I know there is lots out there on the Spark v. Boss Katana, and I know this community leans Katana, but hear me out…
I am a beginner and will only be playing my electric guitar at home for myself. There’s no future potential “gig” down the road. I don’t see much on here about the newer(?) 10w Boss Katana, is it just a scaled down version of the popular 50w modeling amp? Finally, if it’s truly only ever going to be a home office “desktop” practice amp is the Spark a better way to go? I said “finally” but I thought maybe I should add that I tend to prefer cleaner tones.
Other than the Spark and the Katana, I would look at the Nux range. Particularly the Mighty Air, Mighty Space, and Mighty Lite (depending on budget).
There’s also the Hotone Pulze, but I don’t know much about that one.
And, of course, the original desktop amp: the Yamaha THR range. I have a THR10ii and really like it (preferred it over the Spark 40 I had for both tones and ease of use).
As regard the Katana, it depends which model you are considering, but the “desktop amp” versions of these are not always (or at all, depending on model) scaled-down versions versions of the full-sized Katana range.
The Katana Air EX is, I believe, probably the nearest to that. It has good reviews and includes the wireless capability, but is quite expensive.
Down from that you have the Katana Air which also has the wireless but, I believe, doesn’t have all of the effects of the full-sized version, although it has most of them.
Then there’s the Katana Mini X which has a very reduced set of capabilities, but also has no app. If a simple desktop amp without any apps to mess with is what you prefer, this might be a good approach. And it’s not too expensive.
I think dedicated software or routing some flavour of multi-fx through a DAW would now be my choice if only intending to be a bedroom player.
It’s pretty much what I do anyway these days with my Katana. Very rarely have its output coming through the speaker but instead use its capabilities through Reaper.
Thanks Rob, but you’ve already lost me. Get an AI? Use software? As in, instead of getting an amp, get “amp software” on my desktop computer and plug into that and play through computer speakers?
Haha, I genuinely apologize for how dumb I sound. If anyone can point me to a remedial amp resource I’d appreciate the help.
Right…like I get it that “modeling” amps can mimic all kinds of amps and effects, etc. and those can be downloaded via apps, etc. If I understand this much correctly at least it’s how the Spark line and Katana line function and why they’re so popular.
But doing this same thing without the amp is what confuses me.
No need to be humbled. This stuff can be a minefield.
To be clear, modelling of amps and effects can either be done in a dedicated hardware unit, like the Katana or Spark or one of the floor multifx units like the Pod Go or Boss GT-1, or they can be done using software you install onto your PC or phone/tablet.
If you use the software approach, you will need some sort of Audio Interface (AI) to connect the guitar into the computer or phone/tablet. Whilst most PCs come with onboard audio, it’s not suitable for guitar use.
If you go the AI route, you should also consider speakers because, normally, you would connect the PC speakers into the AI, not to the PC’s onboard audio. If you have a laptop with speakers, they really aren’t suitable.
Personally, Ì wouldn’t recommend this approach. I know that a lot of people do it and enjoy it, but there are complications with this approach and, I think, for most beginners things are complicated enough without having to wrangle with the AI and software complexities.
Plus, it means you are tied to your PC for practice; if you wanted to move to a different room, then you can’t without bringing your PC, audio interface, and speakers with you!
And if you sometimes turn off your computer, or reboot it for upgrades, etc. then you won’t be able to practice until it’s rebooted.
Personally, I would recommend a small “desktop amp” or even a small amp like one of the smaller Roland Cubes, or the Vox @MacOneill linked, or a small Orange Crush or Orange Micro.
Note that if you get a “head” like the Vox or an Orange Micro, then these don’t come with a speaker, and you’ll need to buy a separate “cab” (cabinet) and speaker cable. This is my little Orange Micro setup with the speaker cab:
Otherwise, you would get a “combo” which includes the speaker. The Orange Crush 20 is a good example of a combo amp.
Bear in mind, small conventional combo amps and speaker cabinets can sound quite “boxy”.
The “desktop” style amps tend to be more suited for a desk or a shelf, than being on the floor, although they still work fine like this. The advantage of these amps is they include some amp modelling and effects, and they tend to have Bluetooth streaming support so you can play backing tracks through them, or just use them as a Bluetooth speaker.
These units usually sound better than a small combo or speaker cabinet because they use special audio processing tricks to give them more bass and a better balanced sound, to avoid that “boxy” tone.
