Thanks for making these comparison videos. I just bought a Catalyst 200 and am already loving it. I can't imagine a better digital amp...and I've played through a lot of them in my life.
After owning both, my feeling is this: Boss is better for beginners and metal lovers because there’s a head version, the onboard effects are easier to control, and the crisp, heavy tones start with the Crunch channel. Line 6 is better if you have your own effects, and are more concerned with nuanced, edge-of-breakup tones and riding the volume control. That’s where my Catalyst 60 shines, and why I sold my Katanas.
Spent 14 minutes watching this Like you said, The Cat sounded better than The Kat in this videos More smoother and natural sounding Really enjoyed this kind of fun comparison
The Katana greatly benefits from connecting it to the Tone Studio software (or Katana Librarian on Android) so that you can dial in a High Cut in the Parametric EQ (Amp Out) to manage the fizziness (~>10 kHz) and a Low Cut to manage the bass (~
@@liquidcircuit Yep, I agree that using the Tone Studio to tweak some things like EQ really helps the Katana. Using different speakers too. But pretty much any amp benefits from a good parmetric EQ if not just to high pass the very lows and low pass the very high top end. Depending on the speakers, it can really help. I use the one in my HX Effects (connected to my Revv Dynamis head in 4CM) to do this. But EQ cannot "fix" the feel or the attack of an amp and, to me, that's where my Katana head fell flat which was especially apparent on the clean channel where the attack was never right for me. It's hard to explain why. Also, it kind of "kills" some of the chime of my Strat while that shines through clearly with the Dynamis and also did in my old Twin. Others have different preferences but the best channel on the Kat for me was the Brown channel. I quite liked it. The Kat is my backup now. But more pertinent to this video, that Kat clean channel does not take pedals great for me. I use a wider variety of dirt now mixing the Dynamis red channel or drives in the HX Effects or my Wampler Tumnus Deluxe or my old trusty JHS Angry Charlie v3 for higher gain. The difference between how the Kat takes these pedals vs the Dynamis or my Twin before it is night and day. Having heard the newest Line6 amp modeling in Helix Native, I'm convinced the Catalyst takes pedals better than the Kat. But all of this is of course matter of tase and all the above is based on my own tastes and experiences.
Thanks for the great video! I'm going to make a basic, non technical comment here. The Katana sounds like a solid state amp and the Catalyst sounds like a tube amp the way you presented it. I think that would also be the case if they were recorded with a room mike straight into the recorder. Adding pedals and complicated interface units seems to defeat the goal of these feature packed amps, at least to me. Great demo playing by the way.
The catalyst is a modeler in the wider sense. It is a pedal platform and dedicated to helix stomp. That's the reason why they didn't put to much effects on board. This is only my opinion. Take the katana as a standalone and the catalyst as a ring of your rig.
Great video I like the Catalyst its nice and simple to use plus I would use my Boss ME-80 pedalborad for effects so I think the cleaner Amp wins for me I like the Catalyst 200 watt Amp I would like to see a shoot out between a Orange Super Crush 100 and a Catalyst 200 watt and a Boss Katana 100 watt that would be Awesome.
I could never catch on to the Katana. I tried. I love and trust Boss but the Katana was always missing something when I tried it. Same story with the Line 6 Spyders. They were actually worse for me because of their complexity. Then came the Catalyst. I had no intentions to get it, but the clean and boutique sound from it was all I needed. Even if all the other amp models on the Catalyst fail me, the clean and boutique are unmatchable jazz, blues, and bossa nova sounds for a non tube amp. Not to mention the simplicity. It will let you make it a more specific detailed amp if you want, but if you're like me and looking for something able to function wonderfully in manual, this amp will do it.
He's right about that mechanical sound but the boss katana when you hit those high drive sounds the catalyst is more natural it it feels better with pedals
I originally canceled my preorder of the Cat due to how much "less" it could do than the Kat head I already own and enjoy. Then kept listening, then got more curious, then just grabbed the 60w. I...can't stop playing it. The warmth and feel of almost all the models "compared" to the Kat is just something else. Maybe because it's not chasing a specific amp sound but...I think it's another rung in the ladder of where modeling is going. Can't discredit BOSS for what they did with the Katanas, but yeah. It's good! Also want to note I recently sold a Nextone Special, for the $900 that thing is JUNK. Only because it falls short on so many promises it seems to make? Mine was a farty muddy mess.
I haven't played the Cat but I get what you mean. I've played my Katana MKII head for almost 2 years. I never really gelled with it. I never got the kind of warmth I wanted from it. It replaced an old red knobs Twin I've played for over 20 years and got my gain out of pedals (the JHS The AT into it was glorious). And its clean tone was amazing. I recently got myself a tube amp again (Revv Dynamis 7-40), its clean tone is even better than my Twin's and its gain channel is fat and punchy. In the same cab, it eats the Katana alive. But it's of course not a modeler, it just highlighted the weaknesses of the Kat for me. What I think is more pertinent to this discussion is that, even before the Kat I'd been using the Boss MS-3 multi-effect. It served me well but I never liked the drives, the delays are serviceable but flat and the reverbs are garbage. The drives have the same kind of harsh top end the gain channels of the Kat has. The Kat is not as bad but its internal drives are the same with the same issues for me as the MS-3 ones (it's the same kind of modeling). I replaced the MS-3 recently with a Line6 HX Effects. Wow! What a difference. The reverbs are lush but clear and not muddy. The delays have character... and the drives sound so much better than the ones in the Kat/MS-3 it's not even funny. That OCD model is just killer as are many others. None of that harsh top end from the MS-3 drives, the controls are those on the original pedals so its tweakable in a way that the same controls for all drives approach of the Kat and MS-3 just cannot match IMO. It just sounds warmer and feels better. So I'm not surprised you preferred the Catalyst. And just to put this in context, I've been a Boss fan for years and used to hate Line6 modeling (I used to own a PodXT) but their tech has evolved in a way that Boss/Roland seems to struggle keeping up with. Even the AIRD based models I've heard in newer devices still d not sound as good as the Line6 stuff to me. All a matter of taste of course but this is what I hear :)
@@StephaneBergeronPixelyzed yeah I hear ya on the, what do I wanna call it, almost "BOSS" fidelity to their stuff? It's almost too dry/hi-fi sounding like there's an airy noise floor ever present. Especially "in the room" almost akin to a medium grade set of headphones with almost any other amp. I also tried the new IR-200 from them since of course all the demos sounded great? But talk about a gap between that and the warmth/compression/attack that Helix stuff brings and it was an easy return of BOSS's $400 Iridium competitor. The amp sims sounded as useful and dry as the ones inside the Zoom Multistomps. Maybe for some that works, dealing or starting with a nice dry-leaning signal to sculpt, but I can't hang with it.
