EPIC FAIL! Line 6 CATALYST: A Fearless Gear Review

Рет қаралды 97,026

Күн бұрын

Here's an honest, #unsponsored look at the Line 6 Catalyst! Is it the ultimate beginner amp? Or is it a pile of crap?
Note: The subject of this video is unsponsored. Some music gear may or may not have been provided by various manufacturers over the years.
0:00 New From Line 6
1:51 Doesn't Like Being an Aggregate Device
2:43 Crap Tone Through Analog
3:05 Software & Settings
4:18 Not Impressive
5:49 The One Redeeming Factor
7:36 Good Software Interface, Bad Tone
9:17 Built-In Effects
10:45 Clean & Crunch
12:13 One BIG Gripe
12:50 Good For Jamming, Not Recording
13:57 Bogren Amp Knob
14:51 Better Recording Options
16:09 Full Mix
17:17 Recap
18:37 Hammer of Truth?
18:48 Final Thoughts
19:28 Endscreen
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About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!

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@dressedtosmellgood 6 ай бұрын

A better and more versatile guitarist might be whats missing here. Maybe they will include one with the next firmware update

@HandPuppet_Official 2 жыл бұрын

Me, listening to this on my phone speakers: "You're absolutely right, Glen. I'm also disappointed in these tones"

@sidgar1 2 жыл бұрын

I'm listening to it on some Kali 6" studio monitors and it still sounds like ass :)

@schecter7elite801 2 жыл бұрын

@@sidgar1 lmao. Do you realize it could be the player who makes it sound like ass? I have the 60 watt catalyst, and I made it sound similar to a 6505.

@9hk38f 2 жыл бұрын

@@schecter7elite801 Yea, with these cheap amps, you can really vamp them up, with pedals and whatnot. Does it sound as good as a $5,000 stack? No! But it’s also budget friendly. You get what you pay for. This seems perfect for most standard bedroom shredders.

@schecter7elite801 2 жыл бұрын

@@9hk38f I've heard 150 dollar amps that sound just as good as a 5k stack. Just saying. But yes, the 60 watt version is good for the bedroom, but those 100 or 200 watt versions scream.

@9hk38f 2 жыл бұрын

@@schecter7elite801 Yea, and that’s overkill, if your not a performing musician. These people doing these reviews, don’t seem to understand. We’re not all Jimi Hendrix here. Some of us just play at home.

@1972LittleC 2 жыл бұрын

I will get a lot of flack for this, but in the mix the catalyst didn't sound that bad compared to the one knob thingy. It's a bit of a better fit for '80s metal then that one knob thing that sounds very predictable and safe. It cuts better through, and for the lead tones I really didn't hear much difference. Is it good? No. Is it as bad as described? Not in my opinion. Is it good enough for the price? Nah, the Katana rules that price segment in my opinion.

@redcomn 2 жыл бұрын

Thing is after testing it at home I felt like fender mustang iii v2 sounded way better, and that amp is ancient 🤣

@SalAveNU 2 жыл бұрын

It's good in the mic because it's Glenn's mix.

@steroq6699 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, I prefer the Catalyst, it sounds more like metal production from the 80s, not the top notch, big budget but all those lesser known acts with smaller budgets.

@JoelSebastianMoreno 2 жыл бұрын

Katana is the pinnacle of guitar amplifiers. Sounds amazing for that price range, works well in any situation and you can play almost everything on it, works amazing with pedals and built effects are pretty good. I have the 50 MkII and if have to change it i will go for the Artist MkII, because you can choose the cab ressonance right from the amp. The only issue is how works with extended range guitar, the amp have this low mid ressonance and works amazing in 6 strings, but in extended range you have to tweak a little bit and the tone is affected in regular 6 strings guitars, but you can change the pickups or buy an Horizon Devices Precision Drive for control the low mid directly from the input and problem solved.

@shtrudelmusic7653 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, I'm with you. By itself, it sounds like shit, no doubt. But then Glenn pulled off some black magic and it actually sounds good in the full mix.

@shannonm7981 2 жыл бұрын

My opinion is that these cheaper practice amps are made to appeal to two main demographics; the experienced players using it as a pedal platform, hence the decent clean tone, & the beginner to intermediate players jamming in their rooms. Both of these demographics are much larger than those recording at home, so sadly they only focus on the main clean tone & make everything else just passable. The companies think its just not worth the extra expense to appease such a "niche community".

@kestutisbagusauskas8323 6 ай бұрын

Why would anyone want to record the noise he's generating?

@bozeeke 2 жыл бұрын

This dude is a clown. Exactly how is a really affordable practice amp that actually sounds good a failure? All of these practice amps in that $200-300 dollar price range sound really good, especially when compared to the crap practice amps they had out when I started playing in the late 90s. Whether you're buying a BOSS Katana, an Orange Crush, one of the various versions of Blackstar practice amps, line 6 (which is super unfairly maligned), Marshall Code, Fender Mustang etc., as a home hobbyist player, you are getting tonal options not possible 20 or 30 years ago on cheap practice amps and they sound pretty good for what they are. A cheap practice amp should not be compared to a $2000 dollar tube amp.

@totemstomp Жыл бұрын

Amp really shines with its clean and dynamic sounds.

@Gloomshimmer 5 ай бұрын

Guess what.....most modelers do this. Better.

@thomascoolberth2648 8 күн бұрын

This is a metal show.

