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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 10, 2007 22:19:15 GMT -7
OK I had a request to compare the Stingray and the RXES so I did a bit of fiddling with my cab and here's the story. I had wired my THD 2x12 with the two Golds so that each speaker was wired directly to one of the two jacks on the back of the cab. There was a wire going between the two jacks, so I thought why not clip that wire so the two speakers are independent? That way I can run two amps on that cab, or if I only have one amp, just run two cables from a Y cable or a second jack on my Hot Plate. Either way. So that's what I did. Then I set up my Radial JX-2 A/B/Y switch in front of both amps. I ran the Stingray through the Airbrake and the RXES through my 8 ohm Hot Plate. I set both attenuators to -8db and put two Rode NT-1 mics in front of the two Golds, panned left and right. The Stingray is the first amp you hear, then the RXES so you can keep track by which side you hear them on. I decided to use my Grosh Tele because it sounds so sweet with the Stingray, and I was curious how the two amps would sound with that guitar. I set both amps fairly clean for the beginning of the clip, then about 1/3 of the way in, you'll hear me pause on the Stingray side while I reach down and flip the Overdose switch and turn the RXES up. That's when the fun really starts! So here are the settings: Stingray Settings:
Volume: 6 Tone: 4 Cut: Noon
RXES Settings:
Start of clip: Volume: 4 OD: Off Treble: Dimed Middle: Dimed Bass: Dimed
1/3 through clip: Volume: 6 OD: On Treble: Dimed Middle: Dimed Bass: DimedOnce again, ignore the playing - I was all over the map on this, but it was fun, so what the hey. My impressions? Set close to the same, I think the Stingray has an advantage on the bottom, but both amps chime like crazy. When the OD comes on and the volume goes up on the RXES, it's like a Stingray on steroids. Very cool sound, and I finished out the clip with both amps on at the same time. The clip: StingrayRXES_AlnicoGolds.mp3A side note: when you have two jacks tightened down on a plate in the back of your cab, your two amps share a common ground back there. For this reason, you really want a ground lift on your A/B box! Before I switched it in, the RXES demonstrated it's displeasure by howling at the top of its voice. That was not pleasant... I'm going to put an isolator under both of those jacks now, so the two speakers are completely independent.
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Post by aj1169 on Mar 11, 2007 4:54:03 GMT -7
WOW! That's exactly what I was wanting to hear. Looks like the RxES is on my wish list to go along with my Ray now. Thanks for the clips.
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Post by DRZ on Mar 11, 2007 6:21:55 GMT -7
Again, as always very nice Steve. Great recording technique, shows the subtle differances in both amps ans how they do sound nice together, ( Everyone should buy both...... ha ha ) .
DR.Z
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Post by aj1169 on Mar 11, 2007 6:38:39 GMT -7
Hey Doc, I just posted in the experts section if it would be safe to run the RxES head with a 2x12 cab with Blues if I were to use an Airbrake with it? I have my StangRay and cab coming in soon, but I'm really looking to add the RxES with the setup sometime down the road. I've heard that the RxES blows the Blues up pretty easily, so would I be better off getting a different cab or combo version of this amp? Thanks
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Post by DRZ on Mar 11, 2007 7:02:44 GMT -7
Hey Doc, I just posted in the experts section if it would be safe to run the RxES head with a 2x12 cab with Blues if I were to use an Airbrake with it? I have my StangRay and cab coming in soon, but I'm really looking to add the RxES with the setup sometime down the road. I've heard that the RxES blows the Blues up pretty easily, so would I be better off getting a different cab or combo version of this amp? Thanks You will be RELATIVELY safe with an RX and Attenuator with two blues. Just be sensible, the Blues are very efficient ( re: LOUD) so moderate volumes from the RX work fine. May I suggest a 1X12 loaded with a GOLD, I will be offering 1X12 combo's of both RX and StangRay loaded with one GOLD. Also I love two Greenbacks with the RX my fav but YMMV, much cheaper and will hold up. Just some idea's, remember you can blow a 300 watt EV if you try and old Jensen's have lasted many years in old Fenders and they were only rated for 18 watts. DR.Z
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Post by aj1169 on Mar 11, 2007 7:20:18 GMT -7
Thanks for the info doc. Which of these speaker setups would you recommend for a more modern country/classic rock grind, the Greenbacks or the Gold? I would be using the StangRay/Blues primarily for the clean to semi-clean country stuff, so I would be looking for a little more of a breakup tone with the RxES.
