Roland Cube-20X

I play for an month now and i already play songs! i can play bloodbath and chimaira.

I have bought this amplifier at feedback in holland, great store u can test everything before u buy it.
I bought it for 159€

This amplifier has everything it should have and even better.
I combined some pedals with the cube and somehow its still awsome to play without pedals.
With only an equalizer u can get everything out of this cube.
I just love the great variety of sounds on it, you can even play acoustic on it by just pressing an button.
Also u can buy an footswitch for it to change the cubes settings with just an press on the switch.
The capabilities of his cube have astonished me, the diffrence between the 15watt cube and 20 watt cube is big even though it doesnt sound like it.
Roland cube 20 is PERFECT to practice on and has everything for an beginner, even an absolute pro would be amazed by the cubes abilities.
Its pretty loud! and good!

what i dont like is the EFX button.. but i think i will keep that to myself sinds its my opinion, i just never liked EFX.
Its just an awsome cube!
I am DEFINITLY satisfied.

The quality of this cube is also amazing, from the second i have turned it on to the day i am standing in front of my cube and turning it on.
I have tested all sorts of amplifiers in the shop self, roland came out in my own test as the best of its price!

I love this thing.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

It is a transistor amp modeling. It has 2 clean sounds (JC clean and acoustic simulation) and 5 modeling sounds distorted sounds: overdrive, drive tube, distortion, metal, metal stack. It features 6 effects: chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, delay, and reverb. An auxiliary input for MP3, footswitch, headphones and recording output with HP emulation. A built-in tuner that can work in color choice. Advertised power 20 watts (but it says 24 watts on the device) can be reduced to 2 watts with the power squeezer.

UTILIZATION

Configuration and ergonomics are excellent and exemplary as always Roland. We quickly understand its use. The advantage of this amp is to quickly find the desired sound. Shifting sound of amp models are straightforward and more pronounced than on the most powerful Cube, find the desired grain is much faster on this model. The auxiliary input is great to be accompanied with an MP3 player or a mobile phone for example. The headphone output is not bad at all thanks to HP emulation, saturated sounds do not like porridge in the headphone. The tuner is built is good, but there are more specific in nature. The power squeezer is not really convincing because it stifles the sound too much, so I do rarely used. Besides, it was advantageously replaced by a master volume on the GX.

SOUNDS

It is very suitable for home or mobile use, and allows you to play in all styles. JC clean is very convincing, clean and clear for a transistor. Acoustic simulation is doing its job. The overdrive is a bit muffled and requires pushing the amp to function better. Modeling (COSM) distortion, metal and metal stack scour well without looking like a bee angry and allow to address all styles from classic rock to metal hairy. Simulation drive tube is oddly placed (it would logically be placed next to the overdrive) but for me the most interesting, especially with the gain cranked. It is a pity she disappeared on later versions. The effects are good (it's BOSS) even if their settings are simplistic. Only digital reverb leaves me unsatisfied, it must grow almost to the bottom and can not be compared by far a good spring reverb ... On the other hand the second complaint is that you can not use the delay and reverb together. HP 8 inches obviously lack of scale and low in relation to a 12-inch but we can not have everything! This amp is well expressed with double powerful coils.

OVERALL OPINION

I have 4 years and I do not intend to replace. It is perfect for playing at home and enter the beef out. It is very compact, not too heavy (7 kgs) and has everything you need, there is no need to take extra gear. It's enough in the trunk to play hard but also knows ringing pleasantly low volume. It exudes a real sense of solidity, robustness and reliability. I love the efficiency of its sounds, its effects, perfect ergonomics, and speed to find the desired sound. It is less complete than the competition, but on the previous items, the other amps are lower. Given its overall quality and workmanship foolproof, I find the value of interest. I certainly would do this choice today with the new GX version has improved this thing.

20 w transistor with some emulations, a headphone jack, two channels, some effects (chorus, echo, reverb, phaser, flanger, tremolo ...) Everything has been said.

Regarding the characteristics, few complaints:
-Few models, when you see that a lot of competitors have 10-12, there is only 5 6 distos overdrive.
Questionable-Choice modeling: distos of 5, 3 are for the big sound: metal, metal stack and whose last name escapes me. It would have been more logical to put two or three distos rock and two "big sound."
-The amp is not programmable. Damage. It would be possible to record the sounds, adjust volume levels. Here it is impossible to clear sound with a distortion chorus with echo-free hack 15 buttons.

UTILIZATION

Operation is simple, clear manual, to have a good sound, it is another matter

SOUNDS

Regarding sound, this is where the rub and it must be a rank amateur to find it good. The clean sound is fine, though very bright. Imitation "acoustics" is nice. For distos ...
The overdrive is very dull, hardly usable.
Rock the distortion is no more drinking.
Distos the "metal" does not sound metal, they are very messy medium and as soon as you push the gain.
The whole thing sounds still good synthetic.

The effects are decent, nothing more. Some settings are not easy to use.

OVERALL OPINION

Amp okay. It sounds loud enough to play with a battery light and feels solid and ergonomic. I regret especially synthetic sounds and poorly chosen. Finally the lack of damage modeling and especially the fact that it is not programmable, it would have to be 4 feet sounds very different. Competition brief Fender Mustang Peavey Vypyr 15 or bury without discussion.

20w transistor amp with lots of effects: reverb, flanger, chorus, ...

UTILIZATION

Fairly easy to use, you get the sound you want quickly enough

SOUNDS

I kept this amp about 6 months because the sound does not suit me (too synthetic). I was playing at the time with an Epiphone Les Paul Special II. I used almost all the effects to test sounds but nothing really convinced me.

OVERALL OPINION

Sold after six months, I think this amp is designed for musicians who like to tweak their sound and who does not buy effects pedals in the coming months. I bought a pig in a poke to the extent that I needed a relatively cheap amp and effects, I quickly regretted it because the amp did not do but because it did not suit me not (sold for Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue 30). I would buy this amp not.