Atomic CLR = Sonic bliss !!!

Hi Guy’s

I’ve been contacted via PM and mail by
several Kemper users who asked if I would post my review of the Atomic Amps
Active Wedge CLR here on the Kemper forum.

The review has been on the Fractal forum
and The Gear Page for a little while now.

I’m happy to do so in the hope that
it’ll help or be of interest to anybody who is interested in the CLR.

I don’t have any experience with the Kemper
as I’m using an Axe Fx II personally, so I can’t help with anything related
specifically to the Kemper profiling amplifier, but I’ll be as available as my touring
schedule allows to answer questions about the CLR on this thread.

Also consider checking out the same
review on the Fractal forum, as there is a lot of good info in that thread.

I think we as guitarist and bassists are
extremely fortunate to live in a time where we have access to
modelers/profilers like the Kemper and the Axe Fx, both rivaling or in some cases
bettering the best tube amp rigs through out history.

Let’s make this thread stay on course
and be all about the Atomic CLR.

Here's the review:

Atomic CLR = Sonic bliss !!! In depth review, pro use

CLR in depth review, pro use, multible applications
and scenarios

Hi guys, as promised here’s my review of
the Atomic Amps CLR Active wedge.

It’s taken a little longer than
originally promised, as I’ve had some things to attend to in my private life.

This will be a long post - sorry - but I
hope anybody interested in the CLRs will find the review useful and
interesting.

A little context before the review. I’m
a professional guitarist and have made my living as such for more than 20 years
now. I’ve been lucky enough to play with some outstanding musicians during this
time and have earlier in my career toured both sides of the Atlantic as a
sideman. Since I became a father I haven’t strayed too far from home for
extended periods. I do mostly live work backing a couple of recording artists,
but I also do a fair share of studio work, and I’m getting a little into mixing
too.

I mostly play straight classic rock and blues-rock
but also do a little funky and “top 40” type modern pop-rock.

As a “gun for hire” I’ve always needed a
rounded arsenal of sounds and as such have owned a boatload of choice guitars, tube
amplifiers, cabinets, pedals and outboard effects.

For electrics I mostly play strats,
teles, ES 330 and ES 335/345’s and on rare occasions an LP. For acoustics I
mainly use a one-off Custom Shop Martin D-style with some twists and 2 Gibson
J45 True Vintage’s, all fitted with LR Baggs Anthem systems.

Amp wise I’ve mostly been going for vintage
flavored amps and the true and tried classics of tweed Fenders, BF Fenders, vintage
Marshalls, Comet Concorde, Skrydstryp OD50, Carr Rambler, and a CbC ODS clone,
but have also had more modern hi-gain amps such as a Skrydstrup SD50 and a Soldano
SLO in heavy rotation. I own or have owned quite a few more of both guitars and
amps, but those mentioned above are what have been at the core of my arsenal
for years.

I never liked any modelers before the
Axe Fx, but my Ultras became my favorite gigging tools.

The Axe II has up’ed that one further,
and I’m now using the Axe II for at least 95% of my work (live and studio),
though I still own and love - just rarely use - a couple of tweed Fenders, a
Carr Rambler, the ODS clone, the Skrydstrups, an SLO and a Soldano X99.

With respect to sound reproduction I’ve
been going back and forth between being on in-ears and on stage monitors
depending on the band/artist and scenario. When on stage monitors I’ve been
fortunate enough to use a lot of high-end pro stage monitors extensively from
companies such as Martin Audio, L-Acoustics,
D&B and others throughout the years as stage monitors were always provided
by the tech companies or concert arrangers.

I’ve also recorded in a number of fully
fledged professional studios that have had high-end monitoring solutions.

Last year I got the urge to get my own
monitors, so that I had them for grab-and-go applications such as rehearsals,
small gigs, clinics, to dial my tones in on at home as monitors behaves and
feels differently than in-ears, and most importantly to have an extra “all ME”
wedge on stage so I could make quick level adjustments via output 2 on the Axe
II if the monitor tech didn’t give me enough of my guitar sound in my band mix
stage wedge.

I got the RCF NX10-SMA as they meet my
criterias; good tone, coaxial, top prosumer quality, light weight, rugged and
portable at an (IMO anyway) fairly affordable price, especially considering the
cost of the other elements in my signal chain.

The RCFs are definitely not on the same
level as the monitors from the companies mentioned above, but they perform
better than anything else I’ve heard in the prosumer range, and are easily good
enough for me to use them in a professional setting for the purposes mentioned
above.

I was looking forward to reviewing the
CLR and see what the collaboration between Tom King and Jay Mitchell could
bring to the table, but I was very
sceptical as to whether the CLR’s would be able to outperform or even
equal my RCF NX10-SMAs that I’ve had for 14 months and have been very happy
with.

