I've always figured that there aren't more Vox flavors in there because the gain structure(s) of a Vox are different than a Fender/Marshall/Mesa (which all share DNA).
I loved my tech21 Liverpool when I had it - when I moved into digital modeling I got rid of it, but it was super fun!! I think the analog modeling they use would pair extremely well with an impulse response, rather than the built in cab sim
Thank you so much for demoing this. I found out about Tech21's analogue amp sims a few days ago and have been fixated on them since. I really like how you approached this like a noob. It gave me a good idea of what it would be like for me to use it. When you "dialled in something flat" with all the knobs at about 1 o'clock, the sound was very clean, which intrigued me. I wonder whether that means there could be even more clean sounds to play with than distorted ones. I would love to play around with the left hand side of those dials. I also wonder whether the simulated pedals sounded crappy because they were recorded direct. Maybe some of the sounds this box makes are better with an amp.
That PSA 20 is my fave amp in a box by far. Plugged into my Marshall Class 5, the sound is very analog and organic, and stuff. I never use the muddy cab sim. Plugged into my solid state bass amp brings me an SVT, a Bassman, and the morphology is such that if this were my only hardware amp sim, I would 100% survive. Even if you don’t play guitar or bass, you should get it anyway. 🤷♂️ If you don’t have this, GET it, unless you just hate yourself.
I got a Joyo American Sound which I was told is a knock off of a Blonde SansAmp. I play a parts-caster with Fender 1954 custom shop pickups through a Headrush FRFR112. It is one of the best guitar amp sounds I have ever had. I've had an Axe Fx 2, Kemper and HX Stomp. The Axe Fx and Kemper sound terrible through this particular frfr, but the HX Stomp sounds great IMHO. But the best sounds I have gotten with all of these through that frfr is the Joyo American Sound. Overall all signal chain makes a huge difference! I would be very interested in demos from you on the Tech 21 SansAmp Character Plus Series.
I owned a PSA1 back in the day, and now I own a Sansamp PSA 2.0. It is, to me, one of the best ways to get the sounds of the 90's with a current amplifier. I mean, is there any other device on the planet that attempts a preset to emulate a Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp, or a Marshall JMP-1 preamp? It sounds best if you truly use it as a preamp and not a pedal - plug it into the effect loop return on your amplifier. Also, I think that their "cabinet emulation" is not particularly good. I would not record direct with it, but if you use it with something like a Torpedo Cab-M it's fantastic. Add in midi control and you have an amazing little unit. I mean, one thing that you really didn't get a feel for in this video is just how tiny it is! It blows my mind that a device that used to take up a full rack space is now the size of a distortion pedal.
Yeah, I just received this unit and at first I was like ok... not bad but... DAMN ! Through either a Mooer Radar IR pedal or an AMT Pangea IR Loader this thing is a beast ! And yes, the size is ridiculously small
Paul Landers from Rammstein has his own signature model of SansAmp. He mainly used SansAmp for recording and even for live setup since Rammstein arrived on the scene. He's not the only one who does this. Recently, even Steve Harris from Iron Maiden has his own signature bass model. Tech 21 makes good stuff. This seem s to be another brilliant idea from them. Good review, tho!
Rammstein is my absolute favorite band. I have the PL1 Flyrig and it is exactly Paul's tone, even with my viper 50 with stock pick ups. Paul Landers, Steve Harris, Richie Kotzen. Handy supergroup that'd form haha
i remember being surprised when i read Kurt Cobain used a Sansamp live for a while (in either nevermind or in utero era) the amp simulator into an amp thing messed with my mind...
Its not an issue. Even the sansamp’s manual refers to it’s multiple applications, including going direct, driving a power amp, or plugging into the front of an amp. There’s no wrong way to use a sansamp, just use your ears. If it sounds good it is good. Personally i like the bass driver DI and the GT2!
The Tri-Axis was Mesa/Boogie's flagship tube preamp of the late 80's / early 90's. Used by Metallica, Dream Theater etc. That "American Woman" preset is meant to be the *lead* tone on that song. Try playing it, it's pretty damn close.
The sans amp bass DI gave me the tone I chased for years. I have the pedal and now I have the rack mount RBI and couldn't be happier. Mind you I play bass but I've seen people run guitar thru it aswell.