I think the thing you need to consider is: how much flexibility do you want, versus how much complexity. In general, the more flexibility you have, the more complex it gets, and the more decisions you will need to make.
There’s something to be said for a simple non-modelling amp as it takes away a lot of the decisions, and you can always add a separate multifx unit to it later if you want to explore it.
On the other hand, the Katanas and the Yamaha THRs often balance flexibility and complexity by presenting a simple control panel which isn’t that different from a conventional amp and which you can easily use to dial in decent tones without using an app, but the app is there if you want to do more tone tweaking.
I would argue the same isn’t true of the Spark which, in my experience, I found I really needed to use the app a lot to get tones, and the whole Spark ecosystem seems to be built around you using the app.
This is what I do now as well. I rarely turn on my amp. My setup is:
PreSonus USB audio interface (AI) with two inputs
Reaper DAW software on a Windows 10 PC
Waves Voltage amp plugins
2 monitor speakers plugs into the AI
The guitar plugs into my pedal board. The pedal board plugs into the AI. I then have a Reaper file with different amp configs in different tracks.
If you’re just getting started, an amp is the simple way to go. You plug in, play with knobs and you’re off and running. Then you can load Reaper for free (60 or 90 day free trials, then a nag screen) play with it and get familiar with it on the side.
While I generally prefer playing through “real amps”, for the “desktop amp” use case I use a Boss GT-1000CORE straight into my audio interface (and output through powered monitor speakers that are at my desk). But I already had the audio interface, computer, and monitor speakers (and know how to se up and configure the hardware and software). If you don’t have any of that, already, there are probably more cost effective options.
I think if I were buying a desktop amp, today, I’d probably go with a Yamaha THR: not too big, good sound, easy to use, doesn’t seem out of place on your desk.
It’s just like the software running on a PC, but much better.
I have one already and mainly use it for travelling or using it in the garden in the summer. For the 2 years I was in Singapore it was my primary amp, and for apartment living it was perfect.
Except its not. They get fewer updates, you’re restricted to that one alp/manufacturer and its built in options and the processing is much simpler because they have limited compute resources.
If you want to talk about a Quad cortex, Fender TMP, kemper profiler sure go for it but none of the beginner friendly amp sims will match the amp quality of NAM or something let alone NeuralDSP plugins
Remember quite often the music you are hearing now, online on YT or produced, has been run through software amp sims like this not any ream amp or hardware
You get lower latency, fewer issues with drivers, and easier to set up system with less option paralysis, the ability to use it without needing a PC, AI and speakers nearby, and a faster start-up.
The FACT is, physical hardware amps have many benefits over PC software based systems, which is why most people still use them in preference despite PC software based systems being more than 2 decades old.
I know you like to be snarky, but the suggestion that guitar amps are “old” when most of the amps we are talking about have been released only in the last few years and are far newer than the software you talk about (regardless of updates), is fundamentally false.
The reality is that both physical guitar amps (analogue or digital), floor modellers, headphone amps, and PC/phone based modelling apps are all tools. What is the best tool depends on your circumstances and your mindset and a smart person will embrace all of these tools, and use them as they fit them best.
None of them is inherently “better” than the others. They all have their role.
Personally, I sit at a computer and deal with IT all day and I don’t want to when I’m practising the guitar. I have decent desktop speakers, but pretty much every amp I have used sounds better to me (including the little Vox Pathfinder I have on the other side of my office).
I’ve seen a lot of people struggle with basic IT setups, including on this forum. Just getting an AI set up and properly working can be a daunting and error-prone task for many, yet alone learning the intricacies of a complex piece of software, which many of the modelling applications are. Whilst a physical amp is relatively trivial to use.
Which is why I think that pushing people to use PC software as the first experience is bad advice.
Of course some new players will do this, and that’s fine; the chances are they’re pretty computer literate in the first place and like to play with this stuff, and probably know a lot about how this stuff works already.
But most people don’t want to mess with IT, they may not want to be chained to their computer: they want to play music. And anything that makes that awkward or difficult is a barrier to that.
I’m fine with people using PC based modelling. I do myself sometimes. I will mention that some of my first electric guitar experiences were using PC modelling apps.
But, with 10 years experience dealing with people just starting with electric guitar in this community, I really think most people are better starting off with some form of physical amp, even if they embrace PC based apps in the future.