I received 3 active CLR wedges for
review purposes from Tom King of Atomic Amps on the 11th of April
2013 - just shortly before we were heading into the final production rehearsals
and out on tour, and I have used them extensively in a number of scenarios
since.

The premisses for the review was - as
always - that I’d have full editorial rights and would write my absolute honest
opinion on the CLR, whether it was favorable for the CLR and Atomic Amps or
not.

I’ve mailed this review to Tom King before posting it here so he knew what to expect and had a chance to comment on
my thoughts, but as I said no editorial rights or favors were given to Tom King
or anybody else.

I set out to test the CLRs very thoroughly,
methodically and rigorously in a number of different scenarios, including:

1) Using the CLR as a personal monitor
for the Axe Fx II at low bedroom, medium and full stage volumes, including real
life live use in medium to large clubs and up to large halls, with electric and
acoustic guitars.

2) Using the CLRs as a mini PA in
coffeehouse gigs / clinics / small gig settings

3) Using the CLRs as backline
amplification for electric and acoustic guitars.

4) Using CLRs in a wet-dry-wet system
either as all Axe II and CLRs and/or with the CLRs providing the wet channels
with effects from Axe II and a TC 2290 with the dry center channel coming from
a couple of choice boutique tube amp

5) Using the CLRs and Axe Fx II for bass
guitar

6) Comparing the CLRs to popular choices
in the hi-end prosumer FRFR market

7) Comparing the CLRs to well known and
widely used studio monitors

I’ll describe my experiences with each
application/scenario separately so guys only interested in one or a few
scenarios can skip right to what is of interest to them.

Some of the basics about the CLR will be
in the part about using the CLR as a personal monitor so I recommend reading at
least that part of the review.

At some points in this review I’ll
contrast or compare the CLR to the RCF NX10-SMA monitor, simply because

1) That is what I’ve been using before I
received the CLRs

2) The RCF is well known and used by a
lot of members on this forum

3) Because to me the RCF is the best of
the prosumer FRFR monitors out there and thus what the CLR has to beat
convincingly to be of interest to me

Alrighty then - lets get down to
business.

Shipping materials,
packing, fit & finish and features

The CLRs ships in good quality boxes and
are packed really well.

It’s obvious that Atomic Amps cares
about the CLR getting to you unharmed.

This attention to and care in packing is
important in a costly and relatively heavy device such as the CLR.

The shipping agent that delivered the
CLRs to me had man-handled the boxes a little, but the quality boxes, quality
packing material and good packing made sure that no damage had come to the CLRs.

The CLR itself has a clean professional
feel, look and build quality. Wooden cabinet, painted black and a black metal
grill to keep the drivers out of harms way.

Apart from the new Atomic logo there is
nothing flamboyant about the look of the wedge – so just as it should be IMO.

The CLR has a more squared and a little higher
profile than the RCF NX10-SMA that I’m used to and has a slightly bigger foot
print.

The CLR is a bit more heavy than the
RCF, but not prohibitively so.

In fact the RCF seems lighter to carry
only on the first less than 10 meters or so, from there it becomes very obvious
that the CLR’s better weight distribution and way better carrying handle makes
carrying the CLR a breeze compared to the lighter RCF with it’s somewhat bend
and squared profile handle.

Why RCF chose to put a handle like that
on their monitor is beyond me. It must be routed in the Italian design
aesthetics of “una bella figura”, with is - in this case anyway - in sharp
contrast to the normal pro audio “form follows function” creedo. Atomics choice
of a regular pro quality handle like we all know from the industry standard
Marshall 4x12 cab makes much better sense and is far more ergonomic.

The CLR wedge has rubber feet for
positioning it on the floor as either a wedge or up-right as a cab. Furthermore
there is a speaker stand cup on the bottom, allowing you to – yep – put it onto
a speaker stand and raise it up to whatever level you want it at.

Corresponding to these 3 possible placement
options, there is a PRESET switch on the back where you can set it for free
field (FF), wedge (TILT) or backline (BL) in order to employ a corrective EQ
for each position set by the DSP in the active CLR.

This is far from a trivial feature and a
real plus for the CLR.

The back panel or control panel of the
CLR holds a heat sink, and from left to right input 1 & 2 each with a
Neutrik combo 1/4” /XLR input socket and individual level controls and clipping
warning LEDs, the PRESET switch for FF, TILT & BL positions, the MASTER volume
control, the SUB on/off switch which in it’s on position attenuates the lows
from 120Hz and down if you want to use the CLR with a sub and also the link XLR
out with a switch to choose which signal you want to send out of the link:
input 1, input 2 or both.

Lastly there is the IEC power inlet
socket and the illuminated on/off mini rocker switch.

Using the CLRs as a
personal monitor

This is the task that I - and I guess
most other users - primarily want to use the CLR for, and I guess where the CLR
can make it or break it for most users so to speak.

The first time I fired up the CLRs I was
pleasantly surprised and could immediately tell that these monitors are indeed
very special and are a professional grade monitor.

