Sad day but I think it's time to sell ;(

[Ainsley]

Well guys after much soul searching I have come to the conclusion that I will probably be selling my MULTIAMP

The MULTIAMP is an amazing piece of kit IMO and I found it way more appealing than the over complicated Axe FX and the Kemper Profiler. To me it didn't pretend to be anything else, to me it was a load of useful amps divided into user banks of clean, crunch and higher gain with some FX.
I've done four gigs with mine and it has sounded even better turned up, it really does start to come alive and I also loved it's simplicity and portability.
BUT it has so many features I will never use like cabs sims etc and i also found that for live use I only use about three to four patches at most.
I recently played a show where there was a house rig supplied, it was a Fender Twin, great amps as you know and it sounded killer, so full and round which the tone I love. A Twin is no good to me due to ongoing shoulder and neck problems, they are just too bloody heavy so I looked at the Fender Deluxe Reverb. Similar great sound but in a lighter package and for 22 watts is more than enough for most gigs, plus i always mic anyway.
I picked up a used Deluxe Reverb Custom 68 Reissue and although it's been sounding really nice not had a chance to crank it until this week. Took it to rehearsal on Monday and it was a keeper, just the tone I needed.

I've loved my time with my MULTIAMP and thought that was the end of my amp buying days, seems not lol Problem is I can't afford to keep both and one must go

There is still a lack of info out there and that's the reason I started this place. Riccardo from Mark Bass/DV Mark has been excellent, very supportive of this place and great help on my journey into understanding this fine piece of equipment.
Maybe after being shown at NAMM it may get the recognition and interest it finally deserves ?
I've heard there will be a new MULTIAMP web site soon so that's excellent news for users and I'm sure they will incorporate a forum into that once they figure out how best to run it.
One problem I have is that it hard to share info on Mutliamp (again the reason for this place), the Facebook page is very slow and questions are not always answered. The page is mainly promo for MULTIAMP artists from Europe, and not enough about us users.
Also DV Mark seem to keep pushing with new products which is good, but maybe more quality and less quantity ? there are now four MULTIAMPs ? is there really the market for all of them ? To me the original MULTIAMP isn't getting the interest it should or the big push and they should be concentrating on that.

Anyway, keep enjoying this place and MULTIAMP and spreading the word.
I may be less active here (I'm sure I have been the last few weeks so apologies)

If anyone wants to help with admin/moderating drop me a PM.

Chees for listening ...

Ainsley

[Deleted]

Oh God no don't do it!!!!! :/
I'm very sorry to read it :/ anyway it's up to you!!!
Hope you will still be on this forum!!!

[theschwartz]

Hello Ainsley,

I recently sold my MULTIAMP, and haven't regretted it for one second. To me, the MULTIAMP was like dealing with a new version of Windows - sure, it might get the job done, but it's performance is inconsistent, and it has features that don't make any sense. Sure, there's always the promise of future upgrades to make things "better," but you can't always count on that. Furthermore, why should you be expected to wait months or perhaps years for the product to be "finished." In essence, this is the conclusion I've come to regarding all amp modelers. Like all digital devices, amp modelers are bad investments. Obsolescence is part of their design, forcing you to always crave updates and new versions that will only temporarily satisfy you. That Deluxe Reverb you bought? With the exception of swapping out the speaker and tubes, that amp is as good as it will ever be. You won't have to worry about a new firmware update fundamentally changing your tone or having it become obsolete in a year. On top of that, simplicity brings happiness. I got rid of most of my digital gear, and am now playing through a Mesa/Boogie Rectoverb 25. It's versatile, simple, and loud enough for my needs. If I want to record direct, I use a Rivera Rockcrusher Recording attenuator. The combination of the Rectoverb and Rockcrusher has yielded greater results than any amp modeler I've owned, including the Axe Fx II and Kemper.

Frankly, I don't have much confidence in DV Mark as a company. Their products don't seem to have much staying-power, as evidenced by the fact that they've discontinued pretty much every product they've made in the past five years or so. With four MULTIAMPS on the market, I really don't know what they're attempting to do, and if history is any indicator, I wouldn't be surprised if every incarnation of the MULTIAMP went extinct within a couple years. And why market four MULTIAMPS when they can't even properly market one? Perhaps things will change, but that hope is not strong enough to make me stick around.

There were definitely things I liked about the MULTIAMP. I really liked the how light it was, and the overall layout was really intuitive and easy to navigate. I also liked how the amp models were organized in a logical 3-channel manner. Of course, there were also some nice sounds that I got out of it, and I found that the models reacted pretty well to pedals.

But the more I used it, the more I started to question the reasoning behind some of its features. For example, the exclusion of USB recording is baffling. Every single modeler that has come out in the past five years can record direct with USB, even ones that are well below $1000. And using an SD card for storage and updates? I don't know what they were thinking. Who wants to go buy a SD card reader (I just ended up using my printer which has an SD slot)?

