A BLIND SHOOTOUT THAT WILL STUN YOU!

[lolzgreg]

Well guys,

Lately I have been doing blind tests and not telling you what the variables changed are. I like doing this because it really eliminates bias; you use your ears more this way.

Here are a total of three PAIRS of audio files of me playing guitar. A variable was changed in each of these clips, but I will not tell you what until the test is over. All I'm going to say is that when you know what was changed, you will be very very surprised

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1569935/BLIND SHOOTOUT.zip

L and R denotes a PAIR of guitars, so they have the same variable changed. You can listen to them as a stereo pair of guitars, or just pick one side if you'd like. Since most people here record rhythm guitar pairs, I figured that would be the most appropriate thing to do for the shootout

I didn't edit the DIs or anything, but they're definitely tight enough to judge a difference.

Pick your favorite: A, B, or C

If you think you know what was changed in the tests, please, feel free to comment.

50 votes, and I spill the beans!

-Greg

 

[fade_2_black]

A sounds infinitely best in my opinion. Very interested to hear what has been changed - sounds like a number of things but none that I would consider seriously as nothing I'm thinking would be too surprising as such..

 

[Boneman]

Pickup magnets.

 

[AllanD]

I choose A. I think what you changed was where you are picking, with C being furthest from the bridge and A being closest.

 

[006]

I know the secret!

 

[K Odell]

Pickup magnets.

How do they work?

 

[The-Zeronaut]

the secret is that you played the guitar naked in A
or changed the picking position or the tone control of the guitar...

its 7 am XD my ears are still asleep *_*

 

[guitarguru777]

You changed the pick you were using .... If i had to guess I would say ...

A. Delrin
B. Celluloid
D. Nylon

A is my fave

 

[Pipsymbol]

maybe pickup height?

 

[lolzgreg]

No one's got it yet...

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

Maybe changed the pots in the volume and tone controls?

Recorded in different DAWS?

They were recorded at Tad Donleys?

Tone is all in the fingers, therefore 3 different people played the same basic riff?

Ahhh, I give up!

 

[Soundlurker]

So far all I can say for sure is that C doesn't sound as good as the others.

 

[~BURNY~]

Cable length ? (assuming you're using passive pickups, doesn't work with EMG)

Haven't listened yet but I made an experiment with cable length and it was a jaw-dropping difference.

 

[Harley Barley]

Tone is all in the fingers, therefore 3 different people played the same basic riff?

+1 thats my guess

 

[Trevoire520]

I think you've rolled down the tone control for B and C.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Different picking hand velocity? A wins.

 

[amarshism]

Changed strings? I can't listen from my phone so pure speculation. Changed brand of batteries?

 

[Chris Lucas]

God damn I don't even know if I can hear that much of a difference, I must not be listening for it or something.

A sounds tighter by a little, might be my imagination though.

 

[Ermz]

Pickup selector Neck - Both - Bridge? Altering the input impedance of the DI?

 

[Fama]

Listening to plain DI's, I noticed that C sucked while I didn't have a clear preference on A and B. A was a teeny bit louder, according to Reaper's metering anyway.

Slapped TSE 808, Lepou's Lecto and Lecab 1 with s-preshigh on all the channels, and I have to say I (more clearly than plain DI's) liked A the most, followed by B and then C. Although compared to the other ones through the amp sim, C sounded better (than when I compared just the DI's).

So, A>B>C I guess. But they all sounded pretty good to my ears through the amp sims, although I think that's hardly surprising if you recorded them

Edit: My first guess was different interfaces/DI boxes, but then again cable length seems like a possibility too. Purely speculating on the whole poll, not based on anythin I heard/didn't hear in the DI's.