I actually started out listening to some
music that I’m very familiar with on the CLRs and loved what I heard. All the
detail, depth, space and punch was present and the sound image very clear. The
broad dispersion pattern with a completely uniform sound quality is terrific. Then
I tried out the patches I had made using the RCF, and again really liked what I
heard, I just had a lot of fun going through my own presets and even a few of
the factory presets.

The next day was more of the same, but
also included the inevitable – the first A/B tests with the RCFs.

I really liked what I heard from the
RCF, it felt like home and had a nice fat mid range tone to it. When I switched
to the CLR I could instantly hear that there were a lot more clarity and better
separation in the CLR, the mids were very nice but not as prominent as on the
RCF. I tried both again with some backing tracks at the same time through the
monitors and then it was very clear that the CLR had better separation, depth
and clarity, not only between my guitar and the backing track but also between
the instruments on the backing track.

I took a walk, came back and decided to
tweak a new clean Fender and a new driven Plexi tone on both monitors – I found
that I worked faster and got a better result on both types of tones tweaking on
the CLR because I could more easily separate the different frequencies and hear
everything better.

The prominent mids present on the RCF,
that I had liked at first glance in the comparison, made dialing the sounds in on
the RCFs a bit harder, as the mids got a bit wolly compared to the CLR. The CLRs
excel throughout the entire frequency range and have perfect mid
representation.

In the time span of just a few days the
CLRs grew immensely on me and it became very clear to me that IMO the CLR is
vastly superior to the RCF (which I still like for what it is though).

Numerous tests confirmed that to me, and
I felt secure enough to bring the CLR to rehearsals and shows.

I tweaked a handful of general go to
presets (an acoustic preset, a clean Fender, a bluesy/clean lead Fender, a bluesy
JTM 45, a driven Plexi and a hot Friedman) for the CLR’s and took two of them
to rehearsal to try them at stage volume. Just 30 seconds into the first
rehearsal I was grinning from ear to ear and I knew that there was no way
around it for me – I had to have them.

It was simply some of the best tones I’d
ever had or heard, and furthermore the dispersion pattern of the CLRs meant
that both I and my band mates could hear my guitar much better all over the
stage than usual.

My amplified acoustics sounded better
than I’ve ever heard them before, and dare I say it as good as or maybe even
better than the pure unamplified sound of the acoustic itself. This was with a
simple patch on the Axe (slight comp, PEQ, a hint of delay and reverb) and a
Character preamp sim from the Metric Halo ULN-8’s Mio Console 5.

I also tried going from the acoustic
straight into the ULN-8’s DI input and
in 2-3 minutes I tweaked a simple channel strip with a Character preamp sim,
comp, limiter, EQ and Halo Verb, and again surpassed any acoustic tone I’ve
ever had previously.

I’ve since used the CLR extensively at
home when practicing or working on new material at bedroom and apartment
volumes, in rehearsals, with a quiet trio, in full production rehearsals with a
full band and where it matters most – on stage at full volume.

I can honestly say that the CLRs have
continued to impress me more for every single time I’ve used them -
irrespectively of the setting I’ve used them in.

For guys wanting a monitor to give them
cranked amp sounds at bedroom volumes I can think of no better sounding monitor
than the CLR for the purpose.

The other good option for bedroom volume
IMHO is a set of good studio monitors. The CLR takes up a bit more space than
typical studio monitors do, but it has a more cab like feel and punch to the
sound even at bedroom volumes compared to studio monitors - and if an
opportunity to jam ever comes up you’re set for that as well.

Another point is that the sound quality
of the CLR is way better IMHO than any set of studio monitor available at 999$
US that I know of anyway. So if you are willing to spend that amount on a set
of studio monitors for the Axe Fx II, you should seriously consider a CLR
instead – not stereo I know but sublime mono is IMO better than decent to good
stereo for guitar tones any day of the week.

In many threads regarding FRFR monitors,
there is a lot of discussion and questions regarding whether a given FRFR
monitor can get you a “in the room” sound, like if you had a tube amp and cab right
in front of you.

To me when using the Axe II and CLRs
that question is answered with a resounding “yes absolutely”.

The most important ingredient in getting
a in the room sound is absolutely the choice of speaker IR.

If you use a speaker IR of a close mic’ed
cab with a “colored” mic going through a “colored” preamp and maybe a EQ, then you
naturally won’t get an in the room sound. You’ll get the sound of the amp and
cab model chosen, mic’ed and post processed - which can be you what you want in
another situation.

So if you want an amp in the room sound,
choose a speaker IR captured with a very transparent and natural sounding mic in
a far field position into a very clean preamp with a flat EQ, maybe even mix in
a little of a close mic’ed IR captured like that too.