Wow I am so, SO thankful for the modeling tech we have today. Seems like back then it was only limited to practicing, but now you have full, ripping, and accurate modelers.
Why on earth are you using that wretched digital Sounding 90s abomination? / I got rid of that decades ago / about the only usable preamp back then was the rack mounted ADA
Tell me how you really feel man! Haha. I like a couple of the presets. Then I run it into some other stuff first before hitting the computer. It’s not my only option though. Ideally I prefer just micing up a real speaker, but sometimes I want that 80s chorus sound.
I have a Nightbass in all my rigs. There are some sic bass flavors, I like the 12ax7 preamp and true stereo... As we can all agree on, like many "everything" processors, many of the patches will never be used and are just nonsense!
I'm confused. I like their Character Series Pedals (for the most part). And this should be all of those pedals in one unit. But I just didn't hear it. The HIWATT....wasn't. The AC30...uh...no... And the Marshall presets sounded like anything other than. Maybe it's just one of those things where you have to play with the knobs enough....which I don't want to do.
A proper mindset is required with these sansamp boxes... 1) This is first and foremost an analog amp emulator that works really hard to provide you the truest tube response possible without tubes in a compact unit that doesn't require cranking and blowing out the windows to get there. 2) The cab sim provided although decent is not a "be all end all" they just give you something vanilla to work with. 3) If you are looking for a multi-fx unit to "do it all" this ain't it. If you are looking to address the guitar amp portion of a modular setup where you are trying to get high quality specfic stuff in your signal chain/path be it recording or performance this is aimed directly at that. It can actually be a very freeing experience for people who find themselves "locked" into multi effects units which force them to have do things specific ways. 4) Think of this as an amp. Like an amp it needs certain things put in front of it to get specific stuff. Example your gonna have to put a green box in front of it to get mid boosted/low cut tones. And this one will give you BOTH the Fender and Marshall versions to boot in that scenario! 5) Lastly this is not outdated technology from the 80s 90s. It originated back then but Tech 21 has constantly improved this stuff to what it today in account for how people will want to use it in the 2020s. They were one of the first to the game and the knowledge base/experience in that company is first rate and goes way back.
Thx for this entertaining video! btw: I'm pretty sure rhythm riffing on the high gain presets (i.e. Mesa) would sound way better on the bridge PU... ;-)
Cool sounding box, but like most of the stuff Tech 21 is putting out these days, the analog cab simulation sounds and feels really flat. If you're going into a real amp (powersection) or cabinet in some way you'll have way better luck. I bought a GT2 a while back and though, I had a lot of nostalgia for it, it went through 2 live situations before I said, eh, nope. I know Tech 21 has an anti-digital stance when it comes to this stuff, but it's hard to accept when IRs are as good and plentiful as they are today. Buy one of these and a Cab M and you'll be off to the races.
I used to own the PSA-1 and was ultimately disappointed by it. Never quite lived up to its promise. One issue I found was that it is not just a preamp, it emulates the power amp effect too, which may be great for a few applications but doesn't sound great into many real power amps; the manual actually recommends using with a flat response solid state power amp. For DI the speaker sim was very poor and not optional as it is in the PSA-2. Patches were always short of brilliant particularly the clean ones which would never sparkle. I swapped mine for a theoretically less capable and much cheaper Award Session JD-10, another (this one British) analogue amp sim with speaker sim, which sounds much better to me to this day as I still use them.
Sansamp means "without amp". These are meant to be run directly into a mixer, FOH or audio interface. If you're insisting on running through an amp, use the effects send/return at least. Plugging in front of the amp just doesn't sound good
I own 5 of the Sansamp flyrigs they are also designed for using with real amps. That’s why there is a speaker defeat button. The pedal section is not an amp simulation it’s a pedal simulation. Therefore they go in front of an amp
@@karlmar2 The Sansamp with the speaker sim on (or the FlyRig version 1) is meant for a PA or power amp. If you go into the front of an amp, you should probably disable the Sansamp entirely.
