Question Re my new Spark 40

[SCVJ]

I just bought one of these, mostly because of the good comments here. I bought it directly from Positive Grid.

I'm pretty sure it's defective, or if what it's doing is normal, I'm going to send it back.

Here are the symptoms:

When I switch the amp on, after having used it the day before, the volume level is VERY loud (much louder than I had it set the day before). I have only tried to use it on the clean setting, and at a fairly low volume. I am sure it was not left on at a high volume. My practice room adjoins my neighbor's bedroom; I have only tried the amp at fairly low volume.

Amp Type knob - 1st three settings (acoustic, bass, clean) the volume is the same at whatever level I set. When I switch through the next three settings the volume jumps to a much higher level. When I switch back to clean the volume drops to a level below what I had set it to before switching to the other channels. If I switch to Glassy, then back to Clean, the original volume I had set is restored. Sometimes when I do that, the volume on Clean is louder than the level I originally set. Is this normal?

Also, the Gain knob doesn't always work right - sometimes it seems to do very little, other times it seems to work properly. The Master knob also doesn't seem to work properly.

Questions for Spark owners:

1. Does any of the above seem normal? Is there a customer support phone number? I have tried the live chat option and it directs me back to email help. I thought I would ask for guidance here before using that.

2. Has anyone here had experience with the email tech support? In general, I haven't had good experiences with this type of support from other companies.

3. I have downloaded the app, but have not tried to use it, and have not connected the amp to my phone. Does not having "connected" the amp to my phone cause the problems I'm having? Somewhere it says the amp can be used without the app. BTW, I've read the entire owners manual.

4. Should I try the Factory Reset instructions in the manual? It seems it is designed to clear the presets a user may have made, but since I haven't made any would it change anything?

5. Has anyone had to return a defective item, and how did that turn out?

Thanks for any advice, and I'll post again once I figure out what's going on with this amp.

[mikealpine]

Have you installed the latest firmware? Mine had a few quirks when I first got it. Connected it to my computer via the USB cable and followed the firmware update instructions. Worked much better after that.

[7NationArmy]

In the quiet of the night, a spark ignites,
A tiny flame dancing in the dark,
It whispers secrets of forgotten dreams,
And kindles hope with its gentle sparks.

A flicker of light in a world so vast,
A beacon of warmth, a guiding star,
It dances and twirls in the velvet sky,
A symphony of sparks, near and far.

From the embers of yesterday's fire,
To the dawn of a brand new day,
Sparks of passion, sparks of love,
Illuminate the path along the way.

So let us cherish each fleeting spark,
For in its glow, we find our art,
A reminder that from the smallest flame,
Can grow a fire to light the heart.

[A Scot in Otley]

Hi, Just got one. Only just plugged it in to check power was getting through. Too busy to do anything else. Tomorrow - New Year's Day - provided I've reasonably recovered after my personal hogmany celebrations - I will get stuck into it and get back to you.

Just in passing - the differences in volumes between settings is something I've experienced in other electric combo amps. The gain if on a clean setting may just not seem to work as much, as if on a 'filthy' setting. The volume on the 'end of the world / Mordor settings will seem much louder than a clean setting at the same level. There'll be clever people on here who will know why. I just notice things. But if you're on the same settings, there shouldn't be any differences in master volume / gain etc. It should be consistent within the same settings. If that happens on my Spark, it's going back. But as someone said, update the firmware, that might knock it into shape.

PS I got mine from Amazon (Positive Grid obviously sent some to them for sale). Reason I chose them was because they had it in stock (no info on that on the positive grid site) and the ease of returns.

[rokdog49]

I wouldn’t be real pleased if I needed to get a firmware update on a new product to make it work right.
That company would get an “F” rating from me.

[rmp]

Gave my son one for Christmas, he hasn't mentioned this to me yet. I got one coming next week. Direct from Positive Grid.

I'll be on the lookout for this.

Scot's reply does have merrit.

One possible avenue to check are how the settings have been saved.

When you're switching modes you're calling up other "settings" that have already been saved. (presets if you will)

This is kind of typical for modeling amps I've had a few and they can all kind of behave this way.

eg: one setting is louder than another, and the amp has a default "model" that it will boot up with

unless you've edited that and set the volume right, it will probably always come up with that model in that setting.

If they were not saved with all volumes at the same level (aka unity) that may be the thing

See if you can save the ones that are too loud, then recycle the power and see if the problem persists.

and to answer the other question about the phone app, maybe it will be easier to see how the amp settings change as you change the models.

the phone app should show visually where the dials are set when that model was "saved" could give some clues to where the volume settings are.

It's just an idea, I know nothing about these yet.

I'll check it out when I get mine on Tuesday.

I would also suggest asking them directly, they appear to be pretty responsive to questions owners have.

[Jamolay]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

I wouldn’t be real pleased if I needed to get a firmware update on a new product to make it work right.

That company would get an “F” rating from me.

I would disagree with this. If a company makes and ships a bunch of product to sellers, or their own warehouse then upgrades the firmware, what should they do? Ask the resellers to open and update all the items rendering them no longer closed box “new”? Go through all the packaged products in their own warehouse do do the same? That wouldn’t work well.