@badfish57 2 жыл бұрын

I don’t mind my catalyst 200w.. For what I like to do, it has been great. I don’t use it as a interface, so not using the cabinet IRs either. Just amp in the room. Regardless, like your take on it and enjoy your content as always 🤘🏼

@turtlemann5429 2 жыл бұрын

I'm sweating nervously as I bought one recently and recommended it to a friend 🙃

@Saynlion 2 жыл бұрын

Well I have 2 boss katanas and the speaker in those are muddy.. but ok for practice..

@MNewt 2 жыл бұрын

I bought the catalyst, works great for metal for me (with some pedals). But I was interested to see what he had to say about it.

@Mark-zi6nt 2 жыл бұрын

@@Saynlion Do you by any chance have the Boss Katana 100 combo? I might share my patch for metal, if you happen to have it.

@eriklamelakillingspree7690 2 жыл бұрын

They gonna start to second guess your advice 🥺

@216trixie 2 жыл бұрын

@Turtle mann Ooos!!!

@nutellaking734 Жыл бұрын

So I heard a guy playing the 200W version live with an absolutely great sound compared to my Marshall DSL40 Combo that I use for playing live. Since I saw it giving off this sound I have been playing with getting one for myself. The reviews I have seen so far, ecxept this one, have been praising it as a great affordable amp, so I was kinda convinced it must be pretty great. Thanks for your input Glenn! always nice to know where to get an honest, though personal and subjective opinion! Cheers from Austria!

@canadianblackmetal4534 Жыл бұрын

Was the guy you saw playing one playing metal? I got a 200w catalyst and it kills in a band/live setting. If you are just at home recording metal this ain't the amp.

@kenlemery2633 Жыл бұрын

I brought this only to write riffs. I have no plans to record with it.

@WickedFesterBand 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the honest review. I like mine but I bought it to use as an amp, not a recording interface or amp sim. For a $269 amp (what I paid) and used as a combo amp it sounds good. I’m old and play classic rock though. It works for me. I get my one sound I like.

@GearGasms 2 жыл бұрын

I was thinking the same thing - it has a speaker, turn the damn IR’s off and play it like an amp. Who wants to use this kind of crap as an interface or record with its sounds? Way better Daw plugin options like Amplitube or even Helix native.

@WickedFesterBand 2 жыл бұрын

@@GearGasms Exactly! Thank you. lol I bought it for every day practice to take some load of the now precious tubes in my tube amps. Seemed a really good SS option to my small tube amps. It sounds a lot like them.

@OleZone Жыл бұрын

used to recommend those little 15w line 6 amps to beginner's. They'd have everything a young kid could want in terms of experimenting. Once they spent a couple years playing and figuring out the kind of music they want to play after honing their skills they could buy something half decent.

@phenixnunlee372 2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, with modeling amps playing out of a guitar speaker in my experience turning the cab modeling off improves the sound the most. Unless they apply a proper correction to the modeling speaker it sounds muddy.

@craigharrison5406 2 жыл бұрын

I know the Katana is the king of the modelling amps but for high gain I love the Peavey Vypr. It has the most crushing metal tones I've heard from a modelling amp. That being said it does have some issues (there's alot of unwanted noise when turned up, need a noise gate to curb that) but If crushing metal tones is your aim it's probably the best option for a small combo amp.

@mookyshoots1 2 жыл бұрын

A speaker change helps a lot. Put a 75W Creamback in it and it noticeably improved. I've also griped about the lack of a speaker jack, so i made my own with a mojo jack, two pieces of wire and a couple male slide clips. Now I can just disconnect the female slide clips from the speaker and hook them to my homebrew jack and now I can hook up to anything. Should I have to do this? No, but I can't complain that hard for how cheap these are. Had to do the same with my Katana 50.

@fletcherchambers7175 2 жыл бұрын

Get a bridge with that Mr. Scampants?

@vincentpeer5188 2 жыл бұрын

Super stunned they didn’t use any helix software or include a speaker output. Thanx Glen!

@void_snw Жыл бұрын

iirc the models and cabs / IRs in it are from the Helix stuff. Sucks, cause the Helix cabs / IRs are a big yikes.

@rolandjuhasz3405 5 ай бұрын

Hi, if you are thinking of getting this amp I wanted to provide a bit more context to this video. Glen is a producer and is reviewing this amp naturally from the perspective of recording and production. If you are intending to use this amp to play in your house and not worried about recording, it’s an awesome amp. Sounds great in the room and has some great features at the price point such as an fx loop so it works great if you have a pedalboard. I have wah and overdrive running to the front and delay and reverb etc in the back of the amp. It sounds awesome at any volume, and being able to reduce power from 60 to 30 or 0.5 watts is great if you want to practice or jam at night without disturbing your neighbours or family members. It’s overall great quality and really great for the price, and you will love it if these features are what you’re looking for. If I had a bunch of awesome 4x cabs like Glen, I’d probably get a 5150 amp head, but that’s not who the catalyst 60 is intended for. I mainly use the spark and this and both are pretty great for home use. Cheers

@guitarguts666 2 жыл бұрын

They should have made a real amp head only with the helix parts built in

@theoneeyedmilkman1517 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly helix is mega. I sold all amps after getting one even a 5150 mk ii I will likely regret 🤣. I actually think where digital is at the moment that we actually can’t get that much better

@pipelineaudio 2 жыл бұрын

exactly....its years late and they could have totally smoked everyone

@Mikesosa75 2 жыл бұрын

Wow Glen! If you say the POD GO is good... It´s has to be really good! Your reviews are demanding but honest! I appreciate the review!

