ENGL Fireball 100... thoughts? (my miraculous amp journey)

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Yeah, the amp sounds great in the video. And after some more knob fiddling I was able to get a sound I really like. The trick was to get the power amp saturation right (Lead Volume 6, Master 4), which made the mids stand out more and shaped the low end in a good way. I just did a comparison to the Helix' Meteor model and got the feeling that I am getting a little bit more clarity overall and a marginally more pleasing midrange out of the amp, but prefer the slightly more percussive low end of the HX modeling. They're really close, though. The differences are minimal and I probably couldn't tell them apart in a mix.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Conclusion: Fireball is going back. Not a bad amp by any means, I just couldn't really connect with it.

Edit: The JVM205H was delivered an hour ago. Great sound - my sound - right off the bat (damn, I have been watching Kyle Bull too much lately), but holy cow is this thing absurdly noisy! I can still hear the background noise even when playing a chord. Considering the Fractal model of the JVM is so damn good I decided to send the amp back and just ordered an FM9.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Conclusion: Fireball is going back. Not a bad amp by any means, I just couldn't really connect with it.

Edit: The JVM205H was delivered an hour ago. Great sound - my sound - right off the bat (damn, I have been watching Kyle Bull too much lately), but holy cow is this thing absurdly noisy! I can still hear the background noise even when playing a chord. Considering the Fractal model of the JVM is so damn good I decided to send the amp back and just ordered an FM9.

Well damn. A bummer that neither one worked out, but gotta go with what works right for you!!

I hear about a lot of people having noise issues on the JVMs, but I don't seem to have much of a problem with mine. At least not any more noise than I'd run into on any high gain amp. I must have a special one lol

 

[la szum]

Conclusion: Fireball is going back. Not a bad amp by any means, I just couldn't really connect with it.

Edit: The JVM205H was delivered an hour ago. Great sound - my sound - right off the bat (damn, I have been watching Kyle Bull too much lately), but holy cow is this thing absurdly noisy! I can still hear the background noise even when playing a chord. Considering the Fractal model of the JVM is so damn good I decided to send the amp back and just ordered an FM9.

The JVM models in the Fractal are.

 

[Mongillo19]

Conclusion: Fireball is going back. Not a bad amp by any means, I just couldn't really connect with it.

Edit: The JVM205H was delivered an hour ago. Great sound - my sound - right off the bat (damn, I have been watching Kyle Bull too much lately), but holy cow is this thing absurdly noisy! I can still hear the background noise even when playing a chord. Considering the Fractal model of the JVM is so damn good I decided to send the amp back and just ordered an FM9.

I was under the impression that you weren't a FAS fan due to the number of FM3s sent back is it more so the form factor of the FM3 that you don't like?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I was under the impression that you weren't a FAS fan due to the number of FM3s sent back is it more so the form factor of the FM3 that you don't like?

Nah, Fractal stuff is great. It‘s just… the gras is always greener on the other side, isn‘t it?! When I have an amp I think about all the advantages of digital gear. So I sell the amp and buy a modeler. When I have a modeler I think about the convenience of using plugins. So I sell the modeler. When I am using plugins I am GASing for a real amp again and I buy one.

There‘s one thing that I don‘t like about the FM3 and that made me order an FM9 this time. The FM3 only has an SPDIF output and has to be the clock master. That means I always had to change that setting on my audio interface when I wanted to use the FM3, and with Logic Pro it was always a gamble if it would even monitor the SPDIF input. That was really annoying.

 

[Mongillo19]

Nah, Fractal stuff is great. It‘s just… the gras is always greener on the other side, isn‘t it?! When I have an amp I think about all the advantages of digital gear. So I sell the amp and buy a modeler. When I have a modeler I think about the convenience of using plugins. So I sell the modeler. When I am using plugins I am GASing for a real amp again and I buy one.

There‘s one thing that I don‘t like about the FM3 and that made me order an FM9 this time. The FM3 only has an SPDIF output and has to be the clock master. That means I always had to change that setting on my audio interface when I wanted to use the FM3, and with Logic Pro it was always a gamble if it would even monitor the SPDIF input. That was really annoying.

Oh for sure, I think we all feel this lol I will say there really isn't much the III or FM9 can't do. But as you said, there is always the chase for something "better"

 

[NKP]

I owned this head for one year and it is a really great one. Super clean, nice dist, noise gate .
But there is a little lack of personality that make me sell it

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

…aaand I‘m back at the beginning. I just sold my FM9. I don‘t know why every time I own a Fractal device I lose interest in it after a couple of weeks.

