Acoustic Guitar DI Shootout - Taylor vs Matrin vs Cort vs Fender

Finally got around to trying out what I consider my 4 best acoustic/electric guitars to see the differences between how a clean DI sounds. Thanks to ‪@Audientworld‬ for sending over an iD14 interface to do the comparison. Check one out for yourself with this affiliate link:
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The Guitars:
Taylor 614ce Builder's Edition:
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Fender Acoustasonic Strat:
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Cort Gold A6:
bit.ly/3y54wmc
Martin GPCPA4 - (they don't make this exact model anymore, this one is close):
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Also here's the acoustasonic vid I was talking about:
• Does Anyone NEED a Fen...
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A little about me:
Sean Daniel is a man. A man of simple needs and desires. And the one desire, no, the one NEED, that stands above all is to spread the challenges, joy and intellectual stimulus of music to people of Earth and beyond.
Born on the mean streets of upper middle class suburban Chicago, Sean learned the ways of the world through the dizzying heights of success to the lonesome depths of failure and emerged with the promise of a better tomorrow reflecting in his eyes and fiery passion in his belly.
He plays and teaches guitar on his KZbin channel where he regularly releases original music and projects to the adulation of legions of fans, who often compare him to Chris Pratt and one time Ryan Reynolds. He’s currently in the market for a nice leather jacket.
#guitar #acoustic #handsomegentleman

[@shah_danial]

Cort Gold A6 is All Solid and price is only $670 compared to others

[@donindri]

I preferred the sound of the Cort. The Taylor sounded best when you added the bells and whistles. Thanks for posting

[@arlo2203]

1. Cort 2. Taylor 3. Acoustasonic 4. Martin

[@larryferchoff3125]

I thought the Cort hada nice, true sound without the sharp attack of the middle strings. Very bright and natural to my ear. Would have liked to hear a little more of that one set up the same as the other two at the end of the video. Very interesting stuff. Thanks!

[@David-lz1rk]

Surprisingly, I dug the acousticsonic.

[@drewdietz2115]

Same here

[@mickredfern9425]

Yep, have to agree the taylor, mic+ reverb sounded awesome.

[@badgasaurus4211]

Martin was the best easily. Not sure why everyone is big on the Taylor. That high end is piercing

[@Jeannine2007]

Not for my ears. We all do not have the same hearing I guess 👍

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

Ok I like the Martin best because you say so

[@badgasaurus4211]

@@BkBk-gy6vr I expect you to put this reply on every comment here

[@juzzie]

I really wanted an acoustasonic .. however the more I listen, the more I don’t

[@chris_t11]

From a Taylor & Martin owner (listening through tv speakers)- 1. Cort (shockingly) 2. Martin 3. Taylor Distant 4th. Fender

[@drewdietz2115]

I thought the Cort was amazing as well.

[@outtamilk]

Yep, I'm listening through my headphones & ranked them the same. I own a Taylor too but now keen to try a Cort.

[@TheFeelButton]

LR Baggs align series keeps me happy. Cheers Sean!

[@slingerace]

Nice to see you finally got the binding fixed on that GPCA4. I was sitting here practicing on my GPCA4 while I was watching the vid. I'd be playing the Martin D-18 hanging five feet away, but Professor Stich has us practicing the CAGED system up and down the neck this week and the GPCA4 has a cutout. :-)

[@freesk8]

I liked the Cort.

[@someguyfromcali]

Great vid and tips for EQing! Loved the chord progressions you were playing too!

[@ambiention]

If you run something like an HX Stomp, you can load an acoustic IR which might help some of those direct sounds.

[@8693jt]

I do this a lot to decide which to take to a gig, Breedlove Oregon Concert CE, Martin GPCPA1, or Acoustasonic Telecaster. The winner is invariably the Fender, especially when gigging with a band.

[@mjolnircarlssen4211]

I have to admit, the Cort surprised me. They all sounded good, and I’m a Martin and Taylor fan.

[@jeremystone2016]

Thanks for the info Sean! 🙏♥️🔥 My acoustic has LR Baggs system. Still learning it.

[@butch3715]

That's the first time I had seen that particular Fender. I like it from a versatility standpoint but it didn't sound nearly as clear as the other 3 brands. I preferred the sound of Cort.

[@dutch5580]

GOOD LAWD THAT CORT !!!!!!

[@SenseiKreese]

Cort and Taylor for the win straight in. The Fender sounded really boxy, that would need some heavy EQ work to make sound better. The Cort and Taylor sounded quite nice direct, not bad at all, a little reverb, compression, eq, that's a very usable tone no problem, no micing up necessary.

[@HL-OOI]

Just got the Cort A8..loving it..😁

[@seandaniel23]

Congrats!

[@HL-OOI]

@@seandaniel23 thanks..still playing at 12.30AM MY time..🤣

[@alansimpson8962]

Nice chord progression that cort can sure hold its own but nobody going to beat taylor

[@ronlight7013]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap (or free) but decent EQ app for Mac OS? I just tossed my eqMac app because it continually crashes. I want something to use when playing a range of KZbin guitar gear and instruction videos. Thank you.

