AD30HTC Extensive Testing.

[Boy_Narf]

Hello Everyone,

So I walked into one of my local music stores to return my Ditto Looper X2. The manager was tied up so I decided to look around. Of course the first place I go is into the Orange section. There it was... AH30HTC with a markdown sheet. It was under 50% off retail. The sales guy assured me it was new and it was marked down because they are getting discontinued (anyone know if this is accurate?). It was a bit dirty but apparently came from old stock. I auditioned it for nearly an hour.

My thoughts:

1. Channel one dark was darker and smoother. Didn't have that nice "on the edge sound".
2. Channel two had more high end, almost painful with higher gain settings. Much better middle of the road breakup.
3. This amp has a pile of gain, unlike how most people around here describe it.
4. I found the EQ didn't really do all that much. The low end knob had a fairly distinct difference on channel one, but the rest didn't see to do all that much.
5. I found it really lacking clarity at higher gain settings. Pretty much pure mush like my old RV100. Even craking the master and backing off the gain produced a mushy muddy tone. I'm guessing it's the tube rectifier I can thank for that.
6. Set clean (master maxed, gain for volume) there was barely any headroom, but the punch was outstanding. Great natural overdrive. Something I can't really coax out of my R30.
7. My favorite part of the amp was the responsiveness to the volume knob. I was using some crappy Schecter LPJ rip off and even with the amp gain maxed out I could still get it cleaned up. This was my favorite setting actually. Backing off the volume knob on channel two produced a beautiful chimey tone.
8. The channels were a bit too different for my liking. I like my clean/dirt sounds to be identically EQ'd, so that one channel doesn't take the spotlight over the other.

*some of these points I'm sure could be helped with new tubes.

In comparison to my R30 you ask?

1. R30C sounds massive for a 1X12 with the gain and EQ cranked. I felt the AD30HTC even with the bass maxed out seemed a bit thin in comparison.
2. R30C has much more clarity at all gain levels.
3. AD30HTC cleans up way better, and has a better "on the edge" sound on channel two.

The price was amazing, and I almost pulled the trigger, but it reminded me of my old RV100. I was left wanting more clarity and chord definition at med-high gain settings. I also felt like the natural EQ setting of channel two made channel one sound weak and wimpy.

At least I can scratch the AD30 off my list. I still consider the R30 to be the best Orange amp. Now I just have to find an OR50 to test out

[Les Paul Lover]

The AD amps sure don't tick all the boxes for all people.

The sag and loose feel it has absolutely excels at some type of music, and equally falls short for some other types.

But its mid gain chime and sparkle are simply amazing.

[fiveightandten]

+1

And it's not a music store amp, unfortunately. It's one of the few modern Oranges that isn't pre-amp based. So it doesn't sound right unless it's cranked pretty loud. Way too loud for a music store to be ok with.

Sounds like someone needs to save this one. Dirty and discounted?

[Boy_Narf]

Oh believe me I had it cranked. The benefit of this store is that they let you be as loud as you want.

When I mean dirty, nothing a little paper towel twist and magic eraser wouldn't solve. If anyone is on the Calgary area fire me a PM and I'll send the details.

[bclaire]

Surprised that you had difficulty getting the two channels to sound similar. Must be the tubes... both of mine can sound very similar if I want them to.... sounds like it needs an all-around fresh set.

I don't like the clean channels on the R30's - I find them unusable for what I need for a rhythm sound. I play loud - say like 8-9 on the master volume and gain up pretty far, too. 3/4 for rhythm, 8-9 for solo. The AD30TC gives me an awesome rhythm sound and then a killer solo tone. I don't need any pedals for distortion or boost. I do use my G-System for other effects and to channel switch - and I do kick in the compressor on occasion but infrequently. The AD30TC is a rock monster....

[Ronnie Robinson]

I've used the ad30htc for a couple of years.
....and I'm almost tempted to say 'are you sure it was the ad30htc' I disagree with quite a few of your findings... The tubes must need changing

[a.hun]

Surprised that you had difficulty getting the two channels to sound similar. Must be the tubes...

+1 again on that. Someone should just grab it and do a little preamp valve swapping. Nice heads up!

Yeah Boy_Narf, I agree the AD30 isn't as loud or punchy as the R.30. Sweeter and much more user friendly around the breakup zone though.

I suspect that what you were hearing as 'a pile of gain' was in fact relatively moderate gain levels but with way more compression / sustain than you'd ever get with the R.30. Very often great drive sounds actually have a lot less gain than you'd think, and gain / distortion / compression and sustain are all different things. (In fact you can get lots of gain but without distortion, though admittedly not so much with amps like the AD30!)

Seriously though, someone should grab that amp and maybe that someone should still be you. There really shouldn't be all that much difference between the channels.


Andy.

[Boy_Narf]

The price goes down another 5% every Friday, so I might swing in there in a few weeks and see if it's still around. If anything I could re-sell it, as my office is already quite orange.

[a.hun]

Sure recipe for missing out...


Andy.

[Moonstone]

I've never had the pleasure of trying an AD30 but what I can hear from this review is a cool tone.
http://youtu.be/eoM4XdZK2DI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The AD30 is definitely on my wish list, after the OR50.
The sound of the AD that you tried is similar to the video?