New Marshall CODE digital amp series

[oachs83]

Thats the main thing that all the cab sims amp sims etc. labels should be ignored. What sounded like a 100w with a 1960v on the stock speaker not so much anymore with a more traditional speaker. You almost have to go into it blind and try EVERYTHING all over again.

 

[TKB]

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 wonder if a Beringer Ultra-G DI Box would be a good solution ($40 new). The review from Cheap Gear Review on You Tube sounds great:



I am actually shocked that a good tone cannot be dialed in with the code 50. Could it be possible yours is just defective? I have found that USB recording with it does change the EQ but that should be able to be adjusted to your liking. I wish you were my neighbor so you could show me what the issue is. Just to put everything into perspective...we are talking about a $250 Marshall 50 watt combo amp that was just released. Buy a 1st year model of anything and you will find something that doesn't agree with you. I can't stop playing mine and I've waited 61 years for tech to get to this point. Strange but true.....

 

[TKB]

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 experienced a similiar "problem". I actually was able to cure it by messing with my Direct Sound setting in my DAW software (I used Tracktion 4 - it was free and maybe still is). What DAW software are you using. Check out my RATT preset and you will hear a few sounds that would disappear in a mix or pass as string noise. There may be an update for this coming out but until then I believe you can clear it up if you are willing to do some tweaking. Good luck.

 

[oachs83]

TKB, im just using Audacity. Another gentleman mention plugging into a 2.0 usb slot and it cleared up for me with the 4ft cord I have. I purchased a 15ft cord and in the 2.0 slot with longer cord it is the noisiest it's ever been. I have not tried the shorter cord yet o see if it shuts back up. It's kinda a hassle to use that short cord for me but I'll eventually try it again.

 

[Wylde Chylde]

Well, here is my Code50. I made some changes for no other reason than I was bored and felt like there was tons of room for improvement.

Added some gold piping and a gold logo from Mojotone.

I had this 'farting' sound from the original speaker on low notes and at first I thought it was just the poor quality stock speaker, but it was still there after I installed the replacement speaker. Well, as some others have also found, the surround on the speaker was making contact with the of area of the baffle that Marshall decided not to remove to allow the logo to be placed on the front of the speaker grill. So, I picked up a 3/4" THK x 12" speaker ring from Amazon and some longer hardware from he local hardware store. Marked, drilled the holes, and then installed the replacement. Now the speaker surround no longer makes contact with the baffle and so no more 'farting'.

Stock v. Replacement Speaker - An EVM12L - 8OHM. I think the EVM weighs more than the Code itself, but it definitely sounds better to me.

Overall I'm happier with it than the day it arrived, but I'm pretty sure I could have achieved similar results for less.

 

[TKB]

TKB, im just using Audacity. Another gentleman mention plugging into a 2.0 usb slot and it cleared up for me with the 4ft cord I have. I purchased a 15ft cord and in the 2.0 slot with longer cord it is the noisiest it's ever been. I have not tried the shorter cord yet o see if it shuts back up. It's kinda a hassle to use that short cord for me but I'll eventually try it again.

I have 21 years as an electronic technician so now you've got me wondering if a torroidal transformer on the USB cable may cure the weird high freq problem. If I have a spare one somewhere I will try it. Thanks for leading me to this solution. I am sure Marshall is aware of it.

 

[TKB]

Well, here is my Code50. I made some changes for no other reason than I was bored and felt like there was tons of room for improvement.
Stock v. Replacement Speaker - An EVM12L - 8OHM. I think the EVM weighs more than the Code itself, but it definitely sounds better to me.
Overall I'm happier with it than the day it arrived, but I'm pretty sure I could have achieved similar results for less.

I am curious about something. I have seen quite a few posts where the speaker has been replaced with an 8 ohm. If the original was a 4 ohm why haven't people been using 4 ohms for replacement? At the risk of sounding to technical the volume will possibly decrease slightly with an 8 ohm (unless that's what your looking for) but with a bigger magnet on another 4 ohm speaker you can actually make the amp louder in a live situation when the master volume is at a high setting. This is why some 50 watt amps sound as loud as some 100 watt amps....it's just because the speaker has an SPL (sound pressure level) of 6 db higher (the SPL doubles with each 6 DB - that means twice as loud). The speaker you replaced it with will probably be just fine because the magnet is huge so it probably has a high SPL rating but just a little knowledge on SLP ratings...a 50 watt combo will be as loud as a 100 watt combo if the SPL rating is 6 DB higher than the 100 watt combo's speaker. I hope I didn't loose anyone with my rant. I guess the bottom line is "If it sounds good it is good". Rock on...

