My Current Top Three Tones (video comparison)! - Page 3

SpruceTop · #31 11-10-2022, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

Yes all recorded direct. I can’t stand it when pickup demos also have the room sound blended in. Although those demos can be useful sometimes.

I welcome your opinions! For me the Lyric sounds distant because it is a microphone. It has been one of my favorites in the past but the Cole Clark and K&K are punchier which I like. In some ways the K&K with the processing is my favorite. It’s worth noting that the Cole Clark has much better percussive sounds (and also more handling noise).

I can’t imagine a sound much better than these. Can anyone suggest any plugged in sounds that they feel are ‘better’ than these? I would be interested to know…

Aaron, did you EQ each system to what you thought sounded best to your ears?

AeroUSA · #32 11-10-2022, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Aaron, did you EQ each system to what you thought sounded best to your ears?

The K&K was EQ’ed with the VPDI, the Cole Clark was EQ’ed from its preamp and the Lyric was straight in so I just applied a mid cut and turned up the bass slightly.

SpruceTop · #33 11-10-2022, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

The K&K was EQ’ed with the VPDI, the Cole Clark was EQ’ed from its preamp and the Lyric was straight in so I just applied a mid cut and turned up the bass slightly.

Thanks, Aaron. Most of my pickup demo soundfiles are made with Flat EQ which although it represents what a system can deliver "naked" is very foolish on my part because all systems can sound better when EQ'ed to a player's taste. From now on, I'm going the EQ-to-taste route for the best tone that I can get in my demos as that'll more likely represent what a system is capable of sounding like in the ears of a user when they EQ it.

Monsum · #34 11-10-2022, 02:35 PM

Aaron, I wonder what people's preferences would be if we didn't know what pickups, preamps were used. Just purely on what we hear.

The other thing is that the order of samples matters.
Suggestion to anyone: try to listen to the samples on the next day (so our sound memory resets) in this order Lyric - Cole Clark - K&K.
For me, K&K with the Voiceprint sounds the most artificial and heavily processed. So it's a tie between the Lyric and the Cole Clark system.

Petty1818 · #35 11-10-2022, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monsum

Aaron, I wonder what people's preferences would be if we didn't know what pickups, preamps were used. Just purely on what we hear.

The other thing is that the order of samples matters.
Suggestion to anyone: try to listen to the samples on the next day (so our sound memory resets) in this order Lyric - Cole Clark - K&K.
For me, K&K with the Voiceprint sounds the most artificial and heavily processed. So it's a tie between the Lyric and the Cole Clark system.

I don't think it matters in this particular test because the pickups are pretty clear, at least to me. The Lyric stands out particularly well and I find even the Cole Clark has that Takamine style tone that a lot of us know. I bet in person the Cole Clark would win as there's a reason why they are known as stage guitars. The K&K still sounded the best to me in terms of a natural tone that still has body to it.

Petty1818 · #36 11-10-2022, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

Apologies, that looked more brusque than intended. My point was, you don't actually need to use the dip switches, but they are an integral part of the system.

In my experience there is no hollowing out of the sound, the system seems to impose an incredibly deep and narrow notch on only the frequency band chosen, leaving the rest of the spectrum unaffected.

That's okay! It's sometimes hard to pick up the tone. I did read a review of the UT where it was mentioned that even if the dipswitches are not touched, the pickup is still fairly feedback resistant. I guess I would just love even the added large transducer to a normal K&K. Even a bit more feedback rejection would be awesome.

Doug Young · #37 11-10-2022, 08:02 PM

It's be interesting to hear these in context, I assume this would be a rhythm guitar sound within a band or other instruments? Might be perfect in that setting. As just stand-alone guitar, these are all pretty thin for my taste. The K&K is especially so - anyone who claims K&Ks are "too bassy", should definitely check this example out, razor thin and ultra-bright. The Cole Clark sounds the best to me, tho still pretty sizzly over my studio monitors.

SongwriterFan · #38 11-10-2022, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I can’t imagine a sound much better than these. Can anyone suggest any plugged in sounds that they feel are ‘better’ than these? I would be interested to know…

I'd need to go back and listen to your Yamaha Silent Guitar video again (the one through the ToneDexter), but I'm pretty sure I liked the sound of that better.

