(UPDATED for new FW!) EVH amp vs Axe Fx, QC and TMP...

[GuitarJon]

Update:
Fender released a new firmware (1.2.56) for the TMP and they made some changes to the EVH and JCM 800. Of course I was very interested and excited to try them out and compare them to my real amps. Here are the results:



So this was interesting and surprising! I wanted to compare my EVH tube amps (50w EL34 and LBX 5150 III) to some EVH based amp models in the NDSP Quad Cortex, Fractal Audio Axe Fx III and Fender Tone Master Pro. Especially the fact that the Fender has the officially licensed EVH models made me excited to put this together. Needless to say it didn't go as I expected. The results speak for themselves I guess? Check it out:

 

[JT]

Just commented on your vid but I will say here that the EVH on the TMP was very underwhelming. I expected it to be great as it was one of the big things they were touting in the marketing (aka red flag # whatever). I did not enjoy it.

 

[laxu]

I closed my eyes and tried to listen to the 50W EL34 clips to spot where it changes between the devices. The real amp vs Fractal vs QC all sound very close, to the point it's hard to spot where things change. The Fender Tone Master Pro was much more muted sounding.

 

[mavrick102000]

Tone Master Pro sounds like a loose flubby mess in the bottom.

Almost like it would've been mic'd off axis. Very odd frequency things going on with this one.

 

[GuitarJon]

Just commented on your vid but I will say here that the EVH on the TMP was very underwhelming. I expected it to be great as it was one of the big things they were touting in the marketing (aka red flag # whatever). I did not enjoy it.

It really needs work... I hope they put some work into it and improve the models!

 

[GuitarJon]

I also want to add that the differences between the various EVH amps aren't as big as people make them out to be. You can easily match them all pretty closely by dialing in the gain, presence and 3 band EQ!

 

[DrewJD82]

Man, Fender could have silenced a lot of people by just getting that right, right out of the gate. Instead it seems they did exactly what everyone expected.

 

[GuitarJon]

Man, Fender could have silenced a lot of people by just getting that right, right out of the gate. Instead it seems they did exactly what everyone expected.

Maybe there's a bug in the software of that model, I don't know... Or they rushed it? Hard to say.

 

[James Freeman]

Fender is just not as proficient in modeling amps as the competition.

 

[GTR37]

Fender is just not as proficient in modeling amps as the competition.

Agreed at least in the rock/ hi gain arena they need to hire someone
Take someone like Mikko some of his plug ins are good

 

[SeeD]

Man that Fender model is

 

[eggpl@nt]

But the fender reps assured me that the models match their reference amps identically???

 

[SeeD]

After listening to all the clips, I would have liked a bit (just a tad) more treble, as the real amp had some `brightness` that the Fractal and Quad Cortex was missing. Or if you had also Captured the amps with the QC ( it could then get the speaker IMP, and the real amps EQ) , as that is something that `could be done` but I get it, you did models this time, and that is fair

 

[metropolis_4]

But the fender reps assured me that the models match their reference amps identically???

Me too! But when I asked them what their reference amps were they ghosted me

I’m still convinced the reference amp for some models was either Guitar Rig 3 or AmpliTube 2

 

[Lysander]

Excellent comparison.

Further cements my opinion on the TMP based on everything i've heard so far: very nice UX, beautiful Fender cleans, spongy convolution reverbs... but everything else sounds a bit lackluster tbh.

 

[GTR37]

Me too! But when I asked them what their reference amps were they ghosted me

I’m still convinced the reference amp for some models was either Guitar Rig 3 or AmpliTube 2

The thing that is truly shocking about this is according to beta testers they began beta in 2020
How the heck do you go 3 yrs
And not know some of your models are inferior
I am guessing they had to have been compared to FAS NDSP
Line6 , how did anyone with industry ears let that go and not hear the gross difference we can hear in this thread in 2 mins

 

[GuitarJon]

Excellent comparison.

Further cements my opinion on the TMP based on everything i've heard so far: very nice UX, beautiful Fender tones, spongy convolution reverbs... but everything else sounds a bit lackluster tbh.

The FBE100 sounds killer to me though, check it out in the intro:

 

[laxu]

The thing that is truly shocking about this is according to beta testers they began beta in 2020
How the heck do you go 3 yrs
And not know some of your models are inferior
I am guessing they had to have been compared to FAS NDSP
Line6 , how did anyone with industry ears let that go and not hear the gross difference we can hear in this thread in 2 mins

The bar for entry to the complex digital modeler world is pretty high nowadays. You need to have a lot of effects, amps, cabs etc so I would not be surprised if "make model of non-Fender amp better" ended up way, way low on the priority list.

 

[Vic Winters]

Maybe one day Line 6 will bother to model one.

 

[Gearzilla]