A Spark GO amp ON STAGE? WHAT! 

Thank you, just getting through a backlog of studio work and more will come!

Thank you!

anytime! This channel is about empowering people to do what they love with less headache around the gear part of it.

How does that mini sound by itself? No one reviewed it that way

I have a Soundcore Rave Party 2. Do you think I can use spark go headphone out then connect to the soundcore aux via 3.5 jack? Thanks!

@@vanillaoud9861 absolutely

It will work just fine That's the beauty of it

Same. Came back from a 10 year hiatus only to find out these amps existed that made my old 212 Crate with digital effects pedal back home, useless and cumbersome. Kids have it all these days.

wokka wokka!

It's funny how the live band ecosystem is still held captive by the vintage-correct mafia.. the Mini is at it's heart a modelling amp. They wouldn't scoff a Helix or Kemper but because the mini looks like a toy amp, they do. I say out with old attitudes. Good for you for being forward thinking. It's not 1987 anymore when you needed a two-story Marshal stack to be taken seriously by the house engineer. As for your mini's bluetooth getting hijacked, don't you have to have it in pairing to allow that? Curious as to how that happened.

​​@@YourGearSucks just play the guitar and listen to music extensively. I dont get the fuss from these "sound nazis" it sounds close if not closer to an actual guitar amp compared with fake drums are to real drums.

@@YourGearSucksThere is a channel on YT, The Guitar Rabbi and he is totally against using any PG amps in live settings.For example, someone could be walking by and notice you have a Spar and pipe ‘Tip Toe Thru the Tulips” thru your amp. Someone suggested plugging a cable into the headphone Jack. I am going to try this today and see if it works.

First of all, anyone who is close enough can pair with the Spark. They could send from any Bluetooth device music into the Spark. But you could have the headphone volume down…problem solved. To get hijacked to where someone is manipulating your amp settings…not sure what can be done for that. How big a problem is it? I have no idea. Great video….

@@syn707 my phone is always paired with the spark so I can adjust it quickly, and I always turn the music volume off. It's a solution in search of a problem really.

Hah nice.

Hah thanks.. I'll be doing more Spark videos for sure so one can hope!

Nope..it has been rock solid. It's worth saying, you should have it on battery when it's being used as a preamp if youre getting noise. If you plug it into an outlet it may create a ground loop - that may be where the noise is coming from. The battery especially in headphone/speaker out mode will last forever. Don't need to worry about it dying. The only buzz/noise/hum I've heard is when it's plugged into the wall where the outlet and signal grounding doesn't match up. Over the summer I must've played 40 different shows in multiple venues with it and I never had to adjust much. The sound techs loved it too as they just had to set and forget it with minimal work. But again it depends on the PA system and depends on the sound tech and the mixer it's going through. A lot of the times the sound tech will patch it into a DI box, and that DI box, especially with modern mixing systems will have a preamp and fx profile placed on it (for acoustic guitars) so I make sure to tell the guy make sure the DI is as dry as possible cuz im feeding it a preamp. SO make sure yours has a dry signal (no profiling or shaping) going into the mixer.

I'll go do a deep dive and get back to you on it.

Either or will work depending on your signal chain desires tho the output to a pa should be set to mono for your looper unless you have a stereo looper which some are.

Yes. Absolutely and in your 2i2 just make sure your channels are panned to left and right appropriately to recreate the stereo signal when you're recording otherwise they both come out centered. You can only fuck it up if you force the stereo signal into a single consolidated mono one without any resistors in the line to reduce the signal strength.

It will handle pedals like most modelling amps without an FX loop. Gain type pedals will jus drive it harder, make sure to adjust the amp head accordingly as its unclear if there is soft clipping built in. Time and modulation pedals it will be a case by case basis and I'd argue use the ones in the app instead.

hah soon.. P6 is a working studio in Toronto so we have a lot of projects on the go. I have like 5 other vid ideas i want to get up here so hopefully everyone here can be patient with me. Much appreciated.

That's all based on the mixer and the sound person for the night. I'd recommend a Spark going in curbs the low end, enhances the high end and any vocals need compression and a 15% reverb tail. That kind of functionality is dependent on the mixer but as far a sparks go they can plug in and be good to go. Vocal tone shaping for live is so difficult and requires someone who knows what they're doing with equipment that can do it.

yes.. you can go directly in, adjust the spark's output with it's volume and the volume on the powered PA. I like to have some control over gain and volume separately so I can maximize noise reduction - send unity into the PA but that's just a preference.

