We’ve seen small versions of Positive Grid’s Spark modelling amp before - we’re looking at you, Spark Mini and Spark Go - but with Spark Neo, the company has done away with the speaker completely and packed its digital guitar rig tech into a pair of wireless headphones.
This ships with a wireless transmitter that plugs into your guitar and sends its signal to the cans over a proprietary 2.4GHz system. Crucially, the connection is said to be reliable and to offer low-latency performance; obviously, any kind of significant delay - such as you’d typically experience over Bluetooth - would render the Spark Neo all but unplayable.
If you want to go old-school, there’s also a 1/4-inch input on the headphones so that you can use a standard guitar cable, but the wireless functionality is definitely part of the appeal here. Spark Neo offers four onboard customisable presets, but there’s also the companion Spark App, which gives you access to 33 amps and 43 effects.
The app also grants you access to more than 100,000 tones on Positive Grid’s ToneCloud, while the Auto Chords feature will display the chords of any song as it plays.
The headphones themselves feature custom-designed 40mm drivers and, when you’re not playing your guitar, can be used as standard Bluetooth cans for wireless listening. They’re said to have soft, durable earcups and offer passive noise isolation. Battery life of the Spark Neo system itself is claimed to be up to six hours.
Spark Neo is coming soon priced at $199/£189. Find out more on the Positive Grid website.