@DinsdalePiranha67 2 жыл бұрын

I have a Katana 50 MkII I bought a couple years ago. So far I've been pretty happy with it, and I'm glad to get your vote of confidence on it.

@Arael67 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the review, Glenn. I’d love to see a review of the boss katana mk II on this channel since it’s the competition for the catalyst

@TrueLink1 2 жыл бұрын

Gotta say, I think the Catalyst stacked up on itself way better in a mix than the Bogren did. Bogren definitely sounds better solo'd up though. Maybe it was just the IR you were using for the Bogren, but the Bogren mix sounded way more scooped and fizzy. I'm suspecting that the particular "fizz" of the Catalyst is helping glue the mix together a little bit? The Catalyst didn't sound great by itself, but I'm honestly surprised by how well you were able to make it work in a mix.

@DominiqueHeine 2 жыл бұрын

The Bogren cannot be used with any other IR as you cannot switch off its own IR

@mbuby7 2 жыл бұрын

Yep!!! I agree

@solosabbath8940 2 жыл бұрын

@@DominiqueHeine I would love to hear this mix with the newly released Goblyn by Aurora DSP. Same one-tone-fits-all concept, but you can bypass the IRs. Curious if there's any real difference between $49 and free.

@TheUnrider Жыл бұрын

no the Bogen sounds much more mature and fat. The catalyst sounds like its recorded behind a door. Maybe youre just used to that, because many underground and semi underground projects have such a sound, because most amp sims sound like that.

@haydenchance8045 Жыл бұрын

The boutique setting with a non metal guitar is where this amp shines. I feel like metal players don’t typically give these style amps a good rep because they go straight for the high gain models. I will say the high gain sounds aren’t great. But this amp was directed for players that want a classic clean/edge of breakup amp sound. Also with little to no effects to make it simple and more of a pedal platform. Amp sounds great with pedals. Katana is the way to go if you want a bunch of options. Katana amp sounds are lacking imo. I’d say if you want a good sounding clean/chime/edge of break up amp that is super light weight and loud, go for the catalyst. Not sure why they bothered putting high gain sounds on this amp. Obviously just my opinion tho!

@iused2bfast153 Жыл бұрын

Well said this review was kind of a waste of time. The Catalyst is fantastic for that edge of breakup esp w single coils, sounds better than my DRRI w Tubescreamer. Also does great classic rock too and you dont have to spend hours connected to a computer like the Katana

@djsusan00 2 жыл бұрын

line 6 should add a separate IR loader and an option to use the direct out on a cabinet. Would that be possible through firmware updates?

@BrianSteedman 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Glenn, what if you took the fx send and ran that into your interface and put an IR on that? Does that change your opinion?

@MrJingles021 2 жыл бұрын

I have the Catalyst and I really like it. I have found that the 4x12 settings don't sound great, but the 1x12 seem to work well. I use the Catalyst as a pedal platform though, works great for that. It does seem that the boutique and dynamic presets were the selling points, rather than the heavy channel.

@heathlindsay-hayden3529 Жыл бұрын

I've been looking for someone to mention it's pedal platform-ness...... thank you sir

@MrJingles021 Жыл бұрын

@@heathlindsay-hayden3529 It's fantastic. I've only ever found one pedal that didn't like going into the front, but it worked perfectly fine in the effects loop.

@Artec619 2 жыл бұрын

It is really amazing how they don't make really big progress in terms of IR's. Even the helix ones, very few are usable or barely decent but most of them just don't make the cut. A shame really as the amp modelling and the effects are really very good. (Edit: The Metallurgy plugins tried and gave you more flexibility with the Mic'ing which is welcome but they still sound kinda bad)

@solosabbath8940 2 жыл бұрын

The comparison I make in my head is when video game designers also try to do the voice acting. Just pay a professional, which in this case, is a studio engineer that knows how to properly mic an amp.

@Waffle-TH3_C00L3ST Жыл бұрын

How do you suppose this would work as practice amp for mostly clean/bluesy breakup ?

@Gearhart_Music 2 жыл бұрын

I own a Katana 50 mark I, and I have used it for gigs, I mic'ed it up and recorded it, and it's my main practice amp at home. It just works. Boss did a great job with that thing. I used to own a Line6 Flextone II awhile back, and turning off the cab sims was the only way to make that thing sound good in a room. I can pretty much guarantee that it would still sound better than the Catalyst.

@DreamslideProductions 2 жыл бұрын

I thought one of the selling points was it can act just as a speaker and bypass the Amp section. (for use with modelers) can it do that?

@JVMC_ZR1 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, it has an effects loop, but the Katana has that too.

@LifeOnceLived 2 жыл бұрын

@@JVMC_ZR1 I think he’s saying you can use it as a frfr that isn’t the same thing as a effect loop

@korchevatel 2 жыл бұрын

The day Line6 stops screwing around with digital combo amps is the day the world ends. Mark my words.

@br0bie43 2 жыл бұрын

And they'll unfortunately keep making them until people stop buying these piles of shit. An affordable interface and even free vsts and irs vs this that has marketing behind it. They have to know it sucks but why improve this when the helix exists i guess

@weedian710 2 жыл бұрын

Yep.

@anthonysthellhammerg4388 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah that is there meat and potatoes but a liter known fact kinda a best kept secret line 6 makes lots of tube amps ,why don’t they promote them,you got me ,wish I know as far back as I’m concerned they make the best loudest awesome sounding and cheapest tube amps on the market,you gotta goto line6/Yamaha and ask for a list of tube amps

@mckaletdean1 2 жыл бұрын

agreed

@Gothguitarist 2 жыл бұрын

They've made line 6 tube amps

@frossbog 3 ай бұрын

Glenn I hope you're not bringing personal bias into this review. You're a spot-on guy 99% of the time. Usually the problem I see in amp reviews is I can never get amps I try to sound as good as what reviewers show in their videos. In this case, I can't get my Catalyst to sound anywhere as BAD as you show in this video. The Cat 100 I bought and the Cat 60 I also played in the store both sounded miles better than what you're showing here.

