Thoughts on the Blackstar HT-5R?

[BjornMakoto]

I currently have a Roland Cube 30 and I definitely need to upgrade, because of future shows and a tube amp. On the Roland cube, the dyna amp feature is my favorite, and I am wondering if the Blackstar HT-5R would suit my needs in terms of tone and volume.
Thanks YO

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I've heard of people using the HT-5 for small gigs. My HT-20 does fine with a good speaker, but struggled a little with the original Rocket 50.

You'll definitely be pushing the the amp to the limits trying to play a metal show, and mine didn't like being pushed that hard - just didn't sound as good. Once i got a decent speaker, it pretty much sounds good in any situation.

 

[Mordacain]

I could keep up with my powerful drummer buddy with mine through a 4x12 at about 65% volume.

Its a pretty powerful little head all things considered. The HT-20 doesn't really sound much like it unfortunately. I loved mine, awesome little amp, great for recording and practice since its sounds so very satisfyingly full at low volumes.

 

[BjornMakoto]

Well I am definitely not playing any metal shows, but I'm wondering if the combo would keep up in volume at shows... or should I just get the cab and head?

 

[MistaSnowman]

What type of music are you playing? Reason I ask is because if you're playing music that requires a bit of clean headroom (i.e. blues or country), I would find it difficult for the HT-5 to keep up with a drummer even when mic'd IMO. If you play on the distortion channel only (and mic'd) a la hard rock or blues rock, the HT-5 should be fine, but the HT-20 would be better.

 

[BjornMakoto]

What type of music are you playing? Reason I ask is because if you're playing music that requires a bit of clean headroom (i.e. blues or country), I would find it difficult for the HT-5 to keep up with a drummer even when mic'd IMO. If you play on the distortion channel only (and mic'd) a la hard rock or blues rock, the HT-5 should be fine, but the HT-20 would be better.

Well I am currently playing indie/alt rock that requires a lot of dynamic playing. So if I play soft, the tone will be clean or close to clean, and when I play hard, there will have lots of distortion and even a metal like tone. Quite possibly even some djents!

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

The HT-20 doesn't really sound much like it unfortunately.

Curious - whats the differences in the tone?

I noticed the 2nd voicing on the HT40 sounds much tighter than the HT20 - kinda like a built in boost - Is it closer to that?

 

[BjornMakoto]

Curious - whats the differences in the tone?

I noticed the 2nd voicing on the HT40 sounds much tighter than the HT20 - kinda like a built in boost - Is it closer to that?

How is the clean on the ht 40 compared to the ht5r? I saw an ht40 on craiglist for $550.

 

[mniel8195]

i have an ht-5. I think it will hold up for you for the type of music you are playing. keep in mind though that the clean channel does not have alot of head room. i think you would be better off with an amp you can power scale like an egnater.

 

[BjornMakoto]

Oh yeah another thing, I currently have a Roland Cube 30, and I can hear my self while playing with the band, but not too well. Would the Blackstar ht5r be louder than the Roland while playing with low gain?
How is the emulated output?

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

How is the clean on the ht 40 compared to the ht5r? I saw an ht40 on craiglist for $550.

Didn't really try the clean too much but it does have two modes, one of them being the same as the HT-20, which i think is fantastic. It really starts to bloom as you turn it up, bright, spanky, and you can up the clean volume to get into crunch territory. I agree that with the HT-5 you're not going to be able to play with a loud band clean, it'll break up by then, but the 20 has plenty of headroom, again with a nice efficient speaker.

As for the emulated out i've had pretty good results but i still prefer to mic mine up. I find the emu out to be a bit fizzy. I've heard some recordings that sound great.

here's a clip of my ht-20 miced up

Splitting The Nebula by vbshredder on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[BjornMakoto]

Didn't really try the clean too much but it does have two modes, one of them being the same as the HT-20, which i think is fantastic. It really starts to bloom as you turn it up, bright, spanky, and you can up the clean volume to get into crunch territory. I agree that with the HT-5 you're not going to be able to play with a loud band clean, it'll break up by then, but the 20 has plenty of headroom, again with a nice efficient speaker.