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Post by Bill on Mar 11, 2007 7:38:21 GMT -7
Great job demo'ing the two amps, Steve. Having owned both I can attest to the accuracy accomplished in your recording. Btw, my wife yelled from the other room, "are you listening to Cream?"
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 11, 2007 8:19:59 GMT -7
Again, as always very nice Steve. Great recording technique, shows the subtle differances in both amps ans how they do sound nice together, . DR.Z Thanks Mike! These are two very cool amps if you ask me. I'm very excited to have them! Well yeah!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 11, 2007 8:20:38 GMT -7
Great job demo'ing the two amps, Steve. Having owned both I can attest to the accuracy accomplished in your recording. Btw, my wife yelled from the other room, "are you listening to Cream?" ;D
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Post by drew on Mar 11, 2007 10:23:20 GMT -7
Far Frickin Out Steve! That put a smile on my face this morning, afternoon???. ;D Both amps together was my favorite section of the recording, monsterously great tone! I liked each amp for what it does and both amps do their thing very well. Your playing, settings and setup are also a big part in the recording. I preferred the RXES with the T-M-B dimed too. As always, cool recording and licks. Keep on Rockin...
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Post by JChance on Mar 11, 2007 10:29:16 GMT -7
Cool sounds as always, brotha. You've got a great recording setup. I LOVE your sounds. Both amps sound great... Can really tell the difference and folks can simply use their personal preference (I dig the Extra Strength myself...)
Interesting that you are just using the NT-1's. Where are you positioning them? What are you using for software? You've got a great ear for this stuff, and I think a lot of guys would do well with recording guitar if they learned how you were doing yours..
J
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 11, 2007 12:20:08 GMT -7
Cool sounds as always, brotha. You've got a great recording setup. I LOVE your sounds. Both amps sound great... Can really tell the difference and folks can simply use their personal preference (I dig the Extra Strength myself...) Interesting that you are just using the NT-1's. Where are you positioning them? What are you using for software? You've got a great ear for this stuff, and I think a lot of guys would do well with recording guitar if they learned how you were doing yours.. J Thanks Jason! I just had the NT-1's about ten inches in front of each speaker, off to the side a bit so you aren't getting that harsh center cone stuff. I use the NT-1's because I don't want my guitar to sound like an SM57. I don't mind using the SM57's live because there's a sound guy out front mangling the tone anyway. But when recording, garbage in, garbage out. I strive to get the most authentic tone without any tone manipulations in the software. About the only thing I do in the software is adjust for level once the recording is done. Sometimes I'll use a bit of compression to do that, sometimes not. This time I didn't because I wanted a genuine comparison between the two amps. But after the recording pass, the level wasn't quite up to 0db, so I "normalized" to the highest peak on the recording. Getting great recordings is a combination of several things in my view. You need the best mics you can possibly afford. You need to know where to place them, because that is how you should change the tone, NOT the EQ knobs on the console. You need a decent way to route those mic outputs to the PC. And you need to understand whatever software you have so that you can tell if your recording needs some post production to get it to standard levels. In my studio, I plug the Rode NT-1's into a Yamaha 01V96 digital board. I've never taken the time to get the light pipe set up (I could dump the audio straight to the computer using the ADAT output, but I'm not quite there yet). So I take the analog output from my 01V96 and route that into an Echo Layla system that does another A/D conversion for me. For software, I'm using one of two programs for recording. I have Sonic Foundry's Acid Pro if I want to use some loops for backing tracks, or I have Sonic Foundry's Vegas Audio for multi-tracking. Once I've cut a track and want to master it to .mp3, I save to .wav format first, then open that in Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge. Sound Forge only does stereo tracks, but it has all the plugins and tools for editing, like fade in, fade out, compression, normalization, etc. One reason my clips sound good is that I have had this program long enough to know where the cool tools reside. One of these days I'll have to get something else - it's running on an old 930MHz Pentium III right now. You don't need 3 GHz Pentium IV's to do a few tracks at a time. Sonic Foundry was purchased by Sony, and they've issued several updates since my programs were purchased. But I'm not a big fan of Sony - well, let me put it another way - Sony is the brother of the Devil, so when this computer dies, I'll probably have to start over. Bleah... The good news is that there are some really GREAT audio editors out there now. When I got this stuff, there were really only a couple good ones. That's sure changed! When I get a minute here I'll take a couple pix of the setup. Oh, PS - don't let my setup fool you - good audio clips can be made a LOT less expensively than this setup here. You can get a fairly cheap starter mixer and a decent sound card for your PC all for under a couple hundred dollars, and the sound card will come with a light version of one of the better audio editors. The mics are where you need to focus your investment dollars. When I bought the Rode NT-1's, they had just come to America and were priced at $399 each. That's what I paid. But you can get them now for $199 each - bad for me, good for you! Also, when I bought the Rode NT-1's, there was almost nothing else at that price point that was as good. That is certainly not the case now. For $199 each you can buy stupendously great microphones for studio application. If you happen to end up with the Rode mics, you'll be doing fine in my view. But don't limit your search there - a LOT of great mics are out there now. YMMV.
