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Post subject: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:59 am
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Aspiring Musician
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This may be a little off topic but i just have to mention about how good the Fender Vibro Champ Xd sounds,my uncle just bought one and he brought it to my house so i could hear it and it blew me away for a 5w tube amp with 16 amp model voicings.

This amp is most likely being closed out because sam ash,amazon and best buy are selling them for 149.99! Other music outlets have them for 199.99 and 239.00,my uncle got his amp from sam ash and i will be getting one soon.

I also have the mustang I and V but if i were to compare the Vibro Champ Xd to the mustang I the Vibro Champ Xd wins hands down! This amp does not have a headphone out or any user presets that you can save but the tone is just outstanding from this amp,the fender clean and overdrive tones are so good that i could just not stop playing this amp,the amp has soul and tube warmth that you just cannot get from the mustang I or II in my opinion,just try one out playing a strat or strat clone with a single coil in the neck position and you will just be amazed!

Most of the 16 amp voicings sound good and there is a acoustic guitar simulation that sounds very good with a electric guitar,there are also some high gain models for rock and metal tones that sound good but the fender amp models sound better to me,i could go on and on about this amp but just read the reviews of it for yourself,this is the best sounding amp i have ever heard for 149.00!

I almost forgot to mention that this amp also has effects and many sound very good.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:20 am
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I completely and enthusiastically agree that the VCXD is an excellent 'small' amp that gives the Mustangs a run for their money. I have honestly considered selling my Deluxe Reverb reissue since I got the VibroChamp. That sounds nutty I know, but for my primary needs of home jamming and recording the Deluxe Reverb is overkill, and the XD covers so much more sonic ground without pedals all while keeping that 6V6 power tube dynamics I missed in the Mustang I. By comparison the Deluxe Reverb is a one trick pony.

In the VibroChampXD you give up the foot-switching ability of the Mustangs and saving presets, which I thought would be a buzzkill, but I gotta admit, I find I'm doing very little switching between channels anyway. Why? Probably because it just sounds so freakin good and it responds to your pick attack, and your guitar's tone and volume controls the way a tube amp does. I love the Mustang for it's versatility but I love the VibroChamp more for it's "authenticity" - another nutty comment for an amp with a digital preamp, but it works so f'n well with the tube power section. These are schitzoprhrenic times.

One more observation and I'll quit gushing...
The line out on the VibroChamp is a purely digital signal much like the Mustang's, but it does not kill the internal speaker, it is IN ADDITION to it. This means you can plug into a PA and let the amp's speaker provide the bite while dialing in big warmth from the mains. It also means you can point the amp at yourself for a stage monitor while the sound guy can control your level in the mix. Cool feature.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:37 am
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id-man wrote:
One more observation and I'll quit gushing...
The line out on the VibroChamp is a purely digital signal much like the Mustang's,


I know what you're trying to say but for clarity's sake, I feel compelled to correct this. I think what you mean to say is that it is a speaker compensated signal. It's analog. If it were a digital signal, the PA mixer wouldn't know what to do with those ones and zeros and you'd get no sound at all. Mixers are analog devices and even digital mixers like my Presonus 16.4.2 receive only analog signals from its analog inputs.

O.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:32 am
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Thanks for the correction, I like to be accurate. "Speaker compensated"...I'll try to remember that one. The point I was trying to make of course, is that the line out is a "non-tube" signal. "Digital" was the first thing that came to mind but other terms come to mind now. You already mentioned "analog", but how about "solid state", "emulated", "amp-simulated" or "line level"? Aren't they all kinda the same?

Despite using the wrong adjective, I'm glad my point was clear.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:16 pm
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Sorry, but I got a super champ xd and a vibro champ xd and my mustang I kills them both. I even modded the champs with JJ's and set the bias and they still do not sound as good as my stang. I have quite a few strats, teles, LP's. I also have two PRRI's and a HRDX and I rarely fire them up anymore. The champs are going to be sold. I guess to each to his own...


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:37 pm
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I changed my mind about the Vibro Champ Xd,the one i heard from my uncle did sound very good that he bought from sam ash but i also bought one from musicians friend about a month ago and it worked fine for only two days and then it became defective,the amp would power on with the red power light but there was no sound coming out of the amp anymore so i returned for a refund.

When the amp was working it sounded pretty good but there was still something special about my uncles Vibro Champ Xd,it just sounded a little different to me in a good way compared to the one i had.

Maybe the tubes were better in his amp or maybe the bias was set different then the one in my Vibro Champ Champ?

I do not really miss this amp now because i have the mustang I and V plus i also have a vypyr 30.

