In-depth review?
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Are there any videos Of people USING The Spark out there? I have seen the sales endorsements and overview walkthroughs on YouTube: meh.
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There are literally about 30 videos on youtube.
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@diegofiorillo-uk There is a lot of talk about the feature set and there is very little actual hands on where they dig in to the feature set.
Am I wrong? -
I’m watching one from GuitarZero2Hero right now that goes into some detail on the app. Actually answered a question I posted here that hasn’t been answered.
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Every video I have seen have been folks that have had the Spark for weeks already = paid endorsements. I have not heard a negative comment yet in any of them. Looking forward to an actual review.
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@johnnyj71 said in In-depth review?:
Every video I have seen have been folks that have had the Spark for weeks already = paid endorsements. I have not heard a negative comment yet in any of them. Looking forward to an actual review.
Yeah true, however you can clearly hear it and see most of the functions to be able to come with some sort of your own conclusion. My conclusion? This thing is amazing.
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@gdm said in In-depth review?:
I’m watching one from GuitarZero2Hero right now that goes into some detail on the app. Actually answered a question I posted here that hasn’t been answered.
Check out Noelle de Santos demo on Youtube. Some pretty accurate Metallica sounds among others.
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I plan on putting up a review. Comparative reviews to other products are useful and we will be playing these things in our homes where the amp will actually be used
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Cant agree more. I want some actual reviews where they talk about the bad stuff as well.
With the paid review ㅡ its true they introduce lots of stuff, but its also true their reviews are not reliable because if they do put out bad reviews, they lose their support from the company.
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@jeonhm0730 for sure. i;ll put something up and report anything that isnt working properly. i;m not a good guitar player, but am a bit of a sound snob and have an amp to compare the Spark to.
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@joezing
I received my Spark and I am impressed. I have been most looking forward to the feature that ‘Listens’ to what you play and construct a backing track. I am an acoustic fingerstyle palyer and it tracks very well!
The backing track software offers only 1 style (rock) and more styles are needed. Interesting note, though, is that when it plays back the progression in a style other than what you are used to, it opens up a lot of musical ideas! -
I received my spark last night. Ordered it on October 30. I'm very impressed. Can't stop playing it. The sound is rich even at low volumes. The app works well although I haven't gotten it to recognize any of the songs in my music library. It just says it can not locate the song on youtube. Its no matter since I've always played and learned songs by ear anyway. Playing songs through the phone sounds amazing with deep lows and piercing highs. I don't know how I only paid 179 for this! I played right along with some songs and it sounds great. I accessed the tonecloud and got some of the amp sounds I'd been looking to dial in. I could spend days tweaking the sounds this thing offers. It really is like having access to all the best amps and pedals. I've always loved the tube screamer and there it is front and center and to my ear a faithful recreation of that classic. Pretty sweet. And the ability to have tone at low volumes is huge as I have 3 kids who are usually asleep when I jam late at night or early in the morning. I cranked it up this morning and its also plenty loud and clear at full volume. Only thing I've noticed is the amp's ability to really roll off the volume pot and still hear the low signal from the strings can get cut off, almost like a compressor if you play too softly. But I mean really soft so its not a big deal. I have all kinds of impressions but that's all i feel like writing right now. I was in the same boat as everyone else waiting constantly for this amp to come. But I'm glad I did. Its worth every penny if you ask me.
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@coreybrandes said in In-depth review?:
I received my spark last night. Ordered it on October 30. I'm very impressed. Can't stop playing it. The sound is rich even at low volumes. The app works well although I haven't gotten it to recognize any of the songs in my music library. It just says it can not locate the song on youtube. Its no matter since I've always played and learned songs by ear anyway. Playing songs through the phone sounds amazing with deep lows and piercing highs. I don't know how I only paid 179 for this! I played right along with some songs and it sounds great. I accessed the tonecloud and got some of the amp sounds I'd been looking to dial in. I could spend days tweaking the sounds this thing offers. It really is like having access to all the best amps and pedals. I've always loved the tube screamer and there it is front and center and to my ear a faithful recreation of that classic. Pretty sweet. And the ability to have tone at low volumes is huge as I have 3 kids who are usually asleep when I jam late at night or early in the morning. I cranked it up this morning and its also plenty loud and clear at full volume. Only thing I've noticed is the amp's ability to really roll off the volume pot and still hear the low signal from the strings can get cut off, almost like a compressor if you play too softly. But I mean really soft so its not a big deal. I have all kinds of impressions but that's all i feel like writing right now. I was in the same boat as everyone else waiting constantly for this amp to come. But I'm glad I did. Its worth every penny if you ask me.
Thanks for this. If I had been one of the many that canceled ...I would be pretty sick right now.
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I received my Spark yesterday (early day 1 order, probably within 30 min of the preorders going live, my order number was 317). I thought I would provide some initial reactions as an educated consumer.
I would not consider this a review of sound quality, and I am not going to demonstrate me playing (you are all welcome). I am not a very good guitarist, and I am not good at dialing in tones, so it would not be a fair review.
