Two Notes Torpedo Captor X Review – A True UX Lecture!

Hello there, and welcome back to yet another gear review for you! This time, we will check out possibly the most user-friendly and smartly designed loadbox ever: Two Notes Torpedo Captor X!

In this Two Notes Captor X review article, I will introduce you to Two Notes Audio Engineering, one of the leading pioneers in the music industry, and provide an honest review of the Two Notes Captor X, along with a useful test and demo video of the unit.

Note that, even though I will be featuring the Two Notes Torpedo Captor X SE, which is a special edition, it’s basically identical to the standard Two Notes Captor X in terms of functionality, build quality, and features.

The only difference from the SE version is that it includes additional anniversary dynIR packages. But you can also buy these from Two Notes’ website, just so you know.

About Two Notes Audio Engineering

Two Notes Audio Engineering was founded by Dr Guillaume Pille in 2008 in France. He was a passionate musician, and he’d spend most of his time recording, gigging and engineering bands while studying at university. Even though he had access to great tube amps, he noticed that he wasn’t able to use them to their full potential. He also realised that this was an issue for many players, producers and engineers.

Back in the day, there were not many products that could fill this gap in the MI market. After he turned down an offer to be a post-grad lecturer at the university, Guillaume Pille started focusing on a product that would allow players to turn up their tube amps and sound great for home recordings.

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While digital modelling, guitar processors and software plugins were getting better every day, he still wanted to take the risk and further develop a product that would allow guitar players to use their guitar amp to its full potential. This is how Two Notes and the infamous Torpedo came into existence!

Two Notes Torpedo Product History

Since then, there have been many incarnations of the Torpedo series. The first model was the Torpedo VB-101 (2008-2013), a digital loadbox with resistive load featuring 16DynIR (dynamic impulse responses) with USB and MIDI.

The Torpedo VM-202 (2010 – 2013) followed it with more flexible features, such as line-level inputs that were designed to be used with rack-mounted and storm box-sized guitar and bass preamps.

In 2011, Two Notes released Torpedo Pi-101 (2011 – 2013), which was their first plug-in for impulse responses, virtual microphone and speaker fine-tuning within DAWs.

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This advancement also led Two Notes to release the next generation of Two Notes products, Torpedo Live (2012 – 2020), which featured a fully reactive load instead of resistive, with MIDI control in a more compact 1-unit rack format.

Two Notes then released Torpedo C.A.B. (2013 – 2019), which came in a pedal format featuring an all-in-one cabinet simulator design. C.A.B. had the design that positioned Two Notes into a place which we are familiar with!

Check out the entire Two Notes product line here

Around this era, Two Notes realised that the guitar players were more into recording at home and needed reamping with their tube amplifiers. For these reasons, they released the Torpedo Reload (2013 – 2019).

Two Notes also worked hard on their software and released the Torpedo Wall of Sound plugin, which has become one of the most popular IR loaders, microphones and speaker cabinets software in the market.

Torpedo WoS allowed quicker editing than the original Pi-101 software and let users also directly purchase the DynIR cabinet collection from the company.

In the meantime, they released the Torpedo Studio version (2014 – 2019), which had every ground-breaking feature that the Two Notes company had developed so far. It featured a multi-impedance reactive load box with dual stereo miking, post-FX and Torpedo Remote control.

Two Notes also released multiple tube-driven preamps in a pedal format called Le Preamp (2015 – 2022) that were designed to be the perfect match for Torpedo C.A.B.

Two Notes always puts a lot of effort into making these outstanding designs fit into different formats and price segments to make them accessible to everyone. Therefore, the company released Torpedo Captor (2017 – ), which is still in production and features their reactive load box with built-in analogue speaker simulation.

Torpedo C.A.B. also got an update under a new name, Torpedo C.A.B. M (2019 – 2021), which was the first wirelessly controlled product. This was a step up from the original C.A.B. and became very popular among guitar players.

