RAS

I don't see many reviews on this amp so here's mine if it can help others choose! Bought at a good price in stock B (274€), that's what decided me even though I was already very convinced by the ID core 40 V2 that I also own (see review), Taken to start rehearsing and more if needed and not to carry the little brother around. Demanding beginner, rock/pop on pacifica 112, I won't talk in detail about the features that everyone can read here and there, but about the feeling of several people in real situations. The 6 offered channels are very convincing, progressive and versatile: None to throw away in my opinion, it's zero hassle with pedals or a computer to quickly find something that sounds good and memorize it. Beginners like others will spend more time playing. One of the rare amps to offer factory presets (3x3 expandable to 36) interesting and intelligently assigned from the start, if you want to touch nothing or almost nothing. (Seems to be a constant with Blackstar) No TVP but the 6 channels still use two lamp emulations: 6L6 and EL34. The effects are quality, don't overuse them even if they highlight the stereo well, and let the preamp and its separate Gain/volume setting independent of the master speak: you get a classic behavior of compression, saturation, even at low volume, you can manage clean/crunch by the guitar volume, but what's the point with all the memories available.. The idea of having two channels per type really covers a wide range of sound from super clean to the most violent OD. Good reaction to the 5 positions of a strat, the differences are well marked, it's not an amp that will erase the differences between guitars as I have read. Tested next to a Katana 50 side by side and from the opinion of several musician colleagues (and recordings made) there's no comparison, the Core is much cleaner and musical while being set in 10 seconds: in fact it sounds "studio", which for some is annoying: however it lives and stands out from the mix without spending hours adjusting so... I think you have to aim and compare to the Katana 100w which I hope is much better than the 50. Another alternative the ID TVP30, probably even better if you forget the stereo, power and less complete equalizer. Tested a Zoom G1on multi-effect at the input, nothing to report, on the clean channels it sounds very clean, but the effects and internal voices are better. If you add presence and resonance settings (hidden), the perfectly transparent stereo effects loop, the well thought out looper, the basic pedal supplied, the power of the beast, its ultra light weight, its good finish, the ISF, the tuner, the two settings per effect, the USB functions and all the (little known) possibilities of the optional FS12 Switch coupled with the original switch: that's a lot of qualities. I play next to a Bughera V22 infinium, and unsurprisingly it's very complementary, less roots but much more versatile, probably less good if you push "everything to the max" in saturation and less dynamic but the lamp fan testers and others qualified the blackstar as "alive", "reactive" and the sound "very clean": Personally, beginner, that's enough for me! Good guitar.