@Squizziles 2 жыл бұрын

Missed a year of content because KZfaq did the dirty! Happy to see Glen is still kicking arse!

@Squizziles 2 жыл бұрын

Also Line 6 was not expecting anything good 😂

@gabeitch3542 2 жыл бұрын

Haven’t watched the video yet, but I was planning to get one of these. Judging by the thumbnail…. We will see. Alternatives I’ve been looking at is the Peavey Vypyr x2. Peavey always deliveres so may be better, it’s the same style of amp as this too

@Unclefire 2 жыл бұрын

don't do it. Get something else.

@shredangel777 2 жыл бұрын

Boss Katana is where it’s at! 🎸🤘

@misterknightowlsguitarrant6984 2 жыл бұрын

If you’re going to get a peavey vypyr which I don’t recommend get the gold label first gen tube version. Honestly, you’d be better off getting an old peavey bandit, a multi effects pedal or a pedal board if your going to go the peavey route. Remember don’t buy a peavey unless it’s American peavey which was awesome.

@markcheetah4960 2 жыл бұрын

@@misterknightowlsguitarrant6984 I love those old Peavey amps. I have several.

@dmitriyassist697 2 жыл бұрын

One point you missed - does it take pedals? How does the crunch sound with the Boss OS-1 or DS? With TS 909? Thanks for the video anyway - have my Roland MicroCube for like 10 years and I'm definitely not going to swap it to anything from Line6))) Maybe Peavey Bandit 112, but not Line6 for sure)))

@bobbykoalaproductions 2 жыл бұрын

He’s not demoing pedals. Most kids who buy a combo amp aren’t buying pedals for them.

@Andrew_182 2 жыл бұрын

Bobby Koala Productions Especially an amp whose selling point is built in effects.

@dmitriyassist697 2 жыл бұрын

@@Andrew_182 You made me feel old for this modern stuff...

@ryanespinoza7297 2 жыл бұрын

No speaker out? My Spider IV 150 combo from 2012 had two 8 ohm outputs. Line 6 is evolving backwards?

@musiciantools 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Glenn, great review. My company makes a mod kit to add a speaker out to any combo amp. Would love to chat with you about checking them out. Rock on!

@TheActualJae 2 жыл бұрын

The problem, clearly, is that you are using an LTD instead of a Gibson. This would sound amazing with a GIBSON, because EVERYTHING sounds good with a GIBSON.

@simonhouel1984 2 жыл бұрын

Everything that doesn't need to be in tune I guess ;-)

@ghettostreamlabs5724 2 жыл бұрын

LMAO

@TheActualJae 2 жыл бұрын

@@simonhouel1984 I’m an artist bruh, an artist with too much money and zero confidence, you just…don’t get me and my out of tune ART.

@simonhouel1984 2 жыл бұрын

@@TheActualJae Hahaha, understood sir ;-)

@Tijuanabill 2 жыл бұрын

Hilarious. 🤣🤣😂😂

@boabmatic 2 жыл бұрын

The boss Katana just got a new firmware released today which allows you to change the Mic type and position for the USB/direct out , no custom IR's still though

@boabmatic 2 жыл бұрын

This video shows the UI for it and also the other new features in the update kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7h0m7Wor7Kse4E.html

@shellymcgough7747 2 жыл бұрын

Love ur gear reviews! Bought a new Schecter on ur recommendation. It rules and so do ur reviews!

@iancurrie8844 Жыл бұрын

Wow. That shot at the beginning on the folding TV tray that you bought at Canadian tire told me the exact size of the thing. Nice.

@briancherry8088 2 жыл бұрын

That's EXACTLY what I want... to pay $500 and be able to carefully dial in something "ALMOST tolerable" !! Thanks for the review - you just saved me a lot of money.

@darronlewark6504 Жыл бұрын

I just bought one and I like it. Sounds better than a katana

@andresterrazas6615 Жыл бұрын

You should watch more reviews from other creators. This guy just cant dial in a good tone. Seen plenty of plenty of people dial in some gnarly metal tones. But this amp truly shines in the cleaner tones. Also the amp is 250 not 500

@pb25193 11 ай бұрын

I got it for 200 and I love it... Just don't use it for recording.

@4then12then10 2 жыл бұрын

I must be crazy but the Catalyst sounded much better in the mix to me than the Bogner. Listening to this video on headphones.

@Stefan- 2 жыл бұрын

Same here on my trusted AKG studio headphones, it sounded decent in the mix but pretty bad stand alone.

@kurtfroberg3608 3 ай бұрын

I’ve never played with the Catalyst, but I do own the Line 6 AMPLIFI 100 stomp board. First, a disclaimer: I don’t write metal tunes. I only tune into your channel for 1) great home recording advice, and 2) your hilarious content. That being said, the AMPLIFI gives me tons of options for both clean tones and mild OD amp modeling that works well for the kind of stuff that I write. And on both occasions, I just plug it right into the mixer. However, Line 6, in my humble opinion, should never be utilized as a “Shred Machine” option.

