palmer pdi-03 vs pga-04 vs sequis motherload

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so im in the market for one of these cuz i will have some money comin my way and i want to be able to record my engl powerball and my vht clx silently but be able to crank their powersections as well! (thanks to the dummy load)

i just cant decide, the pdi03 seems to be the staple and people swear by it, but the pga 04 has more features for the same price and some people say the 03 sounds way better and others say that the 04 can be set to sound just like the 03. But they are the same price, so i wonder what you lose in the 04?
Also there is the motherload, and i dont know how that compares to either of those units but its almost twice the price, is it even worth considering?

Are there any other units that are similar that you guys could reccomend and do you know anywhere where i could try one out or something?

Any feedback, experience or help you guys can offer on this subject would be greatly appreciated! Oh and if anyone is or knows anyone who is selling either of these units, please let me know!

Thanks so much guys!
 
Never played a Motherload.

I'd take a PGA over the old reissue PDI, as you've said: more features, which can be helpful in some situations.

Additionally I would like to mention the Marshall SE-100, which sounds amazing. Like the Palmers it is a simulator and a loadbox and (extra plus) an attenuator. It just has presets though for recording (open/close, 0°, 30° and 60°) and is 2 RU.
 
have you tried the pga and the pdi tho because i heard that although the pga has more features, its harder to get a good sound out of it, and that the pga just sounds better overall.

also as cool as attenuators are, i am really just looking for the best speaker sim, so since im not going to mike it, i dont really need an attenuator (which the motherload has on it as well...)
 
The SE-100 is a simulator. It sounds amazing, esp. in combination with one of the Palmers, who cover more bottom end and treble. The SE-100 is mid-heavy - in a typical Marshall way - and like the typical SM57 sitting in front of a V30s - IMO.

The circuitry of the PDI and PGA are identical except for the EQ and the possibility to add the unfiltered signal in the PGA. Yup, I've tried them all, including the little sister, the PDI09 (no load, just sim). The talks about the PDI03 vs. PGA04 has this typical "vintage voodoo back to the roots blah blah" stuff, you know . . .
 
btw - some guys with experience are:

Ed Degenaro - used both units (PDI & PGA)
Jack Luminous - PGA and SE-100
Assinger - PGA, PDI?
Alex Flouros - PGA
 
ah that clears it up a bit, cuz yeah i know the whole "vintage-warm-NOS" crowd can overplay that whole thing a bit hehe, so you would say the pga wouldnt really lose much soundwise if anything at all?
 
Well, since Olaf already said it all (about the Palmers) here is a link to a nearly similar thread in the Diezel forum:

http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7864&highlight=

Unfortunately I couldn't try the Motherload, but meanwhile I'm really happy with the PDI-03. I'd love to try it together with the SE-100 but had no luck in finding one. I crank the mids a bit on my mixing board and it sounds very realistic, so I need to do only minor changes in the amp settings, when playing live or recording with a cab.
 
I've been using a Motherload for a few months now, it's the best amp sim I've yet to find. :thumbsup:

Sounds much better than a HotPlate when used as an attenuator, or can completely replace the speaker for when you're jamming at night in your apartment or wherever.

Tremendous control over the tone yet organic sounding. XLR out, and a nice FX loop so you can put your time based effects after the amp if you like that sound (it's pretty different from the stompbox in front approach).

The thing is built very sturdy and is a one rack mount unit. With a little tweaking, I can get the sound to be about 99% the same as putting a Royer 121 ribbon in front of my BadCats (CubII RT and HotCat 30R). Sounds good clean or just slightly overdriven, unlike my AxeTrack (sealed speaker cab) which works OK for distorted sounds but not good for clean.

Your mileage my vary, but this is the best speaker emulator I've yet tried. :)

Terry D.
 
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