I would guess the opinions found on an amp most haven't tried focused on the "modeling " feature. It is a marketing gimmick. XLR outputs are convienent but sound nothing like the sound that comes from a speaker.
So, you’ve tried them yourself? Do tell...
I think you misunderstood my post. I know you must have taken some whacks to the head.
I’m a combo type of guy, sorry. Your guess is probably correct. What part of modeling is a gimmick? The name? What would you prefer to call it, the Process ? Waves and UA could hire you for marketing and do so much better. Saying an XLR out sounds nothing like the sound of a speaker is an incomplete claim. You are trying to mean the XLR signal on its 57 setting, compared to an sm57 on the speaker. You haven’t heard it, nor can anyone quantify your definition of “nothing”
Does it still seem like I misunderstood your post?
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kel
"I love what you guys are trying to do up there" ...from an audience member at one of my gigs. Gear: Fender Medium pick
I agree...it's in no way a great comparison, because what it's testing (the "accuracy of the model by putting everything at the same position), while valid on some level--is just as functionally stupid as not matching anything. Immediately--I thought "one of them cut the treble bleed cap off--that's not fair."
So, I've been eyeing those amps for a while also but of course, I haven't tried one... all I can say is that amp modeling and profiling has come so far over the past few years I'm no longer a purist... I'm not really in the market for another amp at the moment but if I were, I probably wouldn't even buy a traditional amp set up... At this stage I would get something like the Line 6 Pod go... but I'm sure that fender sounds great... Now how would it actually compared side-by-side to its tube counterpart?... you always have to weigh the pros and cons in cost-benefit ratios... Personally, I find tube amps to be a pain in the rear... they are temperamental, heavy, and you have to crank them to get a good tone... I can get great tones out of my Fender Mustang or Vox valvetronix amps that are exactly what I am looking for... the compact versatility, lightweight convenience, and General ability to dial in any tone I could ever want on the Fly just makes modern amp modeling a no-brainer for me... and the responsiveness of those amps has improved greatly over the years as well... Just don't see much benefit in Old Tube Technology anymore...
I might have tried one of those new Fenders had I not gone 'all-in' on the Boss Katanas. I went from a dozen various tubes amps to a Katana 100 watt combo, a Katana Air, a Roland Cube 80XL, a Micro Cube, and a Fender Rumble 40 for Bass.
I never got into the modeling thing as far as trying to make the amp sound like another particular amp.
I definitely see the allure of tube amps. If I had a shitload of money to blow on an amp and somebody carry it for me, I think I would get a Matchless Chiefton or something similar. I heard a country tele player using one of those one night and even his bad notes sounded good.
E Beau, have you tried the boss nextone? As good as the katana is or seems to be, I've seen and heard side-by-side comparisons of the two, and that nexttone does sound next level.
I have not tried one but I'm definitely curious. I'm waiting for one to appear at the Guitar Center down the road from my house. I like that they only have reverb and delay, but it would have been better (IMO) if they would have put tremolo in instead of delay, or just included all three.
I'm also experimenting with playing direct into the PA using my Boss GT-1 pedal. I use my Katana Air for all practice and for playing in church. I also have a GT-1B for bass. My music room is like a Roland/Boss showroom.
I think in this day and age I could be happy with one of dozens of options... there are so many good options out there now, and they are all affordable... all I need is a good clean platform sound, a good compressor, a good overdrive or distortion, a good slap delay, a nice tremolo, and a good Reverb... that's all pretty standard stuff these days... Hell, you can get a Fender Champion 40 watt or so for about 200 bucks these days oh, and those things sound pretty darn good for what they are... A lot of Pros use them day in and day out... tons of good solid state and emulation options out there.
So, we all make compromises.....assign values to stuff....but this is super clear for me:
I won't spoil which is which but with the Deluxe it is NOT CLOSE....guessed it from the first few chords. The Twin, though....I ultimately guessed it right, having played them more--but, I thought the digital one sounded more like "another Twin". Meaning the variance unit to unit, the guy Pete in the video mentions when he played twins he had two and one just sounded better than the other.
I imagine there's just less tube clipping in a Twin by nature....thus the digital with the high headroom SS amp did it justice--like, honeslty--I still think the CyberTwin did a wonderful Twin 20 years ago.
I would also say, on a COMPLETELY POSITIVE note, that the IR (silent stage XLR out) sounds wonderful. Arguably, they should've done the whole thing with that....the 57s might simply sound worse than the XLR out to my ear. So, I don't know if that' indictment of their recording rig somehow....or the lightweight speaker. But that feature sounded great to my ear in their demo.
Just for giving you guys shit about this, my daily player amp came down with an issue today. Gotta open it up--I think something's wrong/intermittent with one of the EL34 sockets...
Also, Richie Kotzen selling the Twin...
He's converted to using his FlyRig pedals for all his gain. Despite having a flight worth mini head signature Victory made for him this last year...
However, you want to talk prolific...he just released an album of 50 new songs for his 50th birthday. I've yet to make it all the way through. Really wish he hadn't. I wouldn't be surprised if the end of this year comes and I go back over everything from 2020 and go "damn I can't hum a BAR from those 50 songs"...that's just a lot to digest. Impressive as it is.