@nuclearbeige3038 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Glenn!! I do pop punk. My voice is naturally full of high frequencies and i have had a hard time getting my voice to sit solidly in the mix. Reverb on my voice just makes it sound watery even with a small amount and this it gets almost lost in the mix because of it. What can I do to make my voice sit better in a mix?

@niclastname 2 жыл бұрын

Would love to see you review that Headrush MX5. From what I've seen it looks great for the price, but I can't seem to find much in terms of people playing metal tones with it.

@fletcherchambers7175 2 жыл бұрын

Scammer says what?

@niclastname 2 жыл бұрын

@@fletcherchambers7175 I thought you meant me and I was like "wtf did I say that sounded like a scam?" lol

@fletcherchambers7175 2 жыл бұрын

@@niclastname Ha! No, you appear to be legit. :)

@adamgranatella 2 жыл бұрын

Back in the late 80s in high school a friend of mine figured out a way to plug his guitar into his boom box. If he turned it up all the way and put all the EQ on the boom box up all the way, it gave a semi-distorted sound. That's what this reminds me of.

@richiesguitarshanktuary6923 Жыл бұрын

Play one in person. You'll change your tune. Don't play the 60 though. The 100 is much better. I will agree the 60 is boxy sounding. But the 100. Katana eat your heart out

@DawnofExistence 2 жыл бұрын

Couldn’t you potentially come out of the Send on the preamp, set the power amp to Mute, and bypass all the IRs? Then you could use whatever you want in the box.

@AB-ye6cl 2 жыл бұрын

New subscriber here, not a metal guy just a Johnny Cash fan watched a tonne of your video's dig and respect your honest unbiased opinion and reviews of guitars and gear from your wealth of knowledge and experience from professional recording and live sound to be able distinguish different types of speakers, mic's, cabinets, Amps, guitars and their pick-ups from years of using the real deal and having the knowledge and experience to be able to compare it to the digital version and pass it on to us for free is greatly appreciated. Yeah I always thought you were a groovy guitar player hate it when I see comments saying how much your guitar playing and tone has improved I bet you jammed and held your own with more than most of us.

@resington 2 жыл бұрын

Those cabs sound like the stuff I was using 20 years ago. When metallurgy sounds really dayum good, where did they go wrong here? GLEN please try the metallurgy plugin.

@halfameatballz 2 жыл бұрын

New line 6 product comes out. Glenn out of nowhere: Stop, Hammer Time!

@nick.raptis 2 жыл бұрын

Glenn!!!! Question for QnA: How should we be setting the input gain in our interfaces to feed modeler VSTs? Playing with the interface gain is like introducing a huge dB range clean boost in front of the amp. How do I know I'm setting it to what the devs intended? What should we be aiming for and does it matter in the end? Example that you can leave out of the Q: Normally I'd set my input in my focusrite so I have about 6dB of headroom. However, when I got my HX Stomp where the input gain is fixed, my DI signal comes around at -32 dB. So you understand the confusion.

@ginoames 2 жыл бұрын

I appreciate you gave some suggestions for alternatives like the Amp Knob.

@adamd.6698 2 жыл бұрын

I would be interested in seeing how a Sheffield speaker would sound instead of the line 6 speaker 😂

@IZE83L 2 жыл бұрын

My guitar player has the katana and I have the catalyst . We use them as practice amps.... I actually love mine... especially over the grid spark.

@kevinrinehart 2 жыл бұрын

I am currently running a NUX MG-30 through a soundboard to my BOSE F1 Model 812 Line Array Speakers. I was going to get a Line 6 Helix but looking at the prices and the fact that I use a small set of amp models (BOSS Katana MKII) and the KZfaq reviews on the NUX I decided to go with the NUX. For what I do the NUX sounds amazing and the tones are so easy to modify to your liking that I cannot recommend it enough. Saved a ton of money and now I sold my amp and play with this setup exclusively.

@Djpisse 2 жыл бұрын

Hey you used a guitar amp sim for vocal noise Gate what was the vst? Can’t find the video

@shockt9610 2 жыл бұрын

Glen you really need to check out the new Peavey Vypyr X series. They honestly sound unbelievably good. Hoping to grab me one here soon. I've tried them at guitar center and instantly fell in love.

@cloroxusthestainlessone4324 Жыл бұрын

Peavey make some great amps. I had a 50w angled bass amp and it was amazing for gigs. Heavy as a bastard but great sound

@JavierPwns Жыл бұрын

Tube Vypyrs were the best by far

@TheRosswise 2 жыл бұрын

Sad, my 10-year-old Blackstar ID TVP gets much better tones. There is WAY too much competition for Line 6 to be sitting on their hands like this.

@MichaelD8393 2 жыл бұрын

I know. Line 6 would be better off sticking with the Helix & the Pod Go, and getting out of the amp business.

@goodheartmedia 2 жыл бұрын

I've has many various of the Blackstar ID:TVP series over the years. They are MOST underrated digital amps ever, and probably the best sounding right out of the box. I'll never understand why Blackstar basically repackaged and renamed it as Silverline (without adding anything new to it, TBH) when they should have done more to push the original IDTVP series in the first place. On a positive note, the original amps can be had for a steal these days.

@nuggz0828 2 жыл бұрын

I have the id 150 and the tones that come out of it are killer

@goodheartmedia 2 жыл бұрын

@@nuggz0828 Yeah I had the ID150(TVP) head but the power amp died on me. I replaced it with a Silverline Special 100 head which is supposed to be improved but honestly I think the ID series sounded better. I might sell the Silverline and look for a used ID100TVP.

