Great video Leon! I have an FM3 and an HX Stomp and love them both but I can’t believe these units keep getting smaller, less expensive and more powerful. Have you checked out the Flamma FX-150B yet?
Thought I’d replied to this, try again… So the UA Dream 65 without any doubt whatsoever!!! Had the Nux MG300 but sold it it, cos it had what I call the “Sardine Can effect”, meaning it sounded like listening to AC/DC through your phone speaker, no depth or meat and very fizzy. I have a Mooer GE200, its ok but you have to download the GNR files which are a sort of IR, cos the stock amps are just too polished giving you that sort of Celine Dion singing Black Dog effect, meaning no rawness or dirt, but the GNR files correct that a little, enough not to be too frustrated. But the UA Dream may only have 1 amp, but it does sound really good and takes pedals well too
This is by FAR the best demo I've seen on the Ampero Mini. Thank you for actually diving deeper with the features and showing a number of different types of patches!
Back again got mine today! and to say to any folks hesitating on this unit, its legit it sounds so much better than any other lower priced modelers I’ve had (Mooer GE200/Nux MG300/Fender Mustang Micro etc.) Sure this is not a tube and it doesn’t even come close but it’s the closest I’ve ever heard in this price range that doesn’t sound either too perfect and chiselled or have that fizzy tinny sound. The Ampero Mini sounds pretty full with some rawness, coming reasonably close to that warm tube tone that we all love, well at least as close as to not make you feel super frustrated and wanna throw the box out the window, you know its only 200 bucks!, lets stay in context. It’s a really great unit, only downfall is the looper, you can put it on either sync or off, if off when playing to a drum beat it goes offbeat after a couple of cycles if sync is on it squashes your sound and as I tend to play a fraction before the beat on purpose it makes the loop sound horribly robotic, which has never happened to me before on Boss/Line 6/Digitech loopers. So if you buy be aware and do like me write a letter of complaint to Hotone asking for a firmware update on the looper! Edit: 2 hours later: ok despite being brand new and immediately updating firmware it appears that a bug got in, because I tried a reset and the looper is ok now, not brilliant but acceptable at least in sync mode
The interface is so intuitive, I have yet to plug this into the computer. I am beyond impressed with this unit for the money. Also very portable for travel
Couldn't click fast enough.. I've been wondering about this thing. I've seen a few vids saying this thing rocks, and after you hit those first chords with the JCM it was heaven in my ears with my killer headphones.. Especially that delay! Man, for a couple hundred bucks that thing rocks. We for sure live in the best yet time to play guitar! Just epic.. Of course, your playing makes it come alive and your explaining what your doing is killer! The clean stuff was killer too.. Just beautiful. Some Jimi Hendrix in a box. Love it.. Very cool.. I'll have to check out hotone as well.. I can't believe the bang for your dollar you can get these days.. Amazing.. When I was young I would have died for one of these.. Your face when playing some of the dirty stuff is so relatable.. :-p Great demo sir.. Really good and again I love the split screen so I can see the settings on the device and see the device up so close.. Very cool and genius on your part my friend. Thank you again for the joy you bring to me and my morning coffee time by myself .. Now time to pickup the Charvel and let loose in the headphones so I don't wake up the parents then off to work! Be well and safe my good friend! Tim
I really admire people that makes it sounds good coz I have hard time making it sound good. Sometimes my setup is good when listening to headphones then sometimes bad in live.
Man you play good!! I mean really good!! like I cant say that I'm a metal or ambient guy, more situated between Nil Rodgers and SRV, although I used to follow Motorhead around London in the early days before they were famous, BUT anyway.. I was totally mesmerized by everything you played!!! you really play well, great melodies groove n timing, so I don't know how good this pedal is but you sure made it sound really warm and cool in every style. Thank you!
I'm really taken with that touch screen UI. Looks very well done. The effects models appealed to me too. Hard to fathom how you can get all that for 400 dollars.
