I agree. And one of the parts to orange clean was a little quieter though so some people might think that the boss is better. Actually not positive. I’m listening to this at six in the morning lol
The Orange sounded better to me in this demo, I also like that it's straightforward to use and tweak on the fly. The Katana is very good and ideal for indoors and studio tweaking, where it can do much more than shown here. For band practise and jamming with mates I would choose the Orange. I would love to own either amp tbh.. Thanks for a good no nonsense demo.
I have the 35 rt, the clean channel with the volume anywhere between "6" and "11" is the perfect spot, use the volume on the guitar to go between clean and crunch, dial it in and control the crunch with your pick. Beautiful little amp with the perfect classic rock tone that you can share with the neighbors anytime you want to.
Just depends on what you're doing, if you're small club type thing then it is. If you're outside like a concert in the park or something, then probably not.@@rajikula8085
Both sounds great i domt know what people are talking about.. this is raw sound and its how they are supposed to sound n they both are doing just fine raw sound.. lovely video
I am not gonna read comments just gonna state my opinion. I like Orange overall it has warm natural tones. I am not a fan of Boss Katana, not to say it's bad I just didn't enjoy mine... I sold it last year, I had the Mk2. If we are talking combo amps, I like peavey vypyr for metal, and orange for clean, rock/blues. I feel like Boss Katana is the jack of all but master of none.
I know this is just supposed to be a demo but I'm seriously in LOVE with the first clean sample & the EQ demo clean sample....theyre both soooo relaxing.
I own both of these amps and they both are great.The kat is like a Swiss army knife that does a bit of everything but tonewise the orange sounds quite brilliant for its price.Its gàin stages are very responsive and it has amazing cleans and takes pedals very well.
which one has better tone clarity?i just got my Katana MKII today seems need a bit of Tweaking to satisfy "organic sound" tone i'm looking. Planning to grab the Orange amp too.
I think they both sound good, although the Orange sounds significantly better. But if I wasn't listening to them side by side I'd have no issue with the sound of the Katana, so in the context of a song I wouldn't really matter as far as I'm concerned. The Katana is a great all in one that has all the effects you could ever need, so if saving some money is the overall goal it comes out front. But cost is not a concern, then Orange would be the way to go.
I actually thought the katana sounded better in many cases. But I'm interested in the fact that the orange is completely analog. If one of the digital chips on your katana dies, there's a good chance it's just going on a landfill, whereas with completely analog, it can likely be fixed by just replacing some components. The orange will probably outlast katana's.
If you plugged in to an Orange you would immediately see the difference. I see the attraction of the Katana with all the built-in effects and Tone Studio but in the end, it all sounds exactly the same. This little 35RT is so sensitive and responsive It's like night and day to the Katana. It doesn't hide anything. You hear when you touch the strings. It isn't perfect. It's a small closed cab with a 10 inch speaker but it will still move some air.
Well, there's the fact that the tone controls actually work on the Kitana. The Orange's Gain knob doesn't do anything until about halfway, and then blows you away with crunch tone. The Orange Clean volume level doesn't rise until it's at 11 o'clock.
When you started the clean part, it made me think you were about to break out into some crazy Polyphia stuff lol. Just sounded like some riffs they would do.
The difference I believe is in the spears used in each. Orange uses I believe vintage 30's while boss uses their own branded speaker. Now I own the boss katana mk2 100 head and am using it with two Hughes and kettner 1x12's with vintage 30's in them and to my ears they sound so much better than the stock speakers that come in the boss cabinets.
If you don't want to edit your sound go with the orange. If you have time to play with the boss software go with the katana. I have both but I like the orange better to gig with. Easy to dial and change channels the buttons show you where you are.
Nice demo, you touch all the important points in a thorough demo. Glad you did headphone out also. Dialing in the EQ range is helpful too.Most demos don't include headphone samples.
I have both of these amps and both amps are great for the price value. Can't go wrong either way. I do prefer orange though personally for overall tone. Rock on!!!
