Spark GO

[MaxTK]

Hi. Can someone please confirm if I could connect the new Spark Go to a bigger speaker/PA/mixer? Thank you.

[sonics]

Yes you can. The Spark GO has a 3.5mm output socket on the top, which can be configured from the app as stereo (to feed headphones, or a PA) or mono (to feed a guitar amp).

[merlyn]

I pre-ordered a Spark GO, and it arrived this morning. It does have a headphone socket. I got it as a (very) portable amp for playing anywhere, like the garden. I think the focus is really as a portable speaker, rather than as a preamp.

[MaxTK]

Thank you for your replies. Much appreciated.

[Sam Spoons]

I'm considering one of these for loop replay with acoustic guitar. The scenario is me playing a rhythm part into the looper and then noodling along to it. I have a MiniRig 3 which should be brilliant but is pretty useless due to the cr@p design of the aux input )I had hoped it might be loud enough for a little very low key busking but it ain't ).

Does the Spark sound decent with acoustic clean sounds?

[merlyn]

I don't have a plug in acoustic to say. I've been using a clean sound with a Godin jazz guitar and it's pretty good. There are models of acoustic amps too. With the GO being so small, it is an interesting thing. It can fit in the compartment of my guitar case, so now my electric is more like an acoustic in that I can play it anywhere.

[Sam Spoons]

I just need something that will go a little louder than a briskly strummed acoustic. My Roland MicroCube works but sounds pretty poor being voiced for electric guitars and is bigger than I want for this job. The MiniRig just about works* but is a complete pain to use as the aux input it so compromised. I have a Bose SoundLink speaker which works quite well but is no more convenient to use than the MicroCube.

* The MR3 could be brilliant, playing backing tracks over BT it would be great but I want to use live loops.

[sonics]

Have you been able to try a Spark Mini instead? I suppose a Yamaha THR-10 is too big and heavy?

[merlyn]

Briskly strummed? You mean like Pinball Wizard?

The GO is a tiny guitar amp that can also work as a bluetooth speaker. I'd need to check a bit more, but it doesn't seem you can do both at the same time, like playing a Youtube video from a phone, and playing along with it. As a piece of hardware the amp doesn't have many controls. To get a sound you use the Spark phone app. The app also has backing tracks and a metronome, sent over bluetooth, so the combination of app and GO is a mobile practice station.

I tried it with a Godin nylon string multiac and it's fine. There is an amp model 'Flat Acoustic' which is clean. Of course clean sounds aren't as loud as balls-to-the-wall distortion.

For its size it produces a big sound. And that's what I would think you'd see in reviews -- "Loud for its size". But it isn't loud as such. I'd say it's in the same ballpark as an acoustic. I think Sam wants something a bit louder.

What is this insurmountable problem with the Minirig?

[Wonks]

Sam, don’t you already have a portable JBL or Bose speaker?

[Sam Spoons]

Yes, several The Bose Revolve has been passed on to Mrs S and I'm looking for something smaller than the S1 Pro (which I will use where appropriate). The MiniRig 3 has plenty of volume when used as a BT music player and with 40 watts apparently available should be more than capable of getting the job done but the aux input simply does not work properly and it is impossible to get anywhere near max volume with a guitar or looper going into the aux*. It just about works with a Boss Looper and an acoustic guitar but I can't get it loud enough to be able to hear the guitar coming out of the MiniRig over the acoustic sound of the guitar with the MR on the floor near my feet. Then there are the software issues, it seems incapable of retaining gain/volume settings or remembering which devices or inputs it last used so it is very far from plug and play making using it for anything other than BT music playback and extremely frustrating experience. It's a real shame as it has so much potential

* The website even shows it being used as an instrument speaker and the app shows the aux input as suitable for a microphone...

[merlyn]

The Spark GO specs say it is 5W, so I don't think it's going to be loud enough. Could you use a clean boost pedal or preamp to get the signal into the Minirig aux in to a suitable level?