Attenuator for My AD30HTC

[gabrielstigmatic]

So I am looking into buying an attenuator for my Orange AD30HTC. Of course, my neighbors get all pissed when I dime it. How well do these work for recording? From what I've read, everyone says get an attenuator that is double the wattage of one's amp. Then, I would get a 60w one?

I've also read that Weber is the best, what unit(s) would you guys recommend? I'm hoping this will make it so that I can get some quality recordings without having to stop every 20 minutes. For fear that my neighbors will call the police...

[OU818]

I've used the THD Hotplate with my RV50 and it works really well. The bright switch comes in handy when you are really cranking at low volumes.

I've heard Webber are good however the only time I've seen one in action it kept causing the fuses to blow in an Ulbrick Stadium 80.

[irish_admiral]

You can get different types.

THD have a great reputation, but are a bit pricey. The Weber MASS attenuators are also good. I have a Weber MASS lite for my AD30 and it works fine. Cheaper than the THD.

Others worth considering are the Dr Z Airbrake, Alessandro Muzzle, Magus Ultimate Attenuator... i'm sure i've missed some others too.

However, for purposes of not annoying your neighbours (I should know - mine have just come round for the first time ever to complain), an attenuator isn't going to be much help. I was running my Matamp at half power (14 watts), and not particularly hard, and it's still loud enough for the sound to travel through walls a bit.

So if they're touchy, i'd suggest maybe having a conversation with them to ask when the best times for you to play are, and just going right down on the MV in the meantime.

Good luck!

[Le Chat Noir]

Attenuators are generally best for lightly taming an amp, if you expect one to get your AD30 down from gig volumes to bedroom volumes and still sound good you may be disappointed. For less than the price of a good attenuator, you can get a fantastic low wattage amp to use at home instead and keep the AD30 for more appropriate settings perhaps!

[pedro]

agree w. Mr. Noir......i even had the power scaling mod done to my AD30, and while it works/helps there's a certain sparkle that just disappears with all these devices when you start bringing the volume way down

[Bink]

You can get different types.

THD have a great reputation, but are a bit pricey. The Weber MASS attenuators are also good. I have a Weber MASS lite for my AD30 and it works fine. Cheaper than the THD.

Others worth considering are the Dr Z Airbrake, Alessandro Muzzle, Magus Ultimate Attenuator... i'm sure i've missed some others too.

However, for purposes of not annoying your neighbours (I should know - mine have just come round for the first time ever to complain), an attenuator isn't going to be much help. I was running my Matamp at half power (14 watts), and not particularly hard, and it's still loud enough for the sound to travel through walls a bit.

So if they're touchy, i'd suggest maybe having a conversation with them to ask when the best times for you to play are, and just going right down on the MV in the meantime.

Good luck!

+1
I have a Dr Z Brakelight for my Maz 18 Jr. In an apartment even fully attenutated I can't get the master above 10 o'clock for regular practice (my gain/volume is at about 1 o'clock). It's great at knocking off some volume but don't expect it to get the ad30 down to bedroom volumes with the master running high. I've had no complaints yet but am pretty considerate about when I play it, my building is particularly well insulated and I don't run it that loud (very often!)

As for the brakelight (I have the stand alone version) it's really very good although I can't compare it to other brands. The first two positions knock off volume with very little tone loss. You lose a little on the 3rd and a bit more on the 4th posiiton but it's still sounds good. Obviously it would sound better at full volume but we all know that's not always possible!

[TheOrangeJuicer]

An alternative solution that will allow you to actually keep your amp cranked without using a "tone sucking" attenuator is to use an isolation cab. It's basically a cab sized isolation booth, where you fix the mic inside of the cab with the speaker sealed from the outside world. You connect your amp to it and wail away. The neighbors will think you're on holiday...

[Randy Bass]

You could also roll the dice with Eminence's new speaker with a built-in attenuation knob:

http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41771" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If it turns out to be a good product, it will undoubtedly take a huge piece of market share away from isolation cabs and plug-in attenuators.

Of course, you'd have to buy more than one speaker if you don't currently play through a 1x12 cab or plan on buying one. It would also need to have an open back to be of much use with that speaker.

[a.hun]

Knocking a lot of volume off with an attenuator won't sound great. (Forget great fat tones at bedroom volumes with most of them - won't happen!*)

*Exception to the rule which actually seems to sound decent (to our ears) at low volumes seems to be the Koch Loadbox.
http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.p ... 186#437186" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are mainly interested in recording though that is a different thing. The human ear hears loud and quiet sounds very differently because the tonal balance shifts so (up to a point anyway) louder usually sounds 'better'.

But a microphone doesn't have the same problem so a THD Hotplate is great for recording. If you record a series of samples at different attenuation levels then bring the volumes to the same level on playback the tonal difference is actually very small. Check the THD soundfiles bottom left on the THD Hotplate page HERE. The second and third ones are just a riff played at different attenuation levels, one having the playback volumes normalised, the other letting you hear the volume drop between settings. (I think they are labelled the wrong way on the player right now!)
http://www.thdelectronics.com/product_p ... plate.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is of course true for on stage micing too so you can actually attenuate an amp really hard and it'll still sound GREAT through the PA.

Not all attenuators will work equally well with all amps. My Hotplate works fine with my Orange 120 and R.30 though.

You can get different types.

THD have a great reputation, but are a bit pricey. The Weber MASS attenuators are also good. I have a Weber MASS lite for my AD30 and it works fine. Cheaper than the THD.

Others worth considering are the Dr Z Airbrake, Alessandro Muzzle, Magus Ultimate Attenuator... i'm sure i've missed some others too.

I'll just point out that the 'Ultimate Attenuator' isn't a conventional attenuator at all. It has a dummy load to take the signal right down, and a solid state amplifier which takes the volume level back up to what you want.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showpo ... ostcount=7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Andy.