Blackstar ID:X 50 50-watt 1 x 12-inch Digital Combo Amplifier Certified Open Box

Name: Blackstar ID:X 50 50-watt 1 x 12-inch Digital Combo Amplifier
Brand: Blackstar
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)

50W, 3-channel, 1 x 12" Modeling Combo Amp with 6 Amp Voicings, 35 FX, Power Scaling, Tube Emulation, 99 Presets, and CabRig DSP Simulator

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Item ID: IDX50d1

Blackstar ID:X 50 50-watt 1 x 12-inch Digital Combo Amplifier

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Condition Notes:

This returned item is in good condition with some signs of use but is in perfect working order. There is a 2" scratch on the top of the handle. Includes all original accessories. This item ships in its original packaging which shows some signs of wear.

This item was thoroughly inspected by our factory-authorized service team and is backed by Sweetwater's exclusive 2-year warranty. The images shown do not necessarily represent the condition of this particular item.

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ID:X — Where Classic Amp Control Meets Digital Power

Meet the ID:X 50, Blackstar’s boldest step yet in digital amp design. This all-in-one tonal juggernaut blends the familiar feel of a traditional amp with the limitless flexibility of modern innovation. Survey the front panel and you’ll feel right at home — the intuitive layout offers straightforward tone controls alongside quick-access buttons for power, presets, and deeper features, all displayed on a vivid OLED screen. Start dialing in your sound and explore six versatile voicings, from sparkling cleans and bluesy crunch to roaring high-gain sizzle. Next, shape your tone to taste with natural valve emulation, 35 onboard effects, and Blackstar’s next-gen CabRig DSP speaker simulation, complete with XLR and USB-C outputs for direct recording or bypassing the speaker. Whether you’re practicing, performing, or recording, the Blackstar ID:X 50 delivers a full suite of tone, effects, power, and innovation in one sleek digital combo amp.

Sculpt your signature sound

Drawing on years of expertise from the ID, Silverline, and Amped series, Blackstar designed the ID:X to meet the needs of any player in any situation. It all starts with six versatile voices — two clean, two crunch, and two overdrive — followed by the ability to capture natural tube dynamics with three emulated valve responses: EL84, EL34, and 6L6. From there, you can sculpt your sound using enhanced traditional controls. The Gain knob doubles as a noise gate, Bass doubles as resonance, and Treble boosts presence, while a dedicated Mid control, standard Volume, and Blackstar’s signature ISF round out the intuitive interface.

A pedalboard’s worth of effects, built right in

Loaded with 35 stompbox-style effects — from lush reverbs to gritty fuzz — the ID:X delivers pedalboard-level impact without the hassle of extra gear. Sweetwater guitarists put this amp through its paces and trust its rock-solid patch recall to shift from shimmering cleans to stadium-sized crunch in seconds, no pedal tap-dancing required. Each effect offers real-time parameter control, with room to save up to 99 custom patches and assign them across three programmable channels. For even more hands-free flexibility, add the optional FS-12 footswitch or tap into full MIDI control.

Load up your tone

Once you’ve picked a voice, set the EQ, and layered on the effects, the ID:X takes you one step further with Blackstar’s CabRig technology. CabRig replaces the limitations of impulse response snapshots with a dynamic DSP speaker simulator that models cabinet, mic, and room interactions in incredible detail — with zero latency or phase issues. Easily send your CabRig tones straight to a DAW via the USB-C output or directly to the front of house through balanced XLR, bypassing the onboard speaker for consistent, professional results. Using Blackstar’s Architect software, you can even shape your sound with different mic placements, room styles, and blend controls.

Blackstar ID:X 50 Features:

50W digital combo amp with a 12-in. speaker and power scaling down to 1W
Compact, gig-ready design delivers professional tone without the need for external gear
6 versatile amp voices ranging from pristine cleans to high-gain saturation
Selectable valve responses emulate the feel of classic tube amps
35 onboard effects with individual parameter controls — no external pedals required
Save and recall up to 99 custom patches, with 3 programmable channels
Optional FS-12 footswitch unlocks full performance control from the floor
Next-gen CabRig DSP speaker simulation with XLR and USB-C outputs for recording or live use
Architect software for deep editing, cab/mic selection, and room simulations

What is Certified Open Box Gear?

At Sweetwater, we're so picky that what we call "Certified Open Box" is actually better than what most music retailers sell as "new" gear! Our gear hasn't endured hundreds of people a week plunking away at all the keyboards, fumbling through Stairway to Heaven on every guitar or playing with every fader and knob on a mixer or control surface.

