Quote Originally Posted by Lev View Post
I got to try a THR5 out today in a local music store (they had no 10's in stock). It's very difficult to describe the experience of playing through one of these. The sound is of a very high quality but the playing experience is a little odd. Normally with an amp it sounds better once you crank it but with this you have to resist the temptation to crank because it's designed to be played at lower volumes. I found the more I cranked it the less defined the sound was but this varied from model to model and may be better on the THR10 with the extra EQ options. It was really easy to dial in a pleasing tone on all the amp models and I'd imagine recording would be a dream, very little tweaking required here so more time to be creative! The effects were also of a very high quality, there's just one modulation dial and one verb/delay dial but even with the minimal controls it was easy to nail classic chorus/phaser/flanger sounds and the delays and reverb were excellent. So you could use the amp right out of the box without the software editor and be very satisfied with the tones.

It's not got a 12" speaker and it's never going to move the air that a standard 1 x 12" combo would. But that's not the point of this amp, it's a desktop tool and once you get your head around that idea and just enjoy it for what it is I'd imagine it'll deliver endless creative pleasure. So, bottom line I'll still be ordering the THR10, nothing I heard today put me off the THR concept. The sound is smaller than a standard combo but still delivers high quality tones at low/mid volume levels and I've adjusted my expectations accordingly. Definitely a couple of steps ahead of the Fender Mustang 1 that I have at home and more user friendly too.


msteeln, you have two options here, the headphone out to a PA or a mic in front of the amp speaker(s). I'm not sure you'd get enough volume at stage levels to monitor yourself if micing it though. Similarly the headphone out would cut off the internal speakers so you'd need to monitor yourself through the PA. All would depend on the size of the venue/stage you're working on I guess.
Hey!

I've had the THR5 for a few days now (only had the time to use it for around 40 minutes though), and I've tried the 10 in the store. About the sound getting less defined when cranked, it's supposed to do that. Not only is the sound of the original amp model emulated, but also the way the original amp would work. So, if you crank the THR on the clean channel, it will start to crack up just as the original tube amp would. Good or bad, I don't know but I like it. I agree on the speakers not moving the air like a 12" would, but they are a bit smaller


Also, I read Audiofans review and noticed on the minus side that the EQ doesn't really do much on some amp models. As I understand it, this is also a part of the whole "behave like the original amp" thing.

A problem for me, and this isn't really an amp problem, is that the software that comes with it requires either Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.6 and I run XP and OS X 10.4