Orange MICRODARK- Fearless Gear Review
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- čas přidán 12. 07. 2024
- By Request! Using the Microdark as a "Blender" amp for a thick & incredible tone.
Get it through my Thomann Affiliate Link: www.thomann.de/intl/orange_mi...
0:00 You Asked for it!
1:21 First Tones
3:28 Boosted
5:59 Blending at the Desk
8:29 Multiple Mics
10:00 Combining Sounds
11:00 The Full Mix
12:00 More Suggestions Please!
#unsponsored
Disclosure: The Micro Dark was loaned from a friend, this video has no corporate influence. Gear from earlier sponsorships may appear in the background, but have no influence on the outcome of this video!
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!
Simplicity goes a long way my friend. Sounds like the tone for Sweet Leaf.
Hmm... I was thinking "Albatross" but I'll take the compliment! :) TY very much!
Omg I came here because I thought it was a telegram scammer replying. I was gonna report it. 😅
I was thinking about that
I was thinking more like old Sacred Reich, but I see that too.
@@SpectreSoundStudios COC's Albatross? I hear it.
I gigged with the Micro-Dark into 2x12 last week. Just had an OD in the front and EQ pedal in the loop, it worked really well and was well mixed in the PA.
An EQ in the FX loop really opens up these amps. I had one pushing a 4x12 with the notorious Behringer SF300 and it was brutally dooom-tastic sludgy mayhem, although every time I turned and looked at it I kept busting out laughing in blow away amazement!
LMAO!!!
Sure, some of the similarly spec'd Joyo offerings offer more variety and bells & whistles at a better price, but these tiny Orange heads pack a lot of that upper mids mojo their bigger siblings are famously coveted for IMO.🤘
I took the feet and handle off to mount on my board in a custom looper. Check out my crazy rig in my thread😅
@@KelticKabukiGirl where is this thread you speak of?
doesnt matter which od? i am thinking about getting a treble boost/Tube Screamer or sd1 to get my micro to tighten up for death metal recordings. Would be awesome if you replied, thanks
@@EasyHeat is an eq enough to myke it bite and shug too?
I once played in a band using Orange 15w amps (!) for an audience of 1500+ and we ended up being the band with the best sound of the festival. They managed to mic those little amps perfectly and they were coming in perfectly in the monitors while sounding great in the PA.
It's got that old school metal/ early NWOBHM/ early doom sound, so it may not be the most versatile of amps, it still does a few particular styles very well.
Needs an EQ and Overdrive!!
Get an EQD PLUMES and a Graphic EQ/boost and make your amp do anything...
@@jeremyswalley8625 I totally wrote the same thing before seeing your reply. I have a Fucking Rockerverb, Dark Terror and run the Rockerverb clean but loud with a ton of comp, ods, HM2W, Parametric and Graphic EQ, a Micro Dark preamp on the board, and a loop of fuzzes and blend loop for a second parallel HM2. Any clean amp or crunchy amp can make a good pedal platform.
@@jeremyswalley8625 eq,overdrive,sustainer
Compression
Your introduction brightened my day so much, thank you dude!
GLEENNN!!! Dude, your playing is next level! ❤
Ty!!
This is "next level"? Sounds like a Saturday at Guitar Center
man, with each video im more and more blown away by your killer riffs and intense picking rock on !
Though I don't really listen to the music you like.I find your knowledge and truthfulness about equipment to be the best I've seen. You are one of a kind on CZcams. Thank you
Fantastic for a practice tone, and a great blender for mixes! I've been debating getting one for a few years now but I think this is the video I needed to fully convince me
Cool video. Been using the Micro Dark for a couple years now. I really dig it as find it a convenient, and fun little amp. It's also great for multitracking just as you showed in this video. Now I have a few more things to try out now. Thanks Glenn!
Glenn bringing the chops! Thanks for the review.
I gotta say that was some of the best riffing I've seen you do. good stuff brother keep it comming
Dude, you're probably better than most of the guitarists that come into your studio! It's amazing what some practice can do!
Yes, the small Orange amp is bloody amazing.
I bought one of these like 3 weeks ago! I run it through a homebuilt cab with V30's, sounds killer!
