I have had a Power Station since last week. My friend also bought one some time ago. It’s the PS2A model that I also have.
I use the PS exclusively as an attenuator.
Anyway, when I compare the two I notice that his reproduces the distortion better and softer. Mine is much more presenter and has much more harsh highs and less bass.
But what really bothers me is that mine adds a sizzle. It feels more fuzzy and it also feels like it lacks a lot of headroom. You think there’s more gain on it.
There are 2 different brands of 6L6 tubes installed. Could the difference be due to this? My friend and I have not changed anything, it was different ex works.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
I really like the Power Station, it would be a total game changer if mine sounded like my friend’s.
Does anyone have experience with a tube exchange ? Has anything changed in the sound?
There could be a lot of things going on here, include that it is just your ears on a particular day. Steve often talks about failing an amp during final QA play through only to go back to it a few days later and feel it completely differently.
Now, I don’t want to suggest that it is not a real effect but there are so many variables at play. Firstly make sure the reactive load toggle switches are all set the same, as well as the presence and depth controls.
I would tackle this with a progressive approach.
Keep the amp and all settings the same, play into PS2 #1 and then #2 but use the line out to capture and record both signals into your DAW. Even better if you can use a looper pedal for this to the input is exactly the same.
Do blind A/B testing with these – can you hear an actual difference?
Do you guess the A/B clips correctly significantly better than 50% of the time?
Do you hear the sizzle sound that you don’t like in both?
This is testing that you amp is seeing the same reactive load. Note: the line out does not apply a cabinet simulation so it will sound harsh. You might want to apply an IR in the DAW to make this step palatable!
Next, mic-up the cabinet and record the setup only swapping out Power Station #1 and #2. You want to have the Power Station driving the speaker. Again, record two sound clips and repeat the A/B testing? Can you hear a difference now? Did you manage to isolate the sizzle to one or the other Power Stations?
If you can hear a different at this point then it is telling you that the difference is caused by the power amp interacting with the cabinet, for some reason there are differences.
Double check the impedance settings on the back are the same, because that will cause tonal differences.
At this point I would consider checking the bias and the tubes.
I joined this site to ask about this exact same problem.
I am running a 20 watt hand wired deluxe reverb style amp that I turn almost all the way to get a slight breakup with the pickup in the middle position and a bit of growl when using just the bridge.
I am definitely hearing an undesirable sizzle-like distortion in the background. Since I my amp is close to a clean tone, it is very noticeable.
I notice it the most when I am playing palm muted notes on the low E and A strings. It almost sounds like there is a faint fuzz in the background and extra compression.
I do not use any pedals, just plugged straight into the amp. This does not happen when the Fryette is not connected.
I have already swapped out the tubes to known good ones and it did not help.
Thinking that it was in my head, - I have also revisited with fresh ears for the past 3 days and it is definitely caused by the Fryette.
This unit is fairly new and only been used a handfull of times. I do not recall hearing the problem a month or two ago, but it is possible that it was there but I’m really noticing it now. Now that I know it’s there, I can’t not notice it - if you get my drift.
Unfortunately I have not yet found a solution. I have tested 3 slightly older PS2s and 2 new ones in my circle of friends. One is my August purchase and another new one from this September for testing.
The new ones sizzle, the old ones don’t. Even changing the tubes doesn’t bring any improvement.
I am now of the opinion that it may be due to other components or the bias which is different.
I can’t explain it otherwise. The difference in sound can be heard crystal clear in a blind comparison, I’ve already tested it with several band mates.
The noise is especially perceptible when the touch is light, where a sizzling, sizzling sound occurs.
I would love to hear some clips of the two power stations. I could analyse these to see if we can isolate these sounds. That might give clues as what could be the cause.
It’s very hard to suggest anything without having something concrete to work with.
I can confirm that 2 newish units are doing this. One of them is about 2 years old and has seen extremely low use til about 4 months ago when I tried to use it in the studio and recently at a gig. Both times it was unusable because of this issue.
The other is brand new right out of the box and it does it as well.
Is there anything that can be done about this. This is quite an expense not to be working correctly.
We want to help you, but we need more to go on. In fact we love nothing more than debugging our products, but you have to help us out! Please record this so we know what you are hearing. It is pretty impossible to debug otherwise. Are all these units PS-2A? Can you post the serial numbers?
I would like to hear the same signal played into all the Power Stations , maybe you have a looper pedal for that? You can record the output from the lineout or by micing up a cab.
I am wondering if you are hearing slight cross-over distortion? We need the clips to know and then can advice.
and welcome to the community,