Roland MOBILE AC Acoustic Combo Amp Reviews

4.0/5.0 based on 2 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

"Flamenco Chuck" Keyser
from United States
December 6, 2012Music Background:
Flamenco guitar, folk singing (I'm a 60's person..:-)

Comparison with Mobile Cube

Remember: the Mobile Cube AC is not the same unit as the Micro Cube or the Cube Street...

The Roland Mobile Cube AC (MCAC) just arrived, and I spent a short while comparing it with my Mobile Cube (MC) (how complicated can it be?). Guitar is nylon string Takamine TC132SC.... CT2 preamp, etc....

Impressions: the sound is quite acceptable; not as rich or detailed as its bigger brothers, but quite useable. Reverb and chorus are fine (the reverb at its max setting is even a little "over the top", and should satisfy any surf freak....

The interesting part came when I compared it to the Mobile Cube....

The MC (Mobile Cube) had a bit of noise even with everything unplugged, effects off or at minimum. The MCAC was silent as far as I could tell....

1. First I checked out the audio in. The MC seemed to boost the mids substantially by comparison (and then cut them substantially with center cancel turned on). The MCAC sounded much more natural, and much better for the percussive backing tracks I use.

2. Guitar In - I only compared the MCAC with the Acoustic setting on the MC. For my Takamine, the sound was a bit "ringy" through the MCAC (even with chorus and reverb off), but sounded much more natural than the MC, which emphasized the mids as mentioned above. (Initially that was acceptable to me when I first got it, because I was trying to get rid of the bass from the SBT I was using...) There is a very slightly discernable piezo "quack" that is unnoticeable in my bigger amps (AC-33, SA-220, A-Ref) except a very loud volumes (which I seldom use); of course that may be an unfair comparison, since a low volume for the bigger amps may correspond to a loud volume for the MCAC).

3. I particularly like the volume adjustment for the backing track (audio in) on the unit itself, so I don't have to fumble for the mp3 player....

I'm not sure it would be loud enough (without distortion or quack) for busking, but if you just need an enhancement of your basic sound, rather than full on projection to a crowd, I think it would be quite sufficient (i.e., might work in a subway, or coffeehouse if the crowd wasn't too big or noisy) For practice, it is great.

I didn't check the mic, because I don't sing that much anymore, unless it is Flamenco (because the crowd is going to dissipate pretty fast if I do....:-). But I would imagine a difference, since the audio in's were so different.....

"Flamenco Chuck" Keyser
from Santa Barbara, CA
December 5, 2012Music Background:
Playing Flamenco for WAY longer than I want to admit....:-)

Great Addition to the Roland line....

This amp is a great addition to Roland's line, with a great form factor for its intended use. I play a Takamine TC132SC nylon string, and while the sound is not as rich as the AC-33, it is still quite acceptable. Backing tracks sound fine, and I like the fact that the volume is adjustable from the top, instead of having to fumble with the mp3 player

The chorus and reverb are good. The quality of sound is much better than the Cube Street for my application. And it does sound better than the Mobile Cube on the acoustic setting (although the latter is no slouch either).

Although it doesn't have the richness and detail of my Fishman SA-220 or LR Baggs A-Ref, it is quite useable, and fits perfectly in the sportpack on my motorcycle (I use a BR-80 for backing tracks)..

For me, it is a keeper.....