I have the 20w Micro Terror - Love it. So happy I brought it. Great sound for the price
Glenn!! I absolutely love your videos. I love your intensity of all the fabulous music you make, it’s kick ass!! I love your reviews, and I love hall, blunt and honest, you are about certain things, and that you give an honest opinion and answer, and I just wanted to say that I’ve been a very long time fan of years and I’ve been following you ever since you started doing your CZcams channel!! I just wanted to say that it’s incredible and I used to have a micro terror the little white one and that thing used to kick out the jams!! Keep on rockin’ brother!! 🤘🎸😎😎
Your downpicking game is getting pretty elite, dude. The practice and such definitely shows. Props! Thanks for supporting true fucking metal!
Always an informative and pleasurable channel.
I love this amp. I have it in my bag as a just-in-case backup
Glenn! Your playing has improved so much, and I loved the video you put out on some of the stuff that's helped you improve recently. I have been playing for 20 years or so and the 'spider walk' exercise you did was something I also found recently that helped me a lot. Keep up the great work! One thing I'd mention for you to focus on a little: not lifting your fingers so much when riffing. All of us struggle with this - not trying to sound like a dick. I think that will be one small thing you can focus on that may also yield big results over time (it did for me anyway). Again, awesome seeing the growth - can't wait to see how things are sounding a year from now and on.
These amps sound great. Excellent video and nice playing. Killer overdrive, too.
Those Orange Micro's are pretty awesome, obviously the dark has a bit more gain, but both versions respond pretty good to pedals so you can have a good time all around with them
This was my first proper amp and upgraded to a 15 watt tube amp still love this thing though. It saved my dad when his 5150 blew up.
The orange crush practice amp with the 6 inch speaker is surprisingly good. And when I bought it, it had a line out for plugging into a cabinet. The clean settings have a 50s jazzy sound, and it gets pretty metal.
The line out isn't a true line out. It simulates playing on a full stack
I blew the speaker, I can't do under 10" or they blow from low tuning, heavy fuzz gain and suboctaves
@The Tired Horizon maybe as a blend but as a main tone??? My PPC412, 150w Eminence Swamp Thangs loaded 2x12 and Eminence SL80 blanks in the 1994 Tubeworks Tweed 4x12 are being used for main tracking.
i bought the Orange micro 3W and i was blown away with how loud and i ran an overdrive pedal with the amp overdrive on too and got the crunchiest of crunch like the crunch in the song "Creep" love it!!!
Glenn your guitar playing has definitely improved A LOT. My jaw dropped seeing you finger tap lmao. Finger tapping is a lot of fun, keep it up 🤘🤘
I love Orange. I've got the original Micro Terror, the OR15 and being a gigging bassist the Bass Terror. Killer gear.
Glenn is was very awesome I've thought about orange amps a few times I messed with. Them before and liked teh sound but was on the fence. About the micros more videos like this please they are extremely helpful to though of us who aren't trying to copy and paste someone else's sound or over all tone. Great video please keep them up. Love the channel
That Soldano has a nice Carcass tone to it!
Always been a fan of these orange minis!
You really can't go wrong with Orange, especially if it's being blended with a 5150, 6505, or SLO. Really brings them to life and adds fuzz.
I love my Joyo BanTamPs. Pairing with an amp sim, with both recorded through a real cab, makes them sound phenomenal. Even just layering both of them together (I have the Meteor and the Jackman, both in 2 channel trim) sounds great.
I must say your playing has gone a long way man. Cheers!...
TY!
I'm loving mine and I use it clean probably 70% of the time. The clean voicing is a lot more fender-ish with its scooped mids compared to the micro terror. The FX loops really makes this a versatile little amp.
The only amp I've played that can go from sounding good on a Strat to sounding good on EMGs with the turn of a single knob.
R E A L L Y good video, i've been thinking along these lines for awhile & it's always good to hear it done in a pro setting.
I can 100% imagine this done as well with a Boss Katana to add a little something something, especially with the cab resonance options on the Head giving it that extra subtle dimension of tweakability to find a place with the other tones.
I love this one, had it for some years. Its really sick!
I've been using the Orange Terror StAmp with a tube screamer as a boost for a little over a year now. I love the sound. I just added another Terror StAmp with a boss super overdrive as a boost as well. I have the Terror StAmp with the tube screamer going to one 12" orange cab, and the other Terror StAmp with the Boss going to another 12" orange cab. For what my band writes it does a really nice job.