@TessaAnderson 2 жыл бұрын

I can’t believe that cutting corners when playing guitar became the standard. I am the grinch when I say line 6 sucks to my friends

@Loudbish 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Glenn what are your thoughts on recording with a warmoth guitar? I have a warmoth jazzmaster I enjoy playing live with and at practice with a JB and alnico 2 pro, would also like to hear your thoughts on the mojotone British vintage speaker

@TommyFitzwho 2 жыл бұрын

I’m curious. Do you think using the cleaner settings but with pedals it might sound better? I’ve been using an analog overdrive and a big muff to get some really heavy tones on the clean channel. Or would a better speaker make it sound less boxy? Boxy has been the best way I’ve heard it described.

@TommyFitzwho 2 жыл бұрын

Uhhhh… no thanks!

@thomascoolberth2648 8 күн бұрын

This is a metal show.

@PerpetuallyTiredMillennial 2 жыл бұрын

Was wondering when the store started carrying them. Gotta try them myself, but based off the title card I'm glad it appears nothing's changed.

@lightiskalkin 2 жыл бұрын

If you're in for cleans, breakups and maybe some rock, it will do the job. But for metal it ain't sh*t

@PerpetuallyTiredMillennial 2 жыл бұрын

@@lightiskalkin Hard to believe the same company that makes these amps makes the helix.

@thetruepyromancer2928 2 жыл бұрын

GLENN! The Positive Grid Spark, just like the Line 6 Catalyst, lacks the ability to use custom impulse responses, lacks a speaker output, and are both priced around $300. Why does the Spark get your recommendation, yet the Catalyst does not? Curious to hear your thoughts.

@fletcherchambers7175 2 жыл бұрын

Think you're fooling *anyone* scammer?

@M_Sandstrom 2 жыл бұрын

Looked like it had an FX loop, so if you really wanted to use your own IRs you could split that off and record the pedal send into a DI box/input. I like to do that anyway when I can, in case the mic gets bumped out of position partway through recording, less noise when re-amping to just send that to the FX return on the amp.

@siamesedream100 Жыл бұрын

Hey Glen, I am a long time subscriber and listener to your channel. I took what you were saying about this new Catalyst series of amps and almost decided to pass, thinking it might be another failed updated Spider series of amps. Boy , I'm glad I watched a few other of my subscribed channels reviews. In my opinion, I feel you got this one wrong. I feel you either didn't give this amp enough time to really find the amps capabilities before laying down your judgement on it or you were so hyper focused that it didn't have a speaker output to allow hooking up to a bigger speaker cab to get the sound you obviously we're looking for. It's a 1x12 combo, so even setting it up as a 2x12, or 4x12 , it's still a 1x12. I noticed as well a lot of the time you had the presence and treble up on it. This is noticeable able to get up there on the higher register of highs, so playing this amp for a little while you would notice this and set the treble and presence lower to get the tone that would be more suiting to you ear. I think this amp is an amp that gives the user who is used to using a 2 channel amp that overall feel, with a controllable boost, as well as a nice selection of HX effects, and Reverbs. It also has the ability to run out the onboard DI to a p.a system, as well as the USB output run to your computer or interface for recording. The added attenuators is also a nice added touch. So with all that, I feel you were focused on something this amp can't give you.

@saintlotus93 2 жыл бұрын

It blows my mind that there's no speaker out, and even more so that you can't use your own IR's with it. I've used the helix stuff with Bogren IR packs and they sounded great. Line6 isn't the best with IR's on their high end stuff, but they let you load your own. So I know they have the ability to let you do that, but they just choose not to on this amp. And it's even worse here, because the IR's aren't even as good as the helix ones, or even the current pod.

@luisnunes3863 2 жыл бұрын

It's a constant problem with transistor combos. Even some of the expensive ones have no line out for cabs. Pretty much only Mooer and Harley Benton have them on cheap ones.

@solosabbath8940 2 жыл бұрын

My Peavey Vypyr never had a speaker out or ability to switch IRs with the software, but that never really bothered me. People who are just starting out won't look for those features, let alone understand them if you tried to explain it. I just hope GC salesman aren't pushing these over the Katana's to make a few extra bucks, because guitarists will realize down the line they could have gotten more for less and feel ripped off.

@MarioHernandez-zc7dv 2 жыл бұрын

Glenn, love this series, I really recommend the Fender GTX, it's hand down the most versatile amplifier on the market and I think you might like it

@morbidmanmusic 2 жыл бұрын

It's the same level crap.

@4732guy 2 жыл бұрын

I have the gt

@NutsTesticles 2 жыл бұрын

@@morbidmanmusic wrong

@DocClive 2 жыл бұрын

Not sure what your setup is, but I bought one of these a few weeks ago for my brother. No latency issues in reaper after the same adjustments I had to do with my Focusrite. Also, I get 4 channels of audio from the amp. Stereo wet and stereo dry. So not sure why you are only getting one channel. Also, yeah, this isn't the best amp for metal, but the rest of the sounds are really damn good for the money. Boutique with the boost on is one of my favorites. It has that cranked Vox vibe that really gets down.

@fatsuperfly 2 жыл бұрын

My favorite Studio producer/ engineer, that makes real vids on gear! Ha! Despite what ppl say, I love your vids, and you are honest. I trust your gear vids more so than other’s. I find your vids enlightening and humorous too! Keep on keeping on brother!

@SeanMichaelWesley 2 жыл бұрын

I love Line 6. Always have. The Helix was one of my favorite modelers that I’ve owned and it did more than enough, for me. This one definitely missed the mark, though. Thanks for your upload!