I’m surprised at your experience with the Nextone. I loved mine - but my steel player loved it more so he bought it from me. Aside from the price (I agree that the Nextone is a bit overpriced), what caused the muddiness, in your opinion? I personally thought the ‘specially designed’ speaker was a bit lacking
Loved the video. Really informative. Im a big lover of the katana. And want to get one back after having to sell my 50 because of money issues. Still have the issues just slightly less now. And was gonna buy a second hand katana mk2 but now im looking way more at the catalyst. Really loving the style and how clean it looks
Just offhand, and I was surprised, the Katana really makes your pickups' chimey-Stratness shine in this vid, pedal or not, while they sound a lot more neutral from the Catalyst. I'd have to try them side by side in a shop with Strat pups to hear for sure which I'd prefer but for now the Kat wins.
I think the Katana by itself has better clean tones than any amp of its kinds. But, when there's a bit of OD added, either in the presets or from a pedal, the Katana speaker develops a sort of "fuzz" that lives somewhere in the mid to upper freqs. Its not offensive or necessarily bad. But, it can become a bit flabby depending on the guitar i.e. humbuckers vs. single coils. For clean tones and boosted cleans, I would go with the Katana. For the gritty stuff, Line6
I'm a beginner guitarist and I'm leaning more towards the L6 cat for the tone, it's all subjective I guess. I was initially interested in the katana, though I'd be happy with both.
Anyone looking at the Katana, push for the 100w version, its got much more punch, a better speaker and an FX loop. You'll be glad you didn't get the 50w. Catalyst sounded nice on the cleans.
I bought the boss mk1 about 5ish years ago. i kept and bought the MK2 when it came out. I bought the Cat a few months ago. i still own the Boss mK1. Sold the MK2 off and returned the Cat. Not a super tone snob.. I play mostly blues style and old rock.. Katans MK1 covers it all.. Also play a tele with Lambertones pickups with a 4 way switch.. All my bases are covered.
This would have been better if you had used an Artist vs the Catalyst. I think the Line 6 is a home run, but the Katana was disarmed by running it through an interface. You could have run the Kat through the USB interface, same as the Catalyst. I feel like this was a one-sided comparison. Apples to apples, do it with a Artist.
Katans 212 hands down because of the ton of settings you can setup to gig with FASTER then Line 6. Also I bought the Katana-regardless of someones Opinion.
Thanks, planning on getting a Catalyst when the stores in my town finally get one to try out. On other comparison videos I found the mic'd Katana more boxy and compressed, and the Catalyst much more live sounding. One thing I would have liked is more of a n A-B comparison. Clean A-B one after the other, then pedal A-B.
Dylan, great video and I appreciate your views and explanations of why you felt a certain way on them. I have seen your videos and Phil McKnight on the amps. Previous to the Catalyst coming out I was looking at getting a Katana as an alternative to my tube amps, but it is clear to me the Catalyst is more of what I want and like. Thanks for posting these videos.
Love your video I choose Line 6 over Katana simply because I had a Line 6 before, didn't know anything about either one I played Bass for about 20+ years then switched back to lead hadn't played lead for about 20 and was fearful of what to buy as a lead amp thankful I choose Line 6. Once again thanks for your video
I think you're right for clean but for heavier distortion (think treatplate) the Catalyst sounds like it's in a room and miced while you're playing in the booth. The Katana sounds live and in person.
Great video. Thank you. Interesting, I thought the Boss interacted much better with the pedal. By itself I was surprised the Line 6 sounded so warm. They both have power amp in options I think? I would like to see those compared with a modeler or analog amp in a box pedal bypassing the amps preamp sections.
As someone who has had the 50 and 100 watt version of the Katana, I find the 100 is a completely different beast. I use the GA/FC when I use it at open mics and I want for no other controls. My understanding is the Line 6 only has a 2 button foot switch. I get 8 presets with the GA/FC and it sounds fine for that kind of thing. That said, I’ve been thinking about getting the Catalyst 100 as an alternative or at least for comparison. Nothing beats my Twin or DSL for pedals though. I’d be impressed if I liked the Catalyst though.
IF you have or get a MIDI controller (I use a Morningstar MC8, had it for my Axe FX and HX Stomp)), the Catalyst has a LOT that can be controlled via MIDI, including switching all 6 banks of 2 Channels (so equivalent of 12 presets), but also set up Expression pedals to control any knob. The Katana, you can only do what the GA/FC already does, nothing more.
Katana has global eq in the editor, so you can cut that freq. Catalyst does not sound as good as katana in a band mix. The catalyst still has that spider sound when you crank it....
I have a 60 watt catalyst im still learning it i have not gotten into the app but i need to. I am really liking it as a home amp. Idk if it would work as a rehearsal amp but with it in one hand and a guitar in a hard case in the other its a good to go thing
Thanks. I heard the crackle in other videos, including in mic'd versions. It would drive me nuts I hate that. I own a Spider V mkii and love it, only reason I'm looking for another amp is there is no effect loop.
Enjoyed the video man. You got good tones out of both amps, and those SS pickups are tasty. Personally after shooting out both, I preferred the Katana myself. I found they could both be dialed in to good tones and sounded similar enough that the versatility of the Kat won out (more options with the built in effects). You're definitely right the Kat has some fizz to it out of the box, but I've had good luck dialing that out with the global eq and such in the software.
Hello and thank you for your well made video ;) for my part, home tests are never the same in terms of concert sensations and the Katana has been with me for several concerts now and I'm really happy with it, especially when I use it without pedals, I mainly use the amp alone and my pedals stay at home, sniff. I have the first version in 50 and I would like to buy an amp that would handle my pedals better with a loop, and I'm still trying to figure out which one to take. The price of katanas has gone up lately and it doesn't help me...
Nice hat! I love F1 and Ferrari, but I've been pulling for Red Bull the last few years because I was sick of Merc and Lewis winning all the time. But this year has me really excited, the Ferrari not only looks great but seems to be the fastest car on the grid.
Okay first off the Katana 100 has a bigger cabinet so it would have actually been a fairer comparison, or using the 60 Catalist. That being said I have the 50 MKI version and it's a great pedal platform Amp also I've always been a bigger fan of line 6 multi effects than their Amps. But as you said it's all a matter opinions. ✌
I concur with most of what you say, except in this recording, at least, the Line 6 sounds better clean. Maybe it's different in the room I guess... I've never gotten along with the Katana, but I'm hoping to like the Catalyst since I have one on order.
Great video! I have a Katana 100 and while there are a lot of things I like about it, I totally agree with you about the high gain tones. There’s a fizziness/ brittle sound that I can seem to dial out no matter how I try to go about it. The clean tones are fantastic. I just wish the overdrive tones had less fizz and more of the sag sound and feel. I thought about trying the Catalyst, but I think I’ll just stick to my tube amps for now. I’m sure at some point in the near future they’ll be able to nail the sound and feel of a tube amp.