I’ve also noticed a couple of guys on
the fractal forum claiming that the CLRs are harder to work on with the Axe
than their chosen monitor, claiming that their monitors are more guitar
friendly than the CLR, and that the CLR is more for tweakers and people with a scientific
background or audio professionals or
some other nonsense to that effect – please give me a break.

The CLR accurately reproduces the signal
you feed them, which makes them absolutely wonderful and simple to work on and
they take out all of the guesswork about how your sound will translate to other
quality systems or in recordings.

That makes the CLRs perfect and easy to
use for the basic players and the über-tweakers alike.

I won’t feed the trolls, but suffice to
say that if your preset sounds bad or wrong on a Axe II and CLR rig then the
problem isn’t with the rig, it’s with the users ability to dial in a good
preset.

Using the CLRs as a personal monitor in
a band context, I’ve noticed a few important things, apart from sublime sound
quality and true FRFR performance, that makes the CLR a no-brainer for me.

Playing in a band context - whether
that’s my trio or the 7 man band - I’ve noticed that because of the formidable
large dispersion zone, true FRFR performance and thus clear detailed sound of
the CLR, I can turn down my volume a little from my normal stage volume and
still hear myself better and be heard better by the other musicians than
before.

Hearing myself better is naturally
really great, but having lower volume levels coming at me make long production
rehearsals and long shows a lot less stressful and wears a lot less on my ears
and head – that’s a very welcome feature of the CLR to me.

Another thing that really stands out to
me is the sound quality and frequency spectrum once you get out of the ideal
dispersion zone, which is very wide on the CLR. On the CLR it seems like the
frequencies fades away uniformly, whereas on most monitors (including most
hi-end pro monitors) once you get outside of the ideal dispersion zone the
frequencies falls off in a very uneven and sporadic way so you might get a very
muddy or very shrill sound outside of the ideal dispersion zone.

Remember the rest of the band is
typically, not to say always, outside of the ideal dispersion zone of you monitor
so - unless you are always on large stages with everybody standing fixed in
front of their personal monitor - this matters greatly when you think of how
the rest of the band hears you even though they might have dedicated monitors.

It’s hard to explain why this is such a
big deal, but once you’ve tried it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Monitors like the CLR can reduce the
volume war on stage and make the experience of performing much better for all
involved, which often leads to better playing and better performances.

I’ve used the CLRs in many shows now,
ranging from some clinics in café sized rooms (50-200 persons) at moderate
stage volumes, to full on stage volume in crowded medium sized clubs to halls,
including 7 shows in what I consider large halls (7000+ in the audience) and I
have found the CLRs to work absolutely beautifully and perfectly for me in all
these scenarios.

The CLRs have not made a single hiccup, they
sound clear, natural, transparent and translate perfectly.

Not only does my Axe patches/guitar
sound translate perfectly, so does the entire band mix in the CLR.

There is great detail, separation, depth
and punch in the CLR.

I get a line from the monitor tech with
a personalized band mix with the right levels for me – but in the rare occasion
that I’m not getting enough of my guitar in my monitor and I can’t catch the
attention of the monitor tech quickly enough, I can instantly regulate the
level myself from the front of the Axe II, as I have a cable going from the out
2 of the Axe into the input 2 on the CLR.

It has proven to be money more than once,
and I love having the 2nd input on the CLRs for this application.

If I’m running 1 or 2 CLRs that means
I’m turning up the “Axe II only” signal from out 2 on the Axe II.

The CLR can get extremely loud it you
want or need it to – Holy Moly does it get loud!

I’m used to rock stage SPL’s and can
attest that the CLR will split your head open and blow your eardrums, if you
get too fresh with the volume level control.

I’ve had the CLRs so loud that I could
only stand it for a few minutes or so and had to turn it down as it was
unpleasantly loud – the CLRs never broke a sweat and didn’t distort the signal
– it just got LOUD.

I’ve heard Jay Mitchell say that the CLR
will continuously put out 120 dBs of
sound pressure – that’s loud enough from a stage monitor for any sane person.

Using the CLRs as a
mini PA

I was scheduled to do a series of 6 long
clinics at performing music schools. The clinics were hosted in café sized
rooms with 50-200 people attending, and dealt with a number of topics ranging
from good practicing routines, how to keep evolving as a musician instead of
getting stuck in a rut, how to make yourself marketable as a musician, what
makes a good sideman, how to do a good demo, how to prepare for auditions,
tools of the trade (gear box), backline set ups vs PA, running your own PA and
Q & A sessions.

All the clinics were done in a trio
format with guitar, bass and drums.

Some sessions had all 3 band members
present and some with only one of us preset. All clinics had an intro were we
played 3 songs and ended with a mini concert (1 hour set).

These clinics were the first “shows” I
did with the CLRs.

