As you realized at the end, the Fender natural position for the Cut is with it at 0, not at noon. EQ of the Fender are designed for adjusting to the room, so you can do quick adjustments on the fly instead of working on your modeler when live. I use very often the Bass and Cut controls on my FR-12, the Treble and Mid I normally don't use them.
This is probably the most requested video I’ve ever had from this channel! I never knew whether I should go with an FRFR or cab and power amp for using with modellers so thank you!
I ran power amp and a 1x12 for a while but really prefer the Fender FR-12. Sounds more like a big amp to me somehow. But a good 2x12 would probably be amazing too.
The choices are - 1. sort out your guitar amp EQ (if it sounds ok when you play Spotify through it (adjust EQ till it is good) then it's ready for an amp sim. 2. Get an FRFR which frankly does the same job as the adjusted guitar amp. 3. Get one (or two for stereo) PA speakers and take a line out feed from the amp sim - this is where the amp sim is aimed - ampless and direct to PA. 4. Or try it through the band's PA and get some in ears if the bands PA sounds ok with guitar through it. I was disappointed Lee and John didn't cover more bases - but I guess it was about FRFR.
ALL FRFR cabs are awful, overpriced and not how a guitar amp sounds. Just buy a good quality stage monitor instead if you really want that. If you want your guitar to sound like an actual amp, get a power amp and normal cab.
If you had the cut at 12 o'clock on the Fender, then the high's were being rolled off, that's why it "sounds like it's being rolled off" compared to the Laney.
I got a Laney FR112 to go with my Tonex pedal .. it sounds awesome on its own .. played a gig last weekend sounded great but lacked the punch of a valve amp on stage.
From experience of most of these FR's. The Headrush generally is pretty bright vs what goes out the front of the PA. The Laney is HEAVY and an awakard size/shape to carry into venues. The Fender is super light. Portable, looks/sounds like a real amp, has eq which you can adjust to your preference depending on the venue. I like that it's got a DI out as well.. I've used this function live. For me the Fender is a winner by a country mile..
And the tone cut should have most definitely been off for the fender.. That tone cut being half way massively will affect the top end of the FR. Everything else at 12 oclock will give it the most natural sounding version of the DI signal.
My two cents as a foh engineer - the headrush is awful from my perspective, loads of harsh spill, wool sound out the back of the cab and causes guitarists to dial in muddy sounds to combat the harshness. A guitarist I had using the fender had one of the best tones I've ever heard from a digital rig.
Any experience with the Red Sound units, per chance? Fractal (the Axe-FX makers) sell them on their store (and you can use them in stereo!), so I've been wondering about them.
I have an enjoy the Fender. I like to run the bass and the high cut at about 10:00 each to just take off the highs and lows. One nice thing with the Fender is the volume is really responsive at very low settings so very easy to dial in a quiet home tone.
My rig: Framus Teambuilt Devin Townsend Stormbender Into Headrush Prime Into Headrush Looperboard Out to a pair of Headrush FRFR 112s in stereo And a single Headrush FRFR 108 in the middle as a monitor. Absolute beast of a system.
The weird German guy did a video that was pretty good and there is another one out there comparing a bunch of other models such as mission. Worth hunting a bit for that.
IRs through pair 8" or 10" " powered studio monitors is the emerging choice , as opposed to a single FRFR cab on stage. You get he full effect of stereo imaging live, it sounds kick ass.
I would have enjoyed hearing a line out from the QC as a reference of what the un-amped sound was. Great demo, I've now spec'd my digital rig to sit beside my analog one!
I have the fender and I find the Tone controls on top are absolutely incredible.... because you're right. you can reach down and fiddle with your pedalss and your EQ on your board, or you can back up and just treat the FR cabinet like it's a guitar amp.... with a bass. mid & treble and cut controls... When you are changing guitars, you are not gonna reach down and re-EQ your pedals, you just reach back to the fender FR and adjust the tone controls,, that is the reason I bought it,, the cut control is awesome...
Very interesting. I own the 8" speaker version of the Headrush and the Fender Tonemaster 1x12. The Headrush is small, light, and reasonably priced. I take it to jam sessions, along with a digital pedal board built around a ToneX pedal, and it has worked great as either my main volume provider, or as my monitor if I can plug my pedalboard directly into a mixer. The Fender FRFR is much, much larger and heavier, but it is also a massive improvement in sound. It's also so loud that I've never turned it up above 1/3 and even that's too much for just practicing in the man cave. I have compared the Fender to a powered Alto full range PA speaker that I have sitting right next to it, and the Fender sounds better to me.
Alto, depending on the model, is literally the same electronics as the Headrush, just with a different setting soldered to make it an Alto rather than a Headrush product.
I play at home only and want good tone at low volumes. I do move equipment from room to room, and compactness is useful but not as important as tone. Would you recommend the Headrush or FR10?
I have 2 Headrush 8” for playing in stereo, or a single 12” for general gigging. Running out of the Helix, the XLRs go to front of house, the 1/4” outputs go to the Headrush(es). I use the Global EQ on the Helix’s 1/4” outs only (running at line level) to shape the sound for a given location. The 8” units can the. Serve as a monitor for our drummer (which he loves). I run a passive Behringer stereo volume control between the helix and the FRFR to give me some easy volume control without hanging over the back of the units.
@@chrishyde1216 yes just turn down the volume. I just like to blast my music loud and for quiet practices I use headphones instead but the FR12 sounds good low or loud
I do 2 Headrush on stands, daisy chained to a Fender FRFR and sometimes I AB/Y to a tube amp and run them all. In any case, I didn't like the Headrush at first until I pulled it off the floor and put them on stands, then it was a matter of trimming up some frequencies because it covers too much spectrum. But easy enough. I'd rather trim than not have enough.
When you did the back to backs at the end it would have been interesting to also have a direct from the QC version as a comparison of how the patch is setup to see which one is closest to the patch. The reason for this is because the Laney is really bright to me which isn't my favourite sound but if that is the best representation of how the patch is programmed then my opinion of the cab changes.
About 9 months ago I bought a Laney LFR-112 that I'm using with my Line 6 Pod HD500X. Even though I didn't have the help of this video at the time of my purchase I guess I made the right choice. If I'd have to make that decision today I'd do the same thing again. The Laney LFR-112 sounds extremely good in the room and truly is freakin' loud. When John and the Captain in the video switched to the Laney I had quite a grin on my face. I made exactly the same experience the first time I used the LFR-112 and was totally surprised by the unexpected volume that thing is capable of. With the volume at 50% at home you sure will have the neighbours banging on your door immediately. When I'm practicing at home I have the volume knob at about 10% and in the rehearsal room there's no problem at all to keep up with a drummer. I like the Laney LFR-112 that much that I'm thinking about getting a second one (as backup or possible small "stack" option on stage).
