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rocktron piranha vs. engl E530


alekke

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Originally posted by Jopop

I use a 530.. i'll post you a clip if you want one?


I play trash/death/black metal mostly though. I can make it sound very metallic..

 

 

AAAAAAA finaly!!! I did downloaded some samples from rocksolidamps but I WANT MORE!

It would be great if you read this soon cause I was planing to buy this next week or so.

You can mail it to me. It is good that we are in the same kind of music. You can listen what we have done lately on my space. Recorded on GT-2, and some DIY dtuff...

 

Thanks!

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I'm lifting the topic since I'm considering buying either of preamps. People say the Piranha is to hissy on her high gain, while others say she crashes everything met on her way. I have the ADA MP-1 classic, but she is too smooth for my ears. Compared to the ADA MP-1, the Pirahna is more agressive and from these posts I gather the Engl 530 is yet more agressive. Am I right?

 

My own experience, however, says any sound becomes agressive when it gets a very good transistor crank. Without, tubes sound too warm and kind. I also want the Piranha, but now I have to stop in order to think more a bit about this issue. The 530 has something wrong with MIDI as I heard too.

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Just got back from another town. I went there to try engl E 530 in one shop. There were no power amps there so we conected it to the Powerballs return, and from that into engl 4x12.

Had to play on Ibanez vulgaris cause there was nothing similar to my Viper w/EMG 81 tuned in B. But...

 

...I was suprised by the sound. Just what I wanted! Very aggressive and metalic. Has enough gain for the rest of your life. Very tight lows, palm muteing cuts through perfectly. Chainsaw tone - yes! If I should compare it to someones guitar tone, first who comes in mind is Dino Casares on Demanufacture! Consider the variations.

 

Its all aranged, Im gettin it as fast as they can ship it! :thu:

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Originally posted by Elric



I'm pretty sure the Soldano X99 does. In fact I'm pretty sure they used the famous motorized pots on it to avoid solid state gain stages ANYWHERE in the signal path throughout the preamp (i.e. no active eq, as nearly all programmable preamps have, etc). Since you'll be buying one, you should check eBay. They come up on a semi regular basis and they're a great preamp.


Also, assuming your initial statement regarding the E530 is true, then I'd guess that it's highly likely the MIDI programmable big brothers: the E570 and E580, do as well. Engl can probably help determine if this is the case or if the E530 is an anomaly in their preamp line.


Sounds like someone else has verified that the Triaxis has minimal but non-zero op-amp usage at the input, too. So, that may be worth looking into as well.


Like I said, there is nothing about MIDI programmableness that requires solid state buffering of the input signal. That said, as you'd probably guess from my previous response, I never cared enough to research it at that level because I don't believe it's effect is significant if the device sounds good when demoed. For example, people on the net and elsewhere rip on the JMP-1 all day long due to the diode clipping stages in it, yet they ignore the fact that it's a great sounding pre. And there's still the stomp box point I made earlier, too. So you might be little rash in your dismissal of something solely because it contains solid state circuitry. Your Rockmaster might just be a better sounding pre for you than the H&K.


I guess I'm lucky to be able to preview stuff a bit locally.... The original poster is in someplace I would presume to be remote gearwise if I remember correctly. (Croatia?).

 

 

The E530 is completely tube. It is not midi compatible. You have to buy the Z-11 midi loop switcher in order to switch the channels via midi. The preamp is completely analog and tube. Also, the entire philosophy of Engl was pure tube tone with digital switching capability. The E580 is all tube tone and midi is used to store programming.

 

Mike

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I don't find the Piranha hissy at all.

 

The ADA mp-1. Now that's hissy.

 

The Piranha built in Hush is really good.

My rig is super quiet when not playing.

 

Even when playing I never noticed any overbaring hiss.

 

Here's my rig.

 

PDR_0042.jpg

 

I run everything in line.

Not thru the effects loop.

 

Since I do this, I'm able to use the effects loops mix control as a boost.

Meaning, if I have the effects loop on, even though nothing plugged into it, I can set the loops mix level knob to a level that will boost the signal louder than if the loop was off.

Works nice for the clean sound.

This way I can leave the gain setting lower on the clean channel, and not have to raise the patch volume level too high either.

Thus, getting my clean patches equal with my gain patches without the clean channel dirtying up.

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http://www.myspace.com/officialdimensionx

 

also, if you go to our myspace page,

listen to Open Letter.

That tune I did with the Piranha and my Carvin 7 string back in 2003.

The overall tone of the song is a little my compressed than I'd like.

But, it at least gives somewhat of an idea.

 

I've since tweaked my sounds over the last couple of years.

I'l be using this rig in the studio for our next cd.

I should be tracking guitars in a couple of weeks.

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Originally posted by unsane



where is this shop in croatia?

 

..in Zagreb. But I ordered it from Zadar.

 

It just came today. It bite balls! I run it through bassman 100 head (old one) and behringer 412V box. Unbelivebly how strong and tight and raunchy.

Cant wait to sell bugera speakers and buy

texas heat! That will rule!

...and then boss NS-2 to by Hush Super C!

Im upgradeing a little, from Rampage to E 530! :D

 

Problem is my bassman. I have very good sound on it, but I would sell it to buy something rackable.

TECH 21 comes to mind, but little fishy!

