Best Micro Guitar Amp - 2023 Shootout!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2024
- Plenty of great tiny practice amps are on the market right now, but which is worth your money? Let's find out! | tinyurl.com/yshceaks
» NUX Mighty Lite BT mkII Guitar Amp | tinyurl.com/ysunfu3w
» Positive Grid Spark GO Ultra-Portable Smart Guitar Amp | tinyurl.com/ymaze7z8
» Blackstar Fly Bluetooth Amp | tinyurl.com/yrbatj9o
» Check out all our Blackstar Fly Amps! | tinyurl.com/ytuhk5p3
» Check out all our Nux Amps! | tinyurl.com/ywh3n8ht
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⏰ Timestamps ⏰
» 0:00 Intro
» 0:25 Introducing the Practice Amps!
» 1:58 The Spark Go!
» 8:40 NUX Mighty Lite!
» 15:50 Blackstar Fly Bluetooth
» 20:05 Final Thoughts!
» 20:45 Prices?
» 22:22 Sound Comparison!
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Idk why but watching Andertons videos just always gives me such a good vibe, regardless of the topic always top notch videos with amazing musicians and great gear. Not to mention just all the great personalities, makes me wish I lived in the UK
Man ever since the first Christmas special I've been hooked
It's amazing how far battery-powered micro amps have come since the days of the .5 watt Marshall micro stack! I recently bought a Blackstar Fly and I love it!
I used to have a smoky amp. Ran off a 9v and only had less fuzz or super fuzz lmao after that I just bought a multi fx board and ran it into speakers or headphones. You think the Black Star is more of a strictly practice amp?
The video editing was insanely good on this!
I bought a Spark GO specifically as a low cost option to get access to Positive Grid app. Apart from all the amps and pedals, the cloud etc the jam feature is great. You play a pattern on guitar and the app will create a backing track or tracks that you can select from. In addition when you load a tune from your playlist it can give you the chord structure to help you learn it. Love it
@@PulledPurk No
The main app and cloud access is free. There are some amps and patches that you need to pay for but only if you want them.
Do you know if you can run it through garage band on an iPad?
@@perseusbeatkraken yes. I have just tried it and it worked as an input in GarageBand via Bluetooth and via USB. I preferred using the Bluetooth connection. It connected automatically and the it also became the monitor.
So glad you asked as I wouldn’t have tried this.
I work on street playing and I use the Blackstar Fly 3 (JJN signature because it was cheaper), sounds so amazing, and have so much power om his volume, I really love my Blackstar
The little Nux is a good little practice amp. I use it with headphones. You can use bluetooth connection to control the amp and play your music through. Makes it easy to play along. It doesn’t have a ton of effects, just kind of clean to classic rock and maybe some lighter metal tones. But plenty good for practice.
I've got a Fly3 that's been a great and durable practice amp! Cheers Anderton's!!
probably the best way to record a shootout of amps like this. Well done guys!
Blackstar is compact, sounds killer, and does all the practice amp stuff without making you feel like you're on a wild goose chase for tone. Spark and Nux are cool too, but sometimes it feels like you're spending more time chasing that perfect sound than actually getting down to practicing. The Blackstar just nails that sweet spot.
Exactly, and the fact is anything with an "app based anything" is in a couple years they will stop supporting it and come out with something else, and it won't work and be worthless. The blackstar will still be working 10 years from now. I despise app based anything even though it's really cool because it's designed, so you have to buy something else in a few years.
This is what I related to, the app can distract too much
Agreed! Haven’t looked for anything else since I got the little Blackstar. Turn it on, turn a couple of knobs and you’re good to focus on playing. Sounds great, and the delay adds that nice bit of dimension or slapback. Great for travel too, batteries last a long while.
I have never found that to be the case with my spark. I find it stupid easy to find good tones and I don't spend time tweaking them. I also own the blackstar and it is miles behind in tone and ability; plus you better have a lot of batteries at hand.
