Lightningboy
Experienced
Matrix XT800 review/personal opinion
Ok. I've had the Matrix for just over a week. I gigged it last weekend but had major issues all through the gig (other guitarist a no-show, having to bluff all his solo's, wireless crapping out on me) so felt it wouldn't be fair to post a review as,
A: I wasn't getting a true representation of the amp
B:Wasn't fully concentrating on the amp to give a full critique
So I tested and analysed the amp all through this week. Had a few conversations with Matt from Matrix who've spent time and listened and been very co-operative.
The amp itself is simple, well designed and very, very light! My XT800 has combi inputs but just the standard speakon outs. I like the speakon outputs, no danger of the speaker cable yanking out at the wrong moment and an easy job to fit onto an existing cable.
On powering on, as has been mentioned before the fans aren't super quiet but definitely not as noisy as the Rockton Velocity 100 or the Peavey 50/50. Easily liveable with.
My Matrix is running into a Mini 4x12 Marshall stereo cab loaded with x2 Beyma 12GA50's and x2 no-brand whizzer cone speakers just as a blend. Power is 350w per side.
OK, first test was done playing some music. The thing that srikes you is the crystal clear highs, cymbals nice and clear and reverb tails also become alot more apparent. Bottom end is full, and certainly plentiful. But this is going to start sounding like a hi-fi review so we'll unplug the CD player and crank up the Axe!
Tried a couple of my Soldano patches. First thing I notice is that my speakers are shifting alot more bottom end and there's definitely some "trouser flapping" qualities returned to the mix. High end isn't harsh as I've said but there's a very slight lack of mid range sparkle. Compounding that is a hint of a "blanket" over the low mids. From about 350hz to 800hz the bass mids seem very compressed, very punchy but very congested. The sag you can normally hear on the amp sims is covered somewhat, A lowering of the global EQ's in this region helps but it still sounds a bit like it's been compressed. On stage at volume this weekend this gave me some great sounding sims but getting some nice feedback was near impossible. The guitar wanted to just sustain around the low end and not form into that nice harmonic feedback you get. A quick play on the globals boosting 2,4 and 8k added that sparkle back but was in danger of becoming a bit harsh sometimes. Volume wise on stage the amp has plenty left in the tank. Easily loud enough to compete with the drummer. After the gig, I felt the top of the amp.....the thing wasn't even lukewarm!! I had to look at the front to check the power light was still on!
So, Is the amp any good?
Well yeah, it's an awesome piece of kit. It's just got the feeling that it's been tweaked towards the bass heavy PA market. As a PA or even a bass amp this things low end is to die for and for certain genre's of guitar music it'll be a bonus. The difference between my Peavey and the Matrix is very subtle and it's the same difference I can hear when I listen to Paulmapp's youtube demo's. It's the same thing that's just "cloying" that area of the amp where you can hear a bit of breakup and sag in the poweramp sims. As Octatonic has said and I agree, you don't get that colouration the XT800 has when listening on studio monitors. If this is indeed an electronics issue that could be tweaked out to let this area of the amp "breathe" a bit more then Matrix are more than willing to give it a try. I'm more than willing to help as well. Don't get me wrong, some people will prefer the amp as is, again not an issue as Matrix will cater for them happily.
I've done a demo to show that it is a very subtle thing. I've basically mic'ed my cab up and kept all the settings the same, just the amp has changed, Global is flat on the Axe FX. Mic'ed up the difference is there but not quite as pronounced as when a/b'ing in the room obviously. Have a listen and see what you think.
http://soundcloud.com/lightningboy/sets/axe-fx-matrix-xt800-s-s-peavey-tube-test
Ok. I've had the Matrix for just over a week. I gigged it last weekend but had major issues all through the gig (other guitarist a no-show, having to bluff all his solo's, wireless crapping out on me) so felt it wouldn't be fair to post a review as,
A: I wasn't getting a true representation of the amp
B:Wasn't fully concentrating on the amp to give a full critique
So I tested and analysed the amp all through this week. Had a few conversations with Matt from Matrix who've spent time and listened and been very co-operative.
The amp itself is simple, well designed and very, very light! My XT800 has combi inputs but just the standard speakon outs. I like the speakon outputs, no danger of the speaker cable yanking out at the wrong moment and an easy job to fit onto an existing cable.
On powering on, as has been mentioned before the fans aren't super quiet but definitely not as noisy as the Rockton Velocity 100 or the Peavey 50/50. Easily liveable with.
My Matrix is running into a Mini 4x12 Marshall stereo cab loaded with x2 Beyma 12GA50's and x2 no-brand whizzer cone speakers just as a blend. Power is 350w per side.
OK, first test was done playing some music. The thing that srikes you is the crystal clear highs, cymbals nice and clear and reverb tails also become alot more apparent. Bottom end is full, and certainly plentiful. But this is going to start sounding like a hi-fi review so we'll unplug the CD player and crank up the Axe!
Tried a couple of my Soldano patches. First thing I notice is that my speakers are shifting alot more bottom end and there's definitely some "trouser flapping" qualities returned to the mix. High end isn't harsh as I've said but there's a very slight lack of mid range sparkle. Compounding that is a hint of a "blanket" over the low mids. From about 350hz to 800hz the bass mids seem very compressed, very punchy but very congested. The sag you can normally hear on the amp sims is covered somewhat, A lowering of the global EQ's in this region helps but it still sounds a bit like it's been compressed. On stage at volume this weekend this gave me some great sounding sims but getting some nice feedback was near impossible. The guitar wanted to just sustain around the low end and not form into that nice harmonic feedback you get. A quick play on the globals boosting 2,4 and 8k added that sparkle back but was in danger of becoming a bit harsh sometimes. Volume wise on stage the amp has plenty left in the tank. Easily loud enough to compete with the drummer. After the gig, I felt the top of the amp.....the thing wasn't even lukewarm!! I had to look at the front to check the power light was still on!
So, Is the amp any good?
Well yeah, it's an awesome piece of kit. It's just got the feeling that it's been tweaked towards the bass heavy PA market. As a PA or even a bass amp this things low end is to die for and for certain genre's of guitar music it'll be a bonus. The difference between my Peavey and the Matrix is very subtle and it's the same difference I can hear when I listen to Paulmapp's youtube demo's. It's the same thing that's just "cloying" that area of the amp where you can hear a bit of breakup and sag in the poweramp sims. As Octatonic has said and I agree, you don't get that colouration the XT800 has when listening on studio monitors. If this is indeed an electronics issue that could be tweaked out to let this area of the amp "breathe" a bit more then Matrix are more than willing to give it a try. I'm more than willing to help as well. Don't get me wrong, some people will prefer the amp as is, again not an issue as Matrix will cater for them happily.
I've done a demo to show that it is a very subtle thing. I've basically mic'ed my cab up and kept all the settings the same, just the amp has changed, Global is flat on the Axe FX. Mic'ed up the difference is there but not quite as pronounced as when a/b'ing in the room obviously. Have a listen and see what you think.
http://soundcloud.com/lightningboy/sets/axe-fx-matrix-xt800-s-s-peavey-tube-test
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