The most recent version was another step-up model that combined the C.A.B. M and the Captor series in a box with Torpedo WoS software! This was the infamous Torpedo Captor X (2020 – ) model that was awarded Best Guitar Technology Product for 2020 by SoS Magazine.

Following that, Two Notes also released an update to Torpedo C.A.B. M under C.A.B. M+ that featured an improved headroom of the clean preamp, updated power amp simulations, enhancer, tuner and improved reverbs. To complement the software updates, hardware was also updated and released under this new model name.

Lately, the company released an anniversary model, a limited edition Captor Torpedo X SE, and also the latest iteration of the C.A.B. M series under a different name, Two Notes Opus.

The company’s most recent release is the Two Notes Reload II, which features attenuation, a transparent stereo power amp, load box with Genome software.

Two Notes Captor X Features

Two Notes Torpedo Captor X is a 100-watt RMS reactive load box, available in 8 or 16 Ohms, that also comes with the Torpedo Remote software, which features Two Notes’ proprietary dynIR impulse response technology, power amp simulations, twin tracker (a doubler), a separate impulse response loader, a noise gate, EQ, and reverb.

On top of that, you have a lifetime Genome licence, which is Two Notes’ latest plugin that contains everything from amps, dynIRs, effects, to microphone simulations.

What is a Load Box?

If you think about guitar amps and speakers, speakers can be considered a load for the tube amplifiers. When you use your tube amplifier, you must always connect your amp to a speaker. In case you simply want to switch on your tube amp without a load or a speaker, you will likely damage your amp.

Load boxes can act as a load and simulate the complex impedance of a guitar speaker. There are two types of loads: resistive and reactive loads. Resistive loads have been around for a long time, and as the name suggests, they are not built to react to your tube amplifier.

On the other hand, reactive loads are designed to react and interact with your tube amplifier, resulting in a much more realistic and dynamic sound while you play your guitar.

Note that load boxes from different manufacturers do not sound identical. Depending on their design, they will react differently to your tube amp and your playing as well.

Depending on your tube amp, you may want to prefer 8 or 16-ohm versions. However, modern amps usually have multiple outputs with different Ohm values, so any model would do in most cases.

Before we start reviewing the Captor X, let’s have a quick look at the tech specs below.

Two Notes Torpedo Captor X Tech Specs

Two Notes Torpedo Captor X Review

Two Notes Torpedo Captox X is the continuation of the company’s compact reactive load product line, which is originally Captor, and it’s been available since the 2020s.

Although many competitor brands have released alternative products in this highly niche reactive load market, Two Notes Captor X has still been one of the best-selling, most popular, all-in-one reactive loads ever!

You will have found out after you have read my review why some people still look down on Two Notes Torpedo Captor X‘s reactive load capabilities. However, I believe Captor X’s success comes from its software part. That’s why I have titled this article with the UX Lecture addition! 🙂

I don’t see Two Notes as a reactive load manufacturer, but I see them as one of the greatest software companies in the MI business.

Just to remind you again, you will see that I’ll be featuring the Two Notes Captor X SE, special edition version, which was a limited run to celebrate the anniversary of the legendary Captor X.

However, it’s basically the identical product offering with a couple of differences related to the additional anniversary edition dynIRs and the vintage-vibed aesthetics.

Captor X Box Content & Product Experience

Two Notes Torpedo Captor X comes in a very nicely designed cardboard box with a pretty solid instructional materials that will allow you to easily start using the product.

The box contains everything you need and offers a rich box of content. One can easily say that Two Notes thought about the user experience in the best way possible!

The unit is well-protected and held by two pieces of hard foam that keep it afloat in the box. As you can see in the image below, it also comes with a separate box for the included power supply.

At the bottom of the box, you will see really cool graphics that tell you basic introductory information.

Here’s the barcode and serial number section on the box for your reference. Note that, although Two Notes is a French manufacturer, all their products are made in China (currently).

There’s also a separate zip bag that contains additional documents. As you can see below, it is a simple thank you for purchasing document.