[@kmckinlay8070]

There's a channel on KZbin called 'The Indie Music Lab'. He is very knowledgeable on these matters. If you left a comment / inquiry on his channel I'm certain he would give you some good advice.

[@hdschoedel]

Taylor > Cort > Martin > That guitar I really wanted to like but....no. really tough choice between the Taylor and the Cort though. I could easily listen again tomorrow and choose differently.

[@gtr1952]

IMHO, I thought the Martin had the best overall acoustic tone. I can hear low/mid/high and I like the way it represents the tone from the 'Box' and not just strings. Surprisingly I thought the Cort sounded good enough for second. The Taylor sounds like a compressor, the lows and highs sound clipped and overall thin. The Fender sounds like pickups a/d'ed. What I've heard and really like is the Taylor T5z, I'm casually looking for one myself. 8) JMHO, FWIW LOL --gary

[@mikeellis4345]

I have the same Cort model and Taylor … the Taylor is going to a new home .. quite far away .. today !

[@hannahcalder3484]

Simply beautiful!

[@kaosvalentine]

am i the only one thats surprised by how much better the cort sounded than anything else?

[@samyouel4596]

the crazy thing is he is comparing it too guitars worth 1000s of dollars more

[@kaosvalentine]

@@samyouel4596 So a year ago i went to the music store with my heart set on a taylor. Just so happens they had one at like 50% off or something. Walked in told the guy, listen i saw this taylor on special is there still stock and he said yeah. Went and fetched it and i was like damn this is what i want. then he said hangon, before you make a choice try these. He brought out a cort Gold OC 8 and one other one that was roughly the sam eprice as the taylor. Needless to say, the taylor didnt stand a shot against the OC8 and the other corts price vs sound compared to the OC-8 was negligible. Needless to say, i never thought id pay that much for a cort but here we are a year later and i have no regrets

[@pacman_pol_pl_polska]

Really great video. Experimenting is the key.

[@williammartinelli9491]

I don’t know about that. It Depends what semi acoustic guitars you’re looking for. Taylor do make some very nice guitars. But they aren’t going to be as nice as Court or Martin

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

How is the action and playability on the Cort compared to the others?

[@seandaniel23]

Action is good but not as good as the Martin and Taylor. Probably plays as good, maybe a little better than the Fender, but you can always adjust it.

[@bocabenkolstad]

Do you have any thoughts on what EQ pedal to use with acoustics? Would there be one that you'd use with electric and a different one with acoustic, or can one pedal work reasonably well for both?

[@dogshowish]

What would you do if you had no computer recording software and just used cassette Porto studio?

[@domagojoinky8262]

How does Yamaha FGX3 compare to Cort and Martin ?

[@guyfromnj]

That’s cool tune you wrote. It’s no ladies from the 80’s but I like it a lot.

[@richlight]

No piezo/mic pickups for the acoustics?

[@Jeannine2007]

The Taylor all the way! 👍👍👍

[@mikga45]

Taylors are a joy to play, built beautifuly. For sound and playability hard to beat a martin. Does not feel as nice as a taylor in your hands, but once you play it you forget all about the taylor.

[@林林-i4u1n]

martin 3:02 4:38 taylor 3:43 4:52 cort 4:03

[@charlieytpw]

Sean, you got to try a Andrew White Freja 512 has addition a mic'd system

[@jamesf5963]

Cort all day

[@GMec78]

Take that pb and j tortilla experiment, and add a thin sliced banana (optional marshmallow fluff) pan fry the outside of the tortilla and become Elvis for an afternoon.

[@seandaniel23]

a healthy snack option

[@morganellieification]

Taylor was best for me but after standing next to a guitarist on stage for decades my right ear is totally screwed, acoustisonic seemed thin which I'm glad about as it's a horrendous looking guitar that makes the little baby jesus cry

[@richlight]

Same here. The guitars high end needs dialed back like woah lol. Thats wjy i ditched my Taylor's

[@richardredlight7246]

Besides the sound, is this a weird chord demonstration??

[@mikga45]

I have owned guild, martin and taylor acoustic guitars in price range from 800 to 1000.00 us dollars. My son is a guitar player and so is my cousin. Playability everyone wants the taylor. For just good quality sound and easy to play, not as easy as the taylor is the martin. The best sounding is the guild and even after being set up by a professional it still does not play as well as the taylor. Im not a good guitar player and i always reached for the martin, deeper bass sound and just a fuller sound.

[@ducdanjou7885]

I think I like the Cort best, of the straight DI sounds. The acoustasonic is ok too.

[@bryangrangier8881]

Good stuff

[@bogart5131]

Taylor sounds like a can at 4: 58. they say, you need to adjust the phase switch located inside

[@roderickjacob7248]

Are you not on a few DOVYDAS videos with the fantastic singer girlfriend?

