Today, I spent some quality time with a 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb on an amp stand side by side with my Axe III through a pair of Genelec 8330 (GLM calibrated) on my desk.
The 68 CVR is really a nice amp with custom Schumacher transformer, it sounds, feels and responds great at low or high volume, it reminds me all the reasons we love tube amps. However, under direct comparison, Axe III plus studio monitor sounds OK but feel quite a bit meh... Both setups were played side by side at around 95DB, so not quiet but not super loud. Such difference is all the more obvious for clean (high dynamic) playing. Here is the difference:
1. The tube combo reacts more immediately at the beginning of the picking, hence it feels more immediately connected with the fingers.
2. However, after the immediate response, tube combo ramp up the dynamic more smoothly, slowly and musically, which allows me to explore the dynamic range of the response more easily.
On the other hand, Axe III plus monitors seem to do exactly the opposite:
1. It seems to have some (very subtle) delay in the very initial reaction, e.g. there is an ever tiny delay, making the amp feel less connected with the finger. I have tried things to minimize the delay all this time, including upgrading my studio monitors, using AES digital directly from Axe III to monitor, saving some A/D/A conversion etc, but it remains very much tangible to me.
2. Once the initial delay is over, the amp responds much more eagerly, e.g. it then jumps from quiet to loud too quickly as I vary the picking strength.
By the way, so far no modeler or any SS amp is able to nail either one above for me, they all exhibit such tiny delay and SS like dynamic more or less.
Interestingly, when wearing my IEM, I am less bothered by these two factors, and somehow they seems quite lessoned, which I suspect has something to do with the (good) quality of headphone amp used in Axe III....
I know, we musicians sometimes could be a nuanced anal bunch about such subtle details, but they often make a world of difference for our playing experience....
Thoughts?
The 68 CVR is really a nice amp with custom Schumacher transformer, it sounds, feels and responds great at low or high volume, it reminds me all the reasons we love tube amps. However, under direct comparison, Axe III plus studio monitor sounds OK but feel quite a bit meh... Both setups were played side by side at around 95DB, so not quiet but not super loud. Such difference is all the more obvious for clean (high dynamic) playing. Here is the difference:
1. The tube combo reacts more immediately at the beginning of the picking, hence it feels more immediately connected with the fingers.
2. However, after the immediate response, tube combo ramp up the dynamic more smoothly, slowly and musically, which allows me to explore the dynamic range of the response more easily.
On the other hand, Axe III plus monitors seem to do exactly the opposite:
1. It seems to have some (very subtle) delay in the very initial reaction, e.g. there is an ever tiny delay, making the amp feel less connected with the finger. I have tried things to minimize the delay all this time, including upgrading my studio monitors, using AES digital directly from Axe III to monitor, saving some A/D/A conversion etc, but it remains very much tangible to me.
2. Once the initial delay is over, the amp responds much more eagerly, e.g. it then jumps from quiet to loud too quickly as I vary the picking strength.
By the way, so far no modeler or any SS amp is able to nail either one above for me, they all exhibit such tiny delay and SS like dynamic more or less.
Interestingly, when wearing my IEM, I am less bothered by these two factors, and somehow they seems quite lessoned, which I suspect has something to do with the (good) quality of headphone amp used in Axe III....
I know, we musicians sometimes could be a nuanced anal bunch about such subtle details, but they often make a world of difference for our playing experience....
Thoughts?