Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

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Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by jeremyb »

Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by codedog »

Always makes me smile when I see this :) Approved by the forum dogs...

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by olegmcnoleg »

Thanks for posting the link. I listened to the demos

Quick reactions (which only apply to the demo as I've not owned any of these amps for a more comprehensive test)

The Katana sounds kinda Marshally on all its tones
The Fender sounds kinda Fendery on all its tones. Nice vib/trem
The Line6 sounds decent but 'over-produced' (i.e. for the studio & with lots of compression). Also, some of the verb sounds were not great.
The Blackstar genuinely seemed capable of some different amp characteristics.

If I was in the market, I'd buy the Blackstar (or possibly the Fender, because I just like those sounds)

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by Bg »

wheres boss man when you need him :(
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by captainfruitbat »

Having listened to a couple of demos and compared the specs on the 100 watt versions I'm not convinced the Catalyst stacks up against the Katana. I'm a long time Line6 user - current rig is a Helix Floor and a couple of Variaxes - so I'm definitely not just hating on Line6 here. The two amps both sound pretty good for what they are - no clear winner there. But the Katana can use 5 fx at once to the Catalyst's 2 and can switch between 4 presets via footswitch instead of just 2. And the fx on the Catalyst are very limited. No overdrives, no compressors. The Katana makes sense as an all in one Amp & fx platform, whereas the Catalyst would need to be paired with some external pedals to be useful, at least for me. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean they're not quite as similar as they might appear at first glance.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by MiniForklift »

This video dropped early this morning for anyone interested

β€œπ‘πžπšπ₯𝐒𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐬 𝐭𝐑𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐒𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐑𝐚𝐭 π₯𝐒𝐞𝐬 π›πžπ­π°πžπžπ§ 𝐝𝐒𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐒𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 πžπ±π©πžπœπ­πšπ­π’π¨π§β€

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by slash-ed »

Bg wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 5:19 pm wheres boss man when you need him :(
:wave:
Just a small town girl living in a lonely world

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by jeremyb »

The showdown we've all been waiting for!

Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by Pvt. Ryan »

olegmcnoleg wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 11:49 am Thanks for posting the link. I listened to the demos

Quick reactions (which only apply to the demo as I've not owned any of these amps for a more comprehensive test)

The Katana sounds kinda Marshally on all its tones
The Fender sounds kinda Fendery on all its tones. Nice vib/trem
The Line6 sounds decent but 'over-produced' (i.e. for the studio & with lots of compression). Also, some of the verb sounds were not great.
The Blackstar genuinely seemed capable of some different amp characteristics.

If I was in the market, I'd buy the Blackstar (or possibly the Fender, because I just like those sounds)
Hi. Are you referring to the solid-state Fender? Because I'm contemplating between the Catalyst 60 and Fender Champion 50XL. Cheers.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by MiniForklift »

Listened to a podcast last week, I think it was Corey Wong with Robben Ford and they were talking about Robben's Dumble. Robben said that Alexander Dumble had told him that at some point SS amps will be at least as good as valve amps; I thought that was an interesting remark and one that potentially holds some merit seeing as who it came from
β€œπ‘πžπšπ₯𝐒𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐬 𝐭𝐑𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐒𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐑𝐚𝐭 π₯𝐒𝐞𝐬 π›πžπ­π°πžπžπ§ 𝐝𝐒𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐒𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 πžπ±π©πžπœπ­πšπ­π’π¨π§β€

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by robthemac »

MiniForklift wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:42 pm Listened to a podcast last week, I think it was Corey Wong with Robben Ford and they were talking about Robben's Dumble. Robben said that Alexander Dumble had told him that at some point SS amps will be at least as good as valve amps; I thought that was an interesting remark and one that potentially holds some merit seeing as who it came from
Theoretically with enough processing power and super clean digital amplification you could replicate any amp, right? Even if it's not "better", it could be identical.
Jops wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by jeremyb »

robthemac wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 2:08 pm
MiniForklift wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:42 pm Listened to a podcast last week, I think it was Corey Wong with Robben Ford and they were talking about Robben's Dumble. Robben said that Alexander Dumble had told him that at some point SS amps will be at least as good as valve amps; I thought that was an interesting remark and one that potentially holds some merit seeing as who it came from
Theoretically with enough processing power and super clean digital amplification you could replicate any amp, right? Even if it's not "better", it could be identical.
You'd have to put fake bottles in the back of it though, would be an amazing troll :lol:
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by olegmcnoleg »

Pvt. Ryan wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 12:31 pm
olegmcnoleg wrote: ↑Thu Feb 17, 2022 11:49 am Thanks for posting the link. I listened to the demos

Quick reactions (which only apply to the demo as I've not owned any of these amps for a more comprehensive test)

The Katana sounds kinda Marshally on all its tones
The Fender sounds kinda Fendery on all its tones. Nice vib/trem
The Line6 sounds decent but 'over-produced' (i.e. for the studio & with lots of compression). Also, some of the verb sounds were not great.
The Blackstar genuinely seemed capable of some different amp characteristics.

If I was in the market, I'd buy the Blackstar (or possibly the Fender, because I just like those sounds)
Hi. Are you referring to the solid-state Fender? Because I'm contemplating between the Catalyst 60 and Fender Champion 50XL. Cheers.
honestly, I can't remember, but is was definitely a digital amp that fender make. There was a link to a youtube clip posted in this thread, but it seems to have been removed. The video had all 4 amps compared. I've listened to more demos of the Catalyst now, and I think I prefer it over the fender. I still think the BlackStar comes out on top though.

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Re: Line 6 Catalyst - Katana Killah???

Post by Zaulkin »

robthemac wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 2:08 pm
MiniForklift wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:42 pm Listened to a podcast last week, I think it was Corey Wong with Robben Ford and they were talking about Robben's Dumble. Robben said that Alexander Dumble had told him that at some point SS amps will be at least as good as valve amps; I thought that was an interesting remark and one that potentially holds some merit seeing as who it came from
Theoretically with enough processing power and super clean digital amplification you could replicate any amp, right? Even if it's not "better", it could be identical.
The hard bit seems to be getting it sounding the same in the room. I doubt many people could tell the difference between a well recorded/mixed tube amp vs high end modeller.

I wonder, even if we can replicate the signal exactly - will it still be as satisfying? Kinda like how when you have diet coke vs the real thing. The taste is pretty damn similar, but you don't get a dopamine hit with the diet coke. Just a thought off the top of my head.

Tube amps sure are more satisfying to play in the room for me. But I do love modelling.

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