This looks like an absolutelly great little unit. I have the Ampero 1st gen and it seems to have the same modeling engine which is great. I did several AB tests between the Ampero amp models (to fx return of a tube power amp) and my Synergy modules (Friedman, Iicp, Soldano) and even a real Mark IV. Conclusion: you can get very very close , very quickly, to the point where it does not even matter. With a great IR this sounds great as well. I am not 100% convinced about the cab modelling though.. but it may be better on these newer units. Anyway, for the price and convenience this mini version seem unbeatable.
How long have you had the Ampero? How is the durability? What's your take on performance/quality of models/cabs/effects? I'm in a bind between a BossGT1000Core, Ampero II, HX Stomp (which has I swore I'd never use) or some other mini modeler for a pedalboard build "base unit". Flexibility for DI or a couple of the amps I still have left.
Damn you should be Hotone ambassador man! you definitely sold me the pedal with that ragdoll heaven above riff! I needed a small multi fx pedal with good quality sound. Btw, which is the name of the riff at 4:16?
Yeah I'd still be impressed at double the price. I'm keen to try the Ampero Stomp now as that has even more fx - Michael Nielsen's vid with it was awesome.
I just wanna say that I sold my pod go and got myself one of these. Do not regret it at all. Not saying that the pod go is bad, but the ampero mini has so much in such a little unit. Less is more when it comes to playing live. :)
Damn you, sir. You just put something new on my list of things to try out. This is the only modeler I ever found with a Blueface VH4 model at all - they’re supposed to be a darker sound, what are your impresssions?
love seeing these videos on what else is out there on the more wallet friendly side of things, more often than not it's with the 'that might be a good backup for my FM3 just in case😄 this sounds great for the price/feature set in any case, and that size is awesome
Has anyone compared this one to the Matribox II? Both units are around the same cost but i am after the one that has the better Amp sims and effect sounds? This Hotone ampero mini is a real contender from what i hear on this vid!
Great video Leon. Would love to hear your opinion on the Sonicake Matribox 2. I'm betting when it's on sale, it'll be priced around $200 or less USD. Pretty smooth all-in-one gig bag sized performance solution on a tight budget. The Ampero mini sounds fantastic. Would love to hear your thoughts on the Sonicake product. We picked up a bass processor and acoustic guitar Sonicake processor and they sound fantastic for stupid cheap money and are built like a tank. God bless and rock on 🎸😎👍
Can it run only effects? What I wanna ask is if this could be a swish army knife in the middle even if I upgrade later and get a stereo amp pedal last in chain.
Leon i just bought a Hotone Ampero Mini and sounds good with cab sim on with FRFR or Monitors but not so good with cab sim off in front or return of my amp?Any suggestions?
Maybe you're using full ampsims that include a poweramp section, which means if you into a fx return (or front end) of an amp you will have 2 poweramps in series, which is not ideal. I'd do : preampsim -> fx return or dirt pedalsim -> amp front
The best value all depends on where you buy it from. The Ampero Mini will cost you about £/$/€189 whereas the Ampero One will cost you £199. The only reason not to spend the extra tenner is if the small form factor is something you simply must have as the Ampero One is an absolute bargain at that price. The recently added Dumble amp sim is worth the £10 alone.
If only this had midi, even if was only to receive PC messages from something like an MS-3 or FC1010, then I'd be all over it. The CTRL/Exp offers a bit of external control, but probably not enough for my liking.
I have an Ampero mini, and received an email about updates to the footswith for it, and it mentions midi, but I don't know if it suits your purpose, so I just searched "does the Ampero mini have MIDI access?" I've copied the result result below: For those with an interest in this topic Hotone have since confirmed the following: "Ampero Mini supports USB MIDI but cannot be controlled by external MIDI controller." Cheers.17 July 2023
I’ve got the ampero stomp 11. I did have the ampero 1 which is what you’ve got to review. DONT BUY THE MINI. BUY THE STOMP 11. The Stomp 11 has a better processor engine inside it. Yes it’s more expensive, but a lot better,compression on utube doesn’t show the difference. I use mine through the clean channel of a Marshall dsl 40 valve amp like a pedal platform. It’s a damn monster. Tbh it’s mind blowing damn I hated modelers until this.
