The Big Digital Amp Showdown...

darthed1981

Thinking for sometime of upgrading my current "champ" Katana 50 to a more sizeable and single-box amp that can do everything from home to gigging, the K50 CAN do this, but let's assume I do buy another...

Well we have the current and clear champion of sales in the Digital Amp arena, the affordable, well specced and (some of us think, others not so much) excellent sounding Boss Katana series.

Pros..

Good sounds, simple interface, good software, still quite cheap... the 100w combo is £329.

...but now, what line through yonder window breaks, a Blackstar Silverline...

The successor to the TVP series, maintains a similar control layout but with clever new DSP etc.

I tried one today, and it sounded very good indeed (though only had the briefest of noodles)...

Pros...

Sounds very good, great speaker, looks gorgeous, sounds like it would be loud, but 100w combo is a pricey £579...

Where before, Katana Mk2 seemed to be the obvious choice, now I'm not so sure.

Anyone else tried one of the new Blackstar Silverline SS amps?

Of course, at £579, there are lots of gigging valve options, but none offer a one box home amp solution (i.e. you need pedals on the floor)

Thoughts?  We can become consumer champions here chaps!

Legionreturns

Personally, I think with the Katana mkii launch and Silverline launch coming so close together, Boss have actually lost ground. 

The blackstar does indeed sound fantastic, and the one thing holding the Katana back; the lacl of a dedicated footswitch, has just got worse. The GAFC was always old tech borrowed from older amps, only now they've taken away even more functionality by trying to make it fit the new Kat, removing tap tempo and the loop controls. 

If it were me in your position Ed, I'd pick up a small valve amp and a good mfx box. My Bassbreaker 15 with HXFX running in front is excellent, but there are many other amps that could do the job well. H&K have always been a good choice for home with redbox di and the ability to turn off the speaker. Blackstar's HT series are great too. 

monquixote

I think you would have to be nuts to buy a Katana V2 if you already have a V1. From what I can see most of what they have done is break out more of the functionality you could get from a laptop onto the front panel. Nothing I've heard suggests it's not exactly the same DSP and algorithms internally. 

You can argue that the Line6, Marshall, and Fender equivalents might be a better buy than a Katana for someone that doesn't have one, but given you already have it's again probably a waste of time. 

It's possible the Silverline is a genuine upgrade though this might well be down to the upgraded speaker more than anything. It certainly sounds good in the Andertons video.

One thing I will say for the Katana as a single box is it's essentially a GT-100 internally so it's effects section is superb at any price. (In 2012 people were playing £470 just for the FX section in one of these!). The Blackstar FX used to be a bit crap, but they may have been improved. 

If you really want to step up to a truly different level you are probably going to have to look at a GT-1000 or Helix with a power amp, but that screws up the one box thing. 

Roland

monquixote said:

If you really want to step up to a truly different level you are probably going to have to look at a GT-1000 or Helix with a power amp, but that screws up the one box thing. 

Not if you rack things. There are plenty of people with AxeFX or Helix, plus a power amp, in a 3U or 4U short rack box. 

darthed1981

Legionreturns said:

Personally, I think with the Katana mkii launch and Silverline launch coming so close together, Boss have actually lost ground. 

The blackstar does indeed sound fantastic, and the one thing holding the Katana back; the lacl of a dedicated footswitch, has just got worse. The GAFC was always old tech borrowed from older amps, only now they've taken away even more functionality by trying to make it fit the new Kat, removing tap tempo and the loop controls. 

If it were me in your position Ed, I'd pick up a small valve amp and a good mfx box. My Bassbreaker 15 with HXFX running in front is excellent, but there are many other amps that could do the job well. H&K have always been a good choice for home with redbox di and the ability to turn off the speaker. Blackstar's HT series are great too. 

Problem with something like a Bassbreaker (or a Vox AC which I'd love to have) is that at the volume I play at home 99% of the time they really dont sound any better, if not a bit worse, than a Kat 50.

I'm very tempted by the silverline though was very impressed at first strum.

Voxman

Try an old blue series Vox Valvetronix if you can find one...valve digital hybrid.  Fairly big, heavy, older tehnology...but still hard to beat. No complex menus or pc connection, everything straight from the amp. Mines an AD120VTX 2x12 stereo with birch ply cab, closed back and Neodymium speakers. I used to gig it with the matching AD212 cab and VC12 floor controller...best gigging rig I've ever had. 

uncledick

Similar to @Voxman I'm currently using an old Tonelab SE (same era as his amp) which feeds into the PA.  No stage speaker as such but a bit more guitar in the monitor at my side.  At home I just plug it into one of the DXR10s.  I tried a Katana at a show last year and, despite me not expecting much, it still disappointed.

Voxman

uncledick said:

Similar to @Voxman I'm currently using an old Tonelab SE (same era as his amp) which feeds into the PA.  No stage speaker as such but a bit more guitar in the monitor at my side.  At home I just plug it into one of the DXR10s.  I tried a Katana at a show last year and, despite me not expecting much, it still disappointed.

Because I'm an oldie with a bad back I just can't carry the AD120VTX  anymore so similar to @uncledick ;;the Tonelab SE is what I now gig with too, just plugged straight into the PA. I also have the later TLLE - smaller, lighter, with more Global amp/line options (one with additional EQ) and some minor amp/effect differences, but with no A/B switching and only a single expression pedal. But for gigging versatility, floor control and tone, the TLSE is still hard to beat.   

p90fool

Just to throw a spanner in the works, I battled with a 100w Katana for months trying to get it to sit well in the mix with a dynamic, versatile band, then I borrowed the 50w and it worked fine straight away. 

Not an earth shattering tone or particularly realistic dynamics, but the smaller box and speaker magnet seemed to suit it better in a real live situation. 

I never met a Blackstar I liked and have no idea about the new one, but if you like your Katana and you're thinking of "upgrading" to the new 100 I'd honestly just grab another used 50w for a hundred quid or so and run a pair of them for gigs. 

Not much help I know, but a different perspective!

professorben

p90fool said:

Just to throw a spanner in the works, I battled with a 100w Katana for months trying to get it to sit well in the mix with a dynamic, versatile band, then I borrowed the 50w and it worked fine straight away. 

Not an earth shattering tone or particularly realistic dynamics, but the smaller box and speaker magnet seemed to suit it better in a real live situation. 

I never met a Blackstar I liked and have no idea about the new one, but if you like your Katana and you're thinking of "upgrading" to the new 100 I'd honestly just grab another used 50w for a hundred quid or so and run a pair of them for gigs. 

Not much help I know, but a different perspective!

So many options with that set up, Wet/Dry, Stereo, One Clean/One Dirty.

 One angled to the band one angled to the front etc etc. 

I love this idea. 

darthed1981

professorben said:

p90fool said:

Just to throw a spanner in the works, I battled with a 100w Katana for months trying to get it to sit well in the mix with a dynamic, versatile band, then I borrowed the 50w and it worked fine straight away. 

Not an earth shattering tone or particularly realistic dynamics, but the smaller box and speaker magnet seemed to suit it better in a real live situation. 

I never met a Blackstar I liked and have no idea about the new one, but if you like your Katana and you're thinking of "upgrading" to the new 100 I'd honestly just grab another used 50w for a hundred quid or so and run a pair of them for gigs. 

Not much help I know, but a different perspective!

So many options with that set up, Wet/Dry, Stereo, One Clean/One Dirty.

 One angled to the band one angled to the front etc etc. 

I love this idea. 

Has some merit for sure, I'm guessing using an ABY box to split your guitar signal?