Highest Rated Reviews
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Amazing little amp!
By Tony from Utah on January 11, 2020 Music Background: rock, blues, etc.
I am blown away how great this little thing sounds. After seeing Youtube reviews on this Blackstar ID Core Beam amp I was impressed and decided to get one for my music room for practice and studio recordings. I will tell you hearing it live in open air will amaze you, the sounds of all the presets and the manual settings and BIG! The clean channels, the OD channels, and over all the the technology of this amp is perfect for my uses. The Blackstar ID CORE BEAM amps a great buy and now I'm a huge fan of Blackstar. Thanks Sweetwater for your customer support, you guys are the best in the business.Rock on!
The Little Giant
By Doc Pearson from Texarkana, AR on August 29, 2017 Music Background: Singer Song Writer
The little Giant. Yes The amp is small but the sound is deliciously huge.
First let me get this out-of-the-way. This is probably the best small amplifier ever made. The sound is out right fabulous. You can use an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar or a bass guitar or even play Bluetooth music through it. Now the Bluetooth music sounds so good it sounds like it is coming from a professional stereo. This little jewel is absolutely fabulous. I gave it a bad review earlier just because it did not have a handle but I want to retract everything I said about that. The reason is this forced me to find a handle for it. The answer was so simple. I simply ordered a black 2 piece Grover guitar strap lock. And simply screw them into each side of the little amp. Then I took an Ernie Ball black poly guitar strap with the two strap lock in on it which I can now easily hook onto the wonderful little amp and pick up with one hand or I can stretch the guitar strap out and throw the strap over my shoulder. The real beauty of this set up is I can disconnect guitar strap from the amp so easily since it is a disconnecting Grover Strap lock. And just set the little amp on the shelf and use it as a stereo. If you really want a little amp that sounds just knock down drag out fantastic look no further than this amplifier. With my new strap on this little amp is going to travel with me everywhere I go.
Finally The Answer
By Doc Pearson from Texarkana, AR on August 24, 2017 Music Background: Singer Songwriter with albums on iTunes
Finally I can give this camp at five star rating. The reason I did not before is because it does not have a strap handle on it. After a long search in discussion with many people it was Finally decided that I could simply put Grover strap lock buttons on each side of the wonderful tiny a.m. and then I could hook up whatever strep I wanted to on it or take it off. If you're having solve this horrible dilemma of not having a handle on this wonderful a.m. I can I'll give it five stars. Let me talk about this little help for a moment. What makes this amp special are many things. Maybe you can use this little amp for everything. Your electric guitar or your acoustic guitar or you can even blue tooth your iPhone music into it. It sounds fabulous with all of them. But what beats all the competition is the great DSP effects. It is so tiny that you can take it everywhere as a practice amp. Now that I have the handle situation figured out for this amplifier. I will be running around with this everywhere because it is so easy to carry. Certainly if you are in a large venue you need a large amplifier. But if you take this for what it is as a practice amplifier and to listen to good Bluetooth music then you will be very happy with it.
Hands down the best home recording rig for me
By Aiden James from Southern California on April 10, 2016 Music Background: singer, songwriter of pop punk rock
Just before I bought this amp I had to sell my Orange Dark Terror and Mesa Cab since I was in between bands and I needed money to pay some bills. So after I met my financial obligations I had about $300 left. I was looking for a practice amp since I was not playing shows at the moment. I choose the BEAM b/c it sounded amazing, the price and amazing features that you've read or seen in videos.
For me the sound was/is amazing without using the software. This is the ultimate home recording rig/practice amp. I was blown away at how good the amps sims sounded and all the features it came with and such a small price tag. As for the other user who returned his BEAM I am not having any of those issues...Mine works amazing with my 2009 Mac Pro running El Capitan. I have used this to record to my MacPro into Garageband and Logic via the BEAMs USB. I recorded in to my iPad mini 4 using the camera connection kit with the apps Garageband and Cubasis. I use the Super Crunch setting for my pop punk rock tones with a touch of reverb. I have also used the bass settings and although I am not a bass player they sound amazing as well. I do not have an acoustic guitar so I have never used those settings. I love the advance features that let you control the stereo spread, and the bluetooth music player. I trust in the BEAM so much that I am currently recording my EP with only the BEAM.