This is a couple times now that I've seen you give ups to the Ampero stuff. I don't know if I could sell my Fractal for it, but it's pretty amazing what has become available for the price these days. I would've slain 20 years ago for something like this. In a mix, all this Ampero and Mooer gear does the trick, bet. Oh....and Fractal needs to add a bigger screen with touch display, as well as keep the knows that old schoolers love if they want to stay king. That'll separate them from the pack. I don't know where else there is for them to go unless they merge or license with Eventide or Strymon and add proprietary algo's to their effects package that is already pretty stellar. Fractal powered by Eventide has a nice ring though.
it's cool to see stuff get pushed forward from both ends of the price spectrum. The hardest thing to get right is ultimately the sound, so I'm excited to see how good budget stuff can get tonally and how the user experience improves on the high end stuff. Gonna be a fun decade!
What's your favourite mini modeler?
Great video Leon! I have an FM3 and an HX Stomp and love them both but I can’t believe these units keep getting smaller, less expensive and more powerful. Have you checked out the Flamma FX-150B yet?
Thought I’d replied to this, try again… So the UA Dream 65 without any doubt whatsoever!!! Had the Nux MG300 but sold it it, cos it had what I call the “Sardine Can effect”, meaning it sounded like listening to AC/DC through your phone speaker, no depth or meat and very fizzy. I have a Mooer GE200, its ok but you have to download the GNR files which are a sort of IR, cos the stock amps are just too polished giving you that sort of Celine Dion singing Black Dog effect, meaning no rawness or dirt, but the GNR files correct that a little, enough not to be too frustrated. But the UA Dream may only have 1 amp, but it does sound really good and takes pedals well too
This is by FAR the best demo I've seen on the Ampero Mini. Thank you for actually diving deeper with the features and showing a number of different types of patches!
Glad it was helpful!
Back again got mine today! and to say to any folks hesitating on this unit, its legit it sounds so much better than any other lower priced modelers I’ve had (Mooer GE200/Nux MG300/Fender Mustang Micro etc.) Sure this is not a tube and it doesn’t even come close but it’s the closest I’ve ever heard in this price range that doesn’t sound either too perfect and chiselled or have that fizzy tinny sound. The Ampero Mini sounds pretty full with some rawness, coming reasonably close to that warm tube tone that we all love, well at least as close as to not make you feel super frustrated and wanna throw the box out the window, you know its only 200 bucks!, lets stay in context. It’s a really great unit, only downfall is the looper, you can put it on either sync or off, if off when playing to a drum beat it goes offbeat after a couple of cycles if sync is on it squashes your sound and as I tend to play a fraction before the beat on purpose it makes the loop sound horribly robotic, which has never happened to me before on Boss/Line 6/Digitech loopers. So if you buy be aware and do like me write a letter of complaint to Hotone asking for a firmware update on the looper!
Edit: 2 hours later: ok despite being brand new and immediately updating firmware it appears that a bug got in, because I tried a reset and the looper is ok now, not brilliant but acceptable at least in sync mode
What a time to be a guitarist, this little box of tricks is so powerful for its size! Great video man, thanks & hope you’re very well 😎🙏🔥
Right?! It's come so far so fast
@@LeonTodd that’s what she said! 😂🤚
It's like me...tiny, powerful, good looking and touch responsive.
The interface is so intuitive, I have yet to plug this into the computer. I am beyond impressed with this unit for the money. Also very portable for travel
That bit you started @10:00 was beautiful brother!
Thanks mate!
