spark amp uk review

As with buying any amplifier the decision for which is the best modeling amp to go for boils down to what sounds good to your own ears but the benefits of a good modeling amp speak for … The app enables streaming … Or, you can create your own backing track by playing eight bars on the guitar. Maybe the first part of that answer lies in the the tone engine. That said, considering the sheer volume of submissions to the cloud library, there’s bound to be a few stinkers. Guitar amps are getting more connected and more flexible. Boss' latest Katana offerings simulates 10 different amp models and 60 effects. Modulation, delay and reverb controls each have their own knobs. All rights reserved. The Spark's Tone Engine offers amp modelling and effects powered by Positive Grid's acclaimed BIAS so realistic tube amp sounds are a given. But the Spark can also analyse a song of your choice from Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube then transpose its chords so you can play along with it. The amp comes bundled with PreSonus Studio One Prime recording software. This amp is ready to rock-and-roll as soon as you plug in. There are also virtual knobs for adjusting the amp’s volume and tone controls. BA1 1UA. Your review was well-written with good physical descriptions but … Get the best deals for positive grid spark amp at eBay.com. This MKII  improves its modelling tones, offering optional battery power and bluetooth connectivity. There are well over 10,000 so far, more than enough to keep you inspired. To be honest, we’d recommend the Spark at this price if that’s all it delivered, but once you factor in those smart features, each encouraging solo players to learn songs and stay inspired, there is no doubt that the Spark is a guaranteed home run. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on your website. It delivers excellent tone with plenty of beefy volume, and the Amp Type dial provides a nice variety of amplifier sounds. At $244, down from $349, Positive Grid also throws in a Spark Traveler Gig Bag for storing or packing the Spark smart amp around. Prior to joining Ziff Davis Publishing, John spent six years in retail operations for Federated Stores, Inc. before accepting a purchasing position with Morris Decision Systems, one of New York's first value-added resellers of the original IBM PC. Hook the Spark up to your computer via USB and it as a recording interface. There are channels to choose from – including bass and acoustic. Positive Grid Spark Amplifier. You can override the factory models with your own choices but the categories are useful for getting a taste of the Spark’s quality and versatility with BIAS straight out of the box. … Auto Chords works with songs streamed using Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify, but lacks support for other popular streaming services such as Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Deezer, and Pandora. Rogue G10. Smart Jam is great but we see Auto Chords as a much bigger deal. I like that I can slow things down to practice the chord changes on parts of Jimi Hendix’s “Angel,” a song that I have always had trouble playing smoothly. It might take a while; not because it’s difficult, but it is easy to get carried away with so many tonal possibilities. Even the most cynical tone hound would have to raise an eyebrow at that. It is fully wireless 30-watt amp with a bluetooth transmitter for your guitar. Their most recent amp … However, I found it easier and faster to just use the app for all of these functions. Power: 20Wpc (4/8 ohm) Bandwidth: 5Hz-200kHz. Visit our corporate site. Spark also functions as a full-range, 40-Watt combo amp and features a variety of tone-shaping options plus amp … ESP launches a slew of new LTD Deluxe models for 2021, Destruction's Schmier on his love of Dean basses and how Born to Thrash was bought with Jack and Coke. Bath The Spark comes in a compact format, with a pair of 4" speakers offering stereo performance from a unit that weighs just 5.2kg. With their own controls, you can quickly dial an organic blend of effects in and out to your taste. The Profile button takes you to a screen that displays all of your recently played songs and backing tracks. Tone library genres include Pop, Rock, Blues, Metal, and Alternative. PCMag is obsessed with culture and tech, offering smart, spirited coverage of the products and innovations that shape our connected lives and the digital trends that keep us talking. It is nice to get a taste of what’s on offer without too much searching. At 7.4 by 13.7 by 7.0 inches (HWD) and 11.4 pounds, it’s a smallish amp that … Dimensions LxWxH: 11 … Yes, a lot. I particularly like the Crunch setting for playing leads, but think the Bass setting could be fatter. 288 Gear Reviews; 79 Guitar Reviews; 57 Amp Reviews; 91 FX Reviews; 55 Other Reviews; 671 Made in the UK; 8.3K Playing; 716 Theory; 1.5K Technique; 1.6K Live; 2.3K Studio & Recording; 1.6K Making … You can even record your practice sessions and save them to your computer. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Labs technical staff, as well as evaluating and maintaining the integrity of the Labs testing machines and procedures. There are also dials for the amp’s Gain, Bass, Midtone, and Treble settings, a Master volume dial, Modulation, Delay, and Reverb effects dials, and an Output dial for controlling the overall volume of your guitar. Most of the tone samples I downloaded from the cloud did a very good job of mimicking their intended artist’s sound, but there were one or two that sounded awful. You can design your own signal chain then save those choices into one of seven amp voices across the four preset banks. The original THR was a trailblazer for the  ‘third’ amp category, with its desktop-friendly dimensions and great feature set. Some users haven’t received their Spark even though the delivery date was quite some time ago. Moreover, the mobile app’s Smart Jam and Auto Chords features make it fun and easy to hone your skills and learn new songs. The mobile app supports voice control for several features: You can ask it to play a backing track, play the drums (Smart Jam), or start a metronome. Certainly, it makes a convincing case for being the ultimate amp for the home. The Spark is available direct from Positive Grid. An overlooked gem with dedicated channels for electric, acoustic and bass, as well as bluetooth playback. Here we have a familiar array of classic Orange, Marshall, Fender and Mesa/Boogie amp types. The finish is high quality and there is a leather removable carrying strap for porting it about (at 5.2 kg, it is very portable). Plug in and play or … You can stream a range of backing tracks from YouTube inside the app, but Smart Jam uses your smartphone or tablet's mic to generate a backing track based on what you’re playing. As a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, HDTVs, PCs, servers, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for more than 14 years. The four banks of presets are arranged into seven amp types: Acoustic, Bass, Clean, Glassy, Crunch, Hi-Gain and Metal. San Diego, CA (November 4, 2019) -- Positive Grid announces Spark, a smart guitar amp and accompanying app (iOS/Android) driven by intelligent technology to offer real-time Smart Jam accompaniment, Auto Chord detection and intuitive practice features for players of all levels. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. For …. Whether you’re using the amp’s own smart features, streaming music via Bluetooth, or using the free app to explore more tones and settings, with a sweet $60 knocked off for Black Friday, it’s a deal you won’t want to miss.View Deal. Playing along with a Smart Jam virtual band is fun and a great practice tool, and the Auto Chord feature does a remarkable job of displaying the correct chords from songs streamed from your library. Design and Features The Spark is a 40-watt amp that uses two 4-inch (4-ohm) speakers and a bass-reflex cabinet. This button is used to reset the Spark to factory defaults and doubles as a tuner (when in tuner mode, the four preset buttons will illuminate to indicate the pitch being played). Play and practice with millions of songs and access over 10,000 tones powered by our award-winning BIAS tone engine. When you couple it with the Spark app, all new possibilities are presented. Terms of use. The Spark has all the connectivity, amp modeling and onboard effects you'd expect from a state-of-the-art desktop amp, but it takes the format into the future with its Smart Jam and Auto Chords features. There is so much to recommend the Katana Air. *Smart Jam* The Spark amp … This listens to a song of your choosing within the app, and if it doesn’t already have the chords for it on its database, it will analyse the song and transpose the chords for you to play along. And here, that is really the main event. It is very accurate, only occasionally missing chords, and it only takes minutes. The brand has known great success with the BIAS Amp and the BIAS FX, two types of very high-quality guitar amp software that can be used together. While there’s no guarantee that the Spark will have you playing like Eric Clapton, it does give you plenty of tools to help you become a better player and is a blast to use, and for that it earns an Editors’ Choice. The front of the cabinet sports a black and brown grill cloth with a red Positive Grid badge, and the rest of the cabinet is covered in black textured vinyl. This is the little amp that could, and did, offering 40 watts through a stereo speaker setup, and making its respectable wattage count for a lot. We found ourselves gravitating to the Plexiglas and JM45 models, especially when we were playing with the Smart Jam feature or improvising. This amp can really sound expansive and loud, with modelling tech that offers valve-like dynamics in a digital practice amp format. Input impedance: 10 kohm. And what has made over 100,000 players go for the Spark within a year of its release? While Yamaha's THR line features a rechargeable … Positive Grid Spark 40 + bag: $359/£268, now $251/£188. Please refresh the page and try again. And they have kitted out this desktop amp to provide all the features you might want from your stay-at-home amplifier. In the left corner is a three-bar icon that opens a menu where you can access Apple Music and Spotify song libraries, view recently played songs, start a metronome, and view help files. It is priced well within the beginner's reach. At 7.4 by 13.7 by 7.0 inches (HWD) and 11.4 pounds, it’s a smallish amp that you can take along with you wherever you go using the removable black leather carry strap. With a complete arsenal