Tube screamer shootout 2.0!!: Software vs. Hardware

[Wisheraser]

Alright, here's another set of double tracked riffs, one reamped with the TSE 808 engaged and one reamped with my TS7 in the chain.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3450474/Sneap TS and Pre shootout/TS Test 2 TS 1.mp3

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3450474/Sneap TS and Pre shootout/TS Test 2 TS 2.mp3



And for anyone interested, here it is with no screamer:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3450474/Sneap TS and Pre shootout/TS Test 2 No TS.mp3


I just played around with the settings on each until things sounded right, but ended up with nearly identical settings on each . I find the difference is much more minuscule this time around. That said, I do have a very slight preference for one. Which do you prefer?

 

[Ascendant]

Going to go with clip number 2, it sounds tighter at least on my laptop speakers for whatever that's worth.

 

[kramer1309]

i dunno why.. 2nd sounds slightly better imo...
more full?

 

[KeithReyn]

I like both for sure!
2 sounds a little tighter. On the other hand, 1 sounds a little fuller. Both sound great though. Im just listening on crappy computer speakers, so my opinion might not even count.

 

[JeffTD]

I prefer number 1 - sounds more natural. Number 2 is tighter but kind of sterile in comparison to me.

 

[Erik Monsonis]

I can't figure out any difference.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

Yeh this ones kinda hard to pick apart

 

[Agonal]

Number 1 is definitely the tighter one....number 2 sounds like a different performance to me and a little sloppy. listen to the palm mutes @ 7 sec in on ts2 doesn't match up as tight as the first. As far as sound number 2 seems a little brighter to me.

my guess:
TS1 real TS
TS2: sim

 

[Earsforeyes]

I would go with number 2. Not much different from 1 though. I think it might sound just a bit more dark, which I kinda like.

Oh and btw, +++++ for the riff! Hail Devin!

 

[Wisheraser]

Number 1 is definitely the tighter one....number 2 sounds like a different performance to me and a little sloppy. listen to the palm mutes @ 7 sec in on ts2 doesn't match up as tight as the first. As far as sound number 2 seems a little brighter to me.

my guess:
TS1 real TS
TS2: sim

Yeah it's a bit sloppy (I just did a couple takes with these riffs, no editing), but it is the same performance for both. The drive may have been set a bit higher with TS2 which may have caused that part to sound a bit sloppy. I dunno.

I'm going to let this go for a bit longer. Any other opinions?

 

[Agonal]

I understand dude, meant no disrespect with the statement on tightness. Just thought it was strange that one TS be it emulation or hardware made the same performance sound tighter. Curious to hear the results of which is the emulation.

 

[Ermz]

I prefer 1

 

[onqel]

Just thought it was strange that one TS be it emulation or hardware made the same performance sound tighter.

This is because the emulation(Maxon OD808) is not modeled after that specific pedal(Ibanez TS-7) (There will be a small difference even if my plugin was modeled after the TS-7, mainly because the model is DSP )

 

[Wisheraser]

OK, it looks like:

3 prefer TS1 (I prefer this one too, so it's 4 really)
3 prefer TS2
3 are undecided

And the results are.....































TS1 = TSE 808
TS2 = TS7

With this guitar tone, the software seemed to give it that extra boost and bite without hurting clarity, whereas my TS7 seemed to cloud things up a bit (probably due to the 808 being emulated after a higher quality TS). Both were roughly set with the drive around 8 o'clock, tone around 4 o'clock, and level at noon, with 4x oversampling on the 808. I'm definitely going to keep experimenting with this. It's an interesting idea that it may be possible to get equivalent or better boosting results with free software rather than laying down the cash on hardware. Thanks again onqel for your generosity!