Pick the real amp out from the emulations

[Mongillo19]

Funny that I'm turning into a Fractal fanboi and disliking my Helix.... and in this shootout I hated the FM-3 and thought the Helix was the real amp. lmaoooo!

Such is the way of digital gear

 

[Fireproof]

Funny that I'm turning into a Fractal fanboi and disliking my Helix.... and in this shootout I hated the FM-3 and thought the Helix was the real amp. lmaoooo!

Just shows how pretty freakin’ good the top modelers are these days.

But yeah - I just bought a (used) Stomp XL for a backup and more portable rig than my FM9, but other than updating it to 3.5, I haven’t managed to make myself use it. I just love playing around with the FM9 and in FM9 Edit…

 

[Orvillain]

- The person with strong opinions who inspired this particular test didn't get back to me with any guesses. He did take down his posts with the initial claims though. I gave a couple of nudges that I would be revealing results soon and tried to make it as easy as possible for him to listen (posting on youtube, and also sending files). I will say no more.

Sounds like a melon head.

Just shows how pretty freakin’ good the top modelers are these days.

But yeah - I just bought a (used) Stomp XL for a backup and more portable rig than my FM9, but other than updating it to 3.5, I haven’t managed to make myself use it. I just love playing around with the FM9 and in FM9 Edit…

Helix is great, I'm just a little bored of it after 6 or so years.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Sounds like a melon head.


Helix is great, I'm just a little bored of it after 6 or so years.

It's about the time I buy another Stomp. It's been a few months. An FM3 too.

 

[jay mitchell]

My take: there's NFW I'm ever going to be able to pay enough attention to all those different segments to make any kind of guess as to which one is "real." They all sound nasal, compressed, and congested to me; I would never try to produce sounds like that. What's the attraction in a device being able to nail a tone I can't stand?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

My take: there's NFW I'm ever going to be able to pay enough attention to all those different segments to make any kind of guess as to which one is "real." They all sound nasal, compressed, and congested to me; I would never try to produce sounds like that. What's the attraction in a device being able to nail a tone I can't stand?

I don’t think there’s any tone that’s going to be to everyone’s taste, but I believe you’re the first to mention any kind of issue with them. To me they’re pretty typical on what you’d hear on a lot of recordings and there’s no processing beyond the amp and IR.

Kind of interesting that such a common (cranked marshall) guitar sound is so unlistenable to you though. That’s presumably got to make a TON of guitar based music of limits.

Sorry you didn’t like them and you couldn’t deduce anything. Maybe next time

 

[jay mitchell]

Kind of interesting that such a common (cranked marshall) guitar sound is so unlistenable to you though.

If you think that tone is widely representative of "cranked Marshalls," then you and I have vastly different takes on the subject. I heard "cranked Marshalls" live for the first time in 1969 and owned and gigged with two different Marshalls - a 100W Super Lead ("Plexi") and a NMV 50W combo - during my full-time days as a working guitarist ca. 1975-83. The players I've heard and enjoyed playing "cranked Marshalls" live include Jimmy Hendrix, Leslie West, Duane Allman, Martin Barre, and Dickie Betts, as well as many other less well-known guitarists. I liked the sounds I heard from those players, as well as the sounds I got from my Marshalls, and none of those tones sounded like the one in the clip.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

If you think that tone is widely representative of "cranked Marshalls," then you and I have vastly different takes on the subject. I heard "cranked Marshalls" live for the first time in 1969 and owned and gigged with two different Marshalls - a 100W Super Lead ("Plexi") and a NMV 50W combo - during my full-time days as a working guitarist ca. 1975-83. The players I've heard and enjoyed playing "cranked Marshalls" live include Jimmy Hendrix, Leslie West, Duane Allman, Martin Barre, and Dickie Betts, as well as many other less well-known guitarists. I liked the sounds I heard from those players, as well as the sounds I got from my Marshalls, and none of those tones sounded like the one in the clip

This is a 2203 from 1977 - Hendrix and Allman were both dead by the time this circuit was released to the world. It’s a single channel amp that famously doesn’t really have a diverse range of sounds. Its a no nonsense circuit that does its thing - this is a pretty typical tone from this amp, if you set all the knobs somewhere in the middle and this sort of the sort of tone is on COUNTLESS albums.

