OK. I A/Bd these in a shop initially. Id used the Fryette Power station when trying a Friedman Buxom Betty, and was so impressed by the tonal match between fryette and Friedman when the volume was equal that I returned with my AFX rig.
Initial impressions on a clean tone were the the two were very similar. They were so close I thought "not worth swapping". however I kept going, and slowly added gain. With some bluesy stuff the differences started to show. The Power Stations bass response isnt as low (in Freq) but that meant there was more a a clunk to the attack rather than a thump from the Matrix (sound is so hard to describe). The low mids on the Fryette were more transparent and the separation was better.
The more gain I added, the more the difference showed, and with some high gain stuff the Fryette just shone. So much more separation, more low end wallop in the ribs. The Matrix by comparison had more bottom end but it was more woofy. The low mids were more congested so made for a less dynamic tone.
As I say - Sooo hard to describe tone. Upper frequencies didnt show much - if any - difference. It is literally in the bass and low mids that the differences showed. Upshot is my Matrix is now a backup (and for sale for the right cash) while I bought the Power Station for use with the AFX rig.
Once recorded, the low mid/bass thing does come across more on the cleans than when listening in the flesh. Probably a volume thing.
Ive done 2 vids (I used an A/B switcher in the shop but dont have one). One for the MAtrix and one for the Fryette. I used the same guitars and patches. A strat on neck PU, and pos 4 for clean into a DR patch, a PRS CU22 (with BK Mules) into a Cameron patch - two levels of gain, bridge PU, and a Suhr Modern into a Custom Audio patch. I dint play the exact same thing as I just cant remember what I play when jamming - BUT they are similar riffs/lines etc. Camera wasnt moved - though it is only a Samsung camera in video mode so not great. Volume wasnt fantastic loud or the mic would clip. Hopefully it will show the differences though - and with two clips you can run both together and find similar tones/lines to a/B fairly quickly.
So - Matrix:
[MEDIA=youtube]mCSIMEUzvPE[/MEDIA]
Fryette:
[MEDIA=youtube]Pcef-rBHKNI[/MEDIA]
Let me know thoughts. Normal caveats about YouTube compression, and how you listen to the clips apply. Id also add the Fryette has Presence and Depth controls. They are both set to noon, which from my time using it with the Fryette seemed the most neutral HOWEVER, you could probably use them to better match the Matrix - and of course gives some you some room to match a room live as well.
Comments
Out of curiosity how do you have the low frequency resonance dialled in? I find it makes a huge difference with what you're talking about in terms of low end (clunk/thump etc). I do expect the valve power amp to do it better regardless.
I've had a Blackstar ID100 here for a while (belongs to my bandmate) and that does it an interesting way. There's actually a fair bit of punch through my cab but noticeably no deep low end. At stock settings it has more punch than the Axe through the GT1000FX. I had to use the GEQ in the amp to nudge up some more bass to match it. The highs are much nicer from the Axe though IMO.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
I listened to that on my studio monitors last night and it sounds very good. Mind you, it's very similar to my own rig so I would like it, wouldn't I?
Just one last question - have you played around with dynamic depth and presence when using the Matrix? Until Quantum I was adding some amount to all my patches. I've since removed it, but it'd be interesting to see if dynamic depth at least could bring some more punch to the Matrix when compared to the PS.
Dynamic depth can increase the depth value on louder notes, eg palm mutes.