Orange Micro Dark

Orange Amplification expands their “Dark” series with a miniature hybrid tube/solid-state version, the Micro Dark. This new pint-sized amp head joins the Dark Terror and Dual Dark amplifiers, featuring the same dark finish theme, high-gain friendly circuitry, simple layout, and versatile “shape” control. Micro Dark is the smallest high-gain “dark” flavored amp to come from the company, carrying over the same sonic quality but packed inside a smaller form factor. It is said to be born out of the many customers who were requesting for an even smaller version of their popular compact “Dark” amps. The new Orange Micro Dark amplifier follows the company’s smallest amp profile, following the same black finish metal chassis and chrome handle. Inside its minuscule case is a newly designed 12AX7 driven high gain preamp and a solid-state power section that drive up to 20W of output to any 8-16 Ohm speaker cabinet. This combination allows for genuine tube tones at surprisingly loud levels for its size. Due to space limitations, controls are limited to just three knobs that include volume gain and shape. Volume and gain allow for conventional control over the output and the built-in overdrive effect. Since it bears the dark label, the gain knob allows for very high-gain settings, making it an ideal amp for shred, metal and rock players. And since the overdrive section is driven by a real tube, the resulting tone tone is responsive and dynamic. What allows for this small amp’s flexibility is the “shape” knob, which transforms the voicing of the amp into various different styles. Orange describes it as being able to go from classy and clean to brash and mean, which means that it should be able to handle clean tone as well. While its simple 1 channel format and three knob configuration may make it look simple, the Micro Dark is far from being a mere beginner friendly amp. It comes with features that experienced players will appreciate including the buffered effects loop which allows you to utilize your main pedalboard rig into the amp just like how you run them on your bigger main amp. To make it more conducive for practice and even recording, Orange equipped with headphone/line output that features their Cabsim circuitry. This shapes your direct signal to behave like a mic’ed guitar cabinet, great for getting great tones through your earphones or if plugged straight into a recording interface. This amp head is best paired with Orange’ PPC108 speaker cabinet, a compact cab that can handle the various tones that the Micro Dark can throw at. You can also pair it with the full size Orange PPC412 if you’re looking for more volume. Nico Santora of Suicidal Tendencies concludes: “I’ll never forget when it was first shown to me, I was just like, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen a micro amp THAT small’. And then we plugged it in… and I literally lost my mind with excitement. The Orange Micro Dark is about to take over band practice. I’m able to plug into a full 4×12 cabinet, and it feels and sounds like a monstrous 100 Watt amp. I remember just staring at the thing wondering how it could produce such powerful tones! The Micro Dark really is a game changer.” Check out the official product demonstration video: Finally, the new Orange Micro Dark weighs in at just 0.78kg, making it a very portable high-gain amplifier solution for small to mid sized venues. It is currently retailing for $189, head over to Orange Amps for further details. Related Article: If you’re looking for a more affordable Tube Amp then see this roundup.