Spark Live Amp Review (1st of 3 parts)

[@basarat]

It’s causing feedback as the speaker is pointing at the mic. Mic -> speaker -> mic -> speaker ==== feedback.

[@MikeMesseswithMusic]

Thanks Basarat, what is odd is none of the other pedal setups cause feedback, just that one called Vocal LOFI, with no change in the angle of the microphone or speaker. I need to study it a bit more. Thanks for your assist. Mike

[@davidcook1057]

It looks like you are using the acoustic setups for your electric?

[@alphasportstv]

Nice unit, looks like it's not a ton bigger than the regular Spark 40 in terms of horizontal, and a bit taller....which is nice. I might dump my 40 and upgrade to this!

[@MikeMesseswithMusic]

Hi alphasportstv, depending on if you need the battery ability and if stereo inputs/output is important you may want to consider the Spark 2 in comparison. I love this Amp and in my further videos in the series I show off more features and some drawbacks, so stay tuned! Mike

[@Neil3D]

Mine arrived an hour ago, there's already a couple of things annoying me about it but overall it seems like a great little product. Chief amongst those annoyances is that it appears you absolutely do not have full control over the pedals, for some reason you're stuck with the number of pedals they allow you to have, so you cant add in more than the channel allows. I've come from a DAW background and I often stack double compressors and all that, but I can't here. I would also like to use VST3 plugins instead of theirs, I have the full Abbey Road plugin suite which I'd prefer to use but no such luck. Also the Android app for the device is awful, it's crashed out on my 4 times already in the last hour on a brand new Galaxy S24 Ultra and the device disconnects each time. The fact that there are EQ and volume dials within the plugins is confusing vs the hardware knobs, I have no idea what takes ownership of volume or EQ at the moment. But I'm only an hour in, I'm sure I'll get used to it and figure it out.

[@MikeMesseswithMusic]

Hi Neil, thanks for the info on your experience. I only have IOS devices working with the Amp and so it is interesting to hear how Android works. You are way beyond me as far as advanced configurations. It would be great to hear if you find a way to make any of the mods you are trying. Good luck! - Mike

[@richardchristensen1768]

Great well done review Sadly I have a major beef with this amp I was so excited with everything I believed this amp was going to be as I was under the impression it could be used with running my other modeling stereo effects modeling devices in stereo into the channels 3&4 inputs but that's not the case at all as all of the inputs are summed to mono no matter how you run them The only thing the spark Live plays in stereo is Bluetooth music playback To me this is an unbelievable major goof Why would they make a stereo amp and then drop the ball this way Even the Spark 40s aux in supports stereo I am returning mine and warning everyone who expresses an interest in this amp as I work at the store i bought mine at

[@MikeMesseswithMusic]

Hi Richard, sorry to hear about this shortcoming of the Live amp. I know it only produces stereo when it is in the horizontal mode, but had no idea it does not process the stereo input when splitting the stereo onto the channel 3 and 4! For my purposes I guess it is good enough. I hope you find what you are looking for. Cheers. Mike

[@joetowers4804]

Thank you for sharing! The only feature that made me consider this was I thought it would be a mini stereo PA. What is the point of the stereo inputs if it gets summed to mono? Amazing oversight!