This document also comes in French, as Two Notes is a French company. It’s cool to see they want to mark this in the box content! 🙂

There’s also an additional card that tells you where to register your product and Torpedo Remote for Desktop. When you register your Captor X SE, you will then be provided with the anniversary edition cabinet collection as well as Pete Thorn‘s presets specially prepared for this unit!

Registration and setting up the unit are so straightforward. Every micro user experience is very smartly designed, and you will feel like nothing can go wrong with the total experience.

You can also use the Captor X without registering, but it’s recommended to do so. Registration makes sure the unit is assigned to you, and also makes it a breeze to update the newest software and dynIR updates.

There’s also a cool Two Notes sticker that comes with the box content. Here’s a photo for your reference! 🙂

Of course, the box content does not just consist of cool-looking documents, leaflets and stickers. Here’s a full overview of the functional box content.

Captor X comes with everything you need to get started right away. You have the main Captor X unit as well as the included power supply, power cable, and a USB cable and the MIDI cable as well.

Here’s the MIDI cable that comes with the Captor X. You may see this kind of MIDI cable for the first time. But actually, these have been very popular among guitar pedal and gear manufacturers due to their compact size.

Unlike traditional MIDI cables, you don’t have a pair of 5-pin MIDI sockets here, but instead have a 1/8″ TRS jack that’s plugged into the Captor X. To be honest, I have never needed to implement MIDI with Captor X.

But it’s there, you can basically add a MIDI controller footswitch to your guitar rig and control the presets, effects and many other features of the legendary software!

I always use the Captor X with the USB cable connected to my laptop all the time, so that I can control the Torpedo Remote software and sync everything with the unit in real time.

Alternatively, you can download the app, which is available for both IOS and Android phones and tablets, and control anything you want via your mobile devices without any cables needed!

Torpedo Captor X also comes with the power supply and a suitable power cable. Note that this power supply is rated at 12V DC, 2A (negative centre). I also have the Two Notes Opus and am using it in my current rig that consists of tube amps and reactive loads. Opus also comes with the identical power supply.

The reason I mention it here is that Two Notes presents a strong consistency with their product offering, and I find it really cool! You don’t have a completely different,non-branded, weirdly unique power supply with each Two Notes product.

Captor X Front Panel

Captor X features a very similar front panel design, which is the successor of their OG Captor reactive load. You have an Out Level that you can quickly adjust the output section of the unit.

You also have a Voicing knob, which is basically a quick mid EQ adjusting knob. With this Voicing knob, you can easily adjust the mid frequencies by either cutting or boosting them to fit your sound into a different room’s acoustic without having to use the software.

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There’s also a Space knob, which you can use for altering the amount of wideness of your reverb settings.

These controls are designed to give you quick access to those settings, mostly for live usage. As a bedroom guitar player, I have never used them. While using my Captor X, I always connect it to my laptop and pull up the Torpedo Remote software and play with settings as I wish, since I’m constantly in front of my laptop and studio monitors.

But not everyone uses their Captor X in the studio, so they have implemented these practical controls. In combination with the app that you can use via Bluetooth connection, you will have total control over all parameters in the software.

There is also a “Phones” output to connect your headphones and play in silent mode. Next to that, you have a two-way mini button to switch between High and Low settings for the input sensitivity.

Last but not least, you have a “Preset” rotary knob with 6 positions. This is for quickly jumping through 6 presets you determine, and a really useful addition to the set of practical controls on the front panel.

On the back panel, you have a set of inputs and outputs. On the Output section, there’s a pair of XLR outputs with a ground lift switch. I usually use these to connect my Captor X to my RME Babyface PRO FS audio interface.

There are also “Speaker In” and “Speaker Out” jacks. Obviously, these are for the speaker connections. I’m not sure why they label the “From Amp” as “Speaker In“. There’s been a tradition in reactive loads to label the input for the amp output as “From Amp“. But Two Notes preferred it as “Speaker In“.

Not a big deal as they have marked it with a Red bolt! 🙂 Whenever you see a red colour on an input placed on your reactive load, it’s usually for the amps out.

Note that although these accept 1/4″ connectors, you have to use a speaker cable, not a standard instrument cable.

