Quad or Mark IV?

[Forsaken dreams]

Hi all!!
I m a new one here!
I currently play on an engl rack system with a e570 preamp and a 920 engl poweramp(el34). The sound is very good but lacks a little bit of warmth and smoothness. So I decided to put the preamp on sale and I m searching for something else and mesa amps are definitely on the top list.
I m not so fond of the rectifier series, but I love the sound of mark era series, though I never had the chance to play one.
Right now there are 2 options and I d like you guys to give me some advices:
. Change the engl preamp and buy a Quad preamp. This way I ll still use the engl poweramp.
. Sell all the rack and buy a Mark IV head.

I found the quad at 700 euros and a used mark IV at 1500 euros.

What do you think would be the best choice? I guess the quad would offer a little bit more versatility, but the head would sound probably more dynamic and rich. Do you think the combination between the quad and a el 34 engl poweramp would work well?
Sorry for all the questions but I d really like to know the tonal differences between the two.
Anyway thanx very much for your help!!

 

[Schmoog]

If you decide to go with the quad, you might find you would be better off with a mesa power amp as well. The engl poweramp is good, but simul-class is absolutely mind blowingly good. a quad or studio pre into a 2:50 or my personal favorite, a 2:90 would sound incredible. as far as a head goes, I'd recommend the mark III over a IV. the IV has that ultra tight, kind of processed feel, and you would get it and probably be no better off than you were with the engl. the mark III is very raw, and can be extremely aggressive. so my suggestion is the mark III w/ the R2 mod and all the footswitches. but the quad into a 2:50 or 2:90 would be INCREDIBLE

 

[ytse_jam]

Schmoog, do you mean the old 50/50 or really the newer 2:50?

Forsaken dreams, I would choose the quad if you're more into soloing, the markIV if you're more into rhythm.

 

[Forsaken dreams]

Thanx for the advice.
From what I ve read, the mark IV seems to have that super tight sound a la engl, but with a sweeter, richer high end and a bit more body.
Actually, my main reference as far as lead sound goes is petrucci sound before train of thought album. I know he used a lot the mark IV so that's why I was searching for infos on that head. But what you just say held me back a little bit...
anyway thanx a lot!

 

[ytse_jam]

Don't be afraid, the MarkIV is a really great amp (the best Mesa product ever in my opinion)! Search for a guy here called Antoine, he's got some great lead tone clips on his myspace site. I suggested the quad + poweramp if you mainly do solos because i think it's got one of the smoothest tones i've ever heard, but i think the markIV is overall better.

 

[Schmoog]

I meant the newer 2:50. As far as petrucci goes, his newer rigs are basically IV's, a racktifier or two, and a lonestar or two. his older stuff is all IIC+'s and III's. either a III or a IV will get you petrucci, the III is more raw and aggressive, the IV is more tight and processed. its a matter of taste. I wanted a IV for seriously years and they kept evading me. finally I traded my stiletto for a mark III without ever hearing a III. and seriously, I am way happier with the III than I was with the IV's I demoed. Try both, and see which one works for you. the quad preamp BTW, has the IIC+ preamp as channel 1, and the III preamp as channel 2.

 

[Bullen]

Thanx for the advice.
From what I ve read, the mark IV seems to have that super tight sound a la engl, but with a sweeter, richer high end and a bit more body.
Actually, my main reference as far as lead sound goes is petrucci sound before train of thought album. I know he used a lot the mark IV so that's why I was searching for infos on that head. But what you just say held me back a little bit...
anyway thanx a lot!

Either a Mark IV or a Mark III (the eq is a must and simul-class is a plus)will be great for his older tones, and from what I´ve seen the new album (Systematic Chaos) was recorded with Mark a IIC+, a Mark IV and a Lonestar.

 

[eltrain858]

I am way happier with the III than I was with the IV's I demoed.

how much time did you spend demoing? i think its hard to make a good judgment on a IV based on a demo :lol:

 

[Russ]

I am way happier with the III than I was with the IV's I demoed.

how much time did you spend demoing? i think its hard to make a good judgment on a IV based on a demo :lol:

+1 It takes more like a short ownership to get the gist of the amp.

 

[Antoine]

The IV has a processed tone ? :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[Russ]

I would say slightly compressed if anything, but not processed.