I've noticed that both Yamaha and Line6 seem to get a LOT less exposure on the Anderton guitar channel (can't speak for the others because I don't subscribe to them)
As usual a great demo review, that we want to see and hear. My experience with FRFR while using my Fractal Axe Fx3, is that whichever FRFR you own or end up buying, you'll need to tweak your presets to make them sound as close to what you desire by using eq's amp types, cabs etc, usually cutting the lows drastically improves the tone, the only other matter is how much power in db's do you want or need, according to this demo the Laney wins, additionally the Laney requires much less tweaking. Impressive.
The head rush 8" is the not pictured winner for me. It's screaming loud and doesn't have that woofy bass sound like the 12. Makes my di signal to foh much more balanced without the overhyped lows. Our other guitarist has the fender 12 and loves it. He bought 6 of the frfr amps to compare and kept the fender and 8" headrush.
I get the point of using the same presets to compare the differences, but in the real world part of the reason to go FRFR is that you can always be using the same speaker so presets can be dialed in based on that sound without worrying if they sound good through multiple sources or can be easily EQ'd.
I liked that they used the same preset for everything here because FRFR should be to present an accurate sound of the preset, regardless of price or power. Any weakness in the FRFR's ability to sound accurate with presets vs. what you would hear with a direct signal let's you know immediately whether the "frfr" is, indeed, true to the sound of the preset or does it color the sound. Sure, you can tweak sounds after that, but most players want to know whether a cab is truly FRFR or not.
If you want the same sound through a speaker every time, you can just use a traditional amp. The idea of an FRFR is to recreate the tone you hear in your DAW/headphones/PA in a more portable form factor
@@zgrbthe point of a shoot out is to find the differences in the products. You can’t do that if the preset is changing. Once you find the most accurate one for your needs then you can run all the different presets you want knowing that they will be best represented by your FRFR choice. But first you want to find the product that best reproduces the sound compared to a PA system or studio monitors or how ever you are using it.
@@harrymo72 yes. I am agreeing that the preset shouldn’t change in a shootout like this. Anyone who customizes their presets to their cab is doing modeling wrong.
I have a Laney LFR-112 and my rig is just a Fractal FM9 Turbo through it. Wish this vid was out before I bought it, but I love it regardless! Best cab for the money imo
@ its fantastic!! As far as modelers go, the FM9 (or anything in the fractal ecosystem) is tough to learn, but imo it gives the best tones & customization options. Can’t see myself moving to anything else for a long time! (Unless I hit the lottery and can grab a full Axe FX rig🤣)
I have the Laney and use an amp stand. Too bass heavy when its on the ground. But I have used it nearly daily for a year, it absolutely sounds amazing!
The output at 12 on the volume dial is an arbitrary decision made by the designer - it would make more sense to find a comfortable volume, say 90dB, for a demo, and then see how loud it can go without distorting, and how quiet it can go without a noticeable change in EQ.
I have yet to try a FRFR but have been using the Tech 21 1x12 and 2x12 with outstanding results. Recently added a Line 6 Catalyst 2x12 as a power cab and it is sounding incredibly good.
Another informative video from Andertons! Would have been helpful to show the amp and cab models use along with EQ settings on the quad as well. If you could share those that would be awesome. Thanks again for the great comparison.
Volume has a lot to do with speaker efficiency - which is why bass players play 500w amps while guitarists play 30w amps. The ability of the Headrush to handle bass frequencies is astonishing, it’s also based on a PA speaker, so has a heavy duty driver the may be less efficient than one aimed at guitarists. I have the previous model to use as a monitor when I’m DI'ing my bass. The frequency cut (if I remember correctly) is to compensate for positioning. An upright speaker is pushing the cone forwards and backwards, basically working against inertia and some air pressure. Sound people will tell you that when you tip a speaker away from vertical, it is then working against inertia, air pressure and gravity. - people put wheels on things because it much less effort to push them than to lift them. For speakers, the need for the driver to “lift” the cone adds extra bass frequencies while reducing treble. I imagine a secondary use would be that the Headrush can be stand-mounted. On a stand, full frequency would be the go to, while if you are putting it on the stage, the cut in low frequency response would reduce acoustic coupling withe stage. Even as a bass player, I have played places with such a resonant stage, that it becomes an issue. I'll also say that for decades i have only used 15” bass cabs and never been satisfied with smaller speakers, the 12” in the Headrush easily matches - and in some cases exceeds the low frequencies they are comfortable with. Reply
I literally use Mackie PA speakers rather than FRFR cabs because well…pretty similar concept. I roll off highs and lows for “guitar” tones with EQ, works great, sounds like a “legit” “real” guitar amp, with the HX stomp into it, more like hundreds actually.
the headrush 112 has lots of low end, i have the first version, it's now used as a bass drum and bass guitar monitor for our band, it can get pretty loud as well.
@@JeremyAndersonBoiseI tried the Costco stereo PA setup and returned it because there was a constant hiss whenever the amp was turned on. Class D amps can have problems with hiss if they are not carefully engineered to filter it out. I have a Line6 PowerCab 112 Plus now and it is much nicer. Of course it also cost a lot more.
You realize speaker efficiency (or sensitivity) is measured at 1khz right? It’s a meaningless standard. Try looking at the frequency response curve instead.
At the same time the Headrush stuff is not flat frequency response like the name states, you need a good bit of correction on them if you want that. If you like the sound it's fine, but they are definitely being misleading about both the output power and flatness of the things. Same for similar Alto products, which are the same PCB with a different setting chosen.
Those reading this. Remember the Roland keyboard amps. They are FrFr and some even have 3 band eq’s that can be bypassed for additional tone shaping. And they start cheep.
I have to disagree - all these FRFR cabs & the way they're mic'd colours the sound - the sound of the modeller into the DI is still the truest version of how the unit sounds.
@@soogen I couldn't agree more. Room mic is the only viable option in this scenario. Using IRs to review FRFRs makes zero sense. I can't believe some people can't comprehend this simple fact.
I use the Headrush as my PA speakers. No complaints, I use the Bluetooth for music in between sets. Very happy with it. The price was right as I got them on sale.
These are all really good for the price! Imho "Atomic" powered FRFR was/is considered the Holy Grail - ultimate tone and headroom/transparency in mine and many others opinions, not cheap.Thanks Andertons for your years of great videos!
I own the Positive Grid and it tends to be a little bass heavy. So, there is often a need to make an adjustment for that somewhere in the signal chain. For the price I do like it quite a bit. Because it has the headphone line as an input, I sometimes use my Vox Adio Air GT with it and it acts like a little digital modeling amp head. That input isn’t limited to just the Spark.
