Review: Hotone Ampero II

PURIST OR FUTURIST?

Before we go into a detailed evaluation, I’d like to state up front that I am a somewhat old-school guitar player. I like my amps vintage and heavy, and my studio is graced (and sometimes clogged) with various models by Fender, Marshall and Ampeg as well as Australian ’60s icons such as Goldentone and Diason. As such I’ve always viewed the modelling and multi-effects pedals I have used over the years as novelty items; great to play around with but a bit of a diversion from the serious business of playing loud through boutique pedals into valve circuits into speakers cabs. The Ampero II, while not exactly shaking my faith in the above, has certainly given me pause for thought. As a Swiss army knife-style multi-tool for studio players or as an all-in-one solution for live shows, this unit offers a lot of flexibility both in sounds and signal routing.

LET’S TALK TONE

In light of the above, let’s talk about tone. In my opinion, playing through a digital emulation is never going to equal the visceral experience of a pure analogue signal path, perfectly-aged valves and worn-in speakers (just as recording digitally can’t quite recreate the magic of recording direct to tape). Having said that, the Hotone Ampero II offers an entirely valid alternative in terms of playability, and that’s before we get to the plethora of tonal variations and add-ons on offer here. Spending some time with the Ampero II results in a very enjoyable playing experience. The emulations are lifelike, nuanced and respond with surprising realism to subtle variations in picked and plucked performance. Go-to amp models such as Fender Blackfaces, Vox AC30s and Marshall Leads are all present and correct with their familiar tonalities complemented by lesser known variants and boutique options. Ditto for speaker types and combinations, and here Hotone has partnered with Celestion to offer 20 different licensed speaker models. The sounds are very useable across a wide range of genres. If you want high-gain grunt for solo work or riffing, you’ve got it. If you want airy cleans, soft chorusing or soundtrack-ready shimmers, you’ve got that too. Most impressively, if you want slight grit or subtly-coloured chime that really responds to the dynamics of a performance, the Ampero II delivers. The preset combinations are well curated and the options include over 90 amp models, 68 cab emulations, 100 stomp box emulations, as well as a multitude of preamp models and mic simulations – enough to keep even the most obsessive tweaker satisfied. While you could probably say that all of the Ampero II sounds have a certain general character or quality to them, there’s enough variation that any accusations of digital same-ness would be well wide of the mark.

TIME TO SHINE

Where the Hotone Ampero II shines brightest is in its ability to combine this host of useable sounds in a variety of clever ways that makes both live performance and studio work an efficient and trouble-free experience. When recording in the studio the sounds stack well and offer enough variety that you can achieve excellent separation of parts (a la distinctive tones of a Fender on the left, Marshall on the right etc). It’s also a joy to record direct signals via the balanced stereo outputs that fully exploit the many stereo effects such as choruses, delays and other panned modulations for a truly stereophonic listening experience. The Ampero II tones are an excellent counterpoint to real amp tracking too. The multitude of sounds offer complementary and/or opposing tonal options that could not feasibly be conjured up even by several rooms full of amps. During performance, the two operational modes of Stomp and Stage allow easy foot-switching setups to be dialled up and programmed in, and the Tri-Core DSP has enough headroom such that switching between sounds or scenes is seamless and doesn’t leave dead spots in crossover moments. All settings and setups can be programmed via the touchscreen but the companion software is user-friendly and means detailed tweaking and patch-making is perhaps more readily done via computer or smartphone.

On stage, the Ampero II takes things to another level with the capacity to set up multiple configurations to suit any occasion. You can have vocal and guitar effects processed independently, send dry and processed guitar to different outputs, loop in stereo with pre or post effects chains and even in tandem with the onboard drum machine. You can also pause the fun to use the very accurate and high-visibility tuner. The unit is not just suited to six-string electric guitarists either. There are settings for acoustic guitar, bass, line and mic inputs that greatly expand the reach of the processing. Playing synths and singing into the amp models delivers some excellent and fun results, and rewards the patient tweaking of sounds. Customising settings is quick and intuitive once you learn the interface, and there’s deep access to things like expression pedal parameters, virtual cab mic placement and effects chain order. Once you’ve sorted out your settings and created a few handy scenes (with four modes per scene) for a particular gig or application, everything can be saved to a host of spare memory slots, and you can quickly build your library of custom sounds.

CATCH & RELEASE

Finally there’s Hotone’s new feature, Tone Catch. This is certainly not something you can get an old Ampeg to do! It involves using the built-in inputs to record your existing amp or pedal’s impulse responses. Again this is pretty deep software utilising CDCM HD+F.I.R.E. technology for ‘user-end black-box reverse modelling’. There are a few ways to do your capture, either via line-in signal (amp heads, pedals) or using a microphone (full amp and cab). It’s important to follow the manual’s instructions carefully here so as not to overload or blow up the input circuitry on the Ampero II when coming direct from an amp head. Results using the full amp and speaker approach will also depend on your room and your miking skills. It takes some time to work through the process but I had success capturing both my old Diason amp and favourite Rat pedal. It was an interesting and impressive experience playing back my capture and comparing it with the real thing. Tone Catch can work really well with distortion and boost pedals but bear in mind it will not capture EQs, compressors, modulations, delays and reverbs.

MODEL CITIZEN

Hotone’s Ampero II ticks just about every box you can think of in terms of what a state-of-the-art guitar modelling pedal should do. The sounds are eminently useable for a wide range of genres, the ‘playability’ of the sounds is very good, and the tonal options are vast. It’s well laid out, switches and knobs feel pro while the touchscreen layout and menu hierarchy is easy and clear to work with. The expression pedal is particularly useful in this model and the plethora of I/O options coupled with flexible internal routing allows for many ways of working both on stage and in the studio. Being a high-quality Chinese offering, it is also very competitively priced. If you’re looking into the evolving world of amp modelling and multi-effects pedals, the Ampero II definitely needs to be on your shortlist.