NMD: NDSP Quad Cortex

[TubeStack]

SS Power.

Generally speaking.

I think the louder the demands the more you gag and notice the shortcomings.

Yes, well put.

l was trying to keep an open mind, and also stick with what “modeling purists” suggest, ie. that SS is less coloured, doesn’t double up the speaker impedance curve stuff with the modeled/capture element of that, etc. (If captures include SIC? I’m not sure.)

I’ve been looking into that KSR PA50, looks very cool, but it’s pretty pricey for something that is largely a curiosity-based experiment/hobby for me, at this point (ie. pursuing using a modeler/profiler with some sort of power amp + cab).

And the closer I get to using some sort of tube power, the closer I arrive back at “why don’t I just use the damn Electra Dyne itself, at this point…”.

 

[Whizzinby]

Don’t listen to anyone, trust your ears. I’ve tried all this shit with the QC and the only meaningful difference is how much lighter your wallet is. I used a BAM200 and I wouldn’t say it was any more meaningfully different than the PS170 or the Fryette PS100 with all dat tube goodness. Same shit. All perfectly fine to rock out the QC with a cab.

 

[Mongillo19]

Don’t listen to anyone, trust your ears. I’ve tried all this shit with the QC and the only meaningful difference is how much lighter your wallet is. I used a BAM200 and I wouldn’t say it was any more meaningfully different than the PS170 or the Fryette PS100 with all dat tube goodness. Same shit. All perfectly fine to rock out the QC with a cab.

Have you tried any power amps with the Axe?

 

[Whizzinby]

Have you tried any power amps with the Axe?

Not yet. Ive only patched it into the recording rig. Will probably get the cab flapping over the holidays.

 

[la szum]

Don’t listen to anyone, trust your ears. I’ve tried all this shit with the QC and the only meaningful difference is how much lighter your wallet is. I used a BAM200 and I wouldn’t say it was any more meaningfully different than the PS170 or the Fryette PS100 with all dat tube goodness. Same shit. All perfectly fine to rock out the QC with a cab.

But he already is trusting his ears, and already seems to be noticing a meaningful difference in results. -

Enough of a difference to send shit back to the store from whence it came.

 

[la szum]

Yes, well put.

l was trying to keep an open mind, and also stick with what “modeling purists” suggest, ie. that SS is less coloured, doesn’t double up the speaker impedance curve stuff with the modeled/capture element of that, etc. (If captures include SIC? I’m not sure.)

I’ve been looking into that KSR PA50, looks very cool, but it’s pretty pricey for something that is largely a curiosity-based experiment/hobby for me, at this point (ie. pursuing using a modeler/profiler with some sort of power amp + cab).

And the closer I get to using some sort of tube power, the closer I arrive back at “why don’t I just use the damn Electra Dyne itself, at this point…”.

Yeah, the SS Amp/"FRFR" thing is an acquired taste----especially if you are coming from a stout tube amp and cab setup.

I simply don't think you can recreate (in its totality) the experience of the latter with the former. Can juggle options, and
I don't suspcrt any of them will get you to your exact sweet spot with the ED and Cab.

For me, there is a good enough element that I can roll with either. I still use an FM3 into dual "FRFR" at practice with
the band, and then use a W/D Rig here at home that is pedals into 2 different Tube Amps and separate Guitar Cabs. I
also plop down the FM3 and run into both of those amps on occasion. I like them all in different ways.

I'd guess with the attachment you have to your ED you will find it even more challenging that the average Bear does. It'll
be interesting to see how close you can get, and if you are ultimately happy with whatever distance remains, or if you close
the gap entirely.

 

[Whizzinby]

But he already is trusting his ears, and already seems to be noticing a meaningful difference in results. -

Enough of a difference to send shit back to the store from whence it came.

Been there. So much so I ended up with three of them in the house at the same time.

None that he has mentioned though. Of the ones I tried, which all came highly recommended, none of it meant all that much.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Been there. So much so I ended up with three of them in the house at the same time.

