Just Joined The Orange Amp Club - NAD Orange AD30 HTC

[joshua.alan21]

Well ever since I started out researching boutique guitar gear in 2006 I've wanted an Orange. A few things have always held me back, one of which was always price. They seemed so expensive compared to other offerings that were similar. Other than that it was only a couple other things like they are one trick ponies or had to be turned up pretty loud to sound good.

Either way I've always been a fan and intrigued by the AD30 HTC. I've always been fond of it whenever I've heard it or played it.

So anyway, just last week I picked one up I'm pretty excited about it. It arrives later this week.

So with my recently acquired, new Orange amp... I have some questions for you guys here since you'd know best

I read so many conflicting reports on reviews of this amp that I have questions about, and while these questions are
important to me, please feel free to chime in with all and any info of this amp.

1.) Fizziness.
A lot of people say this amp gets fizzy when playing higher gain sounds, but then so many people say they don't hear that at all and don't get it when people describe this amp this way. Also - in every demo I hear and watch I never hear any fizziness. So does this amp sound fizzy or not?

2.) Gain
Also - I've read many times this amp doesn't have a lot of gain at all, but again... when I watch and listen to demos it seems to have plenty for what I need. So does this amp have a decent amount of gain or not? I'm not playing metal. I'm playing fully overdriven / semi-saturated classic rock power chords and open chord stuff with a Les Paul mainly, and then some smooth blues stuff with a Strat neck pickup.

3.) General Tone Questions
- Can this amp do warm and fat overdriven tones?
- Does it sound thin or small ever?
- Does it sound good at low Master volume settings?
- How does the tone and sound change with lower volume settings versus cranked up volume settings?

Any and all help is much appreciated.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Hi

Welcome on board. I'll try to answer some of your questions but have you bought this Amp?....your title suggests you have but what your asking suggests you probably have n't!

I've owned one for 2 years and I'm probably going to selling it on for an RV50.

In my view if you use a Les Paul and play Classic Rock then both channels will have sufficient gain. However with a Les Paul there will be very little clean tones. I used mine at a gig last night with a les Paul and even with the gain on less than 1 with the volume maxed the tones still were nt very clean and if you dig in, the sounds were actually quite crunchy. It responds to playing dynamics very well.

However if Im using a Strat there are cleaner tones available but I generally feel I could do with a little more gain from the Amp.

Both channels sounds different. I much prefer the sound of channel one and do find when using the overdrive on channel 2 to be quite fizzy.

Ultimately for me it does n't have quite enough gain (for my Strat) or enough cleans, which I require for what I play.

As for price, well it depends where you are. Here is the UK, yes they are high end but I think still good value for the money compared to the majority of the USA built Amps...but that,s how it should be, they are afterall built here in the UK. In the USA they quite a bit more expensive.

[joshua.alan21]

Hey there! Thanks so much for chiming in, I really appreciate it.

Yes I have bought this amp, I purchased one late last week... but it hasn't arrived yet. It will this week sometime.

I have read what you are talking about concerning lack of headroom for clean tones. And this issue doesn't concern me at all, as I have another amp completely dedicated for cleans and running OD pedals through (Dr. Z M12).

The appeal of this amp for me was what people describe as a more vintage, warmer, squishy, compressed tone. I don't have the desire for any other Orange amp except maybe an OR50 but that one seems too aggressive for me as I like warmer tones. All the other bigger Orange amps are too modern sounding for me.

And that's good to know about the Strat and the amount of overdrive you can get from it might be lacking. I guess we'll see.

And it's good to know they're high quality.

So when you say fizzy... what does that mean exactly? Are the Tiny Terror or OR15 fizzy? I've played those before and didn't necessarily feel that they were fizzy.

[Ronnie Robinson]

It's nothing to be concerned about just a underlying tonal imprint is a bit of fizz, a couple of things of note if your new to to it first


The ad30 likes the volume turned up and secondly the amp likes to be really warmed up
to sound at it's best

[Gray]

Channel one has a bit more headroom and breaks up a bit later so I always have that set clean. If you use an overdrive or even just a boost on Channel two you can get plenty of gain.

I play with a Strat all the time although I particularly like the way it makes my Jazzmaster sound on cleans. It's an excellent Blues/Rock amp. A bit dark with the SG but not surprising given it's a mahogany guitar with humbuckers.

The fizziness comes in on Channel two when you have the gain cranked all the way up.

[joshua.alan21]

Channel one has a bit more headroom and breaks up a bit later so I always have that set clean. If you use an overdrive or even just a boost on Channel two you can get plenty of gain.

I play with a Strat all the time although I particularly like the way it makes my Jazzmaster sound on cleans. It's an excellent Blues/Rock amp. A bit dark with the SG but not surprising given it's a mahogany guitar with humbuckers.

The fizziness comes in on Channel two when you have the gain cranked all the way up.

So do most agree that the fizziness is ONLY there when you crank the gain or have a very high gain setting?

[Gray]

So does everyone agree that the fizziness is ONLY there when you crank the gain or have a very high gain setting?

I doubt there's a single topic on earth everyone agrees on. When you get the amp you'll find out.

[joshua.alan21]

So does everyone agree that the fizziness is ONLY there when you crank the gain or have a very high gain setting?

I doubt there's a single topic on earth everyone agrees on. When you get the amp you'll find out.

Of course, I guess I should rephrase that.

I guess as long as the fizz isn't dominant I'll be good.

[Orangesoda]

So does everyone agree that the fizziness is ONLY there when you crank the gain or have a very high gain setting?

I doubt there's a single topic on earth everyone agrees on. When you get the amp you'll find out.

Humans do not talk, I tell you! They only babble!

[Bensnake]

I doubt there's a single topic on earth everyone agrees on.

That Katy Perry is good looking?

[joshua.alan21]

Ok so if/since this amp likes to be cranked what should be my solution for lower volume playing...

Attenuator or a Timmy(OD Booster)?

[Roboten]

This is my main amp and i love everything about it! The creamyness, the crunch, the saginess, the warmth...I play jazz, rock and grindcore on it so i'd say it's pretty versitile as long as you like it's core sound, which isn't for everybody. I have never understod were people are coming from when they say it's fuzzy. Sure, if you play it a barely audible levels at max gain then it's gona sound fuzzy yes, as will all amps. And I've never had any gain problems up to and including classic rock, even with strats and teles. For metal and beyond a use a Timmy od for standard tuning and a Green rhino for drop tuning. One thing to note however is that this amp loves low output pickups, so try and use them even if you play metal and use a transparent od instead to get more gain.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Ok so if/since this amp likes to be cranked what should be my solution for lower volume playing...

Attenuator or a Timmy(OD Booster)?

I think your over thinking, let your amp arrive, play and then see if u need to tweak

[joshua.alan21]

Ok so if/since this amp likes to be cranked what should be my solution for lower volume playing...

Attenuator or a Timmy(OD Booster)?

I think your over thinking, let your amp arrive, play and then see if u need to tweak

Not trying to over think it, I just kinda took a risk when buying this and just wanting to discover and find all info I can before I starting digging into it.

[Gray]

Well these are the sorts of questions you typically ask before buying it, now that you have there's no reason to speculate on something you'll have right in front of you.

If you're relying on strangers from the internet to tell you how your amp sounds, you're doing it wrong.