I always wonder what the age of comments like yourself are or if they’re neuro divergent
I have a Spark Go and love the little bugger. I'm actually listening to this through my Go whilst playing guitar.
My Spark Mini is awesome for a tiny practice/travel amp. Bravo Positive Grid!
229$ is kinda insane
Perfect subject just before Xmas. Was about to order one then found this. Thanks boys
The Spark Go is one of the best pieces of gear I've bought. I previously had a Fly 3 and a Boss Dual Cube LX, which sounded bigger, but to me the little Spark feels more like a 'real' amp. It has a tiny speaker, but when dialled in, it snarls!... Then with a line out to a set of monitors, it roars!!
I absolutely LOVE my SparkGO! Its been amazing!
This is fking awesome, on multiple levels, and makes me very happy. I'm going to rewatch this multiple times...
I have blackstar for practicing. It’s perfect for that. Get a decent tone in less than 10 seconds and play. Also, it takes pedals so you can mock rehearse with it. I set it clean and then run through my songs using my full pedal board to practice everything. I even used it live in a tiny church worship service (think very large living room) and it did all I needed.
very interesting seeing the captain evolve, I remember an older small amp shootout where the captain wanted a small amp for his office and was super against modeling or apps.
Ive had my Blackstar Fly for a long time and I love it. Ive always had a set of rechargeable batteries for flashlights and stuff so I didn't have to worry about a power supply or batteries for it though. Def a great little practice amp and its super portable is my favorite thing about it. I can take it just about anywhere. If I wanna sit in bed or in the living room and jam with it on a night stand it small and doesn't have power cables or need a speaker cab like my tube heads. I use it more than my actual tube heads/cab also lol. I 100% recommend it.
I own the Nux and it’s a fun little amp I use it for Practice all the time , not too many sound options but they’re all usable and I don’t spent more time playing around with parameters than actually playing . The Bluetooth makes it super handy when I learn a new song and want to use a Playback
I appreciate that you make shows for all income levels. I am fortunate enough to have a loaded Kemper with custom monitor and amp, but before I made that investment years ago I got a ton of great tones from just Bias2 or bias fx on an ancient ipad run into a super cheap 40w tube amp combo front end clean channel just using a small adapter box. Fine job, Cheers!
I love my Blackstar Fly3 but the add on speaker is a must have for me. I'd really recommend the stereo pack.
I just had a Spark Go arrive a couple of days ago and I love it. I have a Spark 40 as well so I went with something I was a bit more familiar with. At the price (on sale), I'm very happy.🎸
Great playing, as always! Man that Spark Go is crazy good for the size. The others sound a bit bigger, but hard to believe you can get an amp with that many features at that size, that will fit in your pocket!
I have a Boss BR-80. It is old, and it has no speaker, but it is very small (a little bit bigger than an old cassette tape) and has amazing features. 8 Track recorder, live stereo recording via built in condenser mics or 1/4 inch cable for guitar or mics, audio interface, Headphone out, full range of boss effects, SD card for recording and/or playing MP3s, and much more. It has no app, and no amp or speakers. I would love to see some new device that combines all the cool features of my old BR-80 with the modern features of something like the Spark.
Blackstar for me. I has one of this and sounds really great and is very usable.
The Blackstar fly is my only home practice amp and it's perfectly fine. I love it.
To be fair, I do have the Fender Deville 410 in my office 😅
I run my spark go via an aux cable into my pc speakers (logitec Z533 2.1) and it sounds great, good setup for a bit more volume and bass. Enough to do me until I save for a Vibro champ. It's also pretty sturdy, knocked it off my bench onto tiles numerous times lol, only damage was the screw for the strap, it's coated plastic so snapped the first time it hit the floor, not an issue for how I use it at all. On board fx's are fine but I run pedals into it and use it purely as an amp modeller.
