Spark - Positive Grid

[Mossman]

i'm honestly pretty underwhelmed by the amp and effect choices, it feels like a pretty limited subset of what's available from those other (cheaper) modelers and i'm not sure why. it's kind of nice being able to tweak via phone/tablet app + bluetooth instead of via pc software + usb, but honestly i usually set up my presets and they are what they are, I don't fiddle with the amp knobs much once i find something that i like the sound of.

it mostly works but misses a lot of chord changes, gets some wrong, and puts in phantom chord changes where there are none sometimes. for simple songs it's probably good enough but you could probably have figured those out without the app if you've played much at all.

it also seems like noisy amp. i usually don't play with a ton of gain on "real" amps but it seems like there's a lot of noise, and it also seems like a lot of the patches include a noise gate to counteract it, so it feels like you either have to live with the noise or live with notes dropping out constantly and seemingly kinda randomly.

for intermediate or advanced players it's not as much of a no-brainer.

Thanks for the review. I think I'm going to take a pass on this. The feature that I was most interested in was the chord analysis, but I imagined it would be spotty and not work 100% (like a lot of the tabs you find on the internet ). I've got effects and modeling coming out the wazoo with all the amps and multi-effects I already own, so that's not a selling point for me, and I'm still satisfied with the THR10 as a practice amp. Both guitar and bass sound great through it, and I'm also using it as a keyboard amp in the clean channel.

My case of FOMO is rapidly subsiding.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Huh - UPS tells me there's an unspecified vendor 7 pound package coming to me from Hong Kong by way of Baldwin Park, CA. I don't have anything else ordered, so that might just possibly be a Spark.

[Jamdogg]

Just received mine a day early. Ordered April 8th mind you. Will report back when I get a chance to open it up.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Weird. My package was full of seeds I never ordered, so I spent the afternoon planting some! Just kidding, I got my Spark today, without the travel bag it was supposed to have. I plugged in and tried out the presets without updating the software, just to know it works. First impression - this is going to take more tweaking than I thought it would, but it should work out as a light grab-n-go travel amp, and maybe bass practice amp. It sounds alright so far, but like many have said, it needs the bass turned way down. The one glitch I can call out so far is that it has a very aggressive noise gate I hope I can change in the models. It cuts off soft trailing notes and light taps, so that's not ok for dynamics. Hoping to replace most of the models in it. Fit, finish, and build quality seem very good.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Trying to find which device will run the Spark Control app, I have been getting pretty disappointed. My cell phone is apparently too old according to the Play store to run the app. We have a few Amazon Fire tablets (android under the covers), and I thought one of those would be ideal, so I installed Google Play and a QR scanner on one, just to find out the Spark Control app refuses to install on that device too. My wife's cell phone runs it, but that's far from ideal.

[voodoorat]

I was able to run it on a 2018 Amazon Fire HD8 after installing the Play store, but I went ahead and bought a 2020 Fire HD8 when they were on sale for 60 bucks and it works a little better on there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BatUtilityBelt]

I was able to run it on a 2018 Amazon Fire HD8 after installing the Play store, but I went ahead and bought a 2020 Fire HD8 when they were on sale for 60 bucks and it works a little better on there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Weird! Our (3) Fire tablets are HD 8 (7th generation) also. The Play store installed just fine, and worked for installing a QR reader, but the Spark app says it's incompatible.

[UrenragK]

Had an email to say mine has now shipped, finally!

[BatUtilityBelt]

On a Positive note... One of my Rondo guitars is a nylon string Hadean EA-100. It needs an acoustic amp, and my go-to for that is a ZT acoustic lunchbox. Sounds great. After updating the Spark firmware and some tweaking, I think the Acoustic model on the Spark sounds as good as the ZT. I was not expecting that, because through a bigger cabinet the ZT sounds amazing.

[UrenragK]

Well mine has arrived, and I'm pretty happy with the build quality, and the initial impressions are good.

Neat practice amp and surprisingly good sound for the size

[UrenragK]

I was surprised to find it comes with Studio One Premium, that's a decent side bonus.

The downsides:
THE DELAY BETWEEN ORDER AND ARRIVAL! (And the lack of ANY decent comms to tell you what is happening, although they seem to have realised now that they need to do better)
The app is a bit clunky, and connecting to the amp every time you fire it up is a bit of a PITA
The thing smells quite a bit, hopefully that newness will wear off
I hate that it has a block power supply, why can't these things be built in and just have a good old mains plug?
The smartjam on-the-fly backing tracks are a bit cheesy
I am trying to play quietly sometimes and if you move to a new patch the hardware levels are changed regardless of where the dials are set. (I get you need to change levels for the tones, but jeez, leave the master volume alone, no?
The noise gate is pretty severe. There's a very narrow spot low down that just about works, but my playing isn't that fine, so a balance where it's doing what I want but not chopping notes is quite tough to find

