Am I going deaf?

[Happy Jack]

Here's the very wonderful Ed Friedland reviewing the Genz Benz Streamliner 900 and A/B-ing it briefly against the ShuttleMax.

https://youtu.be/d-27szg61bw?t=2m53s

I've brought you into the video at the point where he plays the same phrase twice through each of the two amps, on the same settings.

I expected him to say "[b][i]So, as you can hear, the two amps sound utterly identical"[/i][/b].

Erm ... not so much ...

Fair enough, I'm using a pair of earbuds from a laptop's headphone output. I'm quite prepared to believe that I'd be able to hear more through a high-end soundcard and a pair of £200 headphones, but as far as I can make out these two sounds/tones are indistinguishable.

Is it just my ears?

[Beer of the Bass]

They sound quite different to me, using cheap but full-sized Panasonic headphones from an LG tablet. The Streamliner seems deeper and more scooped in those clips - perhaps the earbuds don't show up the low end difference so well.

[Musicman20]

I own both amps, and they are tonally quite different.

[Bobthedog]

I could hear no difference played at a comfortable volume. Played through a Bose Companion 3 system via a Mac. I am struggling with ear training however.

Perhaps worth turning this into a Poll with people stating their audio medium

Edited September 7, 2017 by Bobthedog

[TheGreek]

Jack, the real test Re: whether you're going deaf is whether you hear Silvia when she asks you to do the washing up/ hoovering/ dusting while she pops out.

If you do them then you heard her, if not you didn't..

[BigRedX]

They sound exactly the same to me. MacPro optical out into Denon amp Mission Speakers.

[ezbass]

YouTube sound compression has a lot to answer for I reckon.

[Guest bassman7755]

There was much more variation in his articulation of each run than between the amps IMO - I dont see the point trying to A/B stuff if your not going to play the phrase extremely consistently (which he wasnt) or even better play into a looper pedal and switch it over.

Edited September 8, 2017 by bassman7755

[bassmayhem]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1504779201' post='3367223']
I own both amps, and they are tonally quite different.
[/quote]
I've had both: totally different animals!
The Streamliner is darker and meatier. You don't have to tweak to get a good tone. The Max needs a bit of twiddling to get a good tone i.m.o.

[gjones]

I'm playing the video through my hi-fi, which is connected, via bluetooth, to my laptop.

I can hear abso.....lutely no difference.

In a live context, playing with a band, I doubt anybody would.


Interestingly, recently I turned up to a gig and the amp provided had two channels. I didn't like the sound much, so twiddled with the EQ and eventually found a much better sound from the amp.
Just before the second set I had another look at the amp and realised that I was plugged into channel 1 and I had been adjusting my sound with the EQ of channel 2. I could have sworn I was hearing the sound change when I was adding more bass and reducing the treble but in reality, it was all a figment of my imagination.

I suggest that, if people were not made aware that Ed had swapped the amps, they would hear no difference at all.

Edited September 9, 2017 by gjones

[SH73]

Shuttke max sounds sharper to me. I mean more highs.

[stevie]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1504959019' post='3368562']

Just before the second set I had another look at the amp and realised that I was plugged into channel 1 and I had been adjusting my sound with the EQ of channel 2. I could have sworn I was hearing the sound change when I was adding more bass and reducing the treble but in reality, it was all a figment of my imagination.
[/quote]

Been there, done that. It's a really important lesson.

[stevie]

Just listened through a Creative 0202 USB soundcard with Sennheiser 650s. There's quite a marked difference IMO. The Streamliner is much fuller.

[Hellzero]

The ShuttleMax has more low mids when the Streamliner is more scooped in the mids around 1 KHz (a typical American sound à la Bose, which I don't like at all as it's missing the most important part of the spectrum) and, as I always say, go and make a real full test of your ears by a specialist : you'll be amazed by the results !

To me, there is a big difference between the two.

[Kevin Dean]

One sounded slightly thinner to me .

[JapanAxe]

Listened through Roland Quad Capture and a pair of KRK Rokit 6 speakers. Might be a difference, might be imagining it.

What matters more is the response you perceive from the amps when you are doing the playing.