On laptop, Katana 50 Mk2 owner. Using the Katana in a wet dry now and loving it - My tube amp and 4x12 do the distortion, the Katana does clean/very light break up, and EQD reverb over clean - sounds AMAZING. I love the ability to adjust the volume balance between clean tone and overdriven/distorted/fuzzed the f out. I can get chaotic blizzard of razor blade fuzz AND get some note content in there, something you might do when recording, but I can do it in the room now, and I love it. I also can go dirty on both, my tube amp is scooped by nature, so that amp can be scooped, and I can tube driverify the Katana with a prominent midrange, and then blend the two to taste. I like it much better than having say a highly scooped fuzz followed by a tube driver to boost the mids into one amp. You lose too much into one amp, you always get the sound of the last pedal in the chain somehow. But with two amps, you can get all the scoop and all the midrange you want, and they blend in the room into massive sounds that are just BLING right. With all that said, I think the Catalyst sounded better in this video, both clean and distorted. It might be your playing, you played very differently with each amp, that may because of vibing with each amp, and it is a legitimate variable in the amp comparison - different amps/guitars can give you different feelings and that causes you to write/play differently on each. BUT, as always, I have profound problems with your comparison methodology. You really should use a looper pedal, or record direct and then reamp, to capture the same performance and feed that into each amp if you want a real comparison between the sound/tone of the amp (or whatever it is that you're comparing). Still, on pretty shitey laptop speakers I was really disturbed by how much better the Catalyst sounded. I've never owned anything by Line6, they've released such shitey products, I don't even give them the time of day. But, I immediately grabbed the playhead and went back to the clean Katana section to see if I was tripping... nope, the Catalyst sounded WAY better. Definitely smoother on the cleans, more nuance, and then on the dirty sections, the Catalyst had greater fidelity of distortion... I know that sounds contradictory, but the holy grail of distortion is to have distortion that gives you that intense distortion (or overdriven, or fuzzed) sound and feeling, but then still have the ability to hear the notes being played. Shitey distortion just sounds like filtered white noise, no note content, no guitar sound. The Catalyst did that here. Which really bums me out because I JUST got the two amp setup working this week, figuring out that the bass tuner had two lines out enabling me to ditch the banana clips and unending headaches. So, you're kinda harshing my high here, thanks bro, but, no, seriously, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I picked up the Katana mk2 for $150 and unfortunately, price is everything for me, and I'm betting the Catalyst is substantially above the price I paid. I'm hoping it is, or rather, I'm hoping it's not, I'd make the switch at the same price point if I could. Before this, I still had problems with the Katana sound, don't get me wrong, but you do what you can with what you've got. Through the software I've cut the bass massively, and it is still so profoundly bassy, I can't stand it. I can't play it with headphones, the bass is just so loud, to hear the guitar in the guitar frequency range, I have to turn up the volume in the headphones to a painful level, and homie don't play that (no more). WTF Boss? Give the retards a bass boost button or something, but let the headz hear the amp at its best.
I always wondered how the Catalyst would fare against the higher end Roland/Boss amps like the Nextone Special and the Blues Cube Artist. The Catalyst seems to punch well above its weight in the solid state world.
Line 6 sounds better either way. I had a Katana Artist and sold it because of the tone you talked about. I now use the Boss Nextone (40, 80 and Artist). The Nextone sounds wonderful to me. I notice that there is very little interest on the internet when it comes to the Nextone. It is always the Katana. I have always had good luck with any Line 6 on the clean channel.
I just bought the 60, and I am very disappointed with it. Now when I combine it with my Spark it sounds pretty good believe it or not. The software is the problem for me , only 2 sounds at one time sucks.
I sold my Katana because I thought while the clean and clean almost breakup was great, it was too fizzy on overdrive compared to my Spark. I think you can digitally re-create anything. But the Spark is too limited, so I think digital is the way to go.
The trouble with listening on a laptop is everything sounds the same, I have a Line6 30W and like it but I keep my Amps in a rack, and with the on/off switch in the back, I always have to feel around to turn it on whereas the Katana has it on top where it should be, that being said, I think I will still give the Line6 a try with the Catalyst 100W.
I have the Nextone. It has that fizzle. It drove me to look for another amp. because it anoyed me so much. I bought the Line 6 catalyst 200 and put two Celestion creambacks in it and never looked back.
That sounds interesting. Did you just put in 8 ohm versions? Because the Cat uses 2 4 ohm speakers, but I suppose it’s find with a mismatch? I’m waiting for my Cat 200 to be delivered 🤩
I was considering the Boss Nextone Stage as I heard the TubeTone tech was pretty solid (even Dylan mentioned it sounded like a tube amp). Sounds like you're glad you went to the Catalyst, eh?
The small cab Katana sounds like a speaker wrapped in shrink wrap to me. Catalyst sounds much less confined and like it’s not working as hard, no sizzle, etc. May we’ll be why using DI it’s sounds different, no plastic wrap! Lol
why not use the Katana 100 in this test , would be better match ? Daughter just getting into guitar and after taking with couple of shops was told the Katana 100 was better if using pedals ,was looking at the Katana 50
Why would you mismatch a Katana MKII 50 with a Line 6 100? Obviously the Katana is at a disadvantage and also has a 100 available for a better and more fair comparison. This doesn’t really make sense to me.
If you don't want to use pedals but need an amp to gig in a band which would you choose, with just 1 effect plus reverb the Catalyst wouldn't work for me !
I've been using a spider iv 75 for the past several years, and now I want an upgrade to either the Katana mk2 100 or the Catalyst. However, is it worth the upgrade, or is it better to just stay with what I've got ?
hi.. what's gonna be the best to use with my pod go? Iam looking for a combo amplifier..or frfr speaker.. i had headrush frfr..but i returned it.. it wasn't enough loud...
I have a boss katana 50 and it is an extremely noisy amp. I can't stand the uncontrollable noise it puts out. I only use the speaker and prefer high gain playing. My boss katana is nearly unusable and am watching videos to find a good replacement.
Would have been good to compare both 100,s. So it’s a more even compare. For the room sound compare The Kanata 100 has a better speaker than the 50 , it also has more features. the 50 Kanata and the 60 catalyst are the runts of the litter so to speak so your kinda doing an apples and oranges compare. Redo with the 100,s
Except that recording direct they are the same which is what we did in the video. If you want to buy me a 100 watt katana I’d be happy to redo the video.