Also you can access the tuner without the app by holding the preset button until the preset lights flash, functioning as tuning lights
Some genuinely lovely sounds there.
i have an old blackstar fly, love it
Yo, your video editor is really letting it rip lately! I love it
RIP video editor 😢
The spark sounds awesome, but fumbling around the app can be a real pain. Loses connection a lot, but the results when you are able to get them to work are fantastic. I'd give it a 4/5
Informative. Thank you.
Spark has great features, but that sound is phenomenal, even though it's the smallest.
I would have loved this as a kid.❤ it's strange when I'm watching an Andertons video and get an ad for Sweetwater.
FFS...Soon we'll be left watching nothing but adds! YT is like a snake that feeds of itself. It's dying.
Great demo guys ...
You just nailed it: good sounding small amps are a +++ for us noodling@home ... long time ago we only had the Pignose and the Battery-VOX ...
Happy days indeed
My current bedroom setup is Blackstar FLY 3 + Zoom G1X. Affordable and awesome to play :-)
I had a Fly 3 but now have a NU>X Mighty Lite BT MkII and it is awesome!!
I have a fly with the extra speaker in the garage to muck around on. My daughter wants a elec guitar for Xmas as was looking at getting her the mighty lite but. This demo the mighty light sounded darker. Do find that to be true or can it be as bright sounding as the fly 3. Cheers.
I have a Laney mini battery powered Lionheart amp and it sounds incredible for its size, and it can get quite loud too!
Hi there Captain and Danish Pete, just saying thanks because I love these videos. You’ve inspired me to pick up a guitar again after 20 years.
Anne
P. S. Lurrrve Pete’s purple Tele!!
I've got the MK1 of the NU-X version which has less features (Clean, OD and Dist channels with only Gain, Level and Tone on each channel). It has a single drum loop for each style and a metronome. Also some other features but less than the MK2. I love it. The fact that there's just a single slider for Tone on each channel and limited FX means I spend more time practising than chasing a specific sound. I'm also tempted to try out the Blackstar for the exact reason that it's got a great sound and is a no frills practice amp. I have the acoustic version of the Fly and it is brilliant.
I also have the mk1 and love it - you’re right about the "lack" of options , less time chasing tones = more time actually playing
Now we the need the ultimate small tube amp shootout, there’s so many new and improved 20/5w amps, since the last one.
Yes. I want to see them do the 1 watt ones too. The Dsl1.
No mini Katana? Too bad! I vastly prefer it over the Black Star Fly.
IMHO Spark GO for the win! 🏁 Highly recommended!!!
You have GOT to try the little Mooer Hornet 05i...It sounds impressive. It sounds steps beyond my NUX mighty BT lite first edition. But it's loaded with looper , patches and the unit is rechargeable ....the sounds are incredible. I mean seriously blown away. I'll try to get a review up and maybe test them both side by side.
Just watched the Phil McKnight review on the Spark & it's totally useable without touching the app (he's not an app person). I think the only thing he did was add a compressor to the first amp but he was happy with it straight out of the box. He took it on holiday & found it perfectly suitable for what he wanted.
It totally works without the app - it’s just all you can adjust without the app is the volume & which patch (1-4) you’re on.
@@andertons For somebody like me who also doesn't use apps or products that depend on them & tends to skip the part of videos that deal with them it means that the spark is still something i'd buy & use as it still does what i want it to without any extra work. The ability to use apps is great for people who want more.
I have blackstar fly 3 and extension cab. Brilliant
I'd recommend the Katana Mini. You can get them dirt cheap used and I think the additional gain on the 3rd channel and slightly nicer sounding speaker than the Fly make it the best option for this sort of mini practice amp.
Katana mini kills these amps
@@vinny943 Katana series are for silly wee zoomers who gets their opinions from youtube rather than their own ears. 100% marketing, 0% tone.
@@Safetysealed lol you’re bedroom player
@@vinny943 Well unlike you, I'm dont live in one room of my mums house so techically a living room player. lol
But I also play in pubs, function halls, and the occasional studio too.
Once you become a big boy you can get yourself a big boy amp and stop playing about on your wee katana.