Yeah when you set the mini and go to mono the signal only comes out the left side of the split cable. That's why resistors aren't needed. You're not brute forcing two channel's worth of signal to a mono output which can damage some audio processors and receivers. The 40 only outputs stereo so you have to use a summing cable which 'resists' the signal by approximately half, and combines them on output. You could use a split cable as well and use only one side, but then some of the stereo effects like delay and verb that may do some left-to-right modulation may get lost by only one side coming through and it will sound weird. So it's better to use a summing cable with the 40. Hope that helps answer your question.

You could also use it in stereo direct into 2 channels of the mixing console...then you wouldn't need a summng cable but only the stereo cable, right?

@@harleyguido Correct. But in the case of a mono input on the mixing console, or with a cab, you should use a summing with the 40 as the spatial effects such as stereo delay and reverb and other left-right modulation may only be half heard.

Last year they released a Jimi Hendrix tone pack in the app that you could buy. I never bought it, but otherwise all if it is 100% free.

@@YourGearSucks thx for the info on the spark go and the app, I appreciate it , I need to buy it now, 👍

If you're going into an amp, an amp with an FX return is what you optimally want. The FX loop section in an amp allows you to go straight to the power section and bypass the amps preamp section and makes your amp essentially a powered cab. A summing cable or the left right split cable (left side into amp) would work in this case. You can grab one at a link in the description box. If your amp doesn't have an FX loop (FX send, FX return) the best thing to do is go into the amp normally from the spark, and in the APP disable the amp head in your spark software. YOu can do that by swiping up or tapping the on/off tggle switch ont he amp graphic. that eliminates the amp "colouring" and your spark simply turns into an FX pedal signal chain so you can play with it that way. You're not going to get perfectly unadultrated Spark sounds as the power section and speaker of any amp adds characer to the sound, so it may need a lot of adjustment in the amp and in the software. But that's the way to do it. Hope that helps.

Lots of people hooking them up to cabs but not sure about active/passive cabs. Hook your phone up to your cab, play some music, and see if that outputs well. The spark delivers the same kind of output so that's how to know.

@@YourGearSucks i wounder if you could hook the sparkgo, to a preamp pedal, lets say a cheap used sansamp. then at that point you would have a crazy small package "combo" amp that you can plug into any speaker and have the most versatile amp ever, because tech they have a bass setting. so i could set a preset for bass and one for a guitar and switch between the 2.

Go with the mini. The sound quality and power is much higher - you can easily Street jam with it. The go is really only good as a pocket solution when you need absolute maximal portability.

@@YourGearSucks even though I am still learning? Tbh I don't play publicly hahah

@@fernando29579 yes. Especially if you don't need portability. The mini is the way to go.

​@@YourGearSucks Thanks for the timely feedback

@@fernando29579 anytime!

good point.. given it's unbalanced, it's kind of the same category as a quarter inch in but yeah.. should have featured it, cheers

Yep.. the Mini has an Aux in controlled by the volume knob. You can basically input any stereo signal into that and it will come out the master signal of the Mini. On that keyboard, you'd use two quarter inch mono to a stereo from the L/R output, to 1/8th inch whcih goes into the aux in on the mini. Same cable as the output one in the video. But in reverse.

@@YourGearSucks Heck yea!!!~ thanks much for sharing. Curious to test it out when the cable comes, but I think it just might work!!Thanks for the beta!

@@michaelbanach9972 anytime.. thanks for watching!

@YourGearSucks Any difference or advantages (on a Go or Mini) between using the summing cable with the app set to stereo, vs a mono cable with the app set to mono? Thanks

I'm using an app on my phone to switch the broadcast cameras. It's a creative media studio so we have dedicated Blackmagic ATEM hardware that can be controlled in various ways. That specific app is called MetaControl for Android. We also have the one from Apple which does a more professional job.

@@YourGearSucks thank you for this info

lol did i play megadeath? I dont even think i know a megadeath song lol ... thanks regardless

Check out the Spark Amp MODS facebook group.. there are folks there who have built line out jacks for the Spark 40 that bypass this issue. Pretty cool!

Without doing research i'm thinking maybe a reAmp box. Or some type of aby controller. Not knowing but just a thought

I've heard mixed reviews but haven't had to deal with them directly yet. Try the facebook group "Spark Amp Owners Club" - they've been helpful there, and I think some who work for Positive Grid also lurk the group. You may get some help there.

