Leon's New Video Comparing 2203 In Different Modelers

A and B sound very close. C sounds like it has a bit too much master volume (high end cut-off) to match A and B. D is off.

I think the master volume on the HX 2203 saturates a bit earlier than others.
 
A, B, and C were all within the realm of what I would expect. I thought that A cleaned up the best, but we're talking minute differences in this case.

D, however, was starkly contrasting and sounded like you were listening to the signal through a megaphone. Plus, you could hear all kinds of extra hair in the signal that did not contain musically relevant information. I really hope that Fender updates the TMP and shocks us all with dramatic improvements. As it stands now, it offers a very poor value proposition to the customer.
 
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.

I am very interested to know your preamp voltages.
 
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Interesting comparison. I thought A and C sounded near identical. B had a very slight "smear" for lack of a better term to describe it, just didn't sound quite as clear, but would never notice in a mix. D muffled and a bit flubby. Though again...I think one could make the TMP work in a mix but it would definitely require some work.
 
I could live with any of those tones in a live situation.

Interesting comparison. I thought A and C sounded near identical. B had a very slight "smear" for lack of a better term to describe it, just didn't sound quite as clear, but would never notice in a mix. D muffled and a bit flubby. Though again...I think one could make the TMP work in a mix but it would definitely require some work.

Just goes to show we are living in good times with modeling when 3 out of 4 of the best modelers are that close and the 4th is trailing but not too far off. I'm sure Fender will be updating soon, no way they want to be one of the most expensive and behind the others.
 
Just goes to show we are living in good times with modeling when 3 out of 4 of the best modelers are that close and the 4th is trailing but not too far off. I'm sure Fender will be updating soon, no way they want to be one of the most expensive and behind the others.
i am sure too...
Happy Big Brother GIF by MOODMAN
 
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...:bonk


tmp sounds like
Art Glitch GIF
 
Makes you wonder how close a shootout would be if you just grabbed any 3-4 random production units of the current 2203 and faced them off. With production tolerances, etc. you gotta wonder just how close they'd be when really put under a listening microscope.
 
Makes you wonder how close a shootout would be if you just grabbed any 3-4 random production units of the current 2203 and faced them off. With production tolerances, etc. you gotta wonder just how close they'd be when really put under a listening microscope.
as long as they are the same circuit and don’t have goofy mods, I’d say the difference is much smaller than (say) the load it’s modelled with. Almost certain that’s contributing to the differences in Helix and QC. Also, the QC/Helix/Fractal reference amps are all totally different units in totally different environments, so it kind of shows how similar they are
 
Awesome video Leon !!!!!

Other that D which was a bit too-woofy and lacking a lot of bite .... before and after the reveal .... I preferred C then B than A.

And for transparency .... other than messing with Native 3.70 in my DAW, Ive been using a Kemper Stage with LP's for the last 4-5 months.

But give me 20 seconds with a bit of micro eq'ing the basic Amp controls, I reckon I could very easily get A, B and C to be - for all intents and purposes - indistinguishable from each other.

Fractal needed a bit more mid-range ..... QC was a bit too bright .... Helix was -to my ears- just stone cold classic keerrraaaannnnngggg ! :)

My main takeaway ..... the differences between A, B and C doubtlessly all come down to no two amps being the same ..... the natural component tolerances and differences between 3 different 2203's.

I would bet that if Fractal, QC and L6 each modelled the exact same Amp, the results would be %99.99999 identical and humanly impossible to discern.

Ben
 
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