 

[Wylde Chylde]

I am curious about something. I have seen quite a few posts where the speaker has been replaced with an 8 ohm. If the original was a 4 ohm why haven't people been using 4 ohms for replacement? At the risk of sounding to technical the volume will possibly decrease slightly with an 8 ohm (unless that's what your looking for) but with a bigger magnet on another 4 ohm speaker you can actually make the amp louder in a live situation when the master volume is at a high setting. This is why some 50 watt amps sound as loud as some 100 watt amps....it's just because the speaker has an SPL (sound pressure level) of 6 db higher (the SPL doubles with each 6 DB - that means twice as loud). The speaker you replaced it with will probably be just fine because the magnet is huge so it probably has a high SPL rating but just a little knowledge on SLP ratings...a 50 watt combo will be as loud as a 100 watt combo if the SPL rating is 6 DB higher than the 100 watt combo's speaker. I hope I didn't loose anyone with my rant. I guess the bottom line is "If it sounds good it is good". Rock on...

I looked very briefly for a 4 ohm 12" guitar speaker and didn't really like what I was finding...which was a pretty slim selection. In a perfect world where all things were equal and the only different between the two speakers was the efficiency rating, then yes, it is quite possible there would be a loss of volume after changing out the stock 4ohm speaker for an 8 ohm replacement.

I believe you would also be correct in the assertion that if you had a 4ohm speaker with a lower efficiency rating and replaced it with an 8ohm with a higher efficiency rating, you could cancel out the loss cause by the higher impedance load. The EVM has a 100db efficiency rating and I doubt the stock speaker is even close to that. I could be wrong though.

Now I have no idea what the specs are on the factory speaker, only that I didn't care for it. Maybe that would have changed after it broke in, but to my ears it sounds better with the EVM right out of the gate.

Either way, I'm not playing live, just at home and didn't perceive any volume loss by switching to the 8 ohm vs the stock 4 ohm.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I also have troubles finding a 4 ohm speaker, I don't wanna spend a pile on it. I have a 16 ohm and 8 accessible and will choose the 8. It is a V30 with 100dB sensitivity which I also guess will be better than the stock. It has plenty of volume for small gigs and loses only a touch to go to 8m ohms which, as stated above, may well be compensated by the sensitivity rating.
Also, I may get a little crazy and run a speaker out jack from the internal so I could run another 8 ohm 1x12 in a little "stack" just for giggles...

 

[Wylde Chylde]

I also have troubles finding a 4 ohm speaker, I don't wanna spend a pile on it. I have a 16 ohm and 8 accessible and will choose the 8. It is a V30 with 100dB sensitivity which I also guess will be better than the stock. It has plenty of volume for small gigs and loses only a touch to go to 8m ohms which, as stated above, may well be compensated by the sensitivity rating.
Also, I may get a little crazy and run a speaker out jack from the internal so I could run another 8 ohm 1x12 in a little "stack" just for giggles...

I have similar plans to run a speaker out jack at some point in the future. It's a fun little amp to play around with, but I don't take it very seriously.

 

[TKB]

Thanks for the replies. I now understand why 8 ohm speakers are being used. There may not be any difference in "perceived" volume if the 8 ohm speaker is of a much higher quality. All the technicality can get downright silly sometimes. Thanks for all the cool posts everyone. Food for thought...

 

[oachs83]

I have 21 years as an electronic technician so now you've got me wondering if a torroidal transformer on the USB cable may cure the weird high freq problem. If I have a spare one somewhere I will try it. Thanks for leading me to this solution. I am sure Marshall is aware of it.

Torroidal transformer? Mr I don't know what you just called me but I don't take kindly to criticism LOL.

Anyways I really don't know what that means I will tell you this the only usb to mini usb cord I had in the house was for hooking up to an old Playstation 3 controller. Like I said I was getting noise although not near as bad as it is now it still was pretty bad. I switched that playstation cord to a 2.0 usb and it almost completely got rid of the noise. Fast forward to ordering a 15ft long cable for convenience. PLugging that cable in to a 2.0 usb or any other one the noise is so loud and constant its unlistenable.

