shootout TS7 vs. TS9 vs 808 vs mt2.....

[Lasse Lammert]

sooooo
now to stop that "TS7 is exactly the same as TS9" bullshit once and for all here are the clips and pics.....

the pics alone should make everyone clear that these CANNOT be sounding exactly alike...they might feature the same circuit, but the different capacities etc cause by different spacing between conductors etc DO have an effect..also are different parts used.

(pics will be uploaded later)

here are the clips

the boosts used were:

-stock TS9 (one with the 4558, not the 2043DD chip...which sound really bad)
-TS9 modded to 808 specs
-TS7 modded to 808 specs (compare this one with the 808 modded ts-9!)
-stock MT2
-stock MC402 (not really set for tubescreamer tone...this was the setting I used to boost a 2203....yummi!!

well those odd two are just a bonus, the main comparison is between the three tubescreamers

you'll find out that the TS7-808 sounds good for the money but it does sound more 2d and less open than the TS9-808

the difference of course was the same before I modded them to 808 specs

 

[Skaldir]

I like the stock TS-9 and the TS7-808 the most, even if the TS7-808 sounds a bit colder and thinner than the TS9-808.
But it's cool to hear that they all are different.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

I like the stock TS-9 and the TS7-808 the most, even if the TS7-808 sounds a bit colder and thinner than the TS9-808.
But it's cool to hear that they all are different.

weird, I think the stock TS9 sound thin and nasally with a weird fizz in the higher mids.

definitely like the TS7.808 better than that.

 

[Skaldir]

weird, I think the stock TS9 sound thin and nasally with a weird fizz in the higher mids.

definitely like the TS7.808 better than that.

Well, opinions are like assholes. everyone has one
I don't know I just liked the stock TS-9
And now, come on guys, we need more votes.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Well, opinions are like assholes. everyone has one

yep, but some smell better than others...

asshole1

=

asshole2
?

I don't think so



EDIT: links to pictures...don't click if you don't like pictures or are below 18

but you're right, we need more votes!

 

[Skaldir]

omg
But now this thread could get the deserved response at least

I'm really happy that you do so much shootouts actually. It's always interesting to me.
Would like to know how a 808 modded Boss SD-1 would sound against those pedals.

 

[PhilTheBeard]

ts9-808 sounds the best to me

 

[Metaltastic]

Not crazy about the MC402 honestly, seems to slightly accentuate the mud and also feels less saturated. The MT2 has that cool solid state-sizzle to it that makes it so awesome for OSDM, but between the 3 TS's, my good god the differences are subtle; I'll agree that the TS7 sounds slightly less 3D, but honestly, I think I like it the best, because it seems to have the least amount of mud out of the three (as you know though, I like guitar tones pretty tight), but I really think that if you told me all three were the same, I'd believe you!

However, one thing I can be certain of is that noTS is definitely dead last for me, so if you're still worrying about whether you want to keep using a boost with your amps, then my vote is absolutely yes! (for these types of tones anyway)

 

[Metaltastic]

And by the way, thanks to Reaper's handy polarity invert button on each track, I did a quick test comparing all the clips, and all of the combinations of two of the TS's almost completely canceled out (and the TS7-808 and TS9-808 was the quietest combo ), compared to any of the TS's vs. any of the other tracks, where they were significantly louder. So yeah, maybe I'll pick up a TS9 (or maybe Maxon OD808) to replace my TS7...but not for awhile Thanks a ton for doing this Lasse!

 

[The-Zeronaut]

ts9-808 wins.

i would love to hear the mc402 with a "real" tube screamer tone.

 

[PhilTheBeard]

Marcus look into an od820 also those boost pedals rule.

 

[Metaltastic]

Marcus look into an od820 also

Oh man, I doubt it dude, not for that price! (and especially considering how similar I thought the three TS-type pedals sounded here; as Jeff has rightly pointed out in the past, even if there were subtle differences in sound between the similar models with the same op-amps, the majority of the tone is coming from the amp anyway, not the pedal, so I respectfully submit that IMO the main difference between them is "mojo" )

 

[Force666]

What I wonder too, is if 2 ts9s would sound just as different as the ts7 vs ts9.

 

[John_C]

the capacitance due to the positioning of components etc. is tiny compared to the up to +/- 20% tolerance that capacitors (and other components to a lesser extent) have when you buy them. The random change from device to device is likely to be great (propogation of errors across all the components in the circuit adds up to quite a bit), which has nothing to do with design

 

[006]

Gotta say overall I like the TS7-808 as well, just sounds the tightest.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Marcus look into an od820 also those boost pedals rule.

yep, or a TS-10, cause that's apparently what it's based on/a copy of

 

[Lasse Lammert]

the capacitance due to the positioning of components etc. is tiny compared to the up to +/- 20% tolerance that capacitors (and other components to a lesser extent) have when you buy them. The random change from device to device is likely to be great (propogation of errors across all the components in the circuit adds up to quite a bit), which has nothing to do with design

yes and no.
true, a bigger difference is the different components.
the tolerances funnily enough don't seem to make such a big differences though, my 3 unmodded TS9 sounded absolutely identical, I had two TS7 and the both sounded alike, too...and both sounded "flatter" than the TS9.

well, all do the job and I'm using my TS7 for live, I just wanted to show that the TS7 and TS9 are not identical, although the schematic might be the same...the layout is completely different (sorry I gotta break that to you Jeff....again )

 

[Metaltastic]

Null test mp3's (all faders at 0 dB, so the clips are at their original volumes)

TS7808 + TS9.mp3
TS9808 + TS9.mp3
TS7808 + TS9808.mp3

EDIT: And for comparison:

noTS + TS7808.mp3
MC402 + TS7808.mp3
MT2 + TS7808.mp3

 

[Soundlurker]

The ts7 sounds tighter to me too. The MC402 is actually cool, it seems to remove some of the grainyness(is that even a word?) of the tone.

 

[ScootBaloo]

I prefer the TS9-808.
I think the ear does hear the subtle differences in the spectrum
between the different flavors of tube screamer. The null tests
suggest that the sounds are very similar but I think the subtle
differences in spectrum does make a difference in the mix.
My own TS's (TS9, OD820 + fulltoneOCD) sound very different
to me, but I guess only one of them is a tube screamer.
Later on, I might post a shoot out of these : (TS9, OD820 + fulltoneOCD).