Orange Micro Dark Terror 20W Mini Guitar Head

Great little amp... Sounds nearly as perfect the Dark Terror that I have. I needed the smaller form and this is perfect. Plenty of power, headphone capable, and Orange crunch for perfection.

What can be said about this lil bad girl that hasn't been done in some good YouTube videos? It fits perfectly on top of my main amp and in an apartment setting gets more play time to be honest. It was a toss up between the micro terror and this one won out for the flexibility and modern effects loop just being more valuable of a feature than an aux input for my uses. The effects loop allows me to separate noise prone effects like my modulation and delays from my signal pedals like compressors, overdrives or boosts.The 12ax7 (surprisingly a very decent JJ tube) gives a big amount of headroom to satisfy my tube tone craving and handle my effects without added noise and its all packed tightly in a tiny, silent-practice package. The amp simulation on the headphone input is great quality when paired with the appropriate impedance headphone set- I use a Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250ohm impedance set and I keep the amp volume no higher than about 10 o'clock. The cab output sounds great and tested on the 1x10 Eminence in my Princeton reverb, it gave a pleasing speaker breakup and imparts a British style amp overdrive to an otherwise clean rig. Overall, the amp is perfect for inspiring new ideas when practicing or sketching. The amp always make me smile when I play and the tonal character and tube breakup can lead me to exploring different playing styles or ideas. Great tone can be had for under 2 Benjamins and I'm a little salty at musicians growing up today- I would have killed for something this capable in this price range when I was first playing guitar.For the guitar gear heads:I have a simple effects rig that adds subtle color and double-tracked style dimension. I set the signal chain as such*Telecaster Custom > Whirlwind Rochester Red Box Compressor > Amp Input*From Effects Loop Send > BOSS DC-2W Dimension-C>Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Delay > Behringer VD400 Delay > out to Effects Return

I won't belabor what everyone else has written in their reviews. This is a great amp! My wife got it for me for Christmas and I use it for the worship band at church. We can't use cabinets on stage (darn sound guys) so I needed something that could hook directly to the sound board through a direct box. The speaker emulator on this when coming out of the headphone jack works like a charm. I run an overdrive in front of it for leads or heavy crunch and I have a Zoom MS-50G multi-effects pedal in the effects loop. The zoom gives me the option of essentially having a pedal board in one unit to get all my reverb,delay, chorus, all that crap in the loop.This has mountains of gain! When using the direct out I tend to set it at about 1 O'clock as it seems that gives me the best amount before the gain just starts to get fizzy. I have not plugged it into a cab so it might be different running it that way. Even at that amount of gain when I roll back the volume on the guitar I can get a brilliant sounding clean that is just not able to be recreated with digital amp models. Volume knob is pretty good at 10 O'clock for me.The first time I used it on stage the sound guy about had a cardiac event. I warned him that I didn't know what to expect and sure enough, it was LOUD! I asked the guy how the tone sounded in the house speakers and he says,"It's definitely British." heh heh. The only drawback is that there is a little hum. You deal with it when using a high gain amp and I have a noise gate on the Zoom that mostly kills the hum in the effects loop without killing my reverb or delay. No big deal. Get this amp, you wont regret it.

Had this only a few days. But also have an 35RT. One thing I've noticed most prominently on both is that Orange signature sound. Very rich high gain with just a touch of fizz - yet always retains a lot of clarity. This head looks innocent, but anything but. Like mentioned - it thrives on that distinctive high gain sound that really makes Orange a rather one trick pony. Yes - it has enough versatility to do clean-ish and can dial in good enough blues and jazz. I got it - and keep it - for its Orange dirt. Nothing else really matches that sound when you want it. Love the *all* useable gain control, and the single tone shaper really allows a lot of dialing from mushy mids heavy to scooped articulate. So nice to have an EFX loop at this price point. I do have the matching micro stack Orange 8" speaker. It really does sound amazing through it. Way more than I expected. Alright - have to say it - huge cute factor. Although I've not done it - have no doubt it will drive a 12" speaker cab with authority...Update 10/31/2016: Still find this little guy to be a pleasant surprise. I'll be honest. I really do think it is getting to be hard to get a complete turkey amp from any of the major players. Really think it's an excellent time to get value for your dollar - and in the solid state/hybrid arena especially. I have several and the typical: VOX, Blackstar, Roland. A few that are a bit more boutique-ish and all tube as well. And I take turns with them as my taste at the moment drifts. This little guy is a standout with the with that thick Orange sound. I like the mix of loose lows, lush voiced mids, and yet always maintains enough articulate highs that will cut through and maintain good note separation. I'm putting it through a Turbosound 12" at the moment. Will do any volume from apartment practice to small venue. Plenty there. As mentioned before - most amps can do quite a spectrum. This amp is - to me - best at the Orange sound mentioned above for rock and blues while still doing a good range. Blackstar's tend to be versatile at everything, yet don't seem to standout (as far) at anything. Sometimes I like that. Other times the incredible cleans - and complimentary effects - of the Roland's and jazzier blues. It's really slight preferences and no more that that now with the quality of any of the aforementioned amps. This little guy is an exceptional value!