The media could not be loaded. It's really good I wish it was a little bit more high again, but I honestly can't complain for what it is

This is by far the best bang for your buck when it comes to these little portable amps. The tone of the drive channel is impressive. The clean is decent.

However, unlike another product at the same price point, the Orange Mini Crush, this thing doesn't have a tuner! If it had that I would rate it five stars.

Plus music playback is slightly tinny sounding.

But when it comes to tone, this mini amp hits a home run. You won't find a better distortion tone for this cheap.

Smiling , smiling A FLAT OUT NO!!!! NO IT DID NOT just meet my expectations .. it surpassed them !!!! This amp proved to me how low my standards was . This is flat out the BEST AMP IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD ... do I sound drunk ? Guess what , I'm not . Totally sober and happily surprised . I was definitely expecting something nice to come out of this box . But not that good . This little black box redefined the word "PERFECTION" to me... redefined the word "masterpiece".. this AMP is soooo good it should have been illegal . No, I don't feel sorry for all ( literally ALL ) other AMP manufacturers out there , great news for all guitar players because the "FLY" raised the bar so high that everyone now should need to compete . It stands on a whole category of itself . It's not a "mini AMP", it's not just another miniature "great looks, but unplayable tiny guitar amp", this "thing" stands in its own lane . It happens to all masterpieces . Sitting up high , all "alone" , without any competition. How grotesque and unfair all YouTube comparisons of mini amps ( marshall , fender , yada yada , caricatures ).. this AMP has it all , and a little more . Any great player can mike it and record and nobody wouldn't even know how many million tones this amp can produce . The ISFpatended feature , really REALLY REALLY works . The DELAY - reverb is totally functional.. it actually WORKS , no kidding .... I "accidentally" forgot to order the extra cabinet that double the wattage to 6W and also neglected buying the $20 AC dedicated power "thingie".. and I'm glad I did .. it bears the purpose . If you need a BLACKSTAR for your gigs or recording studio simply get a "bigger" model ( many BLACKSTAR amps to choose from . Fun "headache".. this one, the FLY III , you buy it to carry it everywhere with you . Batteries last long and of course depends on how much u use it ( just like anything else in this world , duh ).. spending $20 for wall power is like adding a second gas tank on a Toyota PRIUS . Paranoid users should order two of course . Smiling !! There is a reason that this amp is designed in a small package and also a reason that works on batteries . It's perfect as is but hey if u like silly add ons feel free to get the cabinet , the AC power adapter too or opt out for a pair of sunglasses since this AMP will be always with you , from the park to the lake to that bong fire party by the river or the desert , and back to your recording home studio . I would buy this amp million more times if I could as is , just as it was designed to be . Barebones . Yes this is a miracle AMP that every rockstar from the past would envy . Doesn't matter if you have already invested millions of $$ on amp gear ( valves , solid , combos and whatnot ), this is a MUST HAVE. An amp that makes me leave work early , an amp that makes me wake up earlier in the morning , an amp that makes me stay up late and play , an amp that makes even the most boring and cheapest of my guitars to sound like a ten thousand dollar custom axe.. yes it changed my life ( apart from AA meetings ) this is the best thing ever happened to me . It literally saved my life . The word "bored" has been once and for all been eliminated from my vocabulary . THANK YOU BLACKSTAR !!!

Best in class, by far. I am blown away at the sound quality of this little guy. Granted I haven't played in person the other brands of battery powered practice amps. I originally went in planning to buy the Marshall Mini stack, so I spent a lot of time watching many YouTube comparison videos with side-by-sides of several of them (Orange, Fender, Marshall, etc). After viewing the videos it was apparent to me the Blackstar sounded better. Many practice amps do not offer any effects (except the Roland Cube for triple the price!) but this one does- delay. You can adjust both the saturation/level and the time of the delay. "No reverb?" you might be thinking. Well, a high level of delay and a low time gives a good reverb effect, so don't fear, you can make reverb happen. Or, you can use a pedal.

2 channels, both are affected by the Gain and Volume knobs, as well as the delay and ISF (Blackstar's patented tone shifter). High Gain on the clean channel will distort, giving you from a fuzz up to a good overdrive sound, AC/DC style. OD channel w/ low Gain is clean (as you'd expect) up to a very good high gain sound. Great feedback when flicking muted strings with your pick like you'd expect from high gain. Rolling the volume back on your guitar will clean up the sound too...I seen that asked in the questions.

Clean tones are very nice. Adding a little bit of delay to get a reverb-y sound with tone knobs rolled back on my guitar gets such a nice jazzy tone. It's crisp, polished, and better than I thought it'd sound on this.

Using the MP3 line in renders the amp's volume knobs inactive. The amp plays as an extension speaker at whatever volume your device sends to it (you control the volume through your phone or tablet. etc). The knobs only control the guitar in jack. This is great! You can then jam along at whatever volume you want for either device, controlled separately.

Now, it's 3W so it's loud for its size (by comparison the Marshall Mini stack is 1W). It sounds great, yes, but a small 3" speaker doesn't move much air. This is where a lot of people mistakenly think it's a toy. If you need to make this little guy move air, (you know, vibrate your shirt, rattle your windows) use Blackstar's "emulated output" to plug this into a PA...and there you go, concert sound moving tons of air.

I've read a couple reviews here where people are complaining and comparing this to a regular sized amp. That's silly. It's a battery powered practice amp, but a DARN good one at that. Don't buy a pencil and then complain it's not a pen.

I HIGHLY recommend getting the extension cabinet! If you can't afford it now, add it to your to-do list (that's what I did). It's not a gimmick. It literally doubles the volume (!) and adds spaciousness to the delay. It makes MP3s played via your phone/tablet through a 3.5mm jack come out in stereo! They double as computer speakers. LOUD!

The stock batteries last hours! Longer than I expected to be honest. It comes with batteries too, so you can play right out of the box.

The amp by itself comes with:
Amp
6 pre-installed AA batteries.
Backstar sticker
Instruction book/manual.
*Notice:
NO 3.5mm cable, if you want to use this as an MP3 extension speaker, you'll need to pick up one of these, double male-ended. (They're cheap!)
NO power adapter. Blackstar sells these separately for about $20

The extension speaker comes with:
Speaker
24" cat5 cable spooled up on the back (to connect to main unit)
Blackstar sticker
Manual
*Notice* The extension speaker does NOT require its own batteries.

I bought this amp as something small to allow me to use my bass at work. After I bought it I realized it was actually the guitar version rather than the bass. That seems be ok. One advantage is that I can get distorted bass tones that I couldn't with the regular bass version. So there's that.

Keep in mind that this is a small amp and you're not going to have a wide range of controls. It does sound pretty good for what it is and I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for something they could tote around. The only thing better I think would be provisions for a strap attachment. You could also do this yourself, I'm sure. I may end up doing just that.

Anyway, decent little portable amp for the price.