Can YOU tell the difference between tube and digital?

[cobrahead1030]

another guess for peavey on the left

 

looks like i was wrong, o well...i never claimed i could tell the difference on such a recording

 

FWIW i did something similar to this, posting 3 different clips using 3 different pickups on each one (9 clips total) a lawrence 500xl, duncan jb, and emg 81...and most everyone guessed that wrong as well

[Weathered]

I think that until a modeler can nail the tone and feel of a cranked mid-gain amp running hot (see Tweed Bassman, Marshall Plexi/JMP, AC30), they're not going to be enough for me.

Recordings are a bad sample of the actual tone - it's in the room where you can really hear the difference.

[Faust2016]

another guess for peavey on the left

peavey was on the right

[Angry Grimace]

Disappointing? I dunno, everyone getting it wrong was pretty funny for me

yeah, but at the end of the day...your tone totally sucks

[cobrahead1030]

if i record a track with a real amp, and a track digital, i know i can hear the difference plain as day...but if someone else does the same, i'd say a good 80% of the time i can never really tell

 

given it's someone with decent recording skills...it's a lot easier for a noob to get a pod xt to sound good than a real marshall or 5150; so i discount anything that has a nice clear pod xt track, and a distant muffled amp track (that wasn't really going on in the OP's clip, both amps sounded alright IMO)

[HKSblade1]

another guess for peavey on the left looks like i was wrong, o well...i never claimed i could tell the difference on such a recording FWIW i did something similar to this, posting 3 different clips using 3 different pickups on each one (9 clips total) a lawrence 500xl, duncan jb, and emg 81...and most everyone guessed that wrong as well

 

 

Tube vs Digital model:

 

It's like looking at pic of some babe in magz versus that same chick being right next to you in person!!

 

Digital is like air brushing a photo. You can clean it up, but the clean up takes away from what is actually there.

 

You can get the general idea in digital, but nothing compares to the real action

[mparsons]

Tube vs Digital model: It's like looking at pic of some babe in magz versus that same chick being right next to you in person!! Digital is like air brushing a photo. You can clean it up, but the clean up takes away from what is actually there. You can get the general idea in digital, but nothing compares to the real action

 

 

If I had edited the tones in anyway, then yes I would agree with you.

[The Realm]

No idea. Low quality, too much gain, both being played the same time... I have no clue

The correct response to all threads like this

[HKSblade1]

If I had edited the tones in anyway, then yes I would agree with you.

 

 

Digital models always detract from the original. It has too as part of sampling. You never get the entire picture with a sample. It has to be doctored to begin with. That's just the nature of modeling even if you add nothing efx to it.

[Brujo13]

Peavey 6505 left
hd147 right

[mparsons]

Digital models always detract from the original. It has too as part of sampling. You never get the entire picture with a sample. It has to be doctored to begin with. That's just the nature of modeling even if you add nothing efx to it.

 

 

What are you talking about? The tone coming out of the amp's speaker, the tone 100% of people have mistaken for tube tone even after I've posted the answer, is totally untouched. This recording is a good representation of how the amps sound in the room.

[glenecho]

Lots of excuses, whining, and disclaimers...and nobody picking...too funny

I would have said the 6505 was on the left since it was the tinnier sounding of the two and I figured you were trying to trick us...oh well. In this case the tube amp really does sound better. I should have went with my gut I guess. I have NO embarassment though in not being able to tell the difference. These threads on tons of message boards prove over and over again that a lot of time...people can't.

Personally I love the modelling vs. tube "guess which one is which" threads...really breaks the cork-sniffer's balls. If you touch up the tracks they say it's no fair...if you don't then "the quality sucks". Again...these REALLY make me laugh.

Modellers...plenty of pros playing them...and there will be more everyday. Get used to it suckas. I still prefer tubes for live, but for recording it's really getting to the point where there isn't any sense in spending the time agonizing over micing, isolating, and all the other headaches.

