A few months ago I was essentially given a BLA modded Profire 2626 by a friend, I also happened to have a stock unit, but neither unit has been in the same location.....
stike UNTIL NOW!! stike
A few notes about this quick and dirty A/B,
1) this isn't the best A/B that can be done, I wanted to get something up quick for people to listen to, I will post a more thorough A/B once I have time, a better room, and better sources to record.
2) this was done in my apartment which has horrible electricity, there are a few pops and clicks because of this.
3) the mic position isn't great but they're even and in phase, didn't have much of a choice due to limited space.
4) Both units are being clocked off of a BLA Microclock MK2 that has been modified to be closer to the clock that Black Lion is about to release, its somewhat similar to the clock in the FM192. This makes the stock profire sound MUCH better, and it makes the differences between the stock and modified units fairly subtle. I only had one recording capable computer on hand, and if both units are not clocked together there is too much jitter to make a quality recording.
5) I plan on doing this again with a wider array of instruments ad vocals with different mics and mic pres (to test the A/D conversion) in the future, it might be a while but I hope this satisfies some curiosity for now.
6) A BIG thank you to my wonderful girlfriend for banging some stuff out on her guitars, I know she's not hendrix, but she's a lot better than I am!
Now, I did 2 tests:
To make this fair, I'm not telling which files are which, post which ones you think sound better and we'll see if the BLA unit comes out the winner!
A1 and B1 are a stereo matched pair of AKG 460s directly into the channel 1 mic pres on each unit. The mics had to be placed a little farther away than I normally would due to space restrictions and mic stands that suck.
A2 and B2 are a test of the DI on channel 1 on each unit. The signal was split with a y-cable.
Take a listen, and I will let everyone know which file goes to which unit in a few days!
The files were a bit large so I hosted them myself (21.9mb for test 1 and 13.1mb for test 2)
Test 1: Acoustic guitar playing into AKG C460s
File A1
File B1
Test 2: Electric Guitar into the DI on each Unit
File A2
File B2
EDIT:
SPOILER ALERT!!!:
The answer as to which unit is which is posted below, if you found this thread and wish to form your own opinions on which unit sounds better, READ NO FURTHER!