None that he has mentioned though. Of the ones I tried, which all came highly recommended, none of it meant all that much.

I will say the PS100 gives a bit of pull here as of late with the III.

 

[DrewJD82]

Having both the PS170 and BAM200, the biggest differences between them are the size and price, nothing about the sound. At this point I’ve got zero interest in trying any other solid state/class D amps, if I change to anything else it’ll be a tube power amp.

Kinda just thinking I’m going to grab either a Mesa 50/50 or a 2:90 and call it a day. I’ll never have to think about power again.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Having both the PS170 and BAM200, the biggest differences between them are the size and price, nothing about the sound. At this point I’ve got zero interest in trying any other solid state/class D amps, if I change to anything else it’ll be a tube power amp.

Kinda just thinking I’m going to grab either a Mesa 50/50 or a 2:90 and call it a day. I’ll never have to think about power again.

Having all 50 watt amps at home is great. But next power amp I am getting I want BIG iron. 2:90 sounds all kinds of killer.

 

[DrewJD82]

Having all 50 watt amps at home is great. But next power amp I am getting I want BIG iron. 2:90 sounds all kinds of killer.

They’re, so far, staying reasonably priced, too.

 

[Achilles]

I want BIG iron.

Does it have to be square?

 

[mbenigni]

We need clips dammit

Forget clips. We need those Electra-Dyne captures to go public.

 

[Achilles]

SS Power.

And yet when you go to a show that's pretty much all you are hearing coming out of the PA. I think guitarists in general never got the bad SS taste out of their mouths after the first wave of horrendous SS guitar amps in the 70s.

 

[mbenigni]

Well, that was unexpected... all the GX5 did was show me how much more I like the ISP Stealth Pro as a power amp.

The ISP sounds and feels 1000X better - like, undeniably and quite noticeable - very surprising. I guess because it's designed for exactly this, ie. being a solid state guitar power amplifier? The difference is remarkable. Much more dynamic and responsive, feels better and even has a "bigger" sound to it. This is at the exact same volume levels and with the same Recto 2x12 cab. (They were oddly the same volume at the same 1 o'clock setting, with the QC output level kept consistent.) The GX5 feels flat and lifeless in comparison and very uninspiring. First time comparing SS PAs, now I see how much it can impact the sound and feel.

Maybe if I played with QC output levels vs GX5 volume settings, I could get more life out of the GX5, but add to it that the ISP is only one pound (!) and slightly bigger than a Stomp (albeit with a large and weird laptop-type power supply), and it's crazy really. At 28 lbs, the GX5 feels ridiculously heavy and cumbersome; it actually feels like more than 28 lbs, the way the weight sits. (The 100W Fillmore head at 35 lbs was much easier to grab by the handle and move around, for example.)

So the GX5 is already packed up and ready to return. Oh well.

I've been going through the same thing the last couple of days. The near-miss on buying texhex's Badlander got me thinking about flipping my Trans-Atlantic, so I'd be better prepared to "justify" a new amp the next time an opportunity came along. I'd just moved my QC over to the TA-30 and cab, and had been playing around with 4cm and direct to FX loop return. I was surprised to find that I'm actually happier going straight to the power amp and just running QC amp models, as opposed to faffing around with TA-30 channel and voice-switching and second guessing myself on overdrives and blah blah blah.

So the next logical step was to try swapping out the TA-30 power amp with my little TC-Electronics BAM200. (This could theoretically result in a tiny rig with both power amp and a battery pack for the QC tucked under a board.) But the BAM doesn't sound quite as dynamic, sparkly, chimey... - whatever it is any given amp model demands - as the TA's power amp does. Nor would you reasonably expect it to, I guess. (Completely unscientific tests last year revealed that I also prefer my little Quilter M101 over the BAM, so not all SS power amps are created equal.)