I've just purchased this awaiting to put it on my pedal board-I als have the 1993 rack mount version-man this thing covered all conceivable clean/crunch/distortion tones-it has that true organic/analog sounds-u feel the spongi-ness thing we all general like ( for 80's type rock gtr) I used an am accustomed to all the sounds on this must have device....if I were u I would buy one -grab it while u can because if they stop making them its all gone-it has the all the sounds we are all forever chasing-this puts an end to the searching and spending all that money in search our tones-Steve Vai has one in his home studio rack-happy playing all!!!
I use a POD XT for some effects just so I can mess around with different things that I don't have experience with. So I can see if I like it. They're like $60 on ebay and you get a whole lot of pedals, amps and different micing simulations to give you a taste of what's possible with different pedals. It's a great place to start if you don't already know what you're looking for. I imagine this product is similar in that way.
I'm a little surprised by the hate in some of these comments. Overall, I enjoyed a fair amount of the sounds in this thing, and it looks tweakable enough to modify sounds. I would like to see how it sounds through an amp without the cab sim, but it's intriguing and fun for sure! I would try this or something similar for the right price.
I like the sound and the overall concept of this thing
I've always figured that there aren't more Vox flavors in there because the gain structure(s) of a Vox are different than a Fender/Marshall/Mesa (which all share DNA).
I loved my tech21 Liverpool when I had it - when I moved into digital modeling I got rid of it, but it was super fun!!
I think the analog modeling they use would pair extremely well with an impulse response, rather than the built in cab sim
Thank you so much for demoing this. I found out about Tech21's analogue amp sims a few days ago and have been fixated on them since.
I really like how you approached this like a noob. It gave me a good idea of what it would be like for me to use it.
When you "dialled in something flat" with all the knobs at about 1 o'clock, the sound was very clean, which intrigued me. I wonder whether that means there could be even more clean sounds to play with than distorted ones. I would love to play around with the left hand side of those dials.
I also wonder whether the simulated pedals sounded crappy because they were recorded direct. Maybe some of the sounds this box makes are better with an amp.
I have a PSA 1.1 and one of my favorites is to take Patch 6 (Bluesbreaker) run the input gain up to 3/4 and then the power amp drive up to 3/4.
That PSA 20 is my fave amp in a box by far. Plugged into my Marshall Class 5, the sound is very analog and organic, and stuff. I never use the muddy cab sim. Plugged into my solid state bass amp brings me an SVT, a Bassman, and the morphology is such that if this were my only hardware amp sim, I would 100% survive. Even if you don’t play guitar or bass, you should get it anyway. 🤷♂️
If you don’t have this, GET it, unless you just hate yourself.
Swapping different guitars with the presets would have been good. 😊
I got a Joyo American Sound which I was told is a knock off of a Blonde SansAmp. I play a parts-caster with Fender 1954 custom shop pickups through a Headrush FRFR112. It is one of the best guitar amp sounds I have ever had. I've had an Axe Fx 2, Kemper and HX Stomp. The Axe Fx and Kemper sound terrible through this particular frfr, but the HX Stomp sounds great IMHO. But the best sounds I have gotten with all of these through that frfr is the Joyo American Sound. Overall all signal chain makes a huge difference! I would be very interested in demos from you on the Tech 21 SansAmp Character Plus Series.
I owned a PSA1 back in the day, and now I own a Sansamp PSA 2.0. It is, to me, one of the best ways to get the sounds of the 90's with a current amplifier. I mean, is there any other device on the planet that attempts a preset to emulate a Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp, or a Marshall JMP-1 preamp? It sounds best if you truly use it as a preamp and not a pedal - plug it into the effect loop return on your amplifier. Also, I think that their "cabinet emulation" is not particularly good. I would not record direct with it, but if you use it with something like a Torpedo Cab-M it's fantastic. Add in midi control and you have an amazing little unit. I mean, one thing that you really didn't get a feel for in this video is just how tiny it is! It blows my mind that a device that used to take up a full rack space is now the size of a distortion pedal.
Yeah, I just received this unit and at first I was like ok... not bad but... DAMN ! Through either a Mooer Radar IR pedal or an AMT Pangea IR Loader this thing is a beast ! And yes, the size is ridiculously small
I think you'd like a Tech21 Flyrig more for what you're looking for. I LOVE mine.