Anyway, I would agree with the suggestion to use the app. You can the adjust and set everything to your liking and hopefully resolve the issue. I don’t have the spark, but I had a used katana and the app/computer interface allowed me to see all adjustments for all settings.

[SCVJ]

OP here. Thanks for the responses, please keep them coming if anyone has more to add.

I'll do the firmware update today and report back.

I understand the occasional need for firmware updates, but it seems to me the purpose would be for improvements to the product, not to make it work well out of the box. If that were the case, shouldn't that be item one on the "Get Started" page?

I understand that volume differences make sense for the different amp models, and have no complaint with that, just want to know if it's normal.

The other symptoms seem more indicative there's something wrong with the unit. Especially that the volume comes on at a very high level when the amp is first turned on. I've checked that again, and it happens every time, even if you turn it off then back on a few minutes later. I'll clear the presets, although the reset function says it will restore the factory presets. They seem to be the problem, since I haven't created any.

[mikealpine]

I work in IT, so the need for immediate firmware updates doesn’t surprise me. If it does the job, that’s fine, it’s generally quick. The thing that always irks me about any of these modeling combos is the change in volume between models. It’s often so dramatic and I spend more time fiddling with knobs and settings than playing guitar. I don’t know why they can’t keep the decibel level constant and just shift the amp to the new tone, whether clean or dirty.

I just used mine at a practice session and brought along a Fly Rig Cali. Kept the Spark clean and the FR did what I needed for dirt, boost, etc. Defeats the purpose of a modeling amp, but it worked great for the rehearsal.

Anyway, hope the firmware gets it done for you.

[ghostnote]

The different models do have wide volume swings. That’s been the case in most modeling amps I’ve had. But the difference should be the same every time. By that I mean that, say, patch #2 should be the same volume every time you use it, as long as your master volume level hasn’t been changed. I’ve done every firmware update that’s come along and I haven’t noticed any changes in the normal operation of the models, it just seems to be a company actually monitoring their product and making tweaks when necessary.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by SCVJ

The other symptoms seem more indicative there's something wrong with the unit. Especially that the volume comes on at a very high level when the amp is first turned on. I've checked that again, and it happens every time, even if you turn it off then back on a few minutes later. I'll clear the presets, although the reset function says it will restore the factory presets. They seem to be the problem, since I haven't created any.

have you been able to edit the preset that defaults when you power it on?

hopefully I'll have more ideas and some advice once I get mine in a few days.

is it possible you got a dud? sure,

with my experience with line 6, marshall, and fender modelers, they are usually pretty solid out of the box.

not sure I know what to make of what you're running into yet.

[7NationArmy]

Forty candles bright,
Spark of life in each flicker,
Memories alight.

[7NationArmy]

"Spark" can refer to different concepts depending on the context:

Spark (noun):
A small fiery particle thrown off from a fire, flame, or lighted substance.
A flash or particle of light that is momentarily brilliant.
Spark (verb):
To give off small flames or to produce small fiery particles.
To give off sparks of electricity or static electricity.
To trigger or initiate something, often in a metaphorical sense.
Spark (Acronym):
SPARK (Scalable Precision ARithmetic Kernel Library) is a high-performance C library that provides a suite of arithmetic and linear algebra operations that are tuned to exploit SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) parallelism and other features of modern processors.
Apache Spark:
Apache Spark is an open-source distributed computing system that provides an interface for programming entire clusters with implicit data parallelism and fault tolerance. It is designed for fast computation and supports multiple programming languages like Scala, Java, Python, and R. Spark's primary abstraction is a resilient distributed dataset (RDD), which is a fault-tolerant collection of elements that can be operated on in parallel. Spark also provides higher-level APIs for structured data processing (like DataFrames and Datasets) and machine learning (MLlib).
Spark Plugs:
In automotive engineering, a spark plug is a device used to deliver electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, igniting the compressed fuel-air mixture by an electric spark.
Romantic or Emotional Spark:
Refers to a feeling of chemistry or attraction between two people, often at the beginning of a romantic relationship.
Spark of Inspiration:
Refers to a sudden, creative, or innovative idea or thought.
The definition of "Spark" depends on the specific context in which the term is used.

[A Scot in Otley]

I've had a play with mine today. It's all functioning as I expected. The different settings can be altered, and stay there. You need the app, defo. That lets you see (visually) exactly what's happening with the settings as preset, and after your changes. As I mentioned before, the volume/gain settings are dependent on the amp/pedal settings in the presets, so they will differ according to the amount of overdrive/distortion etc preset.

Hope this is helpful, BUT get the app. It's brilliant. Loads of backing tracks too.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by SCVJ

OP here. Thanks for the responses, please keep them coming if anyone has more to add.

I'll do the firmware update today and report back.

I understand the occasional need for firmware updates, but it seems to me the purpose would be for improvements to the product, not to make it work well out of the box. If that were the case, shouldn't that be item one on the "Get Started" page?

I understand that volume differences make sense for the different amp models, and have no complaint with that, just want to know if it's normal.

The other symptoms seem more indicative there's something wrong with the unit. Especially that the volume comes on at a very high level when the amp is first turned on. I've checked that again, and it happens every time, even if you turn it off then back on a few minutes later. I'll clear the presets, although the reset function says it will restore the factory presets. They seem to be the problem, since I haven't created any.

Create and SAVE a preset with the master volume low or off. See if that works