“Speaker Out” is used for connecting your Captor X to an actual guitar speaker. Sometimes, guitar players need to hear themselves via an actual guitar speaker cabinet, as well as to send a direct line signal to a PA system.

That’s why we have this output here. As you can see, there’s also a two-way switch labelled “Full” or “Low“. This is actually for controlling the attenuator built into the unit.

You don’t have continuous control with the attenuator in Captor X, but just two presets. This is used for taming the output of your amplifier that goes to the actual guitar speaker cabinet. Since I don’t have a guitar speaker, I have never used it.

And on the left-hand side, you have the power in, the MIDI In and the USB input for the fundamental connections required for your Captor.

Lastly, you have a fan placed on the right-hand side of the back panel. The fan will automatically start based on the heat built inside the Captor X. Sometimes, you will hear the fan working if you keep your studio monitors’ level too low. But for normal operation volumes, it’s not audible.

As you can see from the images, Two Notes Captor X is built like a tan. The outer chassis is made of metal and feels really sturdy. Although it’s a solid product, it doesn’t weigh a ton since it’s one of the most compact reactive loads on the market.

It just weighs around 1.3kg. In comparison to my Suhr Reactive Load, which weighs around 3kg, Captor X feels feather-light! 🙂 The image below belongs to my Captor X SE. In my opinion, it looks way better than the original Captor X.

The SE version also features a yellow LED light for illuminating the inside of the unit when powered up. This light is visible via the front grills. The original one has white LEDs, which I wouldn’t prefer.

As you can see, one can grab this unit with a single hand. Among all the reactive loads I have tried so far, Captors are the most compact and lightweight ones.

Just for additional information, here’s an image of the bottom chassis. There’s some information printed there, as well as the serial number.

Four thick pads come installed with Captor X. The only problem with these pads is that they were not fully levelled. So my Captor X was rocking very slightly when touched on a surface.

Of course, this is not an issue, but just additional information for you. Most of the time, you will just place the unit next to your tube amp or somewhere on your desk, and you will never touch the unit again!

How Does Captor X’s Reactive Load Feel?

I believe this is the most difficult part in reviewing a reactive load. As you may have heard on the internet, not all reactive loads are the same. Reactive load manufacturers use different reference points while building the circuit.

Most people on the internet shit on Two Notes Captor X reactive loads all day long. So it’s better to provide comparison videos rather than just playing through a Captor X and present a demo video for you.

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To hear the differences, I made a couple of comparison videos. The most obvious one would be to compare it to my Suhr Reactive Load, which is my favourite.

Two Notes Captor X vs Suhr Reactive Load

To be honest, I don’t think Captor X sounds that bad. It’s just a lot more tamed, and it doesn’t generate the same harmonic content. In other words, while using it with my mini Plexi amp, I’m a lot more comfortable with cranking the EQs on the amp as opposed to with my Suhr Reactive Load.

There are countless reactive load comparison videos and articles. Usually, they rank the Captor X pretty badly in the comparison lists. But I don’t agree with that.

I think that, as a compact solution and as being the most affordable, Captor X is unbeatable. When you add the UX on top of it, Captor X is the best!

Not all people have to spend time figuring out more complicated rigs featuring separate loads, impulse response loaders or software. Two Notes’ Torpedo Remote software offers one of the greatest user experiences I have ever come across on a guitar-related gear.

From the packaging to the box content, registration, and implementation of the software on your computer, everything feels so smooth and hassle-free! There was not a single problem that I encountered using the Two Notes software.

It just worked! The only problem occurred when I tried to upload tons of impulse responses at the same time to the unit. Other than that, the experience is so sweet! So, well done to Two Notes!

With their latest Reload II, the company has started using a “Celestion-approved impedance curve” to address those critics. In my opinion, Two Notes will soon release a new version of the Captor X, featuring this impedance curve as well as a better implementation of the Genome‘s effects, so guitar players can have a true all-in-one solution for using with their tube amps.

