Gear sounds different overseas?

[jbuntz]

I've heard from multiple sources that low end sound better in the united states due to the current differences. I've also heard how guitar amps sound better in Europe? It seems like if anything, low end response would be worse since we are at about half the power of Europe or am I wrong? Is this a myth? Anybody else notice this?

[max cooper]

I've heard that some gear that can run at 220 or 110 sounds better at 220 because the caps charge faster or something. I have no idea about the reality of this.

or are you speaking of the 50Hz vs 60Hz deal?

[doorknocker]

The only thing that's certain is that the beer tastes better here in Europe.

[Nutmeg II.]

I only could imagine that the higher voltage might be a positiv thing in gear that needs a lot of it.
Like max said the psu caps might charge faster and there for might have more reserve to handle big peaks...

Maybe this thread might be better in the geeks forum.

[84K]

Guitar amps definitely sound better in Europe.

(Doorknocker) Don't know about the beer being better in Europe, especially in England. Warm beer??

But you are in Switzerland so...You win

[7 Hz]

Depending on the PSU, it won't matter.

An 'old school' transformer based power supply will have a switch that changes the winding configuration on the transformer... the juce coming out the other side will be the same.

The new-school switch mode PSU's can run on most anything, and will adjust themselves to suit. Still the same juce comes out the other end.

The only time it would make a difference is if the mains is doing a 'brown out' and not providing enough power, in which case either the gear wont work at all, or will sound different (good or bad, mostly bad).

However, after saying all this, people DO think that recorded stuff sound different in different areas of the world due to the mains voltage. Maybe it's true! Good way to find out... get a hefty step-down or step-up transformer for all your gear that has dual voltage, and check it out!

[JTR]

Originally Posted by 84K

(Doorknocker) Don't know about the beer being better in Europe, especially in England. Warm beer??

yeah, that P.B.R. & Old Milwaukee are the height of brewing excellence

As to gear sounding different, in Australia, all the speakers have to be mounted upside-down for the freq response to be accurate

[max cooper]

Old car joke:

Q: Why do the English drink warm beer?

A: Because they have Lucas refrigerators.

[The Alamo]

Sorry...don't hear a difference!
About 50% of my gear runs on 110V, the other half on 220V. Frankly, I don't hear it!
Funny story though: when I did some mixes in the US, and when another engineer dropped by at the studio at the time of the mix, they were like: " yeah...sounds good, but that's because of all the stuff you run at 220V...makes it sound better"
Now...SKIP FORWARD...Mixing in Europe, fellow engineer (and good friend) came by and listened to mix: "sounds good...but..yeah...it's easy for you...you got all this stuff running at 110V"
TRUE STORIES !!!
Moral of the story: WHATEVER!!!

Addendum to part II of the story (in Europe): 2 weeks after the fellow engineer visited the studio I was working at, I got a phone call from a band, saying they want to book me, cause they heard I have a bunch of stuff running at 110V...Bwaaaa!!
Did I try to tell him what I really thought about that? Nope...
All The Best...

[The Alamo]

Other story...Back in the US...on the console hunt...standing in front of a beautiful SSL...sales guy to me:
" You might want to try run it at 220V...these consoles were designed to run at 220V (or 230V)...they operate much better at 220, sounds way better too"

See,...that's why I've never heard a good mix coming out of SSL's or Neve's that are in the US...There's your proof...Unless of course they went the extra mile (make that two) to buy big step up transformers and run it at 220V... ...YEAH RIGHT!!
Now, back to mixing on 220...or 110...or...let's try 330...
All The Best,

[max cooper]

All gear sounds better in Europe because the beer is better!

ba-dum-bum!

[mrface2112]

i don't know about the gear sounding better b/c of the voltage.....but i do know that the quality of the AC will have an effect on the sound of the gear.

if you're in an industrial section of town, the AC could be noisy upstream, etc., and you can often hear this in a guitar amp. my amps sound a LOT better at my place in the country than my buddy's place in the city. Overhead power lines, RFI interference, etc., will all have an effect on how your gear sounds.

daniel lanois pontificated about this in length in TapeOp 37 (i think it was).....talking about why he liked the AC at Teatro in Mexico *much* better than the AC in Hamilton, Ontario--he referred to it being a problem with the magnetic field, though.


but in short, i can totally see how the AC can be better or worse depending on where you are in the world.


cheers,
wade

[JTR]

Originally Posted by mrface2112

better than the AC in Hamilton, Ontario--he referred to it being a problem with the magnetic field, though.

magnetic fields in Canada are stronger due to closer proximity to the north pole


a couple are making out in a car, things are getting hot, the windows are fogging up, and she growls in his ear

"oh yeah baby, kiss me where it stinks!"

so he drove the car to Hamilton

big rimshot & over to you, Max

[Blitztone]

Jason,

For something with an unregulated power supply, such as a guitar amp (a real one with tubes), there may be a small difference in tone/headroom.

We tend to call the voltage settings 110/220. Someone mentioned that the power transformer windings *should* scale those two to the same voltage at the secondary. Now stick a voltmeter into your wall socket. Does it say 110V? No way, it probably says closer to 117, right? Since 117V is not exactly half of the European 220, the 2:1 winding ratio in the transformer secondary will not adjust to exactly the same voltage.

For anything with a regulated power supply, i.e. just about all of your rack gear, there's no way--the power supply output will not fluctuate, unless it was a truly shitty design. If you like, I can show you the gory details next time we're both down at El Globo.

[matt thomas]

Originally Posted by doorknocker

The only thing that's certain is that the beer tastes better here in Europe.

oh my god, I can't drink beer in the US, whats with it? somebody could make some decent money making a good beer there.

Best beer places are germany, czech republic and new zealand. (all 240 volts I think)

[Stisse]

Originally Posted by Blitztone

Jason,

For something with an unregulated power supply, such as a guitar amp (a real one with tubes), there may be a small difference in tone/headroom.

We tend to call the voltage settings 110/220. Someone mentioned that the power transformer windings *should* scale those two to the same voltage at the secondary. Now stick a voltmeter into your wall socket. Does it say 110V? No way, it probably says closer to 117, right? Since 117V is not exactly half of the European 220, the 2:1 winding ratio in the transformer secondary will not adjust to exactly the same voltage.

But we have ~230V....

Stisse