Engl Invader 100 vs. Mesa Stiletto mix off (engl/mesa/orange/cow)

[Temps]

Same thing I posted at sevenstring.org ...

Here we go
To be totally fair to the Stiletto, I used a pretty crappy mic position for that one. I would do a direct A-B, but I'm out of time so instead, you can have my Stiletto clip from a few weeks ago to compare to the Engl that I recorded right now
There is pops of static on the tune... god knows where they came from. They are small, but by fucking god they are bothering me. Unfortunately I didn't have time to track down what caused this problem, or re-record. The song in general has some rough edges and could use some more tweaking. But, I said I'd post it so enjoy...

Engl - http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6952427
Stiletto - http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6863239

Intro is channel 1 on the invader, main riffs are channel 3, atmospheric riffs are channel 2.. still some stiletto left in the backing ones. all through my COW 7 with a Blackout Bridge pickup in it. No boost. bright on, high gain disengaged.. as you see, still PLENTY of gain on tap.

 

[Metaltastic]

Holy shit, that Engl clip sounds amazing! Somewhat scooped and yet it's got some EL34 sizzle, a very interesting combination, and definitely still Engl-sounding IMO, great job! Not a fan at all of the Stiletto clip, it sounds metallic like my JSX. Planning on selling it? You should now that you have an Invader What cab did you run these through, what mic(s), what interface, etc.

There's a ton of pops and clicks in the Engl clip, though, that are very annoying and distracting; they sound more like audio dropouts during tracking than clipping to me. And you might wanna tighten up the playing in certain parts

 

[Rex Rocker]

I think I liked the Stiletto just a wee-bit more... the palm-mutings sounded much less compressed, but then again, I'm kinda picky about gain and such..

I agree with Metaltastic, playing could use a bit more tightness, I hear it when the second riff kicks in...

Both sound pretty good, tho! I wish I could get a tone anywhere close to that!

 

[Temps]

Holy shit, that Engl clip sounds amazing! Somewhat scooped and yet it's got some EL34 sizzle, a very interesting combination, and definitely still Engl-sounding IMO, great job! Not a fan at all of the Stiletto clip, it sounds metallic like my JSX. Planning on selling it? You should now that you have an Invader What cab did you run these through, what mic(s), what interface, etc.

There's a ton of pops and clicks in the Engl clip, though, that are very annoying and distracting; they sound more like audio dropouts during tracking than clipping to me. And you might wanna tighten up the playing in certain parts

yeah that's what I figured they were. Not sure what could have caused them.. I upgraded this comp to 4 gigs of RAM awhile back just to avoid them, and had all background programs closed as usual. Never had that problem when I only had 1gb..

The Stiletto is already sold pending payment.. it sounded very nice layered with the Invader though. really, really nice. But the Invader channel 2 is pretty much the Stiletto's exact sound, just not quite as bright, so I'll be okay

As far as the setup... from start to finish
22 year old vintage fingers
Jackson COW Silverburst 7 string tuned to Bb w/Seymour Duncan Blackout Neck in the bridge
Engl Invader 100
Orange 4x12
Shure SM-57 (just one, angled 45 degrees towards the edge of cone)
Edirol UA-25 USB interface
Cubase SX3
Waves plug-ins
Mixed & "mastered" on Sennheiser HD280 Pro cans using ears that fail industrial hearing tests

I think I liked the Stiletto just a wee-bit more... the palm-mutings sounded much less compressed, but then again, I'm kinda picky about gain and such..

I agree with Metaltastic, playing could use a bit more tightness, I hear it when the second riff kicks in...

Both sound pretty good, tho! I wish I could get a tone anywhere close to that!

The playing is a little sloppy around that transition because it was really sudden before, and I wanted to bridge it a little better, but I only had about an hour to redo this whole song so I wasn't able to get it "just so" so its a couple really shitty hackjob crossfades instead ahaha
In the meantime, I was going for the Devin Townsend spongy layered guitar sound and managed to nail it with just two tracks but yeah.. I'm going to re-record when I get more time.
And I gotta say... I really loved the Stiletto, but the Invader is just that much closer to the tone in my head. It also helps it has the most useful channel setup I've ever seen - the versatility on this thing is absolutely insane. I loved playing that palm mute section - sounded a lot bigger in person, but yeah. It is compressed, but also heavy as life itself

 

[Fifth_Horseman]

hey, sometimes I lurk on sevenstring.org, and I saw that thread... congrats on the purchase!
I got an Invader 100 myself last month and am very happy with it so far. Channel 3 is like my old Fireball with alot more authority, punch and less fizz, so it also brought me closer to the tone in my head.
And the other channels bring alot of versatility to the table.

That ENGL clip sounds nice!

 

[Ermz]

The Invader sounds very 'bulbish' to me. Outlines once again why I think I dislike the voicing of that amp. It sounds like a POD to me, with the voicing in those low-mids.

Both clips are a bit hollow in their own way. I think that mic position lends itself to having another supporting mic giving a bit more meat. It sounds like it'd benefit from one in the standard 'Andy' position to bring up some chunkier mids when summed.

The stiletto would shine a lot more from a supporting mic. But either way, out of those clips, it's my favored tone of the two.

 

[Temps]

What's the "Andy" position?
I tried other mic positions as well, this is the only one that gave me the tone I was looking for... EQ wise, I think all I did is high pass at 80hz and then a 3dB super wide boost at 20khz to get a little bite back. I also used a C4 with a very tight range to tighten up the low mids again. The one thing I have never been able to do is get that really nice, thick guitar sound like Andy gets on This Godless Endeavor or Misery Signals has on Controller.. always eludes me

 

[Temps]

bump, would be nice to hear some more comments on the Engl mix

 

[::XeS::]

Great invader clip!!! Which was your settings?

 

[Temps]

Bright - On
High Gain - Off

Presence - 1:30
Depth Punch - Zero! Was completely off
Master A - 10:30

Channel 3
Gain - 3:00
Bass - 10:00
Mid - 1:00
Treble - 2:00
Volume - 10:00

Totally dry. Plugged guitar straight into amp, no effects in the loop, amp into cab, to mic.
My actual playing sound is a little different though - bass is even lower. Turned up for meat on the recording.