Best amplifier sound quality recommendations

So far I’ve been using a Fender GDEC that has multi-frequency speakers and it doesn’t sound too bad. I am thinking of getting an acoustic guitar amp, one that has voice and CD player input. I’ve tried a Roland keyboard amp that had some sock to it.

So far in the general consensus, has anything risen to the top for quality performance amp preferences?

Thanks!

This forum is probably not the correct place to discuss amps, as you may simply never get a response.

Your amp is a solid state 15 watt. Just like my Roland Cube 20X it is a soulless box, when it comes to amplifying. Buy a tube amp instead, you’ll hear and feel the difference!! The lower wattage - the better. I use Blackstar HT-1R.

ahh, sorry I didn’t make myself clear… I am talking about amp “type” with the BeatBud plugged into it. In the FAQ it obviously states avoid guitar amps due to lack of frequency range. But full frequency amps like keyboards and acoustic amp experiences are what I am hoping to draw from. Some acoustic shows I have no PA. I use the GDEC because it has a CD player input the beatBuddy can plug into that skirts the effects, while the bass tends to really thump the heck out of it. Perhaps a keyboard amp can take harder beats and can be more defined, or perhaps more wattage can help also.

The GDEC is a pretty decent little modding amp, but yes you need to bypass the effects chain which the guitar inputs go through.
The Aux in allows that fine but I find it a little quiet, even with an mp3 player on full power the guitars tend to overpower the aux feed.

so it will work, but you may need to turn up the BB to hear it well enough. Also I should point out that the GDEC is a guitar amp so its optimized for a mid-high treble range and the low tom and bass on the BB will be too much for it, so it may cause distortions.

No guitar amp is going to do the BeatBuddy complete justice, because they are just that - guitar amps.

PA with stereo setup is best. Next, consider using a powered monitor or main that is portable. Any 10", 12", or 15" powered main/monitor will be tailored for flat EQ response, and most now even have some basic EQ. For my acoustic gigs I have a small setup with 2 10"/horn mains, and a powered 6 channel mixer. Plenty loud/clear for these gigs, and I can run BB in stereo.

And certainly the more clean headroom (power) you have in an amp the better. The goal is to reproduce the recorded wav sounds from the BB as accurately and uncolored as possible, since they are already “mastered,” unless one is intentionally trying to produce “Lo-Fi” sounds or such.

I am getting a nice response from my Yamaha StagePas500 system. It consists of a 10 and a horn in each cab with a 500 watt 7 channel powered mixer. It has basic eq verb and such, but nothing too fancy. But, it is compact.

I would suggest a keyboard amp or powered PA speaker as well. Even a full frequency acoustic amp won’t be designed to take frequencies as low as a keyboard will put out and with the BB you want as much as you can get in all areas. Also, in my experience, KBD amps have more channels than an acoustic amp will.

Take it down to your local music store. Blow a few minds with it. :slight_smile:

Rusty

I am a keyboard player and have been using my Roland KC550 and it sounds very good. However, I understand it would sound better in stereo so I plan to get (2) of the smaller KC350’s I already have one, and the matching sub for them…It is a lot to carry but I’m used to that…I just want the best sound I can get. If I could only take one amp the KC550 would be what I would take.

I second this vote. Do you know how awesome the BB sounds through a dual set of eight QSC WL218s?

Thanks, Dan

I’m using a general 100 watt rack mount amp and two 3 way PA speakers with 15" woofers and the drums sound awesome!!!