Spark Mini (as an acoustic amp)

[lkingston]

I was an early supporter of the Spark Mini. It finally came today! I haven’t tried it on an electric yet, but it sounds absolutely fantastic on my Godin Multiac! Very similar to the Yamaha THR30II, but with no mic modeling, and less headroom. It certainly sounds as good at a moderate home practice level. Programming is very easy once you connect the app.

This amp is 10 Watts. Keep in mind that the THR amps are only full power plugged in. On battery power they are only 15 Watts. The older models were only 10 Watts on battery power, and also had similar sized speakers. So I would say this amp is comparable to the original THR amps on battery power.

They are way smaller though. There is a real disconnect between the size of this amp and the sound you get. It is also very light. To the point where I thought that maybe the box was empty when I picked it up!

They are currently on the Positive Grid website for $195, and it seems like a very good deal.

The only negative I can see is that while you can use the headphone output as a line out (either mono or stereo), it mutes the built in speaker when you do this.

[srick]

Congrats on the new amp day!

[lkingston]

I just took moved the Spark Mini from the coffee table to the floor to check to see if that would improve the downward firing bass resonator thing’s bass response.

Oh wow…now we’re talking! This thing is so tiny, and yet it sounds just huge!

For anyone looking for an inexpensive acoustic/electric amp for home and portable practice/recording use, this is it!

[nickv6]

According to their blurb you can set the lineout to not mute the speakers....maybe it's in the app somewhere?

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by nickv6

According to their blurb you can set the lineout to not mute the speakers....maybe it's in the app somewhere?

I can’t find anything like that. There is a switch which switches the headphone jack to mono for use with a mono 1/8” to 1/4” adapter, but it still mutes the internal speaker.

Where did you see this mentioned? I would love to be wrong.

[Aspiring]

I'm quite curious how this compares to the NUX Mighty air. Right now that is my travel champion for light and small.

[lkingston]

I have no experience with the NUX Mighty air, but the reviews are good, and that built in guitar wireless is dope!

What is so surprising about the Spark Mini is how much low end it has. I suppose this is due to the downward firing bass resonator thingy. As compared to my Yamaha THR 30ii amp, this has a similar amount of low end in spite of being a much smaller size. The negative is that it bottoms out at a lower volume, but that volume is well above how loud I practice at at home. If you were to take both to a coffee shop to play to a small audience, the THR might make it (but barely), whereas the Spark Mini definitely wouldn’t.

With the Spark Mini at home practice volume, there is a real disconnect between what you see and what you hear. It looks absolutely tiny, but sounds about the same as a bigger amp.

[nickv6]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I can’t find anything like that. There is a switch which switches the headphone jack to mono for use with a mono 1/8” to 1/4” adapter, but it still mutes the internal speaker.

Where did you see this mentioned? I would love to be wrong.

It's on their page

https://www.positivegrid.com/spark-mini

Quite far down in and under a red square labelled record at home.
Seems to offer a choice.
Nick

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by nickv6

It's on their page

https://www.positivegrid.com/spark-mini

Quite far down in and under a red square labelled record at home.
Seems to offer a choice.
Nick

The “smart out” is just their way of saying that plugging anything into the headphone/line out automatically disconnects the speaker.

[nickv6]

Originally Posted by lkingston

The “smart out” is just their way of saying that plugging anything into the headphone/line out automatically disconnects the speaker.

It doesn't read that way to me. It says
"choose between headphone or line out for versatile listening "

If they mean it mutes either way, that isn't really a line out and they should be called out on it.

Nick

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by nickv6

It doesn't read that way to me. It says
"choose between headphone or line out for versatile listening "

If they mean it mutes either way, that isn't really a line out and they should be called out on it.

Nick

When you choose “headphone”, it outputs in stereo. When you choose “line out”, the output is mono. Either way, it mutes the built in speaker when you use the jack.

The line out is useful when you want to use a mono 1/8” to 1/4” adapter.

I really wanted to be wrong…. :-(

[nickv6]

Originally Posted by lkingston

When you choose “headphone”, it outputs in stereo. When you choose “line out”, the output is mono. Either way, it mutes the built in speaker when you use the jack.

The line out is useful when you want to use a mono 1/8” to 1/4” adapter.

I really wanted to be wrong…. :-(

Sorry I misled you and gave you false hope.
I think it's rather disingenuous of them frankly.
Otherwise it looks like a great product though.
Nick

[AeroUSA]

I tried it with acoustic today. It sounded a little dull. I think it’s because it doesn’t have a tweeter…

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

I'm quite curious how this compares to the NUX Mighty air. Right now that is my travel champion for light and small.

I returned the Mighty Air. A decent Bluetooth speaker and a Mustang Micro for reverb and EQ sounded much better and louder. I suspect that combo, if the feature set meets your needs, would be competitive with the Spark Mini too.

A friend who owns the same Klipsch Groove and Mustang Micro has a Spark Mini on order. If the thread is still around when he gets it, I'll report back.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

I returned the Mighty Air. A decent Bluetooth speaker and a Mustang Micro for reverb and EQ sounded much better and louder. I suspect that combo, if the feature set meets your needs, would be competitive with the Spark Mini too.

A friend who owns the same Klipsch Groove and Mustang Micro has a Spark Mini on order. If the thread is still around when he gets it, I'll report back.

I actually have the micro in addition to the mighty air but haven't tried it through a speaker yet.

I found the mighty air took a lot of tweaking to get a decent sound at decent volume particularly for lower gain acoustic pickups but I also didn't like the stock presets very much.