I had a handful of Blackstar products (a.o., the Dual-HT) before but never liked the shrillness and harshness in their sound. I had bought them because of their reasonable price and because I felt that - posibilitywise and ergonomicswise - Blackstar always knew very well what guitarists need/desire. Sold them all again. Comes in the Amped 2 that I bought last month: this one will stay with me for a very long time.
I have bought the Amped 2 and wanted to give it a try because of its vast possibilities, completeness, versatility and attractivity ON PAPER (or, yes, laptop screen) but, given previous experience, I had little expectations regarding its sound... that is, until I received it. It has turned out to be the best and most versatile sounding preamp-amp I ever had (I am 63 years old and over the years have had DOZENS of preamps and amps).
You can read or see elsewhere what the Amped 2 all can do. Below are a few personal remarks that I hope may be worthwile addditions.
PRO:
- It is VERY PRACTICAL, compact, lightweight. Bye bye other pedals, cables and wallwarts!
- you can find (or at least approach) almost all clean and crunch and overdrive sounds a (reasonable) quitarist may wish.
- Class D amplification is very well suited for electric guitar, much better than the more common class AB transistor amplification (H&K, please note). I also very much like the TC Electronics BAM 200 and Harley Benton GPA-100, both are class D amps.
- The Amped 2 has only very little (electrical) noise. This includes the overdrive settings (that is, as long as no "garbage" is put in, of course) AND the built-in effects!!! This is rare.
- To me the built-in effects just sound (very) fine. The setting possibilities have some limitations but are fine to me.
- If you turn any control knob the changing setting is shown very clear in the small display screen (for a few seconds). Handy in low light situations.
LIMITATIONS:
Even if in reality many, if not all, of its sounds are created "digitally", the Amped 2 and its ergonomics are built as if it were an analogue amp. To me this is part of its attractivity (real turning control knobs, real switches, straightdforwardness, no numbers or names of memory patches to remember), but to some this may be an unacceptable limitation. You can immediately switch in or out an effect or the drive section, but you cannot switch from one setting to a completely different setting. For this you would need a preamp or amp with numerous programmable presets. This the Amped2 is not.
CONTRA (one substantial)
If you switch the drive toggle switch from "drive" to "fuzz" the amplification is haevily increased which results in a acoustic shock and PU feedback. So, if you intend to make that switchit is advsed ot first reduce the gain or master volume. This should not be. The fuzz-settting-related higher amplification should have been attenuated, i.m.o.
CONTRA ( just a few very small nits picked)
- Like with all other amps that need it, the ventilation fan does make some mechanical noise. This is not disturbing, inaudible in most real musicians life situations, but audible (upto 2-3 meter) in otherwise completely silent rooms.
- Yes, the toggle (tumbler) switches are VERY small and their settings are difficult to see, even in daylight.
- I would have preferred a slightly longer reverb decay time (hall instead of only room).
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL: e*n*j*o*y !!!