@rgmetal 2 жыл бұрын

Got a Boss katana 100 myself and can confirm it sounds mutch better compared to that Line 6😂 alot more versatile sounds and can do decent high gain tones (will sound great with a crunch tone and a distortion pedal of your choice). Maybe not the best for recording but for having a easy and relaible amp that you can have fun with and play live, the katana is a good choice

@James-eg3nf 2 жыл бұрын

+1 for the Katana 100! I have one and It's a great stage amp but I would not use it for studio recording.

@Mark-zi6nt 2 жыл бұрын

Oi! Got one as well! Could we trade presets/patches?

@bigdaddysprinkle 2 жыл бұрын

Just got a katana 100 artist a couple weeks ago and i will never switch amps.

@michaeleaster1815 2 жыл бұрын

not sure that the Katana 100 is apples-to-apples ? Isn't the Catalyst better matched against the Katana 50

@matthashobbies 2 жыл бұрын

Only thing about my katana mkii is that the speaker is a little boxy sounding, could be the room im in as it's big without any kind of sound treatment but just a basic celestion will do the trick just fine! Love that amp for the price!

@haydenmcginnis1432 2 жыл бұрын

Gleeeeen! I really have to give it to you man, you give these line 6 products too much good credit. I’ve got this shitty line 6 spider (I think it’s a 4?) and it’s complete dogshit. Every time you set up a line tho it sounds WAYYYY fucking better than mine. So props to you man, you have the magic touch that turns shit to platinum. P. S. I love these honest gear reviews, I just wish we were all rich so we could keep these going.

@kezman0the0axeman 2 жыл бұрын

GLEEEEEYEYEYEYEYEYEEEEENN!!! Will you do fearless gear reviews on power amps for modellers and preamps? I spotted some that they are either expensive or possible bargains. There's one that caught my eye which is the Electro-Harmonix 15w Howitzer power/pre amp. That thing raised me 2 questions 1. Can it be loud enough against a hard hitting drummer. 2. Does it work like the Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 which is 3x more expensive. Ready for your brutal honesty mate. Cheers from Melbourne Australia

@alessandrocim1995 2 жыл бұрын

This is basically the same experience I had with every modelling amp I've touched. Everything played through them sounds like a bad recording of the real thing and that's after a long time of fine tuning parameters.

@gravyblue 2 жыл бұрын

That speaks more about your short comings than the gear.

@travisspaulding2222 2 жыл бұрын

@@gravyblue Well, that depends on the gear he was using. Modeling amps live and die by the IR. If it has a crappy cab sim, then it isn't going to sound good...period. However, if you're able to use an external IR on a lot of notoriously crappy modeling amps, it tends to be a great improvement. For example, if you put a Two Notes Torpedo CAB on a Line 6 HD500X, you'll be hard pressed to differentiate it from a Helix audibly.

@Dwightpower88 2 жыл бұрын

@@gravyblue digital cope. Analog is always and will always sound better. That includes SS

@Turboy65 2 жыл бұрын

Clearly you've never played with a Fractal, Kemper, or Helix....or you're connecting it to an awful sounding speaker.

@alessandrocim1995 2 жыл бұрын

@@Turboy65 I am talking about normal modelling combo amps, not high end stuff.

@borisv8766 2 жыл бұрын

At the middle of the review so far. But already two "big failures" marked here are also applicable to well-received Katana. Namely, first - absence of external speaker output - Kat combos lack this as well (speaker wiring mod to the rescue). And second, limited selection of built-in IRs. Katana also does not support external IRs in straight manner. E.g. to apply your impulse to Kat MK2, you need to get the signal from stereo expand out, and feed it to your own IR box. Now back to watching...

@BigCleverName 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Glenn are all modelling amps like this? Peavey Vyper, Fender Mustang, etc?

@espenbjrkvold5119 2 жыл бұрын

That’s really interesting. I have not tried anything from Line6 since my Flextone III amp that I bought when I was learning to play. I liked it a that time, but when I tried it again some weeks ago, I realised the amp was not too good. From this video and test, I can recognise the sound as very close to what I know from the Flextone. I would have expected more improvement over about 15 years from a pioneering company.

@fletcherchambers7175 2 жыл бұрын

Scam, scam baby!

@johnhuteson5627 2 жыл бұрын

As in the past. You should just change the speaker 🔈 to something you like. It actually sounds like any other amp you’ve demo’d using too much distortion. It could be made for a cleaner tone. Many amps sound better clean. Others are made for distortion

@johnhuteson5627 2 жыл бұрын

This is the second time that I’ve been notified that I won something from your channel. That the person has told me I just need to pay for custom taxes with a “PC Gaming card”

@Tijuanabill 2 жыл бұрын

@@johnhuteson5627 I sort of doubt the channel host is reading comments enough to spot your reply to your own comment. But I will just say the issue you raise, is present in every single gear video on KZfaq. Don't fall for scammers. They do this every video, to make people think the gear in the video is being raffled or some such plan.

@johnhuteson5627 2 жыл бұрын

@@Tijuanabill I believe you’re right. I just hope Glenn by chance does read it. Or someone else so they don’t fall for the scam and buy PC gaming gift cards. To pay for gear they’ll never receive

@KaldDodeGitarist 2 жыл бұрын

The catalyst sounded like someone farting through a distortion pedal

@JInfinity7 2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a cranked DS1

@Valisk 8 ай бұрын

Horses for courses though. This thing is now available for £115 brand new in the UK. My son has outgrown his first amp and wants to experiment with different sounds and have a bit more power to jam with his mates. I can't really fault the 60 for this use case.