@@Safetysealed lol good for you, go drink some tea you wanker
I have the Blackstar and love the tones. Easy to use. I don’t need all the gimmicks and effects for just practicing and noodling. I have a Boss Katana for all that stuff.
gimmicks? how can you say its a gimmick then claim you got another amp to do that "gimmick" for you? lol
I love my Fly3. Sounds much bigger than it is. Tons of good tones that are easy to dial in and the delay effect is nice and not gimmicky sounding. By far my preference of the three. To be fair, I'm not generally a fan of modeling amps either.
I did have the spark go, thinking I'd personally use it a lot, sadly I didn't find it that good of a sound outside of using headphones which meant I defaulted back to headphone amp, It's still a good product but whatever your options are, enter into your decisions and what practically works for your own purpose, as there's a lot of varying pros and cons to each product
I use a black star mini bass amp for guitar. Since little speaker lack of low end response, the mini bass amp compensates for that. But I have to use a amp sim into it.
I did an improv gig with the Blackstar. Just a bunch of us jamming in a classroom then we attracted a crowd 😂
Have the spark , fantastic little bit of kit for late night jams on the couch 😎 transformed with a cheap £25 wireless system sorry Captain from Amazon 🤫😉
i have that spark go and you REALLY gotta browse some of the presets to unlock its potential. Specifically, "Dave clean" and "Perfect Clean - LARSON" totally open it up and put out WAY more output than the other presets.... once you can get that extra bit of volume, it becomes a delight to just wonder around the room or sit on the couch.. you need a carbineer to attach to your beltloop or strap...but you do have to have realistic expectations - it's an amp that fits in your pocket or guitar case that sounds 1000x better than anything that size that's existed in the past..
Thanks for the tip- will check them out👍🏻
When I play for my son, I use my Tonex pedal connected to the line in of the Blackstar Fly 3 :-D
I have the Nux BT Mk 1 and it's ok, but I bought the mighty air when it came out and I still use it on the go its great with plenty of sounds and when recharged it lasts forever and its wireless
I have the Mighty Air as well. I think the looper, drums, backing tracks and wireless are worth the extra$$
GET IN TOUCH.
I'm still Impressed (every-time) I play my Yamaha THR30II - (however) you must use the app, to really make the Patches Sound phenomenal. Always enjoy your informative content. oNe LovE from NYC
GET IN TOUCH.
I remember getting one of those little cigarette pack apps about a million years ago and being able to have an amp IN THE CASE with my guitar? Coolest thing ever!! Even though it sounded absolutely heinous. 🤣 It's unbelievable how far we've come.
Dude i used to have two of those smokey amps ! I have a cig pack one and one that was hard plastic... i used to run a korg pandora battery powered mini fx thing that kinda looked like an mp3 player hooked into it, or used my og line 6 pod kidney bean into it ! Hah !! I haven't thought about that in ages !
@@fuzzymuppet1990 Hahaha...that's awesome! I hadn't thought about it in forever, too. Crazy thing?...I don't just think I still have it, I think I know where it is! I'll have to look later...I'm pretty sure it's actually STILL in that guitar case in the back of a closet. I've had that thing for SO...LONG...I still have my first bass that I bought two and a half DECADES ago, though. Guess it's not that surprising now that I think about it. 🤣
These apps are going to get rid of multy effect boards. About time .great video
love the tiny bell! lol
I would love to see a review on the line 6 hx one, hopefully it's coming soon
I have had a Fly with extension for years and put it on a pedal board and ran a couple pedals through it. Now I run the Go through it as the pedals and simulators, drums whatever. Quite a woods rig IMHO.
any particular amp models in the go work well with pedals? I was thinking about using a fly for this but now I'm considering the go. Thanks!