 

sugestions?

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Originally posted by unsane

oh yeah i think i know which shop you're talking about in zagreb..

i like your band man,we should meet up one day. i'll be coming to croatia maybe end of the year or january,my girlfriend is from zadar.

 

 

No {censored}?

This would pretty wierd if you are from far away!

Do I know her?

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As for me, I timidly bought the Piranha and it's unspeakably thick and agressive. Cuts as a knife, mows everything down. No hiss. What fascianted me most was that the sound remained tight at very high gain settings.

 

Though it takes time to tweak it, casue behaviour of its EQ is unusual and first it's hard to predict what sound will come out when turning EQ knobs. High gain presets are not all ok, so you need to learn how to tweak it, but many people aren't enough patient and they sell it hardly tried it out.

 

Regradelss what type of dist is used (classic or modern) , I would subdivide it into two characters: dark and bright. High gain is a bit fuzzy when bright and has a lot of vintage crisps; that's why people often say it's hissy and dirty and sounds like a solid state pedal. I think the bright sound is ok to use it with the Classic dist in the mid-gain settings. So keep the treble at zero or couterbalance it with high mids.

 

The dark sort of sound is also very well defined and thick.

 

And another plus is this: among all sounds in presets I found voices of most of the pedals I have or had: the maxon od 808, proco rat, boss ds1, mxr distortion+, h&k tubefactor, maxon rod 880 (something similar, still it's got a uniq voice) and so on; not so bad, isn't it?

 

Does anyone know what setting the Judas Priest used and use?

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Yes, like some other MIDI preamps, the Piranha has an active EQ. The controls are setup like an old school amp, but its incredibly easy to shoot yourself in the foot with the EQ if you don't remember or know that it is active. The treble control, in particular, can be used to poor effect if not treated like a true active eq. Really, on modern, I don't think I've ever had a need to set the treble on a Piranha above 4.

 

This can lead someone to a bogus conclusion about its voicing if it is not fully explored or understood. Especially, considering that the ease of use is so good with the 'just like an amp' interface.... It's easy to just treat it that way without regard for how it's unique.

 

That programmable mid control is awesome, once it 'clicks' for ya, though! :cool:

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Originally posted by Elric

Yes, like some other MIDI preamps, the Piranha has an active EQ. The controls are setup like an old school amp, but its incredibly easy to shoot yourself in the foot with the EQ if you don't remember or know that it is active. The treble control, in particular, can be used to poor effect if not treated like a true active eq. Really, on modern, I don't think I've ever had a need to set the treble on a Piranha above 4.


This can lead someone to a bogus conclusion about its voicing if it is not fully explored or understood. Especially, considering that the ease of use is so good with the 'just like an amp' interface.... It's easy to just treat it that way without regard for how it's unique.


That programmable mid control is awesome, once it 'clicks' for ya, though!
:cool:

 

Great post. I get killer tones from my Piranha.

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Originally posted by hefonthefjords



i never noticed the connection between the sweet tone and the direct to tube signal path before though... interesting indeed.

 

I think that the unprocessed signal that goes directly into the tubes contributes to the better response of the preamp. We can't hear the processing delay standalone, but it gives its own buck to the output signal which infulences on the final sound. Many people like it, many people don't. That's what heard.

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engl also has pretty hissy trebble knob. Is more like a pressence to me. I never put it above quater (I mean 3).

when I play Hi gain.

 

Is it possible to reduce that effect by buying a diffrent tubes?

JJ tubes are now available in one store in our country!

Anybody know how would it react? And would it fuct up my warrentry if I replace the stock ones?

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waaah, I desperately wanted to get rid of those pedals I own!

Im thinking about behringer 5 band parametric rackmounted.

Im able to get it for 90 bucks!

It is beter not to open engl for tube replacment, to be shure.

Yeah, I`ll stick with that idea!

Thanks

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Originally posted by separanets

As for me, I timidly bought the Piranha and it's unspeakably thick and agressive. Cuts as a knife, mows everything down. No hiss. What fascianted me most was that the sound remained tight at very high gain settings.


Though it takes time to tweak it, casue behaviour of its EQ is unusual and first it's hard to predict what sound will come out when turning EQ knobs. High gain presets are not all ok, so you need to learn how to tweak it, but many people aren't enough patient and they sell it hardly tried it out.


Regradelss what type of dist is used (classic or modern) , I would subdivide it into two characters: dark and bright. High gain is a bit fuzzy when bright and has a lot of vintage crisps; that's why people often say it's hissy and dirty and sounds like a solid state pedal. I think the bright sound is ok to use it with the Classic dist in the mid-gain settings. So keep the treble at zero or couterbalance it with high mids.


The dark sort of sound is also very well defined and thick.


And another plus is this: among all sounds in presets I found voices of most of the pedals I have or had: the maxon od 808, proco rat, boss ds1, mxr distortion+, h&k tubefactor, maxon rod 880 (something similar, still it's got a uniq voice) and so on; not so bad, isn't it?


Does anyone know what setting the Judas Priest used and use?

 

 

 

Hello there!

 

Just read your discussion...I'm aslo in doubt buying either Piranha or VooduValve. Seems like you have lot of expirience with this unit, so it would be very helpfull if we could hear some Piranha's mp3's...

 

Thanks!

 

Domagoj

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