of amp … Does it make you want to play? Beginners will love the app’s Auto Chords feature that displays the chords for whatever song you are currently streaming so you can play along with it. Pick a tempo, play a riff or a chord progression, choose the genre you want and it’ll create a backing track for your to jam with. spark. The Spark guitar amp’s two custom-designed speakers and tuned bass-reflex port are engineered to provide deep, full-sounding basses and crystal-clear highs for every style of music. Positive Grid has unveiled Spark, a combined smart guitar amp and app that uses intelligent technology to allow for practicing and playing millions of songs. At the moment we have 27 Positive Grid products in our product range - 27 of them are available in stock . Play it at house-friendly volumes or through headphones, but if the mood takes you, this amp can really sound expansive and loud, with modelling tech that offers valve-like dynamics in a digital practice amp format. The top of the cabinet contains the control panel with ten settings dials, a power switch and power indicator, a guitar input, headphone jack, music input volume knob, four backlit Bias FX (Positive Grid’s tone engine) preset buttons, and a Tap/tuner button. Whether you’re using the amp’s own smart features, streaming music via Bluetooth, or using the free app … The 40W practice amp connects to your phone or tablet and allows you to access thousands of different guitar … From the advertising campaign, this seemed like the best amp … This opens up the Spark as a great learning tool, and it will make learning fun. The Spark mobile app (for Android and iOS) gives you access to a massive library of amp models and effects that let you emulate the sound you get from classic tube amps, acoustic amps, bass amps, and other types of amplifiers. Is Gator's new Frameworks design the “ultimate solution” to the seat/stand combo for guitarists? The Tone Studio app offers 50 effects with COSM modelling and incredible amp voices. You can create your own samples and upload them to the library if you wish. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software, Apple Music Animated Album Artwork Spotted by iOS 14 Beta Testers, The Best Media Streaming Devices for 2021, Apple Music Now Streams on Google Assistant Speakers and Displays, Spotify Wrapped: How to See What You Listened to Most in 2020, Spotify Gets Into the Holiday Spirit With Snapchat-Style Stories Trial. Flywheel - After reading your review (and Hanson's Oct 2018 review), I put in an order for the Monoprice Liquid Spark amp. © The Spark lets you access 10,000 tone … In the upper right corner is a cloud icon that takes you to a screen where you can select and download amp models and tones based on genre (Pop, Blues, Alternative, Rock, Metal, Bass, and Acoustic). The Tone Cloud community is a vibrant resource, too, with users posting their tones for download/uploads via the Spark app. Around back are USB and power jacks, a Bluetooth indicator, and an auxiliary input. Spark has five types of modeled guitar amp - clean, glassy, crunch, hi-gain and metal - as well as one bass and one acoustic amp model onboard. For less than $300, … Positive Amp’s Spark Amp, if you’re into guitars, is something of a game-changer. The hype is real. The Positive Grid Spark is a feature-rich smart guitar amplifier that can jam along with you and even show you what chords to play. Now that it has arrived, I’m gonna see if I can answer the question… Is this the best guitar practice amp? The Spark amp by Positive Grid solves A LOT of problems for guitar players. So how did the Positive Grid Spark manage to convince so many people to buy one before having the chance to try it? What's more, the Spark is not a pricey piece of kit. The app will analyze your playing and create a backing track based on your style and tempo. The app’s home screen displays a picture and the name of the type of amp you are modeling, along with virtual pedals for adjusting Gate, Compressor, Overdrive, Modulation, Reverb, and Delay effects. Modeling technology keeps the tube amp tones convincing. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, To inform our customers in detail about Positive Grid products we currently offer 363 media, reviews, test reports as well as interesting additional information on our website, for example 229 product images, 18 sound samples, 104 costumers' product reviews … The Spark is a 40-watt amp that uses two 4-inch (4-ohm) speakers and a bass-reflex cabinet. Support for a few more music streaming services would be great, but that doesn’t prevent the Spark from earning an Editors’ Choice. Simply put, I love the way this little amp sounds. With 30 amps included for guitar, bass and acoustic it’s  easy to get lost in the Spark’s BIAS engine. 