My setup was the Axe Fx II running mono patches,
and I used one CLR as a personal monitor and the 2 other CLRs as a mini PA with
my guitar (electric and acoustic), vocal mics, some program material and
backing tracks – and in the last 4 clinics also the bass (DI’ed) and drums (analog
drums switched to V-drums triggering Steven Slate SSD 4) – went through the “PA
CLRs”.

I had high expectations based on the way
the CLRs carried the room at rehearsal and my expectations were more than meet.

The CLRs were easily loud enough, spread
the sound nicely across the room and sounded just great exhibiting all the sonic
characteristics I described in the paragraph above about using the CLR as a
personal monitor. There was a spot in two of the clinics where I went out into
the room to solo - cheasy I know – but it gave me the chance to hear the CLRs
from among the audience in a filled room.

All the clinic venues had a house PA in
place and I seized the opportunity at soundcheck to activate the house PA and
switch between it, the CLRs and my RCFs that I had brought along for just that
purpose. In a couple of instances we even switched between the CLR and the
house PA mid session, as it was about running your own PA, personal monitoring,
FOH and the toolbox (gear box).

At one of those instances the house PA
was a set of K12’s with a sub (didn’t get the brand or model # on the sub -
sorry). At the other instance it was a set of HK Linear 5 without a sub).

In both instances I found the CLRs
clearly superior as they had way better articulation, punch, frequency
response, dispersion and they just plain translated better.

Using the CLRs as backline amplification

I only very rarely play in settings
where we rely on backline amplification, I mostly play with a wedge in front of
me or with in-ears, but I was curious as to how the CLR would handle the task.

So in the clinics mentioned above I
actually used the “personal monitor” CLR behind me in a backline position (with
the Axe signal to the “PA CLRs” bypassed) in the session about backline set
up’s vs PA, in the PA part I just used one of my RCFs for a personal wedge and
the “PA CLRs” or the house PA.

Also when I recently attended a wedding
where I’d been trusted with the task of hiring the band, I joined the band with
my Axe and a single CLR in backline position for a few songs for the bride and
groom as they are both childhood friends of mine. It’s been awhile to say the
least since I’ve played Bon Jovi’s Bed of roses – LOL – but that was their song
when they first met.

In both these scenarios the CLRs worked
absolutely great.

They are easily more than loud enough,
and for backline use the wide dispersion of the CLRs is an absolute godsend as
that means that the entire audience and the rest of the band can hear you
clearly, instead of the normal backline scenario where the part of the audience
directly in front of your guitar cabinet gets their heads blown off from the direct
beam of loud guitar, the part of the audience a little of axis getting a decent
guitar sound and lastly the part of the audience that is very off axis and the
rest of the band can’t hear you in any meaningful way.

Although using the CLR on the floor
(Preset BL) works perfectly well and IMHO better than any regular guitar cab or
any other FRFR monitor that I’ve tried, I much prefere to have it on a pole (Preset
FF) when using the CLR for backline duties, as the elevated speaker spreads the
sound better.

Using the CLRs in a Wet-Dry-Wet set-up.

Well an Axe II and a single CLR in mono
is easily enough to have a professional grade rig, and it’s absolutely the
easiest rig to both haul and to integrate for the FOH tech.

Two CLRs in a stereo set-up is just even
sweeter and fuller sounding, but is sometimes lost on the FOH, depending on the
level of the PA.

That said, three CLRs in a wet-dry-wet
configuration is just about as sinful, delightful and sublime sounding as a rig
can get.

Again it might be lost on low-end or
medium level PAs.

Some will argue that a W-D-W is
completely unnecessary, and I’d agree – but try it once and you’ll most likely
be hooked, as it gives you the perfect balance of your effects and your dry
guitar tones.

I’ve used the CLRs in two different
versions of a W-D-W rig.

The first one is an all Axe II rig where
only wah, drives, boost (PEQ), vibe, tremolo, amp and cab goes to output 1, a
split is taken after the cab and run to stereo reverbs, stereo delays and a 2nd
vibe/rotary that are paralleled and go to output 2. This is a very compact but insanely
versatile W-D-W rig with the effects and number of amp and cab sims in the Axe
II.

I send one side of the Axe II’s output 1
(Copy L > R) and the link out of the CLRs receiving the wet signals from the
Axe II output 2 to the FOH, so the FOH also gets a dry center channel and
effected left and right channels from me.

The other version I’ve tried is with a
tube amp and regular guitar cab providing the dry center, mic’ed, and send to
the FOH via my Metric Halo ULN-8 with my Axe II and TC 2290 inserted for
effects and from there was send to both FOH and a left and a right CLR as the
wet channels.

I’ve done this using my ODS clone and
also my Skrydstrup SD50.

Both the Axe II and the tube amp based
W-D-W rigs sounds sublime and the sound just engulfs you, the effects breath,
but your tone has punch and cuts, and still you have a physical center (the dry
cab) from which your base tone comes, just as when you are playing through a
good combo or stack.

