Hotone Ampero II Stomp

[Al Krow]

7 minutes ago, jimfist said:

The capture feature is killer for replicating pedal settings for tone/dirt/drive/fuzz.  I can see this being a total game-changer in the modeling-fx world.

https://youtu.be/3TtPBgbUimA

Jim - the Hotone is not going to be in the same league as the Quad Cortex, but it is going to be much friendlier on the wallet! I'm keeping my eye on developments on their new offering, which might be of interest to you also given our shared admiration for Zoom multifxs.

 

[jimfist]

Al, between the B3n and G5n I've been pretty happy for a while, and with the purchase of my Atomic Bass Box, I've got things well-covered.  Though the Quad Cortex is a bit pricey, it could be my one-size-fits-all solution, sparing me the limitations of the other pedals.  Of course, my Zoom and Atomic pedals are staying with me (perhaps the B3n goes on the chopping block). Currently, it's a moot point with Covid lockdown on gigging. I don't really NEED the Quad Cortex, and not sure if/when I'd have the coin....but man, this thing offers all the things I've been wanting in a pedal for so long, but none of the other manufacturers have really nailed down this combination of size, physical interface, and features. 

[jimfist]

Nothing against this Hotone pedal, as it looks pretty cool otherwise. 

FWIW, 3 button stomps are a non-starter for me. It's why I don't own the Fractal FM3, and only owned the HX Stomp for a couple months, and years ago flipped my original version Atomic Amplifire pedal. There's only so much you can do with 3 buttons without - for me - needing another set of external switches, and this defeats the purpose of an all-in-one for gigging.

 

[Al Krow]

22 minutes ago, jimfist said:

Nothing against this Hotone pedal, as it looks pretty cool otherwise. 

FWIW, 3 button stomps are a non-starter for me. It's why I don't own the Fractal FM3, and only owned the HX Stomp for a couple months, and years ago flipped my original version Atomic Amplifire pedal. There's only so much you can do with 3 buttons without - for me - needing another set of external switches, and this defeats the purpose of an all-in-one for gigging.

Did you ever consider getting the HX Effects, Jim?

[jimfist]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Did you ever consider getting the HX Effects, Jim?

Yes, and I probably should have gone with the HX Effects instead of the Stomp and ended the search right there. LOL. Oh well. I feel like I'm ready for something different though. No idea where I'll get money for a Quad Cortex, but for now, that's the itch I can't scratch.

[Al Krow]

14 minutes ago, jimfist said:

Yes, and I probably should have gone with the HX Effects instead of the Stomp and ended the search right there. LOL. Oh well. I feel like I'm ready for something different though. No idea where I'll get money for a Quad Cortex, but for now, that's the itch I can't scratch.

Aha! Or you could just get an HX Effects...😁

But more seriously: if cost is a factor, then the other thing to weigh in the mix is the QC will be developing its software portfolio of patches and ironing out wrinkles over the next 12 to 18 months and prices are unlikely to increase following release.

Helix was launched on 11 June 2015 - nearly 6 years back, so the product is now becoming very well refined, even if the hardware is starting to show its age in terms of the DSP being made available by the competition e.g. the Hotone at the Stomp price point and the QC well above it.

But an itch is an itch!

Edited February 14, 2021 by Al Krow

[lee650]

On 23/12/2020 at 16:15, Jack said:

I walked in to Sound Control in Newcastle years ago and asked if they could order me an Epifani 6x10" cabinet. The man behind the counter told me that they don't make bass cabinets. I told him that's all they make. This went back and forth for some time before we deduced that he'd never heard of Epifani and was too polite to tell me that I was mispronouncing 'Epiphone'.

Lol! That sounds about right 😂

[lee650]

Slight digression! I'd this Hot one stuff any good? I'm just looking at their funky looking bit crusher. I assume the build/sound quality is comparable to the Mooer?

[Al Krow]

Hotone Ampero2 Stomp apparently due for release in May / June, just in time for end of lock down.

[Al Krow]

Word on the street is that the Ampero II Stomp is due out on 11 Nov. 

[Al Krow]

[Al Krow]

Will be around £470 to your door from AliExpress (including VAT and Customs handling charge) i.e. going directly head to head with HX Stomp. 

 

Be interesting to see if this makes any serious inroads into Stomp sales, given the vast and established fan club Helix has built and / or whether it will nudge Helix to upgrade their own chip set to match the DSP of some of the more recent competition such as this. Although given the worldwide chip shortage that may be a significantly bigger ask than previously!

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

Seen a couple of YT clips of the Ampero II where the initial reaction is that it's being compared favourably with both the HX Stomp and GT 1000 Core, but with more detailed comments to follow...certainly looking forward to finding out exactly where it excels / falls short of these other two market leading mid-range multis which are its direct head-to-head competitors.

[bnt]

I watched bits of a video podcast that included a comparative spec sheet:

 

 

Looks like balanced TRS outputs. The USB Audio is 8 in / 8 out = I'd want to see examples of just how you would make use of that. ("Re-amping" multiple audio channels?)

