Mesa vs. Blackstar 4x12" (Clips!)

[Tommy Gun]

Guess I'm odd-man-out... Mesa is too dark for me and the Blackstar clip is damn near perfect. I like fizz. I'll snort that fizz with a drink straw!

 

[hogan666]

Thanks for the comparison.
I'm a little bit more confused, which one to buy *haha*

Cheers, Markus.

 

[Trevoire520]

Whenever I hear anyone speak about the Mesa V30s being different it's always been that they are voiced darker than normal V30s. You mentioning that it's Marshall's V30s that are darker is the very first time I've ever heard that - but regardless, it seems the answer is evident in your own clips. Mesa wins in the comparison too, btw, IMO.

Yeah the Mesa's definitely darker. I was just going from something I'd read on here last year:

The Mesa's tend to be brighter than normal, and the Marshall's tend to be darker than normal. It's not a huge difference, especially when combined with the cabinets they're in, but it is a difference.

Thanks for the comparison.
I'm a little bit more confused, which one to buy *haha*

Cheers, Markus.

You really can't go wrong with either tbh, just have to take a different approach to amp eq with each cab. I wish I could keep both because they sound really different to each other. But alas, I am poor

 

[Trevoire520]

Just had a thought. Does anyone out there fancy putting these through curve eq to see how close you can get the blackstar to the mesa with a bit of eq? Would be interesting to see the curve that comes out.
I would do it but I'm Mac based

 

[blackcom]

I think the Blackstar sounds better when EQed something like this:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4802268/Blackstar Guitar Only_EQed.wav

Mesa still sounds best to me, though...

 

[006]

^ that sounds really hollow and nasty IMO

 

[006]

BTW Trev: Ozone has an EQ matching section, in case you use that plug-in

 

[sprack]

By itself I like the Mesa better. Put both together panned 65/65 and it sounds great to me.

 

[MarkG]

I prefer the Mesa by a long shot. Seems more balanced to me, the Blackstar has that fizz I struggle to get rid of in my 2x12

 

[amarshism]

I find it much easier to add 4-10k then remove it.

 

[Matt-Steele]

I'll throw my hat in for the Mesa as well. Sounds great. The Blackstar is a bit more congested and fizzy. But it's all subjective. Nice test!

 

[Ermz]

I greatly prefer the Mesa in this test.

It has 'das balls™', the Blackstar doesn't.

 

[Fvlt]

I'm not sure if this thread better serves as a Mesa vs Blackstar thread...

...or a demonstration of what each cab can sound like when mic'd sub-par.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Good contribution dick

 

[Fvlt]

Nevermind. Don't feel like rocking the boat...

 

[006]

^ you know you can delete your post(s) right? Click Edit, then Delete, then check the box that says "Delete Message" then finally click Delete This Message. If you cared enough *shrug* Better than the response you have now IMO

 

[Trevoire520]

I'm not sure if this thread better serves as a Mesa vs Blackstar thread...

...or a demonstration of what each cab can sound like when mic'd sub-par.

Both cabs were mic'd with a single SM57 in the centre of one of the top speakers. Normally I obviously wouldn't mic dead centre but this is easier to replicate for comparison purposes.

This was a very quick test I did for the guys who were interested in how the Blackstar compares to the Mesa. I didn't spend time tweaking the mic position, amp settings etc.

I could have spent more time on it and mic'd each cab where it sounded best. But then you're hearing the difference between the cab's AND the difference in mic position. So it's not really a fair comparison then is it?

 

[hoehlentroll]

impulses or it didn't happen :Smug:

 

[Fvlt]

^ you know you can delete your post(s) right? Click Edit, then Delete, then check the box that says "Delete Message" then finally click Delete This Message. If you cared enough *shrug* Better than the response you have now IMO

If I deleted my post, MarcusGHedwig would've been calling Ermz a dick instead of me. Seemed kind of a dick move.

This was a very quick test I did for the guys who were interested in how the Blackstar compares to the Mesa. I didn't spend time tweaking the mic position, amp settings etc.

I could have spent more time on it and mic'd each cab where it sounded best. But then you're hearing the difference between the cab's AND the difference in mic position. So it's not really a fair comparison then is it?

That's kind of my point. This isn't really a fair comparison either. It fails to demonstrate the strengths of either cab. All it does is demonstrate what each cab can sound like with the mic in that arbitrarily chosen position.

 

[reneisgod]

swap over the 2 top right speakers from each cab and compare again.
this could easily be a speaker issue more than actual difference in the cabinets.