@@sboistan I really like the Jumbo Acoustic. I end up using it a lot.When playing an acoustic I use it with a little reverb and tremolo about 3 feet in front of me. Wow, at the right volume gives an acoustic the your being played to feeling. I love it. Overall though the Jumbo and the AD Clean are my go to for pedals or otherwise.
been using a blackstar fly for a few years for practicing at my desk. it sounds way way better than a amp that big as any right to be. sure its pales in quality to my marshall valve amp but im not putting that on my desk XD. also i use batteries in it and ive only had to swap out batteries 3 times in 3 years. i personaly can recomend one for puttign on you r desk to practice new riffs etc while not looking for stage performance level sounds
Blackstar Fly, got it in 2016, still working, still good, no Marshall stack or Fractal AxeFx, just a really good little practice amp for home, not too boxy sounding, just good for the 60 something Euro I paid for it new.
I have 2 of the black star fly'3's' I ran each one into a 4/10 cabinet and play them in stereo' gives me a good distorted sound, but you better know what you're doing before you hook them up like that.
Pete plays the phonebook and sounds KILLER. 😉😁
haven't watched the video yet (about to now) but i am a huge proponent of the NUX mighty air (not sure about the mighty lite)! even made a video about it haha
the katana mini sounds super good in this category though
Wasn’t positive grid one of the videos that Lee and Rob had to film twice because the initial product version was so glitchy and hard to operate? Cool to see they improved quite a bit by the looks of it. 🤘
GET IN TOUCH
Every this amp in studio is on laudspeker. How sounded in room???
One thing to add, if you run the Fly3 with the add on speaker then the power supply becomes really handy as I found that mine drains batteries really fast when driving two speakers.
Agreed. With mine, I get about 8 hours at 3/4 volume and occasional playing. If the playing is more constant such as in a two hour session of playing various songs with between 2-5 minutes per song? Probably 4 hours of play based on the batteries reading as 40% when starting to recharge them.
Spark let's GO!
I think you can plug the Spark into your DAW, too.
Wanted a small headphone amp to practice with and ended up buying... a Spark Go!!
I tested the NUX Mighty, Fender Mustang Micro and the Spark Go.
Only downside was the Spark Go requires a guitar cable to plug it in, and obviously it's slightly larger.
But I honestly thought it sounded better through headphones than either of the other two! The app was very intuitive as well.
Little belters. 💥
Here's a new one for ya. I live 5 days out of seven in a caravan. As is common in most models there is a built in car stereo that resides out of sight in one of the cupboards and there are wonderful discreet speakers in the two front corners facing down and situated at about eye/ear level. What im thinking is if I can use the aux input on the stereo to connect an emulated headphone out via mini jack whilst also utilising the bluetooth app to control the tone all i need then is a wireles set to connect the guitar and then im golden, An invisible wireless stereo guitar rig in my caravan!! How awesome is that?? So should i use something like the Nux or Spark, or is there another product that would be better suited?
Any suggestions would be most welcome,
PS Andertons is officially my favourite tv show by a mile!!
What with Jojo micro amp
and similar "amps" 1 AA battery and plug into the guitar, three knobs and small headphones. Siting on the stone on the breakwater and enjoy. I was a big skeptic, but they are quite good for the gig described above. everything fits in the pocket and the guitar on the shoulder and voila! Sea, sunset and blues. What a life!❤🎉I'm talking about amplifiers that plug directly into the guitar. I have a Strat LP and 335 and it fits in each. I especially like to take the Strat, it's lighter and...no cable no smartphone no no no....only Strat ,sea Jojo and I.❤
Yes, the most beautiful sunset in the world: Alfred Hichcock through the window of a hotel on the Zadar waterfront.
3000y old Zadar -Croatia- Adriatic coast-Mediteranien -Europa🎉
How about a comparison on 2 different electrical guitar amps? the NUX mighty air vs the positive spark mini?
Please bring a test about the just released Firmware 2.0 for the PodGo
What is the recommended headphone impedance for the Positive Grid Spark GO? Will regular phone headphones work?
Ive ran a fly 3 into a 4x12. Its stellar
GET IN TOUCH
Does ToneBridge work with each of these wirelessly or just the manufacturer's app?
