Krank Rev Jr the ultimate Krank/EMG test, pix mp3s....

[MetalJonesy]

rite guys, couldnt decide where to post this for you all, as it falls under gear, tone and production, however...

currently using Metaltastic's DI tracks of his ibanez loaded with 81 and 85 pups in the bridge for comparison, ive done a little, well extensive reamping of both the 81/85 comparisons, and the Krank in different active FX loop modes and amp levels!!!

all the tracks are reamped with the Reamp V2, im using the mic technique of an SM57 aimed at the dustcap/cone of a Marshall 1960A wth V30s join and all into my Motu 8pre

heres a couple of fotos of the amp/pedal settings that never changed during the test (apart from master vol which ill talk about):

used as much as i could to totally deaden the room effect, and its worked very well!

right now some bumf on how i did each take

theres 6 sound files. 3 are the 81, and 3 are the 85.

RMP 1 files are all vol 12:00, active FX 12:00
RMP 2 files are all vol 3:00, active FX 12:00
RMP 3 files are all vol 2:00, active FX 3:00 (LOUD)

when recording them and looking at the wave forms, you can see how each naturally compresses (tube saturation/comp) into more of a steady wave form. below are the l channel of the 81 reamp, 1, 2 and 3 and you can see the natural compression on each of the lower end umphs:

very minimal post processing going on. The usual HP LF filters, and excuse the clipping from the gclip here and there, my fault, but im sure you can get the idea

heres the clips:

EMG 81s REAMP 1

EMG 81s REAMP 2

EMG 81s REAMP 3

EMG 85s REAMP 1

EMG 85s REAMP 2

EMG 85s REAMP 3


Hope yall like em, may not be the best, but a nice reference point

oh and incase anyones being picky and anal, the duvet is polyester

all files RAR'd:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/369408/KRANK TEST/EMG 81 85 KRANK COMP.rar

 

[tobin1]

That's a damn fine tone you got out of that rev jr, nice clips

 

[CatharsisStudios]

is that a marshall valvestate 80 hahahaha

 

[Ermz]

Hey mate, sounds a bit fizzy and boxy to me on the whole.

I'm thinking with that blanket you've got over the cab and mic you're not going to be seeing such a great effect because:

1) That thing will only attenuate the higher frequencies so
2) You're going to get all the mud left in there and
3) It's possible that the blanket is causing the lower mid frequencies to bounce around and linger within that space hence muddying your tone further

In order to deaden correctly, you need to get absorption material that will absorb as evenly as possible across the spectrum. For a guitar cab anything with good figures to 100hz should suffice. This means having to straddle corners, as well as deaden any open, blank walls. This will give a much better and clearer result than a blanket draped over the cab and mic. The blanket approach tends to exacerbate the problems in most cases.

Good luck!

 

[gabriel g.]

all clips sound a little bit "phasy" at the start like there is something out of phase..

 

[MetalJonesy]

Hey mate, sounds a bit fizzy and boxy to me on the whole.

I'm thinking with that blanket you've got over the cab and mic you're not going to be seeing such a great effect because:

1) That thing will only attenuate the higher frequencies so
2) You're going to get all the mud left in there and
3) It's possible that the blanket is causing the lower mid frequencies to bounce around and linger within that space hence muddying your tone further

In order to deaden correctly, you need to get absorption material that will absorb as evenly as possible across the spectrum. For a guitar cab anything with good figures to 100hz should suffice. This means having to straddle corners, as well as deaden any open, blank walls. This will give a much better and clearer result than a blanket draped over the cab and mic. The blanket approach tends to exacerbate the problems in most cases.

Good luck!

cheers for the input mate, with regars the blanket, if it wasnt there it would have sounded a whole lot worse caus the room is god awful for the most part! im still in the experimentation stage with regards the krank and recording, and getting a tone i like.

as for the fizz, id say thats intentional, im all about that, haha, i use the AILD for a reference of the Krank as that tone really does it for me!

ill be booking studio time next year as i have access to some great studios, which will soon include a C24 suite with neve preamps, progressing into a studio with an Einstein consol and 2" tape, upto Digico and a Neve VRP setup, so gives me some time to prep for those sessions!

 

[Metaltastic]

Hey Mark, sorry it took me awhile to get to listening to these, but of the batch my favorite is definitely the RMP 1; 2 sounds too muffled (especially on the slow arpeggios on the right guitar) and 3 is WAY too middy and unfocused IMO, especially with the saturation (sounds more like my monitors distorting than the guitar! ). The only thing you changed was the relative volume between 'em? That's wild, I guess the increased volume caused too much buildup of lows/low-mids or something, and I really don't mind the fizz at all on the first, I like it a lot! Great job man! As for the differences between the 81 and 85, they're much less than the differences between reamping, so I'm definitely sticking with the 85.

Thanks a lot for this dude!

 

[MetalJonesy]

Hey Mark, sorry it took me awhile to get to listening to these, but of the batch my favorite is definitely the RMP 1; 2 sounds too muffled (especially on the slow arpeggios on the right guitar) and 3 is WAY too middy and unfocused IMO, especially with the saturation (sounds more like my monitors distorting than the guitar! ). The only thing you changed was the relative volume between 'em? That's wild, I guess the increased volume caused too much buildup of lows/low-mids or something, and I really don't mind the fizz at all on the first, I like it a lot! Great job man! As for the differences between the 81 and 85, they're much less than the differences between reamping, so I'm definitely sticking with the 85.

