Yamaha THR AMps anybody?

[Lev]

Is your issue that the mustang does not allow you to monitor the backing track while you're also recording/playing a new part over top of it? If that's the case, how does the THR do it that addresses this need?

That is exactly my issue Eric. Say for example I'm recording late at night with headphones, my bass, drums or whatever prerecorded tracks are on my laptop. Now I want to record a guitar track using the Mustang which is a USB input device but not output. So I need to run the headphone out from my laptop to the Aux in on the Mustang and plug my headphones into the Mustang. Whenever I try to do that I get a tone of unwanted noise and hiss and getting the levels right becomes really difficult. Without headphones I have the tracks running through my laptop speakers and the guitar on the Mustang which is not ideal either because the recorded sound you get on the track usually sounds very different from the sound coming from the Mustang.

The difference with the Yamaha is that it's USB In and Out so you can listen back and monitor your track while your recording through the same device (the THR) and the recorded sound will match exactly what you are hearing. This isn't anything new or earth shattering btw, my ten year old PODxt does the same thing but I found it so frustrating with the Mustang. This video kinda shows what I'm talking about from about 2:30.

You can currently do the playback (albeit mono) of your tracks on the mustang with the aux in, right? Is your contention that the aux in audio quality is not high enough?

From the demo above you can tell that the audio playback through the USB is of pretty high quality on the THR and is stereo. On the THR10 you also get a separate Aux volume control and guitar volume control that allows you to quickly get the guitar sitting exactly where you want in the stereo mix. This may not be a big deal for some folks but for me I really like this feature.

On an Amp vs. Amp basis the Mustang 1 is better value for money without doubt but I'm not thinking of the THR so much as an amp but more as a desktop studio. As it happens I'm in the market for a set of PC speakers which would probably cost me >$100, I also want to replace my PODxt as my recording interface (if I go for a POD HD300 or something that would be $300). On top of that I would love a practice tool that allows me to get a usable tone without scrolling through menus and doing lots of deep editing and from the 20mins I spent in store with the Yamaha THR I think this would work well. Add to this the bass model and the flat model (meaning I could Mic my tube amp and record it through the THR) and I think the THR features really start to stack up.

And I'm not knocking the Mustang 1 here either, it's a great tool and I've git quite a bit of use out of mine for late night practice. But I think we've both mentioned on previous threads that it's lacking a little on the heavier rock tones. Again from my in store test the THR really delivered in this regard. I may be blinded by GAS and so I'm going to resist buying right away (funds are limited at the moment anyway) but I will definitely buy one of these in the not too distant future. I'm genuinely excited about this product and what it could do for me. But I do understand also that if your sole use for this amp is as a practice amp there are other better bang for buck options out there.

[Eric***]

I'm genuinely excited about this product and what it could do for me. But I do understand also that if your sole use for this amp is as a practice amp there are other better bang for buck options out there.

Your explanation makes sense, and I think I understand a bit better now. It seems like it's definitely a specific-use tool, kind of what you said about a desktop studio. I can see this either really succeeding (due to frustration from people about VST menu surfing and monitoring issues) or struggling to find a market (since a lot of people already have a lot of the stuff that this replaces). The latter point was why I didn't really understand the attraction. I don't feel like I have a very complete recording setup, but even I have some computer speakers, an audio interface, some headphones and a USB amp. When I've recorded, I've just monitored myself through the amp and the backing track either via headphones or my computer speakers. Then again, I wasn't trying to do it late at night so I never had to have all sources coming through just one listening device (i.e. headphones or amp).

BTW, I didn't mean to put down the THR or defend any other amps -- just trying to use a convenient example with the Mustang I. I know you probably realize that, but this is the internet (where people get worked up all of the time), so I figured it doesn't hurt to qualify my statements a little bit. Thanks for expanding on your thoughts a little bit.

[Lev]

BTW, I didn't mean to put down the THR or defend any other amps -- just trying to use a convenient example with the Mustang I. I know you probably realize that, but this is the internet (where people get worked up all of the time), so I figured it doesn't hurt to qualify my statements a little bit. Thanks for expanding on your thoughts a little bit.

I knew exactly where you were coming from Eric. I do have a reasonable recording setup at the moment also but my PC speakers crapped out on me a year ago and I never bothered replacing them because I was mostly using headphones while the kids were in bed (which started my monitoring frustrations with the Mustang). So I'm in the market for a good set of monitoring speakers anyway which justifies/offsets some of the cost of a THR. I also find that I get so little time to play these days that I don't want the hassle of trying to get the right sounds and then running cables between multiple devices. The THR just seems a bit cleaner in that regard. Time will tell I guess, I remember being very excited when I got my Mustang too but over time it's weaknesses (albeit minor) started to bother me more and more. We'll see how I get on with the Yamaha when I eventually order one.