Notes about the 'One Song' series: The idea for the 'One Song' series came about when I was trying to come up with a cool idea for my next EPIC/MEGA amp comparison with around 30 amps. So I came up with the idea of writing a song in multiple styles that would do a good job of 'testing' the versatility of an amp. It would start clean and end with metal. And I thought it could be interesting to use multiple guitars, so one for each section. Then I realised that it would be cool to release each amp's video individually first and when I'm all done I'll upload a compilation that would essentially be similar to all my other mega comparisons, including all the timecodes etc. This will be called: 'One Song, 30 Amps!'. So that's the plan basically! However, I'm also planning on running the song through some modeling platforms to also demo those and see how well they can work with all the material in the song. I've chosen to NOT use the same IRs for each segment this time because I want to use cab tones that the amps are 'comfortable' with. So don't view this as a direct comparison of the amps per say, but view it as an amp showcase that also allows you to hear how the amps function inside the song or inside the music, of course in comparison to one another in that sense! This will showcase the uniqueness of the amps more, which is more fun imho, and it also allows me to be a little bit more creative when reamping each amp. Plus: some of you guys will say 'they all sound the same' anyway and the different cab sounds will make the amps sound more interesting and unique! For the metal segment I'll very likely use a boost pedal for most of the amps, just so you metalheads or djentheads can hear how a downtuned baritone with a boost sounds with the amp. Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this series and I hope I made the song interesting enough to listen to it a couple times (because I don't expect anyone to watch all 30 or more amp videos lol). -Jon
you are killin it. awesome! You are one of the very few youtube channels that provide comparison videos that are actually very useful. Of course playing and testing an amp with your own guitars, cabs and fingers is necessary, but your content is valuable!
Great video, I am very interested in this amp or the ironball. Just trying to get info on one thing, as there is no clip on this as far as I know: How well does these amps hold up when going directly to an interface using the no cab option, do they sound and feel good like that without a reactive loadbox added to it? Thanks for a yet another TOP video Jon!!!
THIS VIDEO is the reason I bought a Fireball 25 and and a Laney BBC Steel Park!!! And I am super happy with both. Best amp I´ve ever had and super versatile pedal, too. Thx Jon!
Matt Collins, I had a MESA MARK 5:35 and this ENGL. My mark 35 is listed on reverb for sale as this is being typed. 🤣I like the mesa, but for me, this ENGL is just better to my ears and less knob turning.
OK I just got my email notice mine is on the way ! Thank you so much for helping me make my final decision . This is the video that sealed the deal for me by showing off it's versatility . My choices was this the Ironball , The Victory Kraken or the Soldano 30 . Still want all those too ! Keep up the awesome work and thanks again .
the cleans are pretty good and i like the crunch settings too. being that it is german made is a plus for me too compared to similar amps i was considering. i think this will be a good amp for me. thanks for the demo
Probably the best small form amp I've ever heard, but, at $1300 USD, it's just too expensive. Europeans get it for $715 USD (at least on Thomann), at that price it's an absolute steal, but here in the states the MT15, 6505MH, or a used 5150iii, Peavey JSX or 3120 just make more sense. I watched all of your videos on these, and more, and ended up ordering the Ironball SE yesterday, fingers crossed it sounds as good as the Fireball, as the feature on the Ironball SE was just too good to pass up. It's an all-in-one solution in one amp for only $100 more than the Fireball 25. Still your video of the Fireball 25 is just killer, the tone is perfect IMO
Thank you so much for this and the other videos you have been making, Jon. I think we all know the challenges of actually comparing amps: one has to find a music store that has an array of comparable amps connected, then camp out for a day in that place whilst apologising to other people who want to try amps - and do all that trying not to drop dead by the looks the salespeople shoot you. 😅 Three questions about your setup, if you please: the Fireball 25 has a built in power soak as well as a master volume and a DI output. Why do you route the signal through the fractal load box? Does it sound better in your opinion? And picking up on Peter Rovaniemi's question: I would want to connect it directly with my audio interface as a default setting. Is this a sustainable solution in your opinion? Since you tried this, what IR setup would you recommend for that? I would greatly appreciate your answer. Again, fantastic job, thank you so much!
I would like to encourage you to sell Kemper Profiles of these "One Song, One Amp" series, using the same signal chain you're using including the IR's. Count me in if you do!
Hey man! Since you have played both the Engl Fireball 25 and the Peavey Invective MH, what do you think is better for metal and clean tones? For metal I mean olodschool black metal like Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Bathory and norwegian black metal - Mayhem, Darkthrone, Carpathian Forest, Emperor etc....I am after the necro sound. I have a feeling the ENGL is my amp, but if you can be so kind to answer would be coll!! Cheers!
