You're probably right. There are many good sounding solid state and hybrid amps out there. For the record, I have heard very few "tube guys" completely dismiss all solid state amps.
Matt
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The Tube Challenge
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
You're probably right. There are many good sounding solid state and hybrid amps out there. For the record, I have heard very few "tube guys" completely dismiss all solid state amps.
Matt
Only a fool would dismiss all solid state amps when there have been so many great basslines cut by many solid state bassists. However, I will say this...the Markbass is the only SS or hybrid head I've heard that even comes close to sounding like tubes. That doesn't mean there aren't others out there, but if there are, I've never heard them.
Stringbass, I stated many times that the only extra processing done was running the mic thru a mic preamp (which had to be done), and there was no EQing or compressing of any kind, other than setting both heads flat and trying to match volumes.
Stringbass, I stated many times that the only extra processing done was running the mic thru a mic preamp (which had to be done), and there was no EQing or compressing of any kind, other than setting both heads flat and trying to match volumes.
Awesome! I guessed wrong, but that's cool. It was great fun anyway.
Let's do this weekly! If I ever get my SVT-CL out of the shop, I may do something similar between it and my SVTIII-PRO, cranked with condenser mics and stuff...
Let's do this weekly! If I ever get my SVT-CL out of the shop, I may do something similar between it and my SVTIII-PRO, cranked with condenser mics and stuff...
Excellent, just another one right along with the P-bass/Varix one 
The extra high end crispness of the Mark Bass gave it away a little I thought. Not that tube amp's can't have a crisp high end, not at all. Just that it isnt the Ampeg (set flat).
Good comparison none the less.
The extra high end crispness of the Mark Bass gave it away a little I thought. Not that tube amp's can't have a crisp high end, not at all. Just that it isnt the Ampeg (set flat).
Good comparison none the less.
I could tell it was #2, but just barely, listening on studio monitors and good headphones.
I think if I had just heard it on crappy computer speakers I would not have been able to tell the difference.
However, for the record, the Markbass amp sounded totally fine and good at that volume. I would certainly rock it if I ever had the need.
I think if I had just heard it on crappy computer speakers I would not have been able to tell the difference.
However, for the record, the Markbass amp sounded totally fine and good at that volume. I would certainly rock it if I ever had the need.
If you didn't specify the amps you were using before the results might have been even closer. Too many people on TB are familiar with the Markbass sound and know what to listen for. If they didn't know a LMII was in the equation, but just a solid state amp of some kind, the outcome probably would have been different.
Just wondering, has anyone noticed if there have been any more votes AFTER JimmyM gave us the answer? 
At the moment it stands at 57 for Amp1, 73 for Amp2. Nothing like an open book test to get a better score!
Edit: Jimmy posted the score when he posted the answer: 53 for Amp 1, 68 for Amp2. What is sad is that since then 4 TalkBass People voted for Amp1 even after Jimmy posted the results!!!
At the moment it stands at 57 for Amp1, 73 for Amp2. Nothing like an open book test to get a better score!
Edit: Jimmy posted the score when he posted the answer: 53 for Amp 1, 68 for Amp2. What is sad is that since then 4 TalkBass People voted for Amp1 even after Jimmy posted the results!!!
I know that, dude. I read all your posts. What I was trying to say is I'd be curious to hear you use the amps' tone controls to try to come up with similar sounds to each other, while, again, maintaining your prior standard of not using outside EQing or compression. In other words, try even harder to fool us by making the amps sound as much like each other as possible, since all amps, with their controls set to their so-called "flat" positions, still have their own unique voicings.
Not that I would presume to give you any kind of assignment. You've already done a lot of work here. It's just something I would find interesting, just as I found this experiment interesting. Just wondering if the Mark Bass's tone controls could be dialed in closely enough to, for example, the "flat" B15N tone that it would fool even more people, or if there'd still be a certain "something" that gives away which amp is which to the trained ear.
Matt
I agree. Similarly, a lot of folks recognize the distinctive tone of a B15N. I still think I would have voted the same, based on generic solid state tone vs. generic tube tone, but I doubt myself enough to be curious as to how less information at the outset might effect things.
Matt
It was "just all in good fun" but I think you're right in some ways that some listeners could have trained their ears to listen for characteristics of one amp over the other. And it may or may not be desirable characteristics, but just something "familiar" to the sound.
That's where ABX testing helps but it's hard to setup for a simple download test.
I play my B15N daily and and couldn't pick it
.Its a totally different beastie through 10" speakers.
BTW- I thought the B15 didnt like 4 Ohm cabs. Isn't the fridge 4 ohm?
I play my B15N daily and and couldn't pick it
Its a totally different beastie through 10" speakers.
BTW- I thought the B15 didnt like 4 Ohm cabs. Isn't the fridge 4 ohm?
Another x-factor is that you're running a B15N expecting an 8 ohm cab into a 4 ohm cab, which shifts its entire tonal response, as the cab is "loading" the amp the same way too low an input impedance can load a pickup.
from this post.
or:
That's not the case here. Both amps were purposely set for similar sounds and not necessarily how they would sound with typical use. In addition, the recording has some problems and the tube amp has a lower impedance than rated cab attached to it, which is going to mess with its sound. IOW, the only real result of this poll is that Jimmy can set two very different amps to sound very similar.
from this post
I suspect you will agree with me that blind testing is a red herring. If someone thinks that two amps sound different, they can run a few tests such as frequency response and distortion plots at various signal levels.
