NAD Blackstar 1W

[Cliff]

Just picked this up as an impulse by on a trip to GC. (I went because they're having a clearance sale on all Mesa Boogie stuff - worth checking out if you didn't know about it).

All the Boogie stuff was way out of my price range, but this Blackstar is a great little practice amp. It's a tube amp, works with headphones (my wife and kids danced for joy), and has a line input for MP3 and (I'm hoping) my metronome. I've had a lot of fun tonight playing with the different tones I can get out of the thing. It was around $350 including CA tax. I also tried the Micro Terror - I think $200+tax - but to my ears this one was worth the extra money. If you're looking for a practice amp, check it out.

[Twitch]

Should make us a TITillating video of it.

[Jayster]

Congrats, I guess... Really 1W - gonna use a hot plate with that

I just don't understand this trend in extremely low wattage amps, I guess maybe it has somewhat of a tube response as opposed to using any of the PC based software? What tube(s) does it have? Maybe 1 12ax7?

[Cliff]

Twitch - long time no speak. No vid I'm afraid.

It has two tubes - ECC83 and ECC82, though I've never heard of them. The only software amps I've used are those in GarageBand, and this is definitely better than that. But for me it's more about convenience. The family computer is in a family place, whereas this I can have in the bedroom and switch on without bothering anyone else. My wife and kids are very happy with it . It's one of only two tube amps I've seen that can be used with headphones, which sealed the deal for me.

[Jayster]

Twitch - long time no speak. No vid I'm afraid.

It has two tubes - ECC83 and ECC82, though I've never heard of them.

ok cool. The ecc83 is = 12ax7, and the ecc82 is = 12au7. 2 preamp tubes - should give a creamy saturation. The power section would be SS, which makes sense. Can you give us a sound bite?

[Cliff]

Sure thing. It may take a day or two. It's great for what it is, but after playing loud through my Boogie today, you know, there *is* a difference.

[straycat]

I would love to hear it.

[Cliff]

You got it .

I'm afraid the playing is bad even by my own low standards....

This is going direct from the headphone/line-out socket into the computer. Apparently there's some sort of cab emulation going on. There's also reverb, especially towards the end of the clip (at about 50%). There's a boost mode that, I guess, adds the second tube. The first part of the clip is clean-ish without the boost, the second part with. Listening again tonight through the headphones, the more distorted sounds seemed a little 'buzzy', and maybe had something 'artifical' about them. I'd be interest to know what you think.

[Twitch]

I'll watch the vid later with great antitcipation. I have the ht5 mini stack. I like it a lot for what it is. It's a 12ax7 and 6ac7(if memory serves me correctly). I've spent $500 on worse things. Your 12ax7 is your preamp tube and the 12au7 is your power tube. Any kind of boost would be accomplished with an alternate path for the way the 12ax7 is biased(unlikely in a cheap amp) or more likely a ss op amp added to the preamp path.

[straycat]

Kind of hard to tell on my end really maybe just the way its filtered thru whatever program you are running.

[Jayster]

The clean sounds were nice a little bright sounding, but with good bite!!! The OD stage was lower gain than I was expecting more of a 'fizzy' British tone. Thanks for sharing, when I find some free time I may try to 'test drive' one of these, but I'm a believer in higher wattage amps, I don't feel like you get a good speaker response without moving the cones.... Congrats, it sounds like it was a good solution for your needs.... Enjoy

[tinribs]

Good work on the Santana!

[Cliff]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I think it sounds a little better on the cleanish settings. There's an EQ control that goes from US to British. I normally like Mesa Boogies, but with this amp I find I prefer the EQ dialed towards 'British'. Most of the overdrive in that clip was with the gain at about 1 o'clock. I think I may have put it all the way up for a little bit towards the end. Jayster, this definitely sounds better through the headphones or into the computer (via the cab emulation) than it does through the real speaker, which I think is 8" and definitely sounds 'boxy'.

[straycat]

Try a 4X12 I'll bet it can move the cones.

[deflep]

It's a fun little amp. This clip is recorded direct using the speaker emulator.