Blackstar consistently impresses us with its willingness to diversify outside of traditional guitar amp expectations – recent years have seen plugins and fully-featured amp pedals entering the roster. Now it wants to change the USB audio interface game for guitarists, and we're all ears.
"Polar will never digitally clip, it reacts like a guitar amp, has high headroom FET inputs, and comes with a complete software bundle," says Blackstar. Bring it on, we say!
Ok, spoiler alert – we've already tested it for our Blackstar Polar 2 review and we are really impressed with its ability to bring amp-like qualities to the USB interface experience. Because we've all had those 'why does my guitar sound like a chainsaw going through a beehive?' moments when recording our guitar into a DAW.
Polar 2's FET (Field Effect Transistor) instrument inputs help to deliver the high headroom needed for electric guitar signals, with low noise. Blackstar's Enhance switch for the Polar 2 instrument input aims to go a step further for guitar players – it engages a circuit that's designed to mimic the input stage and character of a valve amp.
In his review for MusicRadar, my colleague Matt McCraken felt it was a subtle but effective tool resulting in a "definite increase in the fullness and ‘bloom’ of the signal".
In addition, players get all the bundled software they'll need to record with the company's St James amp modeller plugin, Ableton Live Lite, Melodyne Essentials, and Relab lx480 Essentials reverb plugin. The addition St James plugin alone makes this a compelling deal for players who want to get into recording at $199/£179.
Find out more in our Blackstar Polar 2 review, Reverb and Sweetwater.