It will be a shame if this goes head-to-head the Line6 HX Stomp for nearly the same price but two years later. Hopefully, Thomann gets stock at a competitive price.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, bnt said:

Looks like balanced TRS outputs. The USB Audio is 8 in / 8 out = I'd want to see examples of just how you would make use of that. ("Re-amping" multiple audio channels?)

It will be a shame if this goes head-to-head the Line6 HX Stomp for nearly the same price but two years later. Hopefully, Thomann gets stock at a competitive price.

 

Thanks for that.

 

I think it represents a step up from HX Stomp in a number of areas:

• the most critical IMO is its DSP, which can make quite a difference at the margin in terms of the quality of the fx sims or as their sales pitch puts it: "delivering a more detailed, organic sound with richer tonal dimensions" 😊 My understanding (tbc) is that the Ampero II tri-core chip may provide double the DSP of the chip in the Helix units (which were originally made available in June 2015 i.e. over 6 years back, when Helix Floor was launched). HX Effects and HX Stomp have one of the HX chips. Helix Floor and Helix Lite, two. In other words, if I've got that right, we're being offered something with the processing power of Helix Lite in a HX Stomp sized box.

• the colour display is both larger and has a touch screen, which are both welcome improvements on the HX Stomp and the HX Effects (and indeed over the GT1000 Core);

• I've seen clips indicating we will be able to "draw" desired EQ curves which is a very neat feature (again tbc);

• Obviously the software / fx sims available is going to be absolutely key to a great multifx and Helix have got several years quality fx patch development under their bonnet and have ironed out most of the glitches in the software. But Hotone have been building up their library and credentials in this area, too, over several years now.

So I think Hotone may well be offering quite a significant upgrade over the HX Stomp at the same price point. Definitely got my interest!

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by Al Krow

[bnt]

 

[Al Krow]

 

[Tomas73]

I've been perusing the Hotone website. The product itself looks promising, but the one thing that causes me reticence is... the copywriting! Why? because it's really bad, and if a company can't find someone to proofread their publicity (how hard can it be?) what else is being overlooked? (I don't know man, it just seems a bit amateurish.) 
This 'translation' issue is also evident in some of the diagrams and icons within the user interface; cryptic icons and layout that aren't particularly intuitive to me, compared to, say, the Headrush stuff. 

What do you think? Did you notice this too? Do you think the interface looks fine? Do you think it doesn't reflect on the product?   

[Al Krow]

Ampero Stomp vs HX Stomp vs GT 1000 Core

 

 

Comments

1. The GT 1000 Core has an 'Assigns' menu which is similar to Snapshots (perhaps even more versatile). 3 parallel paths vs 2 for the Ampero and HX. Lack of balanced output a bit of an omission.

2. Plusses of Ampero: Larger 4" colour screen is a significant upgrade; lower power consumption vs HX Stomp should mean it doesn't suffer from similar overheating issues. Competitively priced.

3. Negatives of Ampero: lacks 'Scenes' feature of HX Stomp; less good recording bit-rates; apparently the pitch shifts suck on current release...

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Al Krow

[SumOne]

It looks good, and is a bit cheaper than expected: £422 from Thomann or £429 from guitar guitar.

 

There's nothing about it that's making me think I should sell my Stomp XL to get (just down to liking the extra footswitches though) it but it's good to be giving Helix some healthy competition. 

 

Also the mod devices dwarf to consider. 

 

I like individual pedals but multi-fx are really coming on lately. I imagine individual analogue pedals will be a bit of a relatively expensive niche in a few years. 

Edited November 24, 2021 by SumOne

[stewblack]

Is the official Ampero group?

Can I come in?

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

Is the official Ampero group?

Can I come in?

Did you just get the one in the FS? If so my bank balance is very grateful to you, as I was sorely tempted! And, yes, you'd be very welcome on here, haha! And, finally, really looking forward to getting your thoughts on the unit. 

 

Not sure how many other Ampero Stomp II owners we have on the forum yet, if any? 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Al Krow

[stewblack]

Thanks Al. Yeah I weakened and spent money I didn't really have.

Only had one evening to play so far. Mixed results.

1: Couldn't for the life of me get the computer to recognise the unit. I have high hopes that the FB group has the solution.

2: extremely simple to use via the touchscreen. I've already built a couple of very useable synth patches.

 

I have an extra footswitch on the way and an expression pedal to play with, there's a YouTube video about these extras which looks really cool.

 

[stewblack]

Run into a brick wall with updating my firmware and getting the editing software to work.

I've done all the things asked of me on the Hotone support page. Ran the update and windows tells me it worked and the pedal remains resolutely on V1.0.5.

Anyone have any clues what I can do?

 

[stewblack]

Well I've given up on getting the pc editor to work. Luckily enough the pedal is simple and intuitive to adjust on the unit itself and of course by learning to do this I can easily make changes at a gig.

NYE I set up a couple of rows of effects in parallel with some always on and five switcheable. Sent this out to two amps with the always on effects going to both and others going exclusively to the 'treble' amp.

The big success story was the envelope filter. A beautiful bubbly, watery sound coming from one amp and the bottom end still solid and unaffected. Very impressed. The others need more work, I want to find the perfect phaser, the perfect chorus, and the overdrive was a bit fizzy for my taste.

However, I'm impressed with the unit, certainly happy to gig it as a simple uncluttered option.