The upsides:
It's got a pretty decent sound capability for a small unit, more than enough for my needs
Even though they are a bit basic, the smart jam backing gives you something to play with and get better at timing (I've got no friends )
The Spotify/Youtube/Music source analysis is reasonable, although not entirely accurate, and gives you at least a clue where to start with jamming with a song
The sound quality is great as a Bluetooth box
The audio interface straight out of the box simplifies things
The soundcloud opportunities (Thousands of tones to trawl)
Stereo
Acoustic, Bass, Electric amp, Bluetooth speaker and DA Interface all in one, with good sound quality

Would I buy it now I've actually experienced it? It's a big yes from me.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I broke down and bought the Spark a new tablet, a Samsung Tab A. Since then. I am blown away by this practice amp. The ToneCloud
really shows what the amp is capable of covering well, and it's massive. I have spent days just exploring those. It makes me wish the amp had a multi-line screen and room for hundreds of presets, but the app does that better anyway. My issue with the noise gate was easy to tweak away.

Before buying the Spark, I had been thinking of a Yamaha THR-II, but I am now glad I didn't go that way. I think the Spark sounds great and seems much more open-ended and flexible. As long as they keep up the software support (unlike Fender), I think they have a home run here. It doesn't replace my tube amps, but will let me work and not miss them when traveling. If I still had an office, it would live there too.

[UrenragK]

My issue with the noise gate was easy to tweak away.

Care to share a shot of your noise gate settings?

[BatUtilityBelt]

My issue with the noise gate was easy to tweak away.

Care to share a shot of your noise gate settings?

Above is my gate on my 'clean' channel. It's now fairly transparent.

Each preset has its own noise gate at the beginning of the chain. When the amp arrived (and before I had updated the firmware), I had two issues. The noise gate thresholds were really severe, and my android devices were too old to run the app, so I could only even see them using my wife's phone.

Updating the firmware helped significantly. Apparently a firmware update also updated the models, and the noise gate settings were lower with the new firmware. I still wanted them lower on the cleaner models than they were at, and the app let me adjust those down.

My guess is that they had early complaints of noisy signal chains, and overreacted by initially setting the thresholds too high on all models. I think the noise gate is not even needed on cleaner models, only the higher gain models.

[UrenragK]

Brilliant, thanks!

[UrenragK]

PSA:

Positive Grid now pushing Spark, saying it is in stock and the 25% discount will end soon.

[uwmcscott]

My guess is that they had early complaints of noisy signal chains, and overreacted by initially setting the thresholds too high on all models. I think the noise gate is not even needed on cleaner models, only the higher gain models.

I have used Bias and JamUp from PG for quite some time and have noticed the same with the noise gates there. Not the same product but perhaps a carryover habit for them?

[slowhand84]

@Jamdogg @BatUtilityBelt @UrenragK

Sorry to bump this 5-6 month old thread but was curious to get your impressions on the Spark after owning it for a while. Got one on the way as a gift from my fiancée, so wanted to hear if you guys are still enjoying yours! Seems like a really great tool for practicing, writing, etc.

[voodoorat]

@Jamdogg @BatUtilityBelt @UrenragK

Sorry to bump this 5-6 month old thread but was curious to get your impressions on the Spark after owning it for a while. Got one on the way as a gift from my fiancée, so wanted to hear if you guys are still enjoying yours! Seems like a really great tool for practicing, writing, etc.

I don't really use mine that much--it's here by my desktop, but I have an AudioBox 22VSL plugged in that if I play here plugged in (and I frequently just play acoustic or electric unplugged here) I usually use instead. I did open a support ticket and they eventually sent a replacement power supply with a 3 prong plug which eliminated the persistent buzzing. It's probably getting better and I just haven't really used it much. I did wind up getting a Samsung A10 tablet instead of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD8--it worked, more or less, on the Amazon tablet but not well--quality of life is much improved on the other tablet (and I prefer it anyway because I use it for lyrics/chords when we're playing and the screen is a lot bigger). I should give it another try though, I wound up keeping it and selling my Katana 50.

[slowhand84]

@Jamdogg @BatUtilityBelt @UrenragK

Sorry to bump this 5-6 month old thread but was curious to get your impressions on the Spark after owning it for a while. Got one on the way as a gift from my fiancée, so wanted to hear if you guys are still enjoying yours! Seems like a really great tool for practicing, writing, etc.

I don't really use mine that much--it's here by my desktop, but I have an AudioBox 22VSL plugged in that if I play here plugged in (and I frequently just play acoustic or electric unplugged here) I usually use instead. I did open a support ticket and they eventually sent a replacement power supply with a 3 prong plug which eliminated the persistent buzzing. It's probably getting better and I just haven't really used it much. I did wind up getting a Samsung A10 tablet instead of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD8--it worked, more or less, on the Amazon tablet but not well--quality of life is much improved on the other tablet (and I prefer it anyway because I use it for lyrics/chords when we're playing and the screen is a lot bigger). I should give it another try though, I wound up keeping it and selling my Katana 50.

