Micro Terror VS Micro Dark Headroom

joe2517

Hey guys,

I really want to get one of these to stash in my Mono tick as a backup amp for gigs, but I'm unsure which one has the louder cleans. I know neither of these are exactly clean amps but could anyone give me an idea of which has more headroom and better clean tones? I'm not really bothered about the expanded feature set on the Micro Dark, just want to know which has the better sound for my needs.

Thanks very much

ICBM

That's like asking if you would rather drown or burn to death…




The EH Magnum 44 has much more clean headroom than either of them, is a lot smaller and sounds far better.

The only restriction is that it can't drive a 4-ohm cabinet, but you *need* a 4-ohm cabinet to get the full power and headroom out of the Orange, it's much quieter at 8 or 16. (Although it does sound slightly less appalling at 16.)

The EH has a reputation for being less than perfectly reliable, but I've actually seen the same number of broken Micro Terrors.

Sassafras

ICBM said:

That's like asking if you would rather drown or burn to death…

Either, as long as it meant I didn't have to listen to a Micro Terror.

joe2517

Thanks for that, I'll check out the Magnum 44. Can anyone recommend a really portable cab (perhaps a 1x8) to go with it?

Still interested to hear from anyone who might have experience of the Micros!

ICBM

joe2517 said:

Thanks for that, I'll check out the Magnum 44. Can anyone recommend a really portable cab (perhaps a 1x8) to go with it?

This little Randall is probably enough if you're playing clean - only 35W rated but you wouldn't be pushing it hard.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/randall_rg8_cabinet.htm

joe2517 said:

Still interested to hear from anyone who might have experience of the Micros!

I have experience of several of them, hence why I wouldn't recommend buying one . (Actually no Micro Darks, just the ordinary MT, but that's enough!)

Truly terrible-sounding things with a really harsh, grating, fatiguing tone, and definitely not what you want if you're looking for clean headroom. The impedance of the cab really matters too, the power falls to only 10W at 8 ohms and 5W at 16. It does sound better at 16 ohms - even through the exact same speakers, I tried it with the same cab with a 4- and 16-ohm connection - but that could be just because it's quieter…

Some people have said that they're good for getting you out of a fix at a gig if your amp goes down, and that is true… but so is an overdrive pedal into the PA, and it probably doesn't sound any worse . Anyway, the EH sounds better if you need to use a cab.

midlifecrisis

i had a microe terror for exactly what you want to use it for. it did get me out of a problem when i thought my amp had died, i just plugged the combo speakers into the MT. it sounded loud enough in the gig but hardly any clean headroom at all. if you want clean id definately look for something else.

Philtre

I bought a Micro Terror s/h for 50 squids. Not much clean headroom but it can go relatively loud. Sounds better to me than a CR60 or CR35RT.

It's cute and I've put it on the mantelpiece as an objet d'art.

rawk100

Could be worth considering a Diago Little Smasher...