New Marshall CODE digital amp series

[oachs83]

Hey guys so I can't find it in this monster thread but was there ever a solution to the static noise from recording with the Code? I have tried a few cables and I am using Audacity I have never recorded ever before so not sure if I am doing something wrong but man this is unbearable. I am trying to us the usb. Here is a small clip it gets really terrible near the end.

 

[hcelizondo]

Hey guys so I can't find it in this monster thread but was there ever a solution to the static noise from recording with the Code? I have tried a few cables and I am using Audacity I have never recorded ever before so not sure if I am doing something wrong but man this is unbearable. I am trying to us the usb. Here is a small clip it gets really terrible near the end.

I found that using USB 3.0 eliminate he issue 90% of the time. If you have USB 3 in your PC give it a try

 

[oachs83]

I found that using USB 3.0 eliminate he issue 90% of the time. If you have USB 3 in your PC give it a try

Wow that seemed to be the ticket. Thanks a bunch man!!

 

[Ant000]

Does anyone else have issues with the music playback?

It doesn't seem to work with Apple Music if you have iTunes Match enabled. I wonder if it's a DRM thing? It shouldn't be?

Such a bummer cause I wanna slow songs down but I use streaming and iTunes Match to download songs to my phone.

You can even just bypass the playback thing and stream right to the speaker but I need to slow stuff down haha... This is not the way to be practicing.... My neighbours must hate me.

Marshall got back to me and said its a DRM thing. Lame.

Everybody is getting my cash just... let me rock...

 

[Fern]

Anyone having to "tap to sync" everytime you open the gateway app?

 

[oachs83]

So the Eminence CV-75 speaker just arrived today. I ordered some way better usb cables that will be here Friday. Hopefully over the weekend I can get a few recordings of the original speaker and then the Eminence for comparison. I hope it really opens this amp up. Just be warned I really am a novice player and that will make the comparison suffer a bit. Not going to lie I really don't mind the original speaker all that bad but just feel there is a lot of untapped potential with this amp due to cost cutting.

 

[Plectrum]

Anyone having to "tap to sync" everytime you open the gateway app?

Everyone gets that. I've found that rather than doing that it's easier to rotate the preset knob on the amp.

 

[TKB]

I will have to try the USB on mine to record and see if I have issues because all I have is 2.0 USB. One thing to remember is when a new model comes out of anything the price is usually very inflated to cover the engineering costs but Marshall chose to keep the introductory cost low so that deserves my highest admiration. There are always bugs in the 1st few versions of anything so you take a chance by not waiting a few months. I purchased a keeper a few weeks ago - CODE 50. I can't stop playing it. It transports me to the old Humble Pie/Hendricks/Thin Lizzy days because it sounds so damn good. Rock on....

 

[AJU]

Everyone gets that. I've found that rather than doing that it's easier to rotate the preset knob on the amp.

Last few times I've used it seems to have picked up quite well on its own, dunno why though as no changes to gateway or amp as far as I can tell.

 

[Vrekopanos]

Hi guys!

Anyone managed to connect the amp through USB to Cubase?

It worked through headphone jack but I'd like to try the USB as well to see the difference since it's a digital amp.

Cheers

 

[thomasvscott]

Hi, anybody can tell me which speaker is in the code amp? Is it possible to replace the original speaker for another one? My goal is to put a celestion cream inside the code amp, possible?

Yes, Straight out of the box my CODE 50 is unusable...It took me hours just to get two really good Jubilee and JTM sims....I have tried several different replacement speakers including a WGS and Tonetubby...HUGE improvement. I also added a speaker jack and downloaded a schematic for the class compliant USB so I can use a REAL Line out! I have to tell you that this is probably the worst product for modeling I have ever owned. It has taken me an entire weekend to dial in just a few tones that I can use in a live application. I will spend a week or two dialing in tones that I need for casino gigs and to me that is unacceptable. With 100 presets you would think there would be at least a handful of useful sims...but, NO!
I give Marshall a HUGE thumbs down.

 

[culpster]

Yes, Straight out of the box my CODE 50 is unusable...It took me hours just to get two really good Jubilee and JTM sims....I have tried several different replacement speakers including a WGS and Tonetubby...HUGE improvement. I also added a speaker jack and downloaded a schematic for the class compliant USB so I can use a REAL Line out! I have to tell you that this is probably the worst product for modeling I have ever owned. It has taken me an entire weekend to dial in just a few tones that I can use in a live application. I will spend a week or two dialing in tones that I need for casino gigs and to me that is unacceptable. With 100 presets you would think there would be at least a handful of useful sims...but, NO!
I give Marshall a HUGE thumbs down.

I think you may feel different after a week or so. I had the same feelings at first. Spent a little of time tweaking and getting to know what each of the cabs actually controlled in the EQ and started my patches from scratch. Agree completely on the presets. Although, in fairness, I never had a modeller that I have actually found a useful sim right out of the box. I found a lot of my tones with the Plexi.
Also try using the Dist, GUV, and ODR pedals as shapers. I found putting the DIST in front of an amp with 0.8 of gain, 2 or 3 in tone and 4.8 to 5.3 in level just added a lot to the harmonics. Also the Presence, Resonance and Gate make a huge difference with the amps as they do in real life. Patch sharing should start to be active quickly, give us an idea of particular tones you are looking for. I could possibly help?
I play in covers band so I might come across something that sounds good at gig levels and pass it on.

 

[oachs83]

So here is the code with a speaker swap with an Eminence CV -75. First off just a heads up if you do plan on a swap the tools you will need aer a T20 torx drive and a #2 phillips screwdriver a regular screwdriver helps as well as far as gently removing the connectors to the AC cord. Here are a few pictures.