[@seandaniel23]

That’s me

[@sicko_the_ew]

I was working on something, so just listening with attention split. And the guitar sound that made me look up was the Cort. Whenever I hear you playing that thing, I wonder whether it's not secretly a "Sean Daniels Signature Guitar" - as in has been chosen carefully from a big selection (which one has if one's the biggest manufacturer on Earth), and then given a setup someone who knows about this kind of thing knows is exactly right for you. (I suppose an manufacturer with half an ounce of guile is going to do as much as they can to any guitar they send to you to make it something that likes to sing when you feel it up (sorry :-) ) but maybe not. And maybe none of them have applied some extra loving care to the guitars sent to you. However my (not entirely perfect, I suppose) ears tell me that that Cort has something "custom guitar" about it. The individual notes in a chord seem to have character, for one thing. I am biased, since my own best guitar is a Cort. Maybe I just like that sound. I suppose what you might try is give a blind test to your fellow musicians. ("Only rate it if it makes an impression" - no need to give every one a score, but if there's just one that "makes them look up" like this, that might be the one to explore some more.)

[@kamarienedwards1757]

Cort also uses microphones in their guitars which make them sound so good instead of just the piezo

[@richlight]

Acoustisonic was the cleanest on my end of hearing a recording

[@jamesglue]

I like Cort sound more

[@Harsh-zr7vo]

Martin and Taylor guitars are always on top💯

[@Cali-vt1jj]

Wow Cort Gold A6 sounds better than the Taylor 614. Boy I'm shocked.

[@seandaniel23]

crazy right?

[@Cali-vt1jj]

​@@seandaniel23 Definitely!! I have had my eye on the gold series for a while now. I have Loved Cort Guitars, but was somehow convinced that Taylor 414 upwards would sound better. I was sooooo wrong. Thank you for this!

[@seandaniel23]

@@Cali-vt1jj Happy to help. I will say the Taylor 614 definitely plays better though and its sounding better and opening up with time, but may that Cort is SOOOO good.

[@harmonicahero1]

Taylor first, daylight second.

[@craighambo]

Quality guitar for the cheapest price,gotta love the corts and how underrated they seem to be.

[@danielefird3680]

Bodyrez - Acoustic Pickup Enhancer

[@TheBatmanvs1]

Hi

[@kennethochoa7550]

martin

[@jcripp7974]

The fender sounded like a cardboard box. The Taylor sounded best in this demo. Which is odd because when you do your regular videos the Taylor sounds a little plastic as you go up the neck. But here it sounds a lot better. The Cort had a lot of free ranging overtones, not much clarity but fills up the space. The Martin was ok. Reliable sound as they are. I dont know about that Fender. Id have to play one for awhile. Ill take your word for it.

[@roymeyer6837]

To me the most natural/acoustic sounding ones were the Fender and the Cort. I'm a Martin guy but the Fishman Matrix just isn't good enough for a nice guitar. The Taylor is too bright for me, and with the mid boost too nasal sounding for my taste. Plus, though to a lesser extent then the Fishman Matrix, it still does sound like a pickup to me. What I really found interesting is boosting the mids in general. That's where a lot of the frequencies live that make a pickup sound quacky and artificial, so I tend to scoop them for a more guitar like sound. Just my way of approaching it since my main goal is to lessen the impression of it actually being a pickup.

[@startreker8591]

That Cort hit me now I am split again

[@MarrsAttax]

Martin then Cort

[@shooterfilmcompany6227]

That Cort sure had a pretty sound.

[@markstaggs7342]

The Taylor absolutely the best in my opinion hands down.

[@davidnkl]

Who else is a true fan of Sean and Andrea

[@Jeannine2007]

Yep, love them and really love the song Julianna👍💖 Hi from Sydney👋🇦🇺

[@islandonlinenews]

The Cort then the Taylor.

[@morganellieification]

furtermore DI acoustics sound horrid, acoustic amp mic'd with a sm57 is a good solution you can sell the fender and hey presto problem solved

[@williammilauskas]

CORT

[@christopher-miles]

you clipped the interface. this such a joke; stop using so much compression. you have fark all dynamics. that's it.

[@seandaniel23]

Interesting. Audio is definitely fine on my end. Could be KZbin compression or something else

[@christopher-miles]

@@seandaniel23 ...yeah, that's always a point. ....the compression makes it stand to forwards in a mix; it's like you over compensate with more reverb/delay to push it back. think you should look at humbucker, too. fishman; it's like 100 bucks mix it with the di. should be much more three dimensional live sound. ...easiest fix would be using a .40mm pick. LOL

[@christopher-miles]

shucks, mom. you embossing me in font of all these NERDS. LOL

[@alansimpson8962]

And martin is in a class of itself

[@markwilliams141]

The Cort sounds just as good as the two

[@seandaniel23]

It's a really good guitar!

[@fengcarlos]

Cort all day