@pernielsen4935 2 жыл бұрын

"it's a little bit boxy sounding", Glenn, if I didn't know better, I would think you had been drinking! I heard your review first on my phone, and that sound was a lot boxy already :D you are way to polite with that comment. Love the reviews in general though! they are insightful, honest and oftentimes funny :)

@Hollywood14895 2 жыл бұрын

I made the mistake of getting the 200 Watt! Sounds like shit! It was a floor model for 350 so price was good but he's Wright about the sounds coming out of this! Muffled boxy! Save your money!

@larsheuker 2 жыл бұрын

Have you tried using it as a pedal platform? Clean channel and just using pedals with that wattage could be pretty cool. Also thats really not a bad price even if it wasnt an amp tbh

@xNachtmahRx 2 жыл бұрын

Line-6 making a good product is always unintentional

@iamanactualcat 2 жыл бұрын

I'd argue the pod and helix stuff is wonderful

@HandPuppet_Official 2 жыл бұрын

I think it's more like the bad stuff is intentionally bad. We know they can make great gear when they want to.

@comradeindia6185 2 жыл бұрын

i was just wondering... what happens if we swap out the speakers? as you ve said earlier that the tone is in the speakers.

@Ilovewyatt01 8 ай бұрын

You know, if you used other strings besides driving the big E string the whole time, you might hear a whole new amp. The guitar has 5 other strings. Didn’t know if you knew that.

@albertplaysguitar 2 жыл бұрын

So I'm not crazy! I tried this amp at GC, and I was so underwhelmed...😒

@fletcherchambers7175 2 жыл бұрын

Scam, scam, scammer.

@jamesjones8480 2 жыл бұрын

You got a bad one, I've had mine for a while now and it sounds and plays great. It's like 250 or 300 bucks too. It works great for what it is. If you are recording with this thing, you're silly. This is a practice amp/ bar show amp. Also, the "High gain" setting is pretty bad, I'm assuming that's what you're using. The other models sound much better. I know you're a metal guy though.

@matthewfreeman33 2 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure you get a bad one..it's software

@SilentNightBodomNight 2 жыл бұрын

A bad one? Do you even know what you’re talking about. The short answer is, no.

@jamesjones8480 2 жыл бұрын

@@SilentNightBodomNight a faulty one, a broken one, a damaged one.

@larsheuker 2 жыл бұрын

He literally always gets the bad one if thats the case

@jamesjones8480 2 жыл бұрын

@@larsheuker either that, or I got the good one.

@wesleyturtscher1584 2 жыл бұрын

Glenn, do you think the shortcoming of this amp may be the speaker? Might be interesting to see what the hardware is capable of with a competent speaker

@ryanshinermusic 2 жыл бұрын

I still like that Hard Times headline: “Breaking: Man Still Using Line 6 Amp to Be Tried as an Adult”

@Yellowcard7572 2 жыл бұрын

Will it get the hammer of truth? Who knows 😂

@lightiskalkin 2 жыл бұрын

I'd like to see the ar 15 of damnation

@DonnieFreymoyer 2 жыл бұрын

Shout out to my buddy joyo over in china basically ripping off much more expensive circuits rebuilding them in cleaner micro circuits, love them ,notice the price on these keeps going up, gee wonder what could be happening. Edit, Just got the California sound pedal clones a mesa boogie mark ii awesome pedal.

@216trixie 2 жыл бұрын

Whatever

@kmbs4913 2 жыл бұрын

Glen, have you tested som of the old Line6 Pod HD500 using own IR? Why I ask is becous of limits in budget, used don't cost much nowdays. Lots of outputs etc. If you have tested, whats your thoughts? Thank you for an exelent channel! :)

@jketterman6054 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the review. I was wondering how these stacked up to the Boss Katana.

@renleblanc2993 2 жыл бұрын

My brother has this amp and it sounds great when used as an actual amp ( i.e. playing through its speaker) it also sounds great as a powered speaker - for 350$ it's well worth the price.

@WarrenPostma 2 жыл бұрын

It's a great alternative as a powered cab with a not bad built in clean and crunch channel. Not a fan of the Line6 metal amp sounds.

@thiendipham828 Жыл бұрын

I tried this before with a Charvel Joe Duplantier (the natural model). And holy cow, sounds amazing with some Gojira tunes

@guyincognito320 Жыл бұрын

That is a beautiful guitar. Really wish they'd make their other teles like that, i.e. without a reverse headstock, and with any type of fixed bridge. Charvels are awesome, so long as you know how to do fret work.

@hierrogm 2 жыл бұрын

Good honest stuff bro, always appreciate ur opinion

@MisterTee 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting, the one I played didn’t seem to have these latency issues. Could the one you have be faulty?

@thisweekinmusichistory1749 2 жыл бұрын

Music History tells me this might be a lemon! Thanks for sharing Glenn! FUN FACT: As Marcus Ryle (One of the founders of Line 6) tells the story, the name "Line 6" came about because the phone system at Fast-Forward Designs (what would become Line 6) only had 5 lines. Because the new guitar-related products were developed in secrecy, the receptionist used "Line 6" as a code word of sorts, and paging them for a call on Line 6 meant to stop any guitar or amp-related sounds so that they wouldn't be overheard by other Fast-Forward Designs clients or callers. :). As a player of all music instruments and a big fan of music tech, I wanted to add that both the line 6 Helix and the older 200 watt Line 6 Vetta Amp head, are both very worth while products. Have a great Day!