Hi! I hope you don’t mind giving some advice on buying a desktop amp. I’m talking basically about those amp sims with full range mini-speakers. I’ve been playing for years, but I’ve been using amp sims. I’ve previously owned tube amps, but found them inconvenient for practicing and always ended up playing unplugged. I also tried vox amPlug, which was better, but I also dislike having headphones on while playing. So I primarily want a desktop amp that would inspire me to play more.

I’ve looked at various ones online (I don’t really have an opportunity to try them live), which makes a decision very hard.

My list so far:

  • Yamaha THR30
  • Positive Grid Spark 40
  • Hotone Pulze
  • Nux mighty space

I also don’t have great PC speakers, so maybe I could also use it as general speaker there. Do you have experience on any of those? Some others? Any advice?

Thanks!

Edit:

Ordered a Nux Mighty Space, it could take a week or two before it arrives. I’ll post an update once I get it. Thanks everyone!

  • @fluxxOPEnglish
    1•2 months ago

    Update: I bought a b-stock Nux Mighty Space and it’s been working great! Just what I needed. That being said, some things I’m using more than others. Things I use:

    • USB interface as a speaker for my PC. Speakers in my monitor are just trash. This is way better. It’s not stereo HiFi, but I have dedicated speakers for that.

    • Wireless dongle. So convenient and makes me play more than before. A bonus is you can also have a different guitar plugged inat the same time. Not super important, but still.

    • App is decent and there’s an open source alternative, making sure the amp is supported for many years.

    • it’s nice that it is just a basic Bluetooth speaker when you connect to it. Haven’t used it that much, but I can see it coming in handy every once in a while.

    Things I haven’t used:

    • Looper - not used to it that much

    • drum loops - seem basic and kind of crappy

    • tinkering - I’m fairly satisfied with the presets out of the box, so I haven’t found the need to tinker too much. Perhaps occasionally gain and eq.

    Things that bother me a bit:

    • All the presets are too bass-heavy. There’s a global eq that can be tweaked. This bothers me on so many audio devices lately. More bass is NOT always more better. I dialed it in, but cmon. I’m not 12. The guitar is never supposed to be that boomy.

    That’s it, any questions, just shoot.