Death metal guy here and I think a good number of y’all would find my ideal tone to be overly compressed, perhaps overly saturated and possibly “processed”. I’ve had E530, E570/E670, Powerball, Synergy Powerball preamp, a preamp only copy of the Fireball and a preamp only copy of the Savage.
E530 - The most vintage, saggy & loosest of the bunch, but still capable of saturated extreme metal tones. This album was recorded with an E530 into speaker sim and is a good representation of its tone:
Ingurgitatung Obliveon. I assume you could also get a good rock tone out of it but I’m not a rock guy. I’m pretty sure the clean was nothing to write home about.
E570/E670 - Capable of having good note separation and low end tightness while being very saturated. Maybe too compressed for some players. Best preamp and head tone I’ve ever had for death metal but it’s pretty versatile and can do other styles. Cuts better live compared to the others, or maybe the Savage is on par. Clean is not quite Twin Reverb good but is really good for a high gainer. Don’t ask me about the crunch channel, I know jack shit about those kind of tones.
Powerball I - Some ppl love ‘em, mine sounded like a loose turd in a tunnel. Maybe there was something wrong with it ‘cause I get good tones out of the Synergy preamp into various tube power amps, the tone of which is smooth and is pretty tight considering the big ass low end this thing is capable of. The lows are like round and tight at the same time. Pretty saturated and compressed tones (lml lml).
Fireball (pre copy) - Saturated, compressed, looser than the Pball but still plenty tight. I have trouble describing this one, it’s not my favorite but at the same time it’s hard to get a bad tone out of it, seems to be especially easy for dialing in a good recorded tone. Thrash and extreme metal tones for sure.
Savage (pre copy) - Compared to the others, it’s kind of like you added 25% Marshall DNA to the tone, especially the way the low end feels. With the right EQ settings this one cuts good live. Don’t expect it to sound too much like a Marshall though, it’s definitely more saturated and compressed. I’ve read more than once ppl likening the Savage to the E530 which makes no sense to me, they’re way different.