But is it really needed? Maybe yes, maybe no! Currently, I own a st. Rock React IR II, which basically contains everything you need from a load box. It has multiple load types, a pair of reactive loads, as well as a resistive load, a full-blown impulse response loader that you can combine multiple IRs with, a complete effect chain from reverbs, to delays, compressors, EQs, noise-gates, choruses, flangers and many more, and an attenuator!

I think React IR II has set the bar very high for all the big competitors, and I believe most reactive load manufacturers that have also resources in the software section will follow this trend.

Do I need these? I just tested whether I would need these, but it turned out that I wasn’t even interested in using all these features. All I wanted was to play my tube amps, raw, without having to set up anything. For that, Captor X is more than enough, and I will prove to you how productive I have been with it! 🙂

Here’s a playlist from my YouTube channel, featuring 30+ videos that I used Two Notes Torpedo Captor X SE. You can basically press play and press next to check out all the videos.

Obviously, Two Notes Captor X was an inspiring tool to turn on and get me playing my guitar for all these months since I acquired it.

Verdict

If you want to use your tube amps for recording purposes or have no opportunity to hook them up with an actual guitar speaker cabinet, reactive loads might be the solution you have been looking for.

In the simplest form, reactive loads would not come with bundled software, impulse responses or effects. For this type of load, there are still options on the market, such as Suhr Reactive Load. However, the trend is to have a reactive load bundled with software in the same unit.

This way, you can connect your tube amp to your reactive load and directly record your guitar signal with impulse responses (which is the digital capture of real guitar speaker cabinets) with or without effects.

Two Notes Captor had also started with the bare-bones, compact reactive load back in the day. But they immediately responded to the market and released Captor X, possibly the best-selling reactive load in recent years.

By keeping Two Notes Captor X affordable while providing possibly the best UX to the customers, they have become the market leader in this niche product segment.

There’s a reason I titled this article with UX Lecture addition to get your attention. It’s not always about the sound, harmonic content, or low-end response of a reactive load. But it’s sometimes about the overall product experience.

Two Notes’ proprietary dynIR technology allows players to seamlessly browse through an infinite number of microphone positions and the combinations in a single dynIR pack. This is a groundbreaking feature, and I don’t think any reactive loads ever come with such features!

As I mentioned, Two Notes already responded to the user feedback and addressed the “incorrect” impedance curve used on the Captor Xs by releasing the Reload II with a “Celestion-approved impedance curve“.

I believe Two Notes will come up with the new version of Captor X, and it will likely manage to remain as the new best-selling, most popular, all-in-one reactive load ever!

But please don’t be negatively impacted by the comments you see online on the Two Notes Captor X. It’s a great product with the best UX ever! I think other companies in the guitar gear industry should learn from this and take this product as a lecture on the software, workflow, and ease-of-use aspects!

As I shared a playlist above featuring my Captor X SE, it’s obviously helped me play my guitar more often than anything else, and I think it’s wonderful. Inspiring pieces of gear do not always come to you easily. You may have to go through a process to experience other options, then you will understand why this has been the most inspiring.

Where to Buy Two Notes Torpedo Captor X?

As always, I got mine from Thomann! As soon as I noticed that Two Notes released the limited run version, I wanted to purchase one, as it was a lot more appealing to me. There was some price difference in comparison to the original Captor X.

However, I justified it quickly! 🙂 Basically, you can get the Captor X now, and also purchase anniversary edition dynIR packages from the Two Notes’ website.

This means that you will have the same product, just like the SE version. But only the cosmetics will be the OG version.

The cool thing about the Two Notes Captor X is that it’s been on the market for a long time, and it’s widely available, virtually in every serious music store!

If you enjoy my reviews here, you can buy your Two Notes Captor X via these links and support my blog without any extra cost on your end! 🙂

Check out Two Notes Captor X on Thomann here

There are also used ones as well as brand-new ones listed on Reverb.

But more importantly, Two Notes has an official Reverb store in which they often release B-stock items directly from France.

Check out my Two Notes Torpedo Captor X on Reverb here

Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!

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