As for the emulated out i've had pretty good results but i still prefer to mic mine up. I find the emu out to be a bit fizzy. I've heard some recordings that sound great.

here's a clip of my ht-20 miced up

Splitting The Nebula by vbshredder on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

hmm well the it sounds pretty well suited for metal, but how are the dynamics on the dirty channel?

 

[Garrett]

I think you could maybe get away with a gig playing indie alt music. It would have to be very small though. There isn't much headroom. It starts to distort a little early. I personally don't find it loud at all and it never leaves my bedroom. then again i play with the volume about 3/4 of the way up. Go look for an ht-20. You won't have to worry with it volume wise at all.

 

[BjornMakoto]

I think you could maybe get away with a gig playing indie alt music. It would have to be very small though. There isn't much headroom. It starts to distort a little early. I personally don't find it loud at all and it never leaves my bedroom. then again i play with the volume about 3/4 of the way up. Go look for an ht-20. You won't have to worry with it volume wise at all.

Would the overdrive setting be good if I set the gain really low?

 

[BjornMakoto]

I think you could maybe get away with a gig playing indie alt music. It would have to be very small though. There isn't much headroom. It starts to distort a little early. I personally don't find it loud at all and it never leaves my bedroom. then again i play with the volume about 3/4 of the way up. Go look for an ht-20. You won't have to worry with it volume wise at all.

Wait you play it in your bedroom with your bedroom 3/4 of the way up?!

 

[MistaSnowman]

Well I am currently playing indie/alt rock that requires a lot of dynamic playing. So if I play soft, the tone will be clean or close to clean, and when I play hard, there will have lots of distortion and even a metal like tone. Quite possibly even some djents!

When I demo'd the 20 and the 40 at Sam Ash, I found them both very responsive to pick attacks. On single notes, I tend to dig in more with my pick and the response would be the loud, ringing note I was hoping for. On my m7 chords, I tend to just lightly rake over the strings, almost areppegiated, and my chords would sound smooth and flowing.

If you live near a Sam Ash, check out the Blackstars there to see what I mean .

Edit: I should note where the OP is from BEFORE recommending going to Sam Ash (only have stores in the US)...My bad!

http://www.kaysound.com/dealers/blackstar_pop.html

 

[BjornMakoto]

When I demo'd the 20 and the 40 at Sam Ash, I found them both very responsive to pick attacks. On single notes, I tend to dig in more with my pick and the response would be the loud, ringing note I was hoping for. On my m7 chords, I tend to just lightly rake over the strings, almost areppegiated, and my chords would sound smooth and flowing.

If you live near a Sam Ash, check out the Blackstars there to see what I mean .

Edit: I should note where the OP is from BEFORE recommending going to Sam Ash (only have stores in the US)...My bad!

BLACKSTAR DEALERS

hey, thanks for the help. I'll probably head down to the ONLY blackstar dealer in my area haha. Hopefully they well have what I am looking for.

 

[asher]

Would the overdrive setting be good if I set the gain really low?

I have to caution that I really can't get a mid gain tone I like too much on my 5R and just deal with it because it's my practice amp, but IMO turning the gain knob very low on drive just sounds like bollocks. YMMV with a 20 or 40 though.

 

[Bevo]

I would go with the head and not the combo, the combo is really weak when compared to a sealed 2-12. The volume of the 4-12 is also massive.

The larger cabs bring out a different personality out of the head than combo.
Clean headroom will also expand in volume with the bigger cabs.

3/4 volume?
No way in a bedroom unless its stupid loud or 3/4 means 100 is off and 0 is full loud.
At home I played mine at 1.5 and it was plenty loud...

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

hmm well the it sounds pretty well suited for metal, but how are the dynamics on the dirty channel?

Note that i used a TS-9 here, so it's compressed a bit. Dynamics are pretty good, but it wont clean up fully with the volume knob on the guitar. That's the only time i really start to think about the solid state circuitry. Without a boost, it definitely has some spongeyness to it, responds nicely to your picking. I've used the dirty channel for some bluesy type leads...here's another clip...

http://soundcloud.com/vbshredder/twelve-days-off-some-12-bar