laxu
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Why would they bother with that when their tube approach works great? I don't find the Amp 1 to behave really any different from the tube amps I've compared it to in terms of feel or sound.
Power amp for modelers. Alternatives. Class D vs Class AB?
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JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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This is a non-issue.
Price mostly, having those custom made nanotubes add at least 100 (euro) to the final product.
Chocol8
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Jarick
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Nanotubes are really interesting, I don't fully understand them but I love the concept.
I don't have tons of experience with different amps but I still think the Blackstar Amped 1 is underrated. I've said before but I preferred its tone as a standalone amp than my Orange Rocker Terror and it does have some tube EQ curves plus basic EQ controls.
I don't have tons of experience with different amps but I still think the Blackstar Amped 1 is underrated. I've said before but I preferred its tone as a standalone amp than my Orange Rocker Terror and it does have some tube EQ curves plus basic EQ controls.
I think Blackstar should have released two versions of Amped. Amped as a "multi effect units" without power amp and Amped with power amp, similar to what Kemper does with their main product. In the age of direct recording by line input without need for a power amp it makes more sense in my opinion. I like when companies go as far as try to emulate power amp, Boss Artist is doing this for at least 10 years, trying to improve power amp emulation. But now Blackstar is all digital multi effect units and I'm not sure what company they hired to make the digital models but it doesnt sound good
But the tech is there, you just need to find the right people. About 2 years ago a small company from Ukraine called St rock or something released a multi effect unit with level of detail for each amp not found in any of the competition. They vanished completely. I mean the tech is there, someone has the source code for this, you just need to find it
amperium – st.Rock
www.st-rock.com
Jarick
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I think Blackstar should have released two versions of Amped. Amped as a "multi effect units" without power amp and Amped with power amp, similar to what Kemper does with their main product. In the age of direct recording by line input without need for a power amp it makes more sense in my opinion. I like when companies go as far as try to emulate power amp, Boss Artist is doing this for at least 10 years, trying to improve power amp emulation. But now Blackstar is all digital multi effect units and I'm not sure what company they hired to make the digital models but it doesnt sound good
But the tech is there, you just need to find the right people. About 2 years ago a small company from Ukraine called St rock or something released a multi effect unit with level of detail for each amp not found in any of the competition. They vanished completely. I mean the tech is there, someone has the source code for this, you just need to find it
amperium – st.Rock
I think they eventually did honestly, the new Blackstar IDX floor modelers appear to be the preamp and effects part of some of the Amped line.
To me the Amped 2 would be a killer backup unit for a touring band. I saw the band Dada (90's rock band that had a few radio hits) in a small club last year and the show literally stopped for 20 minutes because the pedal board died. Guitarist was running a big pedal board into dual amps and something got messed up. He apparently didn't have a backup rig at all and rather than ripping it apart and just running directly into an amp (or running a couple pedals in), they literally just stood around awkwardly talking to the crowd or playing just a bass and drum jam for 10 minutes.
From there I thought boy if you had the Amped 2 you could run it into any backline cab or even run it directly into the board with cab sim. It's got a basic amp tone with a drive pedal, modulation, delay, and reverb all in one compact box that can run either direct or has a class D 100 watt amp to drive a cab.
Amped 1 is way more stripped down with just a clean to slightly overdriven preamp (that you can swap out to flat/linear) and then basic EQ with tube amp selection and reverb. More like a pedal platform but it works great for modelers IMO.
Oh yeah, it also takes standard IEC power cable and has something like 500 mA of pedal power output, so you can either run a couple pedals out front or even daisy chain a small analog board. It's really slick.
I had the Boss Artist Mk2 and was underwhelmed. I really want companies to keep pushing forward here though, maybe just ditch the effects altogether and focus on preamp and power amp modeling.
What oyu didnt like about Boss Artist? the head or combo? I'd certainly buy it it it wasn't for the price. It's too expensive. I tested twice and really liked it, so much so that I felt the Katana is a way inferior product. I really want companies to focus on preamp and power amp modeling as well, we reached a point of focusing on effects is becoming a meme. Who wants to run 3 delays at the same time...
