Soldano X88 IR … I need this!
- Thread starter JerEvil
- Start date
JerEvil
Well-known member
Yeah I’ll likely get my order in tomorrow. My Sweetwater guy says there are 40 preorders in currently!
They get about 6-8 in at a time so conservatively he said it would be like end of Nov or early Dec before getting mine
Little B
Well-known member
I got mine today.Had about 3 hrs on it a/b'ing with my og x88r straight into vht 2150 to 2- 4×12s.
I'm dawless atm,so unless we settle for a cellphone vid,I'll give a quick rundown now;
I used a custom tele and custom guthrie govan. My og is 34 yrs old and values may have drifted some and I do have some premium 12ax7s in it too.
On the 88ir I bypassed all irs,etc,used effects send or main outs-they seemed the same to me.
The 88ir seems to have more gain all channels,and ch 1 is way better especially with the alt setting- I had some killer tele crunch twang with it.
The fat seems to slightly scoop the mids and loosen the low end a bit on ch2&3 ( you can't hardly hear it but u can feel it).ch3 has way more gain than any human being would ever need,but it seems all usable just like the og.
After 3 hrs I got ch 2 and 3 almost audibly matched between the new and old 88.but the knobs were way different on each.
To me,the new 88 seems to have a slight mid push in tone, where the og has a slight increase in clarity. This could be tubes,idk.
Looking thru the vents on the new 88 I think tubes are jjs.And the new 88 doesn't get near as hot as the og.
Both 88s totally shred when u kick in the high gain.I found me liking the fat off with the new 88.
The new 88 also is quieter overall.Less hum for sure.The new 88 is definitely more versatile especially with ch1 alt setting.I have to live with the new 88 for awhile yet,this is only 3hrs in.
I just wanted to see if I could tonally match both 88s up and I got pretty close.Tommorrow it be all different, idk.
I have a mezz nirvana pre and to me I think the 88s are a bit rawer.But mine mezz doesn't have the metal mod either.
Anyways,ya,I'd say the new 88 passes all the tests.Still gonna keep the og too.
I'm dawless atm,so unless we settle for a cellphone vid,I'll give a quick rundown now;
I used a custom tele and custom guthrie govan. My og is 34 yrs old and values may have drifted some and I do have some premium 12ax7s in it too.
On the 88ir I bypassed all irs,etc,used effects send or main outs-they seemed the same to me.
The 88ir seems to have more gain all channels,and ch 1 is way better especially with the alt setting- I had some killer tele crunch twang with it.
The fat seems to slightly scoop the mids and loosen the low end a bit on ch2&3 ( you can't hardly hear it but u can feel it).ch3 has way more gain than any human being would ever need,but it seems all usable just like the og.
After 3 hrs I got ch 2 and 3 almost audibly matched between the new and old 88.but the knobs were way different on each.
To me,the new 88 seems to have a slight mid push in tone, where the og has a slight increase in clarity. This could be tubes,idk.
Looking thru the vents on the new 88 I think tubes are jjs.And the new 88 doesn't get near as hot as the og.
Both 88s totally shred when u kick in the high gain.I found me liking the fat off with the new 88.
The new 88 also is quieter overall.Less hum for sure.The new 88 is definitely more versatile especially with ch1 alt setting.I have to live with the new 88 for awhile yet,this is only 3hrs in.
I just wanted to see if I could tonally match both 88s up and I got pretty close.Tommorrow it be all different, idk.
I have a mezz nirvana pre and to me I think the 88s are a bit rawer.But mine mezz doesn't have the metal mod either.
Anyways,ya,I'd say the new 88 passes all the tests.Still gonna keep the og too.
crwnedblasphemy
Well-known member
Being an at home player, I've been looking at these since last week. I could totally use this. I'd like to see a demo with channel 2 or 3 boosted and see how that sounds. Overall, Soldano has thought this one out for today's guitarist. For $2499, its pretty solid looks like.
GreatRedDragon
Well-known member
I don't have any Soldano experience but clips I've heard of this... I'm pretty tempted to give one a go.
I'm a home-player who uses a 100w Marshall head with a reactive load and an IR loader. This looks like the equivalent of all three pieces of kit in one unit.
And I'm hearing more hot-rodded Marshall than the uber-compressed 5150III-style high gain I was especting. Or am I crazy?
I'm a home-player who uses a 100w Marshall head with a reactive load and an IR loader. This looks like the equivalent of all three pieces of kit in one unit.
And I'm hearing more hot-rodded Marshall than the uber-compressed 5150III-style high gain I was especting. Or am I crazy?
Little B
Well-known member
Are you referring to the new or og 88r? Ch 2 or 3?
" looser type of tone "- do u mean looser gain?
....ch 3 ( the ultra high gain ch) is fairly tight gain wise,but was never as tight as say a iic+ mode on a triaxis or a quad preamp,or a vht gp3.
If ch3 is set the right way,I'm sure it'd do thrash or chugga fine.But it's forte is that singing lead tone that just has the right cut,presence and sustain that a soldano has.
PBGas
Well-known member
Same! Mine is coming next week. Such a great unit! So looking forward to it!
JerEvil
Well-known member
Man mine won't be here for like 3 weeks...
PBGas
Well-known member
It will be so worth it!
Will report back next week!
JerEvil
Well-known member
I’m wondering if the lo and hi cuts can be retained in the unit when not using the editor. Not that it really matters…