[blargh]

Lots of excuses, whining, and disclaimers...and nobody picking...too funny I would have said the 6505 was on the left since it was the tinnier sounding of the two and I figured you were trying to trick us...oh well. In this case the tube amp really does sound better. I should have went with my gut I guess. I have NO embarassment though in not being able to tell the difference. These threads on tons of message boards prove over and over again that a lot of time...people can't. Personally I love the modelling vs. tube "guess which one is which" threads...really breaks the cork-sniffer's balls. If you touch up the tracks they say it's no fair...if you don't then "the quality sucks". Again...these REALLY make me laugh. Modellers...plenty of pros playing them...and there will be more everyday. Get used to it suckas. I still prefer tubes for live, but for recording it's really getting to the point where there isn't any sense in spending the time agonizing over micing, isolating, and all the other headaches.

 

Sorry but this is dumb as all hell.

It's not a secret that for the average joe with an sm57 and some pirated recording software doing tracks in his small, {censored}ty sounding bedroom, with a bunch of multitracking, you can get better sounding metal recordings with a modeler.

 

Put a modeler into a demanding situation, where, for instance, you've got one or two mid-gain guitar tracks, a bunch of great mics, gear, a great sounding room, and a recording guy who knows what he's doing, and it simply won't cut it.

[glenecho]

Sorry but this is dumb as all hell. It's not a secret that for the average joe with an sm57 and some pirated recording software doing tracks in his small, {censored}ty sounding bedroom, with a bunch of multitracking, you can get better sounding metal recordings with a modeler. Put a modeler into a demanding situation, where, for instance, you've got one or two mid-gain guitar tracks, a bunch of great mics, gear, a great sounding room, and a recording guy who knows what he's doing, and it simply won't cut it.

 

 

 

BS...tell that to Meshuggah. I stand firm that 19 out of 20 numbnuts can't tell the difference. And everytime one of these threads is posted, here or elsewhere...it only backs me up. That's why you see people sweating bullets everytime one of them is posted.

[Travisaurus Rex]

glenecho, you da man!!

[crispete]

 

These kinds of tests are useless and stupid (no offense to the OP, it was kind of neat seeing a bunch of people assuming that the worse sounding one was SS and picking the best sounding one as tube).

 

 

I thought the amp on the right sounded better. Was hoping it was the tube because I'm a vintage tube snob. The one on the right IMO had better definition while the one on the left sounded undefined and mushy. At least the 15 seconds of it I could handle I thought did.

I think some people have their speakers hooked up backwards. I just checked mine.

 

My friends Line 6 Vetta II got a virus and is now stuck on Twin Reverb.

[RUExp?]

I picked Peavey on the left because it sounded fuzzier and high gain tube amp usually sound fuzzy like that especially at the low volumes most people record at home.

[guitarcapo]

Since it's coming out of my laptop speaker...I think BOTh are digital.

[cobrahead1030]

so wait i'm confused...did the OP make his tube amp sound digital, or his digital amp sound tubey?

[OverDriven]

This recording sounds awful. Yes they sound almost the same to me. That doesn't mean you made your modeler sound like a tube amp. It means the recording was too bad to really tell. Show me a clip where you make your modeler sound like this and you'll have my attention:

http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?section=user&value=OverDriven

[Stephan1980]

the right one is tube

change my mind.. left one no right...

[blargh]

BS...tell that to Meshuggah. I stand firm that 19 out of 20 numbnuts can't tell the difference. And everytime one of these threads is posted, here or elsewhere...it only backs me up. That's why you see people sweating bullets everytime one of them is posted.

Did you even read my post I know modelers can sound good in some applications. Like I said, I'll "sweat bullets" when I play a modeler with the dynamics, touch sensitivity, complexity, and just plain balls of a great tube amp cranked up. Until then, modelers are a useful compromise between convenience and tone.

[Stephan1980]

sounds like some people aren't happy with the size of their tubez.....

[knucklefux]

i admit that i read the answer before i listened.

 

the right side sounded more present, and the left side sounded smoother (on the few sections where they weren't both going at the same time). that smoothness is what gives away the digital stuff every time, especially when we're talking about a 5150. honestly, i liked the HD147 better, but both had way too much gain for my taste in tone.

 

so, it's hard to be sure what i would have guessed, but i think i would have said 5150 on the right.

[Dropsix]

I couldn't tell the difference up until the drum break where the left side came in, and then the right side came in that. It was only around that part that I could do a proper comparison. The left sounded kinda flat on its own, and the right sounded "fuller" or some {censored} O_o.