New BluGuitar Amp X - Holy $#!%

deathbyguitar

Power User
If there were ever anything that could pry me away from my Fractal fanboy life, this would probably be it.

https://www.bluguitar.com/amp-x/en/


I'm really intrigued by the idea of this whole Nanotube thing. Not quite solid state but also not super duper heavy like old school tube amps. This sort of thing looks truly innovative. I wanna see more non-modeling amps embrace this kind of approach in the future, opting for completely original designs and sounds instead of trying to sound like another damn Plexi or whatever. Granted, that's not what this is doing but it really makes me hopeful for a future where all this stuff is smaller and lighter.

Your thoughts?
 
Interesting use of “neural” in their naming of components.

Digital modelers have had tubes in them a long time now. My first ever device was an RP20 with a 12AX7 to “warm it up.” Korg keyboards had a tube for the same reason.

I personally don’t see the need for a tube if you’re modeling it accurately.

Again, more gear is better as people can find what resonates with them. It’d be neat to see this in action.
 
Interesting use of “neural” in their naming of components.

Digital modelers have had tubes in them a long time now. My first ever device was an RP20 with a 12AX7 to “warm it up.” Korg keyboards had a tube for the same reason.

I personally don’t see the need for a tube if you’re modeling it accurately.

Again, more gear is better as people can find what resonates with them. It’d be neat to see this in action.


Yeah "neural" is such a buzzword these days. But if I read correctly (and maybe I didn't), it doesn't look like there's digital modeling involved for the amp tones. But we'll have to wait to see some hands-on reviews and such. What a time to be alive.
 
The Amp1 sounded pretty dang good. This one, with non-M style amps available, well that could be a real viable option for smaller stage live settings (and fly gigs) in particular.
 
This thing has Neural, AND it has DNA!

It's also "fexible", "gound" breaking and ready for the "futue".

And that was only the first two paragraphs. Take my money!
 
This is nothing new. It's just a small high voltage tube with a filament. These have been around for ages. If I remember correctly, they were developed for backup units created to resist EMP attacks.
It's not even high voltage. Vcc is 5 to 80 volts.

It's like the old Vox Tonelab stuff except with a Class-D power amp. The Vox used a 12AX7 into a dummy load as a virtual power amp and then amplified that signal. The Amp X uses Korg Nutubes into a dummy load and the a Class-D power amp.
 
That "Dynamic IR's" marketing spiel on their site

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Dynamic IRs? What's that?
We already have freq response, impact and phase in there? Isn't that already dynamic?
If there was some improvement on the IRs side, I'd be happy. These libraries of thousands of IRs, made of only a few speaker types make me still wonder why that is.
The over 200 amps are like a paradise garden, almost every amp is awesone and it's fun to walk the list. In comparison the IRs part is like hell, too much crap in the list, it's no fun to walk through.
 
Dynamic IRs might mean interpolation between two other IRs, but if so, that's not really how microphone recording works unfortunately.
For example: a mic at 2" from the center will not sound the same as a 50/50 blend of a mic that's on center and one at 4" from center.
 
I don't know if I would call a solid state amp "innovative". But if he really pulls off the kind of configurability that he's claiming he will, that will be impressive. That kind of flexibility usually requires DSP.

Regarding the tube, the AmpX will have a nanotube in the output stage, just like his AMP1, but I'm skeptical that plays an measurable role in shaping the tone.

I got to spend some time with Thomas this week and we talked about analog vs digital. He seems like a bright guy, so good luck to him.
 
If there were ever anything that could pry me away from my Fractal fanboy life, this would probably be it.

https://www.bluguitar.com/amp-x/en/


I'm really intrigued by the idea of this whole Nanotube thing. Not quite solid state but also not super duper heavy like old school tube amps. This sort of thing looks truly innovative. I wanna see more non-modeling amps embrace this kind of approach in the future, opting for completely original designs and sounds instead of trying to sound like another damn Plexi or whatever. Granted, that's not what this is doing but it really makes me hopeful for a future where all this stuff is smaller and lighter.

Your thoughts?
Modelers have been trying to sound like plexis because they know 99.9% of their customers only want their modelers to sound like that. Guitar players are arch conservative. A new sound? Heaven's forbid! Can't have that! Its gotta sound like those classic recordings of the 60's and 70's. Nothing else will do!
 
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