Those Yamaha THR Thingies.......

dindude

.....good ain't they, so why do I struggle to get a decent sound out of one.

I'm playing with these two as my potential "quiet" amp at the moment, and one of them will have to go back to Amazon.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n505/dindude/854779f88f3cdce69ca8ae7fc42b887a_zpsdhoo85st.jpg

By almost every measure the Yamaha is the better product - build, looks, features, and even superficial sound quality, you can tell it has better AD/DA converters and the sound is better quality.

BUT - it's so shrill that the clean is unusable, I'd get better results pluging direct into my hi fi. The break up and crunch tones are actually pretty darn good but again I can get it too shrill or too dull but not just right, and the feel is too up front and stiff.  Same for the gain tones.

I had a THR5 a while back and I thought, from reading, that the v2 had solved some of these issues, but apparently not.

By contrast the Cube Lite has much better cleans, the break up and crunch tones are very mid heavy which makes them sound more than a little artificial, but crucially they are great fun to play, in comparison the Yamaha is just tiresome.

The heavy gain tones, not a lot in it tbh, but I think the Cube nudges it in fun factor through feel.

Fx - no coment really as apart from a splash of reverb to take the edge off, then they're all unusably shit, why do they insist on putting them on these units, modulation effects only sound good when they are high quality and organic, chorus would not have become a classic effect if it ever sounded like this!

So then, an alternative, grumpy view on the THR for those who want it.

In summary I think the Roland is winning.

capo4th

Sold my THR10C sounded tinny buy a Tone King.

bandmaster188

go into the editing software and change speaker cab simulators (american 4x12 fattens things up) and fine tune the eq a bit.makes quite a difference. the clean sounds are a bit average at best though.

dindude

bandmaster188 said:

go into the editing software and change speaker cab simulators (american 4x12 fattens things up) and fine tune the eq a bit.makes quite a difference. the clean sounds are a bit average at best though.

Hhmmmm, never tried the editor, do you know if the changes such as cab are stored or do you need to be plugged into the software to effect it?

bandmaster188

you can set a sound up and save it as a preset by holding down one of the 1 to 5 buttons.

monquixote

Personally I thought the Blackstar ID:Core sounded better than the Yamaha THR.

dindude

bandmaster188 said:

you can set a sound up and save it as a preset by holding down one of the 1 to 5 buttons.

Yeah as I thoight, th THR5 doesn't have the preset buttons.

bandmaster188

ah yes, you have a thr5. that doesn't have preset buttons. errrm, get a tone king like what capo4th said!

ThePrettyDamned

monquixote;581978" said:

Personally I thought the Blackstar ID:Core sounded better than the Yamaha THR.

Same, in every way.

The thr sounded like an overpriced tiny box of disappointment in comparison, direct a/b of the two.

The id core is quite nice, to be honest. The Id15 is better, but I guess it's a slightly different market.

richardhomer

I'm thought I was in a minority of one - seemingly the only person who couldn't get on with Yamaha THRs....

I don't know whether the hype had raised my expectations too high - but I spent half an hour playing through one in a shop and just didn't 'get' it. It just sounded unremarkable to my ears.

daveww

Well guess I'm in a minority the other way here.  I've got almost the exact same set up inc the Itrack Dock and the Launchkey mini but mine is the THR10C.  It doesn't do everything, and I almost never use high gain sounds, but I'm still loving mine overall.  The best small home amp clean sounds I've got were from a fender mustang surpisingly.  I do find it's better with single coils but overall I'm still happy and not looking for a replacement.

Doug

Horses for courses n' all that, I've never tried the Cube or ID Core so can't comment on those, but the THR10 updated to V2, sounds Really! nice to me, as intended as a home amp, from clean ~crunch ~dirty, all 'adjust to taste' from the included Editor, ~Love it

koss59

It sounds twice as good sat on the floor, completely annoying as they're desk top amps.....just try it though and tell me I'm wrong.

Jez6345789

Had a 10 replaced it when it died with a 10c as I thought I don't use a lot of drive sounds but the 10c needs a bit more kick OTB. If you get in and edit the studio compressor and gentle eg it gets a lot better.

RMJ

I like my THR5. It serves a purpose as something to noodle on in the house without disturbing others too much. It sounds big and is a decent speaker for laptop etc.

But

I'm coming to a similar conclusion regarding the quality of the sound. I ran my pedal board through it which sounded ok if not amazeballs.

Cirrus

koss59 said:

It sounds twice as good sat on the floor, completely annoying as they're desk top amps.....just try it though and tell me I'm wrong.

Must be modelling an AC30 then. Massive sound on the floor, no bottom on a desk (until it breaks the desk and ends up back on the floor...)

exocet

I still like my THR10C a lot. It's the only amp I play in the house - I rehearse with a valve combo on a weekly basis but am quite happy to return to the Yamaha afterwards. They appear to have dropped the price now as well - Andertons have knocked £50 off. Better value now.

daveyh

Son has the 10x and that's a belter. I'd have no hesitation in buying one for myself if the need arose.

Blueingreen

I like the 10C.  I do most of my practising in the sitting room and I wouldn't want a "serious" amp in there anyway, a small practice amp is what's called for and the Yamaha is more stylish than most.  I haven't compared it with loads of alternatives but it was an upgrade from a Microcube.  The Microcubes have an IMO well-deserved reputation for excellence but the 10C is a very substantial improvement, both in terms of sound and ease of use (because of the presets).  Clean sounds are especially good - I found the "Fender" cleans on the Microcube very characterless

Of course there's a sizeable price difference and I'd accept the Microcube is probably better value for money if you're on tight budget but I'm very happy with the improvement.

John_P

^  +1    I had a microcube and hardly used it - looking back I mostly used an acoustic or electric unplugged when practising on the sofa.  In comparison, the thr gets daily use and sounds great.  The mc was a good little amp but there is something about the thr that makes it more useable.

Chalky

Ha!  I was another person who thought they were the only person who didn't rate the THR10.  Just can't get anything better than mediocre sounds out of it