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Post by telejas on Mar 11, 2007 15:19:58 GMT -7
Wow, love those clips side by side and at the same time..... This really is a great comparison of the two amps. The both sound GREAT, but different at the same time. I can also see where you could use either amp for just about any situation though.
I really like my RX-ES and I think I made the right choice in getting that to start with....... but I still would like a Stangray (in addition) some day in the future.
GREAT stuff man!!!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 11, 2007 15:58:41 GMT -7
Wow, love those clips side by side and at the same time..... This really is a great comparison of the two amps. The both sound GREAT, but different at the same time. I can also see where you could use either amp for just about any situation though. I really like my RX-ES and I think I made the right choice in getting that to start with....... but I still would like a Stangray (in addition) some day in the future. GREAT stuff man!!! Thanks! It's not about "need" is it? It's about "want" and that should be enough.
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Post by prsnstrat on Mar 13, 2007 14:40:32 GMT -7
Wow! How wonderful those sounds are!! THe only problem I had is that I couldn't tell which was which sometimes...unless the Overdose was engaged...can you advise?
Lovely tones AND playing benttop!!!
Sincerely, Brandon
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 13, 2007 14:50:26 GMT -7
Wow! How wonderful those sounds are!! THe only problem I had is that I couldn't tell which was which sometimes...unless the Overdose was engaged...can you advise? Lovely tones AND playing benttop!!! Sincerely, Brandon Thanks Brandon! Stingray is the first one you hear. It stays on that channel throughout, so listening with headphones you can track it pretty well. When set up clean, the RXES is pretty close to the Stingray, i'n't it?
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Post by prsnstrat on Mar 14, 2007 8:49:57 GMT -7
Sure that was really nice to have a comparison. The 'Ray almost sounded fatter on tape? But the Es overdose mode is soooo sweet.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 14, 2007 8:58:45 GMT -7
Sure that was really nice to have a comparison. The 'Ray almost sounded fatter on tape? But the Es overdose mode is soooo sweet. I think I mentioned that I thought the Stingray had the edge on the bottom when both amps are set up clean. But you're right, the OD is pretty sweet too. The amps behave as if they belong together in one cabinet, as one amplifier with a switching mechanism, ala 6545. Now THAT would be an interesting development. If the Doc had time to develop every idea we come up with here, he wouldn't have time to produce anything.
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Post by Bill on Mar 14, 2007 15:11:45 GMT -7
Keep in mind Steve has the Ray tone knob on 4, which is around 10/11 o'clock. Turning the knob way over to about 2/ 3 o'clock on a bright Tele bridge will produce, just maybe the fattest single coil clean tone you've ever heard. If anyone's ever played a Ghia, the knob works the same way.
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Post by beej on Mar 14, 2007 17:06:13 GMT -7
SWEET!!! ;D ;D
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Post by garyh on Mar 15, 2007 19:26:46 GMT -7
Most rightious (spelling?) tones I've heard in a while. Thanks Steve. Thoroughly enjoyed that.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 15, 2007 20:48:25 GMT -7
Thanks! These amps are definitely tickling my fancy!
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Post by kidmagic on May 30, 2007 8:24:05 GMT -7
Well, this was cool thread. Thanks guys.
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Post by zone47 on May 31, 2007 4:33:19 GMT -7
Excellent !! That was very well done and a great compare, thanks for taking the time. ( nice chops too )
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 15, 2007 9:42:29 GMT -7
Several questions about this topic in a couple other threads, so back to the top it goes. Hope it helps you guys who are wondering about these two great amps.
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