Certified Open Box (also known as a demo) means we’ve had it out of the box for our YouTube channel, displayed at events, tested in our studio, or maybe it was in a customer’s hands for a few days and isn’t ‘factory fresh’ as a result. Every Certified Open Box item we sell has Sweetwater’s 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty and has been tested and verified up to ‘new’ specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it’s in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

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Tech Specs

Type: Solid State
Number of Channels: 3
Output Power: 50W
Speaker Size: 1 x 12" Blackstar Anthem 50
Effects: 35 x FX
Amp Modeling: 6 x Amp Voicings
EQ: 4-band EQ
Inputs: 1 x 1/4", 1 x 1/8" (line)
Outputs: 1 x 1/4" (cabrig), 1 x XLR (DI)
Effects Loop: Yes, 2 x 1/4"
Footswitch I/O: 1 x 1/4"
Software: CabRig DSP Simulator
Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
Manufacturer Part Number: IDX50

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I was in need of a smaller amp for rehearsals. My Orange Crush 35 RT could barely be heard over the bass and drums. My other amps: Marshal DSL 40, Peavey Bandit 65 and Fender Champion 100 are a bit too heavy. The Blackstar IDX 50 weighs about as much as my Orange Crush 35RT and is PLENTY loud to be heard in the mix. Probably loud enough to be able to gig. The power scaling is a great feature. I thought switching through the different tube responses would be a gimmick but you can actually feel a difference in how the amp responds. I tend to play hard rock and metal and found that the 6L6 option fits my playing the best. My apprehension in buying the amp was about whether or not I would have the time or inclination to tinker around with patches and so forth (Architect software). Some folks claimed it was difficult to use but to me it is pretty straightforward. It comes with many pre-loaded patches and you can customize and create your own. To truly unlock the full potential of this amp, you need to get the FS-12, 5 button footswitch (they are really hard to find). My only gripe is that the footswitch should be included. A cool feature of the footswitch and the software is that you can assign functions to each button, PER PATCH! That gives you a ton of customization options. I have the 5th button set up as a tuner which I have set to silent mode (you can change that in Architect). Cool thing about that is when you engage the tuner, you can basically mute your entire rig. The lights on the footswitch clearly indicate if you are sharp or flat in tuning. And, the amp's screen turns white when you are in tune. The tuner works better than clip on tuners. Cabrig output is great and can be changed in Architect. If you use them, there is a separate volume knob for the output and it doesn't cut the amp's speaker. So, if you use the Cabrig output to go to a mixer or FOH, you can use the amp as a monitor. Very cool. Lastly, the sounds you get out of this thing are about as close to real tube amps as you can get, without the weight, cost and fragility. I can see myself getting the IDX 100 later on. Highly recommend this amp! It is probably my favorite amp from my collection.

I sold an older Fender and an Orange. The ID:X sounds 10x better. I really like the tube settings option, as well as the attenuation. The effects are very beneficial to get your tones the way you like them. This is an excellent amp. I have yet to find any negatives with it. The software works great, it's an all around 10 out of 10. I had planned to buy the new Katana and kept hesitating, and I sure am glad. After seeing comparisons I bought this one immediately and love it.

This affordable amp has great features and price and sound. Sounds is big and accurate. Low E string really gets the bass. Works better on the "store" (memory bank) mode instead of manual mode, as it remembers last settings. Affects are overwhelming the sound, I need to learn how to get them under control, but they sound great and realistic (delay, over drive, chorus, reverb, etc.).
The 12" speaker is really the centerpiece with big sound. I like the attenuator so I can set 1 watt/ 10 watt/ 50 watt, as this amp gets very loud. 1 watt is bedroom levels.
Over all weight is good, lighter than a tube amp. Its crazy you can even have a K-drive as a overdrive, plus others like TS, etc. There are many over drives, chorus, tremolo, reverb, delay, compressor, etc., effects you can tweak setting and play at the same time. The effects seems come up in the "highest" setting, instead of middle, so you need to adjust them to get them under control. I love the Response button (which also gets saved if you use the memory banks) which gives you EL84, EL34 (old marshall brit), or 6L6 (fender clean), and this also gets saved with presets. Another advantage of presets is it remembers which one was on last, so when you turn on the amp it sets the last preset automatically (manual mode doesn't do this).
I haven't used any App with it (but you can), which is kinda the point, super tired of having to Apps to get my amp to work.
I was also an owner of a similar Boss amp, and I like this one better as its louder and has clearer, more realistic sound.
I like the clean sounding Clean Warm with little reverb and 6L6. Or the Crunch is good for older rock, AC/ DC, Zep. And Super Crunch for Judas Priest or Nirvana. This is big step up from my Fender Champ II 8" speaker. I wanted a bigger Fender amp, but could not afford it, and frankly this one does more. So really happy with it.

Being a blind Blues guitarist, I review a lot of products on the market for blind accessibility. I like the idea of the Blackstar ID:X amps. I owned a Blackstar ID TVP amp many years ago, and the ID:X seemed like a wonderful extension to that line. But, as is common in the music industry, accessibility is not a core design principle in the ID:X (despite their stated goal to meet accessibility needs on their website). I reached out to Blackstar to determine whether I would be able to use the Architect software and got the following response:
"Hi David
Thank you for your email
Im afraid to say David that although this is our plan for the future, at present Architect is not compatible with JAWS screen reader
Im sorry i couldn't be of further assistance with thus
Kind Regards, [...]"
This is a typical response. The support folks express disappointment that they are unable to assist and imply that in some unspecified future that they might be able to resolve this issue, but they rarely do. Line 6 is very similar in their communication. The one product that is similar to the ID:X (and is accessible) is the Fender Mustang GTX-50/100. Given that the ID:X has an OLED display and that Architect is not screen reader accessible, I am going to skip this amp.