Made in China vs Vietnam

[lakgunruben12]

 

Hello,

I recently purchased a new Line 6 HX Stomp from Amazon. I already own an older model, and I noticed some differences between the two. The new unit is made in Vietnam, whereas my older one is made in China.

Here are some of the differences I've observed:
- The knobs on the older , china-made unit feel sturdier, with more noticeable clicks.  unlike vietnam feels cheap and wobbly .
- The Vietnam-made unit is slightly lighter in weight compared to the China-made one. Talking after weighting 
- The back laser print quality seems better and higher quality on the China-made unit. Whereas vietnam one looks like low quality laser print. 

Has anyone else noticed differences in sound quality between these two versions?

 

[cruisinon2]

On 5/22/2024 at 9:11 AM, lakgunruben12 said:

 

Hello,

I recently purchased a new Line 6 HX Stomp from Amazon. I already own an older model, and I noticed some differences between the two. The new unit is made in Vietnam, whereas my older one is made in China.

Here are some of the differences I've observed:
- The knobs on the older , china-made unit feel sturdier, with more noticeable clicks. And feels cheap.
- The Vietnam-made unit is slightly lighter in weight compared to the China-made one. Talking after weighting 
- The back print quality seems better on the China-made unit.

Has anyone else noticed differences in sound quality between these two versions?

 

 

The shell is just that...a shell. There may very well be observable differences in the hardware that could affect things like the durability/longevity of buttons, knobs, switches, etc... but the sounds come from the 1's and 0's living in the brains of the unit, and the firmware neither knows nor cares what it's been stuffed into. You could rip the guts out and wire them up inside a shoebox and it wouldn't make any difference in what you hear coming out of your speakers...

[lou-kash]

My biggest concern here would be whether the workers in Vietnam are being less exploited than the workers in China.

[lakgunruben12]

On 5/22/2024 at 9:29 AM, cruisinon2 said:

 

The shell is just that...a shell. There may very well be observable differences in the hardware that could affect things like the durability/longevity of buttons, knobs, switches, etc... but the sounds come from the 1's and 0's living in the brains of the unit, and the firmware neither knows nor cares what it's been stuffed into. You could rip the guts out and wire them up inside a shoebox and it wouldn't make any difference in what you hear coming out of your speakers...

I took out back plate and saw some significant differences visually observing board looks more higher quality and laser print are more highly visible.

[lakgunruben12]

On 5/22/2024 at 11:29 AM, lou-kash said:

My biggest concern here would be whether the workers in Vietnam are being less exploited than the workers in China.

Right

[cruisinon2]

On 5/22/2024 at 1:20 PM, lakgunruben12 said:

I took out back plate and saw some significant differences visually observing board looks more higher quality and laser print are more highly visible.

 

That's nice, but it still makes no difference. You can compare different pieces of hardware until the cows come home and you'll gain no actionable information. Will one unit hold up longer than the other because the parts are higher quality? Maybe, maybe not... you don't know, I don't know, nobody knows. There's only one way to find out: wait and see. Regardless, whichever circuit board you've decided is "better"  than the other, won't sound any different because it's running the same software as every other unit in existence.

[SaschaFranck]

On 5/22/2024 at 8:33 PM, cruisinon2 said:

Regardless, whichever circuit board you've decided is "better"  than the other, won't sound any different because it's running the same software as every other unit in existence.

 

They could as well have used different op amps and converters. In that case the hardware would matter.

[lakgunruben12]

On 5/22/2024 at 2:55 PM, SaschaFranck said:

 

They could as well have used different op amps and converters. In that case the hardware would matter.

Side by side comparison I did notice different color and type capacitors and diodes

[cruisinon2]

On 5/22/2024 at 3:55 PM, SaschaFranck said:

 

They could as well have used different op amps and converters. In that case the hardware would matter.

 

Well given that modeling has now progressed to the point that some of the most golden-eared engineers and producers in the business can now be fooled into thinking they're listen to a real amp, then it's a safe bet that 99.97% of Joe Average users wouldn't be able to detect the use of different converters (all else being equal) if you held a gun to their head. And if you're counting yourself amongst the other 0.03%, then salúd... you've got the best ears on the planet.

[SaschaFranck]

On 5/23/2024 at 5:55 AM, cruisinon2 said:

 

Well given that modeling has now progressed to the point that some of the most golden-eared engineers and producers in the business can now be fooled into thinking they're listen to a real amp, then it's a safe bet that 99.97% of Joe Average users wouldn't be able to detect the use of different converters (all else being equal) if you held a gun to their head. And if you're counting yourself amongst the other 0.03%, then salúd... you've got the best ears on the planet.

 

As long as we don't know whether something has noticeably changed (and if so, how much), it's all pure speculation. I was just saying that in case different components were used, the sound could be different as well.

 

But hey, maybe the newer units are made better. Especially the Floors/LTs could do with more solid hardware. But then, the notion about the less sturdy feeling knobs doesn't make me believe in that.

[jamoce]

Modeling technology has really come a long way, and the vast majority of listeners will not notice any difference in converters, even in controlled scenarios. It's possible that minor component changes can result in subtle differences in sound, but these are often overshadowed by other variables in the signal chain or mix. I've always envied their digital business card, by the way. As for build quality, certainly some hardware changes are intended to improve durability, but reports of less firm to the touch knobs raise questions about consistency. Ultimately, unless the differences have a significant impact on usability or sound in a practical context, much of this remains a matter of subjective perception and speculation.