Roland CUBE Street review

Meet the portable amp with a whole lot to offer…

  • £179
  • $407.5
In the park, in your bedroom, on the street, a cool portable amp from Roland

MusicRadar Verdict

This is no Matchless DC-30, but for practice, busking or coffee shop gigs, you won't find much to fault here: well-made, compact and you can sing through it too!

Pros

  • +

    Quality and quantity in a portable, affordable package.

Cons

  • -

    Effects tend to get a bit muddy with the gain cranked up.

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This latest addition to Roland's Cube family is the most versatile and appealing yet. Combining features and sound quality with portability, the Cube Street could be the answer for plugged-in guitarists on the move.

The first thing we noticed was its weight, which at only 5.2kg could be comfortably carried in one hand between gigs. The sound quality from the two six-inch angle-mounted neodymium speakers is also impressive, giving excellent clarity and volume for a small amp.

In Use

Like its big brother the Cube-60, the Street features COSM amp modelling. With eight classic amp presets including; Jazz Chorus, British Combo (Vox AC30TB), Classic Stack (Marshall JMP1987) and an Acoustic Sim, they all offer a decent nod to the real thing.

The Black Panel (Fender Twin Reverb) and JC models are pleasingly twang-tastic and the Brit Combo gives you a satisfying bluesy tone with a small amount of distortion.

Adding to the package are the onboard effects, with one knob controlling chorus, flange, phase and tremolo and another responsible for delay and reverb. While the effects won't blow you away, they show that Roland has really tried to give you as much bang for your buck as possible.

It also features a three-band EQ, built-in chromatic tuner, separate mic/line channel with separate EQ and effects, a promised 15-hour battery life and a snazzy fire engine red colour option.

Music Radar Team

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