I have the Positive Grid and it is WAY too bass heavy. It honestly disappoints me all my patches sound completely different. Some guitars I have I can't even get the bass down enough on my Headrush. I'm contemplating putting an eq pedal right before the headrush to throw my DI signal down when using certain guitars. That's super annoying honestly I would rather just have another patch with less bass but literally the bass will be turned down all the way and still be too much bass and then it's missing a lot of frequencies I want. I play in Drop F# most of the time. Rarely do I go above Drop G# so I'm not sure if thats what it is but it's really pissing me off 😂
I have the head rush and the spark cab. You REALLY need the spark cab off the ground for it to shine. Just being off the ground pulls a slight bit of the bass out of it to my ears which makes it sound more neutral with my ToneX + HX Effects "rig" The Headrush I have the same experience with it that you mentioned.
I would like to see how a Line6 Powercab 112 or 112 Plus sounds compared to these speakers. The Powercab 112 Plus can be used to model various speakers too, which could offload some DSP from your modeller. I have a 112 Plus but usually run it in FRFR mode. It has plenty of volume and works well with any modeller. Since I normally am playing at home, my FRFR system is the "free" components after upgrading my old home theater: 100 watts per channel into 2 large (stereo) speakers and a 12 inch subwoofer. Or Sennheiser HD600 headphones. The Powercab is for offsite or on the couch in front of the TV. It would be nice to use the TV home theater for my guitar to get stereo, might try to wire that up during the holidays.
I recently gigged with my spark go and cab and have to say, it sounded amazing to my ears, I got a lot of positive feedback from the audience and best of all, only one trip to the car and no back ache😅
There's a small confusions in the math at 14:00. Doubling the power adds 3 dB, multiplying the power by 10 adds 10 dB, which is considered as "twice louder". So 100W is 20 dB louder than 1W and 10 dB louder than 10W.
great video and playing, as usual! I do find that my quad does need re-dialling with different monitors and PA systems and they all sounded pretty different to my ears
Thank you for this Lee . I have the Head Rush . I have been "looking at the Laney" , for a 2nd ,(alternative) . So good to hear them ,again Thanks ,I'm getting the Laney .
You can use almost any PA speaker as a FRFR cab. I'm across the pond and bought an Alto TS408 for my modeler from SW. Love it. It says it has 2000W. Whatever. But what it does have, that you need to pay attention to, is that is has a 134dB SPL. Pay no attention to wattage SPL is what counts. Love your content. Happy (Merry over here) Christmas to all the Anderton's crew.
At the end, on the pushed settings, I end up liking more the sound of the Positive Grid over the others. Loud is important, but it sounded more open and natural. All others favored some frequency. The headrush sounded too middle, but not in a flattering way. The others two sounded like they had something going on. The Positive Grid impressed me a lot.
As I stated in another reply, I work at Guitar Center so I've had the opportunity to try all of those cabinets in depth,, the fender FR 12 in my opinion is absolute top of the heap,, the controls are absolutely critical in the ability to dial in that cab
I have positive grid cab and it sounds great, a little beefy low but it works perfect as I back and forth from bass to guitar. I see other comments on getting an amp stand and I’m going to try that out!
I have the Fender FR-10 which I use with my Tonex pedal. It sounds exactly how I imagine tones in my head, but brought to reality, if that makes sense. I keep the tone cut almost off, and everything else is at noon.
might be better off using a 2x15 Pa speaker , especially if your signal is going to a PA and you want your tone dialed in at home to sound the same on stage.
@@teamskdm1 Yeah, I checked the specs on the products in this video, and most are only flat ±3dB down to 53 Hz. Standard 4-string tuning puts the low note at 41 Hz, so these products are not going to work. And some bases go down to 31 Hz!
Bass cabs are pretty much full response just designed to handle good levels of low end. Better off turning off the cab emulation and using a clean power amp and bass cab because low end efficiency is more important than flat response in a portable rig for bass.
Some great light weight from Aguilar bass cabs out there. Paired with small class D Aguilar 500 amp and your under 35 lbs in a super portable bass setup.
I tried a couple FRFR's but ended up going with an RCF NX12 (NX10 is also very nice) powered monitor wedge. This worked out great as once things were dailed in for that it always equates well for any FOH I go too. Typically the sound engineer only has to tweek the mids / slightly tp taste but its a quick tweak. I bring the wedge to all gigs so I then have my on stage sound as well and its always consistent. 👍
(Guest is blocking the dB display along the back wall.) I do appreciate this post as I may be going FRFR x 2 to enjoy stereo separation from pedal outputs.
I agree on the top 2 - but not necessarily the order. On clean at least - the fender sounded like a fender. The Laney sounded like a Laney. Go figure. Without the "dialed in" tone direct - you really cant tell which translated to the actual programmed tone better though - so its kind of a Moot discussion.
Interestingly the NZ session pro Nick Granville (he has a vid on this) uses an FR10 as he finds it less boomy. But he needs to cover just about everything you get booked for - orchestras, jazz, rock, sessions, and studios. So maybe the FR10 is the all-rounder and the FR12 the rock machine? ua-cam.com/video/t48ZsMmzQuI/v-deo.html
Not being a performer, I only needed home practice use for my nano, quad and tonex. I decided on the spark 2, so have the digital amp that is the spark 2, and I can also just output the modellers into the guitar input, and turn off the signal chain of the spark 2 in the app and use it like an FRFR. Best of both worlds for me as I don’t need the really high output volume.
Of note, HeadRush is pretty open on their website that they're measuring peak wattage, and the Fender says "350W" on the back of the unit in small print so I suspect the thousand watts is its peak wattage as well - whereas the PG Spark and the Laney LFR list the wattage RMS. In general, if you see a wattage of 1000 or up, that's going to be the peak wattage.
I've been around guitars and amps for quite a while - 65 years. And I feel like I've seen all the options to amplify a guitar. This is a great video on FRFR but what's missing is what would this sound like through a guitar amp - yep you need some radical knob turning - but it's wholly doable, I do it with a Raw Dawg and the EQ on 1/ 10 / 1 with a Helix XL into the preamp socket. But the big thing missing is what PA speakers do the job - and how they do the job - because going ampless, stage one is through the PA isn't it? I've got a Behringer B210 that sounds so great that I might add another and go stereo and dump the Raw Dawg and cab - almost def the next move. But where is all that in this video? I know this is about FRFR . And I'm not anti because I might go sideways into a Fender FR10. But an FR10 is about £419 and as second PA speaker to go stereo is £145 - I recon the two 10" 200 watt PA speakers would sound better than the single FR10. Come on Lee - there's def a video there and a VERY USEFUL ONE at that!
Love the Digital John robot prompt in the beginning so entertaining :) I use two headrush 108s at home on stands and they are great for home use. I also taking them to rehearsals. Live I use a QSC. There are better out there but they get the job done.