 

[trem]

I agree on the III being rawer, while Mark IV is smoother. Line 6 is processed, NOT Mark IV.

 

[ytse_jam]

Thanx for the advice.
From what I ve read, the mark IV seems to have that super tight sound a la engl, but with a sweeter, richer high end and a bit more body.
Actually, my main reference as far as lead sound goes is petrucci sound before train of thought album. I know he used a lot the mark IV so that's why I was searching for infos on that head. But what you just say held me back a little bit...
anyway thanx a lot!

Either a Mark IV or a Mark III (the eq is a must and simul-class is a plus)will be great for his older tones, and from what I´ve seen the new album (Systematic Chaos) was recorded with Mark a IIC+, a Mark IV and a Lonestar.

Did you see the pic on johnpetrucci.com? I think it would be very interesting to see how he developed his tone using only marks and eventually the lonestar.

 

[Forsaken dreams]

Thanx a lot for all the answers everyone!
I d like to try both of them, but it's very rare to see them where I live (south France) so I can only trust what I hear on recordings and what most people will tell me about them...
Basically from what I understand the quad has a slightly smoother lead sound, while the mark IV is better as far as rythm goes. The important thing for me is actually to keep the tight sound character of my engl, but at the same time giving it some smooth and warmth to really be able to make it shine on the solo department. Maybe im asking the impossible lol... I must say up until now i never found what I was exactly searchin for: a tight rythm sound and a smooth, yet precise and defined lead sound. From what I read Mark IV can offer me that.
Anyway once again thanx a lot!!

 

[Shep]

the mk iv will give you a clean and tight metal rhy and a lead...each one of these channel's are world class..you would be very trouble finding a amp in the world which can match the mk iv's sounds..each very smooth and fluid..the mk iii can get the same sort of thing as the mk iv but the shared eq plays abit of a problem..i am just about to buy a mk III BTW and i can't wait..

if you want to sound like petrucci get a mk iv or iii or iic+ or even the lone star may work..but the mk iv is the amp which is meant to be the best of all world's...it may not have the lead tone's of a c+ (but it is smoother) or the clean's and reverb of a lone star...but it does all these tone wonderfully never the less..

wat sort of amp are we looking for?..if there was a amp with lone star clean's and reverb, mk iv lead- rhy 2 and a iic+ rhy3, with the iic+ simli power amp there wouldn't be any need for any other amp's to be made in the world..i would have to say thet a amp like this would be nice..

 

[Bullen]

[Did you see the pic on johnpetrucci.com? I think it would be very interesting to see how he developed his tone using only marks and eventually the lonestar.

Yeah, I did. I love the fact that he´s using Marks again. I´ve always preferred his pre TOT tones. And his tone on the Score DVD is awesome. That custom made "Nunya" (IIC+) preamp sounds great.

 

[Forsaken dreams]

Hi all!
So I finally had the chance to try a used mark IV combo and a used triaxis.
Well All i can say is I was kinda dissapointed by the mark. I used a 4x12 v30 and used the combo as a head but still I could'nt find anything really good... Even the clean seemed somewhat dull and lifeless... I know it's a very difficult amp to master so maybe that's because I didnt give it enough time. Or maybe the tubes were dead...I don't know.I ll probably try it once again.
I tried the triaxis and I was convinced. The clean were awesome and the lead 2 yellow and red were just great. The only problem is that the triaxis il a little off my budget so I still plan on getting a Quad preamp but unfortunately I can't try one before buying it... Can I find the same lead sounds from the quad that I found on the triaxis lead 2? I heard the quad is even better but is it in the same style, I mean tight heavy sound yet smooth?
Thanx in advance!

 

[Shep]

if you can you should get the mk III ago...

 

[Restless Rocks]

There's a Quad Pre on Ebay right now.

 

[Aart]

I would say Mark IV.

The Quads lead 1 isn't based on the IIC+ but on the IIC(somewhat less gain, less metal voiced).

The Lead 2 is Mark III based. Gobs of gain but a bit thin and somewhat less tighter sounding than lead 1.

The Mark IV channel has more gain than the lead 1, less gain than the lead 2, a lot of fatness and tightness.

I prefer it over the quad and Mark III for riffing.
For solo's I would prefer the smoother mark III sound, but it lacks thickness at some points.