I finally decided to get an Engl Artist Edition 50 again. I just love that amp. This time it‘s forever, I swear! ;-)

 

[la szum]

Can we actually trust you this time???

 

[HotRats]

You might want to try a powerball 2, for a change. :)

 

[jellodog]

…aaand I‘m back at the beginning. I just sold my FM9. I don‘t know why every time I own a Fractal device I lose interest in it after a couple of weeks.

EEhhh?

You could have a least waited a few more weeks for the Dyna-Cabs and Revv

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Can we actually trust you this time??? […].

You might want to try a powerball 2, for a change. :)

I actually thought about that, but I like more stripped-down amps with less controls. And I know I love The AE. No more experiments! ;-)
(Edit: Damn, now you've sown doubt in me. And I could get the PBII with 10% off...)

(...) You could have a least waited a few more weeks for the Dyna-Cabs and Revv

I don‘t like Revv Amps that much, they always sound kind of bland to me, lacking character. And I‘m pretty sure there will be a new „Dyna“ version of Cab-Lab soon!

 

[HotRats]

I actually thought about that, but I like more stripped-down amps with less controls. And I know I love The AE. No more experiments! ;-)
(Edit: Damn, now you've sown doubt in me. And I could get the PBII with 10% off...)

I don‘t like Revv Amps that much, they always sound kind of bland to me, lacking character. And I‘m pretty sure there will be a new „Dyna“ version of Cab-Lab soon!

Never had the chance to play the AE but I'm sure is killer, has been on my wish list since was released. I have the feeling that is the perfect ENGL for me.

I've played my band mate's retro tube few times ( sometimes we swapped rigs for fun at rehearsals) and that was a nice amp too but not nice enough in my opinion.

I've been back to Marshalls after my detour with engl and the Powerball 2 and I tell you I still miss Ch3 of that amp.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Engl E653 Artist Edition 50 Blackout ordered.

 

[EOengineer]

@TheTrueZoltan! Just curious, and maybe I missed you mentioning it, but have you considered trying Helix Floor? You mention in the original post frequently dumping other gear and migrating back to Helix Native, just seems like an obvious choice.

Maybe the more limited amp selection in Helix is the issue there when compared to Fractal?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

@TheTrueZoltan! Just curious, and maybe I missed you mentioning it, but have you considered trying Helix Floor? You mention in the original post frequently dumping other gear and migrating back to Helix Native, just seems like an obvious choice.

Maybe the more limited amp selection in Helix is the issue there when compared to Fractal?

In my case (home studio, DAW always open, playing through studio monitors) Helix Native is much more convenient to use than a hardware modeler. I try to keep everything as simple as possible to avoid option paralysis, so I always hunt for the one perfect amp/model/plugin. I like the convenience of plugins like Helix Native, and I also like the limitation of having just one amp. The Fractal stuff sounds great but a) it lacks the convenience of amp sim plugins and b) gives me the worst option paralysis. It just doesn‘t seem to work for me.

 

[la szum]

Just because there are knobs there doesn't mean you NEED to touch them.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Just because there are knobs there doesn't mean you NEED to touch them. […]

It‘s not about the knobs. It‘s just more convenient to have all sounds in-the-box with Helix Native instead of having additional hardware. The simplicity of a setup is not necessarily determined by the amount of knobs.

 

[Bob Zaod]

I am currently selling have just sold my 4th FM3 because I realized I always keep coming back to using Helix Native instead. My favorite amp model for high gain rhythm stuff in Helix is the ANGL Meteor and now I am feeling a slight but undeniable amount of GAS for an ENGL Fireball 100 and a Suhr RL.

Another option would be a Marshall JVM205 (the JVM OD2 is my favorite model in the FM3), but I have read a lot of posts from people who claim it is very, very noisy. I once had an ENGL Artist Edition 50 (great amp BTW) and that amp was very quiet and even had an inbuilt noise gate (which was a little bit too hard for my taste, but worked well).

3rd option would be... well... just keep using Helix Native. Definitely the cheapest and most reasonable choice. But you know how it is when GAS kicks in...

What are your thoughts and opinions?

The other guitar player in the cover band I am in uses a Fireball 25 and I think it sounds fanfricktastic