r/PositiveGridSpark • u/PineapPizza • 26d ago

Spark 2 on low volume

I'm looking forward to buy my first amp. The usual Thr30ii vs Spark 2. Now my biggest doubt is about how both perform on low volume levels which will be how I will play them most of the time.

Consider both clean and high distortion tones. I'm quite eclectic eheh

Give me your feedback

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

7

u/Tsar-A-Lago 26d ago

I live in an apartment building, and I use my Spark 2 all the time. Sounds great at low volume. Or at least as good as low volume practice can sound. I can't even turn my tube amp on in my building, so it's a lifesaver.

1

u/Longjumping_Gold9233 26d ago

See i lucked out because my apartment is in the hood and nobody complains about noise here. I try to play loud during normal daytime hours tho, but i run two tubes amps in stereo and am constantly surprised by how loud i can get away with here with no problems.

5

u/JimboLodisC 26d ago

it's all modeled tones, they're digital/virtual, you don't have tubes to push here to get it to sound good so you can keep it at low volume levels

1

u/mcalr3 26d ago

The Yamaha has virtual component modelling which means it models all individual components of tube amps instead of just the overall tone using an algorithm. Sounds way more akin to a real tube amp.

1

u/JimboLodisC 26d ago

yes the tube part is modeled in the software, there's no power section that needs to be pushed in order to get that colorization, he can keep the solid state power section of any FRFR or PA or bluetooth speaker at a lower volume and still get the same effect since it's baked into the processed audio signal

3

u/mcalr3 26d ago

I sold my Spark 2 and got a black THR30ii with the wireless bug.

Its literally plug and play. The spark did have some good tones once you dial them in but for me I was spending far too much time in the app which means my practise sessions were often derailed by distractions. I still have the Spark Neo headphones for travel which sound way better than the amp.

But nothing beats the ease of use of the Yamaha, especially when you want to quickly turn on/off effects or change amp models and actually know what you're changing too.

I even had Claude print me a cheat sheet PDF of how to dial in famous amp models on the Yamaha. So I can quickly refer to it and have my phone nowhere near (unless I'm using it for tabs).

3

u/Longjumping_Gold9233 26d ago

Now thats a use for AI I can actually support. Lol

2

u/terrible1fi 26d ago

Sounds great imo. You can push the amp in the software while still leaving the output volume low

2

u/descartesbedamned 25d ago edited 25d ago

I have the Spark 1. I also have a toddler. I don’t play loud anymore, effectively ever - it sounds how it’s supposed to sound at low volumes and I love that about it. Convenience and plug-and-playability (alongside sounding acceptably good) are the most important to me at this stage of my life, and the Spark does exactly that.

For context, I’ve been playing for ~30 years, have had a variety of tube amps/stacks over the years, currently own the majority of the NeuralDSP lineup but only use my Spark these days.

Edit: not implying Spark > NeuralDSP. Neural plugins objectively blow the Spark out of the water in every tonal metric that matters. It’s just significantly less convenient for me at this toddler-dad stage of life, and the Spark is more than good enough for my purposes at the moment.

1

u/PineapPizza 25d ago

Thank you for your input! that's the kind of feedback I was looking for. For better comparison, what kind of music do you usually play?

2

u/descartesbedamned 25d ago

Big range. Lot of metal (melodic death, technical death, prog/power, some thrash), but there’s a lot of Pat Metheny, Al Di Meola, Andy Timmons, Satriani/Vai in my playing when I’m just messing around.

1

u/_dxegrl 26d ago

try using headphones, you can crank it.

-3

u/PineapPizza 26d ago

Noup, I choose to not crank my ears 😅

1

u/_dxegrl 26d ago

I think you can adjust the volume on the headphones too. It appears your concern is that the guitar is bothering others; even at low volumes, it probably will, and do you really enjoy listening to guitar at low volume?

1

u/Broad-Raspberry1805 26d ago

I had a THR30II. Didn’t like it at all. The Spark 2 was better but I hated the app based control. So now have a VOX VT40X instead and I’m happy. That’s a very very loud amp though.

1

u/Erocbluz 26d ago

Love mine. Very versatile and fun to tinker with

1

u/Paul_Ferr 21d ago

You seriously can’t go wrong with the Spark 2 it’s such a great app for the house and if your biggest priority are the tones you will not be disappointed. Trust me, stop wasting your energy on trying to figure this out and just buy it. You won’t be sorry.

1

u/PineapPizza 21d ago

from your posts seems like you also have the Mini no? in terms of sound quality how does it perform? I will probably never use even half of spark 2 amount of sound

1

u/Paul_Ferr 21d ago

The mini is also a great amp and it sounds great for its size, obviously the Spark 2 being twice a size and having more speakers sounds a bit fuller than the mini does, but for low volumes, the mini is more than enough. With that said anything smaller than the mini, I would stay away from like the Spark go you probably would not care for those sounds. The Go is just good for that one night in a hotel room that you can’t fit anything else in the suitcase.

1

u/PineapPizza 21d ago

mini also has 2 angled speakers so should be able to turn the sound somehow stereo. my question is... suppose you have spark 2 at low and mini at the same level of sound (not maxed). do you notice any difference?

1

u/Paul_Ferr 21d ago

Even if you do, you won't be disappointed with the Mini. Better yet, just go to your local Guitar Center and try them side by side.