Couldn't click fast enough.. I've been wondering about this thing. I've seen a few vids saying this thing rocks, and after you hit those first chords with the JCM it was heaven in my ears with my killer headphones.. Especially that delay! Man, for a couple hundred bucks that thing rocks. We for sure live in the best yet time to play guitar! Just epic.. Of course, your playing makes it come alive and your explaining what your doing is killer! The clean stuff was killer too.. Just beautiful. Some Jimi Hendrix in a box. Love it.. Very cool.. I'll have to check out hotone as well.. I can't believe the bang for your dollar you can get these days.. Amazing.. When I was young I would have died for one of these.. Your face when playing some of the dirty stuff is so relatable.. :-p
Great demo sir.. Really good and again I love the split screen so I can see the settings on the device and see the device up so close.. Very cool and genius on your part my friend.
Thank you again for the joy you bring to me and my morning coffee time by myself .. Now time to pickup the Charvel and let loose in the headphones so I don't wake up the parents then off to work!
Be well and safe my good friend!
Tim
I know you're looking for any easy to use, compact modeler - this is right up your alley!
@@LeonTodd Yeah, I'm really impressed man..
I could live with those Shiva clean tones for years!
Pretty impressive what this little device is able to do and to sound.
WOW! Four ADA MPs at the rack behind! Love these things, rare to see now
I really admire people that makes it sounds good coz I have hard time making it sound good. Sometimes my setup is good when listening to headphones then sometimes bad in live.
Thank you for such a thorough review! I just ordered one of these, and this video will definitely help me get started once it comes in!
What a giant modeler. I think it's one of compact but complete packages to practice and busking❤
Man you play good!! I mean really good!! like I cant say that I'm a metal or ambient guy, more situated between Nil Rodgers and SRV, although I used to follow Motorhead around London in the early days before they were famous, BUT anyway.. I was totally mesmerized by everything you played!!! you really play well, great melodies groove n timing, so I don't know how good this pedal is but you sure made it sound really warm and cool in every style. Thank you!
Thanks mate! You'll probably dig the music I make with my band Ragdoll if you liked this - ragdollrock.bandcamp.com
Great demo man, just the right amount of depth and playing time to hear each patch. Nice playing too, onya mate.
Thank you kindly!
I’ve decided to pull the trigger on this Ampero mini after watching your review. Thanks a lot!
Hope you enjoy it!
I'm really taken with that touch screen UI. Looks very well done. The effects models appealed to me too. Hard to fathom how you can get all that for 400 dollars.
The screen is seriously well done - I couldn't quite capture how good it looks with my camera!
I got lucky and managed to buy one off Ebay for $305 Australian. Great little unit.
@@castleanthrax1833
Got one for 200$ on sale in Europe now 👍
Excellent demo! I have one coming in 48 hours…because of you.
Have fun!
Thats got some really nice tones ! Very impressive 🤘
Nice one Leon. The Ampero Mini seems like an excellent bang for the buck. Bedroom Warriors look no further. No need for $1K Modeler's
This looks like an absolutelly great little unit. I have the Ampero 1st gen and it seems to have the same modeling engine which is great. I did several AB tests between the Ampero amp models (to fx return of a tube power amp) and my Synergy modules (Friedman, Iicp, Soldano) and even a real Mark IV. Conclusion: you can get very very close , very quickly, to the point where it does not even matter. With a great IR this sounds great as well. I am not 100% convinced about the cab modelling though.. but it may be better on these newer units. Anyway, for the price and convenience this mini version seem unbeatable.
How long have you had the Ampero? How is the durability? What's your take on performance/quality of models/cabs/effects? I'm in a bind between a BossGT1000Core, Ampero II, HX Stomp (which has I swore I'd never use) or some other mini modeler for a pedalboard build "base unit". Flexibility for DI or a couple of the amps I still have left.