A review I have been waiting for, thx! It would have been interesting to also test how they sound if you play a backing track AND the guitar through the frfr.
Owner of a Positive Grid CAB here. Yes, it has a boomy sound when it's laid on the floor. For this unit to really shine, you have to angle it back or put it on an amp stand. It sounds like 10x better off the ground. It's really transformative. I'm quite happy with it and it sounds amazing for its price (when it's off the floor).
@@stereoroid Nope, that's not the serial number in my unit. I bought it on pre-sale, early bird. Do you think some batches sound different than others, or that they tweaked this unit along some time after launch?
@@v3rlon Thanks for explaining. I know the song and all, but is it a new meme or something? I really don't get what that album (or song) has anything to do with anything from this video or comments.
It baffles me that any powered cabinet like these has the controls on the back, and not in the most useful position, on the front panel at the top like a classic Marshall, Boogie, or Fender amp. I have a Tech 21 PowerCab, which is not FRFR but a guitar speaker in a well-built cabinet with a clean solid state power amp, and it sounds good, but like these has the volume and tone knobs on the back and seems unnecessarily irritating. Thanks for the thorough and useful and informed demo gents
Attention Canadians! If you're interested in the Laney 112 400 Watt FRFR, I highly recommend ordering it from Andertons. I just purchased one, and it's by far the best price available for Canadians. I saved over $500 CAD-big thanks to Andertons!
Here is a tip for your FRFR Powered speakers,use a small mixer like a behringer UB802,run your modeler into the mixer and then into your FRFR,you will get more volume and have 3 band EQ to shape your tone going into your FRFR!Put the mixer in a easy to reach location so you do not have to go behind your FRFR to make adjustments!
I’d be interested to know what level the signal is coming out of the modeler…line level or mic level? I find the FR-12 needs line level to be competitive in the loudness dept.
Hey! Thanks for the video, it was very interesting and informative for me! 🙂 Recently I switched from Marshall JVM 410H and TC G-system ( over all very heavy rig ) to Fractal FM9 MK2 Turbo. I'm switching to modeler only, because I don't want to carry all those weight around anymore, not because I don't like the sound and the feel of my big rig (by far the best one I had for the last 25 years)... So I bought the Headrush FRFR-108 (two of them for stereo rig, but you could easily go with one of these) , they weight 9.5 kilos each, and I can also use them as a PA speakers when I need 🙂 The most important for power is not the "Wattage", but db-SPL and the FRFR-108 is 129db SPL, which is unbelievable for the size and the weight this speaker has 🙂 I just wanted to say, what's the point moving to digital if not the less weight we carry to a gig? 🙂 Yes all of the speakers sounded good on the demo and I agree, that the Laney sounded most natural, but in my opinion the portability factor here is the most important and for me the Headrush is the winner (not the 112 version, but 108)... 🙂
100 Hz roll off is a good point in mixing audio for guitars so for a FR cab that makes sense. If you're playing with a Bass player their meat (sound of course 😂) is about 80Hz. When mixing guitars I have high pass at 100Hz and a Low Pass at 11K. I think I liked the Fender the best, you probably need to tweak your patches for each one.
was legit looking for frfr cabs this morning, the timing of this video is perfect
no cap
I just bought the Line 6 Pro Go Wireless, now I'm looking for an FRFR cabinet. the timing was superb, thank you.
As you realized at the end, the Fender natural position for the Cut is with it at 0, not at noon. EQ of the Fender are designed for adjusting to the room, so you can do quick adjustments on the fly instead of working on your modeler when live. I use very often the Bass and Cut controls on my FR-12, the Treble and Mid I normally don't use them.
DIGITAL JOHN!
I like the name.
Just another DJ 😉
@@Jeremya74 😂
DI GI TAL JON
Ir please. Yeppp. I got it 😂😂😂😂😂
I truly missed Digital John.
And hes back with an insteresting topic
Probably an uni most of the time - and just back for Christmas?
This is probably the most requested video I’ve ever had from this channel! I never knew whether I should go with an FRFR or cab and power amp for using with modellers so thank you!
It depends on how you like to hear your tone. FRFR (without a lot of EQ) will sound like a mic’ed amp not the a map directly.
I ran power amp and a 1x12 for a while but really prefer the Fender FR-12. Sounds more like a big amp to me somehow. But a good 2x12 would probably be amazing too.
I have my tonex running through an orange pedal baby and then straight into my zilla 2x12 and I love it!
The choices are - 1. sort out your guitar amp EQ (if it sounds ok when you play Spotify through it (adjust EQ till it is good) then it's ready for an amp sim. 2. Get an FRFR which frankly does the same job as the adjusted guitar amp. 3. Get one (or two for stereo) PA speakers and take a line out feed from the amp sim - this is where the amp sim is aimed - ampless and direct to PA. 4. Or try it through the band's PA and get some in ears if the bands PA sounds ok with guitar through it. I was disappointed Lee and John didn't cover more bases - but I guess it was about FRFR.
ALL FRFR cabs are awful, overpriced and not how a guitar amp sounds. Just buy a good quality stage monitor instead if you really want that.
If you want your guitar to sound like an actual amp, get a power amp and normal cab.
If you had the cut at 12 o'clock on the Fender, then the high's were being rolled off, that's why it "sounds like it's being rolled off" compared to the Laney.
My first FRFR cab arrives today. Went with the Laney LFR-112. Stoked!!!! Cheers to Andertons for the helpful videos.
As someone who sent his Laney back and got a Fender FR-12, all I can say is that I'm sorry.
The Fender is on a completely different level.
@ sorry your Laney didn’t work out for ya. This video was definitely leaning towards words the Laney but the Fender seems like a nice unit as well.
@@diabx0r Did the opposite. The Laney is epic, to my ears it sounds much better than the Fender I had
@@Berserker26 I agree. The Laney has way more headroom.
I got a Laney FR112 to go with my Tonex pedal .. it sounds awesome on its own .. played a gig last weekend sounded great but lacked the punch of a valve amp on stage.
From experience of most of these FR's. The Headrush generally is pretty bright vs what goes out the front of the PA. The Laney is HEAVY and an awakard size/shape to carry into venues. The Fender is super light. Portable, looks/sounds like a real amp, has eq which you can adjust to your preference depending on the venue. I like that it's got a DI out as well.. I've used this function live. For me the Fender is a winner by a country mile..
And the tone cut should have most definitely been off for the fender.. That tone cut being half way massively will affect the top end of the FR. Everything else at 12 oclock will give it the most natural sounding version of the DI signal.
My two cents as a foh engineer - the headrush is awful from my perspective, loads of harsh spill, wool sound out the back of the cab and causes guitarists to dial in muddy sounds to combat the harshness. A guitarist I had using the fender had one of the best tones I've ever heard from a digital rig.
