Small Amp VS Big Amp (Laney IRT Studio EL84 vs Ironheart 60 6L6)

[Guitarjon]

Hey guys,

I'm a huge fan of the laney Ironheart amps.
They sound HUGE!
I love how raw the upper midrange and treble frequencies sound in combination with those fat lows.
The clean tones are really great too!

I've been wanting to make a couple 'Small Amp VS Big Amp' videos for a while and I decided to make a Laney one first.
This one is all about the Laney IRT Studio which is a 15W amp with an EL84 power section versus the Ironheart 60W head with a 6L6 power section.
Opinions on the sonic differences vary quite a bit so this should be the ultimate test!
After watching this video, what is your opinion on the difference in tone?
Which one functions better in the mix?

I would love to hear your thoughts!
I'm also going to do one for my EVH LBX and 5150 III EL34 50W.

 

[lewis]

the 60 watt almost sounds more scooped and compressed on the high gain stuff (with and without boost)

The Studio's mids seem to be more punchy and in general I imagine it naturally cuts better in a live context than what my old Ironheart 120 watt did.

Very, Very Interesting

 

[Guitarjon]

the 60 watt almost sounds more scooped and compressed on the high gain stuff (with and without boost)

The Studio's mids seem to be more punchy and in general I imagine it naturally cuts better in a live context than what my old Ironheart 120 watt did.

Very, Very Interesting

Yeah, I agree!!
It will have less headroom thought so depending on the setting (stage size etc) you might have to mic it up or at least go to the PA to reach the full potential that this amp has to offer.
Adding some mids back in with the 60W head will also beef things up a bit I imagine.
I think both come pretty close!
With some tweaking I think I would be able to come much closer.
I chose to use the same settings on each amp to clearly show the differences though.

 

[MoJoToJo]

To my ears a pretty close call. I don't have the latest greatest headphones though HD280 pro's.
Any of you guys had a chance to test the Laney IRT-SLS looks tasty? $1100 vs $1300 for the IRT-60 in Australia & $799 for the IRT Studio 15.

 

[Guitarjon]

To my ears a pretty close call. I don't have the latest greatest headphones though HD280 pro's.
Any of you guys had a chance to test the Laney IRT-SLS looks tasty? $1100 vs $1300 for the IRT-60 in Australia & $799 for the IRT Studio 15.

It looks awesome!
The main difference is that it has a solid state power amp right?

 

[MoJoToJo]

It looks awesome!
The main difference is that it has a solid state power amp right?

Yes mate it is a Hybrid 1-300watts & smaller in size to the IRT Studio15 I would love to try one out but nothing close to me. Not much online apart from some youtube reviews. https://www.laney.co.uk/products/ironheart-irt-sls-hybrid-tube-head

 

[Guitarjon]

Yes mate it is a Hybrid 1-300watts & smaller in size to the IRT Studio15 I would love to try one out but nothing close to me. Not much online apart from some youtube reviews. https://www.laney.co.uk/products/ironheart-irt-sls-hybrid-tube-head

Sounds like a winner!
The only thing I'm not sure about is the solid state power amp.
I think I heard in a YT video that the power amp does break up like a tube amp...
Not sure if that's accurate but that would be great!

 

[mnemonic]

Sounds pretty good, I never really paid any attention to these amps in the past.

The IRT studio seems like a cool amp.

 

[Guitarjon]

Sounds pretty good, I never really paid any attention to these amps in the past.

The IRT studio seems like a cool amp.

Yeah until I just went ahead and bought my Ironheart I also wasn't really familiar.
I wasn't disappointed though
The studio is a killer amp.
It does so much for the money and it sounds killer.

 

[Kilroy]

I have the studio 15 and wouldn't trade it for anything. Anyone know if you can run a line from the DI out to a 1/4" line level input on a Peavey power amp?

 

[projectjetfire]

I did something similar with the Line out into a Matrix GT800 Power amp. I may have done it via the DI out thou.

Sounded amazing to be fair

 

[wakjob]

Not a popular question in these parts, but...
How's the Laney IRT Studio for lower gain/edge of break up blues/rock stuff with single coils?

Looking to replace my Bassbreaker 15.
Made the mistake of playing a Princeton Limited w/alnico gold...

 

[projectjetfire]

Well, the crunch channel wasnt much to write home about I found. If you used the lead channel and turned down the gain, you may get there or used the clean channel with all the gain up and may be the boost, that may work too.

