Positive Grid Spark Live

I had high hopes for this, and for the first week at least, it has delivered quite well – it does all it’s marketed for, and then some. I’ve tried it with basses and guitars, electric and acoustic, and while the sound might not always be precisely what I’m looking for, it is useable indeed – but then it is to be noted that I had quite specific uses in mind for this.

Firstly, when I connect my other interface to the stereo inputs (3 and 4 in the back panel), the sound is flat and pristine enough for using this as a monitoring device; much like you can also use it as a Bluetooth speaker. The rationale here was that it is compact, loud when needed, and capable of some stereo separation – it is there, though it is quite slight given the size of the unit; but then there is also a stereo out among its many connections.

Secondly, when I use the ”audio/data” usb-c port to connect it to an iPad or even an old iPhone, I have an instant interface for live looping: there is no latency either way, you can change presets for different layers, and it plays both the live and the looped loud and clear; I did a little demo of this on my YouTube channel. Certainly the same connection would work with computer DAWs, but do note that the usb combines all the physical inputs into one, so you couldn’t have a whole band play all their instruments into separate tracks all at once, for instance.

On the slightly negative side, you have to work your way around the different controls, with volume knobs for the different channels on opposite sides of the device, and loud surprises in store if you happen to adjust something on the Spark app and then return to the physical knobs; probably best to find a working routine and stick to that? But altogether, I think this will serve me well for what I need: as an FRFR sort of monitor, as an audio interface, and as a functional practice tool either with the Spark stuff or with external devices. I don’t yet know how it would survive in a full band situation, but looking forward to hearing and reading people’s experiences.

The Spark Live is a phenomenal piece of engineering - it packs 4 inputs into a single 150w amp as well as providing multiple effects for guitar and vocals. It also in the main sounds great. Here are the negatives though. There is the option to pipe music to it via Bluetooth but if you do that there is a very noticeable hum/crackle so it's ultimately best not to use that function at high volumes. Second, there's not as much control as you'd think. For example, you can only apply the full list of guitar effects to channel 1 while channel 2 is reserved for mic effects or limited bass/acoustic effects. Also channels 3 and 4 are essentially 1 channel split into two as it is a stereo channel, though technically you can still run two things through this, but the volumes cannot be controlled independently and there is no facility for effects. The app can also be unreliable with random crashes seen a lot on ios and disconnections happen frequently particularly where many Bluetooth devices are present. Because of this there can also be a slight delay in changing presets when operating a Bluetooth footswitch, which is not ideal in live situations. It would have been nice to also have the battery included which I now have to shell out an extra £80 for. Having said all this, it is still a fantastic piece of kit and I do not regret the purchase over all.

Im Laufe der Jahre bin ich faul geworden. Sounds tweaken war noch nie mein Ding, trotzdem war mir stets nach Vielseitigkeit. Zudem wollte ich eine gute Recording-Lösung und gleichzeitig eine Abhöre für mein Recording-Macbook.

All das macht der Spark Live ziemlich perfekt. Erstmalig vermisse ich bei einem Modelling-Amp nicht die Röhren. Auch das integrierte Audio-Interface funktioniert mega und der PA-Sound taugt auch als Studio-Monitor. Der Stereo-Sound muss dann halt über Kopfhörer gemischt werden.

Gerne hätte ich einen Master-Volume gehabt. Lautstärke von Backline / Sequenzer und Gitarre können nur getrennt geregelt und nicht im Gesamt-Level angehoben werden.

Zudem können auf die meisten Parameter nur mit der App zugegriffen werden. Kurioser Weise gibt es über das iPad teils Steuerungsverzögerungen, die beim iPhone nicht vorhanden zu sein scheinen. Auf dem Handy ist die Handhabung aber manchmal doch etwas fummelig. Auch wirkt die App etwas überfrachtet. Insbesondere die Shop-Anbindung empfinde ich eher als lästig. Auch die Registrierung der Hardware zur Freischaltung der angekündigten Extras funktioniert irgendwie nicht. Mal gucken, was der Support sagt.

Zuletzt fallen noch der Geruch nach Weichmachern im Kunststoff und die minderwertig wirkenden Stoßkanten der Front etwas negativ auf.

Gemessen an dem, was tatsächlich geboten wird ist das aber alles Gemecker auf hohem Niveau. Die Soundvielseitigkeit ist wirklich beeindruckend und für meinen Zweck gibt es wohl nichts vergleichbares, schon gar nicht zu dem Preis.

Interessieren würde mich noch die Reparatur-Möglichkeiten nach Ablauf der Garantie. Ginge z.B. das Bluetooth-Modul des Amps mal kaputt, wäre er doch ziemlich wertlos.

Aber das ist Zukunftsmusik. Erst einmal werde ich mit dem Gerät sicherlich viel Spaß haben.