High gain amp comparison

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Update: volume 4 is out:



Update: volume 3 is out:



This one has 8 50/60 watt amps in it.

The included amps are:

- Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier
- Orange Rockerverb 50 MKIII
- PRS Archon 50
- Laney Ironheart 60
- Marshall DSL50
- EVH 5150III EL34 50w
- Invaders 950 Bad'As
- Blackstar HT Club 50 MKIII

Update: volume 2 is out:



This one features the following amps:

- ENGL Savage 120 MKII
- ENGL Powerball II
- Mesa Dual Rectifier
- Peavey Invective 120
- Marshall JVM410H
- Blackstar HT Stage 100 MKIII
- Randall Diavlo 100

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I'm starting a new high gain amplifier comparison series and in the first episode I'm comparing the following amps with just high gain tones, so no clean or crunch tones:

- ENGL Fireball 100
- RedSeven Leviathan
- Driftwood Purple Nightmare
- Diezel VH-2
- Victory Super Kraken
- Peavey 6505 1992 Original
- Marshall DSL100HR

The guitar that I used here is my ESP LTD EC1000T CTM in vintage gold satin with the Fishman Classic Open Core pickup in the bridge on the default hot rodded humbucker voicing:

 
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dstroud said:
man i’m really liking the 6505. sounds darker than most isolated but still sits good in the mix
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Yeah it's awesome! In hindsight I could have cranked the presence a touch but I figured it still sounded great and it would only make them sound more the same
 
Great demo as always.
I really like the back to back comparisons at 18"
It really shows where each amp is in the mids and attack
The VH2 just sounds so huge no surprise.
DSL hung with the rest which I knew would happen
The Victory sounded very boxy to me
 
Cool comparison, nice riffs. The Victory is the loser here for me. Distant last place. I liked the ENGL a lot but it had some sub-lows that none of the others had thru my home system. Would prefer less of that. The Diezel was great all around. 6505 still kicking any pretenders to the curb. Marshall a little out of its wheelhouse but serviceable. Never really got the Driftwood tone, too mid-focused for me. The Red Seven was the brightest and up to that point in the video I thought I would welcome that but...I didn't. It was better than the DSL/Driftwood/Kraken but still outdone by the ole 6505.
 
The Driftwood slays, IMHO. Maybe my fave.

That said, the Kraken was the only one that I would consider less than good. The 6505 was also a bit uninspiring which surprises me because I consider it the archetypal metal amp; but that is probably just me wanting more presence on it rather than a deficiency of the amp.
 
Mine in order...

Engl - agree with @SpiderWars, got some lows happening I would have liked to have that backed out a tad but overall would place this first for this comparison.
Marshall - surprisingly very even sounding across the board. Nice to see this thing hanging with the big boys.
Driftwood - nice, lots of mids, tight. Kinda Marshally.
6505 - needed to be a tad brighter for this comparison, that's very much highlighted by where it sits in the comparison of the video between the other two amps. Would have ranked this higher had that been the case. We all know what this thing can do, still the standard.
VH2 - slightly bloated sounding here.
Red Seven - somethings missing here, almost plastic sounding for me.
Victory - no, flat sounding.

For this video, "for me" the Red Seven and Victory are the distant back markers.
 
jabps said:
Mine in order...

Engl - agree with @SpiderWars, got some lows happening I would have liked to have that backed out a tad but overall would place this first for this comparison.
Marshall - surprisingly very even sounding across the board. Nice to see this thing hanging with the big boys.
Driftwood - nice, lots of mids, tight. Kinda Marshally.
6505 - needed to be a tad brighter for this comparison, that's very much highlighted by where it sits in the comparison of the video between the other two amps. Would have ranked this higher had that been the case. We all know what this thing can do, still the standard.
VHT - slightly bloated sounding here.
Red Seven - somethings missing here, almost plastic sounding for me.
Victory - no, flat sounding.

For this video, "for me" the Red Seven and Victory are the distant back markers. Way in the back.
Click to expand...

VHT?

Regarding the ENGL low end, I left some low end in there on purpose so you guys could hear what's going on there but of course in a mix you can just filter that out
 
Guitarjon said:
VHT?

Regarding the ENGL low end, I left some low end in there on purpose so you guys could hear what's going on there but of course in a mix you can just filter that out
Click to expand...
Lol...sorry, I meant to type in VH2. Fixed.

Actually the more I listen the more I'm digging the Driftwood.
 
I really like the size and weight that the Diezel presents and the 5150 sounded great as well. I felt that the Marshall sounded surprising good here as well. RedSeven and Victory sounded small and brittle by comparison to those three.
 
The Engl was probably the best sounding of all the clips to me. The diezel was really good. 6505 really good. I have the distinct feeling though that the Marshall would smoke them all with a little more EQ or maybe even more master? Maybe I'm wrong. It seemed like it was on the cusp of glory.. Nice comparison!
 
Update: volume 2 is out:



This one features the following amps:

- ENGL Savage 120 MKII
- ENGL Powerball II
- Mesa Dual Rectifier
- Peavey Invective 120
- Marshall JVM410H
- Blackstar HT Stage 100 MKIII
- Randall Diavlo 100
 
K-Roll said:
For me it's still the VH2 in these clips. Great definition and a grainy character that comes through the mix, but not super abbrassive.
Click to expand...

I adore that amp! Sounds so unique! Not super tight but very fat and edgy in a wonderful way!
 
Guitarjon said:
I adore that amp! Sounds so unique! Not super tight but very fat and edgy in a wonderful way!
Click to expand...
Hi, Jon!! I know you've got MANY AMPS. I wanna know what's your opinion. You've played Engl SE FE. Is this the best ENGL? I always dreamed about ENGL amps when I was younger. Now, I feel ENGL amps are damn compressed and digital to me. How do you like ENGL SE FE compared to MESA recto?
 
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