In both types of W-D-W rigs I’ve had a
mix of the rest of the band send to the 2nd input on the wet CLRs,
that means that my effects and the band mix blends in the wet CLRs and I have
separate volume controls for them to set the relative volumes, but my dry
center channel remains pure, and gives me an unmistakably physical center to my
tone.

It’s funny because back in the day I had
for a short while a huge W-D-W setup that sounded awesome and was very
versatile, but it consisted of two 12 unit racks, an amp head, a 412 cab for
the dry center, two 212 wet cabs and a midi floor board, so it was a bitch to
haul around or to check for possible culprits whenever there was a problem and
it cost a fortune. I got rid of it quickly as it was simply too impractical,
and I was tired of only being able to use it on big productions on big stages, with
plenty of roadies and big trucks.

Also although big rigs were all the rage
back then I just felt a bit stupid with a setup that big behind me and I actually
preferred a more vintage rock sound, so I liquidated it and build a small,
compact and killer 8 units rack rig centered around my Soldano X99 preamp for
the modern stuff and bought a bunch of vintage amps for the proceeds, as
vintage amps at that time was just considered old and undesirable so they were
dirt cheap.

With the Axe II and CLR powered W-D-W
rig I can get any tone of that refrigerator rack and then some, as I can get
the sounds from a Tweed Deluxe, Super Reverb, Concorde, Friedman or any other
of the amps modeled within the Axe combined with an appropriate cab IR and
delivered superbly by the CLRs.

I can do all this with a very compact
rig that I can comfortably bring myself, with just a 4 U rack, a midi board and
3 CLRs.

This rig costs a fraction of the big tube
amp based W-D-W rigs from the past, sounds much much better, has close to no
self noise, and there is no constant hunt for ground loops or other ghosts in
your rack - that’s magic and money in my book.

Using the CLRs for
bass guitar

I’m a guitarist first and foremost, but
for some time I’ve had a middle of the road P-bass to lay down a few ideas on
demos and I occasionally jam or stand in on bass.

I never had a dedicated bass rig as I
would always borrow one on the rare occasions that I needed it. So I was very
curious as to how well the CLRs would handle bass duties at apartment volumes
and even more so at stage volumes.

The initial listening tests with program
material gave me a lot of faith and confidence in the CLR’s bass handling
capabilities - but as they say the proof is in the pudding.

So I enlisted our bass player, how is a
monster R&B and rock bassist, to test the CLRs with bass.

We played a show in his home town, and
he had some of his old friends come by and spend the day with us, two of those
were also bassists and quite good at that. So I got to hear 3 good and
distinctly different bassists play my rig with a quick preset we made in a
matter of minutes with a SV amp sim and a SV 4x10 cab IR and just quickly
re-tweaked for a minute or so whenever we changed the bassist. Basses were all
4 strings P, J and MM type and the styles included rock, R&B, funk and
fusion-jazz and the sound was to die for in all instances.

The CLRs never broke a sweat, never
farted out or broke up, it just delivered punchy and great bass sound.

To stress test the CLRs we turned it up
LOUD, much louder than we’d ever have it at stage volume even at bigger stages
– no farting out, just great bass sound.

Our bassist keept looking at his big amp
head + 8x10 rig and shook his head.

He could no believe what he was hearing,
and he’s talking about selling all of his bass amplification and effects and go
for a Axe II + CLR rig instead in the near future.

I must say that I was equally impressed,
and I’ve already told off Tom King for costing me more money J as this sublime bass reproduction of the CLRs inspired me to sell the
middle of the road P-Bass and order a Masterbuild Sandberg bass with P and MM
pick up configuration instead.

CLRs compared to
popular FRFR systems

As I wrote in the section about using
the CLR as a mini PA I’ve had it head to head with quite a few other FRFR
monitors in the prosumer price range including the K10s, K12s, HK Audio Linear
5 and RFC NX10-SMAs, but I’ve also had it head to head with a set of higher end
TurboSounds (the model # escapes me – sorry).

I didn’t have all these monitors in the
same room at any one time so I won’t get into contrasting the other monitors to
each other, also this review is about the active CLR.

To cut to the chase the CLR easily came
out on top in all cases and on all parameters concerning sound.

The dynamics, punch, frequency response,
dispersion, clarity, dimension and depth of the sound is simply unmatched by
any of those other monitors.

I can tell you that the owner of that
set of TurboSounds was quite cocky before we fired the monitors up, but looked
a little misty eyed as soon as the music played.

I haven’t had the CLR up against any of
the D&B, L-Acoustics, Martin Audio or the like yet, but I truly believe
that we’ll have to look at that class and price range of FRFR monitors if we
want to find something that might be as good as the CLR, and I can honestly say
that I’ve heard a lot of monitors costing at least 2,5-3 times the price of the
CLRs that the CLRs would leave dead in the water.