I’m not saying you have to like it but I’m a bit surprised you think it’s some kind of niche tone. But as I said, it’s impossible to cater to everyone and it didn’t seem to be an obstacle to the vast majority of people so I think it was a reasonable enough tone to use.

Can only wonder what reaction you’d have had if I chose a Dual Rectifier instead

 

[Orvillain]

Hendrix and Allman were both dead by the time this circuit was released to the world.

And thank fuck for that.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Check the soccer field for deep drag marks of those goalposts getting yanked from end zone to end zone

 

[paisleywookiee]

Can only wonder what reaction you’d have had if I chose a Dual Rectifier instead

 

[Bruce]

I stopped guessing on these types of things years ago. I don't have "discerning enough" ears and am always listening on some turd of a "monitor" that the exercise is pointless. Fun to speculate for some though.

Each and every example is good enough to write songs and take over the world with. Thats really all that matters to me.

 

[jay mitchell]

this sort of the sort of tone is on COUNTLESS albums.

I'll ignore the gratuitous slaps and take the bait: name one song by one group that has that guitar tone, and I'll take a listen.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Is the IR and the Helix preset available anywhere? I think this sounds awesome

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I'll ignore the gratuitous slaps and take the bait: name one song by one group that has that guitar tone, and I'll take a listen.

The song I sort of based the riff of was this

They’re not actually a band I know a lot about, but I searched this morning and they do tend to use Marshalls and V30’s. No idea if that’s what they used in the studio here, but I think the tone I dialled in would work fine for anything in this genre.

And I think it would work pretty well in a lot of rock/punk/metal etc. I specifically chose a kind of generic “all purpose” tone, so having to prove how one of the most recorded amplifiers of all time sounds seems a bit nuts. Search 2203 or JCM800 on youtube and it’s all going to fall into a pretty narrow range of sounds - the person playing it has a bigger impact and that’s the beauty of a simple amplifier.

And I fully expect you not to like this tone either so I don’t know what it proves

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Is the IR and the Helix preset available anywhere? I think this sounds awesome

Thanks for the reminder, I said I'd share settings. All the modellers and also the real amp screenshots are here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lh2ng152502e69p/AADmgl6b8tzB3vo0b2jaAmAKa?dl=0

I sell IR's so you'd either need to buy from me or use something similar to get close. It was an EVH 412 cab with G12EVH (G12m25 75hz essentially) mic'd with a Beyer m160. This one was mic'd just off centre

 

[pipelineaudio]

Thanks for the reminder, I said I'd share settings. All the modellers and also the real amp screenshots are here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lh2ng152502e69p/AADmgl6b8tzB3vo0b2jaAmAKa?dl=0

I sell IR's so you'd either need to buy from me or use something similar to get close. It was an EVH 412 cab with G12EVH (G12m25 75hz essentially) mic'd with a Beyer m160. This one was mic'd just off centre

Where’s your ir shop?

 

[jay mitchell]

The song I sort of based the riff of was this

I asked for one song by one group that has that guitar tone - meaning the tone in the OP - in it. This ain't it.

They’re not actually a band I know a lot about, but I searched this morning and they do tend to use Marshalls and V30’s. No idea if that’s what they used in the studio here, but I think the tone I dialled in would work fine for anything in this genre.

There are lots of guitar tones in that song. To my ears, the one in your clip isn't very close to any of them.

And I fully expect you not to like this tone either so I don’t know what it proves

"This tone" is actually quite a variety of tones, and I do like them.

FYI, I get that you created an amp/IR tone and then got really close to it with a bunch of modelers and then made a video demo of the comparison. I realize there's a lot of work involved in that. I also realize that there are folks who place a lot of faith in such comparisons.
Which leads to a question: how come you didn't disclose in the OP that you sell IRs?

 

[pipelineaudio]

Its pretty close to this tone, and i know I could get here from there:

 

[la szum]

And thank f**k for that.

Jesus have mercy. Do you actually like anything?

It's like your inner Time Henson is leaking out all over the place lately.