MirrorProfiles
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Apologies for posting this on that other forum, they get a fair bit of traffic which can be useful for a poll. Genuinely curious to know what people here think (presumably something more in line with my own thoughts).
So after seeing some posts on a facebook audio group (I know....) about how real amps exude a particular sound that emulations don't I had to chime in with a blind test and call out this kind of thing. I really can't stand when people repeat stuff they've read without being prepared to back it up.
The phrase used was that emulations lack "natural sounding dynamics and harmonics". They also said that there was a "night and day" difference with the real amps and emulations.
So I posted some examples, one in here is the real amp and the others are various emulations from most of the big names. I did a 2203 because most companies have emulated it, and by using several emulations it means its not just a 50/50 guess. Having more options also evens out the fact that they'll all sound slightly different (despite my efforts to match as close as possible).
To make the test as fair as possible, I used the same IR, no pedals, and the only processing after the IR loader was normalisation. Each amp was adjusted by ear to minimise the influence of component tolerance as much as possible, but other factors such as the impedance load, bias, valve choices etc means there will always be some slight variation (just as you'd get with the real thing). Regardless, all we are trying to deduce is which amp is real, so in theory they could all be dialled quite different and if the real amp has this elusive "natural sounding dynamics and harmonics" it would reveal itself however its set.
Perhaps some sound better or more accurate to this specific amp to me, but I'm not sure I'd confidently identify the real one without knowing.
It may not come as a shock, but the person in question refuses to guess which example is the real amp and repeatedly tells me that I should have set them all to the same knob position to make the test more "scientific". They refuse to acknowledge that its a fairer test to adjust things by ear to make them. They think I've somehow stacked the deck in favour of a particular result (I'm not even sure how or why I'd manipulate it).
Infuriating, but hopefully this example helps others if they find themselves in a similar situation. This person in question posts a lot of stuff online and is building a youtube channel, so this kind of narrative can really impair things and influence others opinions.
So, which is the real amp? who can hear those delicious natural sounding dynamics and harmonics?
I know I shouldn't rise to it, but its either a case of letting BS manifest online or trying to nip it in the bud. This kind of thing is so easy to demonstrate.
So after seeing some posts on a facebook audio group (I know....) about how real amps exude a particular sound that emulations don't I had to chime in with a blind test and call out this kind of thing. I really can't stand when people repeat stuff they've read without being prepared to back it up.
The phrase used was that emulations lack "natural sounding dynamics and harmonics". They also said that there was a "night and day" difference with the real amps and emulations.
So I posted some examples, one in here is the real amp and the others are various emulations from most of the big names. I did a 2203 because most companies have emulated it, and by using several emulations it means its not just a 50/50 guess. Having more options also evens out the fact that they'll all sound slightly different (despite my efforts to match as close as possible).
To make the test as fair as possible, I used the same IR, no pedals, and the only processing after the IR loader was normalisation. Each amp was adjusted by ear to minimise the influence of component tolerance as much as possible, but other factors such as the impedance load, bias, valve choices etc means there will always be some slight variation (just as you'd get with the real thing). Regardless, all we are trying to deduce is which amp is real, so in theory they could all be dialled quite different and if the real amp has this elusive "natural sounding dynamics and harmonics" it would reveal itself however its set.
Perhaps some sound better or more accurate to this specific amp to me, but I'm not sure I'd confidently identify the real one without knowing.
It may not come as a shock, but the person in question refuses to guess which example is the real amp and repeatedly tells me that I should have set them all to the same knob position to make the test more "scientific". They refuse to acknowledge that its a fairer test to adjust things by ear to make them. They think I've somehow stacked the deck in favour of a particular result (I'm not even sure how or why I'd manipulate it).
Infuriating, but hopefully this example helps others if they find themselves in a similar situation. This person in question posts a lot of stuff online and is building a youtube channel, so this kind of narrative can really impair things and influence others opinions.
So, which is the real amp? who can hear those delicious natural sounding dynamics and harmonics?
I know I shouldn't rise to it, but its either a case of letting BS manifest online or trying to nip it in the bud. This kind of thing is so easy to demonstrate.