I also did not like that the Vibro Champ Xd did not have a headphone output and no user preset locations for storing my own custom presets.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:06 pm
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id-man wrote:
Thanks for the correction, I like to be accurate. "Speaker compensated"...I'll try to remember that one. The point I was trying to make of course, is that the line out is a "non-tube" signal.


OK, you lost me on the "non-tube".

Quote:
"Digital" was the first thing that came to mind but other terms come to mind now. You already mentioned "analog", but how about "solid state", "emulated", "amp-simulated" or "line level"? Aren't they all kinda the same?


Actually, no. Solid state can be either analog or digital. If you go back to the early days of computers, they used tubes at first, so I suppose if someone was crazy and rich enough they could build a tube computer to do the modeling. Yes it would be digital... and about the size of a warehouse, maybe bigger. It would also likely be significantly less powerful than the chip in the Mustang.
A line level signal can be either speaker emulating (compensated) or not. Amp simulation speaks of the attempt to emulate the sound of a guitar amp - with or without speaker emulation.

Quote:
Despite using the wrong adjective, I'm glad my point was clear.


I meant no disrespect but thought it was important to clarify the subject.

O.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:15 pm
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Metalman50 wrote:
When the amp was working it sounded pretty good but there was still something special about my uncles Vibro Champ Xd,it just sounded a little different to me in a good way compared to the one i had.


Well, I think there is something about those vibro's. I liked my vibro champ xd a *lot* more than my super champ xd. I can't explain it, it has some mojo. It was my favorite before I got the stang.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:16 pm
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Lesbeat,i feel the same way about my mustang I vs the mustang II,my same uncle has the mustang II and it sounds good for clean and overdrive tones but not so good for high gain metal tones,the MII has a honky upper midrange response that just makes metal tones sound bad in my opinion.

My mustang I sounds better to me then his MII,i do not care that the MII is louder then my MI because i use my MI as a bedroom practice amp.

I like to play blues,rock and metal and my MI sounds great for all these styles,i would say the MI has a smoother sounding speaker then the one in the MII without the upper midrange frequency response that i do not like in the MII for metal tones,i also like how my backing tracks on my cd's sound going into the MI's aux input.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:15 am
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Orcatraz wrote:

OK, you lost me on the "non-tube".

Non-tube as in line out on the VibroChamp doesn't go through the 6V6 output tube. At least that's what I read somewhere...it comes right off the preamp, picking up speaker emulation somewhere along the path. Feel free to correct me again if I am misinformed. Whatever the specifics, when I plug the VibroChamp's line out to a mixer it sounds and acts just like the line out from a Mustang I - very nice and competent on it's own and a wonderful suppliment to the tube output coming off the internal speaker.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:36 am
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id-man wrote:
Orcatraz wrote:

OK, you lost me on the "non-tube".

Non-tube as in line out on the VibroChamp doesn't go through the 6V6 output tube. At least that's what I read somewhere...it comes right off the preamp, picking up speaker emulation somewhere along the path. Feel free to correct me again if I am misinformed. Whatever the specifics, when I plug the VibroChamp's line out to a mixer it sounds and acts just like the line out from a Mustang I - very nice and competent on it's own and a wonderful suppliment to the tube output coming off the internal speaker.


Oh, I see. I think though, that because the VibroChamp's clean signal does go through the 12AX7s, it is a "tubed" signal.
You're right about the speaker emulation. Fender seems to have done a really good job at it. The Mustang II recordings I've done via USB have been very comparable to what I hear coming from the speaker. I really wish it were possible to try a recording that captures all three signals coming the speaker, USB and the line out but I'd have to mod the MII again to make that happen.

O.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:07 am
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Orcatraz wrote:
VibroChamp's clean signal does go through the 12AX7.

I heard otherwise, that the 12ax7 only buffers the signal hitting the power stage, and has no connection whatsoever to the preamp's voices or the line out. Half of the 12ax7 to be more exact, the other half being unused. I'm just spouting stuff I reads in other threads specific to the VC...in real life use it doesn't make a spec of difference to me how either of these amps do what they do, just that they do it so well. Fender really rocked it with both the Mustangs and the Vibro Champs.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:13 pm
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id-man that is correct, only the power stage is tube, the preamp is all digital on the Champs. As far as the old Champ sounding better, these speakers do need to be broken in for about 40 hours of playing time to really start sounding sweet. I hardly ever play my SCXD since I got Stanged. The MIII just sounds that much better and fuller with a lot more options.


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Post subject: Re: Vibro Champ Xd vs Mustang I And II
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:01 pm
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Interesting. So the 12AX7 is just a phase inverter for the power amp. I stand corrected.

O.


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