Thanks for the feedback! My main use for this is just to keep it on the coffee table in my living room because I'm often jamming/noodling on the couch there and even though I have a great wireless setup I still have to go back to the bedroom where my amp and pedalboard are to mess with turning pedals on and off, settings, etc...this seems like a great solution in that I can just use my tablet on the coffee table to make any of those edits without goin' anywhere, though I'm sure it won't in any way replace my amp and board for "real" recording.

[golem]

@slowhand84 I used it as a practice amp tonight while watching Chernobyl. I wasn't in love with the clean sounds, but the hi-gain and crunch sounds I found very responsive to the gain and output controls as well as the volume knob of my strat. I find the more time I've spent with the Spark the more I've learned how to get the most out of it and the more I live liked it. I have better options for a clean tone that won't bother the neighbors. But for good tones with gain it's a pretty good option for low volume playing. I found some of the effects useful. It's better than the THR10 I used to own and better than the Firehawk I had. Both which I think were more expensive when they came out.

[UrenragK]

The good - For a small cabinet it has some balls!
The tone cloud is amazing, so you’re pretty much unlimited on the tones you can get at.
The app works well
The digital audio interface and the free copy of Studio One Prime work well together
It’s a superb Bluetooth speaker for music
The play along with Bluetooth music is great

The meh - It’s very bass heavy, and takes some tweaking to get a balanced tone,
There’s a short blip in sound when switching tones, so you can’t really play through a song that needs a switch.
The noise gate is quite sensitive so has to be really low to get any sustain without cut off
The chord analysis isn’t really that accurate

The bad: - smart jam isn’t that great, or maybe it’s just my playing!
You can’t record through the DAC and have a Bluetooth backing track.

Would I buy one knowing the above? Definitely yes, it’s still a great little amp for practice

[BatUtilityBelt]

@Jamdogg @BatUtilityBelt @UrenragK

Sorry to bump this 5-6 month old thread but was curious to get your impressions on the Spark after owning it for a while. Got one on the way as a gift from my fiancée, so wanted to hear if you guys are still enjoying yours! Seems like a really great tool for practicing, writing, etc.

Mine is acting as a living room practice amp most of the time, and is my go-to grab and go when I go out to work on writing a song with friends. I haven't been traveling this year, or it would go on trips too. For recording I'll still pick one of my tube amps, but for writing and noodling, the Spark is great.

[slowhand84]

@slowhand84 I used it as a practice amp tonight while watching Chernobyl. I wasn't in love with the clean sounds, but the hi-gain and crunch sounds I found very responsive to the gain and output controls as well as the volume knob of my strat. I find the more time I've spent with the Spark the more I've learned how to get the most out of it and the more I live liked it. I have better options for a clean tone that won't bother the neighbors. But for good tones with gain it's a pretty good option for low volume playing. I found some of the effects useful. It's better than the THR10 I used to own and better than the Firehawk I had. Both which I think were more expensive when they came out.

The good - For a small cabinet it has some balls!
The tone cloud is amazing, so you’re pretty much unlimited on the tones you can get at.
The app works well
The digital audio interface and the free copy of Studio One Prime work well together
It’s a superb Bluetooth speaker for music
The play along with Bluetooth music is great

The meh - It’s very bass heavy, and takes some tweaking to get a balanced tone,
There’s a short blip in sound when switching tones, so you can’t really play through a song that needs a switch.
The noise gate is quite sensitive so has to be really low to get any sustain without cut off
The chord analysis isn’t really that accurate

The bad: - smart jam isn’t that great, or maybe it’s just my playing!
You can’t record through the DAC and have a Bluetooth backing track.

Would I buy one knowing the above? Definitely yes, it’s still a great little amp for practice

@Jamdogg @BatUtilityBelt @UrenragK

Sorry to bump this 5-6 month old thread but was curious to get your impressions on the Spark after owning it for a while. Got one on the way as a gift from my fiancée, so wanted to hear if you guys are still enjoying yours! Seems like a really great tool for practicing, writing, etc.

Mine is acting as a living room practice amp most of the time, and is my go-to grab and go when I go out to work on writing a song with friends. I haven't been traveling this year, or it would go on trips too. For recording I'll still pick one of my tube amps, but for writing and noodling, the Spark is great.

Thanks for all the feedback guys! Sounds like I'll get a lot of use out of it based on these comments.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Just found a reason to add a note. While I'm fairly positive on this amp, I just found a shortcoming yesterday. I decided to try it out with a (Yamaha) keyboard yesterday. I plugged the keyboard into the 1/8" aux-in of the Spark. To my surprise (and mild horror), the keyboard line outs into the aux-in of the Spark was lower volume and had considerable buzz (hum). I did not expect that, and if I needed that input regularly, I would be put off by this. Lucky for me, I have other amps that serve just fine for keyboard so I don't need to do that. Just thought you'd like to have that warning - it really is not a jack-of-all-trades.