Premium SoZo Vintage vs. NOS Mustard - Blind listening test

[6string]

of note... in this blind test test we are comparing Premium SoZos that are totally broken in, to brand new NOS mustards .

right?

the break in needs to be considered - they will sound different after they've been broken in - for better or for worse.

That is correct.

What was the difference between the two OT

[JamesHealey]

I can hear it periodically get fatter then get thinner with more detail.

I guess the fatter sound is the mustards and the thinner more detailed sound is the sozo's.

Love the phrasing on the Lead track dude, and thats some KILLER Vibrato!

[The Pup]

Nice touch tone.

[6string]

Thanks.

[Roadrunner]

This is very cool, glad I discovered this thread. Kinda confirms what I've felt all along... first off: tone's in the hands, and secondly the vintage Sozo's are great caps.

[electricskychurch]

good idea to have made this topic.
it might have been better to use both sozo's and mullard with 0,022 uf caps (not 0,018 for the mullard) but i have to say they sound quiet close.
personaly , i prefer to hear a full clip of sozo's and the same with mustard, better than changes in teh same clip cause depending on what you play, the frequency obviously changes; and also knowing it's not always easy to fret/play 100 % exactly the same way for both clips.
even if it's always interesting to hear the guitar samples mixed with other instruments, to know if the difference could be heard in a mix, i prefer the clips to be only made with the guitar sound.
but you did everything, so i can't complain !

the difference seems to be that the mullard are a bit fatter / thicker/ fuller ("more complex" ) in the mids , from what i hear; kind of a bit warmer.
i suppose i wouldn't have heard the difference in the clips where the guitar is mixed, seeing how many times you switched between mullard and sozo's but i didn't even try seeing how close they sound when not mixed !
the difference seems to be night and day with the standard sozo's if i base my judgement on the other topic after which this one was made !

[boogyman]

Very enlightening!
Thank you!
Tom
Awesome playing btw!

[boogyman]

Holy shit, that was difficult.
The SoZo's have more detail and presence. I know that this has been noted before, -just my 2 pennies. I actually prefer the sound of the Sozos. As has been noted earlier in this thread, the mustards probably didn't get a completely fair shake, (by me, I realize that opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one,) since they aren't broken in. Again, as has been noted before, the fact that the SoZos are $40 cheaper a pop makes a difference too!

Great entertainment, thanks again!
Tom

[Kitarist]

I like the Clip B mix at the start because it sounds like it has some air in the notes it sounds more 3D while the mustard have tighter sound but both are great. Would make a mod to switch between those two haha

[lcampz]

That was pretty awesome.

Honestly, in order to tell a difference I had to go to the A/B clips with my personal studio headphones on. From there the differences were pretty clear. But, it's so close, I don't think I care, not for new builds, for sure. There's much more of a difference between an I61 and an I63.

Sozo has done an awesome job.

[wildebassman]

Great thread, this confirmes the choice for my JTM45 build, I'm more than satisfied with the Sozo Premiums even though they only have little mileage.
Compared to the clips on that other thread going on... the Premiums are so close to the Mullards. Fantastic work and a fair comparison, Thanks!

Dennis.

[djoman]

A little late.. but have I understand everything correct if with all your test, there were never any mustards used for the three .1uF caps?

If yes, that could also mean that there's more difference lying in the .1uF caps than the .022uF?
I have the JTM45 sozo kit here that I want to install. Also a Marstran OT (784-103), but I'm not an amp tech myself.

That's why I thought I could maybe source three .1uF mustards, in case the biggest difference lies in the .1uF caps.
All depends though about my first question, might have misunderstood this test.