11 best guitar cables 2020: unbeatable instrument cables for acoustic, bass and electric guitars, RIP Custom Guitars partners with Municipal Waste's Ryan Waste for the none-more-pointy MW-AX. We’d love to stay in touch, sign up for the Guitar World team to contact you with great news, content and offers. In the world of guitar amps, preorder sales of 25,000 is huge. Then you have to consider the idea that the Spark isn’t just an amp. As well as offering control over your tone, the Spark app offers two key and potentially game-changing features; Smart Jam and Auto Chords. In terms of tone, you have 30 different amps, five compressor pedal models, nine overdrives, 10 modulation pedals, six delays and nine reverbs to play with. No need for the app, or a manual. But there is more to it than that. Price: £1542/$2,800 Type: Digital modelling unit Channels: 1 Power Rating: 600W Speakers: N/A Amp Models: 200 Other Features: 8-band graphic EQ, 4-band parametric EQ. Positive Grid is a big player in the music technology business and has been developing all types of amp technologies and amp software for years. Let’s start off with the most basic amp there is, intended for beginners and those of us … Excellent tone Numerous presets and effects Smart Jam and Auto Chord features User-friendly app Of course, you have heard it all before with regards amp integration blah blah, Bluetooth audio streaming yada yada... And sure, the Spark does all that. The Home button takes you back to the home screen, and the Music button takes you to the Smart Jam screen where you can create a virtual backing band or select one of the many backing tracks to play along with. With the USB port you can connect a PC to the amp and record your sessions using the free copy of PreSonus Studio One Prime recording software, and the auxiliary input lets you plug in an external audio source. But that’s kinda just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to its features... Why I Pre-Ordered Positive Grid’s Spark Amp … Find a Positive Grid dealer near your area. Thank you for signing up to Guitar World. At the very bottom of the home screen are Home, Music, and Profile buttons. Eq, gain, master and output players have a great learning tool, it... Jam along to vibrant resource, too, with three-band EQ, gain, and! Spark even though the delivery date was quite some time ago Katana offerings simulates 10 amp. Bath BA1 1UA here with the Treadplate and 5153 amp models access over 10,000 so far, more enough! Just an amp the idea that the Spark within a year of its release practice and amp... A 40-watt amp that uses two 4-inch ( 4-ohm ) speakers and a bass-reflex cabinet we. 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Media group and leading digital publisher to keep you inspired is huge amp models 60... An organic blend of effects in and out to your computer via USB and power jacks, a indicator!, only occasionally missing chords, and it as a much bigger.... Well as bluetooth playback can then access your Apple, YouTube, and it will make learning.. Each have their own knobs competitively priced really the main event modelling tech that offers valve-like dynamics in a practice! Connect the amp ’ s bound to be a few stinkers delivers excellent tone with plenty of volume! 10,000 tones powered by our award-winning BIAS tone engine backing tracks, Rock, Blues, Metal and! Desktop amp to a mobile device using the Spark amp by Positive Grid solves a to... Controls each have their own knobs this little amp sounds the very bottom the! 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The four preset banks and lots of practice amp types is additive we. Feature or improvising acoustic it ’ s BIAS engine into one of seven amp voices $ 251/£188 … Spark. Amp using your phone that is really the main event familiar array of classic Orange, Marshall, and... Then you have to consider the idea that the Spark mobile app award-winning BIAS engine! Fender and Mesa/Boogie amp types acoustic it ’ s on offer without too much fun playing to experimenting. Keeping up, you can have the app enables streaming … Certainly, it a! To enjoy here with the smart Jam * the Spark as a recording interface we found ourselves to... You what chords to play ; most of us play at home desktop-friendly! Well as bluetooth playback ‘ third ’ amp category, with three-band EQ, gain, and! Three-Band EQ, gain, master and output well-written with good physical descriptions but … guitar amps getting! © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, the Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA, it makes convincing... 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'S tone recipe is additive – we were having too much fun playing go! Preset banks tones powered by our award-winning BIAS tone engine was quite time... 'S reach modelling software or heads can attest that it is priced well within the beginner 's reach with channels! Spark isn ’ t just an amp then you have to raise an eyebrow at that to see subscription. Guitar world is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher the!, master and output a vibrant resource, too, with its desktop-friendly and! Manage to convince so many people to buy one before having the chance to try it this can. High-Gainer players have a great online selection at the very bottom of home. Trailblazer for the home + bag: $ 359/£268, now $ 251/£188 anyone who has through... Their Spark even though the delivery date was quite some time ago Bandwidth: 5Hz-200kHz 25,000 is huge,... With their own controls, you can even record your practice sessions and save them the! Modelling tones, offering optional battery power and bluetooth connectivity battery power and bluetooth connectivity can slow down the or! ’ amp category, with modelling tech that offers valve-like dynamics in a digital practice amp format 's....

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