Leon's New Video Comparing 2203 In Different Modelers

[Byrdman]

I just watched it this morning, and he did a great job comparing the different modeler's 2203 amps. Enjoy!! If this was already posted, feel free to delete, ignore, give me a hard time, etc...

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

"I've read some things over on The Gear Page." @2112 What is this heresy!

 

[FuzzyAce]

Great vid @2112 .
I guessed correctly even though I only own a HX .
Something about the clear and punchy bottom of the Fractal that's appealing, there's a nice definition in the notes. But I agree, all but the TMP have the right qualities to start with.

 

[SeeD]

Fractal = 5% less bright ( presence ) then the Quad Cortex and 5 % less gain so it cleaned up a bit more
QC = more hi-end ( presence ) then the Fractal
Line6 = 10% less `bass` then the Fractal and QC
Turd = OMG what are they doing over there ???

2023 is a good year, and 2024 will be even better

 

[the-trooper]

I guessed correctly even though I only own a HX .

The only thing I could tell is that I don't like the "D"
But the other three all sounded ridiculously close, no way I could pick out which one was Helix.

 

[Byrdman]

The only thing I could tell is that I don't like the "D"
But the other three all sounded ridiculously close, no way I could pick out which one was Helix.

For Sure!! He did a great job dialing them in. I'm glad he shared the settings because I'm going to steal those for my Stomp XL

 

[Foxmeister]

I thought #2 was the Helix, #3 was the Fractal, and #4 was the TMP, meaning by a process of elimination #1 was the QC.

So completely wrong, apart from #4.

The first 3 all sounded great to my ears.

I know that Fractal always assumes ideal potentiometers, so I'm wondering if the Quad Cortex does the same, and the Helix doesn't, which would explain the EQ differences.

 

[GTR37]

A and B were the best to me and pretty close , C I start to hear something in the highs that are just like a scratchy top end almost like there is noise underneath
The TMP no surprises stands out noticeably like it did in the 5153 video as being different and more like a caricature of a Marshall vs a well modeled amp

 

[FractalAudio]

FWIW, the reference amp I just received had no bright cap. It wasn't snipped out. It may have been removed by unsoldering it but if they did they cleaned up as there is no residual flux on the terminals.

This is the second JCM800 I've encountered with no bright cap.

I installed a bright cap in it because every schematic shows a bright cap and the model is based on the amp w/ the bright cap installed.

Other tidbits about it:
B+ is a bit on the low side, around 450V.
Feedback is 100K from 4-ohm tap.
Transformers are same as US/UK versions. OT has 4/8/16 taps but 16-ohm tap is not connected.
Preamp measures virtually identical to my 2204.

 

[2112]

FWIW, the reference amp I just received had no bright cap. It wasn't snipped out. It may have been removed by unsoldering it but if they did they cleaned up as there is no residual flux on the terminals.

This is the second JCM800 I've encountered with no bright cap.

I installed a bright cap in it because every schematic shows a bright cap and the model is based on the amp w/ the bright cap installed.

Other tidbits about it:
B+ is a bit on the low side, around 450V.
Feedback is 100K from 4-ohm tap.
Transformers are same as US/UK versions. OT has 4/8/16 taps but 16-ohm tap is not connected.
Preamp measures virtually identical to my 2204.

Thanks for modelling it with the bright cap (and giving us the option to have it on or off). Pretty cool to know those other tidbits.

How does it fare volume wise against some of the other renowned ear drum shattering amps like the SLO and Plexi's?

 

[FractalAudio]

Thanks for modelling it with the bright cap (and giving us the option to have it on or off). Pretty cool to know those other tidbits.

How does it fare volume wise against some of the other renowned ear drum shattering amps like the SLO and Plexi's?

I didn't run it through a cab, my wife would've divorced me.

 

[Foxmeister]

This is the second JCM800 I've encountered with no bright cap.

Rumour has it that Line 6 has encountered at least one...

 

[littlemusicbox]

I liked A & C best. B sounds a little bit more compressed overall, and well D...I guess you could also make that work if you didn't know the other ones existed.

 

[SeeD]

Rumour has it that Line 6 has encountered at least one...

Line6 ....10 years later...

Ahh folks want a JCM800 with a bright cap..
and James is in the neighbors house eating some fine daining

Line6 be like....

Better hurry up!

But it sounds good, and a lot of folks are happy. Just a bit of fun

 

[Los-D]

I liked C slightly more than A but both sounded awesome, and thought B sounded really good but with a bit more aliasing (ear fatigue) in the upper frequencies. D wasn’t bad but sounded like a mid-tier device, not an upper-tier one.

 

[Jarick]

From blind listening, I liked them in order A > B > C > D. A had the most Marshall 800 sound with that high end splat and low end depth. B was close but more mid focused. C continued that mid focus but lost the low end depth. D sounded way too compressed, choppy, and fuzzy.

After the reveal the Fractal and Helix made sense to me. Fractal tends to have the most high end detail of anything I have tried as well as a lot of low end depth. That's probably why I use more aggressive cuts with it. Helix to me tends to have more mid focus and lacks that very low end depth, so that was familiar as well. I haven't used NDSP or TMP, but the NDSP sounded pretty good and the TMP just didn't have it at all.

 

[Gearzilla]

QC Turd = OMG what are they doing over there ???

 

[SeeD]

 

[rdamato]

I could live with any of those tones in a live situation.

 

[mikah912]

A, B, and C had some slight differences in low and high mids, but I would only notice or care about any of the differences if I were listening to them back-to-back.

D....honestly, sounded like it switched to a middle or neck position pickup. That's how different (not in a good way) that was.