I got fr-10 and lfr212
Tbh I kinda like fr10 way more then fr12
FR12 user here and love it
Any experience with the Red Sound units, per chance? Fractal (the Axe-FX makers) sell them on their store (and you can use them in stereo!), so I've been wondering about them.
I use a Headrush 108 on an amp stand--loud as hell and sounds great.
Have one too and love it
I love mine also!
I have an enjoy the Fender. I like to run the bass and the high cut at about 10:00 each to just take off the highs and lows. One nice thing with the Fender is the volume is really responsive at very low settings so very easy to dial in a quiet home tone.
My rig:
Framus Teambuilt Devin Townsend Stormbender
Into
Headrush Prime
Into
Headrush Looperboard
Out to a pair of Headrush FRFR 112s in stereo
And a single Headrush FRFR 108 in the middle as a monitor.
Absolute beast of a system.
Good to see Lee’s let his son come back on for another video. I’m actually on the hunt for an FRFR, this may prove useful…
The weird German guy did a video that was pretty good and there is another one out there comparing a bunch of other models such as mission. Worth hunting a bit for that.
I use the Fender 12, that thing sounds amazing and looks great!
I work at Guitar Center and I've tried every one of them, hands down the fender outperforms all of them
This was very informative. I've been looking for this kind of shootout.
Good to see D-I-G-I-T-A-L JOHN again! 🍻
Based on this test, the only FRFR cab I would consider buying is the Fender Tone Master.
19:36 John holding back commenting on Lee's "Most of the time you're only putting one thing in" lol
gotta stay pro ennit
I was waiting for a "That's what she said"
Tru dat
Pete wouldn't let that one pass him by. It would be total pandemonium
IRs through pair 8" or 10" " powered studio monitors is the emerging choice , as opposed to a single FRFR cab on stage. You get he full effect of stereo imaging live, it sounds kick ass.
I would have enjoyed hearing a line out from the QC as a reference of what the un-amped sound was. Great demo, I've now spec'd my digital rig to sit beside my analog one!
Man.. THIS is what's missing from all frfr review/comparison vids everywhere.
I have the fender and I find the Tone controls on top are absolutely incredible.... because you're right. you can reach down and fiddle with your pedalss and your EQ on your board, or you can back up and just treat the FR cabinet like it's a guitar amp.... with a bass. mid & treble and cut controls... When you are changing guitars, you are not gonna reach down and re-EQ your pedals, you just reach back to the fender FR and adjust the tone controls,, that is the reason I bought it,, the cut control is awesome...
Very interesting. I own the 8" speaker version of the Headrush and the Fender Tonemaster 1x12. The Headrush is small, light, and reasonably priced. I take it to jam sessions, along with a digital pedal board built around a ToneX pedal, and it has worked great as either my main volume provider, or as my monitor if I can plug my pedalboard directly into a mixer. The Fender FRFR is much, much larger and heavier, but it is also a massive improvement in sound. It's also so loud that I've never turned it up above 1/3 and even that's too much for just practicing in the man cave. I have compared the Fender to a powered Alto full range PA speaker that I have sitting right next to it, and the Fender sounds better to me.
Alto, depending on the model, is literally the same electronics as the Headrush, just with a different setting soldered to make it an Alto rather than a Headrush product.
I play at home only and want good tone at low volumes. I do move equipment from room to room, and compactness is useful but not as important as tone. Would you recommend the Headrush or FR10?
If you want anything to sound like a guitar,just like a amp, you start with 12 inch speakers....if it's 2x12 even better @@chrishyde1216
I have 2 Headrush 8” for playing in stereo, or a single 12” for general gigging. Running out of the Helix, the XLRs go to front of house, the 1/4” outputs go to the Headrush(es). I use the Global EQ on the Helix’s 1/4” outs only (running at line level) to shape the sound for a given location. The 8” units can the. Serve as a monitor for our drummer (which he loves). I run a passive Behringer stereo volume control between the helix and the FRFR to give me some easy volume control without hanging over the back of the units.
I have never heard the others in person, but I own a Fender FR-10 and I can confirm it sounds absolutely fantastic
I have an FR12 and w/my GX100 and the FR volume at 4 I was easily able to keep up with a loud punk rock drummer.
Is it good with very low volumes at home?
@@chrishyde1216 yes just turn down the volume. I just like to blast my music loud and for quiet practices I use headphones instead but the FR12 sounds good low or loud
@ Yes ! That was a big question for me as I practice in my condo. The sound is great at very low volume.
I do 2 Headrush on stands, daisy chained to a Fender FRFR and sometimes I AB/Y to a tube amp and run them all. In any case, I didn't like the Headrush at first until I pulled it off the floor and put them on stands, then it was a matter of trimming up some frequencies because it covers too much spectrum. But easy enough. I'd rather trim than not have enough.
When you did the back to backs at the end it would have been interesting to also have a direct from the QC version as a comparison of how the patch is setup to see which one is closest to the patch. The reason for this is because the Laney is really bright to me which isn't my favourite sound but if that is the best representation of how the patch is programmed then my opinion of the cab changes.
About 9 months ago I bought a Laney LFR-112 that I'm using with my Line 6 Pod HD500X. Even though I didn't have the help of this video at the time of my purchase I guess I made the right choice. If I'd have to make that decision today I'd do the same thing again. The Laney LFR-112 sounds extremely good in the room and truly is freakin' loud. When John and the Captain in the video switched to the Laney I had quite a grin on my face. I made exactly the same experience the first time I used the LFR-112 and was totally surprised by the unexpected volume that thing is capable of. With the volume at 50% at home you sure will have the neighbours banging on your door immediately. When I'm practicing at home I have the volume knob at about 10% and in the rehearsal room there's no problem at all to keep up with a drummer. I like the Laney LFR-112 that much that I'm thinking about getting a second one (as backup or possible small "stack" option on stage).
Would have loved to see the Line 6 included for cabs.
I've noticed that both Yamaha and Line6 seem to get a LOT less exposure on the Anderton guitar channel (can't speak for the others because I don't subscribe to them)
Went from 2 head rush 108s to 2 fender FRFR12s and boy they are so nice
As usual a great demo review, that we want to see and hear. My experience with FRFR while using my Fractal Axe Fx3, is that whichever FRFR you own or end up buying, you'll need to tweak your presets to make them sound as close to what you desire by using eq's amp types, cabs etc, usually cutting the lows drastically improves the tone, the only other matter is how much power in db's do you want or need, according to this demo the Laney wins, additionally the Laney requires much less tweaking. Impressive.
Flat setting on the Fender FR-12 is treble, middle bass set to noon, and the Cut at minimum position.
The head rush 8" is the not pictured winner for me. It's screaming loud and doesn't have that woofy bass sound like the 12. Makes my di signal to foh much more balanced without the overhyped lows. Our other guitarist has the fender 12 and loves it. He bought 6 of the frfr amps to compare and kept the fender and 8" headrush.