To me, its rare that one good amp is better than another. Its entirely situational. Both would have their uses in my studio. Actually, they both already do. :)
My brother and I bought the Katana and the Crush 20, and both of them are such good Amps, good melodies and nice crunch potential... but I am an Orange fan
I have the 35rt. Maybe it's just the mic but mine has a more organic sound when playing with high gain. I definitely prefer the more natural sound of the orange when it comes to cleans. Definitely has more than enough gain
It's the Katana for me. The Orange Crush sounds better, hands down, but the Katana is infintely more prolific, versatile, there's just so much more you can do with it. The Katana is also a steal on price for all that you get. The Crush is completely fair on price, a bargain even, but the Katana is a straight up steal.
@@zerosoma33It depends on what you're after. If you play 1 style then yeah sound is the biggest factor, but if you play a wider range is can be beneficial to have a bunch of decent sounds as opposed to the single great sound. That being said, orange amps are a lot more versatile than people give them credit for.
i have the katana mk2 100w head and i just love it, sounds even better than some tube amps to me and its much more popular and higher ratet than the orange but i`m also sure that you can never get wrong with an orange amp at all 😎
I think the Katana is better for a beginner who is learning about different lead tones and needs a kind of all in one box, or maybe for someone starting out recording music. But the Orange just has more juice and overall just a more authentic sound.
The Orange crush series are the best solid state amps you can buy. I used a 35RT to gig with in a funk /Soul band it sounded great and was plenty loud enough for on stage volume, line out to PA with speaker emulation.
The Katana just sounds ‘thinner’ to me - and I’d guess that with being digital, it has ‘sampling roll-off’ while the Orange being analogue doesn’t have any issues like that. Anyway - I’ve just bought the 20RT and can’t believe how loud the damned beastie is; it kicked my friends 50w acoustic amp right off the reservation - and I’ll be using it in public later this week! Actually I have the clean volume on 4 and that seems to match his acoustic quite nicely! I’ve dreamed of owning an Orange amp since 1978, in Liverpool!, and now I do - and it’s great!
Oh i googled now: " BOSS katana a solid state amp? BOSS Katana amps are solid state amps that feature digital sound effects. Huge scandal by you. Can you do better next time?
@@svenzia As soon as you put a digital section in the signal chain, anything following that becomes compromised. No matter how good the power stages are… they’ll be amplifying a digitally sampled signal - even after it’s gone back through a DAC - it’s still a compromised signal - no matter how good the DAC is…. Anyway - at my age, my hearing isn’t as good as it once was - so modern sampling systems are possibly good enough for me - but the physics doesn’t change!
@@rebeccaabraham8652 Hey, yes i know, and you are right ofc. Hihi, no need for you to do better next time, but i wanted a good explanation from a better explainer than me. Hurrah for Rebecca. Cheers, also getting old btw. Have a great evening. Oh, i have never played the Katana or the Crush but they sound fine imo. Kind regards from Stockholm, Sweden 😃😃
The Katana sounds like you are already mic and playing through the PA. Since I will be using this type of Amps in a live situation at Small bars, I will pick the Katana instead of the Orange. And I plan to get next Month. Thanks for this Demo.
I have the first generation katana 100. It has that same fizzy sizzle on the top end that's hard to eq out without making it lifeless. I found it was the speaker that I really disliked. I'm currently running it through a Creamback loaded 2x12 and it sounds great. If I was to do it over again, I would definitely get the head and run it through the Creamback cab.
I relly should get my dirt channel fixed on the crush... bit of a contact issue in the pot since i broke the knob... my repair was of limited sucess as it sounds like a fuzz now😅😂
I used to have a Katana 50 mk2 and always felt it sounded very thin. I ended up replacing it with an Orange Crush 20 and even with the little 8" speaker the Orange sounds fuller than the Katana. I just don't need all the crap the Katana has, thats why I built a pedalboard. I just want my amp to have a nice clean and a decent drive that I can set and forget. Orange ticks all my boxes.
With some more tweaking, the Katana can emulate the sound of the Orange, (and most amps) that's for sure. But the sound of the orange is very good without noodling around! 💁🏻♂️
I should have bought the Boss Katana but friends said go tube amp! Happy I bought a Bugera tube amp but I had to buy a ton of pedals to get sound I want. Now I need a practice amp so it is the Orange for me 😁 Great sound test! If you are starting out get a Boss Katana or Fender Mustang no pedals needed. Champion 20 if You don't have room and need quiet or Champion 50 If you want friends to come over to jam.
For the record, the Katana is an all Analog amp with digital effects. I was looking into the Crush series and I was torn between that and the Katana for a while. I ended up going with the Katana Artist MKii for a few reasons. The upgraded speaker (which isn’t hard-wired so you can use it at a 1x12” cab for your other amps) and the line out where I can bypass the built in Cab Sim to record direct with 3rd party IR’s. The next amp I would plan to get is the Crush 100 head and plug it through the Katana’s speaker. I think they’re both excellent, but you obviously have to spend some time with the Katana, and have a decent understanding of EQ and how to run a solid signal chain, to really make it shine. That, and the speaker in the regular Katana’s is just too scooped for my taste. The Waza speaker adds more midrange and really makes the difference in your tone.
@@Ryan-vu5mm It's an Analog amp, meaning it's not a digital re-creation of another amp. It has an entirely analog signal path, and then adds digital effects on top of that. The Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister Deluxe 40 is the same sort of thing, except it's an all tube amp that has digital effects and tons of presets.
@@hanktteotd It goes through dsp. It doesn't have to be a digital "recreation of another amp". sending the output of dsp through a power amp doesn't make it an analog amp.
I actually just sold my katana MK2. It made the general tone of my guitars just sound… muddy, and it gave this overall underwater sound and there was just not much I could do about it after so long. It was great when I wanted a bunch of different effects starting out and I didn’t have any pedals but playing clean through the katana vs even an orange crush 12 there was a huge difference and my 12 sounded so much better that my katana collected dust. I use the 35RT now. I’m not saying the katana is a terrible amp, but it’s decent at a lot of things but not great at anything. The analog amps are going to be great at a few things but lack the versatility of all the digital bells and whistles. As you grow with your guitar journey so will your taste and recognition of good tones and you’ll find what you love.
I have the Boss Katana 100 watt Head Mk 1 version. Did a simple factory reset and NEVER plug it into a computer.....EVER. I do plug it into either an old Marshall 4--12, Vox 2-12, Peavey or a Dime Cabinet. I also use pedals with it. As you can imagine, depending on what cabinet or pedals, it sounds radically different. I love it. Excellent bang for my buck when I don't want to bother with one of my tube amps. BOTH the Orange and Katana are Solid State as far as the Drive or Amp sections are concerned. What IS digital on the Katana is the pedal's and effects modelling, FX loop and pedal footswitching. But the GUTS of both, the "engine under the hood" of BOTH is good old Solid state. I wouldn't mind owning an Orange one day. They also sound great. If you get a deal on a used Boss 100 Watt head MK 1 version, like I did. DO IT. And I am usually "tube guy." I hope that helps, Thanks for listening. Cheers!
@@JungYT You are going to laugh your ass off...I only have a ChromeBook that goes up to Windows 7....Katana needs Windows 10 MINIMUM!!!...Hahaha!!!...I also STILL have a flip phone, listen to vinyl records. Use a 4 Trackk Cassette Recorder, love Tubes and listen to 1980's Music....YUP!! .. I am THAT guy!!!..
@@algrundau9441 Well that makes sense. I’m a bit of a techie, but you should do what pleases you. I have a POD Go hooked up to powered monitors, but I am seriously thinking about the orange.
@@JungYT Oh, I am NOT a techie...I wish I was. I FINALLY got into computers around 2020 when Covid hit. I am 54 years old so I have been resisting for a long time...RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!...hahaha...BUT, it does show that even without a computer, the Katana can be very useful. The only thing I wish they did was have the Noise Gate accessible from the top panel..They FORCE you to deep dive with a computer to get at it....Aaaargh!!!...So I just use a Noise gate pedal. Problem solved. As far as the Orange. I really liked the Orange Crush CR100 Head. Just by itself it sounded great. I was also plugging it into various cabinets (not all Orange cabs) and using different Overdrives, Fuzzes ect. Very cool. ...Of course it comes down to what kind of music you play? WHERE do you play? What does the rest of the band use? Does it sit well in the mix? How many different sounds do you need? But certainly Orange Crush will give you a lot of good things......and you don't have to worry about Tubes....OR COMPUTERS!!!!...Hahaha...Cheers and Good luck.
Had both and a blackstar silverline and sold them all because I always preferred the sound of my old Marshall 50DFX. The Katana mk2 100 was my least Favourite, that went after a month. The crush 35 lasted a few months, the silverline lasted 6 months. The Marshall 50DFX has lasted over 12 years. Everyone eventually finds their own sound, mines has always been Marshall. I would advise anyone who is looking at buying an amp to take your guitar with you to a shop. Line up the amps you fancy and have a good play on all of them.
In cleans, definitely Orange is sweet and sharp.... but in High Gain, Katana has more bass and does not pierce the ears... Orange sounds shrill in high gain
Since my post below, I've bought a Katana 100. Initially I was disappointed after reading all the hype, and as I'm still in the return period was thinking of returning it. BUT that was premature and before I started fiddling with Tone Studio. You can adjust everything and there is a massive range of effects available, all of which can be saved to presets. I compared the on-board Rat pedal with my real Rat and they sound so similar that I can now sell my Rat pedal and get some money back. You can really shape the sound to what you want, though you need to put the time into it initially. But once you've saved some settings that you like, it's then a grab and go with no more twiddling. I'm sure that the Orange sound could be recreated on the Katana. Plus there's loads of support videos (eg Studio Rats) and hardware such as the GA-FC pedal, and it has an easily accessible FX loop (it's under the chassis on the CR60) and has the 0.5W setting which makes it easy to tweak volume at bedroom levels. It's definitely growing on me and becoming a bit of an obsession. Lessons: 1) don't judge a Katana based on the factory settings 2) use Tone Studio to adjust it to your preferences 3) ignore the crunch/lead/brown channels and stick with the clean channel, adding on board dirt and other pedals as required.
In my headphones the Orange didn't exhibit a wide range of EQ during the clean tones, but showed bigger changes when turning the tone knobs with dirty tones. It sounded good, but not drastically better/different to the Katana and its tonal range.
They both sounded fine. It's a preference really. I have the Crush 12 PiX and I prefer my Fender Mustang I V2 to it. Not really a fair comparison though. 12W vs 20W The Fender has a Orange Custom sim, Orange does Orange better, but across what features the Mustang I V2 has, the Orange is a niche amp after it's all said & done. From other's comments. Orange is a love/hate thing. With Orange, there's also Marshall & Vox as British tone/sound. And the Mustang I V2 has those other British sound amps.
Personally I think the Boss has a way clearer sound on cleans but it’s undeniable the the Orange has better gain sounds. I mostly play in clean/edge of breakup sounds so I’m happy with my MKII100
Tengo el boss katana mkII 50 y puedo dercir que es un amplificador que sonara mucho pero muchisimo mejor si se le pone presets o establecer el booster como distorsion/overdrive principal, al principio me decepcione que sonara algo digital su distorsion y los limpios pero usando su interfaz de configuracion realmente se puede hacer maravillas con este amplificador hasta el punto que ya no considero comprarme el orange
If you use the EQ and the residence controls on the Boss Katana it would sound closer to the orange , But a tube amp has a much wider frequency band then a solid state amp . A tube amp will always sound fuller . That's just the nature of tubes . Me personally The lighter weight and all the bells and whistles . I Will always choose the Boss Katana. Close is good enough . Unless you're doing a side by side comparison no one's going to notice .
can hear the orange has cleaner more present attack (bell like) on cleans. But the kat seems more flexible (if a little thinner), but you could probably tweak it a bit. prefer the orange overall, with the exception of high gain where kat seems better (oddly, since it's meant to be orange's thing).
I've tried both of these amps at a music store. Orange Crush 35RT is just plug and play, hard to get a bad sound out of it to my ears, I like the mid-focused sound. The Boss was very noisy and the low to mid-gain distortion lacked dynamics compared to the Orange. I thought the built-in effects on the Boss Katana were pretty good though. I have a Vox VT40x. I'd say it sits somewhere between these two. I only use maybe 3 of the amp models, but they have good dynamics. It's noisier than the Orange but quieter than the Katana. It has some built in effects that range from good to disappointing. It has an app for editing that I've never bothered using. Headphone out is alright. I'm thinking about replacing it with the Orange Crush 35RT now that I own some effects pedals.
I find something to like out of almost any amp. SS and digital are great IMO since i live in a region which trades climates with planet Venus 8 months out of the year (Texas), and beating the heat is an endeavor which really does border on the desperate, lol. Tube amps double as space heaters during the 11-minute winters. Happily, SS "arrived" approx 20ish years ago with the advent of the Peavey Transvestube series. Others quickly aped the formula; I have a B-52 100-watt brain among other things, and in the context of my lousy mixes, it's never just super obvious it's a SS amp. And VSTs such as Amp Room, Overloud etc are just perfect for when it's 2am, and I could possibly earn more blood enemies, namely my neighbors, if i were to fire up my 150-watt Bugera Dollar General Plexi remake thru my Marshall AVT series (a "cheap" line, but it sounds great, very luckily) 4x12, lol.
I own the crush 12, and what I love about it is that it has the feel of a 100 watts tube amplifier cranked doing that sag thing you feel under your finger tips. Not sure people in the audience would care which of these two amplifiers you use, but I would use the crush. Curious how loud the 35RT can get for gigging. I guess my 12 would be fine mic’d - but you would have to rely on wedges or in-ears.
The Orange has more prominent mid range. This might be good or bad depending on your opinion. Actually, if the back of the cabinet is closed, that would make it sound more boxy.
Boss seems V-shaped for all tones. Dont like the disto on Boss. The only better way for Boss is through headphones for clean sound. Eq on the Boss are more active but Orange's sound (given you like this Orange sound) is clearly the winner. Boss is too much "usine à gaz" for me:)
I honestly think the 50w, single offset speaker Katana is a waste of money. Save and spend a few extra bucks to get the 2x12 combo or the 100w head. The Orange sounds better. The Boss sounds more sterile, but I think it's a better gigging option. The built-in fx are handy, if you just want to leave your expensive pedals at home, depending on the venue. It is Boss, so they have some experience in that area. The GA footswitch is very user friendly imo. The ToneWorks software is also a HUGE bonus. You can literally create all the pre-made patches you need, and unlock cool things like Uni-Vibe etc., it's not hard. You just need to have and know how to use a computer. It's also a great pedal platform. Then again, the Orange has a buffered fx loop. I own both. Both have their strengths. Out of the box, though, the Orange is best in tone. It sounds as close as you'll get to an actuall valve driven Rockerverb. I fail to hear much of a difference, especially considering the price. The built-in reverb is really all you need to get going. That and a noise gate. The tone is already 👌
i don't like the sound of either.. boss is not doing bad, bud does some weird stuff in distortion, i might be my headphones, but it seems like two layers of sound there, not some organic sound. Orange is a tad better on cleans. Wouldn't buy any of these. Thanks for a very good recording! and cheers for great playing!
The boss katana reminds me of EMGs in that they have this very sterile, overly clean sound to them. Certainly not a bad thing, but definitely not everyones thing.
The Orange has more low mids, makes it sound fuller. Anyways hard to say which amp is better, think you could get some good sounds out of the Katana if you tweek it a bit
Probably what you'd expect... Orange has pronounced mids and its signature growl, and tones that could be usable across a slew of genres.. katana sounds *very* thin, even if not overly processed... The best tone you can get out of it would only find its home in some modern punk rock, but there's plenty of settings on it which sound jarring and unpleasant.... Crush beats Katana overall.. but to say analog beats digital *always* feels like falling into a classic trap...
That's because main distortion pedal should be used through "Booster", not through pure gain. I tune all the way to Drop F and D#1, and it sounds absolutely growling and crushing there. You just have to understand what EQ-ing is, to make a good tone out of it.
What I noticed is that the knob settings on both amps are at noon. Expecting two completely different amps to sound similar is ridiculous at best. A better way to show the two amps would be the set the Orange to a tone. Say, everything at noon and then adjust the other amp as needed, in this case the Katana to sound as close as possible.
Max the master volume and turn down the volume and tweak the parameters in the software. And then the Katana will sound more tube like and sound better than the Orange. The Katana Mark lls sound really good… 🎸💯
I find it hysterical that the all analogue amp here has a built in tuner and the one that has all digital smarts and modelling doesn't. What were you thinking Boss?
As someone who owns the super crush 100, if you want a certain tone go for the orange. However if you want a really good range of sounds and fx then it's really a no brainer to pick a katana.
@@Dram1984 completely agree. Until you find a sound that you really like modellers are great, but yeah once you try a proper Marshall or fender and such it's really hard to go back and enjoy a modelling amp.
I mean, the Katana is designed to work with the Tone Studio. If you spent a few mins on it, you'd be able to get the Katana to sound like anything you want. This is just raw, everything is at 12 o'clock sound. The Orange is a plug in and play type amp, the Katana is made to tweak the hell out of.
@@itsalwayssomething7490 Agreed. Katana wins by default simply because of Tone Studio. You can get pretty much any tone you want! I think the high gain is way better on the Katana, too.
This is probably pointless now, but the Boss Katana has a full analog preamp section that is a continuation of the TubeLogic technology they've developed years ago. The only thing digital is the fx section. Power amp is class A/B too.
In my experience the Orange clean sound is weak and boxy. The Katana seems to project the sound better. I don’t use dirty tones often so it’s not really a concern for me.
Fantastic review bro. It has inspired me to dust off my Orange 35R tbh. I guess I haven't played it in awhile mostly cause I have since purchased a few other smaller amps which cause of where I am and mostly when I play have been using them. But yeah my Orange is definitely gonna get plugged in and turned up!
I feel there's a lot more fiddling with the effects and eq on the Boss that could get you to all the places where the Orange sounds better. I just bought my son a mono price $120-delivered 5W 6v6 based 8" combo. A few $25 amazon pedals gets me to a better place than either of these. I mainly play around on my 5W Gibson el84 based reissue. 38W Boogie and 60W Crate tube amps are just too much off-stage. You have to start somewhere and we learn more about what we want as we go and for that, either of these are nice options. I don't see why all these amps don't have a built-in tuner, these days. I've got an Orange Micro Crush and a Bass Crush 100. Both have them.
I think the Katana would probably sound more full in person and possibly more pleasing to the ear when practicing alone, but the Crush would sit WAY better in a full band. It has a more present, upfront sound. It would cut through and sit perfectly on top of a bass. The Katana would get lost and muddy.
I own both and the orange is better in a band and while alone.The kat is fun but the 35rt is amazing.i got it for super heavy styles but it does great cleans also.
@@craighamboi am looking to get a new amp and I am not sure yet which one of these two i am going to get. I wanted to get the orange crush 35rt but someone said i should get the katana instead. I just think dowloading presets and all looks like a hassle. I am also mostly interested in heavier styles like metal btw
@@FL0RIS0 you will be fine with either,the orange has way better cleans and has a 4 stage gain which is amazing for heavier music and also a built in reverb and tuner as well as an effects loop.the katana is also pretty good and when paired with the app you have heaps of distortions,delays,overdrives and mods.if you want the simpler option go for the orange as it is straight plug and play and sounds brilliant.
I think that Orange amp sounds small to me. The Micro Dark amp has a bigger and more natural sound to me and so far from shootout videos. I like the Micro Dark Orange amp the most out of all the Orange amps made so far. If they made a bigger black version of that amp I'd for sure look at the price and maybe buy one. All the Orange amp clean sounds are basically the same to my good ears.
To compare them as combos or just the amps run through a separate speaker cab are 2 very different ways to judge them. Ask anyone who's used various speaker cabs with their Katana, and they'll all say the same thing. With the endless tone shaping features of the Katana you can make almost any speaker cab sound decent. With a one trick pony Orange your gonna be pretty limited.
This would be better as a blind test. A lot of people listening with their eyes here. I can almost guarantee that if they didn't see, the might choose different. They both sound ok. There is some real nastiness in the Orange and the EQ section on the Katana is far more functional. I suspect the Orange would sound better with a speaker swap. If I had a choice, I'd choose neither. If I had to chose one of these, it'd probably be the Katana. Better bass response out of the box. Effects is a plus. Better EQ. The High gain on both of these sounds like trash.