I use rechargeable batteries that are rated 2300mAh - so I'd say probably more like 2000-2100mAh in actual capacity - with my many years old Fly 3 (getting on for 7 years now? Something like that!) with the extension cabinet and, when at home, the power cable. They also make for excellent speakers in general *and* the prices aren't all that different from all those years ago.
I have the Fly with the extra cab and tried using them as laptop speakers but they sounded awful.
Had the nux, but didn’t like the boxy sound or the rubbery buttons. Had a blackstar fly,which was good for what it was, but limited. Have a spark go, which is good for low volume practice on the move…but no good for volume. The spark mini is the sweet spot in my opinion…although at home I tend towards either the Yamaha thr10 or the boss katana air headphone amp (which sounds incredible).
GET IN TOUCH
And to think that the only similar thing I could get when I started playing guitar was one of those horrible old Pignose amps. They looked much better than they sounded.
nux of course. sounds great
Great stocking fillers for the rockers in your family.
Imagine the excitement as you feel your way past the can of Brut, round the tangerine and, there it is - one of these little beauties, nestling down in the toe.
GET IN TOUCH.
I know positive grid has apps KINDA like this, but I'd love for them to release a "Spark PC". Basically it's this exact app BUT you use your audio interface. I sit at my PC 99% of the time when playing the guitar - it would be awesome to just fire this up and off I go. I use my Katana 100 for that currently (line out to my audio interface, then using the Boss PC app to play with settings). But this Spark app is just so slick and has so many settings/options! The software would need to be less than the spark mini though - not the prices they currently charge for things like Bias FX 2, the competitor Amplitube etc.
You can just plug your Spark into your interface.
Have you tried Soundshed?
@@aphotosyntheticworld What I'm saying is, I wish they created a software-only version. For those who don't want to buy the Spark/hardware.
@@yoster77 Positive Grid makes the BIAS amp simulator software, should be similar to the spark stuff, can't confirm though because I use S gear and Neural stuff when plugged into my PC
I've got two vacations (holidays) set up in the coming months. Thanks to you guys, I've decided on the NUX to take with me.
How can I practice without an amp when I'm travelling? Lee and Pete: here are some travel micro amps with apps and bluetooth and stuff. Mick and Dan (TPS): Plug into a megaphone!
Clean sounds were pretty much neck and neck. But high gain? The Spark GO blew the others away.
Smells like ... VICTORY!
NUX for me, suits my ukuleles, room sizes and style....all these are great qlittle amp....you pays your money and take syour choice!
Would have been nice to also hear the difference when they're listened to via headphones, as that removes the speaker as the limiting factor.
Can any of these presets be loaded into a DAW like GarageBand? Thanks, Ric
For me the best micro amp would be the Magnatone Starlite. 2nd option would be the Orange Micro Dark. Of course the Magnatone is expensive but like anything, we get what we pay for.
Save up and spend a bit more on the Spark Mini. It's not as loud as the 40w, but it's rechargeable, loud, has much better sound than the Go, and also makes a cracking BT speaker.
Agree. I bought the Spark 40 before the mini came out and if I'd had a choice would have gone for the mini. Just because the Spark 40 is more volume than I need for a practice amp. Sounds awesome though
@@simonsmith9942 me too, but the only reason I went for Spark 40 is because it uses a power supply, unlike the battery which will eventually die out and I don't think it can be replaced
The spark hasa 2 inch speaker. And the nux has a 3 inch speaker is there much difference in sound. As the spark u dont need to buy batteries that will add up. Good video
Still using my nearly 20 years old Roland Micro Cube 😅
Pete’s right, the eq is clutch
NuX is the king of budget practice amps and devices. Their Mighty Plug Pro headphone amp has all of the same features as this portable practice amp and it's all midi controlable!
A big plus of the Nux is that it can be powered by a power bank, way less waste of batteries
I think I'll stick with the Roland Micro Cube I've had for years! Battery and/ or mains and lots of options!