 

[chiliphil1]

Wow, and the speaker costs more than the amp!

 

[culpster]

Wow, and the speaker costs more than the amp!

I'm sure he had it laying around, I have several laying around. Not of that type, but several speakers laying around the house. I figure that I would give the speaker time to break in before asserting myself. Oh, and I am lazy since I don't have a gig coming up.

 

[Wylde Chylde]

Wow, and the speaker costs more than the amp!

I'm sure he had it laying around, I have several laying around. Not of that type, but several speakers laying around the house. I figure that I would give the speaker time to break in before asserting myself. Oh, and I am lazy since I don't have a gig coming up.

Correct. I had ordered this for an extension cab but hadn't installed it yet, so I thought what the hell, I'll throw it in the Code for giggles. I'm sure at some point I will pull it out in favor of something else, but for now it's calling the Code 'home'.

 

[crossroadsnyc]

Well, here is my Code50. I made some changes for no other reason than I was bored and felt like there was tons of room for improvement.

Added some gold piping and a gold logo from Mojotone.

That looks pretty good, dude

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Here's the big old Traynor driver I installed from about 1970.

 

[blues_n_cues]

if they ever get the USB/DAW right...........

 

[DavidC]

Marshall Code50 combo - first impressions

This initial review is a bit long winded and rambling as it's been compiled over a few weeks as I've used the combo.

I purchased the amp from Dawsons and first impressions were not good at all. I very nearly returned it after a few hours as I thought something was wrong with it. Pretty much all the demo patches sounded terrible to my ears.

There was an unpleasant distortion present on all of them!

However I decided to program some patches of my own from scratch and discovered that there are actually some pretty good sounds hidden in the Code50.

I have fairly recently retired from 'proper' gigging and started doing some small, local work. It's the first time for many years that I've had to load, transport, carry and set up my own gear and I discovered that, due to extreme old age and physical weakness (and laziness), that I can no longer use big amps!
My days of Marshall, Orange or Hiwatt stacks are gone.
In the past I've always returned to my favorite VOX AC30s but an AC30 in a flight case weighs probably over 50kg and cripples me. Even without the case its around 30kg. Lugging 2 of them around is beyond me now. But to me they always have certain sweetness of tone that pleases me.

So, having spent some time fiddling with my Code50 I have now programmed a few patches which, in my house at any rate, sound very good indeed.
Mods, delays and reverbs sound OK. I don't like the stomp stuff but, I guess, if Marshall overdrive or distortion pedals are your thing, they might suit you. I like a Tube Screamer and a Whammy pedal personally.

At a rehearsal it worked quite well with a few tweaks required to my sounds but, in the end, it sounded pretty good and was perfectly useable. Next onto a real gig to see how it performs there.

I have encountered the freezing up problem when saving presets which was a bit of a pain at the rehearsal. I'm not sure if I can live with that and, hopefully, a software update will sort it out as well as reducing the noise on some of the sounds which need the noise gate to make them useable - but the gate makes the amp almost unuseable as it is noticeable when the guitars volume is rolled back even when the gate is turned quite low.

UPDATE: The amp has just been returned to Dawsons. Not having access to another to compare it I would imagine that it's faulty as I can't see Marshall allowing such a crummy sounding amp to get onto the market.

I know personal taste is a funny old thing and I have a liking for British amps and don't really like American amps which I've owned. i.e. I love especially VOX amps and HiWatts but dislike Fenders - although I've only had a few vintage Twin Reverbs in the past - and Mesa Boogies. To my mind you can't beat a Gibson Les Paul played through a VOX AC30.
Oddly enough all my amps end up sounding like me regardless of what they are! I'm a firm believer in the sound coming mainly from the player and that the guitar/amp combination is just one small part of that sound.

I mujst admit that I wish I'd returned it for a refund as soon as I had tried it out but family matters took me away from home for a few weeks. The only good thing about it as far as I'm concerned is that it only weighs 13kg and I can carry it without crippling myself!!

Onwards and upwards.

 

[TKB]

Torroidal transformer? Mr I don't know what you just called me but I don't take kindly to criticism LOL.

Just an FYI...a torroidal transformer is what you see in Wylde Chylde's 3rd picture of his opened amp. It's in the lower left hand corner near the bottom (the round thing the blue and white wires are looped through).