I never tested the Amped 2, it it has more gain and more amp options it's a shame they didnt include in the Amped 1. Regarding the IDX floor, I think it's a completely new code
I never tested the Amped 2, it it has more gain and more amp options it's a shame they didnt include in the Amped 1. Regarding the IDX floor, I think it's a completely new code
Desertdweller
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Jarick
Rock Star
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I bought the 1x12 combo for a couple reasons, I wanted something more simple and plug and play than a modeler but I also wanted to use it as a powered amp/cab for my higher end modelers. When I bought it I was going to pick up a Vox AC15 combo which I always wanted but the Artist sounded pretty good next to it and I figured it would be better for home volumes. I also had heard a really good player who cranked up an Artist 2x12 combo in a store and everyone was amazed how great it sounded.
It's fine but like all the Katanas the more gain you add the weirder it sounds. Effects are okay but really a pain to dial in without a screen. I tended to mostly run my other amp modelers into the effects return to use as power amp and cab. Over time I found the cab to sound kind of dark/muffled. Eventually I grabbed the Blackstar Amped 1 and an Orange 1x12 cab and even though I didn't love the Orange it sounded a lot better to me with my modelers so I sold the Boss. I also got a Fender Tone Master FR-12 and again I liked that more than the Boss even though it's not a proper speaker cab.
Having tried all the cheap modeling amps I think they are good for newer players and as a cheap/light grab and go, but there's too many compromises when you get over/above the $500 mark.
IMO there should be more quality solid state amps in the $500-1200 range especially with the increased price of tubes. Having adjustable power output sections and direct outs with quality IR cab sims is great too. Basically like the Fender Tone Master series, but would be cool to see other brands or even just some original designs (maybe like the Yamaha THR100).
Unfortunately I think consumers see the word digital and think "oh it should cost the same as the Line 6 Spider and Boss Katana", so they don't seem to sell well, even though those amps use cheap MDF and crappy speakers and the cheapest components they can get away with.
laxu
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I'd like to see a source for that claim.
Do you think software development doesn't have an even bigger price tag associated with it?
bucephalus
Roadie
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Just opens the arse and the words fall out tbh
Chocol8
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That is certainly what it seems like.
I think exactly like this, posted about a few years ago on marshall forums about this
But the battle is lost. Solid state amps still cost a great deal amount of money. So instead what we have is Orange Crush and all similar units which I find terrible. Peavey Valveking head or the combo would be the best solution but it's discontinued I think. Today there is no hybrid or solid state I can recommend other than Bluamp honestly.
Look at the Bluamp, let's say the power tube adds 15 euros to the final price. They are either profiting 400 euros per unit or the cost of solid state is high. I believe the cost of solid state is high, a decent class D is not cheap or at least not as cheap as we would like to be.
Where I live there is one guy making a device similar to Bluamp but he uses two preamp tubes and class D. It's 80W at 16ohms. about 55 at 8ohms. I think you can be louder than your drummer but that is about it. The price is around 400 dollars. It does Marshall JCM almost as good as the real 100Watt 2203 but it weights 2 kilos.
The secret sauce of Bluamp is the preamp, not sure how they get the high gain tones using solid state preamp tier pedal circuitry. For 850 euros the Fractal Am4 or FM3 is a better purchase in the end in my opinion
Or: 200 dollars for Valeton GP + buy the 4x12 of your dreams + a decent solid state power amp. The valeton + 4x12 + power amp should cost around that 900 euro/dollar mark
If you want Boss Katana to sound good you would need to put a good guitar speaker there but the modeling of the Katana is not like GT1000 or Gx-100 it's an older tech, in theory it doesn't translate well because the digital modeling is meant for FRFR speaker while Boss Katana and the Waza Craft speakers are guitar speakers.
The best we can do is hope for companies to make studio monitors in 10 and 12 inch configurations. Yamaha HS8, JBL and Kali monitors sound amazing, their 6 and 8 inch units for home use is perfect if you ask me, I usually recommend that instead of a Marshall cab or a 699 dollar Hypersonic EVH FRFR cab. Your guitar will sound great and as a bonus you have a nice pair of studio monitors
These monitors are not loud enough for band practice unfortunately. On a side note if Fender release a mini version of their Tone Master Pro multi effect units it's going to be a great thing for those who are not happy with Tonex and Neural DSP. It has potential to be "Fractal but simpler". The issue of lacking a power amp still remains though. Hopefully chinese companies copy that Wempler/Synergy design and make power amp for the masses
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Here is a website that sells some, I don't know if any of these would be an equivalent but they are cheap: https://tubes-store.com/index.php?cPath=30_101
paisleywookiee
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Can we stop with the "Americans are awful" bullshit? @Chocol8 might be an abrasive asshole, but I taken comfort in knowing that like me, he'd be an abrasive asshole no matter where he's from!