Most amps will only take one channel. Most mixing boards and sound techs will only give you one channel or only have one channel avail. So it's good practice to set it to mono if you're doing it for stages (which is what this video is about) . Also in bars and clubs most speaker output setups are set to mono because the speaker configurations around any given venue aren't based on stereo separation but filling the venue with sound with multiple speakers in many different positions that aren't left and right. So a consolidated mono signal coming out of many speakers is usually the case in most venues so any stereo separation from the signal end would be pointless and the sound engineer would hate it anyway. Again this is for stage setups. At my studio I have things set to stereo in the exact config you describe. But that's because I designed the studio so you can record guitar stereo signals and listen to stereo playback. Venues are designed to efficiently craft sound to sent to dozens of speakers not accurate stereo listening (which is what the band is doing anyway). So mono is your best bet for a set it and forget it stage solution.

right? as a kid this woulda made my head spin!

No it cannot natively as the speaker shuts off as soon as the line out is engaged. However, you can get an xsonic ulooper which creates its own line out signal and still keeps the spark speaker on. I'll be doing a full review of the ULooper soon. Cheers.

@@YourGearSucks This is exactly what I wanted because I have a boss katana 50 MK2. It doesn't have a looper function or an effects in and out. So I wanted to get the spark mini to a looper like the one you mentioned and then out to the katana. But I need these spark mini as a stage monitor. Does this set up hold water? And thanks for your fast reply You're the man!

@@YourGearSucks so yes you would need this particular looper you're talking about because of the USB function, so that it doesn't cut the sound to the spark correct?

@@jasonmelo9379 the line out of a ULooper is a 1/4 so you can send that to whatever you like. The line out will be affected by the sparks preamp tho. It's meant to be sent to stage speakers so you'd probably have to disable the preamp section on the katana so you don't get double preamp colouring.

@@jasonmelo9379 yes correct. The ULoopers line it is designed specifically to allow you to use your spark as a stage monitor. It's pretty much exactly what you're looking for.

I'd go with the Mini unless you absolutely need something pocket size. Th Mini just offers more possibilities. You can play it with others, in a park and even some street jams. The Go is definitely just a personal amp - quiet by comparison. On stage if you output to PA speakers or the send-return on an amp, or even a home stereo system they both act pretty much exactly the same. Check out my other vid for a comparison.

@@YourGearSucks thank you

@@pleaselikeshare Anytime!

I haven't used the spark control but I use the Xsonic Airstep Spark Control and it works perfectly on all of them. Thanks for detailing this.

@@YourGearSucks thank you for your answer. I consider buying the airstep but I’ve heard that the functionality differs. The stomp mode doesn’t work with Spark Go, you may only switch presets. The three modes of the airstep are available only with Spark 40. I’m not sure though.

@@ArturPopko yeah functionality is limited depending on the spark used. But I find the ability to switch and stomp the drive channel in its basic mode more than enough for my needs.

yes, make sense. I agree

I mostly play without one. But there's always some around.

You may not be in a situation where you can mic it up. Might be a situation where you're performing in a small bar with one mic and mixer. Also microphones have their own tone profiles which can change the sound. It all goes into a mixer anyway so it's good to go direct. Last if you use the go and it's next to set of drums, no mic in the world is going to pick it up effectively. It's good to have the info on how to do everything. 😎

@@YourGearSucks I'd have to disagree with you there. I played guitar through an old Fender Princeton that was amplified by the PA system. I used a Sennheiser mic and it sounded great. Besides, I've always said if your gear sucks, you're going to sound bad. It pays to buy quality gear. Of course, if you're not a pro, you don't need to sound like one. But there's a difference between sounding ok and sounding great, regardless of how good of a player you are.

@@Bigfoot-px9gj All good. Rock on!

To mic is totally different. I’ve actually done both line out and captured 2 different mic mixes into the PA with a vintage Pignose. You can get a mix of 3 which provides you way better sound. Similar concept as parallel processing.

all good.. opinions may vary... much appreciated, regardless.

@@YourGearSucks it wasn’t some negative shit I have the go and use it all the time and sounds great but some how it didn’t sound good in your demo no disrespect ☮️❤️✨

@@lefujyou yeah that tracks.. you gotta keep in mind, the speaker that's outputting the sound is what is creating the quality.. so make sure whatever you feed it through is high quality equipment.

Did you ever think that you might have terrible output on your end listening to this? No offense. ❤ ☮️ ✨

@@samepage3762 No my end volume is good 👍🏾 I have a Spark go and have no problem getting a great sound hooking it up in different ways through amps through PAs and monitors

the Spark sounds great, I've used it on stages, and busking, and live performances, live streams, recordings, etc. It punches well above its weight class and the functionality is second to none.

The single mic against the PA speaker probably makes it sound odd to us

It needed to be said 😅