These little amps are really fun to play around with.
@TheTiredHorizonthe terror stamp is even harder to steal if it is wired to your pedalboard.
But also... You can go the opposite direction and get a rockerverb, and hope the weight deters them lol
What an EPIC intro! woke me the f up, love ya
I own about 16 different amps of all sizes... NO amp made my jaw drop the way the Micro Dark did when I first plugged it into a Marshall 4x12... i guess because of the size and price of it maybe, but that little thing will bring many smiles to your face... if i was asked by someone just starting out with not alot of money for the best bang for their buck, i would absolutely recommend the MD..
It seems perfectly good. With an effects loop you can always use an EQ and any effect you like in the loop or out in front.
Digging the mix on this.
Nice work! I had one of those 20W Orange jobs, different model, same line. I bought it to test an Aiken 1-12 cab with a Celestion EVH. The cabinet sounded good, so I bought a Marshall Origin 20 head to go with it. I let go of the little Orange when I was selling off some gear that I rarely use, but sometimes I miss it!
That blew my mind. That a micro dark can sound that close to a SLO 100 and share space in a recording mix, even sound better for lead. Thanks for sharing that. You're right, for a couple of hundred bucks to back up a main amp in your recordings.
Holy SHIT!! That mix is NASTY!!!!!! I picked up the Micro Terror several months ago, and I really like it for at home practice, both for playing and recording. I think there's a TON of value in these little $200 beasts!
Cool! I've got the standard mini orange in my gig box as a backup and have actually used it to power my cab. Of course, it's not great compared to an expensive head but, for the Vox foot switch I traded it for, it's been a great little backup and works way better than going direct or something for me. It can for sure play with a live drummer and other scooped out, delayed out, metal maniac guitarists.
These are perfect blender amps, same reason I keep my Marshall Valvestate 8100 around, by itself it's alright and has some very specific uses, but mixed with another amp it sound bonkers.
Damn bro the chops are getting better quick as fuck
Rock on
Intro never gets old 🤘🏻
The micro dark is my home practice amp! I use it clean with a bunch of pedals and it does the job. Plus it looks really cool, which practice amps usually... don't haha.
Holy shit 😳 you have gotten so much better at playing over the years. I got one otlf these micro darks myself. Not the most versatile but good for the price. A little od takes it over the top too.
I see every stoner rock/doom/sludge band using an Orange amp, almost exclusively. The fuzz on the top doesn't work well with fast riffs, but for the stoner sounds it's perfect. You can't go wrong with that amp for the price though if you need something simple and your style is more of the stoner variety of rock.
I've taken the DI tracks in a mix and put an amp sim on it and blend it in with the original guitars, and I'm a huge fan of blending guitars that way. Sounds thick and you can really create a unique tone that's full and cuts super well in a mix!
And Glenn, your guitar playing is moving along nicely! Makes me want to practice my bass more!
That was fun to watch and to listen to and you shred like a Mitchie Fritchie!
I love these little amps. I have the white one & it great. I use it much more than my Hughes & Kettner & my Crate Blue Voodoo 120 half stack! Yes they take pedals great too!
AUTHENTIC SHIRTLESS. Doesn't get any better than that.
Diggin' the blue LTD Arrow dude!
Shirtless Glenn intro always deserves an instant Like! 🤟🏼
The blackstar mini fly3 is a pint size beast, available with an extension cab too. 2 channel clean/crunch, built in tape style echo and an intersting tone control. Worth checking out.
The fly 3 is fine. But I own that and the micro dark and there's a league between them - the dark is a proper amp where the 3 feels like a toy
Great playing dude!
Thanks for a great video intresting to hear the blend like it. Be safe and skilful. Pinge
I've been very interested in the Orange stuff since I got the Audio Assault ReAmp studio and have been trying out various heads/cabs with it. There's always an Orange in my mixes, very warm 70's sound.
I just received it I connected it to a 1x12 Harley Benton cabinet with a greenback for the moment and frankly nice surprise with my mxr EQ and a mini tube screamer we managed to cover a lot of different styles, as soon as I can I take his big brother a tube
That’s a sick ass guitar man. Good demo. I need that tee shirt
THANKS GLENNNNN
We are still waiting for your proper review on the VOX MV50 HIGH GAIN
damn dude can play been at the grind lovely man
Love mine so much I gave it to my nephew and got a jim root dark terror.