I'm a bit biased, though, because I gig with the Yamaha Silent Guitar (without anything in between me and the board . . . I just use the onboard EQ to dial down the treble and bass a bit . . and NO reverb/chorus).

guitaniac · #39 11-11-2022, 04:55 AM

The K&K/VPDI sounds best to me. The Lyric sounds a little in-the-cave to my ears. I prefer a more direct sound. That's one of the reasons why I'm having a Baggs LB6 installed (with it's own separate jack) in my Lyric-equipped guitar. If it turns out that there's a phase cancellation problem with the Lyric/LB6 combo, my backup plan is to disconnect the LB6 (still using it as a saddle) and install a sound hole mag pickup.

The big question which I have about the K&K/VPDI combo is this: How well does the single knob feedback cancellation feature work? Will it eliminate feedback and/or an overly tubby tone when the volume is cranked up to a level needed for bare-fingered picking in a difficult setting. Would it work as well as a simple mag pickup setup would work for that particular situation?

Petty1818 · #40 11-11-2022, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young

It's be interesting to hear these in context, I assume this would be a rhythm guitar sound within a band or other instruments? Might be perfect in that setting. As just stand-alone guitar, these are all pretty thin for my taste. The K&K is especially so - anyone who claims K&Ks are "too bassy", should definitely check this example out, razor thin and ultra-bright. The Cole Clark sounds the best to me, tho still pretty sizzly over my studio monitors.

That's been my main concern with the VPDI. In all demoes, it seems to thin out/brighten the tone. That or it adds a ton of unusable low end with a brittle top end. The beauty of the device is that there's tons of eq and blending options. Personally, I would take the blend down and just have it adding a touch of high end to the K&K.

I have noticed that Aaron likes a hi-fi type of tone. I have noticed it in most of his demoes. I don't find it overly brittle or harsh, but it's something to consider with these sound clips. I gravitate more to a rounder/warm tone.

fedexnman · #41 11-11-2022, 08:24 AM

I thought the K&K VPDI sounded the most natural the bass could've been carved a tad different but sounded good . The Cole Clark sounded great .... The Lyric sounded good to but a tad boxy . Yeah we coulda done a blind test and I think we'd been able to tell the 3 apart still . Especially if you've used a K&K before . The Cole Clark still has that under the saddle sound it's just dialed so good though and has some special sauce going on , and the Lyric has NO quack at all but has that mic in a box sound still ... That's how you can tell the 3 apart . You could throw a magnetic in there and we'd know too ... To me all these are very passable and good sounding . Thanks Aaron for this nice demo of goodies ... I like the K&K just a tad better than the Cole Clark and the lyric sounded good to thanks again .

Marshall · #42 11-12-2022, 07:39 AM

Cole Clark sounds mellower, but a little muddier. K&K is cleaner and clearer, but a little harsher.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

#43 11-12-2022, 12:05 PM

Aaron have you compared the Sunn Audio DI-2 Prestine to the voiceprint as far as how they respond to the k&k? I really like the K&K and VPDI sound, but wonder how it would compare to a more analog, finely eq'd signal.

SGFletch · #44 11-13-2022, 11:28 PM

What do you like about the Cole Clark system over Maton's AP5 pro? I recall you reviewing a Maton on one of your videos. The systems seem to have some similarities, though the Cole Clark adds the face sensor.

I have several guitars and pickups, but more often than not my Maton is the one I take to gigs (both with a band and solo). It's not perfect by any means, but it is not fiddly to dial in a good live sound.

I'd be curious to know what the Cole Clark system has over it.

Thank you for all the reviews! They are super-useful real-world examples.

And I agree 100% about pickup demos with room mic bleed. To me, it basically renders the demo almost useless. I know we don't listen to pickup systems in a purely direct setting, but it is the most useful way to know the actual tone. If you are hearing the mic bleed of the acoustic sound, well - then you are not hearing the pickup. It's like cheating.

Petty1818 · #45 11-14-2022, 08:58 AM

I could be wrong here, but isn't the main bridge transducer pickup on both the Maton and Cole Clark identical to the Takamine palathetic pickup? Where Maton takes it a step further is by adding a mic and Cole Clark makes it even more elaborate with a mic and body sensor. It makes me wonder why Takamine haven't added more to their systems.