great little amp

This is the thrid amp I have bought in the last 9 months and is now the only one I use. Its great for practice, recording and I mic it up and use it for band practice. The direct out into my recording mixer sounds great. Can't wait too try out a larger Blackstar I've used Mashalls all my life, now I think I'm hooked on Blackstar

Great amp

This is a great amp. Not a great "gig at a club" amp but a great practice and recording amp. If you play in a 3 piece combo that is quiet (jazz/blues - drummer w/brushes or rods) the clean channel does the perfect amount of breakup when cranked. Or if you need just a little more, plug it in to a 1x12 speaker cab and enjoy low volume power-tube goodness. It records fantastically either with a mic or the speaker sim. Simplicity is it's greatest strength and the ISF gives you lots of variation. Expect your modeler to start collecting dust. The digital reverb is nice too. This is probably the most enjoyable, practical, musical anything I've bought in a long time. I have several other tube amps, some vintage, but this one is the first to blend modern and traditional sounds and really get it right. As always, actual mileage may vary but I am very pleased and impressed.

Don't let the 1w fool you!

This amp is very impressive for its size! It is very ideal for practicing in small spaces where a larger valve amplifier may not be suitable. Also, it is very compact and portable. There are many demo videos available on the Internet that demonstrate this amp quite well. This amp has a far better sound quality than a couple of the higher wattage solid-state amps that I have owned. It still sounds great with the volume cranked!

Most fun I've had in years

I've had this amp for about three months now, and have experimented with it a ton. Here are some observations:

+ Gets a great range of high gain hard rock and metal tones, but it also does the in-between semi-distorted classic rock type of tones real well.

+ I wouldn't buy this for clean. The clean is nice, but not very loud.

+ It's surprisingly loud. Loud enough to get sweet singing feedback. Loud enough to feel it and get into it. Certainly loud enough to mic up and get a killer tone. But not loud enough to jam with a drummer.

+ The digital reverb sounds nice. Just one sound, designed to emulate tank verb, but it's musical, clean and pretty wet if you want it to be.

+ Pretty quiet. I mean, when you have it flat out maxed, there's some hiss, but nothing out of the ordinary for tube amps.

+ Sounds great recorded. That's where I am enjoying the heck out of this. I like to record and experiment with placement. So the fact that this little guy is so small and light, you can stick it in a weird spot in your house, or in a stairwell, and experiment with acoustic reactions.

+ The emulated headphone/line sounds really legit. Very usable.

+ The one-knob EQ control (or infinite shape thingee) works well. There are a ton of tones you can get, just by spinning that knob around. It feels basically like a mid shape control.

+ One channel, not footswitchable

+ Has worked flawlessly for me with no issues. Seems sturdy enough and well built. Looks like quality.

+ It's small and light. Like a lunchbox.

Overall, I love this little amp and have been having a ton of fun with it, just messing around and recording at home. Really happy with the tones that it produces.