Hey Glenn. Hope you’re having a great day when you’re reading this. I’d love to see you cover more Orange amps man! They’re personally my go-to for live gigs and studio recording. They just have such a unique sounds to em, and as a company I’ve never had a problem with them in any regard. But that’s enough of me shilling for a multimillion dollar corporation.
Bottom line is, Glenn, I’d absolutely love for you to do a Fearless Gear Review on the Orange Supercrush 100. I have the old version, the Crush Pro 120 and I’ve been seriously considering updating. I really like the Crush Pro 120 but Im very curious about the Supercrush. Other videos on CZcams have it sounding pretty sweet but I’d love to see you go though it.
When I was getting a "lunchbox" amp there were two on sale near me one was the microdark and the other was the Joyo Zombie II, I went with the zombie and its been great. I still love the sound of the microdark though,
I bet both would probably blend well together in a mix!
Hey Glenn! Awesome vid, I have always loved oranges with a boost in front to get them tight. I would love to see a video on the new super crush or even the crush pro 120 (the older model) heads. I use a crush pro 120 head, but I would love to see what you could do with one of the full size heads!
Hey Glen, great video and amazing tone! Could you do an amp shoutout of the Joyo Zombie vs the Orange micro dark? Hello from London
I love my original Micro Terror! I bought it to take to a band rehearsal rental space that had cabs to plug into to save me always bringing my combo. I gotta say, into a 1960 cab, it sounded fantastic and kept up with our drummer volume wise no problem! Yes it's pretty much a one trick pony, but man oh man, is it really great at that one trick! Now I know why I hear stories of guys keeping one of these on standby as a back up at their gigs in case their main head goes down. Very few situations where it won't help you get the job done in a pinch in a situation like that!
I bought the micro terror as mi first actual amp i thought I made a mistake by buying it when my friend show me their line 6 and all it's settings but man this amp is growing on me i like the clean tones however something i don't like it's how loud it is
That intro was pretty awesome.
Great video :)
Oh man! A graphic equaliser or a parametric eq will do wonders with this.
Plus greenback speakers
GLEEEN you waited for too long, the Gallien Krueger MLE review is needed there's nothing on the internet and you're the only one we trust
Damn! You are kicking ass there on guitar!
Makes me want to go buy one! Simplicity.
The Micro Dark is surprisingly versatile, if you need something beyond high gain only. I still have the original Micro Terror and still use it from time to time on my 4x12
How is the volume levels with 4x12? Any good to have a loud gig or would choke up?
@@tyretear1263 it's loud enough to play with a drummer
I came here for a review, did not expect sexy glenn
I just nabbed one of theses used for 120. through a 4x12 mesa cab its badass. swapped the JJ tube for a mesa russian 2 12axa7-a. It has a bit more volume than the jj and is a bit more glassy and a little tighter sound. Its light,portable and great for practice.
I run this thing into an EVH 1x12 and so far I have been a very happy customer.
I think for me it is the non-versatile amps that shine the most. I just don't feel like I need a bunch of knobs and effects. I have been enjoying straight forward amplifiers, and two knob Precision Basses for a very long time, even though knowing how to use certain effects and more versatile amps can be very useful when talking with other musicians. I love the sludgy tone on this one too. I even recently had the chance to try and ORANGE amp, and it was a blast. The tone sounds like what Tony Iommi used on Master of Reality or the entire band on Sleep's Holy Mountain.
I resonate with this comment. I'm a set it and forget it type of guy. I have this set to a bit over edge of breakup, and if I want clean tones, I roll back my volume pot. If I want a metal tone, I kick in my tubescreamer and a clean boost for leads. The less of the amp I have to touch, the better.
THE GUITAR! Nice playing too
I mean, I don't think this was ever marketed as "You can throw away your 100 watt tube head, you have this now." But if you need a bedroom/apartment/practice amp this will do the job for you.
Sure... and it's a great blender amp!
BUT, you could get this and the Orange Pedal Baby. There is a great video where a guy talks about doing this.