Paul Landers from Rammstein has his own signature model of SansAmp. He mainly used SansAmp for recording and even for live setup since Rammstein arrived on the scene. He's not the only one who does this. Recently, even Steve Harris from Iron Maiden has his own signature bass model. Tech 21 makes good stuff. This seem s to be another brilliant idea from them. Good review, tho!
Rammstein is my absolute favorite band. I have the PL1 Flyrig and it is exactly Paul's tone, even with my viper 50 with stock pick ups. Paul Landers, Steve Harris, Richie Kotzen. Handy supergroup that'd form haha
i remember being surprised when i read Kurt Cobain used a Sansamp live for a while (in either nevermind or in utero era) the amp simulator into an amp thing messed with my mind...
Its not an issue. Even the sansamp’s manual refers to it’s multiple applications, including going direct, driving a power amp, or plugging into the front of an amp. There’s no wrong way to use a sansamp, just use your ears. If it sounds good it is good. Personally i like the bass driver DI and the GT2!
I miss my Tech 21 TRI AC.
The Tri-Axis was Mesa/Boogie's flagship tube preamp of the late 80's / early 90's. Used by Metallica, Dream Theater etc. That "American Woman" preset is meant to be the *lead* tone on that song. Try playing it, it's pretty damn close.
The sans amp bass DI gave me the tone I chased for years. I have the pedal and now I have the rack mount RBI and couldn't be happier. Mind you I play bass but I've seen people run guitar thru it aswell.
I have both the Tech 21 Boost Fuzz and the Boost Chorus on my board. Both are outstanding though I wish the chorus would have stereo in and out.
I'd rock it. Both the guitar and the pedal. Seems workable
15:50
Wow I am so, SO thankful for the modeling tech we have today. Seems like back then it was only limited to practicing, but now you have full, ripping, and accurate modelers.
I’m still using the ART sgx 2000 for recording a lot of clean tones. It’s all about how you use it.
Why on earth are you using that wretched digital Sounding 90s abomination? / I got rid of that decades ago / about the only usable preamp back then was the rack mounted ADA
Tell me how you really feel man! Haha. I like a couple of the presets. Then I run it into some other stuff first before hitting the computer. It’s not my only option though. Ideally I prefer just micing up a real speaker, but sometimes I want that 80s chorus sound.
@@thomaskafafian2871 for that 80s chorus thing yes, absolutely! I just couldn’t gel with it and wound up hating it 🤣
Art powerplant always in my rack
I have a Nightbass in all my rigs. There are some sic bass flavors, I like the 12ax7 preamp and true stereo... As we can all agree on, like many "everything" processors, many of the patches will never be used and are just nonsense!
I like tech 21 stuff, specially their preamp type pedals, but that needs to go into an amp or a real cab sim (I know that's an oxymoron).
You can buy either rackmount or pedal format power amps to go into a cab
I'm confused. I like their Character Series Pedals (for the most part). And this should be all of those pedals in one unit. But I just didn't hear it. The HIWATT....wasn't. The AC30...uh...no... And the Marshall presets sounded like anything other than.
Maybe it's just one of those things where you have to play with the knobs enough....which I don't want to do.
A proper mindset is required with these sansamp boxes...
1) This is first and foremost an analog amp emulator that works really hard to provide you the truest tube response possible without tubes in a compact unit that doesn't require cranking and blowing out the windows to get there.
2) The cab sim provided although decent is not a "be all end all" they just give you something vanilla to work with.
3) If you are looking for a multi-fx unit to "do it all" this ain't it. If you are looking to address the guitar amp portion of a modular setup where you are trying to get high quality specfic stuff in your signal chain/path be it recording or performance this is aimed directly at that. It can actually be a very freeing experience for people who find themselves "locked" into multi effects units which force them to have do things specific ways.
4) Think of this as an amp. Like an amp it needs certain things put in front of it to get specific stuff. Example your gonna have to put a green box in front of it to get mid boosted/low cut tones. And this one will give you BOTH the Fender and Marshall versions to boot in that scenario!
5) Lastly this is not outdated technology from the 80s 90s. It originated back then but Tech 21 has constantly improved this stuff to what it today in account for how people will want to use it in the 2020s. They were one of the first to the game and the knowledge base/experience in that company is first rate and goes way back.
Tri-axis is a Mesa preamp.
