Anyone used a Blackstar ID-100TVP yet?

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

If so, how does it compare to a valve amp?

monquixote · August 2013

I think @ICBM did a bit of back to back testing and was quite impressed.

Lexie1 · August 2013

Not personally, but a mate whom I trust, really, really rates his. He has quite a collection of drool worthy Valve Amps and bought the 60 Watt Combo as a grab and go amp for Jam Nights, since owning it, he has not used a Valve Amp, even with his main band playing large venues.

Another Mate has got one for use at home and he usually uses an Engl Rig with his band, he too reckons it to be very impressive.

Hope that helps a bit?

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

Certainly interesting! Intruiged to hear that he hasn't used a valve amp since. The videos online make it sound kinda good, but things *always* sound different under a microphone.

relic245 · August 2013

Drew_fx said:

things *always* sound different under a microphone.

And depending on who's playing of course.

I'm kind of interested in trying one of these so I just watched 2 demo's on youtube, one made me want to get my coat and go try one the other just made me think I hope my guitar never sounds as bad as that.

You can't even get a true sense of what they are like in a music shop. The only real way is to own one for a couple of months which is why of course we get gas all of the time.

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

Which video made you wanna splurge out of interest?

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

Oh, and no FX loop.. fail. But apparentl there is a noise-gate for OD1 and OD2, which you can tweak.

monquixote · August 2013

I believe there is a software mod which can enable an fx loop at the expense of something else.

relic245 · August 2013

Sorry don't know what you mean by splurge - I think I'm getting old lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsemiO2suQ is the one that I didn't like

where as in this one:

there were imo some very useable tones there.

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

Splurge - An act of spending money freely or extravagantly: "the pre-Christmas splurge".

Yeah that first one sounds absolute guff! The Humphries one you posted does sound quite good, I'm not convinced they're using the microphone on the cab though. It sounds more like the emulated out to me, slightly muffled.

This one is pretty good, although a *lot* of bullshit waffle:

Problem is, for me at least, I'd want to hear some proper drop tuned riffery and less country, classic rock, or blues waffle. Less phaser too! Phaser after distortion sounds absolutely toss imho!

ICBM · August 2013

I think the presumption was that you would use the onboard FX instead of needing a loop - but I agree, it was a mistake. The firmware change turns the line in and the emulated out into an FX loop - which unfortunately means you lose the emulated out. Hopefully there will be a proper physical update at some point.

I was quite impressed by the ID60 head I tried, yes - A/B'd against a 50W Marshall DSL. It wasn't quite as loud or dynamic as the Marshall, although it was close. Oddly, it sounded better through a Valvestate cab with cheap speakers than through a full-size 4x12" with G12T-75s - I didn't have a V30 cab to try though. It was also very impedance-sensitive to final volume - if that's an issue you're going to need a 4-ohm cab.

The tone was good, although very definitely Blackstar with variations rather than reproducing different amps - if you don't like the 'Blackstar sound' you may be frustrated by it. The valve emulation settings and the gain presets worked well, but the EQ didn't really seem to do enough. I could get what I wanted out of it, but I didn't 'love' it - I'd be happy to use one if it was provided, but not own one... yet. Maybe they'll improve it - it's a first-generation product so far.

I was also impressed by the internal build quality - it looked like it would be reliable enough... the amp in question has been owned by a rehearsal studio I work for for at least six months so far, and no signs of trouble. The same place manages to kill Marshall Valvestates, solid-state Fenders and valve amps on a near-monthly basis so the Blackstar has at the very least proved itself more reliable than those, and I don't have any reason to think it won't carry on being.

relic245 · August 2013

I agree that the vid had way too many mediocre effects on but I guess they're just trying to show what is available.

I also am a fan of the blackstar sound and to me it could be a addition to my artisan, even switched to 10 watts is too loud for some of the very small places we play and like most valve amps doesn't start to sing until a certain volume.

Sometimes it may be good to just have a grab and go combo with some on board effects to make life easy. Ohh it almost makes me hanker for the days I used to go to gigs on the bus with a guitar in one hand and a sessionette in the other

ICBM · August 2013

If you're thinking of getting a small one I would still suggest going for the 60W one though - even if you don't think you need the volume - on the 60, the Resonance and Presence controls were far more useful and effective than the treble/middle/bass/ISF, and the 15 and 30W models don't have them. Even the 60 is quite small and light - the head version felt like it was made of nothing at all!

