I'm thrilled to see a new review of the BEAM. Mine operates 18hrs per day for the past 2years either as a Bluetooth speaker or as a guitar amp. I have a few guitar amps but this is my all time favorite. The same goes for Bluetooth speakers. As a Bluetooth speaker the punchy bass is unbelievable for the cabinet size and the 1st time you hear the stereo affect you'll be very impressed. As a guitar amp your spoil of sounds and effects, once you use the INSIDER program on you pc, are limitless. My Ibanez AR300 neck pickup supplies a sustain better than most amps I've used. I absolutely love it!
It is refreshing to see someone review the Blackstar Beam today. I've owned this gem for almost 6 years now and it's still a power house desktop amp. Honestly I've been trying to replace it over the years thinking the newer technology should perform better. I was wrong. I'd tested the Yamaha THR, postitive grid Spark and the Boss katana Air, and while they are all great practise amps, the overall performance, sound quality, functions and importantly price point, could not justify a replacement of this little power house. I still do not understand how this unit has been flying under the radar of many and not selling by the truck loads. I highly recommend to try for yourself if you are thinking of getting a desktop amp. I'm not a promoter of blackstar btw lol. Cheers.
For a casual bassist who sometimes plays guitar too, would you still recommend the beam over the spark in 2023? They seem very comparable and the Spark's clean interface is very appealing, but if the BEAM has better bass than it's an easy win!
I got the ID Core 10 V2 a few months back and it's insanely cool with all of the effects, great for my bedroom and got it second hand for less than £80!
How does it stand against Yamaha THR10II Wireless? I am thinking about buying a small practice amp that can handle pedals well and it can also be a bluetooth speaker for music streaming...
@@VWPirates I know but I already have a pedalboard and a tube amp... I just need something small and portable but I also want to plug my pedalboard into that
This is just my personal opinion. I would wait before buying something like the Yamaha THR wireless. It's expensive and a lot of people complain about the amp or the app. I have a feeling Yamaha will be making a better model to improve it further in the next year or so. So I would wait and get something smaller and cheaper in the meantime. That's what I'm doing.
Are the presets editable? How many effects can you have on at the same time? Can noise gate, auto wah,, compressor, flanger, reverb and delay be on at the same time?
If its not gimmicks you're after then this. You also don't pay for patches using Blackstar INSIDER. I have not heard the sound quality of the Spark 1st hand but the BEAM sound and punchy bass is very good.
Mine arrived yesterday and its absolutely awful. Nothing like I'm hearing in this video. It sounds flat, it's killing any sustain. Shame because I got it brand new for just over £150. The amount of customisation is poor....you get 12 storage slots but you can't save a clean tome in the slots for OD, crunch etc. I think it's going back.
DO NOT BUY Blackstar ID Core Beam. It has a circuit board that burns out anytime within a year of normal use. Blackstar provides no help and don't know or acknowledge the problem. I went to a shop that repairs amps and as soon as I explained it, the tech knew exactly what it was and told me it is a big problem with many Blackstar amps. Blackstar customer service is in the UK and nobody knows what they are doing. The only thing they all tell you is maybe it is a firmware problem and try updating. Blackstar never again.
I'm thrilled to see a new review of the BEAM. Mine operates 18hrs per day for the past 2years either as a Bluetooth speaker or as a guitar amp. I have a few guitar amps but this is my all time favorite. The same goes for Bluetooth speakers. As a Bluetooth speaker the punchy bass is unbelievable for the cabinet size and the 1st time you hear the stereo affect you'll be very impressed. As a guitar amp your spoil of sounds and effects, once you use the INSIDER program on you pc, are limitless. My Ibanez AR300 neck pickup supplies a sustain better than most amps I've used. I absolutely love it!
Recomended to buy ?
It is refreshing to see someone review the Blackstar Beam today. I've owned this gem for almost 6 years now and it's still a power house desktop amp. Honestly I've been trying to replace it over the years thinking the newer technology should perform better. I was wrong. I'd tested the Yamaha THR, postitive grid Spark and the Boss katana Air, and while they are all great practise amps, the overall performance, sound quality, functions and importantly price point, could not justify a replacement of this little power house. I still do not understand how this unit has been flying under the radar of many and not selling by the truck loads. I highly recommend to try for yourself if you are thinking of getting a desktop amp. I'm not a promoter of blackstar btw lol. Cheers.
i've it, it's pretty good i guess. People told me to get the katana 50 and well, it's more expensive and massive.