Yeah completely agreed.
always good to see John 🙌
🫶🏻
I get the point of using the same presets to compare the differences, but in the real world part of the reason to go FRFR is that you can always be using the same speaker so presets can be dialed in based on that sound without worrying if they sound good through multiple sources or can be easily EQ'd.
I liked that they used the same preset for everything here because FRFR should be to present an accurate sound of the preset, regardless of price or power. Any weakness in the FRFR's ability to sound accurate with presets vs. what you would hear with a direct signal let's you know immediately whether the "frfr" is, indeed, true to the sound of the preset or does it color the sound. Sure, you can tweak sounds after that, but most players want to know whether a cab is truly FRFR or not.
If you want the same sound through a speaker every time, you can just use a traditional amp. The idea of an FRFR is to recreate the tone you hear in your DAW/headphones/PA in a more portable form factor
@@zgrbthe point of a shoot out is to find the differences in the products. You can’t do that if the preset is changing. Once you find the most accurate one for your needs then you can run all the different presets you want knowing that they will be best represented by your FRFR choice. But first you want to find the product that best reproduces the sound compared to a PA system or studio monitors or how ever you are using it.
@@harrymo72 yes. I am agreeing that the preset shouldn’t change in a shootout like this. Anyone who customizes their presets to their cab is doing modeling wrong.
Have the FR10 with UAFX pedals and sounds amazing. Light and fits in a Pelican rolling case. Very gig friendly.
I have the FR12 and it sounds great at any volume, used it with Tonex and UAFX Dream, both sound excellent.
Digital John!!! Good to see you again!😅
Good to be back 🤖🫡
I have a Laney LFR-112 and my rig is just a Fractal FM9 Turbo through it. Wish this vid was out before I bought it, but I love it regardless! Best cab for the money imo
You've got the right rig here. Sounds awesome!
@ its fantastic!! As far as modelers go, the FM9 (or anything in the fractal ecosystem) is tough to learn, but imo it gives the best tones & customization options. Can’t see myself moving to anything else for a long time! (Unless I hit the lottery and can grab a full Axe FX rig🤣)
"Just" a Fractal FM9 Turbo😆
@@randyinmpls5413 🤣 hahaha ‘just’ as in its a simple set up. Im lucky to have the Fractal!
@@williamturner9450 Oh I know. Sometimes my inner brat gets the best of me.
Enjoy!
I have the Laney and use an amp stand. Too bass heavy when its on the ground. But I have used it nearly daily for a year, it absolutely sounds amazing!
The output at 12 on the volume dial is an arbitrary decision made by the designer - it would make more sense to find a comfortable volume, say 90dB, for a demo, and then see how loud it can go without distorting, and how quiet it can go without a noticeable change in EQ.
I have yet to try a FRFR but have been using the Tech 21 1x12 and 2x12 with outstanding results. Recently added a Line 6 Catalyst 2x12 as a power cab and it is sounding incredibly good.
Picked up the fender in the FR-10 size and it’s awesome!!
Another informative video from Andertons! Would have been helpful to show the amp and cab models use along with EQ settings on the quad as well. If you could share those that would be awesome. Thanks again for the great comparison.
Volume has a lot to do with speaker efficiency - which is why bass players play 500w amps while guitarists play 30w amps. The ability of the Headrush to handle bass frequencies is astonishing, it’s also based on a PA speaker, so has a heavy duty driver the may be less efficient than one aimed at guitarists. I have the previous model to use as a monitor when I’m DI'ing my bass.
The frequency cut (if I remember correctly) is to compensate for positioning. An upright speaker is pushing the cone forwards and backwards, basically working against inertia and some air pressure. Sound people will tell you that when you tip a speaker away from vertical, it is then working against inertia, air pressure and gravity. - people put wheels on things because it much less effort to push them than to lift them. For speakers, the need for the driver to “lift” the cone adds extra bass frequencies while reducing treble.
I imagine a secondary use would be that the Headrush can be stand-mounted. On a stand, full frequency would be the go to, while if you are putting it on the stage, the cut in low frequency response would reduce acoustic coupling withe stage. Even as a bass player, I have played places with such a resonant stage, that it becomes an issue.
I'll also say that for decades i have only used 15” bass cabs and never been satisfied with smaller speakers, the 12” in the Headrush easily matches - and in some cases exceeds the low frequencies they are comfortable with.
Reply
I literally use Mackie PA speakers rather than FRFR cabs because well…pretty similar concept. I roll off highs and lows for “guitar” tones with EQ, works great, sounds like a “legit” “real” guitar amp, with the HX stomp into it, more like hundreds actually.
the headrush 112 has lots of low end, i have the first version, it's now used as a bass drum and bass guitar monitor for our band, it can get pretty loud as well.
@@JeremyAndersonBoiseI tried the Costco stereo PA setup and returned it because there was a constant hiss whenever the amp was turned on. Class D amps can have problems with hiss if they are not carefully engineered to filter it out. I have a Line6 PowerCab 112 Plus now and it is much nicer. Of course it also cost a lot more.
You realize speaker efficiency (or sensitivity) is measured at 1khz right? It’s a meaningless standard. Try looking at the frequency response curve instead.
At the same time the Headrush stuff is not flat frequency response like the name states, you need a good bit of correction on them if you want that. If you like the sound it's fine, but they are definitely being misleading about both the output power and flatness of the things. Same for similar Alto products, which are the same PCB with a different setting chosen.
That Pink Charvel tho... 💕
10db is a doubling of volume (loudness). 3db is a double of power and a detectable change in loudness. 40 years as an electronic technologist.
6db is a doubling of volume, not 10
Those reading this. Remember the Roland keyboard amps. They are FrFr and some even have 3 band eq’s that can be bypassed for additional tone shaping. And they start cheep.
I know it's a pain to setup but I think this is the best way to do modelers in their videos, frfr cab with a room mic
Sounds terrible.
I have to disagree - all these FRFR cabs & the way they're mic'd colours the sound - the sound of the modeller into the DI is still the truest version of how the unit sounds.
@@andertons the reason I prefer this to the di is because otherwise you are at the mercy of the ir used which imo the majority of do not sound good
@@andertons yes
@@soogen I couldn't agree more. Room mic is the only viable option in this scenario. Using IRs to review FRFRs makes zero sense. I can't believe some people can't comprehend this simple fact.
When it comes to EQ on FRFR. Ideal would be HPF and LPF, with a freq adjustment for each, and a button to change slope from -6dB/Oct to -12dB
I use the Headrush as my PA speakers. No complaints, I use the Bluetooth for music in between sets. Very happy with it. The price was right as I got them on sale.
I like the positive grid and the fender tones. but for half the price i will buy the positive grid !
