JiveTurkey
Goatlord
- Messages
- 20,821
Remind me; is this the front end of an SLO, generally speaking?
Soldano X88-IR
- Thread starter Whizzinby
- Start date
Almost the same but way better eq and more gain.
hunter
Groupie
- Messages
- 91
I got a few amps, also a Marshall 8080 Mosfet which is cool. Maybe I should hook it up in a small rack with the Korg DL8000 and the Boss SE70 that have been gathering dust.
Try it.
Elric
Roadie
- Messages
- 793
Yes, but at the same time, no. Like pretty much everything else in the Soldano catalog. LOL.
hunter
Groupie
- Messages
- 91
Anyone know the tube layout and functions?
I guess V1 would be the one on the left, as it's usually closest to the input (and that's also on the board where the short cable from the input goes.
Any better ideas anyone? Or maybe worth checking the manual of the original X88R as there is a tube chart I think?
laxu
Rock Star
- Messages
- 7,646
The X88R schematics, don't know how accurate they are, dedicate one preamp tube for each channel, 2 for the lead channel.
I'm guessing the X88-IR simplifies this a bit so the channels share more tubes, thus requiring one less tube.
It's a safe guess that V1 is the tube closest to the input jacks on the left.
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,069
That's weird. I was under the impression that the emulated power section was 96 kHz and 24 bit, including the IRs.
This would be the same as the recent updates to the Friedman units, as well as the Tone King Imperial tube pedal, all made by B.A.D.
I'm using 96 kHz York Audio IRs with it, for that reason. Maybe the export process messes with them?
X88ir is different.
hunter
Groupie
- Messages
- 91
That's unlikely. Why would they convert the export files... that would be an extra effort, wouldn't it?
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,069
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- 6,345
So @hemmelight and myself have had an X88-IR for about 6 weeks now.
On the whole I've been enjoying it, but it was primarily bought for @hemmelight's high gain entertainment since I don't do high gain myself, so I'd never use the overdrive channel (which sounds fantastic, BTW). I've always had an appreciation for high gain sounds - especially lead, but it's just not in my personal style or skillset.
Anyway, I figured that I'd probably just use the clean channel at EOB and a little beyond anyway, and I do.
What surprised me though was the crunch channel, but not in a good way.
In retrospect, I should not have been surprised because I'd read plenty of reports that the crunch channel doesn't really do a "low" or "early" crunch tone.
But I thought, "surely it can't be that hard to lower the gain on the crunch channel to get a more chunky crunch?". Well it is. Even with the gain turned down low, it sounds like early overdrive or "high crunch" to me. This has been somewhat frustrating. There isn't a seamless progression from the clean channel through crunch channel, in my experience.
Which brings me to theNPD
Whilst it does seem slightly dumb to have to use a pedal to drive the clean channel into a delicious Marshally crunch on a rack unit as expensive as this, I bought an Origin Effects Halcyon Blue (Bluesbreaker style) pedal and it is glorious when used in the "mod" mode with the X88! That, plus a Keeley Halo is just
It's fun to use some of my tasty pedals again.
So that's been keeping me happy and I've found the level of crunch that I was seeking. Still seems a shame to me that the crunch channel is so overdriven, but I suppose I'm just not the right person for that Soldano sound.
What I like about the X88-IR is that it seems even more immediade and "present" than a modeller does, even if the power section is a capture. At least it runs at 96 kHz, so the latency is low for that part of the equation.
The other thing I like about this is that an analog front end has the headroom to take a good beating from boost pedal or turned up overdrive. This is something that I've struggled with with modelling for obvious reasons. It's especially been a problem for my Jazzmaster with Kinman pickups - they are pretty damn hot - hotter than the humbuckers in our Strat-style guitars.
TLDR:
Clean channel: lovely & satisfying
Overdrive channel: Awsum. Dripping in gorgeous saturated harmonic content.
Crunch: WAT ?
Yeah Crunch is its own thing. Different from the SLO30 crunch. I use it as a different form of gain staging. If you drop the gain down to where it just opens up and it’s not choked, you can get some really nice snappy dirt tones, good for chordal stuff without the full blanket of gain from the Lead channel.
Did you do the Crunch mod? I’m leery to touch it because I love the clean modes and lead channel and have just started to accept Crunch for what it is. Which ain’t bad, just different.
#purplegang
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,069
You probably read further, after that post and already know that I did indeed do the trivial mod.
I like it, but it's subtle - there's still a lot of gain there (not a night and day difference). It only changes the crunch mode - doesn't alter anything else. Easy and safe.
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- 6,345
PurpleRack
Newbie
- Messages
- 3
Hey all
Does anybody have a sense of the full USB capabilities of the Soldano X-88IR?
Some of the other Synergy-based products seem able to stream audio and record via USB (e.g., the Tone King Tri Tube preamp). That would make the Soldano rack unit the ultimate practice/jam tool for my use case.
The unit already digitizes the signal path for the balanced and headphone outs to implement the power amp sim so hopefully this USB audio streaming is something that can be implemented in the future. Would love to hear your thoughts.
I find the overdrive (red) channel a little flubby and that the gain is not all that usable in that mode past noon. However I’m really enjoying the clean channel modes and the purple crunch channel with a boost in front.
So far I’m really happy with this unit and hope I can get the red/overdrive channel modded more to my liking. That and USB audio.
Does anybody have a sense of the full USB capabilities of the Soldano X-88IR?
Some of the other Synergy-based products seem able to stream audio and record via USB (e.g., the Tone King Tri Tube preamp). That would make the Soldano rack unit the ultimate practice/jam tool for my use case.
The unit already digitizes the signal path for the balanced and headphone outs to implement the power amp sim so hopefully this USB audio streaming is something that can be implemented in the future. Would love to hear your thoughts.
I find the overdrive (red) channel a little flubby and that the gain is not all that usable in that mode past noon. However I’m really enjoying the clean channel modes and the purple crunch channel with a boost in front.
So far I’m really happy with this unit and hope I can get the red/overdrive channel modded more to my liking. That and USB audio.
Ed DeGenaro
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,793
Go into the app and change depth/presence and hi/lo pass and the flub is gone.
Also it feels way better through the Fryette GODI-IR with the dynamic all the way off than the digi power amp sim
PurpleRack
Newbie
- Messages
- 3
Thanks, Ed!
I went into the app and that helped match the sound/feel of using the power amp of my Skeleton Key (50W EL34, also purple!) with the thunder knob at noon and switch to the left.
I setup a patch on my Axe Fx to A/B between the Soldano main OUT to SK FX loop IN then out to a Suhr RL to the Axe vs Soldano balanced out to the same IR on the Axe. Admittedly, the SK felt a little bit more punchy and sounded bigger and more aggressive, while the Soldano AI model sounded and felt a bit mushier. But using the high/low pass filters got me to a place where I’d be really happy just using the Soldano AI model without feeling like I’m missing out on anything.
Repeating myself here, but I much prefer the purple setting with a boost to the red setting.
Guess it’s hard for anybody but Soldano to reply about the full USB capabilities. I hope the hardware makes it feasible to update the firmware to enable USB streaming and recording via the balanced and headphone outs!
Ed DeGenaro
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,793
Here’s something you might wanna play with the higher the channel volumes the more the fake power amp compresses.
Today my fave was yellow with gain and channel volume at 3 oclock
