Gear

What is the Best Battery Powered Guitar Amp? Marshall vs Blackstar vs iRig

Here at Noisegate we went deep to compare 3 different battery-powered, micro, mini, portable, mobile, coffee table or whatever you’d like to call those small handy little battery powered guitar amps. These amps are great for those who need a portable guitar sound on the go. We brought in a crack team of audio and acoustic engineers and spared no expense in setting up our studio, so we could best compare the tone of these 3 popular battery powered amps. In our video we check out the Marshall MS-2, Blackstar Fly 3 and the IK Multimedia iRig Micro Amp. Which one had the best tone – watch to see our verdict!

Tech details:

Andy plugs straight into the amp, with sound recorded via an AKG C414 condenser through a Universal Audio Apollo X8 audio interface. Effectively you’re hearing the tone straight out of these amps. What do you reckon, let us know.

 

Marshall MS-2

Wattage: 1W

Speaker config: 1x 2”

Outputs: 1 x 1/4″ jack headphone out

Inputs: 1 x 1/4″ jack instrument input

Controls: Volume, tone, select either ‘On’ voice or ‘Overdrive’ voice

Powered: 9V battery or detachable power cable

Weight: 0.34 kg

More info here: 

Blackstar Fly 3

Wattage: 3W

Speaker: 3″ producing true Blackstar tones

2 channels – Clean and Overdrive

Controls: EQ -Patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature), Digital ‘tape’ delay effect (time), Gain and Volume.

MP3 / Line In for jamming along or listening to music

Emulated Line Out for ‘silent’ practice or recording

Battery 6x AA, or DC powered

Extension Cabinet: FLY 103

More info here: 

IK Multimedia iRig Micro Amp

Speaker: 1×4” full range

Output power: 15W (DC IN powered) or 7.5W (battery powered)

Weight: 1.26kg

Inputs: unbalanced, Hi-Z, TS 1/4” Jack.

Instrument Input Level: from 30mVpp to 6.9Vpp

Instrument Input Impedance: 1MOhms

Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20kHz +/-1.5dB

Outputs: 1/8” TRS

External Speaker Output

Connector: 1/4” TS Jack

Load impedance: from 4 to 16 Ohms

6 x 1.5V AA battery

USB Interface

Conversion: 24-bit A/D, 24-bit D/A

Sampling Rate: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz

Device Connection: micro-US

More info here: 

Noisegate

Build a Playable Layered Patch with Cubase 16 Instrument Stacks

Combine a piano, pad and sampler layer in Cubase 16, then shape what each layer…

1 day

The Score Elements Is a Free Kontakt Library for Sketching Film Cues

Sketch a film cue with Sonuscore’s free Kontakt Player library. Here’s how to claim it…

1 day

Ibanez Meets Dragon Ball Z

Ibanez and Dragon Ball Z have something in the works. Here’s a first glimpse, with…

2 days

Free Complete Access Collection Offers 16 Plug-ins Without iLok

Slate Digital, SSL, Harrison Audio and sonible feature in a permanent free collection, with updated…

2 days

Arturia’s Tape J-37: Vintage Tape Magic with a Modern Twist

Arturia, the French music technology company known for recreating iconic gear in software form, has…

2 days

TR-1000 1.50 Adds Note Sequencing and Keeps Effects Through Kit Changes

Roland’s TR-1000 1.50 update adds note and keyboard modes for compatible generators, plus effects continuity…

2 days