@@DylanTalksTone You mentioned the catalyst sounding better when playing out loud because it's got the bigger cabinet. Thats the comparison Gary was talking about I believe. Not saying you need to (nor would you lol) buy a 100 kat just for that, just clarifying he wasn't talking about the tone in the video.
i just this last Sunday added a Catalyst 60 to my Katana 100 Mk2. I agree with your description, of that little slight artifact in the Katana tone, specially in the distortion. I swapped out the speaker for the WAZA Green that the Artist uses. This did mitigate that quite a bit, once it got fully broken in. But, side by side you could still notice it. And that was with the brand spanking new Catalyst speaker vs the broken in WAZA. At first, I felt the Catalst lacked a little low end and response. But over the 3 some hours of initial comparison that speaker loosened a bit, and that changed. And I agree I think the Catalyst does EOB and low gain dirt better. Heck because of the smoother Distortion, same for crunch and classic rock. I still think the Katana has a little more bottom end, but the Catalyst feel and response took a little edge. I also thin the Katana has the possibility for more varied tones with the amp models and variants, but mostly all all the drive pedals and fx. With those drive pedals models you really can extend the 8 non acoustic amp model/variants to sound like a lot of different amps. Mind you, Catalyst 6 different models can cover a whole heck of a lot of ground. They are all very good. LOL, the Vox AC like one, Chime, so far is my least favorite, and it is real good, and hard to do on the Katana. And if you use physical pedals well heck. I like the HX Stomp on the Catalyst better. I think Line 6 lept thei Helix family in mind with the speaker and output part for the Power Amp In. That said, is because the HX Stomp and Helix stuff has great modeled feel and response. Without that, I do think th Katana's A/B power amp works much better for say AITB pedals or modelled preamps with less feel and response. The A/B Power amp has a lot of legacy amp feel and response. So, to me it comes down to, what's your use. LIVE, if you want pedals, and 2 channels OR if you have a good MIDI footswitch so you can access all the banks and presets, then the Catalyst will work. But, with the BOSS footswitch, the Katana is still the edge for a live amp imho. I alo like the HX Stomp through
Dang I feel like every time I watch one of these comparisons it is never between two 100 watt versions.. the cab sizes will greatly affect the tones between each. I wish I could just sit in the room with the biggest version of each and just compare them apples to apples myself. I personally am most interested in the 200 W catalyst up against the katana head with a 2 x 12. I like the expandable foot switch on the katana but, I have a multi fx I could use for that so really it just comes down to sounds for me and most times in videos I seem to prefer the catalyst but, my buddy has a katana and I really like it in person so I am torn between what I hear in videos and what I know in person.
Wanted a seperate entry for this. Do you (or anyone else with both) find the Katana a little louder on the 0.5w setting? My KAT 100 is compared to my New Catalyst 60. GRANTED that is a KAT 100 with a fully broken in WAZA speaker, and the Catalyst has 3 hours max on it. So it could change
I just got a used Catalyst 100 all these months later, and I think the answer is yes. To compete with my Artist at 0.5, I had to go up to 50 watts.on the Catalyst. It seems to be a quieter amp. I'm thinking anyone who wanted to gig with it without a PA system would want the 200 watt version. Of course, after hearing various complaints, I also think the Katana Artist would be the amp they need. It seems to have all the low end (that's the complaint I hear) I need. This is coming from a Peavey Delta Blues 115 owner. The low end is of course more massive on that, but it's almost too much sometimes. The Katana Artist seems much more balanced than the Peavey, but I got the Peavey for the 'low down, dirty Blues,' so that's to be expected. :D
@@familiarpurrson8744 K not the case with mine. The katana is a little louder on the half watt setting. But the next setting is more than louder than the Ktana at a half watt YOur Catlayst may be broke.
@@KingofPho75 No, I wouldn't. It's a pain in the arse, been there, left it behind. If no FOH to run to, need to haul around a power amp and speaker, or powered FRFR, and the Computer is hard to shield from the variance in power, RF and EMI noise, etc.
Thanks for making these comparison videos. I just bought a Catalyst 200 and am already loving it. I can't imagine a better digital amp...and I've played through a lot of them in my life.
After owning both, my feeling is this: Boss is better for beginners and metal lovers because there’s a head version, the onboard effects are easier to control, and the crisp, heavy tones start with the Crunch channel. Line 6 is better if you have your own effects, and are more concerned with nuanced, edge-of-breakup tones and riding the volume control. That’s where my Catalyst 60 shines, and why I sold my Katanas.
Spent 14 minutes watching this
Like you said, The Cat sounded better than The Kat in this videos
More smoother and natural sounding
Really enjoyed this kind of fun comparison
Those pickups are sounding really good.
Had the Katana ... traded in for the Line 6 Catylyst 200 watt 2 x 12.
Sooooooo much better! Hands down the new king
The Katana greatly benefits from connecting it to the Tone Studio software (or Katana Librarian on Android) so that you can dial in a High Cut in the Parametric EQ (Amp Out) to manage the fizziness (~>10 kHz) and a Low Cut to manage the bass (~
@Marius My comment has literally nothing to do with the Catalyst. It's just a tip for using the Katana. Relax man.
@@liquidcircuit Yep, I agree that using the Tone Studio to tweak some things like EQ really helps the Katana. Using different speakers too.
But pretty much any amp benefits from a good parmetric EQ if not just to high pass the very lows and low pass the very high top end. Depending on the speakers, it can really help. I use the one in my HX Effects (connected to my Revv Dynamis head in 4CM) to do this.
But EQ cannot "fix" the feel or the attack of an amp and, to me, that's where my Katana head fell flat which was especially apparent on the clean channel where the attack was never right for me. It's hard to explain why. Also, it kind of "kills" some of the chime of my Strat while that shines through clearly with the Dynamis and also did in my old Twin. Others have different preferences but the best channel on the Kat for me was the Brown channel. I quite liked it. The Kat is my backup now.
But more pertinent to this video, that Kat clean channel does not take pedals great for me. I use a wider variety of dirt now mixing the Dynamis red channel or drives in the HX Effects or my Wampler Tumnus Deluxe or my old trusty JHS Angry Charlie v3 for higher gain. The difference between how the Kat takes these pedals vs the Dynamis or my Twin before it is night and day. Having heard the newest Line6 amp modeling in Helix Native, I'm convinced the Catalyst takes pedals better than the Kat.
But all of this is of course matter of tase and all the above is based on my own tastes and experiences.
@@liquidcircuitno one's using your trash amp boioi
@@StephaneBergeronPixelyzedstop trying to cope with your mistake and own up the you fucked up
Thanks for the great video! I'm going to make a basic, non technical comment here. The Katana sounds like a solid state amp and the Catalyst sounds like a tube amp the way you presented it. I think that would also be the case if they were recorded with a room mike straight into the recorder. Adding pedals and complicated interface units seems to defeat the goal of these feature packed amps, at least to me. Great demo playing by the way.
The catalyst is a modeler in the wider sense. It is a pedal platform and dedicated to helix stomp. That's the reason why they didn't put to much effects on board. This is only my opinion. Take the katana as a standalone and the catalyst as a ring of your rig.