A friend of mine who is a monitor and
FOH tech, heard our monitor tech describe the sound I got from the CLRs, and contacted
me wanting to do a shoot out with his set of hi-end Martin Audio monitors, so
we are trying to set that up in the not to distant future.

CLRs compared to
studio monitors

As the CLRs are advertised as Professional
Reference Quality Monitors for the Stage! on Atomicamps.com, a comparison to
studio monitors is really interesting.

If the CLRs really are professional
reference quality monitors they should stand up well to the offerings from
DynAudio, sE Electronics, Yamaha, Focal, Adam, Genelec and others.

I’ve tested the CLRs in my home studio
against Dynaudio BM6As, at a friends (quite well equipped) home studio with sE
Electronics The Egg and Focal Solo 6 BEs and lastly but most importantly in a
professional studio with a perfectly treated control room that I’m familiar
with.

That studio is run by a friend, and they
have Dynaudio, Genelec, NS10’s and Adam S3X-V’s for nearfield monitors.

The CLRs have only one downside in this
context, and that is size, as the CLRs needs a little more space to fit into
the studio.

Having said that I was stunned at just
how sublime they sounded and translated, and so was my friend the pro engineer.

In fact we devised a test, where we used
a day to mix a song that we are both intimately familiar with as we had recorded
it together a short while back.

We mixed the song on the CLRs using them
as the only monitors, and we mixed the same song using the normal speakers in
the studio, mostly the Adams, but using the NS10s and Genelecs as references.

We rough mixed first with both
monitoring solutions, and then gave both mixes a final once over in the end. We
took breaks throughout the sessions to ensure that our ears remained fresh.

When we finished we played back both
mixes on both the CLRs and the Adam S3X-Vs and we both preferred the mix made
on the CLRs regardless of whether we used the CLRs or the Adam S3X-Vs as our playback
monitors.

We both noticed that the CLRs didn’t
give us ear fatigue while mixing and that the extreme clarity, separation and transparency,
the outstanding representation of dynamics, depth and space in the music presented
by the CLRs made every part of mixing the song really easy.

Personally I’ve never been as confident
about the eq’s, dynamics, delays and reverb tails or indeed any other subtleties
being spot on in the mix as I was when we mixed on the CLRs.

Another plus for the CLRs is that
because of their excellent representation of bass frequencies/low end, you
don’t need a sub with the CLRs. That not only saves the cost of a sub, it also
means that you avoid all the placement issues you can have when integrating a
sub into your monitoring system.

Honestly, these are the best monitors
I’ve ever used, and they wipe the floor with most of the usual studio monitors,
including expensive monitors from the big names in the studio monitor market.

I’ve never tried the Barefoot MM series,
the big ATC monitors and a few more of the holy grail really big bucks studio
monitors, so I can’t compare with those, but I’ve heard an older small ATC
monitor that was fantastic.

Until the mixing session described above
I’ve had serious GAS for a set of ATC monitors but had restrained myself
because of the price.

The GAS for a set of ATCs is gone as the
CLRs brings everything I need to do great mixes with ease.

In another thread on this forum James
Cullen posted that he tested the CLRs against his own ATC 100 monitors and that
the CLRs held their own impressively well.

That confirms my impression of the CLRs
and really speaks volumes to me as the ATCs are some of the absolute finest
mixing and mastering studio monitors in the world - at any price.

Stuff I’d prefer
different

The CLRs are close to perfect for me,
and they tick all the important boxes right of the bat.

Still if I could change anything I
wanted on them, I’d personally prefer to have a Powercon terminal instead of a
standard IEC power inlet. Simply because it’s the professional standard, and
secures the power cable better, so big foot, your bassist or a renegade member
of the audience doesn’t accidentally kick your power cord and cut your power to
the CLR mid-song.

I know this is nitpicking, but on a
professional reference monitor I like to see the professional standards
implemented. I also know that neither big foot, the bassist or members of the
audience are supposed to be in a position where they are close enough to mess
with the power cable – but Murphy’s Law always applies, especially for those
doing bar gigs.

For most guys this is probably a moot
point and I can imagine that Tom and Jay considered this and decided that it’s
easier to get replacement cables in a pinch for generic IEC power inlets.

At bar gigs the level controls are also
in harms way facing the public when the CLR is used as a wedge in front of you,
but I find that position better than at one end of the monitor like the RCF has
them, and you can always secure them with gaffers tape or similar if you play
small clubs with the audience close to your monitors.

Overall these are very minor criticisms
and nothing that would ever defer me from buying this monitor.

Conclusion

I wanted to live with these monitors for
a good period of time before reviewing them so I had a lot of real world
experience with them and was sure that I wasn’t susceptible to a “honeymoon
period”.

I’ve tested these monitors extensively
in a number of scenarios and applications. I’ve played them with electric
guitars, acoustic guitars and bass at anything from bedroom level to full on
stage volume.

