Daisy, between the AD30, the Rocker 30 and the Rockerverb 50, which one would you prefer?
I've never used the RV50 so I can't really comment on it.
I can say that from what I've read the RV50 has a cleaner clean channel and a more aggressive gain channel (it has an extra gain stage in it). It's also somewhat plagued with problems from what I understand as there seems to be alot of complaints on the Orange forum.
Between the Rocker 30 and AD30....I like both about equal. They both have their own thing going on yet they both manage to sound distinctly Orange in the way that you described above. The R30 suits me better when I need higher gain and/or channel switching rhythm/lead. The AD30 suits me better when I need a thick vintage overdrive.
The R30 has a very touch sensitive clean channel that is awesome for picking dynamics. When dimed it goes into those classic dimed non-master volume amp tones......think AC/DC but Orange flavoured. The gain channel gets saturated very crunchy....sorta like a JCM800 but again Orange flavoured. This amp will cover all the classic rock/metal bases as well as any modern tone that isn't uber high gain. I usually refer to this amp as what the JCM2000 series should've been but failed miserably at. As you already know it's got a more rounded top end that doesn't spike your ears like a Marshall, and has a strong lower midrange that's popular in todays music.
The AD30 on the other hand is more vintage orientated. It's a little brighter yet still lower mid dominant. Some people say it has an AC30 kinda vibe to it, yet it doesn't sound anything like an AC30 (if that makes any sense). It's tube rectified so it has a fair amount of sag to it. It only has a single gain stage but it's surprisingly gainy in an old school fuzzy amp sorta way. It has two channels that can be dialed in for clean or dirty use.....I set mine up for thick dirt (channel 1) and bright dirt (channel 2), then use my guitar's volume knob to control the gain/cleans. It's a pretty dynamic amp but not as touch sensitive as the R30's clean channel.....but it has that vintage sag/compression so it's a trade off.
Both amps can be used for pretty much anything if you set it right or (in the case of the AD30) hit it with the right pedals.
The best/worst feature on both amps is their headroom. The 30w makes for killer overdrive at realistic volumes, but it also makes it difficult to get clean tones at a realistic volume. I don't mind that as I like overdriven cleans, but it seems to drive other people nuts.
