Blind test! Mesa Dual Rectifier vs 'mystery' amp modeler...

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Psycho going against the grain. Lol.
gonna be some shit if we’re all wrong lmao!

C’mon Jon give it up bud....how’s that backup video coming along.
 
Great test comparison! Thank you so much bro, Great vid!
I would need to know whether you used IR’s or not before I made my decision, as they make a HUGE effect, moreso than any ‘real’ cab.
Thanks again for the video, it just shows how close modelling has come along, although it does feel very different when ‘playing’ the actual guitar through the amp/modeller? At least, this is my experience with my powered Kemper.
 
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Nice test.
1- B for the Mesa
2- maybe an older line 6 something
3- prefer B

Both songs were close, maybe an EQ difference. But the chords on A reminded me of an older Line 6 sound like the XT, not the Helix stuff.
 
stratjacket said:
Nice test.
1- B for the Mesa
2- maybe an older line 6 something
3- prefer B

Both songs were close, maybe an EQ difference. But the chords on A reminded me of an older Line 6 sound like the XT, not the Helix stuff.
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a podXT? Interesting choice.
 
B showed it's true colors when you hit a sustained chord, then you could really hear the artifacts that separates the tone. The aftertaste, so to say.
 
I made porn of my girlfriend and compared it to porn from the internet. Can you tell the difference?

The difference is how the amp (I mean, girlfriend) responds to your touch. You need to experience it to feel it. Otherwise, it's the same thing. Sure, porn is porn, but I would still rather have a girlfriend. A cranked full stack can do so much more to drive away a bad day than a modeler, because you can feel it. Otherwise, it just feels like you're playing with yourself. If all you ever do is make porn, it doesn't really matter which model(er) you use. They are all hot. Nothing, however, is going to make me feel like I did when I first played my 5150 on 5 through two 4x12 cabs. That's why I still bring a full stack to shows, and I'm proposing to my Verellen Skyhammer. I already bought the live-in roadcase!
 
Oh, and I think the Mesa was B. It's probably the Helix, and the differences could be flushed out with mic placement. If you get the mic placement right to match the IR, they could be identical.
 
BeZo said:
I made porn of my girlfriend and compared it to porn from the internet. Can you tell the difference?

The difference is how the amp (I mean, girlfriend) responds to your touch. You need to experience it to feel it. Otherwise, it's the same thing. Sure, porn is porn, but I would still rather have a girlfriend. A cranked full stack can do so much more to drive away a bad day than a modeler, because you can feel it. Otherwise, it just feels like you're playing with yourself. If all you ever do is make porn, it doesn't really matter which model(er) you use. They are all hot. Nothing, however, is going to make me feel like I did when I first played my 5150 on 5 through two 4x12 cabs. That's why I still bring a full stack to shows, and I'm proposing to my Verellen Skyhammer. I already bought the live-in roadcase!
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Sorry but that's a false dichotomy. There is nothing inherently preventing a modeler from driving a set of 4x12s or being just as "touch sensitive" as a tube amp.

In your head you're comparing "full tube stack blasting away in a stadium" to "digital modeler through studio monitors / headphones / computer speakers / whatever else" so your comparison is kind of broken from the start. Of course those setups are going to sound and even feel vastly different.

Have you played a well-dialed-in Fractal or Kemper through a quality SS amp driving a set of your favorite 4x12 cabs? Have you even played a tube amp through a quality Reactive Load into an IR then through a quality set of FRFR speakers so you know what "the real thing" in that context sounds like? Because if you haven't, sorry but you're proving my point earlier in the thread that "guitar players just don't want tube amps to be as good as modelers" for whatever reason.

In any case, you should definitely try a good modeler through an SS amp and 4x12 cabs, and a good tube amp through a reactive load and IRs into FRFR systems. They're both really cool. :)
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
Sorry but that's a false dichotomy. There is nothing inherently preventing a modeler from driving a set of 4x12s or being just as "touch sensitive" as a tube amp.

In your head you're comparing "full tube stack blasting away in a stadium" to "digital modeler through studio monitors / headphones / computer speakers / whatever else" so your comparison is kind of broken from the start. Of course those setups are going to sound and even feel vastly different.

Have you played a well-dialed-in Fractal or Kemper through a quality SS amp driving a set of your favorite 4x12 cabs? Have you even played a tube amp through a quality Reactive Load into an IR then through a quality set of FRFR speakers so you know what "the real thing" in that context sounds like? Because if you haven't, sorry but you're proving my point earlier in the thread that "guitar players just don't want tube amps to be as good as modelers" for whatever reason.

In any case, you should definitely try a good modeler through an SS amp and 4x12 cabs, and a good tube amp through a reactive load and IRs into FRFR systems. They're both really cool. :)
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Yes. I run IEMs in both my bands. My guitarist in my main band uses a Helix. We used a DI and a cab sim before that. I have recorded albums through a Kemper. I threw an amp party back when the Axe Fx was new and it stole the show. Hell, my best friend sold all his amps to gig through a Hotone Ampero. I shot out the Line 6 Spider Valve with my Mesa Dual Rectifier Rev G and couldn't tell the difference back then. Digital processing has caught up to and surpassed analog technology long ago.
 


He must have forgot about Rig-Talk. He put this up the other day.
 
The comments I’ve seen were like 80-20 guessed the real amp.
 
no way it was “about 50-50”. most people here guessed the real amp.
 
Blind test with a bit of post production, lol. I like his clips in general, but this is pretty pointless to me. Perhaps if you are into recording, this could be meaningful. I had the Kemper powerhead going into to a cab. Compare that to a real tube amp (or the helix with a power amp) into a cab and mic it up. In the room there still is such a difference. For recording and in a mix with IR's, it's a different ball game.
 
Got it right!! :cool:
I thought the modeler was an older Line 6 product though, not the Helix, so I got that wrong...
 
stratjacket said:
Got it right!! :cool:
I thought the modeler was an older Line 6 product though, not the Helix, so I got that wrong...
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Curious. Anything in particular lead you to L6 or just wild guess.

IMO...the modern top non tube amp circuitry (Kemper, fractal, etc) in the right hands, especialliy in a studio setting, it's damn difficult to tell them apart by just listening. There is something to the difference In feeling between them though.
 
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