All user reviews of 4/5 for the Carvin Quad X-Amp

3 preamp channels 1/2 tube (1 channel real clear, real distortion channel with dedicated 3-band EQ, channels 2 and 3 have a shared équalo 2 bands)
9 12AX7
Format 19 "2U
Spring Reverb
6 effects loops!
5 Band Equalizer
Noise Gate
Speaker simulator
Mono or Stereo
Made in USA
1,992

This preamp is very comprehensive. It does everything except coffee.
That which I speak is the first version, which did not catch MIDI.

UTILIZATION

The use is not very complicated when you have the idea. Just turn the knobs and find its sound. It is the analog gear. That said it is very full, so it still take some time.
About effects loop:
This preamp has an effects loop mono channel. By default, it is located before the preamp section. The interest is to use an effect on one channel only. It is possible to mod the preamp electronics to move the loop after the preamp section. This allows for example to put a delay after distortion. I posted the trick on the page of the Quad-X AF.
The Carvin also has an effects loop Stereo Reverb specific. When you plug in jacks jacks, spring reverb is disconnected. The volume knob reverb, front, remains usable. It is a parallel loop. It can also be used for other effects as reverb. This loop is controllable with the pedals.
Finally the sixth loop is an effects loop Stereo Standard. I think this is a serial loop. It is also controllable with the pedals.
The bracket:
This preamp is analog yet it stores configurations. But it resets each extinction. To use: when turned on, we toured the channel by choosing for each effect that you want to use (Reverb, Loop, équalo). When you then go back on each channel, we find this configuration. This memory can be used interchangeably with the pedals or the switches on the front.
The noise Gate
Very efficient, and very discreet, because upstream loops stereo. With reverb enabled, we do not even realize it's there. That said, given the quality of the electronics, the noise gate is useless. It can correct the disruption caused by an external effect. But the Quad-X itself does not need a gate.

SOUNDS

Sound level, this preamp is quite versatile.
Channel 1: The very bright light. Fenderien enough. With reverb, it is beautiful. I use a Mesa lamp for this channel. It is clear that the best sound I've heard in a preamp, Triaxis included.
Channel 2: The more clear than the previous round. No real interest in itself. I used it as a channel Fuzz, having put a pedal in the loop corresponding effect.
Channel 3: Disto Marshall typed, in any case with EHX tubes. Not a lot of gain, but it comes out sounds ACDC smoothly.
Channel 4: Grosse distortion, but not Hi-Gain so far. Good sound, quite versatile, especially thanks to the équalo. A good distortion lamp, but ultimately lacks personality.
The speaker simulator is very successful.
The reverb is quite short but perfectly done job.
The big criticism I have the Carvin is its lack of crunch sounds! Each channel has its use, which can not be diverted. Channels 1 and 2 saturate so disgusting. Channels 3 and 4 can not sufficiently low down between the gain level for a crunch correct ... Damage, but it does not deprive it of its qualities

OVERALL OPINION

The Carvin has its strengths and weaknesses. It's still a great value.

Most:
Sound factory, versatile, very comprehensive, clear sound sublime Simulator Cab, memory function effects the endless possibilities using the effects loop
Cons:
Usine à Gaz, No Hi-Gain, Lack of personality distortion, no crunch, budget to change lamps
I finally sold my Quad-X, a Triaxis, I prefer the crunch and distortion sounds but not clear.
To give you an idea, I posted samples of the beast in the "Media".

I bought this preamp off ebay for $399 US.

This preamp is very very versatile. The cleans are very Fendery, maybe a little bit too bright at times, but you can always turn down the treble! Channel one and two are clean, channel 3 and 4 are dirty. They all sound great. I like all of them equally, for their own reasons. A lot of people say they don't like Channel 3, but I use it for my solo sound and I think it is very smooth. (depends a lot on the tubes you are using though.) I have just been using it with the stock tubes and it sounds great, so new EH or groove tubes would probably make it sound fantatstic! The tone controls are active, so you can take any eq possibility to the extreme, and, more importantly anywhere in between. The thing I like the best about this is it's degree of control. There is an eq for 1, 2&3 share,and 4, and an assignable 5 band graphic eq. There are effects loops on each channel (always on) plus two master effects loops (a serial AND a parallel) that you can turn on and off via the footswitch. Full stereo capability on these effects loops. Many more features I like, read the manual at www.carvin.com/manuals/quadx.pdf
I use this for prog rock with fairly complex chord inversions, and the distortion lets every not come out clearly. Try playing a Bbmaj9b5 with your distortion sound and see how clear it sounds. The quad-x makes it clear. I use the gain on channel four at about 3.5 or 4 and it is a perfect sound for me.

