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Class D amps vs traditional amps

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#21
Until you've got it and plugged in and played it, who knows? You may like your older ones better, you may go nuts for the new one, you've bought it and you'll just have to see. You're the judge as what's right for you, which may or may not be this amp, and that's OK. Unless any of us owned that amp and knew it, we're just guessing, and even at that, our taste may be way different than yours. You're just gonna have to take it around the block and see where you're at. If they still suck for you, return it. It may be your Yorkville will always be THE amp for you.

So I have no idea what you'd think about it. I don't know you or your taste in amps. Otherwise, I'm sure you can use your pedals in the same fashion.

Personally, I don't care if it's tubes, Class A/B, Class D, or Class Dismissed. If it's loud enough, I like the tone, I'm good. I could care less what's under the hood, and certainly don't have the knowledge to think I know what this or that topography would favor a certain kind of performance or tone. I DO know that I am good and ready to never haul around 50# heads or 100#-plus cabinets ever again.
 
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#23
JW56789 said:
Until you've got it and plugged in and played it, who knows? You may like your older ones better, you may go nuts for the new one, you've bought it and you'll just have to see. You're the judge as what's right for you, which may or may not be this amp, and that's OK. Unless any of us owned that amp and knew it, we're just guessing, and even at that, our taste may be way different than yours. You're just gonna have to take it around the block and see where you're at. If they still suck for you, return it.

Personally, I don't care if it's tubes, Class A/B, Class D, or Class Dismissed. If it's loud enough, I like the tone, I'm good. I could care less what's under the hood, and certainly don't have the knowledge to think I know what this or that topography would favor a certain kind of performance or tone. I DO know that I am good and ready to never haul around 50# heads or 100#-plus cabinets ever again.
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Right…I was actually hoping someone that had experience with this particular amp with chime in
 
#29
I don't know where you're at, but for most of The States, Yorkville/Traynor availability is kinda hit or miss. I've always wanted to try some of their stuff (great rep, and I like anything from The Great White North), but very hard to find 'down here'.
 
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#33
Miketron75 said:
I actually did that which is common sense, when class D amps first came out, and I thought they sucked. TC electronics, and Mark bass in my opinion we’re just lame when compared to traditional amps of the time. That was about 15 years ago so I’m hoping they have improved since then
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Technology evolves, tastes evolve, and designs gravitate to what players actually want to buy. Not what they may say they want, but what they actually buy. That's what drives the evolution.

When designing a couple of new amp models, we had some in depth conversations here on TB about features, tone, feel, texture, etc. The result satisfied players because they were what they actually wanted rather than dreamed about. The input from a large number of participants was bot surprising and valuable, the interactions between players was eye opening as well.

I have built up exactly the same amp with a class d power amp and a class AB power amp just to confirm that it could be done with nobody able to correctly identify which was which. The preamps were identical. That's part of the process, It should also be said that even my tastes change, and there are models from many years ago that are not something that I would consider doing today, or would make different performance choices (they were mostly lead sled amps). Nothing is static, Even Bill Hughes (designer of the SVT) had mentioned that knowing what he knows 40+ years after the fact, he might have approached some things a little bit differently. For example, he followed through on the when early on he changed the 6146 power tubes to 6550.
 
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#34
When class D came out I was certain something was missing, then I reconciled that it's probably mostly psychoacoustics dragging me down, and now I tell myself current-issue Class Ds have overcome any and all early-generation sonic shortcomings that there may have been (because in reality if there were any, surely they have) and then my psychoacoustics are back in kilter and all is good. :)
 
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#35
Teacher said:
I found it to be spot-on. Maybe that's just me.
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It isn't just you.

agedhorse said:
Technology evolves, tastes evolve, and designs gravitate to what players actually want to buy. Not what they may say they want, but what they actually buy. That's what drives the evolution.

When designing a couple of new amp models, we had some in depth conversations here on TB about features, tone, feel, texture, etc. The result satisfied players because they were what they actually wanted rather than dreamed about. The input from a large number of participants was bot surprising and valuable, the interactions between players was eye opening as well.

I have built up exactly the same amp with a class d power amp and a class AB power amp just to confirm that it could be done with nobody able to correctly identify which was which. The preamps were identical. That's part of the process, It should also be said that even my tastes change, and there are models from many years ago that are not something that I would consider doing today, or would make different performance choices (they were mostly lead sled amps). Nothing is static, Even Bill Hughes (designer of the SVT) had mentioned that knowing what he knows 40+ years after the fact, he might have approached some things a little bit differently. For example, he followed through on the when early on he changed the 6146 power tubes to 6550.
Click to expand...

Correct, once again.
 
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#37
Plus I'm old enough to remember the great shift from only tube amps to the early solid-state amps, which were roundly and thoroughly dismissed at the time; but over time, they were widely accepted by all except the real tube devotees, and even that was mitigated a lot by tube front end/solid state power designs.
 
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#39
Miketron75 said:
Another useless response
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I will try.

I’m 50 years old and began playing bass in 1984. I’ve played a few hundred gigs. More than some, less than others. Lots and lots of gear.

There’s a certain amp I had from about 1986 though 2001, a Sunn Coliseum 300. It was a 300 watt solid state amp that came in a wood cabinet. It was excruciatingly heavy, I imagine probably 35 pounds. It sounded good through the also excruciatingly heavy Dietz 2x15 cabinet I had then. I’m sure I played through a few dozen Peavey solid state amps as I came up. I’m actually the wrong age to have tons of tube amp experience. They seem interesting to me now but weren’t as popular when I was a kid in the 80s.

Since 2007 or so, I’ve experimented with a bunch of class D heads. I had a MarkBass F1, a Genz Benz Shuttle 9, a GK MB Fusion, and a Mesa D800 in that period. Along with an Ashdown Mark King amp, a MarkBass LMII, and a Thunderfunk which were definitely not class D along with an EA iAmp 800 which I’m honestly not sure.

All of these amps sounded like themselves a little. But I wouldn’t classify any of them as objectively having less balls, oomph, or whatever other measurement one might apply, than any other. In fact the MarkBass F1 in retrospect was freakishly loud and full for its size and the year it came out. Kinda wish I’d kept that one a little longer.

So from my not inconsiderable experience, I’d say there’s no difference in the output level, sound, or projection of any amp that could be attributed to that amp being a class D unit.

But for sure the class D amps are a LOT smaller and lighter.
 
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