I have had this amp for about a year.
By Sweetwater Customer on July 1, 2016
I haven't tried to plug this thing into a computer, so I cannot comment on that functionality. But I needed a practice amp that could handle guitar work and bass work. I didn't need anything more than just something to run a regular practice routine and this fits the bill. But c'mon man, 300 bucks would buy you a couple of good practice amps. Ah-ha!!! You are correct if you think that, but here is why I am such a fan of this bad boy.
I have also been using it as a portable bluetooth speaker for my various mobile devices. In various environments. In small to medium rooms the bass actually is a bit over powering and you will need to adjust your device through an equalizer to really get it dialed in. The bluetooth operates as more of a "Line In" functionality, so the volume and tone knobs do not adjust the volume of this feature. Which make sense if you are using to play along with. I have pushed it outdoors with about 3/4 volume on the device and have been very happy with the results. Just make sure you have access to an AC outlet and off you go. I would put it up against any other portable speaker solution that I have seen.
My only gripe is that something this portable really needs a handle or a carrying case. Right now, I just use an old gym bag.
I think the versatility of this device well worth the price tag, and I have very satisfied with this purchase.
Blackstar ID:Core BEAM
By Pete trisonic from New Jersey (but English) on December 5, 2015 Music Background: In music business since 1967
Had this amplifier for less than a week - I have not tried computer connection yet or all the permutations on the amp itself so I intend to revisit for an updated review in the future.
The sound from this little beauty is truly astonishing - enable Modulation and Delays and the Stereo sound picture becomes almost 3D - very interesting! As most of my work revolves around home studio work I'm looking forward to using it seriously.
By the way, Blackstar, I'd still appreciate a handle of some kind for toting it around - please!
I'm mostly a guitarist but have recently taken up the Bass. Both Bass amp sections are very good but do experiment. A Precision sounds cool through "Acoustic Guitar." Very woody and I added a tad of Chorus and even (dare I say it) some room reverb.........
This is a great little amp
By Greg from Penryn, CA on May 10, 2021 Music Background: Casual musician for 50 years
I wanted something small to use in my office and the BEAM doesn't disappoint! Sound is amazing for this size amp and of course, I haven't even began to explore all the features. For this price, how can you miss?
Ok but not great
By Gear Guy from Los Angeles on October 1, 2021 Music Background: Life long pro multi muso and hi level touring tech
The guitar amp models are decent though a bit bright with single coils. ISF really isn't enough.Must use Architec software.
Even for a desktop amp this could use a handle. Wish it could run on batteries...
Bluetooth is weak and glitchy when playing back music, but sounds good when working.
Can apply Superwide effect to Music Playback ! Great !
Superwide Stereo is great on guitars and playback ,and is what sold this amp to me.
The Bass settings are low volume , weak & uninspiring with no compression or low mid control for punch. Big fail.
Good clean for acoustics with piezo pickups.
This multi purpose amp is a great idea, but implemented in a lackluster generic sounding way. Bass section so bad it doesn't even count.
You got my money anyway...
I returned it
By Sweetwater Customer on March 2, 2016
This is a great sounding unit and worth the price. I returned mine because I have an iMac and to get the 1,000's of users tone, you have to download MS Silverlight to save or download tones, and Silverlight always crashed. I spent hours on forums and trying to get it to work.
The guitar tones are very good, the rock tones are better. The acoustic tones were very nice with the full range speakers. I really would have like to get some of the tones on the Blackstar videos, but it was not to be.
The Bluetooth music player is great. I played some lossless audio tracks through it and found it be excellent. I would have loved to have kept this unit. Maybe, the Android app works better. The Sweetwater video demo had this unit sorted out well and the demo-er had downloaded some great tones.
In future reviews, it would be nice to know the app and ease on app use.
Blackstar ID Core Beam
By Andy from YORK, PA on February 3, 2022 Music Background: 30 years of Rock /Neoclassical
Lots of great reviews.Plugged in and had to be one of the worst sounding amps i have ever played through.Stetile and Lifeless!Returned Immediately.
Cannot pair with iPad 4
By Sweetwater Customer on May 26, 2016
Cannot pair with iPad 4
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