Great video I like the Catalyst its nice and simple to use plus I would use my Boss ME-80 pedalborad for effects so I think the cleaner Amp wins for me I like the Catalyst 200 watt Amp I would like to see a shoot out between a Orange Super Crush 100 and a Catalyst 200 watt and a Boss Katana 100 watt that would be Awesome.
Thanks! Cool comparison. I haven’t had a chance to try a Catalyst yet. Looking forward to it.
I could never catch on to the Katana. I tried. I love and trust Boss but the Katana was always missing something when I tried it. Same story with the Line 6 Spyders. They were actually worse for me because of their complexity. Then came the Catalyst. I had no intentions to get it, but the clean and boutique sound from it was all I needed. Even if all the other amp models on the Catalyst fail me, the clean and boutique are unmatchable jazz, blues, and bossa nova sounds for a non tube amp. Not to mention the simplicity. It will let you make it a more specific detailed amp if you want, but if you're like me and looking for something able to function wonderfully in manual, this amp will do it.
Have you tried the Boss Nextone Artist 80w ? if not you should, you will be amazed by that amp 😄👌
What about for clean and acoustic sounds, between the Katana and the Catalyst?
Not in the market for either of them. But to me, as a former Katana owner, I have to say the Line6 Catalyst sounded better in this video. Cheers!
He's right about that mechanical sound but the boss katana when you hit those high drive sounds the catalyst is more natural it it feels better with pedals
I originally canceled my preorder of the Cat due to how much "less" it could do than the Kat head I already own and enjoy. Then kept listening, then got more curious, then just grabbed the 60w.
I...can't stop playing it. The warmth and feel of almost all the models "compared" to the Kat is just something else. Maybe because it's not chasing a specific amp sound but...I think it's another rung in the ladder of where modeling is going.
Can't discredit BOSS for what they did with the Katanas, but yeah. It's good!
Also want to note I recently sold a Nextone Special, for the $900 that thing is JUNK. Only because it falls short on so many promises it seems to make? Mine was a farty muddy mess.
I haven't played the Cat but I get what you mean. I've played my Katana MKII head for almost 2 years. I never really gelled with it. I never got the kind of warmth I wanted from it. It replaced an old red knobs Twin I've played for over 20 years and got my gain out of pedals (the JHS The AT into it was glorious). And its clean tone was amazing.
I recently got myself a tube amp again (Revv Dynamis 7-40), its clean tone is even better than my Twin's and its gain channel is fat and punchy. In the same cab, it eats the Katana alive. But it's of course not a modeler, it just highlighted the weaknesses of the Kat for me.
What I think is more pertinent to this discussion is that, even before the Kat I'd been using the Boss MS-3 multi-effect. It served me well but I never liked the drives, the delays are serviceable but flat and the reverbs are garbage. The drives have the same kind of harsh top end the gain channels of the Kat has. The Kat is not as bad but its internal drives are the same with the same issues for me as the MS-3 ones (it's the same kind of modeling).
I replaced the MS-3 recently with a Line6 HX Effects. Wow! What a difference. The reverbs are lush but clear and not muddy. The delays have character... and the drives sound so much better than the ones in the Kat/MS-3 it's not even funny. That OCD model is just killer as are many others. None of that harsh top end from the MS-3 drives, the controls are those on the original pedals so its tweakable in a way that the same controls for all drives approach of the Kat and MS-3 just cannot match IMO. It just sounds warmer and feels better.
So I'm not surprised you preferred the Catalyst.
And just to put this in context, I've been a Boss fan for years and used to hate Line6 modeling (I used to own a PodXT) but their tech has evolved in a way that Boss/Roland seems to struggle keeping up with. Even the AIRD based models I've heard in newer devices still d not sound as good as the Line6 stuff to me.
All a matter of taste of course but this is what I hear :)
@@StephaneBergeronPixelyzed yeah I hear ya on the, what do I wanna call it, almost "BOSS" fidelity to their stuff? It's almost too dry/hi-fi sounding like there's an airy noise floor ever present. Especially "in the room" almost akin to a medium grade set of headphones with almost any other amp. I also tried the new IR-200 from them since of course all the demos sounded great? But talk about a gap between that and the warmth/compression/attack that Helix stuff brings and it was an easy return of BOSS's $400 Iridium competitor.
The amp sims sounded as useful and dry as the ones inside the Zoom Multistomps.
Maybe for some that works, dealing or starting with a nice dry-leaning signal to sculpt, but I can't hang with it.
I’m surprised at your experience with the Nextone. I loved mine - but my steel player loved it more so he bought it from me.
Aside from the price (I agree that the Nextone is a bit overpriced), what caused the muddiness, in your opinion? I personally thought the ‘specially designed’ speaker was a bit lacking
Loved the video. Really informative. Im a big lover of the katana. And want to get one back after having to sell my 50 because of money issues. Still have the issues just slightly less now. And was gonna buy a second hand katana mk2 but now im looking way more at the catalyst. Really loving the style and how clean it looks
Just offhand, and I was surprised, the Katana really makes your pickups' chimey-Stratness shine in this vid, pedal or not, while they sound a lot more neutral from the Catalyst. I'd have to try them side by side in a shop with Strat pups to hear for sure which I'd prefer but for now the Kat wins.
I've played both of these amps & liked them.I ended up buying the Catalyst 60 as it seemed to me that it had a warmer & more tube like sound.
Amazingly, Boss pedals work better on the Catalyst and Line 6 pedals work better on the Katana. I wonder why that is 😏
I have both amp. Line 6 Catalyst sounds better to me , also with pedals. Katana does alot , but I prefer Quality over Quantity .
I think the Katana by itself has better clean tones than any amp of its kinds. But, when there's a bit of OD added, either in the presets or from a pedal, the Katana speaker develops a sort of "fuzz" that lives somewhere in the mid to upper freqs. Its not offensive or necessarily bad. But, it can become a bit flabby depending on the guitar i.e. humbuckers vs. single coils.
For clean tones and boosted cleans, I would go with the Katana. For the gritty stuff, Line6
You're smoking meth 👌
Recognize what you say on that "buzzing' sound, there IS something I dont quite like.
I'm a beginner guitarist and I'm leaning more towards the L6 cat for the tone, it's all subjective I guess. I was initially interested in the katana, though I'd be happy with both.
Gotta respect a properly oiled fretboard. 👍🏾
Anyone looking at the Katana, push for the 100w version, its got much more punch, a better speaker and an FX loop. You'll be glad you didn't get the 50w. Catalyst sounded nice on the cleans.
I bought the boss mk1 about 5ish years ago. i kept and bought the MK2 when it came out. I bought the Cat a few months ago. i still own the Boss mK1. Sold the MK2 off and returned the Cat. Not a super tone snob.. I play mostly blues style and old rock.. Katans MK1 covers it all.. Also play a tele with Lambertones pickups with a 4 way switch.. All my bases are covered.
