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I think it was you who mentioned signal-to-noise levels re. modelling in some other thread. Is it something as simple as that that makes the difference with your tones? It seems logical that s/n might be perceived as greater depth and '3d-ness'.
Not 100% sure I'm following your logic there boss. Can you expand?
There is a "family resemblance" certainly but the devil is in the detail. The voicing is different. In any case the HT-40 has a separate ECC83 for clean and OD channels.
Interesting debate but there will be as many answers as there are different pedals and amps!
Dave.
@Drew_fx is it that you haven't found/set a pedal to give a sound as close to what you want as you can with an amp?
Not that amp or pedal drive is better than the other.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Have you tried pedals like the Stone Deaf PDF 1 or the Pearl DS06?
So, trying to recollect my train of thought .... and starting from the assumption that there is a tangible objective difference you're noticing and this isn't just a subjective 'taste' thing.
You've said this isn't a 'magic in the toobs' thing and that you can get the kind of tones you're after from the AxeFX as well as real amps, so it isn't digital vs. analogue either. My only experience with modelling is with the first generation of PODs and with a mate's later POD floorboard - both of which I'd say sounded very 'flat' (the opposite of the '3D-ness' you say you get with the high-end modelling). So what does the AxeFX's hugely more powerful number crunching achieve that the old PODs don't?
My instant thought was something to do with signal-to-noise ratio - both the higher operating voltages inside an amp and the better processing power of the AxeFX would logically seem to be able to achieve this compared to a 9V distortion pedal. Again, I admit I'm no electronics engineer and I'd be interested if anyone has any pertinent knowledge to support or refute this.
Our brains are very finely tuned to separate out pertinent information from background noise, even if we're not consciously aware of the process. We can very easily follow a quiet distant conversation in a room full of hubbub in a way that is very difficult to achieve with an automated device, a computer. We are capable of extremely powerful filtering and processing operations without even thinking about it. Especially so if we have trained that 'ear'.
Now, I'd expect a modern high-gain distortion pedal to include noise gating, etc. to deal with deal with background noise when there is no signal. But what of the noise that's there when a signal is present? It may be obscured by the much higher 'information' signal and not be obvious but that doesn't mean we are incapable of being aware of it in some way. Like I said earlier, we are incredibly well adapted to intuitively separate out information from background noise.
Using terms like '3D-ness' and 'in your face' seems (to me) to be suggestive of a greater clarity of 'information' relative to background 'noise' - more of what we want, more of what triggers those mental/emotional responses, more musical sound.
I'd be interested if there's any sound theoretical scientific basis to back up my thoughts on this.
Anyone?
B-)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
How about this question then. If that noisy valve amp sound becomes part of the musical experience, part of the musical 'information' that triggers the emotional response, is it truly 'noise'? Does it not become part of the 'information' separate from the other background 'noise' (e.g. environmental noise)?
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson