Marshall vs. Blackstar - Which 40-watt amp is best? 

I own a Marshall and a Blackstar so I’m not biased in my pick. For me the Marshall wins in every category except the direct out, the Blackstar crushes that category.

I love my Marshall dsl 40 and won't be changing anytime soon to any other amp

Like the format of three presenters with a random A/B of each amp. Pretty cool.

Was literally deliberating between these exact two amps. It's like you guys made this video just for me haha I'm going with the Marshall though. It sounds more robust in my opinion. Thanks so much guys!

Bought a blackstar because it was the only tube amp in my price range at the local guitar store but man I got lucky because I just love the warm smooth sound

I just got a DSL40CR and a 50s Les Paul Standard. I am just an amatuer who plays for fun. I've never had more fun playing guitar. ☺️

Marshall sounded better overall except for the emulated out, but even that can be tweaked, I own the DSL and I'm very happy I chose it over the Blackstar, which is also a great amp in it's own right, but I do own the Blackstar Metal LT pedal because I do like Blackstar also, and it's alot more affordable than the amp, and that Metallica riff sealed the deal on the Marshall! Good shootout boys!

Marshall’s overdrive sounds way better.

Marshall the cleans were way batter and sounds more Open

Blackstar sounds better with the emulation out

To be honest, I have to go with the blackstar, the Marshall for some reason has a really poky unpleasant high end fizzyness that it unpleasant to the ears. I think a part of it might be the speaker, if there was a more balanced speaker in it like a greenback or a creamback, it might sound more pleasing to the ears

The Marshall hands down... Thanks guys !

Overall my vote is for the Marshall. The Blackstar sounded boxier.

I’ve been a Marshall user for a while now I’ve played some black stars and they rock. But I prefer the Marshall’s though but I’d definitely get a few black stars too!

I bought the dsl despite all the hate. Upgraded tubes and speaker and it’s an absolute beast!

I’m with Marshall

The miking and volume settings were in favour of the Marshall. But I would go with the Blackstar. The ISF knob makes it such a versatile rock amp, which did not come across in the video.

Blackstar win this one clearly, 3 guys that left Marshall started Blackstar

Had both returned Blackstar

Awesome demo! I have owned the BS and currently the DSL 40CR and the Marshall IMO wins on the tone. Clean, crunch and OD channels. The line out/ headphones is gawd awful. The BS's emulated out is outstanding along with the cab rig.

Both sound pretty good. They have their own things going on. The Marshall is a little crispy/ brittle but still iconic. Blackstar is a little dark but has a nice chunk and blues breakup. Can't go wrong with either.

I have the Blackstar HT Club MKII. The stock speaker it came with was more meant for metal - not very versatile. I switched it to a Warehouse 12" Retro 30 and it sounds bad ass now. Soooooo versatile. I'd take my modded one over either of these two. I got my amp used, so I had plenty of room money wise built in there for a speaker swap. Both these amps sound good though.

My tiny Blackstar ID Core stereo 40 Is literally half the size of the amp you have there and when I add a pair of switched 1/4 in output jacle to drive a pair of external speaker cabe I can get more full tone at a decent volume and if i add internal amps to the extension cabs I'll get even more. these will be a pair of 4X12" vertical/tower cabs that when stood together side by side with the amp laid face down on top of the cabs will essentially be a Full Stack. the switched output jacks disable the internal speakers when in use so laying the amp front down on top of the cabs the amp controls and jacks are facing forward. for easier access, the external cab output jacks will be recessed in the bottom of the amp cab to face rearward when in use the cabs and custom cables I will make myself to my design. I don't plan to use regular guitar speakers in the build but cheap woofers and small amp boards available on Amazon and small power supply for each mounter inside the cabs as with the powered subwoofer in my surround sound system which I can also hook the amp into through an adapter cable from the 1/8In stereo optput jack of the amp to 2 RCA's into the CD in of the surround system receiver for louder and fuller tones., at 65 I'm child of the '70's and like my music loud and proud. My custom Strat I built has a mand made custom brushed stainless steel pick guard loaded with 3 quad rail/coil humbuckers wired like a classic 50's Les Paul with a third pair of control pots , chrome knobs ,chrome switch tip on the Fender 5-way blade stitch 500K audio taper P/P volume pots and the 500k audio taper tone pots with the bridge a P/P tone to activate the neck and bridge pick ups together regardless of the 5-way switch position. tone caps are .047 orange drop caps for a little brighter tone for that brighter Strat tone so that the active coils when split are toward the bridge for a more Strat like tone as well. wiring all the controls and pickups was quite an adventure to say the least... This being my very first guitar build/mod project made it a real challenge but I gained a lot of experience and enhanced my woodworking skills. researching techniques online for all the wiring for electronics paint techniques fir the stars and planets space theme paint scheme on the body and head stock with a combination of spray cans and airbrushed details with silver micro glitter accented with dark blue paint to tint it and a semi-gloss finish. over a black and dark blue background. evokes the new name I gave the unique and cool looking guitar..Other mods and upgrades include roller bridge saddles replacing the cheap pot metal trem block with a full size solid brass trem block, roller string trees a titanium nut and locking tuners. also strap locks to keep the guitar where I want it to stay. I call it the "Stellarcaster" in keeping with it's "Starcaster-Strat" roots. taken to the next level... it's well set-up. frets well polished,fretboard oiled jus right and strings tuned to E-Flat standard like any good Strat should be to sound as good as it looks. Wanna Play??? . The number of tonal variations available are virtually unlimited when added to the options in the amp as well. and then we have the in built effects in the amp added into the mix. What fun trying to find them all and experiment with all the knobs and switches...It looks so good just hanging up there on my wall and even better slung on my shoulder while I play it. I use hand made custom picks that I made frpm old hotel card keys from various hotels that the commercial laundry service that I worked for provided wash and fols services and well and the towels and linens. It's amazing what all comes mixed in with all that laundry thai I had to pre-sort to send to the main sorting line and on to the wash tunnels and dryers then in to the dry and fold machines for linins abd pneumatic towel folders and back into the transport bins that they arrived in to start. I have a collection of about 500 card keys to cut and sand to the right size and shape to use as the cool custom picks i make them into. using a pick punch would be a little easire to get the right shape with a little less work but, I get the job done just fine the way I do it now. The colors are whatever colors and patterns they come in but that is part of their charm I think. good sharp scissors and some good sandpaper work just fine to get me where I want to go with the picks i make for myself. cost next to nothing and only a little time invested. I can make them whenever i get the itch to keep my hands busy for a while. I can get up to 6 picks from a single card which are about the same dimensions as any credit/debit card available anywhere .without embossed letters or numbers. , only smooth printed colorful cards. the magnetic strip in them makes no diff at all anyway. and you cant see it either. retirement and being widoww3d means I have way too much time on my hands. I can use than overly abundant time for whatever i want. Usually surfing the web , eating if I want or sleeping whenever i feel like. or I might do some yard work that needs taken care of. a little exercise is good for me too. the next guitar project is a Tele Based Esquire with classic wiring. maybe a thin line type semi-hollow. I'll use the Tele Bridge P/U given to me by Dylan of 'Dylan Talks Tone You tube channel in a random give away. It's just waiting for a guitar to go into whenever i make it. I may use non traditional materials in it's construction. I like to experiment and challenge myself. ADHD all my life tends to make me restless and bored most of the time if I don't have something to hold my interest. Challenging myself in a custom guitar build is a good way to entertain myself and learn new skills. ... Remember that along with the ADHD comes an above average I.Q. as well and insatiable curiosity. and thirst for learning new and interesting things no matter how old I get, I still enjoy learning new and interesting things So . my new guitar hobby will allow mw to literally build my own guitar collection by myself and I can take pride in having done it myself. I plan to make various versions of many different guitars...and experiment with new shapes and materials as i explore the guitar hobby a sfar as it takes me. different shapes, colors, Pick-ups wiring. and the rest. I want to make cool guitars that look, feel and play good. Interesting to do with my hands using skills and tools while making interssting good looking and well made guitars I can be proud to have made with my own hands. fingers get a little stiff sometimes but I muddle through.

like them both......Marshall tone has less mid/bass which probably cuts thru better when the band is playing. Bstar amp sounds a bit muddy and may get lost in the mix once the band joins in - the big city nights riff showcased that very well

The DSL 40 sounds great in stock form but it sounds alot better with a tube and speaker upgrade but it esoecially 2 sounds better when ran through a 2 by 12 or 4 by12 or an oversized 1 by 12 and sounds bettet still if those cabs are closed backk Celestion Creamback M65 the Creamback H75 and G12H30 Heritage are among the best i have tried with the DSl Amps . The Creamback M65 are the best stand alone speakers i have tried with the DSl and the best matched pairing in a 2 by 12 but my absolute favorite sound of the DSL is pairing a Creamback M65 and a vintage 30 either together in a 2 by 12 or having the M65 installed in the combo paired with a vintage 30 loaded 1 by 12. I really love the open back Creamback M65 loaded combo with the closed back vintage 30 1 by 12 sounds more vintage than using both those speakers in a 2 by 12. The combo sounds killer in it's own right with the Creamback M65. That speaker sounds like it was made for that amp.

I bought a Marshall DSL40 few months ago.. the clean was good but other than that i was a lil bit disappointed, reverb was really bad, and the built in extra gain stuff wasn't so satisfying... worst of all the amp started making very disturbing crackling noises and when i sent it the back to the dealer he said that this is a common issue in this model! So bad experience for me and checking for the Blackstar now lets see

I find the Marshall to be somewhat harsh sounding especially in the clean setting , also has to be quite loud to get the fullness and crunch from the OD Chanel that I like .

In the past I was thinking about Blackstar, but then Marshall started to produce DSL40CR and I couldn't resist buying it. It sounds great and with a 6 way footswitch you can control everything without touching buttons on the amp. I compared it with JVM410H and it has so many sound options, but none of them sound as good as DSL40CR. JVM was a bit dissapointment for me. Unfortunately I have to admit DSL40CR is not very reliable. I had many of them and except for one each of them started to have some technical issues during the time. I had also DSL100HR which is almost the same amp, but louder and with no issues. Maybe I had just a bad luck for combos, but there were so many different issues to say it was just a coincidence.

It’s hard to get a clean sound that work and a dirty sound that works if you’re switching live with the Marshall, it’s like this delicate balancing act with the shared EQ

I mean Marshall for Marshall tone right? Personally, I think the blackstar is more well rounded. Better recording features, better reverb, and good sounds. The 4w mode on blackstar makes it passable at home. Marshall only cuts it down to 20watts. Obviously you have to manage volumes for both of those at home. I just think blackstar is a better all around pick if you use a bit of everything and play a bit of everything. Other than that, Marshall is the best for a Marshall tone. With a Marshall I’d definitely need a reverb pedal. Blackstar might need one too but I can hold off. The cabrig system is very user friendly and has helped me get into using more software. As a hobbyist for guitar, I enjoyed how versatile and easy to use the blackstar is.

Blackstar also good sound. But for me Marshall is great choice in concert.

Glad i choose what i clearly thought sounded best to me and bought it 😊the Marshall.

Blackstar wins cleans Marshall wins dirty

I've owned both , and yes I sold the blackstar love the marshall

They said they did similar settings but it was clear that the Marshall was EQd brighter and you don't have to get as extreme with the Marshall to make it sound brighter..But easy fix with the black star put an EQ pedal in the effects Loop. If I push the od2 option 2 button in on my Blackstar HT 60 it is way tighter than the Marshall at the higher gain settings. You turn the gain high on OD2 on the Marshall and it turns into mush. So you need a good overdrive in front of it to tighten things up. Not as necessary on the Blackstar. The Reverb on the Marshall DSL is a joke. Even turned all the way up it's barely Audible. Even on the last Model it was the same thing.. it was very stupid of them for to overlook that. Believe me I love Marshall I've owned a lot of them but some of the stuff they do with their amps doesn't make any sense to me

i have gigged with the marshall dsl for years and slave it with a fender super champ xd so i can get EL84 sounds and 6L6 type sounds with footswitches .... the marshall footswitch is very fragile and hard to replace..... i use MXR distortion plus i got in the 70's and a solodano super overdrive so i don't need amp overdrive .... sometimes use the echoplex i got from danny gatton

To my ears on both the Marshall sounded better

DSL

The Marshall sounded way better except in the direct out and brown sound demos. Any other opinions are just trying to be edgy. Im not a Marshall fanboy for the record, I play an Orange.