The only thing I don't really like about this is that the reverb has some 60 cycle hum when you turn it up, but I use an external reverb when I need it. The midi capability is there, but you can only change channels, and the midi patches are preset in the unit; you have like four options in how to lay it out. But I still think that it's usable. The distortion could probably be a little bit tighter at times, but that would probably change with tube selection.

This thing is built pretty well from what I can tell. In mine, the circuit the tube sockets are on is a little loose, but I don't think that is a problem in any way, I've changed some tubes just to experiment a couple of times, no problems. It looks and feels like a quality piece of gear.

This thing sounds great and gives you a lot of control over all it's aspects.
You can get almost any sound I can think of with this thing. I have gotten good distortion tones from blues to scooped mid metal distortions (which, in my opinion, are kinda dumb anyways) and it does it all well, not excellent, mind you, but very good. If you want one particular tone to be excellent get a specialized amp, but if you want a flexible, versatile unit that sounds really good, get this. It is a really good value for the money, comparable to the mesa quad, but the mesa obviously has some advantages (again I reference price)If this were a value for the dollar rating, I would give it a 5, but this is an overall rating. I give it four. Very good unit! If you want any questions answered that you can't find elsewhere, feel free to email me!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

4 channels (two clean, crunch and lead)
9 12ax7s preamp tubes
Reverb
Noise gate
5 band graphic EQ
Speaker sim
bright switch
boost switch


CH 1 knobs: low, mid, high, volume

CH 2 and 3: low, high, cloaking, volume, overdrive

Ch 4: volume, overdrive, high, mid, low.

This is basically a huge 4 channel preamp. Similar i believe, to that of a boogie mark IV in a rack style preamp.

HUGe in size! Gigantic!! Heavy and tons of tubes too!!

UTILIZATION

Ok it gets a little bit confusing especially since the 5 band EQ can be assigned to nearly any channel so you have to set that.

The clean channels are easy to use and have gain knows so you can crank them to get any bit of dirt if you want a sort of mild crunch.

It's slightly difficult at first, you should most likely read the manual to get started if you haven't dealt with multi channel amps before. The manual is quite easy to read and understand each setting etc.

Though it is generally easy to get the ball rolling and get some decent sounds to start.

SOUNDS

I like carvin clean sounds. They are completely underrated and suit for any type of genre doesn't matter what, blues funk, jazz etc. It works all the time for anything! It's so crisp, clear and shimmers!! There isn't much else a clean channel can really do for you but now with the quad X you have TWO? What?! So now you can make one super clean, and one dirt up a bit to get those bluesy sounds all in one? And just switch between them if you feel? How perfect is that?

Let's not mention the dirt, it stays true to the hot rodded vintage sound that can range anywhere from classic rock to modern heavy metal depending on the rest of your gear of course. The poweramp you have plays an important part in this. The 3rd channel has the super hot rodded vintage sound while the 4th channel is very reminiscent of a lead boogie mark series, thick and creamy! Very cool!

Another thing to note is the speaker sim it was unfortunate that I didn't have enough recording equipment at the time to try this but the fact that it's tonally adjustable means that the speaker sim was not an afterthought and must have some potential in some way.

The added noise gate is a good feature too I wouldn't say it's completely transparent but it does a half decent job and stopping squeaks and whatnot depending on how you set it, try not to set it it too high and stay a good distance from the speaker to avoid any unnecessary noise.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, I think this is carvin's response to the boogie preamps that came out during the same era and I gotta say it's held up quite well in terms of tone. In terms of popularity it hasn't gotten as big, but that's ok, it keeps the costs low for players who know about this amp! It's the price point that really gets me, it's so cheap yet it's amazing. How is this possible in today's world? It's not really, I think I'm just lucky! Super lucky!

I could imagine pairing this up with a VHT poweramp and just going balls to the wall crazy!! Good buy good price, if you can find one with the footswitch you'll be in tonal heaven!!