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Are modern amps "harsher"?

#124
mesaplayer83 said:
Check this sound out, tell me what you think - it's a D800 into a single Subway 115:



Playing with fingers, I could've easily nailed the exact tone you're looking for...
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huh...what....there's bass in that video? ;)

But seriously though it sounds great. I'm guessing there is some FOH in the recording as well. I'd love to have a stack of two of those at some point.
 
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#125
Passinwind said:
Neither one of those words mean anything to me as audio quality descriptors, in all honesty. But as a former sound provider and gear repair guy, I have plenty of experience trying to read between the lines. As a default, I would assume a classical reggae sound, most likely.
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To me, warm and round means plenty of lows and low mids, but still some definition in the upper mids, so to me the classical reggae sound (although it varies) is too woolly to meet my personal definition.
 
#126
-Asdfgh- said:
To me, warm and round means plenty of lows and low mids, but still some definition in the upper mids, so to me the classical reggae sound (although it varies) is too woolly to meet my personal definition.
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Which is exactly why said I don't have any idea what those terms mean, really. It's pretty much all about interpreting highly variable individual definitions. Which inevitably usually boils down to "whatever I like."
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#127
pigpen1 said:
huh...what....there's bass in that video? ;)

But seriously though it sounds great. I'm guessing there is some FOH in the recording as well. I'd love to have a stack of two of those at some point.
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There probably isn't much FOH in that video, since it was done by the singer's Mom on a cell phone, and she was standing by my corner of the stage... That's a pretty good representation of what I was hearing that night - I'm telling you, a D800 or D800+ and one or two of the Subway 115 cabs are what you want, given the sound you're asking about...
 
#128
mesaplayer83 said:
There probably isn't much FOH in that video, since it was done by the singer's Mom on a cell phone, and she was standing by my corner of the stage... That's a pretty good representation of what I was hearing that night - I'm telling you, a D800 or D800+ and one or two of the Subway 115 cabs are what you want, given the sound you're asking about...
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I concur 100%. On my "to buy" list for sure. I'm in the position now of probably having to sell something to get something, which I stubbornly refuse to do, and I don't wanna dip into saving (again) either.
 
#129
pigpen1 said:
What kind of stuff do you normally play?
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at the time i had the amp, i was using a lot for salsa / latin gigs. also come classic rock and jazz fusion, motown stuff, slap/70s funk gigs, and so on. so not exactly "everything," but certainly a lot of stuff. it's a great amp. i like it for upright, but have moved on the mesa D800 and i'm really happy with that.
 
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#130
Al Kraft said:
If you had only tried an Aguilar TH500 and the Mesa Subway D-800 you might have erroneously concluded that all class D heads are more low and low/mid-mid focused without the glassy/bright top end you're used to from the old class AB GK RB's or Mesa Carbines.

It's really more about how the designer chose to voice a particular amp to meet the needs/expectations of the intended customer set than it is about class of amp. Once your class D sample size expands, you'll likely draw a much different conclusion than you have now. Although, FWIW I've never heard anyone complain about not enough low end emphasis in a GK head, or that they're not mid scooped enough, especially not the MB's...clearly YMMV! :)
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I think I didn't give the GK enough time because it was the first of the class D amps that I tried so the contrast was the most jarring coming from my A/B. Had I started with the Phil Jones first I would've thought the GK was downright guttural! Kind of bummed that I offloaded something that a lot of people are telling me I could've worked out, but that's life I suppose. There's a shop nearby with a used Fusion 800, I may go try it, I hear that tube pre can add a lot of low. I swapped the GK 212 for a Subway 115 and a lot of people are saying the D800 is great so I definitely need to give that a look.
 
#131
All the GK MB’s are voiced with a mid scoop, except the Fusion 800. The 800 has the mids downas well as slighty less in the treble. The rest at noon are a couple dB lower in the mids. All you have to do to get “warmth” from them is take the lo-mid to about 2. The highs on the MB’s seem to be quite high at 7k, and for a lot of people could probably be cut a little.

The D-800 set at 12 actually seems to be flat. Maybe a little off the high mids, probably a little off the treble, and a little boost in the low mids and it should be pretty good.

Of course it is all relative to other gear connected and amp placement in the room, as well as where you are standing.
 
#132
Wait, you have the plus. You could probably have low mid frequency at about 8 or 8:30 and boost a little. High mid frequency could probably be at about 9-10 and cut a little. HPF could be anywhere between 10 and 12 probably. That will make the bass boost much more usable, so you could add a little boost there even.
 
#133
Passinwind said:
Which is exactly why said I don't have any idea what those terms mean, really. It's pretty much all about interpreting highly variable individual definitions. Which inevitably usually boils down to "whatever I like." View attachment 2964974
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We could crowd source the definitions by having some samples on here and ask people to rate each one pillowy, round, honky, harsh or carroty.
 
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#134
PraiseBassing said:
Wait, you have the plus. You could probably have low mid frequency at about 8 or 8:30 and boost a little. High mid frequency could probably be at about 9-10 and cut a little. HPF could be anywhere between 10 and 12 probably. That will make the bass boost much more usable, so you could add a little boost there even.
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Ended up drastically cutting hi mid around 800hz-1k and some treble. Voicing at noon +deep switch and all bass/low mid flat. Good to go I think
 
#138
-Asdfgh- said:
We could crowd source the definitions by having some samples on here and ask people to rate each one pillowy, round, honky, harsh or carroty.
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There have been some threads like that here over the years, with predictably goofy results. I especially like the objections of "how am I supposed to judge while listening over my laptop speakers?"
 
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#139
-Asdfgh- said:
We could crowd source the definitions by having some samples on here and ask people to rate each one pillowy, round, honky, harsh or carroty.
Click to expand...

There are really a lot of variables in amp recordings and play back that lead to differences that would probably just add confusion. DI out vs mic’d, mic placement, frequency response of the mic being used. That’s just the recording part, now add in the differences between listening devices and their frequency response.

The differences between my phone, work computer speakers, and the speakers/subs in my car will create vastly different “tones” using the same recording.
 

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