 

[Kilroy]

Projectjetfire……." I may have done it via the DI out thou."?

 

[projectjetfire]

@Kilroy I mean connected my Laney to my matrix via the DI out which went into the Matrix.

However, this was nearly 4 years ago and having kids make me forg...............et what Ive ....uhhh...done....

*wanders off*

 

[GoldDragon]

The IRT60h has been my main amp for five years now. I don't know of any other amp with the same set of features.

*The most important feature of this amp is the power soak "wattage control". (Its like a master volume with built in power soak) The way this works is the hotter the signal going into the power stage, the more power tube saturation there is. If you have the channel volumes low, and the wattage high, there will be less saturation (more clean headroom). If you do the opposite, have the channel volumes high, there will be power tube "grind". This means you can get great sounds at any volume level.

This amp can get every variation from jazz clean up to metal, and unlike every other high-gain head I've owned, this amp does everything in-between just as well as the extremes. To get AC/DC, you could use the clean channel with the channel volume high to get mostly power tube distortion and you can use the boost stage to push the clean channel into preamp distortion. (And all this at bedroom level if desired.) This is just one example of the versatility.

(Incidentally, this is the one weakness of the amp; clean headroom. If you want to play really loud, the channel volumes will be up around half, so there will always be some power amp saturation. The 120 watt version may have more clean headroom.)

*The onboard switchable boost is where the amp shines for versatility. Its a stacked pre-gain with the channel gain controls. So each channel can have two levels of gain, and you can control exactly how far apart they are.

*The push/pull EQ controls add another dimension of versatility. To get a marshall-esque sound for soloing, I usually pull the treble control. If you want a Peavey-ish sound with mid honk, also pull the mid control. That gives it an upper mid "forwardness". For rythym playing, keep the pots pushed in, it sits back in the mix. Each channel has the push pull pots so you can set each channel relative to the other. If you need your solo tone to really stand out, pull the mid and treble.

*The rhythm and lead channels are very similar, they have the same gain level, the lead channel sounds like it has thicker mids. You can use the rhythm channel for lead if you want, its a different sound.

*The dynamics and tone controls work exactly like resonance and presence controls. Alot of the versatility is the balance between bass and dynamics(resonance). I usually have the bass control low, and the dynamics/resonance higher, it gives it a more open presentation. Because the bass is also push/pull, you have another dimension to sculpt the bottom.

*Amazing cleans. This amp has the best clean of any high gain amp I've owned. It can be clean-clean or have any degree of breakup you want using the pre-boost and power soak.

*This is a recording amp. Something about the Ironheart just sounds good recorded, whether it be through IRs or mics. Other high gain amps I've played, when I record them, they sounds like bees in a box or 80s metal.

*It can also run EL34s, but IME, the amp sounds MUCH better with 6L6s. When I tried some Ruby EL34s, it was lacking alot of bass. There is a swtich for tube type but maybe it needs to be biased for 34s.

*It has a direct recording out, with switchable cab sim. I use the direct out without the cab sim to feed an IR player.

*Clean serial FX loop. Can be set to +0 or -10 to match your gear. Or bypassed with the switch.

*Built in reverb is quite decent and switchable.

*High gain sounds. Now this is the reason its not at the top of everyone's shopping list. It doesn't have the extra stage of "diode clipping" built in. I think metal players like plugging into an amp and have more than enough distortion on tap. The built in gain, will only go up to about Metallica level of gain. (With preamp tube swaps maybe a bit more.) If you want the super saturated lead sounds, or you want that extra hair on your power chords, you need a boost pedal. Putting an SD-1 in front works perfect to make it sound like a DSL or a Peavey.

The guy who designed this amp got it right.

[Note, the IRT studio doesn't have a wattage control (not sure how its power soak works), so I would expect the studio and 60H to sound different depending on where the channel volumes are.]

 

[Kilroy]

@projectjetfire Lol I've been suffering the same for 16 years. Thanks Bud

 

[Kilroy]

@projectjetfire Lol I've been suffering the same for 16 years. Thanks Bud

 

[projectjetfire]

@Kilroy Id say 99.9% that I defo used the DI out with the cab emulation off.

 

[Kilroy]

Well I hacked apart a mic cord and a stereo patch cable to make cord needed. I will set it up and do a test but you know what I learned? Glasses, I need stronger glasses for soldering. LoL Getting old sucks a little bit.