What I will do is provide my initial impressions as well as comparative thoughts against the Yamaha THR10ii, which I know many people would compare to the Spark. I owned the original THR10 in the past, and bought the THR10ii while awaiting the Spark delivery with the thought of eventually keeping 1 of them.
Disclaimer: It is brand new, and I certainly don’t know all of the ins-and-outs, so I am sure people will find some inaccuracies!
On the positive side:
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It is beautiful. Seriously a nice piece of equipment. It is built really well and if you simply looked and touched it you would not be surprised if you were told it was $500+. All of the knobs/switches are top notch and feel very substantial. Really, both the Spark and THR are well built, but overall on the form/quality the Spark is an easy A+ (maybe the THR is an A).
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It comes with a USB cable but not an Aux cable (the original THR10 had both, the new THR10ii had neither) as as well as the power brick. I am in the US, so only received the US-type plug as expected.
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The app is beautiful looking and super-easy to navigate. It is head-and-shoulders better than the THR app visually, and the Spark has much more configurability than the Yamaha. Changing presets is easier, the number of models/effects is greater, and Spark has built-in jamming tools that don’t exist with the Yamaha. The 1 thing Yamaha has that Spark does not is the capability to change cabs (at least to my early knowledge).
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Did I mention it is beautiful? (While I do like the appearance of the THR, I think the Spark looks even nicer.)
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It sounds very good, full and rich. I don’t want to say great, because as mentioned I am not good at dialing in tones, and my playing is even worse! But the presets are significantly better sounding “out of the box” than Yamaha’s presets. Also, the output level of each preset is much more consistent than Yamaha’s levels. Changing presents in the Spark does not cause sudden volume spikes, at least in the ones I’ve used so far. With the Yamaha, some are soft, others are very loud. Of course, you can edit, but this is just early impression stuff.
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It actually pushes air. I had it sitting very close to me for a while yesterday and noticed it pumping air onto my hand as I played.
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It is bigger/heavier than the THR, and sounds like a larger and more powerful unit. It is definitely louder, and cleaner when turned up. I’ve not yet really cranked it up, but you won’t be disappointed with volume.
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The interaction between the amp and controller (I use an iPhone X) is solid. Switching presets is quick. There is a very slight pause, but it does change presets faster than the THR.
Now, some of the shortcomings:
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I am finding that I have to connect the app and the Spark every time I power on. I’ve not yet determined if this is by design, a bug, or even mandatory in the way Apple apps work. I’ve not used Spark with an Android device yet. To be fair, the THR has similar connectivity requirements. This could also very well be user error. Plus, in experimenting, I’ve been in-and-out of apps, connecting back-and-forth between Spark and THR, etc.
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I have had a few app disconnections and have also had to power cycle the Spark a couple of times. It seemed to have frozen up, but it could have been user error again.
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Having only iPhone/Android apps is a pretty substantial downside in my opinion. The THR offers the phone/tablet apps as well as Mac/PC apps. I generally use the Mac app and find it a much better experience. My wife has an iPad and I’ve used the iPad app with the THR, but have yet to try the Spark via iPad, I am sure it will be better than the phone app (easier own the eyes, easier to adjust).
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I can’t stand the tiny headphone volume knob. Yes, small detail, but it is really tiny and when you have cables plugged in, not the easiest to use.
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While on the topic of size, I hate the small 1/8” headphone jack. The new THR also has an 1/8” jack, and I very very very very much preferred the 1/4” jack on the original THR.
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I only used the tuner 2x, but it seemed to be laggy and not overly responsive. Could have been user error, but getting in and out of the tuner caused me to have to reboot the amp on 1 occasion.
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Finally, here’s what might be my biggest problem with the Spark because I enjoy experimenting with 3rd party amp sims such as Scuffham S-Gear and Helix Native. I have yet to figure out how, or if, I can use Spark as an interface. Don’t get me wrong, I am able to connect it to my Mac and get sounds and I am able to record using Garageband. However, it does not seem to function as a plug-and-play interface like the THR does, and the sounds I do get are very very noisy. I will say that this is very likely my fault in not knowing what to do, but the THR has definitely been a better experience relative to being an interface. When I plug in the THR I see a 2in/2out device in the Mac Audio App. When doing the same with Spark I see 2 separate devices, one being 1in and the other being 2out.
I am sure there is more, both positive and negative, but this should keep all of you busy for a while!
People will pick apart different amps, and likely compare Spark to the THR, Katana, Katana Air, Vox Adio, and others. At $300, this is a seriously strong competitor. You really can’t go wrong. If you are an early-bird and paid less, all the better!
Oh, did I mention it is beautiful?
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Thanks for the honest review John. Another user said the Android app was pretty awful. Hopefully they can iron stuff out quickly.
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@johndagostino Thanks John for the terrific review...I have received my Spark, been playing all afternoon and, overall, have found it to be everything promised. I agree with all your positive and negative comments. I also tried the tuner and found it to be awkward...I am wondering why they included a tuner?
I tried running the amp through Reaper. The ASIO installed and worked the first time. Probably my lack of knowledge, but I could not get the record volume up. I actually found it better to mic the amp and record though my Focusrite audio interface...has anyone else tried the USB connection?
Overall, I was two days away from pulling the plug and I am very happy I did not!
