Boss has unveiled a newly refreshed version of its MusicRadar approved Katana:Go, redesigning the exterior of the headphone amp while offering all the same sounds and features.
It seemed only yesterday that we had the Katana:Go in for review. It was “a triumph” that injected classic Boss tones right into your ears, with the guitar effects pedal giant’s spatial audio tech making the Stage Feel feature a real game-changer for electric guitar tone as experienced through a set of headphones, making it sound three-dimensional, immersive and, for the want of a better word, real.
Indeed, we had no gripes with the unit’s design expect for the lack of tap tempo. Alas, Boss retired the old design and set the R&D department loose on a new one, moving the big (well, relatively speaking “big” as everything on this unit is small) level control to the side besides all the other controls.
The original Katana:Go’s display remains in place, showing you which of your 30 user-defined memory banks is active or the guitar tuner. That tuner, by the way, is exceptional.
The sounds are, too, and there are lots to choose from. In guitar mode, you'll find 10 amp models and 60 effects. Bass mode has three amps and 60 effects.
Boss uses the word “infinite” when it comes to tones, which seems hyperbolic but when you connect to the Boss Tone Exchange, sharing Livesets and sounds with other users, then factor in all that tone design allied to the sounds you can cook up with the Boss Tone Studio app (iOS/Android) then, perhaps, infinite is the operative word.
Compatible with bass guitars, too, the Katana:Go ships pre-loaded with 30 different presets. Connect via Bluetooth to the device of your choice and then edit the sounds – or create all-new ones – with the Boss Tone Studio app.
This is all part of the Katana guitar amps eco-system, which means you can import your tone settings from other Katana amps and run them here.
The obvious benefit of the headphone amp is how it transforms practice. Especially for anybody in a flat share, or with small children at home, being able to woodshed silently at all hours is a godsend.
There are all sorts of ways you can use the Katana:Go as a practice amp, particularly when you run Tone Studio in Session mode, in which you can loop challenging parts, play allowing with timestamped YouTube tracks, and set the amp up to change settings automatically as you play along to a song.
You can also use it as a guitar audio interface, which in old money is a great tool for recording your ideas before you forget them, and in new money – the age of the social media – it makes content creation a little easier.
“Users can simply plug it into their instrument, connect earbuds or headphones, call up a memory, and go,” says Boss. But you can also expand the experience and pair it with Boss’ FS-1-WL wireless footswitch and/or EV-1-WL wireless MIDI expression pedal, both sold separately.
That’s a lot of amp for £109/$129 – a lot from an amp that you can stick into your pocket. You will get up to five ours of playing time from the rechargeable battery. Head over to Boss for more pics and details.
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