I’ve used them as a mini PA, as personal
wedges, as backline amplification and in mono, stereo and wet-dry-wet rig
configurations.

Furthermore I’ve used them in the studio
to mix on.

In all these scenarios and applications
the CLRs have continued to blow me away with their exceptional sound quality,
frequency response, punch, dynamics, separation, clarity, transparency, depth
and space – and with their ability to perfectly reproduce what ever you feed
them at low to extreme volumes without breaking a sweat and sounding musical
all the time.

If your presets/patches sounds deficient
in any way, then take a close look at your presets/patches as they (and not the
CLR) are to blame - or as our monitor tech says “shit in = shit out”.

I seriously think that you’ll have to go
to at least 2,5-3 times the price of the CLR to find anything that might compare to the CLRs, but even at
that price point you just might be surpriced by what you’ll find in a direct
A/B test.

The CLR really is a professional reference
quality monitor, capable of Rock ‘n Roll SPL’s at a prosumer price - which when
you think of it is utterly mind-blowing.

In short the CLRs have continued to blow
me away and they still impress me even further every time I use them, so much
so in fact that I’ve put my own money where my mouth is and have bought all 3
review samples from Tom.

The above was my original review of the
Atomic CLR’s and since then my fondness of the CLR’s have continued to grow
immensely.

As you can see I’ve had these since
April and they continue to perform perfectly in every scenario or context that
I use them in.

I’ve gotten so used to the outstanding
sonic quality of the CLR, that I notice the difference to other “FRFR”
offerings immediately, and miss the detail, transparency, resolution, space and
punch of the CLR.

Also shortly after I posted the review
of the CLR at the Fractal forum, Kevin from OwnHammer asked me to join his
beta-tester team, and his new IR’s (that have just been released commercially),
have further improved the sound quality of my rig immensely.

I mention this as it’s very clear to me
that the CLR will accurately reproduce anything you put into it, and that the
CLR will never be the bottleneck of or weak link in you signal chain.

Quote from sorefingers

Wow! What a great review. I have read a lot about the Atomic wedges, but your review is light years ahead of anything else I've seen.

I am just a hobby guitar and bass player. I currently use two Yamaha HS80m studio monitors with the matching subwoofer to play in my home studio.

I've been lusting after an Atomic powered wedge for some time. If I am not playing live and don't have any plans to do so, based upon your extensive experience with the Atomic, is there any benefit to switching from my current setup?

Thanks, I've tried the Yamaha HS80's, and your setup is absolutely a decent setup at it's price point.
The CLR though is in a completely different league from the HS80's in regard to sound quality.
It's the difference from a mexican strat to a D'Pergo / DeTemple / Tyler / Underwood (insert any über high-end custom shop builder here) - both will get the job done, but there is a massive difference that you'll immediately feel and hear.

In my opinion and experience, I find one CLR clearly more satisfying to play through than a stereo set of studio monitors, there is just so much gained from the better dynamics, transparency, dispersion and resolution - it just sounds AND feels like you are playing a real guitar cab.
Furthermore you won't get ear fatigue like you do when you listen to lower grade speakers - unless you play too loud for a long time.
Some would surely point out that one CLR = mono, and that you have a stereo system right now - Again, I'd personally rather have sublime mono than less than sublime stereo.

If I'm not mistaken, Atomic Amps offers a 15 days return period, so it's easy for you to try out a CLR with your own rig and make up your own mind.
Just remember when you do so, that your current presets are probably made for/on your current playback system, which is not true FRFR, so be ready to tweak the patches a bit to account for the almost ruler flat representation of the CLR.
Also run some music that you are very familiar with through the CLR and your current setup, that should show you the difference in sound quality.
If or when you get to try out a CLR I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about, and if stereo is important for you, then just get another CLR down the road, and you'll have sublime stereo.

Hope this answers your question

Quote from mullassiff

Amazed that Marketing like this are allowed on the Forums.
This is not a rewiew but an add.
Now all we need is Scott Peterson to jump in and praise his free product here aswell.....

This thread and this review is not an add.
I have no affiliation with Atomic Amps, I was not paid to this review, and I paid full price with my own money for my three CLRs.

This review is me sharing my honest enthusiasm for something very rare - a product that actually delivers what it promises.

The CLR truly delivers professional reference quality monitoring, and is capable of doing so at rock 'n roll stage SPL's.

The fact that it is priced in the prosumer price bracket makes it insane value for money.

Don't just take my word for it, check the other threads on CLR's, among those be sure to check Pete Thorns youtube video of the CLR (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcJpPd2Hd4E) and check what James Cullen has to say about how favorable the CLR's fares compared to his ATC 100A's, some of the best monitoring and mixing FRFR monitors in the world (http://forum.fractalaudio.com/…-active-wedge-review.html).
Then if the CLR is of interest to you, try then for yourself to see if they are right for you - Atomic Amps offers a 15 days return period.