Over the Katana
- Thread starter AquariumRock
- Start date
northernguitar
Poster Extraordinaire
I’m not surprised. I only have guitar shop experience, but it was underwhelming, to say the least. On the floor, I just couldn’t dial it in to anything pleasing.
AquariumRock
Tele-Meister
I should clarify. I don’t find the Katana too loud. I just end up using the lower setting for any distorted sounds. The Orange was fine on clean at low volume but I had to absolutely crank it on the dirty channel for it to sound like anything. I honestly might still have it if not for a tragic accident that rendered the clean channel unusable.
Point taken. Though if I could clarify it’s not imperative that I have less than 1 watt out. The Katana is fine at 25/50 for me until I add in any of the boost functions. Then it becomes just scratchy and tinny. But you might be right about the GAS.
I’ve thought about that. Not that equipment specifically but maybe I should just go way simpler. I don’t end up doing well with a ton of options out of the gate. I’m easily distracted with that stuff and my practice ends up suffering. Good point.
ce24
Poster Extraordinaire
For just headphone playing i would forgo an amp and just use my BOSS ME80 MULTI FX….headphone / line out has cab sim and it also sounds great straight to a PA.
chris m.
Doctor of Teleocity
A sound optimized for 12” guitar speakers is going to sound tinny through headphones. You might be able to modify a patch, focusing on EQ, to optimize it for headphones.
AquariumRock
Tele-Meister
I’m embarrassed I didn’t even think of that. Any tips?
NoTeleBob
Friend of Leo's
Kantana has a slew of EQ options when using a computer with it. You can have a GE 7 pedal; you can adjust the Amplifier model EQ including presense; and there's a post preamp EQ that works in standard or parametric modes.
One of the problems with using headphones is if they have a very wide frequency range. Guitar amplifiers, or rather the speakers, typically have a fall off in frequency response starting around 4K. They fall off fast and are done by around 6 to 7K.
Headphones, on the other hand are usually stated with a range of 20–20 K. Most probably fall off at about 13-16 K but that's still substantially higher than the guitar speaker.
Bottom line, if you want your headphones to sound more like the guitar speaker, chop off some of the top end.
chris m.
Doctor of Teleocity
Yes....general advice is if you have an EQ that allows you to run high pass/lo pass to cut frequencies out entirely....then for electric guitar cut everything above 6.3KHz and everything below 100Hz. That might be all you need to do, plus perhaps boosting lows and low-mids a bit.
bgmacaw
Doctor of Teleocity
I thought that video was familiar. I had given it a "thumbs down" a while ago because he dissed the Peavey Bandit.
I've plugged into a lot of Katanas over the years at stores and they have never, ever inspired me. They always just seem flat or something with little of the dynamics/touch response you'd expect.
I have a THR.. it's not bad, still has that fake/synthetic feel to it. Maybe the new THRs are better. I also just find Yamaha to be kind of an unfriendly company. Need a new power adapter cause yours breaks? They are going to take your firstborn in exchange. $100+ for an adapter for a $200 amp? Yep, you bet. Need support? They'll be terrible. Expecting updates for the software? Yah right. Only get a THR if you think you won't break it (the build is fragile IMO), especially won't break the power adapter, and you are 100% happy with the software in the state it's in the day you buy it.
The Positive Grid Spark still seems way better though. I was blown away when a friend brought one to practice/jam with. IIRC you can get them for a lot less than the THR. Sounds way bigger in the room. The software is miles better, seems to have more updates, and they built all these really neat tools that work with the amp. Spark + an iPad is a pretty amazing combo. I'm not saying it necessarily "feels" better than a THR or Katana though.. I did play through it a few times but not a ton.
I have a THR.. it's not bad, still has that fake/synthetic feel to it. Maybe the new THRs are better. I also just find Yamaha to be kind of an unfriendly company. Need a new power adapter cause yours breaks? They are going to take your firstborn in exchange. $100+ for an adapter for a $200 amp? Yep, you bet. Need support? They'll be terrible. Expecting updates for the software? Yah right. Only get a THR if you think you won't break it (the build is fragile IMO), especially won't break the power adapter, and you are 100% happy with the software in the state it's in the day you buy it.
The Positive Grid Spark still seems way better though. I was blown away when a friend brought one to practice/jam with. IIRC you can get them for a lot less than the THR. Sounds way bigger in the room. The software is miles better, seems to have more updates, and they built all these really neat tools that work with the amp. Spark + an iPad is a pretty amazing combo. I'm not saying it necessarily "feels" better than a THR or Katana though.. I did play through it a few times but not a ton.
I’ve got a Roland Cube 60 that is outstanding. 3-band EQ, simple effects, limited amp sounds to choose from. Sounds great at low volume or through headphones. And the Clean channel is based on the JC-120, so it’s a great platform for pedals. If you can find a used one, it might be exactly what you need.
Katana is like the dog who can recite Shakespeare. At first you're amazed he can do it at all, but then you start to notice that his diction is quite poor and he doesn't put any emotion into it.
loopfinding
Poster Extraordinaire
i mostly use an iridium through my jbl studio monitors for home practice and recording. feels good, sounds good.
but obviously i also use the jbl studio monitors for working on recordings. and they're also just what i use to listen to music.
three birds with one stone.
but obviously i also use the jbl studio monitors for working on recordings. and they're also just what i use to listen to music.
three birds with one stone.
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Blrfl
Friend of Leo's
Ten bucks says Strymon bothered to measure the frequency response of the speaker(s) they're emulating and put EQ to match just ahead of the cabinet model. A lot of guitar amps, real or modeled, sound like crap before a speaker covers for that multitude of sins by chopping out the highs.
AquariumRock
Tele-Meister
This is an amazing comparison. Well said.
Overall you’re happy with the Iridium?
loopfinding
Poster Extraordinaire
yeah i'd say so. but i'm mostly a one or two amp kind of guy. i usually use the fender mode with the mids jacked ("tweed mode") for cleans, and then the marshall mode with fender IRs loaded on for dirty tweed bassman or twin type sounds. i can just plug my normal pedalboard (including boosts) into it. my current tube amp kind of covers those two bases, so i'm just trying to emulate that.
i need to build another load box for my amp so i can just run it into my interface and use IRs in a DAW, but the iridium lets me easily run guitar into samplers and other hardware without taking up all that space and fuss, so i have kind of gotten lazy and compromised with it.
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Dostradamas
Tele-Afflicted
My roomate bought a Katana when they first came out and I loved it the first time I played it.
Each time after that I got more picky about its sound and spent lots of time dialing.
In the end I found every time I tried to play it I was trying to get rid of something in the tone I found offensive rather than turning it on and playing.
Weird how it seemed great at first then quickly lost all of its luster for me.
Each time after that I got more picky about its sound and spent lots of time dialing.
In the end I found every time I tried to play it I was trying to get rid of something in the tone I found offensive rather than turning it on and playing.
Weird how it seemed great at first then quickly lost all of its luster for me.