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

If I was gonna get one, it'd be the 100TVP.

I'm just ultra annoyed at my JVM having issues at the moment. Really think the very next time I go amp shopping, it's going to be a digital solution.

Grumpyrocker · August 2013

There is an FX loop.

The function was added in the most recent firmware update. It changes two other sockets into multi-use ones, allowing them to work as effects send and return.

From the manual:

"Switching on the Effects Loop transforms the Emulated Output and MP3/Line Input

sockets into ‘Preamp Out’ (for sending a signal to your external effects) and ‘Power

Amp In’ (for returning the effected signal to your amp)."

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

Epic. That's very cool of them to do!

ICBM · August 2013

Drew_fx said:

If I was gonna get one, it'd be the 100TVP.

I'm just ultra annoyed at my JVM having issues at the moment. Really think the very next time I go amp shopping, it's going to be a digital solution.

In the past I would have said that was risky - solid-state and digital amps have reliability issues too, and are often less easy to fix if something serious goes wrong - but things like the Blackstar are maybe changing that. I know Dave (ecc83) had been testing the ID series as close to destruction as you can manage in normal operation, and a bit beyond... and failing to break them. Really, most of the problems with solid-state are when things are built down to a budget rather than up to a standard, so if that culture is changing we should be able to look forward to amps which almost never cause trouble. And I'll be out of a job

.

Grumpyrocker · August 2013

Drew_fx said:

Epic. That's very cool of them to do!

It is. But now it means I'm thinking of getting one. Bloody GAS.

EdGrip · August 2013

I definitely want to try one out...

grungebob · August 2013

How are the cleans? Do they have the sparkle and warmth of a nice tube Amp and is the dynamic the same? Im happy with my current dt25 but without spending more for the hdpod in realistically stuck with just 2 sounds.

ICBM · August 2013

grungebob said:

How are the cleans? Do they have the sparkle and warmth of a nice tube Amp and is the dynamic the same? Im happy with my current dt25 but without spending more for the hdpod in realistically stuck with just 2 sounds.

I would say a combination of the two! The sound was very complex and valve-like, but the dynamics weren't quite up there with the real valve amp - possibly surprisingly, this was more noticeable on the cleans than the overdrive. And a Marshall DSL is not notable for its extremely deep, dynamic cleans either, to be honest...

But it was certainly less 'stiff' than most conventional solid-state amps. As with the overall volume, I think the dynamics were more noticeable with it running at 4 ohms than 8 too.

Drew_TNBD · August 2013

I generally don't like dynamic cleans. I like clean tones to be very even dynamically, with all notes in a strummed or picked chord having equal presence and grit. The DSL has some of the best cleans to my ears, and the JVM is great too.

I don't like driven Fendery cleans.

ICBM · August 2013

Drew_fx said:

I generally don't like dynamic cleans. I like clean tones to be very even dynamically, with all notes in a strummed or picked chord having equal presence and grit.

If they have grit then they're not cleans

.

By dynamic I don't mean touch-responsive - ie precise control of overdrive/breakup via picking strength - I mean literal dynamics... outright volume control via picking strength - I want to be able to go from quiet to very loud with no distortion, just with my right hand.

This is nearly the same thing as lack of compression, but the odd thing is that amps with a really uncompressed sound - like most solid-state amps when completely clean - actually sound too 'sterile' somehow. I like a *little* bit of something a bit like compression, or 'bounce' which seems to even accentuate the dynamics. Valve amps - especially with valve rectifiers - seem to have this better than solid-state, even when both are completely clean and well below maximum power so you would think power supply sag wouldn't come into it.

The Blackstar ID sounded to me as if it was compressed, but a bit more so and less naturally than the Marshall, it sounded more 'obviously' so. But if you're looking for Marshally light-breakup with even and uniform control of the amount of grit, I would say it will do that very well.

Drew_fx said:
I don't like driven Fendery cleans.

I do, but not as much as I like undriven Marshall cleans

. I always feel the Marshall tone is richer and punchier even when it's completely undistorted. I know most people don't think a Marshall can do that (or needs to be able to!) but to me it's one of the best amp sounds of all. The DSL and JVM don't do this as well as an old JMP either.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Anyone used a Blackstar ID-100TVP yet?

Comments