Mesa Triaxis vs ENGL E530 in a certain situation...

[aBagel]

So Hey guys!

Currently, I have a mesa mini recto that I’m planning on using as a power amp for one of these preamps (FX Loop). I’m looking for a tight tech-death tone alongside a brutal slam tone. Dont care about the cleans. Which do I get? The triaxis is like 3 times more expensive FYI.

 

[wedge_destroyer]

Well a triaxis can do many things including a Mark series tone, and depending on the mod some rectoish stuff last looked at them. So may be one stop shop. At that point I would ditch the mini and get some real iron behind it.

Engls are normally considered tight, and the 530 can pull off some wicked, tight, thrash tones, but it may lack lows for the slam tones. But with a fairly simple switching set up you can have the Recto pre and the Engl for probably less than a triaxis.

 

[Gmork]

Send the engl through a poweramp with a resonance control and youre laughin, or just use a depth finder or eq or whatever.
Brutal tech stuff is my life and im LOVING my e530!! Sounds fantastic

 

[lewis]

The E530 is siiiiick. Especially with a tube swap. I miss mine.

If they werent so pricy i probably would have grabbed another by now

 

[Vince]

As a long time Mesa player that has owned several of their amps including the Mini Rec and the Triaxis, I'll say this, the Triaxis does NOT live up to it's potential through any other amplifier than the 2:90. It's a solid preamp, but I've tried it through the effect return (power amp in) of my JP2C, PRS MT15, and my old Triple Rectifier, and it sounds woolly and just wrong through them. Put it through a 2:50 or even better a 2:90, and it just comes to life. They were made to go together, and the Triaxis really shines when you can use it in tandem with the 2:90 to engage the Deep and Modern modes on the 2:90.

Now the Triaxis isn't exactly a Mark sound, but it's trying to emulate it and does come really close. Having owned Mark amps and the Triaxis, the Triaxis is a bit more compressed and has a little more shrillness in the higher frequencies you're not going to be able to dial out, but this can be mitigated with tube selection to an extent. I'll be quite frank, my favorite 2 amplifiers I've ever played are the JP2C and the Triaxis/2:90, and I love being able to run huge effects in stereo with that awesome Mesa/Boogie sound running them.

 

[aBagel]

Looks like the E530 gets it done!

 

[Shask]

The bottleneck will be the power section of the baby Recto. Those little EL84 tubes don't bring the depth a big poweramp will do.

 

[aBagel]

Can I use it with an interface alongside Two Notes WoS?

 

[c7spheres]

I never played the ENGL you're talking about but I know the TriAxis will get the job done.

 

[fantom]

Can I use it with an interface alongside Two Notes WoS?

Yes, you can run the output of a preamp directly into an interface and use WoS. I run the stereo to an interface and a powera so I can choose of I want either without reconnecting cables. If recording for real, I suggest using a real power amp or IRs. The WoS power amp emulation is not as good as a load box or IR recorded with a power amp in the chain.

 

[Tisca]

If you look closely, the E530 says "modern rock" on the front, which I think describes the preamp. It's not as metal as I think you want.

 

[lewis]

If you look closely, the E530 says "modern rock" on the front, which I think describes the preamp. It's not as metal as I think you want.

You joking? Haha

Dont be misled. The engl has a few channels and covers alot of ground. The high gain channel can do anything from classic/thrash - right up to djent.

This is an E530 +Matrix poweramp with the POD HD PRO 4 cable method into an orange cab -
DROP E

 

[aBagel]

You joking? Haha

Dont be misled. The engl has a few channels and covers alot of ground. The high gain channel can do anything from classic/thrash - right up to djent.

This is an E530 +Matrix poweramp with the POD HD PRO 4 cable method into an orange cab -
DROP E

balls that sounds nice!

 

[Sumsar]

Send the engl through a poweramp with a resonance control and youre laughin, or just use a depth finder or eq or whatever.
Brutal tech stuff is my life and im LOVING my e530!! Sounds fantastic

This! I just pulled out my E530 and plugged it into the poweramp of my Peavey 6505. Sounds super killer - no need for a boost, but will probably try a couple of pedals in front of it later today, because I have a tendency to try boost in front of everything

 

[Tisca]

You joking? Haha

Dont be misled. The engl has a few channels and covers alot of ground. The high gain channel can do anything from classic/thrash - right up to djent.

This is an E530 +Matrix poweramp with the POD HD PRO 4 cable method into an orange cab -
DROP E

I was prepared to stand corrected but that's a bad example.

1. So is it e530 or POD sounds?
2. 8th string chug favors crunchier settings (less gainy)
3. OP wants "tight tech-death tone alongside a brutal slam tone". IMO neither that video or e530 delivers as well as many other options.

 

[lewis]

balls that sounds nice!

Nick has loads of clips of this thing. It has monster gain on tap.

The rhythm channel has a tonne and then the lead channel is like "holy God unholy amounts of tight gain"

 

[sonoftheoldnorth]

I agree with Tisca.

I've owned the e530 and it's older brother e620, they can do metal well, obviously, but they ARE a lot more 'rock' sounding than you would think. Not at all mega gainy, super tight and compressed like you would expect an Engl to sound.

I also agree you would need some kind of EQ to add in bass, as they can sound quite thin.

Not really getting the 4-channel thing. There are 2 channels, a decent clean and a lead with some switches that you pretty much will never use.

If you get one, get it used. Too expensive new imo. But why not just ditch the mini recto and get something that serves your purpose without being such a cobbled together rig?

 

[lewis]

I agree with Tisca.

I've owned the e530 and it's older brother e620, they can do metal well, obviously, but they ARE a lot more 'rock' sounding than you would think. Not at all mega gainy, super tight and compressed like you would expect an Engl to sound.

I also agree you would need some kind of EQ to add in bass, as they can sound quite thin.

Not really getting the 4-channel thing. There are 2 channels, a decent clean and a lead with some switches that you pretty much will never use.

If you get one, get it used. Too expensive new imo. But why not just ditch the mini recto and get something that serves your purpose without being such a cobbled together rig?

Most people will add a tube screamer infront of anything when they play extreme forms of metal. The ENGL takes pedals well be it physical or digital from things like the HD PRO/HELIX etc. Thats how i got loads of extra juice for mine.
Also allowed me to input an EQ Block in its efx loop (4cm) that allowed me to dial in missing low end

 

[youngthrasher9]

Like others have mentioned, the E530 may be slightly leaner in the low end than some other amps. Make no mistake however- it does not lack gain. I’ve heard that some Engl amps don’t like to be boosted, but this pre ain’t one of em. I’ll see if I can dig up some phone clips for you. Edit: here it is. This was 3 years ago. I didn’t have a noise gate at the time. I boosted with a tubescreamer clone set at almost full volume, no gain. Guitar was a PRS Mushok baritone with a dimarzio Titan in the bridge. The cab was a home built oversized 2x12 with an eminence swamp thang and a wizard. Power amp was a 6505+.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GSFFqVXDQ6bKzdXFLltpSQUCdg3j_hix/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[youngthrasher9]

Fixed the sharing settings on that clip, should be good to go. Sorry about that guys.