@@George_K. yes and sound the same.100% the same.only from a noob video only can you hear how the amp really sound.mix the tones at pc make all sound the same
Hey great demo! What do you think about a comparison between this and 5150iii 50w? Fireball 25 is being sold for 2/3 price of the evh here in Europe, would you say it's worth it? Or is EVH such better? Of course they sound different, I mean things like noise, headroom etc. Sadly there are no EVHs in stock around here so I cant just try it out in a shop. I tried and liked fireball but I have 6505+ 112 combo at the moment so I am maybe more used to 5150 sound. Also I found a bit annoying there is only one presence knob. When the clean channel is set to my taste, the lead is too much. But maybe It was the guitar, pickups..or I am "spoiled" by 6505+ which has knobs for everything.
Got a question, hopefully someone can help me. The Line Output on the back, which says 0db - that's after the power stage and isn't frequency compensated, no cabinet simulation or some similar bullshit, right? It's just attenuated to be safely recorded with an audio interface let's say, but is identical in every other way to the signal that you'd send to the speakers, right? I'm planning to hook that up to my DAW and put my own IRs on it. That's be so dope. Am I missing here something?
That is correct! It sounds good but it doesn't sound like my loadbox. My loadbox models the impedance curves but the line-out of the amp doesn't really do that (or so it seems). So maybe try IRs that have a power amp baked in, or scoop out some mids at around 400 hz with a wide bell to compensate.
The Fireball has a tonal range that can't be touched. Sparkling cleans, crunch, leads and crushing overdrive. The 6505+ is half the price and has a great overdrive channel but an unusable clean and crunch, its really really bad. If you play all styles of music, you will be extremely disappointed with the 6505+ but the Fireball is almost 2 thousand dollars. If you've got the cash, get the Fireball but if not, I'd explore other options. Lots of great amps on the market these days
Hi there, Why do play all of your lead solos on your neck pick-up? Most high gain players would rather hear them on your bridge pick-up, so we could hear if the tone can cut thru the mix. Nice demo.
Hello, I have seen the sound test of the Engl E 633 Fireball 25 amplifier and I liked how it sounds, could you tell me if the box is Engl or another brand. Thanks in advance. I am writing to you from Spain.
Hey Jon, What do think of the built in attenuator? Does it still sound good with the wattage cut back? Ive read that this attenuator still uses all the tubes, unlike others that turn off some tubes at lower voltages...
Just a killer video. I could buy this amp based on this video. Would you mind updating the description to include the full record path signal chain? Like are you going line out and the IR is in a plugin? Or is the Helix in the FX loop and you're recording the Helix with the IR loaded in there? Or something else?
Now that's a sick amp. Too bad I'm too broke for an Engl lol. and Jon. Do you recommend the DSL20HR for classic metal and early thrash? thx! Keep up man!
the problem that I encounter with this kind of video is that the proposed tones are always, with, current tastes . I am part of the death metal scene of the 90s and very often there is nothing for us. it would be nice to think of those, who are looking for older style tones, the first Suffocation (effigy of the forgotten) etc....
How the heck are you getting your guitars to sound so cleanly distorted? My guitars sound absolutely nothing like this, and literally are way up front and boxy and ugh. I can't believe those are IRs.
Pretty much. Simulated cabs on an expensive loadbox. Spend 600 on a two notes captor x or 800 on redseven loadbox. I know the author of this video prefers the redseven for extra features and “tone” but you can get away with using a 300 dollar loadbox by two notes. A captor. Just not the X, which Carries extra features
Notes about the 'One Song' series:
The idea for the 'One Song' series came about when I was trying to come up with a cool idea for my next EPIC/MEGA amp comparison with around 30 amps. So I came up with the idea of writing a song in multiple styles that would do a good job of 'testing' the versatility of an amp. It would start clean and end with metal. And I thought it could be interesting to use multiple guitars, so one for each section. Then I realised that it would be cool to release each amp's video individually first and when I'm all done I'll upload a compilation that would essentially be similar to all my other mega comparisons, including all the timecodes etc. This will be called: 'One Song, 30 Amps!'.
So that's the plan basically! However, I'm also planning on running the song through some modeling platforms to also demo those and see how well they can work with all the material in the song.