Damn you should be Hotone ambassador man! you definitely sold me the pedal with that ragdoll heaven above riff! I needed a small multi fx pedal with good quality sound. Btw, which is the name of the riff at 4:16?
tbh, that sounds pretty incredible!
Yeah I'd still be impressed at double the price. I'm keen to try the Ampero Stomp now as that has even more fx - Michael Nielsen's vid with it was awesome.
I liked it very much. I am interested to get that tones
Sounds really good. Nice demo!
I just wanna say that I sold my pod go and got myself one of these. Do not regret it at all. Not saying that the pod go is bad, but the ampero mini has so much in such a little unit. Less is more when it comes to playing live. :)
Nice! Ampero has some killer sounds.
I feel the sonicake matribox 2 is the best value modeler tbh. The ampero mini is still a beast tho🔥 Awesome review my man 🔥
Sonicake is just a rebranded Mooer tech pedal, or so I've heard.
What about acoustic modeler and octave? Maybe loop a bass line and jam?
did they fix the noise of ampero 2? even the noise gate couldn't help it. returned that sucker quick.
Great Skills & Best Demonstration / Review!!
Much appreciated!
At 6.03 you dialed the "Tie your mother down" delay...very good.
I feel like Hotone and Valeton are really underrated int he multi effects and modeling world.
I'd add Joyo and NuX (and maybe Mosky and Sonicake) to that list. Some make mostly clones, but I'll buy $50 clones over a $250+ original any day.
Damn you, sir. You just put something new on my list of things to try out. This is the only modeler I ever found with a Blueface VH4 model at all - they’re supposed to be a darker sound, what are your impresssions?
Great video as always. Thank you. How does it stack up against the NUX MG400 in your opinion?
Love this review and everything you play my man thank you
I appreciate that!
love your work Leon!! 🤘🤘
Thanks so much mate!
love seeing these videos on what else is out there on the more wallet friendly side of things, more often than not it's with the 'that might be a good backup for my FM3 just in case😄
this sounds great for the price/feature set in any case, and that size is awesome
Yeah for the price this is a great backup.
Leon, have tried polyphonic pitch shifter in mini? what do you think about it?
sounds really great! I am sure the ampero 2 sounds even better
Has anyone compared this one to the Matribox II? Both units are around the same cost but i am after the one
that has the better Amp sims and effect sounds? This Hotone ampero mini is a real contender from what i hear on this vid!
I have a dilemma Hotone ampero mini or NUX MG-400, I'm looking for a truer (realistic) sound. Thank you for the answer.
Great video Leon. Would love to hear your opinion on the Sonicake Matribox 2. I'm betting when it's on sale, it'll be priced around $200 or less USD. Pretty smooth all-in-one gig bag sized performance solution on a tight budget. The Ampero mini sounds fantastic. Would love to hear your thoughts on the Sonicake product. We picked up a bass processor and acoustic guitar Sonicake processor and they sound fantastic for stupid cheap money and are built like a tank. God bless and rock on 🎸😎👍
That Sonicake one looks a bit like the Valeton.
Hi Leon,
comparing this to the Nux Amp Academy, (just sound-wise regarding the implemented modelling) what would you say? Thanks for your opinion!
@LeonTodd great demo, bro! Where can I download your patches?
How does this amp sounds over headphones?
How it sounds compared to Mooer p2? (I know it is different form factor) For silent practice soundwise wich is better?
Mooer prime p1 and p2 on its way half the price of this, awaiting you to review, ace, greetings Leon like you with the dgt
Soon!
Does anyone know how it sounds through headphones?
Great vid! What's the riff at @8:30
Thanks mate! Ragdoll - Heaven Above
@@LeonTodd listened to it all morning-- what a jam! Thanks for the swift response brutha 🙏
Awesome to hear that mate :) @@RyanKatsuRivera
How does it sound compared to the Spark Mini?
Hi Leon... How will it works on an amp effects loop only as multieffects? Tone sucker? Conversion?
