in the studio). The sound quality & playing experience that is garnered by connecting a great tube amp to a Torpedo is far superior to that offered by the world of digital modeling amps & it is sure to please even the most discerning of professionals.

In terms of criticism, my only one is of the factory presets (all of them have the power amp simulation activated); as the majority of people will be using this unit with an amp it renders all of them useless out of the box. I can't help but think Two Notes are shooting themselves in the foot a little bit in this regard as people won't be able to get an accurate representation of how things sound unless they either edit these patches or create their own from scratch.

In summation, if you're looking for a solution that enables silent or low-level recording without any compromise in tone, if you want a Swiss army-knife speaker cabinet & microphone simulator, or if you want a line-out signal that you can give to the house engineer at whatever venue you're playing without having to worry about his miking technique or what gear he has at his disposal, then you can't go wrong with the Torpedo Live. Its only real competition is its bigger brother the VB-101 &, while it does of course offer quite a few more advanced options (such as speaker overload, 2-cab setups, multi-miking, stereo outputs etc.) that would be of real benefit in more demanding studio environments, I believe the Torpedo Live is better suited to both live use & to project studio situations due to its plug-and-play usability & significantly lower price tag.

Big kudos go out to Two Notes on this one!

For more information on the Two Notes Torpedo Live or the VB-101, click the links below or give us a call on 01202 597180.

Two Notes Torpedo Live - More Info/Buy

Two Notes Torpedo VB-101 - More Info/Buy

******If you're interested in buying and you have seen it cheaper elsewhere, please call us or use our

As well as receiving our first rate customer service you can also claim money off your next purchase with our loyalty points scheme and receive a 3 year warranty if you sign up to our FREE VIP Club (click here for more infomation). Many of our items also come out on a FREE next-day delivery service to mainland UK customers, so you won't be left waiting!

Also, if you want to keep up with all our latest offers, competitions, news and videos, why not follow us on Facebook and Twitter?