So first off this speaker did add I would say 8lbs or so I am not kidding and would be surprised if the stock speaker weighed over 3lbs. You can just see from the photos how cheap it really is, there is silicone holding the thing together for crying out loud haha. The stock is a 4 ohm and I replaced it with a 8 ohm being it's solid state that will not affect it, the sound was a tad quieter so the volume did need to be bumped up. Another issue is I only have a 3ft usb cord for recording, I bought what I thought a much higher quality longer cord and plugged it into the 2.0 usb to record. It was so noisy I couldn't record a darn thing so I need to work on getting around to trying to record this Eminence speaker.

Overall I have only had about 1 hour of playing with the new speaker. The first thing I really noticed is it just sounds more like a "guitar speaker" the setting I had for the original speaker don't transition well over to the new one I will have to spend a lot more time tweaking. Also the Presets from factory are really terrible with this speaker. However like I said it sounds more organic and what I am use to, it really shines with a clean setting as all the notes seem to jump out now when I strum the guitar. Overdrive mode is not as noticeable but I need to give it time and really let this speaker break in. Once I get this broke in I am really going to dial in some tones and hopefully get a good comparison recording. Honestly to me after an hour straight of the new speaker I think I just got use to it and am forgetting what the old one sounded like and really need a side by side comparison. One thing I will say however if you just plan to use the Code at bedroom levels and it will never leave the house I would not bother with the swap unless you are afraid of the speaker falling apart (and after looking at it I kind of am lol). This is obviously the biggest area Marshall cut cost. The big improvement really is at louder levels such as practicing and gigging. I gigged this amp this past Friday with the stock speaker and was a little meh with it. The biggest thing is I really didn't "feel" it however it is all new to me. It seems already as I turn the amp up I will have a better time, my next gig is this Saturday so we will see. To me it was worth the $90 for the speaker even if it does add some weight.

 

[Plectrum]

That's a great write-up oachs83. Do let us know how you get on gigging with the new speaker.

 

[oachs83]

That's a great write-up oachs83. Do let us know how you get on gigging with the new speaker.

Hey thank you, I really think Marshall kind of dropped the ball not putting a better speaker in this thing. If this had a speaker close to this quality of the Eminence and a price tag of $299 I really think a lot of the guys that are on the fence would purchase one. However I do see where they want to keep weight down and bring in a lot of beginner players. One thing I am just speculating but maybe they couldn't get half the presets with a quality speaker that is voiced for guitars. It's almost like the stock one is voiced differently and not so much a guitar speaker. I can't really put my thumb on it. I am getting better quality sound with it but I can see it is not going to be as versatile as far as getting 100 presets from it. I am thinking of making an open back similar to my DSL40c to try out as well.

PS. It kind of reminds me of the DSL40c where so many were throwing in different speakers (me included) so much that companies like Sweetwater where even selling them with greenbacks etc. I don't think that will happen with the Code but Marshall exactly has not had the best track record of included speakers lately.

 

[Plectrum]

Hey thank you, I really think Marshall kind of dropped the ball not putting a better speaker in this thing. If this had a speaker close to this quality of the Eminence and a price tag of $299 I really think a lot of the guys that are on the fence would purchase one. However I do see where they want to keep weight down and bring in a lot of beginner players. One thing I am just speculating but maybe they couldn't get half the presets with a quality speaker that is voiced for guitars. It's almost like the stock one is voiced differently and not so much a guitar speaker. I can't really put my thumb on it. I am getting better quality sound with it but I can see it is not going to be as versatile as far as getting 100 presets from it. I am thinking of making an open back similar to my DSL40c to try out as well.

PS. It kind of reminds me of the DSL40c where so many were throwing in different speakers (me included) so much that companies like Sweetwater where even selling them with greenbacks etc. I don't think that will happen with the Code but Marshall exactly has not had the best track record of included speakers lately.

I think you need to consider that the stock speaker's job is to emulate a range of cabinets rather than be a great sounding speaker in its own right. An FRFR speaker would probably be the best choice but maybe that's not feasible at this price point. Remember that CODE competes in a very competitive, price-sensitive part of the market.

 

[Antmax]

I don't know much about speakers. Would be nice to get some kind of graph of the stock speaker signature that you could compare to others and work out what would be a good match.
I doubt Marshall will be interested in sharing or suggesting a good upgrade. It was obvious that the speaker would take the biggest hit to meet the budget because electronic components in a budget digital amp are probably going to be pretty generic and cheap. The software licensing probably cost more. If they used the same thing, the Softube plexi VST costs almost as much as the 25 to purchase separately and their bundle of jubilee, plexi and bluesbreaker costs more than the CODE Head..

 

[sinlimo]

Agreed! The stock speaker is lightweight in just about every sense of the word.

i swapped in an 8-ohm WGS British Lead speaker, and am very pleased with the results. I def had to tweak my presets, and in most cases turn the "CAB" off, but it sounds so much better. The volume drop was hardly noticeable... the only downside as Oachs83 noted was the increase in weight to the amp, but it's well worth it!

 

[oachs83]

You guys that are much smarter than I can maybe decipher this speaker? It the only label on the entire stock speaker.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

It means cheap speaker to keep price down."
I temporarily put an old 16 ohm Traynor AlNico in mine, smoother, nicer less harsh highs and not such flubby lows. I liked it, it was OK as is but can't really tell what it needs until you can compare. I ran the leads to my Mesa 1x12 V30 cab and man, nice! So when I feel like taking apart that cab I'll put the 8 ohm V30 in the Code.
In the mean time, I have to change the EQ a bit on some presets and the amp is a bit heavier but it was so light to begin with....I dont really care if the cab sims don't sound like tne cabs they are modeling, I just want it go sound good! Lows are nice with the cab sims, gives it some punch. I look forward to a practice with it!!