I've chosen to NOT use the same IRs for each segment this time because I want to use cab tones that the amps are 'comfortable' with. So don't view this as a direct comparison of the amps per say, but view it as an amp showcase that also allows you to hear how the amps function inside the song or inside the music, of course in comparison to one another in that sense! This will showcase the uniqueness of the amps more, which is more fun imho, and it also allows me to be a little bit more creative when reamping each amp. Plus: some of you guys will say 'they all sound the same' anyway and the different cab sounds will make the amps sound more interesting and unique!
For the metal segment I'll very likely use a boost pedal for most of the amps, just so you metalheads or djentheads can hear how a downtuned baritone with a boost sounds with the amp.
Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this series and I hope I made the song interesting enough to listen to it a couple times (because I don't expect anyone to watch all 30 or more amp videos lol).
-Jon
Sonic Drive Studio Great idea. I’ll be watching everything 👍
Excellent execution of an epic idea.
you are killin it. awesome! You are one of the very few youtube channels that provide comparison videos that are actually very useful. Of course playing and testing an amp with your own guitars, cabs and fingers is necessary, but your content is valuable!
Nice one Jon
Great video, I am very interested in this amp or the ironball. Just trying to get info on one thing, as there is no clip on this as far as I know: How well does these amps hold up when going directly to an interface using the no cab option, do they sound and feel good like that without a reactive loadbox added to it?
Thanks for a yet another TOP video Jon!!!
Engl amps are stupidly underappreciated . They do everything, and the lead tones are glorious.
At least here in Germany, they are everywere!!! Many many bands used them!
@@franciscoaguilar6644 I'm from Finland and i can say almost everything made in Germany is badass and awesome! 🙌
THIS VIDEO is the reason I bought a Fireball 25 and and a Laney BBC Steel Park!!! And I am super happy with both. Best amp I´ve ever had and super versatile pedal, too. Thx Jon!
have you remained happy? I´m considering Engl ironball 25w
@@juhalehtonen9000 Absolutly! Still great, both clean and gain channel. Clean channel is also a good pedal platform.
Another great demo. The amp sounds better than the Mini-Rectifier - tighter and cleaner, even on the drive channel.
If anything, this emphasizes the importance of having lots of guitars.
Fantastic riffs my man!! Really demoed this amps potential! Never owned a Engl but this video has me wanting to do a test drive!! Thanks for sharing
Matt Collins, I had a MESA MARK 5:35 and this ENGL. My mark 35 is listed on reverb for sale as this is being typed. 🤣I like the mesa, but for me, this ENGL is just better to my ears and less knob turning.
Awesome display of what the ENGL can achieve. Thanks!
OK I just got my email notice mine is on the way ! Thank you so much for helping me make my final decision . This is the video that sealed the deal for me by showing off it's versatility . My choices was this the Ironball , The Victory Kraken or the Soldano 30 . Still want all those too ! Keep up the awesome work and thanks again .
The song alone is just awesome!!! cool demo too
Thanks for making this, I have my eye on a Fireball. I thought it sounded better in the mix.
What do you think of the amp?
I have a Fireball 60 head with a 2x12 celestion v30. Every time I play with that amp I think "this sounds so good!!!"
My best purchase so far.
Man that riff at 2:19 always gets me. Idk if it's Astronoid or what, but it sounds so familiar and ear-worm-y.
Thanks! It's an original riff that I wrote
ENGL rocks.🤘
What an incredible player and song.
Maaaaan, great demo. I just bought this amp and PRS MT cab, killin so far.
Yep. After this review and yours, I got this amp and an Orange 112 with 8ohm v30. Cooool. Thanks guys
Definitely a channel that I've lurked for far too long on. Have a WAY OVERDUE new sub here. My apologies for not doing so sooner.
Amazing song! Awesome playing! Incredibly inspiring, thanks for the great content Jon.
Awesome playing and shirt collection
Great sound , very nice warm sounding amp , pretty well built and design. As always awesome video man . Take care .
All your vidéos are good, sound and playing very good, nice work. it's a pleasure all the time !!
I love these videos! This amp is so good! Surprisingly very versatile too! Great video!
Getting an Emery vibe from 2:19 - 2:41, sounds great man.
Mark V 25w still the king mini amps to me .... so ENGL is second favorite amp family ... amazing video man .. see ya !!!!
Are u an astronaut?
@@chadbouterse8617 ..? Explain
@@chrismsantos you picture looks like you have yellow space suit and a helmet on :)
the cleans are pretty good and i like the crunch settings too. being that it is german made is a plus for me too compared to similar amps i was considering. i think this will be a good amp for me. thanks for the demo
Mate, that eclipse sounds soooooo goooooood!!!!!
