Numerous issues with Spark.
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I received my spark today after a 5 month wait only to find it has a lot of issues. If anyone could help out it would be greatly appreciated.
Firstly (and probably the most severe issue) is the random horrendous high pitch screech that the amp just randomly starts producing. It seems to be more common when headphones are plugged in but has also happened without. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern as to what causes it. The first time it happened I had the headphones on and it nearly blew my ear drums. The amp is then completely useless unless I turn it on and off again.
Secondly Is the the amp just freezing entirely. Again it is random and the amp is completely unusable when it happens. The top red lights stop flashing and the amp won’t produce any audio whatsoever. The only way to sort it is to turn it off and on again.
And the final issue (that I’ve noticed. I’m sure it won’t be the last) is it connecting to Bluetooth then just losing the connection and not reconnecting again until I turn the amp on and off again.
I’m sure I can’t be the only one with these issues and I really don’t want to have to send the amp back just to wait another couple of months for a replacement and then possibly have similar issues. Really disappointed with the amp and the absolutely shocking customer service of Positive Grid.
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@will_morris Holy Cow, that is a lot of serious issues! :O
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Sounds like potentially a bad unit. I'd contact support. Supposedly they have units on standby that they can send out so you don't have to wait another 5 months.
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All of these are known issues, all dealt with by a firmware update. Instructions in the first thread on this board.
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@will_morris Update the firmware using the latest one.
I experienced the same issue within the 1st hour of playing it and the firmware update fixed the "high pitch siren" issue for me.
The app has some bugs but they seem to update the app often and they had told me that they will be working on making it a lot better based upon Spark user recommendations.
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Well, another issue I'm having is the Firmware Updater just does NOT work.
I'm running it on a MacBook Pro, did EVERYTHING they explain and suggest, it just won't work. It opens a terminal session and that's it. Can't find the hardware and connect to it, or so it seems.
AND I can't find the Spark app on Mac app store either.
Uff.The Terminal session:
Schermata 2020-07-14 alle 11.59.55.png -
@drbaroni As I understand things you have to install the Spark ASIO driver first before your computer will recognize the amp. Then you can run the updater. You won't find a Spark Amp app on the Mac app store -- it's on the iOS app store. The Spark app is only available for iOS or Android, not OSx or Windows.
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@dhbailey said in Numerous issues with Spark.:
@drbaroni As I understand things you have to install the Spark ASIO driver first before your computer will recognize the amp. Then you can run the updater. You won't find a Spark Amp app on the Mac app store -- it's on the iOS app store. The Spark app is only available for iOS or Android, not OSx or Windows.
Ok, thank you, but... Where do I find ASIO driver for Mac? :-)
And anyway, the computer SEES and recognises the amp. I'm listening music through it from my computer at this very moment, and in the System preferences --> Audio I selected "Spark USB Audio", so it WAS there. :-) -
@drbaroni I had to install the ASIO driver first then the updater (both on a PC).
It didn't seem like the firmware was updated but I checked and it was updated.
The air raid siren sound went away as well :-)
If it doesn't work for you then maybe a friend with a PC wouldn't mind you doing a quick firmware update on it (it might save you a few headaches).
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Yep, I get it, but on Mac there's no such thing as Spark ASIO drivers. And the computer correctly sees it and shows it in System Preferences -> Audio. I opened a ticket with Support, got a different version of the updater, doesn't work either. Wrote them back with a screenshot of the "terminal" session it opens, let's see what happens.
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Yep, ASIO driver is for PC only I believe. Support will sort you out, I'm sure.
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I sure hope so. I'm exchanging e-mails with Felix of PG, but we're not going anywhere this way, I requested any form of real time chat as it would make things so much easier.
Anyway. Got a new jack today (mine broke two days ago) and I'm checking it on the amp. One of these days I'll make a comparison with my other amp (a Hughes & Kettner 30-R Edition Blue) to see how it fares in comparison. I'm sure the H&G will soung "drier" and "flatter" eq-wise, which is NOT a defect for me. But the Spark sounds maybe a bit better at very low volume, while I'm pretty sure the H&K would sound better at high volume. :-)
Based on my personal taste, of course!