Real Tube vs Amp Simulation (tone test)

joeydahlia · #1 07-06-2005, 07:37 PM

This is a Pod Xt

Let me know if you like this tone also..?

This is also a remix ,I doubled the tracs and added bass and different delay's to 2 of them..

If you have an Xt and want this tone..just pop me an email..

If you think a mic'n a tube amp is better ,Please tell why?

http://65.254.79.230/nanalentils.mp3

Well here is another remix I did with the Xt

http://65.254.79.230/bed5.mp3

Here is my brand new metal shred song Uncle Willie,This song took 7 months to write the lead..It was freaking hard..But you can hear how clean the Xt really is..

http://65.254.79.230/willie.mp3

JoeyDahlia

Knightmeir · #2 07-06-2005, 07:49 PM

Haven't you already posted this song?

Andelusion · #3 07-06-2005, 07:53 PM

The mind boggles!

joeydahlia · #4 07-06-2005, 08:26 PM

No I just mixed this today...

what did you think of the tone???

JoeyDahlia

Drew · #5 07-06-2005, 08:59 PM

I don't get it, where's the part where you A/B it against a real tube amp?

Anyway, wherever your tone is generated, I don't care for it. It's very shrill, very neoclassical metal, and sounds rather "pinched," imo. Sorta like a humbucker-driven Malmsteen, or an exaggerated Macalpine. It's also drenched in a bit too much reverb, and is slightly buzzy in the highs and has the overexaggerated bass response and papery pick attack that a combination of speaker modeling (and way too much reverb) will give you.

If that's an XT, you haven't done a thing to convince me to sell my Mesa Nomad and buy one.

I'll give you credit, though, you're timing has improved a bit since the last thing you've posted.

-D

joeydahlia · #6 07-06-2005, 11:14 PM

Well you have to compare it to lead recording from a real tube amp..

All the things you don't like about this tone, I did to brighten it up..

Please post a small clip...I am very curious to hear this mesa stuff..

JoeyDahlia

eviltwin · #7 07-07-2005, 11:15 AM

I'm sorry but this doens't sound as good when comparing to your previous bed5.mp3
This is moslty due to the tone (or lack thereof...) it hints at Satriani's engines of creation.

After your previous thread I looked into the XT website, downloaded some samples and was even more impressed by your tone on "bed5", as there wasn't a single distorted pod sample sound that I liked. I had previously checked them in local music stores and came to the same conclusion. To be fair most rack systems have terrible/unusable presets in general, my GSP2101 was no exception when I got it. That machine is also hooked up to my stereo, using the speaker simulation outputs. But that sound doesn't come close to the tone I get using a Marshal EL34 power amp. So I'm with Drew on this, tubes do sound better.

FWIW the 2101 uses 12AX7 preamp tubes but I feel most of the warmth is generated in the powertubes.

So keep it up, you may get there.

Knightmeir · #8 07-07-2005, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeydahlia

No I just mixed this today...

what did you think of the tone???

JoeyDahlia

It sounds exactly the same as everything else you've posted so far

rgr · #9 07-07-2005, 02:30 PM

It's not bad, the big reverb actually kinda fit with the style. A little too much high end for my taste, but I have limited tolerance for that style of music these days anyway, that's not a knock, just my personal opinion. Overall, the tone wasn't bad for what it was, digital will never take the place of a cranked tube amp pushing speakers really hard into a good mic onto tape, but hey, that's going the way of the dinosaur (unfortunately).

Yeah, after going back to listen to bed5, it sounds very similar, maybe that's just your thing.

Roger

joeydahlia · #10 07-07-2005, 02:46 PM

I play mostly new age,But guitar rock is cool also..

like Chris Brooks, I like that way of playing also...

JoeyDahlia

Drew · #11 07-07-2005, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeydahlia

Please post a small clip...I am very curious to hear this mesa stuff..

My Mesa kills. Sadly, my sound card does not, so it loses a lot in the recording process. But, you've already heard some of it - a track you asked me to post ages back (that, as I recall, you actually liked) was done with my Nomad 45 with the gain back a bit, and my old 7620.

"A Pagan's Prayer" over at http://www.purevolume.com/drewpeterson was cut with channel 3 modern, gain back. The rest of the stuff was done with my J-Station (ages ago, before I bought my Nomad), which is actually a bit more organic than many of the modelers I've tried/heard. It's a good tool, but it's no match for a real amp, IMO - WAY to compressed and bass-heavy (I had to sue models designed for 4x12's with 1x12's to get the low end within manageable limits - otherwise, an external EQ is mandatory).

Check it out - the tone isn' quite perfect (I was never 100% sold on that Tone Zone 7, so the lower mids are a bit tubbier than I'd really like) and I cut this after a period of not playing very much so my chops are a little shaky, but it's not super shreddy stuff, anyway.

It's also worth noting that the amp was running so quietly when I did this that I had to throw away my first take at the intro melody because the mic (close mic'd against a speaker, with a cheapo $30 radio shack mic, another source of trouble in the tonal chain

) was picking up my watch rattling on the vibrato'd sustained notes.

You might remember this as the song I threw together before you got banned over at www.guitarwar.com.

I'm in the market for a new computer - after I redo my recording setup I'm sure I'll be posting some new material (I'm all fired up to record, since I did this I've picked up a UVPWH and an RG7CST, and both guitars are just inspirations to play), and you'll hear what a properly recorded quality tube amp can sound like.

Either way, between my tone here and your tone above, I'll take mine hands down, even in light of all it's "weaknesses" - far more organic, IMO.

-D

Edit- ALC has a lot of stuff on it from a Mesa Rocket-44, forgot about that, lol. Bonus points to anyone who can pick apart what's J-Station and what's Mesa on that one, as I spent a LOT of time trying to dial up a J-Station tone that was a close match for the Rocket.

Drew · #12 07-07-2005, 03:03 PM

(oh, and I realize arguing with joey is a lot like talking to a wall, and posting clips is just a waste of my time, but whatver, I'm at work and bored.

)

Drew · #13 07-07-2005, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eviltwin

After your previous thread I looked into the XT website, downloaded some samples and was even more impressed by your tone on "bed5", as there wasn't a single distorted pod sample sound that I liked.

Apparently, the V2.0 software on the XT makes a WORLD of difference, and the device is almost useable after you upgrade it. Never gotten a chance to compare a v2 XT myself, but it's worth noting that Line6 is notorious for posting horrendous sound demos to their site, and the XT is considered a prime offender.

-D

desertdweller · #14 07-07-2005, 04:11 PM

I just wanted to drop a line to say Drew's a badass guitarist. Damnit man, record an album already!

Drew · #15 07-07-2005, 04:58 PM

Hahaha, thanks Vince! I keep tellin' ya, after the new computer, I just have to be good and not buy a new guitar in the next couple months and I'm on it.

(vince is a f'in monster himself, if any of you guys haven't heard his stuff I suggest swinging over to the sevenstring.org jukebox

)