Love your content. Was wondering what your opinion is on ESP guitars in general .
That mix is fucking tasty!!!
I love my little Microdark too. Even the small 8'' speaker is pretty nice for the living room if you put a Celestion Eight 15 in it. But to be honest, it's more of a decorative item for me.
A few years ago I had a Micro Terror and the Micro Dark at the same time. I bought both used just to fool around with. I traded the Dark for a pedal but still have the Terror. The Dark was a bit too gainy for me (OK, way too gainy) but it was fun nonetheless. The Micro series amps are also good for silent practice with headphones, and you can also use the Dark as a preamp into another amp.
Woooow, that's some balls to the wall tone! Idk why but it sounds very Nevermoreish, like Enemies Of Reality/This Godless Endeavour type.
Oh yeah, and I noticed this before I realised the demo was played on a Loomis signature XD
I love my Micro Dark. Its perfect bedroom volume with great tone! I put a gate, compressor and a metal zone in front. Honestly, the metal zone gets a lot of unnecessary hate lol
Man your playing is getting better each time! Tight tones too! Weird you didn’t need a Gibson to get good tones? Or a boutique amp? Wow what do you know lol
I love the orange crush rt20
I had one of these. I liked it for what it cost and was a decent sounding bedroom level practice amp when paired with the 1x8 it goes with. My issue with it came when running it into my Captor and really pushing the volume. That solid state power amp just started clipping like mad after the 1 o clock position. I ended up getting rid of it but still don't think it's a terrible amp. You're right in that it's a one trick pony and I ended up looking for something more versatile.
Holy shit this one took you a while Glenn :D
It's a pretty cool amp. I actually run out of the headphone jack into a power amp into a Marshall JCM 900 Lead 1960 4x12.. An Equalizer in front helps as well. I also A/B it with a Blackstar HT Club 40.. 🤘
I do comedy pop punk with my band and I run that Amp in to a crate 2x12 loaded with a v30 and Eminence Texas Heat.
it's plenty loud and sounds great live.
and nothing beats the ease of transport and saving your back. with a small setup like that..
I picked up this little gem at GC foe $100 US. Love it!! Sad you didn't spend a little time working with the fx loop on it.
On the subject of Orange, what's your take on their Stamp? It has an emulated speaker out so that you can theoretically run it straight from the pedalboard into a PA. I don't think the speaker emulation is that great, but what are the chances that the audience would notice or care?
Personally I tried the Stamp. Speaker out sounded fine through my cab, but I primarily bought it as a headphone amp, and the built-in emulation definitely left something to be desired. Ended up returning it. If you want to go straight into a PA I'd say just get a proper IR loader and use a separate preamp pedal (gonna plug the SNK VHD here, if you want a high gain pedal that doesn't sound sterile I really can't recommend it enough 👀 )
I actually run a the micro dark in the pedal board itself with a shure wireless system on there as well. All i do is run the speaker cable to a 2x 12 and braided all the power cables together so that they are one wire. Super easy and clean set up.
Hey Glenn, thanks for demoing the Orange Micro Dark. I am faithful to Orange Amps because of that Midrange grind that barely gets any recognition. I think you should try to examine more low wattage tube amps like the Dark Terror, Mini Rectifier, DSL20, and a 5150 LBXIII 15. Those 100 watt amps are best when cranked to ear-grinding levels, but it's hard to do that when some of the metal players out there are courteous about their neighbors sleeping and those power tubes wearing out.
I also want to ask if there are certain power tube saturation "tones" from 6L6, EL34, 6V6, and EL84 when they are cranked over the edge. Some people prefer it over pre-amp distortion, but it's a viable experiment to look into with a frequency spectrum or whatnot.
Cheers from Ohio, and keep up the awesome guitar work!
I've been thinking of mixing the Orange Crush Mini with clean DI tone for double tracking. So this video is quite well timed for me. So what do you think of using a shotgun (hypercardioid) mic at a distance to catch even more? The Sennheiser MKH 416 Shotgun Condenser Microphone sounds pretty good. Not exactly cheap though. Although I've seen microphones that are 3X as much at Sweetwater.
I have the micro terror and it's good i get Good clean tones and heavy tones it's also loud despite the small size
HA HA I was waiting for the COC to be played as soon as you started.