This would have been better if you had used an Artist vs the Catalyst. I think the Line 6 is a home run, but the Katana was disarmed by running it through an interface. You could have run the Kat through the USB interface, same as the Catalyst. I feel like this was a one-sided comparison. Apples to apples, do it with a Artist.
Nice Red Bull hat. I have gotten crazy obsessed with F1 lately. The new cars are really throwing a kink in things!
Thanks for all the info
Catalyst sounds really good!
Catalyst sounded better with the drive pedal. Way better.
Katans 212 hands down because of the ton of settings you can setup to gig with FASTER then Line 6. Also I bought the Katana-regardless of someones Opinion.
I really like those Katana 212s. Good pt about them being gig friendly.
Thanks, planning on getting a Catalyst when the stores in my town finally get one to try out. On other comparison videos I found the mic'd Katana more boxy and compressed, and the Catalyst much more live sounding.
One thing I would have liked is more of a n A-B comparison. Clean A-B one after the other, then pedal A-B.
DO NOT< You will regret it!!
@@overcome8628 which is why I want to do a A-B comparison. Do you have any experience with both? Why will I regret it?
Great vid! It helped me decide on a Catalyst. Also, hello fellow Red Bull F1 Racing enjoyer. Off to a good start this year. 🏆
Thanks! great video
Dylan, great video and I appreciate your views and explanations of why you felt a certain way on them. I have seen your videos and Phil McKnight on the amps. Previous to the Catalyst coming out I was looking at getting a Katana as an alternative to my tube amps, but it is clear to me the Catalyst is more of what I want and like. Thanks for posting these videos.
Love your video I choose Line 6 over Katana simply because I had a Line 6 before, didn't know anything about either one I played Bass for about 20+ years then switched back to lead hadn't played lead for about 20 and was fearful of what to buy as a lead amp thankful I choose Line 6. Once again thanks for your video
I have the Katana Artist mk2 and the Catalyst 100. Both when turned up sound much better. As a stand-alone, the Katana sounds better.
I think you're right for clean but for heavier distortion (think treatplate) the Catalyst sounds like it's in a room and miced while you're playing in the booth. The Katana sounds live and in person.
Great video. Thank you. Interesting, I thought the Boss interacted much better with the pedal. By itself I was surprised the Line 6 sounded so warm. They both have power amp in options I think? I would like to see those compared with a modeler or analog amp in a box pedal bypassing the amps preamp sections.
As someone who has had the 50 and 100 watt version of the Katana, I find the 100 is a completely different beast. I use the GA/FC when I use it at open mics and I want for no other controls. My understanding is the Line 6 only has a 2 button foot switch. I get 8 presets with the GA/FC and it sounds fine for that kind of thing. That said, I’ve been thinking about getting the Catalyst 100 as an alternative or at least for comparison. Nothing beats my Twin or DSL for pedals though. I’d be impressed if I liked the Catalyst though.
IF you have or get a MIDI controller (I use a Morningstar MC8, had it for my Axe FX and HX Stomp)), the Catalyst has a LOT that can be controlled via MIDI, including switching all 6 banks of 2 Channels (so equivalent of 12 presets), but also set up Expression pedals to control any knob. The Katana, you can only do what the GA/FC already does, nothing more.
Katana has global eq in the editor, so you can cut that freq. Catalyst does not sound as good as katana in a band mix. The catalyst still has that spider sound when you crank it....
I have a 60 watt catalyst im still learning it i have not gotten into the app but i need to. I am really liking it as a home amp. Idk if it would work as a rehearsal amp but with it in one hand and a guitar in a hard case in the other its a good to go thing
Of course it works as a rehearsal and gig amp.
With an XLR out why wouldn't it work as a gigging amp?
Thanks. I heard the crackle in other videos, including in mic'd versions. It would drive me nuts I hate that. I own a Spider V mkii and love it, only reason I'm looking for another amp is there is no effect loop.
Enjoyed the video man. You got good tones out of both amps, and those SS pickups are tasty. Personally after shooting out both, I preferred the Katana myself. I found they could both be dialed in to good tones and sounded similar enough that the versatility of the Kat won out (more options with the built in effects). You're definitely right the Kat has some fizz to it out of the box, but I've had good luck dialing that out with the global eq and such in the software.
Hello and thank you for your well made video ;)
for my part, home tests are never the same in terms of concert sensations and the Katana has been with me for several concerts now and I'm really happy with it, especially when I use it without pedals, I mainly use the amp alone and my pedals stay at home, sniff. I have the first version in 50 and I would like to buy an amp that would handle my pedals better with a loop, and I'm still trying to figure out which one to take. The price of katanas has gone up lately and it doesn't help me...
Nice hat! I love F1 and Ferrari, but I've been pulling for Red Bull the last few years because I was sick of Merc and Lewis winning all the time. But this year has me really excited, the Ferrari not only looks great but seems to be the fastest car on the grid.
I see your PC wallpaper too, nice.
Okay first off the Katana 100 has a bigger cabinet so it would have actually been a fairer comparison, or using the 60 Catalist. That being said I have the 50 MKI version and it's a great pedal platform Amp also I've always been a bigger fan of line 6 multi effects than their Amps. But as you said it's all a matter opinions. ✌
… Um… as we said… we recorded direct
The Silver Sky sounds awesome through the D&M drive 😀
Line 6 treble was clear and sweet right from get go. Katana sounded fuller, if slightly gritty
I concur with most of what you say, except in this recording, at least, the Line 6 sounds better clean. Maybe it's different in the room I guess...
I've never gotten along with the Katana, but I'm hoping to like the Catalyst since I have one on order.
Want pedals? Get a used fender frontman 65w or 100w for about 100-150 usd...way better speakers and sound than modelling amps. Unbeatable....
Great video! I have a Katana 100 and while there are a lot of things I like about it, I totally agree with you about the high gain tones. There’s a fizziness/ brittle sound that I can seem to dial out no matter how I try to go about it. The clean tones are fantastic. I just wish the overdrive tones had less fizz and more of the sag sound and feel. I thought about trying the Catalyst, but I think I’ll just stick to my tube amps for now. I’m sure at some point in the near future they’ll be able to nail the sound and feel of a tube amp.
Have you tried lowering the gain some and bumping the mids up?
probably has to do with the speaker not the amp modeler itself. plug in some high quality headphones and see if you still hear that
Putting the WAZA speaker, like the Artist uses, helped that some on mine. Parmetric EQ as well.
Have you done the Peavey Vypyr X series? I'm stuck and frustrated between the Katana 50 or 100, the Catalyst 60, and the Vypyr X2 or X3.
