Atomic 112 Tips & Insights

Tips & Insights

The Reactor 112 was designed to bring out the very best in your modeler. Atomic recommends

that in order to achieve the best sounding results, modeler’s should be used in their “direct”

mode. To achieve the most realistic/natural amp and effect sounds, cabinet and mic simulations

can stay “on” but room levels should be turned “off” or be set to 0% and mics should be

positioned “on access”. The bottom line is that tone is very subjective and you should follow

your ears. There are no rules – only what sounds best to you!

Many amplification and speaker systems that are transistor based use a bass roll off or a limiter

in an effort to prevent nasty clipping of other undesirable artifacts (this, they call a feature!). If you

have been using such a system (including some headphones), you should be delighted with the

natural sonic openness you will experience with the Reactor 112. The Reactor’s closed back

tuned and ported speaker system can deliver a wide frequency response with extended bottom

end capabilities not found in other combo amps. The benefits of the Reactor become more

evident when players tune down to a “D” or other tunings. By allowing the user to not fight the

amp trying to boost frequencies that aren’t there the amp runs a lot more efficiently, allowing it to

focus its power over the instruments entire frequency spectrum. Your modeler’s tone controls

come to life, and should provide you with a whole new level of control over your sound.

Most, if not all, digital amp modelers feature a pair of left and right line outputs. The accepted

standard is that the left output provides the feed for mono operation (see your modelers user

manual!). Plugging a jack into the Right output automatically switches the modeler’s outputs for

stereo operation. The DS-1 docking station is designed to retain your modeler’s standard mono

and stereo operating capabilities even though the right and left outputs are connected. The

modeler remains in standard mono operating mode until a jack is inserted into the Send R output

on the rear jack panel of the Reactor 112. Unless a jack is inserted into the Send R output, a

modeler properly loaded into the DS-1 will continue to provide full mono operation capabilities

when used with the Reactor 112.

If you are using a floorboard style or a “Pro” Rack style modeler don’t worry! You can still

experience the sonic superiority of a Reactor by simply plugging your modeler’s output(s) into the

“Return” inputs located on the rear jack panel of the Reactor. When plugging into the Return you

are bypassing the Reactor’s input (see page 2). You are also putting the DS-1 into audio by-pass

mode. You can run your modeler and the rest of your outboard equipment as you normally would

as per their owner’s manuals.