NAD: Blackstar IDX-100

grayn

Over the years I have swung between valve and solid state amps.  But as both analog solid state and digital modelling amps have improved so much over the years, I have pretty much moved away from valve amps now.  My last was a Marshall DSL40CR but I started to dislike it's tone overall and instead used my Line 6 Catalyst 60.  Which IMO is a very underrated amp.  Admittedly, it's effects section is unnecessarily fiddly but it's basic tones are pretty good.  But I wanted to find another combo to beat it.  After much interweb research I fancied trying out a Blackstar IDX combo.  So I went to Reidys yesterday, to try one out.  When I got there I spotted a NUX Mighty Space, which intrigued me, so plugged it in.  But TBH I didn't like it at all.  So many folk on youtube rave about it but I was completely underwhelmed.  Then I had a go on a Blackstar ID Core 20 V4, which although diminutive, sounded really good.  Finally, they had an IDX-50 set up, so I had a go.  It took about 2 mins to get the sounds I wanted and was really impressed by all the amp voices available, through clean, crunch and Overdrive.  You also get 3 valve types and I quickly decided the EL84 type were most to my liking.

For those who hate too much wizardry on an amp, I think the IDK amps offer a lot of choice and make it as simple as possible to access and save your choices.  Effects are very good and quite varied.  For performance, I would definitely recommend the additional FS-12 or FS-18 footswitches.  The Cabrig output is very good for recording and live usage.  My one gripe is, like most combos these days, you can't run an extra cab from the outputs.  I know it's not really necessary, but I'd like the option.  This is a great amp though for very little cash and I got it for a Sale price.  It does outshine my Line 6 in pretty much every category.  So it's a great buy for me.  As the IDX-100 was less than £20 more than the IDX-50, I went for the 100.

fretmeister

Nice! 

When I was doing a music charity thing a lot of the kids had small Blackstar ID amps - earlier ones - and I thought they sounded great. And more to the point, the kids liked them enough to be inspired to play more.

ecc83

At the risk of inviting a bllkiing from Impman! You COULD hook in another cab but since you would really have to cut the speaker cable and "choc-bloc"it you would invalidate any warranty. I also guess you would have to be careful not to short the speaker feed. 

Dave.

Nikc

My son has the ID-X 50 which he is really enjoying. We spent some time dialling in a really good base clean setting - turns the amp into a great pedal platform. On the whole I've been really impressed by it.

impmann

ecc83 said:

At the risk of inviting a bllkiing from Impman! You COULD hook in another cab but since you would really have to cut the speaker cable and "choc-bloc"it you would invalidate any warranty. I also guess you would have to be careful not to short the speaker feed. 

Dave.

Tsk Tsk, Dave.

I'd also add that you'd need to understand impedance matching, so that you don't inadvertently cause damage to the unit - and yes, such a mod would invalidate the warranty. 

ecc83

impmann said:

ecc83 said:

At the risk of inviting a bllkiing from Impman! You COULD hook in another cab but since you would really have to cut the speaker cable and "choc-bloc"it you would invalidate any warranty. I also guess you would have to be careful not to short the speaker feed. 

Dave.

Tsk Tsk, Dave.

I'd also add that you'd need to understand impedance matching, so that you don't inadvertently cause damage to the unit - and yes, such a mod would invalidate the warranty. 

I consider myself suitable bollkd!

Dave.

monquixote

fretmeister said:

Nice! 

When I was doing a music charity thing a lot of the kids had small Blackstar ID amps - earlier ones - and I thought they sounded great. And more to the point, the kids liked them enough to be inspired to play more.

I used to have one of the little ID amps and I thought it was very good considering the budget price. (I know a few people on here hate them)

Certainly preferred it to the much more expensive Yamaha THR when I A/Bed them.

ecc83

I bought my son an ID 40 years ago and he has lugged it around several places and now has it in Le Havre. Just keeps going. 

Dave.

Kebabkid

Cameron Cooper has just released a great demo of the unit and it sounds impressive and I can't believe it has all the features and comes in at under £300!

ecc83

Ooooo! BIGGER than I thought? That or Cooper is a tiny,tiny man!

Dave.

Kebabkid

ecc83 said:

Ooooo! BIGGER than I thought? That or Cooper is a tiny,tiny man!

Dave.

It is, isn't it and almost like a Line 6 HD board.

grayn

Looks a fine pedal.
I bought an F-12 footswitch for my amp.  it only lasted one day before going dead.  Hmmmmph!
Something to do with firmware apparently.
Awaiting a new one.

darthed1981

fretmeister said:

Nice! 

When I was doing a music charity thing a lot of the kids had small Blackstar ID amps - earlier ones - and I thought they sounded great. And more to the point, the kids liked them enough to be inspired to play more.

Yeah they are neat - great fun noodling tones.

grayn

Just to clarify, IMO the IDX-100 is not a kids amp, it's a really excellent combo for rehearsal, recording and gigging.  Punches well above it's price would suggest.

JRgtar

I’ve got the 50 watt version - great amp in my opinion!

lysander

I got myself and IDX floor 1 and I think it sounds fantastic through headphones, which is always a challenge.
In fact I got a helix stadium at the same time and while it’s much more capable and I’m sure can sound better with enough time put in, I’m yet to find a sound I like nearly as much as what I got on the IDX in 5 minutes