I ended up with a Katana Artist mkII and love it!
Came here for the F1 hat. Stayed for the guitars.
What about trying a dual output rig where you ABY your signal to both the Katana AND Catalyst at the same time?
On laptop, Katana 50 Mk2 owner. Using the Katana in a wet dry now and loving it - My tube amp and 4x12 do the distortion, the Katana does clean/very light break up, and EQD reverb over clean - sounds AMAZING. I love the ability to adjust the volume balance between clean tone and overdriven/distorted/fuzzed the f out. I can get chaotic blizzard of razor blade fuzz AND get some note content in there, something you might do when recording, but I can do it in the room now, and I love it. I also can go dirty on both, my tube amp is scooped by nature, so that amp can be scooped, and I can tube driverify the Katana with a prominent midrange, and then blend the two to taste. I like it much better than having say a highly scooped fuzz followed by a tube driver to boost the mids into one amp. You lose too much into one amp, you always get the sound of the last pedal in the chain somehow. But with two amps, you can get all the scoop and all the midrange you want, and they blend in the room into massive sounds that are just BLING right.
With all that said, I think the Catalyst sounded better in this video, both clean and distorted. It might be your playing, you played very differently with each amp, that may because of vibing with each amp, and it is a legitimate variable in the amp comparison - different amps/guitars can give you different feelings and that causes you to write/play differently on each.
BUT, as always, I have profound problems with your comparison methodology. You really should use a looper pedal, or record direct and then reamp, to capture the same performance and feed that into each amp if you want a real comparison between the sound/tone of the amp (or whatever it is that you're comparing).
Still, on pretty shitey laptop speakers I was really disturbed by how much better the Catalyst sounded. I've never owned anything by Line6, they've released such shitey products, I don't even give them the time of day. But, I immediately grabbed the playhead and went back to the clean Katana section to see if I was tripping... nope, the Catalyst sounded WAY better. Definitely smoother on the cleans, more nuance, and then on the dirty sections, the Catalyst had greater fidelity of distortion... I know that sounds contradictory, but the holy grail of distortion is to have distortion that gives you that intense distortion (or overdriven, or fuzzed) sound and feeling, but then still have the ability to hear the notes being played. Shitey distortion just sounds like filtered white noise, no note content, no guitar sound. The Catalyst did that here.
Which really bums me out because I JUST got the two amp setup working this week, figuring out that the bass tuner had two lines out enabling me to ditch the banana clips and unending headaches. So, you're kinda harshing my high here, thanks bro, but, no, seriously, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I picked up the Katana mk2 for $150 and unfortunately, price is everything for me, and I'm betting the Catalyst is substantially above the price I paid. I'm hoping it is, or rather, I'm hoping it's not, I'd make the switch at the same price point if I could.
Before this, I still had problems with the Katana sound, don't get me wrong, but you do what you can with what you've got. Through the software I've cut the bass massively, and it is still so profoundly bassy, I can't stand it. I can't play it with headphones, the bass is just so loud, to hear the guitar in the guitar frequency range, I have to turn up the volume in the headphones to a painful level, and homie don't play that (no more). WTF Boss? Give the retards a bass boost button or something, but let the headz hear the amp at its best.
sweet bro, luv this stuff, ❤❤❤
I always wondered how the Catalyst would fare against the higher end Roland/Boss amps like the Nextone Special and the Blues Cube Artist. The Catalyst seems to punch well above its weight in the solid state world.
Line 6 sounds better either way. I had a Katana Artist and sold it because of the tone you talked about. I now use the Boss Nextone (40, 80 and Artist). The Nextone sounds wonderful to me. I notice that there is very little interest on the internet when it comes to the Nextone. It is always the Katana. I have always had good luck with any Line 6 on the clean channel.
I wonder if that is due to the fact that everyone wants all effects available and the price difference.
@@manuedwards6959 - People likely don't understand the price difference, but wondering if that TubeTone technology is the difference-maker..?
@@m.malina6797 maybe, I looked at as ad the same platform as katana but exchanging the effects for the different tubes
I'm not a fan of the silversky but the Sterling CT50 is a fine S-type guitar. Superior, in my opinion.
I just bought the 60, and I am very disappointed with it. Now when I combine it with my Spark it sounds pretty good believe it or not. The software is the problem for me , only 2 sounds at one time sucks.
The 100w Katana comes with a better speaker than what comes in the 50w model.
Great hat!
I sold my Katana because I thought while the clean and clean almost breakup was great, it was too fizzy on overdrive compared to my Spark. I think you can digitally re-create anything. But the Spark is too limited, so I think digital is the way to go.
The trouble with listening on a laptop is everything sounds the same, I have a Line6 30W and like it but I keep my Amps in a rack, and with the on/off switch in the back, I always have to feel around to turn it on whereas the Katana has it on top where it should be, that being said, I think I will still give the Line6 a try with the Catalyst 100W.
I have the Nextone. It has that fizzle. It drove me to look for another amp. because it anoyed me so much. I bought the Line 6 catalyst 200 and put two Celestion creambacks in it and never looked back.
That sounds interesting. Did you just put in 8 ohm versions? Because the Cat uses 2 4 ohm speakers, but I suppose it’s find with a mismatch? I’m waiting for my Cat 200 to be delivered 🤩
@@newcomer87 CELESTION G12H-75 Creamback Guitar Speaker (T5890), yes they are 8ohm
From what I read , going from 4 ohm to 8 ohm cuts your power in half. That has not been an issue for me on this amp/
I was considering the Boss Nextone Stage as I heard the TubeTone tech was pretty solid (even Dylan mentioned it sounded like a tube amp).
Sounds like you're glad you went to the Catalyst, eh?
@@m.malina6797 Yes I am happy with my purshase and speaker swap
I know, apples and oranges but which would you choose?
A Line 6 catalyst or, a boss nextone?
Line 6 both clean and driven sounded better. The Roland clean was less warm (non-tube) sounding.
want to have them both in stereo 😊 connected via THR30II
The small cab Katana sounds like a speaker wrapped in shrink wrap to me. Catalyst sounds much less confined and like it’s not working as hard, no sizzle, etc. May we’ll be why using DI it’s sounds different, no plastic wrap! Lol
why not use the Katana 100 in this test , would be better match ? Daughter just getting into guitar and after taking with couple of shops was told the Katana 100 was better if using pedals ,was looking at the Katana 50
How much did line six pay you
Max🇳🇱 👍🏼or Checo🇲🇽
Why would you mismatch a Katana MKII 50 with a Line 6 100? Obviously the Katana is at a disadvantage and also has a 100 available for a better and more fair comparison. This doesn’t really make sense to me.
Line 6 was way more pleasing and smooth.
If you don't want to use pedals but need an amp to gig in a band which would you choose, with just 1 effect plus reverb the Catalyst wouldn't work for me !