Thanks a lot for this dude!

cheers man ive took away the blanket and reamped my as i lay dying cover, sounds alot better, also slightly moved the mic position a bit further off the dustcap cone join

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/369408/AILD vox gey.mp3

just a v quick mix and me doin some ghey vox, but the gtr tone is deffo better
its the active fx loop i think thats the problem, took it off and the mids are much smoother!

 

[Metaltastic]

Oh man, these guitars are PERFECT in terms of the balance of smoothness and bite - but now they sound SUPER muffled! Listening to the individual guitar 20 seconds in, it doesn't sound like the mic positioning is at fault, rather they just could really use either more treble or less bass (and I can't even begin to make any suggestions about the sweep, having never used one!) - also, the bass itself sounds really good (how did you do it?), but has just a bit too much mud in the 100-300 range, so I'd suggest sucking some of that out (but more bite on the guitars might solve that). Good job dude, I'm loving that Rev Jr. tone! (already SO much more than anything I've heard from a 5150 )

 

[MetalJonesy]

Oh man, these guitars are PERFECT in terms of the balance of smoothness and bite - but now they sound SUPER muffled! Listening to the individual guitar 20 seconds in, it doesn't sound like the mic positioning is at fault, rather they just could really use either more treble or less bass (and I can't even begin to make any suggestions about the sweep, having never used one!) - also, the bass itself sounds really good (how did you do it?), but has just a bit too much mud in the 100-300 range, so I'd suggest sucking some of that out (but more bite on the guitars might solve that). Good job dude, I'm loving that Rev Jr. tone! (already SO much more than anything I've heard from a 5150 )

ahh man you know what im strugglin with tis reamp ive got going on with the krank, the sweep is now at 3o and trb at 12:00, its crazy i rlly dont know how to voice it, and ur rite bout the 300 area as i did boost the guitars there i think ive found a gud pos on my cab, just need to dial the guitar tone in now

the bass is a DI'd one
im mainly using the sansamp psa1 plugin in pro tools, really great for bringing out the fx
and ive comped and eqd that n sent that to an aux which has a dblr fx on to make it a bit wider, to give it a bit of fullness.... this song atm is my ref point, spent far too long on it, aint mixed the toms or owt on it yet either!! cheers for the input man, ill gan back after crimbo n mess with it!

still workin on the kick tone, what you think, still too clicky??

 

[Uladyne]

Oh Gawd I gotta get me one uh dem Kranks! Sounds stellar dude. I love that tone. I would agree that it lacks a bit of focus (just a bit), and that perhaps you could maybe roll off the lows a bit, but overall it sounds awesome and way better than anything I've ever done, so I'm not in the position to criticize! Excellent, in deed. I think that kick is perfect, really. Enough click for definition, but not overbearing for that style. Thanks for helping me with my amp purchasing decision!

 

[Melodeath]

I'm loving RMP 3 with the 81. RMP3 sounds "raunchier" than the other RMPs, and the 81 sounds a bit clearer to me than the 85

Obviously it's too raunchy a tone for all applications though.

 

[Metaltastic]

ahh man you know what im strugglin with tis reamp ive got going on with the krank, the sweep is now at 3o and trb at 12:00, its crazy i rlly dont know how to voice it, and ur rite bout the 300 area as i did boost the guitars there i think ive found a gud pos on my cab, just need to dial the guitar tone in now

the bass is a DI'd one
im mainly using the sansamp psa1 plugin in pro tools, really great for bringing out the fx
and ive comped and eqd that n sent that to an aux which has a dblr fx on to make it a bit wider, to give it a bit of fullness.... this song atm is my ref point, spent far too long on it, aint mixed the toms or owt on it yet either!! cheers for the input man, ill gan back after crimbo n mess with it!

still workin on the kick tone, what you think, still too clicky??

Haha, yeah, I'd imagine that sweep knob would drive me bonkers - does it drastically effect all the other knobs, or is it at least kinda independent? And the kick is maybe just a TOUCH too clicky, but I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it, and I really like how it's not so much clicky as "soggy" (to quote Aaron Smith), I much prefer that smack sound - what sample(s) did you use man? (and mind sharing it/them? ) Also, am I hearing subdrops in the half-time groove? I don't really hear the subdrop itself, I just feel some EXTREME bass and master bus pumpage (it works, though seems to be distorting a bit)

 

[MetalJonesy]

haha yeah theres subdrops, im struggling to bring them out in the mix after compression and Gclip they are just flat no presence or power!! as for the kick its a blend of the slate samples Black Kick and Green Kick.

Its just mad, the sweep knob really does alter how you voice the rest of the amp, think im gnna leave it around this are now as its deffo smooted out the mids, and like you said, ill bring a bit more top end in and reduce the low end, see how that works. but thats it for recordin n mixin now till the new year as im travelling between my house in Manc and back home!