For a casual bassist who sometimes plays guitar too, would you still recommend the beam over the spark in 2023? They seem very comparable and the Spark's clean interface is very appealing, but if the BEAM has better bass than it's an easy win!
Update for anyone wanting to use the software for this, Insider support has been discontinued and replaced by Architect.
I got the ID Core 10 V2 a few months back and it's insanely cool with all of the effects, great for my bedroom and got it second hand for less than £80!
had to come check out some reviews of this amp. have now purchased one due to this video. great review
Jim Root signature tele ;)
Blackstar make some amazing amps
Seems nice. Merry Christmas ❄❄⛄❄❄
Which amp do you recomemend, the Blackstar BEAM or the Yamaha THR30IIW?
I need to get something like that when I play my guitars
I love it😍
Cool!
posted this in the middle of the night lol
Four hours ago
It's morning now.
How does it stand against Yamaha THR10II Wireless? I am thinking about buying a small practice amp that can handle pedals well and it can also be a bluetooth speaker for music streaming...
you don't need effect pedals here apart from channel switching pedals. Every possible pedal effect can be stored x8
@@VWPirates I know but I already have a pedalboard and a tube amp... I just need something small and portable but I also want to plug my pedalboard into that
This is just my personal opinion. I would wait before buying something like the Yamaha THR wireless. It's expensive and a lot of people complain about the amp or the app. I have a feeling Yamaha will be making a better model to improve it further in the next year or so. So I would wait and get something smaller and cheaper in the meantime. That's what I'm doing.
Is this interface compatible with GarageBand or not can’t find any info on the subject . Cheers
which amp would u prefer？ blackstar ID Beam or Yamaha thr 10ii？ im trying to get my first amp thanks！
Is this blackstar id core Beam 20watt better (tone wise) than the typical id core 20watt?
yes. much more bass
Ticks almost every box - Why couldnt they have given it the option to run on batteries?? Bigger amps like the street cube can
Every solid state amp demo ever: "this behaves like a tube amp when you roll the volume"
Having an issue. Turning it on the Red LEDs flash in sequence and amp does nothing. Anyone have this issue?
Did you try factory resetting it ? Did you fix it ?
@@jayz6008 Turning the amp on and off 2 or 3 times gets it to work. I had this only happen randomly 2-3 times in the past year.
Are the presets editable? How many effects can you have on at the same time?
Can noise gate, auto wah,, compressor, flanger, reverb and delay be on at the same time?
16 on the amp and if you get the FS10 pedal another 999, yeah all at once
@@VWPirates through the app? Because on the amp, it looks like a dial knob that makes you select 1 modulation effect. FS 10 is a blackstar add on?
Can you connect bluetooth earphones to it? If yes, can it be done at the same time while having your phone streaming also via bluetooth?
no Bluetooth output
You wouldn’t want this. The lag inherent in Bluetooth would be terrible.
Im split between this and the spark
If its not gimmicks you're after then this. You also don't pay for patches using Blackstar INSIDER. I have not heard the sound quality of the Spark 1st hand but the BEAM sound and punchy bass is very good.
@@VWPirates I opted for the spark but I am finally getting the beam this weekend
Mine arrived yesterday and its absolutely awful. Nothing like I'm hearing in this video.
It sounds flat, it's killing any sustain. Shame because I got it brand new for just over £150.
The amount of customisation is poor....you get 12 storage slots but you can't save a clean tome in the slots for OD, crunch etc.
I think it's going back.
Did you try the pc software for it ? It’s supposed to give you way more tonal options
DO NOT BUY Blackstar ID Core Beam. It has a circuit board that burns out anytime within a year of normal use. Blackstar provides no help and don't know or acknowledge the problem. I went to a shop that repairs amps and as soon as I explained it, the tech knew exactly what it was and told me it is a big problem with many Blackstar amps. Blackstar customer service is in the UK and nobody knows what they are doing. The only thing they all tell you is maybe it is a firmware problem and try updating. Blackstar never again.
wow...is this about the blackstar id;core beam or are you just showing off your wannabe a rock guitarist playing ???