Plague Scythe Studios Modeler Comparison
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TheTrueZoltan!
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Ryan offers some of the best content on YouTube.
Mongillo19
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They all sounded so different!
TheTrueZoltan!
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He should be included in @Whizzinby 's TGF approval list!
Lysander
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MirrorProfiles
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So I love Ryan's channel, I love that he has his niche of bands and tones that he likes, I love that he's never pushing things or pretending to be hyped or intense about stuff. Totally straight up dude.
With this video, obviously a ton of work has gone in and I totally respect what he's trying to do here. I like when my comparisons and tests are scrutinized because it makes me try and improve.
Just a few things I'm noticing as I'm watching - they're more thoughts in the moment rather than saying anything is objectively right or wrong. Just discussion points really:
- even though there shouldn't be a difference with the mic'd tones and IR's, it sounds like the IR tone has a touch more top end and a little less bass. I'm not sure if thats down to the method used to make the IR's, or influence from a load box. I heard it on all examples of the IR part - I agree with what Ryan says before the demonstrations, in that you shouldn't be able to hear a difference but in each example there was a consistent change. I thought it was fairly apparent, and then when it got to the Meshuggah style riff it was very clear that the IR tone has more top end and less heft.
- kind of feel like the load box is going to be a contributor to some differences on the following tests....
- With Kemper profiles, when the results are a bit off, usually using a real cab load gives better results than a load box. This used to drive me mad because it doesn't make sense for the Kemper to be fussy. Real amp sounds VERY noisy, and the modellers seem to have a fair amount of noise too so I'm guessing there is either some interference getting into the pickups or something up with the input chain.
- Kemper profiles of the Mark sound honky and like what a Kemper sounds like when it doesn't do a good job. Sometimes this happens with the Kemper, can be a bit of a lottery but I think its not representative of most situations. The Pod Go and FM-3 sounded less gainy and a bit flatter. Not sure if its down to just needing to up the gain a little to match the amp, or the influence of the Suhr load pushing a bit more top into the poweramp. The amp sounds best for sure, but I feel like all 3 should be able to match quite a lot closer. Getting to the gainy stuff and yeah..... its getting hard to be able to draw any conclusions because IMO all of the digital devices should be able to match much closer to the real amp
- With that test I'm now wondering about reamp level calibrations and what the chain was for that (also in my head I'm wondering if a line isolator like the Lehle one would fix some noise issues...).
- and now with the other amps the tones are sounding even less like each other and just like their own thing. Not sure what can be deduced here other than Maybe Ryan may end up with a preference on which unit he likes the workflow of?
I'm about an hour in and I'm finding it hard to continue because I'm not sure what is being demonstrated other than they all sound different. The background noise is also bugging me, IMO there shouldn't be that much noise seeping in to the tones. Ill try and carry on with this later, only to hear what Ryan says.
The real amp sounds best to me, almost always, but I think the modellers should all be able to sound closer and I don't think its really doing any of them justice. I feel awful saying this stuff because a ton of work has clearly gone in. But its more useful to share my thoughts than to hold back, its kind of the point of putting videos out and entertaining the discussion.
With this video, obviously a ton of work has gone in and I totally respect what he's trying to do here. I like when my comparisons and tests are scrutinized because it makes me try and improve.
Just a few things I'm noticing as I'm watching - they're more thoughts in the moment rather than saying anything is objectively right or wrong. Just discussion points really:
- even though there shouldn't be a difference with the mic'd tones and IR's, it sounds like the IR tone has a touch more top end and a little less bass. I'm not sure if thats down to the method used to make the IR's, or influence from a load box. I heard it on all examples of the IR part - I agree with what Ryan says before the demonstrations, in that you shouldn't be able to hear a difference but in each example there was a consistent change. I thought it was fairly apparent, and then when it got to the Meshuggah style riff it was very clear that the IR tone has more top end and less heft.
- kind of feel like the load box is going to be a contributor to some differences on the following tests....
- With Kemper profiles, when the results are a bit off, usually using a real cab load gives better results than a load box. This used to drive me mad because it doesn't make sense for the Kemper to be fussy. Real amp sounds VERY noisy, and the modellers seem to have a fair amount of noise too so I'm guessing there is either some interference getting into the pickups or something up with the input chain.
- Kemper profiles of the Mark sound honky and like what a Kemper sounds like when it doesn't do a good job. Sometimes this happens with the Kemper, can be a bit of a lottery but I think its not representative of most situations. The Pod Go and FM-3 sounded less gainy and a bit flatter. Not sure if its down to just needing to up the gain a little to match the amp, or the influence of the Suhr load pushing a bit more top into the poweramp. The amp sounds best for sure, but I feel like all 3 should be able to match quite a lot closer. Getting to the gainy stuff and yeah..... its getting hard to be able to draw any conclusions because IMO all of the digital devices should be able to match much closer to the real amp
- With that test I'm now wondering about reamp level calibrations and what the chain was for that (also in my head I'm wondering if a line isolator like the Lehle one would fix some noise issues...).
- and now with the other amps the tones are sounding even less like each other and just like their own thing. Not sure what can be deduced here other than Maybe Ryan may end up with a preference on which unit he likes the workflow of?