Why dont u use Boss katana 100? U compare to catalyst 100 to katana 50 watts only..
Because it’s what I had
I have boss katana 50 nice amp 😄
Which is better for Jazz guitar and Acoustic?
I was gonna be okay with my kat 50 mk ii but they just decided not to put effects loop on them
Where would I connect a pedal directly into the Catalyst? Mono or Stereo cables? Help!?
I love them both. Anyone notice a hum in the line 6 on the boutique and chime amps? Is this on purpose to sound tuby?
What singlecoils would you recommend for a Sire S7 HSS? Dylan made singlecoils
I've been using a spider iv 75 for the past several years, and now I want an upgrade to either the Katana mk2 100 or the Catalyst. However, is it worth the upgrade, or is it better to just stay with what I've got ?
hi.. what's gonna be the best to use with my pod go? Iam looking for a combo amplifier..or frfr speaker.. i had headrush frfr..but i returned it.. it wasn't enough loud...
So where was the pedals. I clicked on this vid to see what takes pedals better and didn't see any of that.
My comment, "left down below". is simple and to the point. "RED BULL RACING"
Does the crackeling reduce if you bypass the preamp?
Wsht type of speaker runs into these amps, guitar speaker or FRFR. Thanks!
I always thought line 6 sounds better than the katana also.
I have a boss katana 50 and it is an extremely noisy amp. I can't stand the uncontrollable noise it puts out. I only use the speaker and prefer high gain playing. My boss katana is nearly unusable and am watching videos to find a good replacement.
i have the katana head run through a 2x12 great
Did you use manual, ch. A or ch. B?
Would have been good to compare both 100,s. So it’s a more even compare.
For the room sound compare The Kanata 100 has a better speaker than the 50 , it also has more features.
the 50 Kanata and the 60 catalyst are the runts of the litter so to speak so your kinda doing an apples and oranges compare.
Redo with the 100,s
Except that recording direct they are the same which is what we did in the video. If you want to buy me a 100 watt katana I’d be happy to redo the video.
@@DylanTalksTone 😉
@@DylanTalksTone You mentioned the catalyst sounding better when playing out loud because it's got the bigger cabinet. Thats the comparison Gary was talking about I believe. Not saying you need to (nor would you lol) buy a 100 kat just for that, just clarifying he wasn't talking about the tone in the video.
I have played the other katanas and owned the 100 in the past. I still stand by what I said. It’s way more “boxy” sounding
@@DylanTalksTone Fair enough. Was just pointing out he wasn't talking about the tone in the video.
For a truer comparison take the reverb off the Line 6. Or add some reverb to the Boss. A bit biased this review.
It only biased it for you…
i just this last Sunday added a Catalyst 60 to my Katana 100 Mk2. I agree with your description, of that little slight artifact in the Katana tone, specially in the distortion. I swapped out the speaker for the WAZA Green that the Artist uses. This did mitigate that quite a bit, once it got fully broken in. But, side by side you could still notice it. And that was with the brand spanking new Catalyst speaker vs the broken in WAZA. At first, I felt the Catalst lacked a little low end and response. But over the 3 some hours of initial comparison that speaker loosened a bit, and that changed. And I agree I think the Catalyst does EOB and low gain dirt better. Heck because of the smoother Distortion, same for crunch and classic rock.
I still think the Katana has a little more bottom end, but the Catalyst feel and response took a little edge. I also thin the Katana has the possibility for more varied tones with the amp models and variants, but mostly all all the drive pedals and fx. With those drive pedals models you really can extend the 8 non acoustic amp model/variants to sound like a lot of different amps. Mind you, Catalyst 6 different models can cover a whole heck of a lot of ground. They are all very good. LOL, the Vox AC like one, Chime, so far is my least favorite, and it is real good, and hard to do on the Katana. And if you use physical pedals well heck.
I like the HX Stomp on the Catalyst better. I think Line 6 lept thei Helix family in mind with the speaker and output part for the Power Amp In. That said, is because the HX Stomp and Helix stuff has great modeled feel and response. Without that, I do think th Katana's A/B power amp works much better for say AITB pedals or modelled preamps with less feel and response. The A/B Power amp has a lot of legacy amp feel and response.
So, to me it comes down to, what's your use. LIVE, if you want pedals, and 2 channels OR if you have a good MIDI footswitch so you can access all the banks and presets, then the Catalyst will work. But, with the BOSS footswitch, the Katana is still the edge for a live amp imho. I alo like the HX Stomp through
Dang I feel like every time I watch one of these comparisons it is never between two 100 watt versions.. the cab sizes will greatly affect the tones between each. I wish I could just sit in the room with the biggest version of each and just compare them apples to apples myself. I personally am most interested in the 200 W catalyst up against the katana head with a 2 x 12. I like the expandable foot switch on the katana but, I have a multi fx I could use for that so really it just comes down to sounds for me and most times in videos I seem to prefer the catalyst but, my buddy has a katana and I really like it in person so I am torn between what I hear in videos and what I know in person.
You said very clearly that we recorded direct
I bought the katana head because I wanted to head and line 6 don’t have one
Wanted a seperate entry for this. Do you (or anyone else with both) find the Katana a little louder on the 0.5w setting? My KAT 100 is compared to my New Catalyst 60. GRANTED that is a KAT 100 with a fully broken in WAZA speaker, and the Catalyst has 3 hours max on it. So it could change
I just got a used Catalyst 100 all these months later, and I think the answer is yes. To compete with my Artist at 0.5, I had to go up to 50 watts.on the Catalyst. It seems to be a quieter amp. I'm thinking anyone who wanted to gig with it without a PA system would want the 200 watt version. Of course, after hearing various complaints, I also think the Katana Artist would be the amp they need. It seems to have all the low end (that's the complaint I hear) I need. This is coming from a Peavey Delta Blues 115 owner. The low end is of course more massive on that, but it's almost too much sometimes. The Katana Artist seems much more balanced than the Peavey, but I got the Peavey for the 'low down, dirty Blues,' so that's to be expected. :D
@@familiarpurrson8744 K not the case with mine. The katana is a little louder on the half watt setting. But the next setting is more than louder than the Ktana at a half watt YOur Catlayst may be broke.
I would buy the Katana if the controls were placed on the front rather than on the top. So, I can’t use either of these amps.
Then you can go for the Katana Artist ;)
I thought the Line 6 Catalyst sounded better
Honestly I’ve switched to plugins only. Way easier and more convienent.
Not so easy to GIG or Jam with others with Plugins though.
@@justmehere6094 you would be surprised
@@KingofPho75 No, I wouldn't. It's a pain in the arse, been there, left it behind. If no FOH to run to, need to haul around a power amp and speaker, or powered FRFR, and the Computer is hard to shield from the variance in power, RF and EMI noise, etc.