These are all really good for the price! Imho "Atomic" powered FRFR was/is considered the Holy Grail - ultimate tone and headroom/transparency in mine and many others opinions, not cheap.Thanks Andertons for your years of great videos!
As someone who owned the Atomic, I can tell you, the Fender speakers are superior in every way.
I would be happy with any of these cablifiers especially the badass heavy Laney
I have always been happy with my Laney LFR-112. Even used it as a bass amp one time on a gig.
I own the Positive Grid and it tends to be a little bass heavy. So, there is often a need to make an adjustment for that somewhere in the signal chain.
For the price I do like it quite a bit. Because it has the headphone line as an input, I sometimes use my Vox Adio Air GT with it and it acts like a little digital modeling amp head. That input isn’t limited to just the Spark.
I have the Positive Grid and it is WAY too bass heavy. It honestly disappoints me all my patches sound completely different. Some guitars I have I can't even get the bass down enough on my Headrush. I'm contemplating putting an eq pedal right before the headrush to throw my DI signal down when using certain guitars. That's super annoying honestly I would rather just have another patch with less bass but literally the bass will be turned down all the way and still be too much bass and then it's missing a lot of frequencies I want. I play in Drop F# most of the time. Rarely do I go above Drop G# so I'm not sure if thats what it is but it's really pissing me off 😂
I have the head rush and the spark cab. You REALLY need the spark cab off the ground for it to shine. Just being off the ground pulls a slight bit of the bass out of it to my ears which makes it sound more neutral with my ToneX + HX Effects "rig" The Headrush I have the same experience with it that you mentioned.
The same thing with MY FR-12, really shines when you tilt it or get it off of the ground, if not I have to dial the bass all the way back.
I would like to see how a Line6 Powercab 112 or 112 Plus sounds compared to these speakers. The Powercab 112 Plus can be used to model various speakers too, which could offload some DSP from your modeller. I have a 112 Plus but usually run it in FRFR mode. It has plenty of volume and works well with any modeller. Since I normally am playing at home, my FRFR system is the "free" components after upgrading my old home theater: 100 watts per channel into 2 large (stereo) speakers and a 12 inch subwoofer. Or Sennheiser HD600 headphones. The Powercab is for offsite or on the couch in front of the TV. It would be nice to use the TV home theater for my guitar to get stereo, might try to wire that up during the holidays.
I recently gigged with my spark go and cab and have to say, it sounded amazing to my ears, I got a lot of positive feedback from the audience and best of all, only one trip to the car and no back ache😅
There's a small confusions in the math at 14:00.
Doubling the power adds 3 dB, multiplying the power by 10 adds 10 dB, which is considered as "twice louder".
So 100W is 20 dB louder than 1W and 10 dB louder than 10W.
great shootout! We've got the Fender and the Pos Grid FRFRs in our arsenal and they're both great with the Quad Cortex
I have the Fender FR12, and I love it.
great video and playing, as usual! I do find that my quad does need re-dialling with different monitors and PA systems and they all sounded pretty different to my ears
Thank you for this Lee . I have the Head Rush . I have been "looking at the Laney" , for a 2nd ,(alternative) . So good to hear them ,again Thanks ,I'm getting the Laney .
You can use almost any PA speaker as a FRFR cab. I'm across the pond and bought an Alto TS408 for my modeler from SW. Love it. It says it has 2000W. Whatever. But what it does have, that you need to pay attention to, is that is has a 134dB SPL. Pay no attention to wattage SPL is what counts. Love your content. Happy (Merry over here) Christmas to all the Anderton's crew.
The Laney all the way, loved the vid boys,
thanks.
At the end, on the pushed settings, I end up liking more the sound of the Positive Grid over the others. Loud is important, but it sounded more open and natural. All others favored some frequency. The headrush sounded too middle, but not in a flattering way. The others two sounded like they had something going on. The Positive Grid impressed me a lot.
Yeah you guys had the Fender FR12 with the tone rolled half out. Would love to have listen to it as it should be set.
Hopefully there is another demo of the Fender for you to watch.
It can be set with the tone rolled half out if you want. That’s kinda the point of having tone controls!
As I stated in another reply, I work at Guitar Center so I've had the opportunity to try all of those cabinets in depth,, the fender FR 12 in my opinion is absolute top of the heap,, the controls are absolutely critical in the ability to dial in that cab
I have positive grid cab and it sounds great, a little beefy low but it works perfect as I back and forth from bass to guitar. I see other comments on getting an amp stand and I’m going to try that out!
I have the Fender FR-10 which I use with my Tonex pedal. It sounds exactly how I imagine tones in my head, but brought to reality, if that makes sense. I keep the tone cut almost off, and everything else is at noon.
Cool. Now do FRFR cabs for bass guitars!
might be better off using a 2x15 Pa speaker , especially if your signal is going to a PA and you want your tone dialed in at home to sound the same on stage.
@@teamskdm1 Yeah, I checked the specs on the products in this video, and most are only flat ±3dB down to 53 Hz. Standard 4-string tuning puts the low note at 41 Hz, so these products are not going to work. And some bases go down to 31 Hz!
Bass cabs are pretty much full response just designed to handle good levels of low end. Better off turning off the cab emulation and using a clean power amp and bass cab because low end efficiency is more important than flat response in a portable rig for bass.
Any bass combo with a tweeter and an effects loop return you can plug directly into is an FRFR for bass (or guitar, for that matter).
Some great light weight from Aguilar bass cabs out there. Paired with small class D Aguilar 500 amp and your under 35 lbs in a super portable bass setup.
Playing with octave effects would be a great test for these on the low end. Stick on an OC-5 or ehx bass9 and see what happens to the bottom end.
I tried a couple FRFR's but ended up going with an RCF NX12 (NX10 is also very nice) powered monitor wedge. This worked out great as once things were dailed in for that it always equates well for any FOH I go too. Typically the sound engineer only has to tweek the mids / slightly tp taste but its a quick tweak. I bring the wedge to all gigs so I then have my on stage sound as well and its always consistent. 👍
(Guest is blocking the dB display along the back wall.)
I do appreciate this post as I may be going FRFR x 2 to enjoy stereo separation from pedal outputs.
From what I'm hearing here, I like the Fender the best and then the Laney. I'd like to get two of the Fender brand and use them in stereo.
Fender sounded the most naturally amp like to me. Laney sounded really good too
i think the same, and i was suprised how different they are !
I agree on the top 2 - but not necessarily the order. On clean at least - the fender sounded like a fender. The Laney sounded like a Laney. Go figure. Without the "dialed in" tone direct - you really cant tell which translated to the actual programmed tone better though - so its kind of a Moot discussion.