Thx for this entertaining video! btw: I'm pretty sure rhythm riffing on the high gain presets (i.e. Mesa) would sound way better on the bridge PU... ;-)
This makes me miss my PSA 1.0
I think on the pedal simulators you’re supposed to disable cab modeling and plug into the front of a real amp
Cool sounding box, but like most of the stuff Tech 21 is putting out these days, the analog cab simulation sounds and feels really flat. If you're going into a real amp (powersection) or cabinet in some way you'll have way better luck. I bought a GT2 a while back and though, I had a lot of nostalgia for it, it went through 2 live situations before I said, eh, nope. I know Tech 21 has an anti-digital stance when it comes to this stuff, but it's hard to accept when IRs are as good and plentiful as they are today. Buy one of these and a Cab M and you'll be off to the races.
I like listen the bass sets!!!
I used to own the PSA-1 and was ultimately disappointed by it. Never quite lived up to its promise. One issue I found was that it is not just a preamp, it emulates the power amp effect too, which may be great for a few applications but doesn't sound great into many real power amps; the manual actually recommends using with a flat response solid state power amp. For DI the speaker sim was very poor and not optional as it is in the PSA-2. Patches were always short of brilliant particularly the clean ones which would never sparkle. I swapped mine for a theoretically less capable and much cheaper Award Session JD-10, another (this one British) analogue amp sim with speaker sim, which sounds much better to me to this day as I still use them.
When doing the “pedal section” I didn’t you plug it into an amp? That’s what they’re designed for.
A sansamp is designed to go into an amp? Uh, okay?
Sansamp means "without amp". These are meant to be run directly into a mixer, FOH or audio interface. If you're insisting on running through an amp, use the effects send/return at least. Plugging in front of the amp just doesn't sound good
I own 5 of the Sansamp flyrigs they are also designed for using with real amps. That’s why there is a speaker defeat button. The pedal section is not an amp simulation it’s a pedal simulation. Therefore they go in front of an amp
@@karlmar2 The Sansamp with the speaker sim on (or the FlyRig version 1) is meant for a PA or power amp. If you go into the front of an amp, you should probably disable the Sansamp entirely.
I've just purchased this awaiting to put it on my pedal board-I als have the 1993 rack mount version-man this thing covered all conceivable clean/crunch/distortion tones-it has that true organic/analog sounds-u feel the spongi-ness thing we all general like ( for 80's type rock gtr) I used an am accustomed to all the sounds on this must have device....if I were u I would buy one -grab it while u can because if they stop making them its all gone-it has the all the sounds we are all forever chasing-this puts an end to the searching and spending all that money in search our tones-Steve Vai has one in his home studio rack-happy playing all!!!
I use a POD XT for some effects just so I can mess around with different things that I don't have experience with. So I can see if I like it. They're like $60 on ebay and you get a whole lot of pedals, amps and different micing simulations to give you a taste of what's possible with different pedals. It's a great place to start if you don't already know what you're looking for. I imagine this product is similar in that way.
I used an XT for years. I traded it for an MIM strat before the value tanked on them, wild that they are $60 now, I remember it being pretty good.
Went back to my XT after buying the HD... just knew it better. Felt more comfortable.
Someone needs to pay you for that name Tone kitchen
I'm a little surprised by the hate in some of these comments. Overall, I enjoyed a fair amount of the sounds in this thing, and it looks tweakable enough to modify sounds.
I would like to see how it sounds through an amp without the cab sim, but it's intriguing and fun for sure! I would try this or something similar for the right price.
Nah, all the hate is just because this isn't a tube. Once these players don't see the word tube, it sounds bad.
At first it sounded good but it got worse when you cycled through the settings.
Cool for $149, maybe, but $399? Hate to be price guy, but just no.
it sounds utterly awful to me! I've got an old zoom multi effect that I used to like but it sounds absolutely crap
You’re running the level and gain too high. Tech 21 pedals are super punchy and loud
Box of farts.
This guys not doing it right. 😑
yep!
agree ... unfortunately his guitar chops are lacking. Phil X could light this thing up.
Its a no for CRAP at any price from me DAWG
That's a lot of money to be totally disappointed :) The money I wasted on bad crap back in the day.