So the question is whether the SS power amp is failing to deliver "content" somewhere in the audio spectrum (it's obviously going to have a lot less headroom for fast transients), or whether a power amp can be "better than merely accurate". (E.g. a "good colorful" tube amp.) In either case, can you fine tune the modeler to overcome the seeming "weaknesses" of the smaller SS power amp? If so, maybe it's still possible that it's worth shaving 30lbs and a bunch of maintenance off your rig.

 

[DrewJD82]

I've been going through the same thing the last couple of days. The near-miss on buying texhex's Badlander got me thinking about flipping my Trans-Atlantic, so I'd be better prepared to "justify" a new amp the next time an opportunity came along. I'd just moved my QC over to the TA-30 and cab, and had been playing around with 4cm and direct to FX loop return. I was surprised to find that I was actually happier going straight to the power amp and just running QC amp models, as opposed to faffing around with TA-30 channel and voice-switching and second guessing myself on overdrives and blah blah blah.

So the next logical step was to try swapping out the TA-30 power amp with my little TC-Electronics BAM200. (This could theoretically result in a tiny rig with both power amp and a battery pack for the QC tucked under a board.) But the BAM doesn't sound nearly as dynamic, sparkly, chimey... - whatever it is any given amp model demands - as the TA's power amp does. Nor would you reasonably expect it to, I guess. (Completely unscientific tests last year revealed that I also prefer my little Quilter M101 over the BAM, so not all SS power amps are created equal.)

So the question is whether the SS is failing to deliver "content" somewhere in the audio spectrum, or whether a power amp can be "better than merely accurate". In either case, can you fine tune the modeler to overcome the immediate "weaknesses" of the smaller SS power amp? If so, maybe it's still possible that it's worth shaving 30lbs and a bunch of maintenance off your rig.

If you want to go down a fun little rabbit hole, try the same thing with the BAM and your FM3, then start messing with the speaker impedance curves and see how your cab responds.

That aspect is the one thing that might keep me using a SS poweramp. There’s still the whole volume thing to overcome in the instances I can and want to crank up to pant flapping territory.

 

[mbenigni]

l was trying to keep an open mind, and also stick with what “modeling purists” suggest, ie. that SS is less coloured, doesn’t double up the speaker impedance curve stuff with the modeled/capture element of that, etc. (If captures include SIC? I’m not sure.)

This gets back to the question from my last post, as to whether a completely uncolored, "accurate" power amp is necessarily the perfect ideal. You might want to look into Quilter SS stuff, too. I have no idea what topology/ magic is employed, but their power amps seem to be voiced (and often have multiple voicings) to lend a "guitar amp feel". For better or for worse. All of the Quilter products I'm familiar with also incorporate preamps, but they're small and reasonably priced, so call it a free backup?

 

[mbenigni]

Don’t listen to anyone, trust your ears. I’ve tried all this shit with the QC and the only meaningful difference is how much lighter your wallet is. I used a BAM200 and I wouldn’t say it was any more meaningfully different than the PS170 or the Fryette PS100 with all dat tube goodness. Same shit. All perfectly fine to rock out the QC with a cab.

Hard to say. (Ergo my last two posts in as many minutes.) You can't listen to this stuff simultaneously, and all of it can be tuned/ compensated for in a hundred ways, so there's always fudge factor. (Except for SPL; everybody in the room knows when an amp isn't loud enough.)

In spite of everything I just wrote about the BAM200, I'm still going to stick with it for a little while and see if just turning up the treble knob doesn't resolve all my concerns. It is insanely practical for my needs. :)

 

[Mongillo19]

A poweramp always sounds fun but then I remember I play in a Harry Potter under the stairs esque room

 

[mbenigni]

Does it have to be square?

That's a pretty cool amp for not a lot of money. I'm using an old Samson 550 into a pair of Nuance hifi speakers (3x 10" + high frequency driver) for my desk rig and it sounds glorious. But I don't think I'd go with something with this footprint unless I were running stereo, personally.