I also have a lot of issues with the amp models themselves. Firstly, the lack of proper documentation didn't help things at all. I had the MULTIAMP for almost six months before I discovered the extra parameters available in specific models, and it was purely by accident. Once I found those extra parameters, I was at a loss for what some of them were supposed to do because again, there was no documentation. Come to think of it, the absence of a manual probably caused more headaches than anythings else. Did you know, for example, that the presence control on the AC30 model works acts as a tone cut? This means that like the original AC30, turning the control all the way counter-clockwise results in a brighter tone, and all the way clockwise results in a darker tone. For a while I thought this model sounded horrible because it was too dark, and if I hadn't, by sheer chance, had the presence turned all the way down when selecting it, I would have never known.

Here's another example: on the Bassman model, the gain knob is inactive and the level knob controls the overall volume/overdrive. A real Bassman doesn't have a master volume, so this makes sense...except that this means the overall volume levels are going to be inconsistent when switching patches using different amp models. Speaking of inconsistency, blackface Fender amps don't have master volumes either, yet the blackface model still uses the the gain control as if it did. What DV Mark should have done is had four volume controls; preamp gain (if the amp model features it), poweramp volume, patch volume, and then master volume. Doing so would have allowed for greater volume consistency among different patches.

Anyway, I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Overall I feel like the MULTIAMP is an unfinished product that can hardly keep up with it's lower-priced competitors, let alone the top-tier products. The shame of it all is that the amp modeling market could probably use a mid-priced product geared towards customers who want to upgrade from Boss and Line6 but don't have the money to get to Fractal Audio or Kemper, but honestly, I will always recommend a good tube amp over a modeler any day, and now that more manufactures are jumping on the lunchbox sized amp bandwagon, it's easier than ever to get a great tube amp (that won't go obsolete) at a reasonable price. Believe me, I've spent years and thousands of dollars trying to get amp modelers to work for me, and while I think that someday soon we might reach the "Amp Model Singularity," where digital amp models will be indistinguishable from their real-life counterparts, they're not worth the time, money, and frustration.

Get a nice, simple tube amp, focus on your music, and be happy.

Regards,

David

[shapfuh]

Oh sad to hear that Ainsley. Anyway thanks a lot for taking the time to create this place. If the fender reverb sounds good for you then keep it. Our ears are the only judge. Hope you won't regret selling the MULTIAMP.

See ya

[udertyrat]

Too bad man. If you were in the U.S. I'd buy it from you. I just played my first gig with the MULTIAMP. I really liked how it sounded. I went direct to the P.A. and it sounded pretty good. The amp was not turned up very loud and most of the volume went through my monitor. It definitely did the job.

I really like that the direct outs are independent of the master volume. That way I can crank my amp if I want and it won't effect the mix at all.

It sounded great, was easy to carry and very simple to set up. MULTIAMP, guitar cable, midi cable, midi moose. Line out to the board. Everything in a 2 space rack bag but the obvious stuff.

Does it sound as good as a tube amp? Sometimes. But it's different.
I wanted simplicity and portability. I got it. It may become obsolete one day but that doesn't mean the amp will stop working. Just look at Adrian Belew with the Johnson amps. They aren't made anymore but he uses them and sounds great. Am I going to get rid of my tube amps? No but I have a feeling that I will use them less.

[doomfred]

I second you udertyrat. I'll definitly use it also for gigging (question : is there a way to send independantly the sound from lin eout with speaker sim on while the main output has no simulation ? I think not...)

[schecter10]

I'm pretty sure that if your using the MULTIAMP with a cab, even though the cab slot is crossed out on the main display, the cab emulation is still though the Line out. Used it this way on a gig a couple of weeks ago. So I was hearing no speaker emulation through my cab but the line into the P A did have speaker emulation. My main reason for getting the MULTIAMP was mainly for live work, and i'm really happy with it
Cheers.

[doomfred]

i'll test this !

[udertyrat]

The xlr outs have the cab sim on even when the slot is off. It is also at a fixed volume. This way you can have a feed to the board and hear your amp on stage as loud as you want without it effecting the mix.

[DGS]

Hey Man,
the onley thing what i can say to you is, "that youre right", in that way, that there are a lot off stuf i will never use in the MULTIAMP, but there is one little thing, that i never had bevor. Since i play the MULTIAMP, you can ask anyone of the musican´s where i play together, and specialy the musicans of our band, anyone got a smile in his face when he hear the sound´s of the MULTIAMP. For me that is the most importend thing, and the reasen why i´m still in love with that crasy little thing.
Sorry for my bad english but i hope that can give you a little help.
DGS

[ceccez]

It's sad that you didn't love MA till the end. I love MA and especially the tones and how versatile and simple it is. I think that many guitarists will always have GAS and that (of course) makes people sell and buy new stuff. That's how it is for me anyhow Searching the perfect tone.. But I agree with others.. There should be more frequent updates and company should focus well on developing the product.. competition is so hard. But I'm pleased, though the situation could be much better