Interestingly the NZ session pro Nick Granville (he has a vid on this) uses an FR10 as he finds it less boomy. But he needs to cover just about everything you get booked for - orchestras, jazz, rock, sessions, and studios. So maybe the FR10 is the all-rounder and the FR12 the rock machine? ua-cam.com/video/t48ZsMmzQuI/v-deo.html
Not being a performer, I only needed home practice use for my nano, quad and tonex. I decided on the spark 2, so have the digital amp that is the spark 2, and I can also just output the modellers into the guitar input, and turn off the signal chain of the spark 2 in the app and use it like an FRFR. Best of both worlds for me as I don’t need the really high output volume.
Of note, HeadRush is pretty open on their website that they're measuring peak wattage, and the Fender says "350W" on the back of the unit in small print so I suspect the thousand watts is its peak wattage as well - whereas the PG Spark and the Laney LFR list the wattage RMS.
In general, if you see a wattage of 1000 or up, that's going to be the peak wattage.
You guys should have re-recorded the Fender - the demo with the cut half-way up really killed the way it sounded in comparison
I have two Headrush 1x12 with a Kemper. Sounds killer.
I've been around guitars and amps for quite a while - 65 years. And I feel like I've seen all the options to amplify a guitar. This is a great video on FRFR but what's missing is what would this sound like through a guitar amp - yep you need some radical knob turning - but it's wholly doable, I do it with a Raw Dawg and the EQ on 1/ 10 / 1 with a Helix XL into the preamp socket. But the big thing missing is what PA speakers do the job - and how they do the job - because going ampless, stage one is through the PA isn't it? I've got a Behringer B210 that sounds so great that I might add another and go stereo and dump the Raw Dawg and cab - almost def the next move.
But where is all that in this video? I know this is about FRFR . And I'm not anti because I might go sideways into a Fender FR10. But an FR10 is about £419 and as second PA speaker to go stereo is £145 - I recon the two 10" 200 watt PA speakers would sound better than the single FR10. Come on Lee - there's def a video there and a VERY USEFUL ONE at that!
@ 19:35
Lee: " you're only putting one thing in"
Digital John: thinks about it then giggles
Love the Digital John robot prompt in the beginning so entertaining :) I use two headrush 108s at home on stands and they are great for home use. I also taking them to rehearsals. Live I use a QSC. There are better out there but they get the job done.
A review I have been waiting for, thx! It would have been interesting to also test how they sound if you play a backing track AND the guitar through the frfr.
Owner of a Positive Grid CAB here.
Yes, it has a boomy sound when it's laid on the floor. For this unit to really shine, you have to angle it back or put it on an amp stand.
It sounds like 10x better off the ground. It's really transformative. I'm quite happy with it and it sounds amazing for its price (when it's off the floor).
Serial no. 90125, by any chance? 😂
@@stereoroid Nope, that's not the serial number in my unit. I bought it on pre-sale, early bird.
Do you think some batches sound different than others, or that they tweaked this unit along some time after launch?
It’s a reference to the Yes album 90125 with “Owner of a Lonely Heart” on it.
@@v3rlon Thanks for explaining. I know the song and all, but is it a new meme or something? I really don't get what that album (or song) has anything to do with anything from this video or comments.
@@edylle "Owner of a Positive Grid Cab,
(much better than the) Owner of a Headrush Cab"
You have to kind of sing it.
Not a fan of digital but 👍 for John’s playing
Life with modellers got a lot easier with FRFR:-) Fender FR10 here. I guess it's quite self explaining and serves the true purpose of a modeller.
Great video. Taste is personal, but I thought Laney was significantly better than the rest, with Positive Grid being 2nd. IMHO. Thanks again guys!
It baffles me that any powered cabinet like these has the controls on the back, and not in the most useful position, on the front panel at the top like a classic Marshall, Boogie, or Fender amp. I have a Tech 21 PowerCab, which is not FRFR but a guitar speaker in a well-built cabinet with a clean solid state power amp, and it sounds good, but like these has the volume and tone knobs on the back and seems unnecessarily irritating. Thanks for the thorough and useful and informed demo gents
Attention Canadians! If you're interested in the Laney 112 400 Watt FRFR, I highly recommend ordering it from Andertons. I just purchased one, and it's by far the best price available for Canadians. I saved over $500 CAD-big thanks to Andertons!
Did you had to pay for GST, PST, custom and brokering fees?
For what it's worth Guthrie Govan also uses the laney lfr series
I use a Laney FR112 with a Tonex .. my first dip into the digital realm .. got to say, it sounds amazing.
I had a Yamaha DXR10 for a long time. Amazing piece of gear.
Here is a tip for your FRFR Powered speakers,use a small mixer like a behringer UB802,run your modeler into the mixer and then into your FRFR,you will get more volume and have 3 band EQ to shape your tone going into your FRFR!Put the mixer in a easy to reach location so you do not have to go behind your FRFR to make adjustments!
I’ve tried all these except the Laney.. the Fender FR12 is the only one that felt and sounded like a real amp
well FRFR isn't supposed to feel like a real amp. It needs to sound like a mic'd amp as if you're listening to it in the control room.
Would love to see how the Barefaced Reality FRFR compares to these. Their augmented vent diffractor technology is very unique and interesting.
Double the volume is +10 dB! Other than that, very informative!
Nope, it’s 6
I’d be interested to know what level the signal is coming out of the modeler…line level or mic level? I find the FR-12 needs line level to be competitive in the loudness dept.
Hey! Thanks for the video, it was very interesting and informative for me! 🙂 Recently I switched from Marshall JVM 410H and TC G-system ( over all very heavy rig ) to Fractal FM9 MK2 Turbo. I'm switching to modeler only, because I don't want to carry all those weight around anymore, not because I don't like the sound and the feel of my big rig (by far the best one I had for the last 25 years)... So I bought the Headrush FRFR-108 (two of them for stereo rig, but you could easily go with one of these) , they weight 9.5 kilos each, and I can also use them as a PA speakers when I need 🙂 The most important for power is not the "Wattage", but db-SPL and the FRFR-108 is 129db SPL, which is unbelievable for the size and the weight this speaker has 🙂
I just wanted to say, what's the point moving to digital if not the less weight we carry to a gig? 🙂 Yes all of the speakers sounded good on the demo and I agree, that the Laney sounded most natural, but in my opinion the portability factor here is the most important and for me the Headrush is the winner (not the 112 version, but 108)... 🙂
100 Hz roll off is a good point in mixing audio for guitars so for a FR cab that makes sense. If you're playing with a Bass player their meat (sound of course 😂) is about 80Hz. When mixing guitars I have high pass at 100Hz and a Low Pass at 11K.
I think I liked the Fender the best, you probably need to tweak your patches for each one.
Play through a Red Sound FRFR cab and it will set the others on fire, they are amazing.
I’ve used these for many years. I run a modeling board (usually a boss) into a frfr.