Pulse: Guitar amp PC for the rock geek
by edit@cnet.com.au (Ty Pendlebury)If I had to think about it I would say I was a geek first, failed musician second. I even owned a little Orange Crush guitar amp in my time. Well, it seems that Orange has answered the (non-existent) prayers of people like myself and released the first guitar combo with a computer inside it.
We’ve had plenty of PC-based amp simulators but this is something new. The OPC Computer Amplifier Speaker appears to be based on the company’s own 12W practice amp though no details of output power are mentioned.
Orange is more forthcoming on PC specs though as it contains 4GB DDR2 RAM, 500GB hard drive, “Intel chips”, Windows 7 x64 Home Premium, eight USB ports, Wi-Fi and an integrated GeForce 9300 graphics card, with an optional ATI 5670 512MB card also available.
The machine will include modelling software incorporating computer samples of vintage and current Orange amps and cabinets as well as an Orange-branded recording software package.
It goes without saying that you wouldn’t want to try and gig with this machine, but as a talking point it’s second to none. One of the most original “manufacturer” PC mods we’ve ever seen.
The OPC lands in the UK in June, but local availability and pricing are unknown.
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