You make everything sound awesome, great recording skills can do that lol
Great stuff mate. Sounded really good.
Such good tones. Thank you!
Probably the best small form amp I've ever heard, but, at $1300 USD, it's just too expensive. Europeans get it for $715 USD (at least on Thomann), at that price it's an absolute steal, but here in the states the MT15, 6505MH, or a used 5150iii, Peavey JSX or 3120 just make more sense. I watched all of your videos on these, and more, and ended up ordering the Ironball SE yesterday, fingers crossed it sounds as good as the Fireball, as the feature on the Ironball SE was just too good to pass up. It's an all-in-one solution in one amp for only $100 more than the Fireball 25. Still your video of the Fireball 25 is just killer, the tone is perfect IMO
I live in Germany and it's the same with Friedman, Soldano and Mesa here. Therefore picking the Fireball 25 was a no-brainer.
This is so beautiful
Thank you so much for this and the other videos you have been making, Jon. I think we all know the challenges of actually comparing amps: one has to find a music store that has an array of comparable amps connected, then camp out for a day in that place whilst apologising to other people who want to try amps - and do all that trying not to drop dead by the looks the salespeople shoot you. 😅
Three questions about your setup, if you please: the Fireball 25 has a built in power soak as well as a master volume and a DI output. Why do you route the signal through the fractal load box? Does it sound better in your opinion? And picking up on Peter Rovaniemi's question: I would want to connect it directly with my audio interface as a default setting. Is this a sustainable solution in your opinion? Since you tried this, what IR setup would you recommend for that?
I would greatly appreciate your answer. Again, fantastic job, thank you so much!
This kicked a lot of ass. Nice work.
I would like to encourage you to sell Kemper Profiles of these "One Song, One Amp" series, using the same signal chain you're using including the IR's. Count me in if you do!
Great vid . Thanks
Hey man! Since you have played both the Engl Fireball 25 and the Peavey Invective MH, what do you think is better for metal and clean tones? For metal I mean olodschool black metal like Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Bathory and norwegian black metal - Mayhem, Darkthrone, Carpathian Forest, Emperor etc....I am after the necro sound. I have a feeling the ENGL is my amp, but if you can be so kind to answer would be coll!!
Cheers!
Just bought one!
PLEASE tell me this track is/will be available for download. Your writing is fantastic
How does it compare to the PRS MT-15?
I agree, we need a head to head video against the MT-15
Guys, there's the same video like this one uploaded on this channel yesterday, but with the PRS MT-15. You can check it out and see for yourselves.
@@George_K. yes and sound the same.100% the same.only from a noob video only can you hear how the amp really sound.mix the tones at pc make all sound the same
@@xdx2653 You r only speaking the truth no offense to anyone thi
Have that same sonic blue Tele, such a great guitar
Hey great demo!
What do you think about a comparison between this and 5150iii 50w? Fireball 25 is being sold for 2/3 price of the evh here in Europe, would you say it's worth it? Or is EVH such better? Of course they sound different, I mean things like noise, headroom etc. Sadly there are no EVHs in stock around here so I cant just try it out in a shop. I tried and liked fireball but I have 6505+ 112 combo at the moment so I am maybe more used to 5150 sound.
Also I found a bit annoying there is only one presence knob. When the clean channel is set to my taste, the lead is too much. But maybe It was the guitar, pickups..or I am "spoiled" by 6505+ which has knobs for everything.
Got a question, hopefully someone can help me. The Line Output on the back, which says 0db - that's after the power stage and isn't frequency compensated, no cabinet simulation or some similar bullshit, right? It's just attenuated to be safely recorded with an audio interface let's say, but is identical in every other way to the signal that you'd send to the speakers, right? I'm planning to hook that up to my DAW and put my own IRs on it. That's be so dope. Am I missing here something?
That is correct! It sounds good but it doesn't sound like my loadbox. My loadbox models the impedance curves but the line-out of the amp doesn't really do that (or so it seems). So maybe try IRs that have a power amp baked in, or scoop out some mids at around 400 hz with a wide bell to compensate.
Wait a minute. Are you the same dude from the last video? You are half of him! lol What was your diet? look great and you play great!
So should I get the Fireball 100 or the 6505+? I’m a rhythm player and I’m having an issue tryna decide which amp I should get
The Fireball has a tonal range that can't be touched. Sparkling cleans, crunch, leads and crushing overdrive. The 6505+ is half the price and has a great overdrive channel but an unusable clean and crunch, its really really bad. If you play all styles of music, you will be extremely disappointed with the 6505+ but the Fireball is almost 2 thousand dollars. If you've got the cash, get the Fireball but if not, I'd explore other options. Lots of great amps on the market these days
electropentatonic hmmmm alright thanks I’ll think on this!
