Real amps vs modelling and plugin amps

[Naillerz78]

It may be ‘huge’, as in sales. So was the POD.

Rightly so, the PODs are *still* awesome, even the Beans.

Bass POD Pro especially, I almost regret selling it. Couldn't justify keeping a 1U rack unit for something I could do ITB though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Can I just point out one small, teeny little thing guys?

Cough*…What’s he running that POD through ?

That’s a $2600 (USD) boutique TUBE AMP COMBO amplifier. custom made by Milkman amps. It’s some mix of vintage fender circuits.

Hello?

Jeez I wonder why the “POD”s fender setting sounds so good.

Completely nullifies the video as an example for comparison. As obviously it’s the expensive boutique tube amp making the sweet amp tones.
not the POD!

That Fuzz sounds like sh1t also btw.

[stoopicus]

Yes, well, I can verify the Bass POD Pro sounded great straight in to an audio interface. I actually technically ran it as *part* of the audio interface, since mine is a mixer and I used it as a mixer insert.

The beans were inexpensive and neat little boxes, and have stood the test of time. It's wrong to look at them as accurate modelers; what they really are are cool little multieffects boxes with a lot of great sounds in them.

[Naillerz78]

Yes, well, I can verify the Bass POD Pro sounded great straight in to an audio interface. I actually technically ran it as *part* of the audio interface, since mine is a mixer and I used it as a mixer insert.

The beans were inexpensive and neat little boxes, and have stood the test of time. It's wrong to look at them as accurate modelers; what they really are are cool little multieffects boxes with a lot of great sounds in them.

Ok Stoop. We are taking about 6 string guitars here. It’s a completely different sonic range. as you know. The PODs modulation fx sound good in that video, through the very expensive tube amplifier yes. They were a good /great fx unit but that’s not the debate unfortunately.

[Naillerz78]

I still can't find any digital amp which have the same dynamic response as a tube or solid state amp though

Check out the Boss ME-5. Only the reverb and delay are digital, the rest of it is analog. TC Electronic Nova System also had analog distortions.

The whole idea that a digital distortion can’t be good is so 1995.

That’s because it sounds the same as it did in 1995 ZC. It hasn’t gotten much “realer”.

[Naillerz78]

DP

[Naillerz78]

People have done blind A/B with ToneX versus the real AMP and found its extremely close at all volume levels. Tone as well as feel.

Can you please post some YouTube A/B videos if you can. Specifically videos that are NOT paid promotions and not all high gain tones.

[zerocrossing]

The whole idea that a digital distortion can’t be good is so 1995.

Well, we are talking about 90s preamps, after all.

What?!

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/mons ... -rock/2950

[zerocrossing]

Yes, well, I can verify the Bass POD Pro sounded great straight in to an audio interface. I actually technically ran it as *part* of the audio interface, since mine is a mixer and I used it as a mixer insert.

The beans were inexpensive and neat little boxes, and have stood the test of time. It's wrong to look at them as accurate modelers; what they really are are cool little multieffects boxes with a lot of great sounds in them.

I saw Trey Gunn (of 90s King Crimson fame) play with his band and that's what he used on his Warr Guitar. Sounded great.

[zerocrossing]

Someone should do a Tonex library of all the weird 90s stuff. I wish I still had my 90s Solid State Ampeg SC140. I loved that buzz saw overdrive channel, and it had one of the sweetest clean channels of any amp. I liked it way more than my Roland JC-120.

[Uncle E]

Cough*…What’s he running that POD through ?

That’s a $2600 (USD) boutique TUBE AMP COMBO amplifier. custom made by Milkman amps. It’s some mix of vintage fender circuits.

We can run it through a capture of that amp. And since the capture is clean, there's guaranteed not to be any aliasing.

[Uncle E]

What?!

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/mons ... -rock/2950

I always wanted a Hughes & Kettner Cream Machine. Now I see that the Crunch Master, Blues Master, and Bass Master are really the ones to get because they have proper EL84 power tubes. Maybe the Bass Master is the best one overall because it doesn't have speaker emulation, though maybe that's defeatable on the other two.

Anyway, for the prices these things are selling for now, we can buy proper tube amps, so there's no point anymore. They were $100 when I lusted after them.

[guitarzan]

What?!

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/mons ... -rock/2950

I always wanted a Hughes & Kettner Cream Machine. Now I see that the Crunch Master, Blues Master, and Bass Master are really the ones to get because they have proper EL84 power tubes. Maybe the Bass Master is the best one overall because it doesn't have speaker emulation, though maybe that's defeatable on the other two.

Anyway, for the prices these things are selling for now, we can buy proper tube amps, so there's no point anymore. They were $100 when I lusted after them.

I had that whole series for many years, but sold them off one by one until I now only have the Bass Master (BATT).

It’s just so useful to have a 1/2 rack full tube amp (though I use the Bass Master mostly in the role of power amp).

I ran vintage Bugle Boy 12AX7’s and Mullard EL84’s in the Blues Master and the Bass Master — those tubes would now cost quite a bit more than I paid for the units.

The Blues Master was my main amp for a long time and it was hard to part with, but I had gone back to combos by then and the price was way up. It was the only online sale I ever made where the buyer sent me a very sincere and heartfelt seeming message truly thanking me for selling it to him. I wish I still had that one to be honest, but the Bass Master was the most useful in a utilitarian way, and had the same core tone that I loved (cooking EL84).

I also still have two of the original version H&K Tubeman pedals (the ones with the selector switch for Rock, Blues, Jazz, or Funk). These things are great in their own right and are the one of the few pedals I ever owned that can convincingly do the Djent style chug thing that I whip out occasionally for a laugh. The Jazz setting can sound like the most beautiful slightly compressing Twin.

[YnJ]

I went through the presets on my Boss GX-700 last night, and found out that the secret to using it as a preamp is in the analogue distortion. The digital amp models work best when they are used as support animals for the distortions, and the distorted sounds at least sound much better than any distorted sounds I've heard from the POD so far, it even does a decent fuzz. I'm not going to get a POD to compare, it's too ugly, so take it for what it is. With some added tremolo or pitch shifting, digital analogizing I guess, it sounds even better. Not as good as my analogue preamps, not that crappy for a digital amp either, or I guess it's more of a hybrid in this case

[Naillerz78]

Cough*…What’s he running that POD through ?

That’s a $2600 (USD) boutique TUBE AMP COMBO amplifier. custom made by Milkman amps. It’s some mix of vintage fender circuits.

We can run it through a capture of that amp. And since the capture is clean, there's guaranteed not to be any aliasing.

I think the point of the video was the POD still sounds great, including the amp modelling.
Neither option of running a POD through a sweet JHS custom made tube combo or a Tonex profile of said combo shows the quality of the POD modelling itself?

This is more what it sounds like by itself. how would you rate that ?

[fedexnman]

I think the POD sounds pretty good . Just think how old the POD is . I had commented earlier that I like my Roland Cube 30x more than the 5watt tube amp VHTs6u. I don't think Tube Amps will ever die . There is some magic about them . I could be wrong but I just don't see them ever not being made .