on the fence between the Blackstar,Revv 25 or Bad Cat Black Cat,what do you prefer,thanks

Ayyyy working class Jimmy! Killed it

I have both but my dsl goes from 4 watts to 40 just like the blackstar...I love em both...I like the blackstar for my strat a little better though

I would like to ask what is the name of the song you play for the brown test at 7:26

I’ve had both. Marshall is just a better all around amp. Mine had a vintage 30 speaker in it and so did the blackstar. Marshall absolutely slayed the blackstar.

honestly, blackstar have interesting options but the DSL is just super versatile and maybe a bit more long lived than the blackstar, especially if it needs work done to it; blackstars and victories and similar amp brands are notoriously hard to work on. Tone wise tho, yeah every time I go looking for a marshall amp I buy something else, so I'd walk away with the blackstar still 😂

Marshall all the way

Split about even on the tone challenges. Both sound great overall. Tiebreaker goes to the model that costs hundreds of dollars less. Winner: Blackstar. (And no, I don’t own one).

Marshall is the one and only, and the best !

I have owned Both. Not the Same wattage though, I owned the Blackstar HT1 Metal, Marshall DSL1, and the Randall RD1. Also the Micro Dark terror and Joyo Bantamps though I will focus on the true tube amps. Marshall Wins Live sound. Blackstar Direct Wins and of course extra options. Randall was Garbage and I Love Randall, however that overpriced range, and over rated and highly priced (even used makes it not even reasonable to buy). Bugera keeps Up with older Blackstar if Your looking for a cheaper alternative. You guys did an awesome review! Thanks

is it loud enough for a club

I prefer the Blackstar. DSL are sort of blah. I dig the JVMs but they are overpriced, especially considering the unreliability of Marshalls.

I have the Blackstar HT100 mkiii head and a DSL100HR. Compared thru the same cab, I prefer the Blackstar. For the combo, the Blackstar needs a speaker change. The Seventy80 stock speaker does not do that amp justice.

uuu marshall the best

I'd prefer to hear all eq set to noon.

Excellent tones!

Blackstar sound really better 😉

Blackstar sounded better on the cleaner channels but the marshall was better on the gain channels. The blackstar sounded boxy on the gain channels.

Lets be honest, 99% of people picking the blackstar own a blackstar lol

Amp 2 cleaner

MARSHALL!

Black star all the way.

Blackstar FTW

Marshall, ALL THE WAY…. 😮

Blackstar.. if you could only repair them when they inevitably fail

I prefer the black star. Of course i'm biased I do have that one

Blackstar wins for my taste

B

Try to get your Blackstar repaired. Just call around and ask.

Marshall

Both sound kinda to bright.

Honestly? Neither of these sound like a real Marshall. Play a "DSL anything" & compare it to a JCM 800 or JCM 900. (Yes, you can play them low too. ) Sound is not even in the same ballpark.l as the JCMs. Marshall has been disappointibg for years now. Money better spent on an Orange tube 15 watt, if you plst Rock or Metal. Better design. My 2 cents.

Marshall small combos just dont do it.. sounds like muddy ass or ice picks in the ear

MARSHALL🖤🤍🇺🇸

CRAPstar is NOT EVEN ON THE SAME LEVEL as a real MARSHALL!!! ......... SORRY FORMER MARSHALL EMPLOYEES!!! YOU LOST..........................

The Marshall sounds way better. Blackstar i don't like it.

Amp a dirtier

Marshall sounds very classic while Blackstar sounds super modern. I prefer Marshalls as thats what Green Day use 😅😅

Dsls are shit . The old ones are ok , but the new ones suck . They essentially give you a marshall sound in a box , but it doesnt translate to any real musicality when playing live . They are fine for banging out crunch chords / classic rock but don't do leads any justice . they are stuiff and brittle . doesn't even compare to the JVM . got rid of yjm and jvm for the dsl ( mainly because it was a combo and lighter ) but utterly crap when i gigged it . I then got a jubilee . decent . basically if its not a 'made in england marshall' its just budget crap , good for home use and the odd gig .

Marshall dsl is the best

Marshall amps have become worse with each new model they bring to the market!

Overall my vote is for the Marshall. The Blackstar sounded boxier.