@@electropentatonic I bought a returned Fireball 100 from Sweetwater for $1,675. There are used ones on Reverb too.
Killer tones as always 🤘
Hi there, Why do play all of your lead solos on your neck pick-up? Most high gain players would rather hear them on your bridge pick-up, so we could hear if the tone can cut thru the mix. Nice demo.
I like this music!
Hmm why does every reviewer use the neck pickup in solos with this amp?
Hello, I have seen the sound test of the Engl E 633 Fireball 25 amplifier and I liked how it sounds, could you tell me if the box is Engl or another brand. Thanks in advance. I am writing to you from Spain.
From the close ups of the amp it looks like it's an Engl box as well
Thanks to your Videos I will buy one of these… you should get some sales commission from Engl 😉
Amazing video .. i use my OR 15 for all rock metal Tones .. which is better for you ? Fireball 25 or or 15 ?
I love both for different reasons!
Hey Jon,
What do think of the built in attenuator? Does it still sound good with the wattage cut back? Ive read that this attenuator still uses all the tubes, unlike others that turn off some tubes at lower voltages...
I still need to try that tbh! I never need to turn my amps down very low anyway because of my loadbox setup.
What do you like better the fireball or ironball?
Just a killer video. I could buy this amp based on this video. Would you mind updating the description to include the full record path signal chain? Like are you going line out and the IR is in a plugin? Or is the Helix in the FX loop and you're recording the Helix with the IR loaded in there? Or something else?
The amp is going into my loadbox and I'm applying the IRs in Helix Native (in Cubase). Works like a charm!
@@SonicDriveStudio Thanks for that and great to know! So the power amp selector is set to full I'm guessing.
@@david_farmer yes
Sounds great, i assume the workhorse IR's are for line 6 only and you can't download and use them like the rest of the typical Ownhammer IR's?
Correct, Line 6 only. I load them in my DAW with Helix Native
Now that's a sick amp. Too bad I'm too broke for an Engl lol. and Jon. Do you recommend the DSL20HR for classic metal and early thrash? thx! Keep up man!
Thanks! The DSL20HR is pretty cool. With a boost you could get some of those tones for sure. It's a bright amp, keep that in mind!
@@SonicDriveStudio The brightness won't be a problem. I have a tone knob and an EQ pedal. And I like my leads bright so guess It is the amp for me
Shit got real at 4:00.
How does the baby Fireball compare to its bigger bröther? Can it have some Öats?
Comparison coming soon enough
How does this differ from the ironball 20
The ironball has el34 tubes and this has 6l6 tubes. The el34 tubes aren't full sized and many people say that makes them tinnier-sounding.
I own the ENGL Ironball it has EL84 Tubes not EL34. EL84's are smaller. EL34'S are full size.
5:25 you can feel the crunch. Nice job. How many amps do you have? 🤔
Plenty :)
the problem that I encounter with this kind of video is that the proposed tones are always, with, current tastes
. I am part of the death metal scene of the 90s and very often there is nothing for us. it would be nice to think of those, who are looking for older style tones, the first Suffocation (effigy of the forgotten) etc....
How the heck are you getting your guitars to sound so cleanly distorted? My guitars sound absolutely nothing like this, and literally are way up front and boxy and ugh. I can't believe those are IRs.
Pretty much. Simulated cabs on an expensive loadbox. Spend 600 on a two notes captor x or 800 on redseven loadbox.
I know the author of this video prefers the redseven for extra features and “tone” but you can get away with using a 300 dollar loadbox by two notes. A captor. Just not the X, which Carries extra features
I have that same shirt.
And? Did it work? :)
@@SonicDriveStudio Like a charm.
You see now I want this amp but I know I won’t sound like this so I don’t want this amp… this guy 🤪
One Amp... To many guitars!
This amp is definitely a step up over the MB V 25...35? 🤔
I wouldn't say that at all. Both great amps with different voicings
e👏👏👏👏👏👏
Did you use the FX send or the line out?
Speaker out into a loadbox
@@SonicDriveStudio any idea how the line out compares to using a loadbox? Sound differences? Assuming you will use IRs in the DAW
Please do this against the MH
I didn't like the clean sound
How does it compare to the PRS MT-15?
Will compare those soon!