Yeah just disable the amp and cab sim. Would work fine
Hey, can I record the direct guitar signal in 48khz?
Plug it straight into a pa desk. With a basic recording. That way people can get an idea what is really sounds like
That's literally what you're eharing. There's no post processing here
Can it run only effects? What I wanna ask is if this could be a swish army knife in the middle even if I upgrade later and get a stereo amp pedal last in chain.
Yes, you can bypass the amp and cab sim
does the software/editor for Ampero Mini work seamlessly on MacOS? (I am running a MacBook Air M2) TIA :)
Leon i just bought a Hotone Ampero Mini and sounds good with cab sim on with FRFR or Monitors but not so good with cab sim off in front or return of my amp?Any suggestions?
Maybe you're using full ampsims that include a poweramp section, which means if you into a fx return (or front end) of an amp you will have 2 poweramps in series, which is not ideal.
I'd do : preampsim -> fx return
or dirt pedalsim -> amp front
The best value all depends on where you buy it from. The Ampero Mini will cost you about £/$/€189 whereas the Ampero One will cost you £199. The only reason not to spend the extra tenner is if the small form factor is something you simply must have as the Ampero One is an absolute bargain at that price. The recently added Dumble amp sim is worth the £10 alone.
If only this had midi, even if was only to receive PC messages from something like an MS-3 or FC1010, then I'd be all over it. The CTRL/Exp offers a bit of external control, but probably not enough for my liking.
I have an Ampero mini, and received an email about updates to the footswith for it, and it mentions midi, but I don't know if it suits your purpose, so I just searched "does the Ampero mini have MIDI access?" I've copied the result result below:
For those with an interest in this topic Hotone have since confirmed the following: "Ampero Mini supports USB MIDI but cannot be controlled by external MIDI controller." Cheers.17 July 2023
@@castleanthrax1833 Sounds like the carry on necessary with the Amp Academy and Zoom Multistomps, and still no guarantee that it would work.
It can be controlled some people wrote !!!!
Looks like a decent unit for the price.
Eu gostei muito da GP200lt! Excelente simulador e bom preço
Very nice LT... how do you think it compares to an FM3T?
It would make a pretty handy backup IMO
@@LeonTodd yeah I think so. My FM9T has finally turned up!
@@Dooogz oh awesome! Gonna be a fun weekend then :p
Leon looking sunkissed brother. Hows that heatwave treating ya
Coming out of winter down here it's a nice change, for now anyway!
I’ve got the ampero stomp 11. I did have the ampero 1 which is what you’ve got to review. DONT BUY THE MINI. BUY THE STOMP 11. The Stomp 11 has a better processor engine inside it.
Yes it’s more expensive, but a lot better,compression on utube doesn’t show the difference. I use mine through the clean channel of a Marshall dsl 40 valve amp like a pedal platform. It’s a damn monster. Tbh it’s mind blowing damn I hated modelers until this.
lesson lead ampetro mini
Is this still the best value modeler in 2024?
Ho Tone. Hot One.
That ho got tone
Hoto Ne
I wish I had a Black Twin, IRL
The distortion is terrible
This is a couple times now that I've seen you give ups to the Ampero stuff. I don't know if I could sell my Fractal for it, but it's pretty amazing what has become available for the price these days. I would've slain 20 years ago for something like this. In a mix, all this Ampero and Mooer gear does the trick, bet. Oh....and Fractal needs to add a bigger screen with touch display, as well as keep the knows that old schoolers love if they want to stay king. That'll separate them from the pack. I don't know where else there is for them to go unless they merge or license with Eventide or Strymon and add proprietary algo's to their effects package that is already pretty stellar. Fractal powered by Eventide has a nice ring though.
it's cool to see stuff get pushed forward from both ends of the price spectrum. The hardest thing to get right is ultimately the sound, so I'm excited to see how good budget stuff can get tonally and how the user experience improves on the high end stuff. Gonna be a fun decade!