I'm about an hour in and I'm finding it hard to continue because I'm not sure what is being demonstrated other than they all sound different. The background noise is also bugging me, IMO there shouldn't be that much noise seeping in to the tones. Ill try and carry on with this later, only to hear what Ryan says.
The real amp sounds best to me, almost always, but I think the modellers should all be able to sound closer and I don't think its really doing any of them justice. I feel awful saying this stuff because a ton of work has clearly gone in. But its more useful to share my thoughts than to hold back, its kind of the point of putting videos out and entertaining the discussion.
Vic Winters
Roadie
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Speaking the truth at 2:07:20
OrganicZed
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Ryan's attention to detail and his no spin approach to product reviews is truly commendable.
BenIfin
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Watched the whole thing ....whew !!
Gargantuan effort .... cant imagine how much time and effort went into this ! :) Super props !!!
Just some random pro/con thoughts:-
-> even though the Pod Go doesn't have the algo processing power and oversampling of even a Stomp ..... it was/is the big winner ...... hung with the FM3 tonally no problems at all
-> his concluding comments on the Kemper - and his instant flippant dismissal of the LP'ing benefits was -to me- a bit disingenuous / uninformed and seemed very pre-determined / pre-decided
-> they all sounded different but were all very much in the very same, very small ballpark
-> shut your eyes during playback and then try and guess which is which would have been much better .... ie: Modeller A, B, C etc... and then revealing in a subsequent video so people can decide with their ears and not their eyes
-> as soon as I saw early in the samples that he was showing which was which, it was obvious - to me - what his conclusions were going to be - and they were exactly as I suspected.
Much prefer Leon's approach recently [ and SDS's ] where he hasn't shown what was what until the end of the video - this way, it forces the listener to decide with their ears and not their eyes.
Just my 2c.
Ben
Gargantuan effort .... cant imagine how much time and effort went into this ! :) Super props !!!
Just some random pro/con thoughts:-
-> even though the Pod Go doesn't have the algo processing power and oversampling of even a Stomp ..... it was/is the big winner ...... hung with the FM3 tonally no problems at all
-> his concluding comments on the Kemper - and his instant flippant dismissal of the LP'ing benefits was -to me- a bit disingenuous / uninformed and seemed very pre-determined / pre-decided
-> they all sounded different but were all very much in the very same, very small ballpark
-> shut your eyes during playback and then try and guess which is which would have been much better .... ie: Modeller A, B, C etc... and then revealing in a subsequent video so people can decide with their ears and not their eyes
-> as soon as I saw early in the samples that he was showing which was which, it was obvious - to me - what his conclusions were going to be - and they were exactly as I suspected.
Much prefer Leon's approach recently [ and SDS's ] where he hasn't shown what was what until the end of the video - this way, it forces the listener to decide with their ears and not their eyes.
Just my 2c.
Ben
Mongillo19
Rock Star
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Everyone has a different preference?How many more of these before we all arrive at a consensus?
deathbyguitar
Roadie
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In addition to this guy's quality content, I appreciate the fact that he hasn't given into the obnoxious YouTuber lighting trend.
I die a little bit more inside every time I see blue and or magenta lights, WHAT IS UP GUYS MAKE SURE TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE AND BECOME A PATRON and so on. So obviously I've been dead for several years and I am writing this from eternity.
I die a little bit more inside every time I see blue and or magenta lights, WHAT IS UP GUYS MAKE SURE TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE AND BECOME A PATRON and so on. So obviously I've been dead for several years and I am writing this from eternity.
BenIfin
Roadie
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- 961
At the risk of being a Debbie Downer ... most of us here play out live .... I'd like to play more but here in Oz, "Cover Bands" are pretty much now -post-covid- only getting shows at Corporate Gigs, Special Occasions / Birthdays and Weddings where they want a non-traditional band ..... "pub" gigs are almost a thing of the past .... they have all gone solo artist or duo's or one-person-and-laptop getting $200 for 3 x 45 min sets ... or the latest trend being a DJ accompanied by a live percusion and/or sax player ........ w.t.a.f !!! :)
Weird for me because from age 17 to mid-40's I only ever played in original bands 2 or 3 nights a week ..... and then it seemed to change overnight with the changes in technology and how music was/is consumed ... but I digress.
My point is that any one of us here could use any of these modelers and pull up great, satisfying, "real sounding" tones live and have an absolute blast .... and forget about what processor or FW or Algo's or captures etc.... our modeller uses, and just have fun and smile while playing guitar .... thats actually my only real aim, goal and motivation.
Ben
Weird for me because from age 17 to mid-40's I only ever played in original bands 2 or 3 nights a week ..... and then it seemed to change overnight with the changes in technology and how music was/is consumed ... but I digress.
My point is that any one of us here could use any of these modelers and pull up great, satisfying, "real sounding" tones live and have an absolute blast .... and forget about what processor or FW or Algo's or captures etc.... our modeller uses, and just have fun and smile while playing guitar .... thats actually my only real aim, goal and motivation.
Ben
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BenIfin
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