Hotone MP-80 Ampero One

I tried digital modelling many times, and always went back to tube amps eventually. The first time was a 1st generation Line6 Spider amp, 20 years ago. Sold it for a full Engl tube rack. Then I got a POD for home practice, it was fun but not realistic in any sense. Sold it for a Fender Super Champ XD (around 2008), which in hindsight was a really good amp. Then smaller-wattage tube amps became more popular and I didn't look at modelling amps again until I got myself a Zoom G1on for headphone practice. It was ok but there was always something unnatural about the way it felt, and lots of hiss and digital artefacts.

But this new generation is something completely different. I'm coming from a homemade Plexi-style tube amp, an EVH 5150 III lbx and a Laney IRT studio, along with a bunch of pedals and this is replacing them all for home use. Don't get me wrong, I still think tube amps have their place - cranked up a big space, I'm sure there's a feel and a presence that can't be matched. But at home, I prefer the Ampero into a Celestion G12H30 speaker. It feels alive, the sounds are realistic at any volume (powered by a Harley Benton GPA-100 power amp), there is virtually no hiss and it reacts pretty much like a tube amp - on models like the Plexi or a cranked Fender, for example, turning down the guitar volume knob makes the Ampero react like a tube amp. The dynamics are also very comparable to tube, very sensitive to pick attack.

I found most amp models great and usable. The Orange one is a bit of a disappointment as I'm not getting the grunt of a Rockerverb but all the rest is super good. The JCM900 is surprisingly amazing at high gain, the Recto is fat and chuggy, the 5150 has this typical grunt. Fender Deluxe is nice and sparkly but can be pushed. Tweed is warm and beautiful, Plexi full of bark and cutting highs. At low volumes, I don't think anything can beat it (apart maybe from more expensive modellers, haven't tried those).

Just a note on the output: all of the above opinion is about the Ampero plugged into a real guitar cab with Celestion G12H30 speakers via a SS power amp, that means with cab sims deactivated.
At first, my plan was to use it with a FRFR speaker and cab sims but that was very disappointing. I had bought a Celestion FXA200 (Full range "live" response) speaker to put into my 2x12 but all I got was fizz and a very weak sound with no body to it. I tried several impulse responses (Celestion, Ownhammer, etc.) and, while they were a massive improvement over the stock IRs in the Ampero, it still felt really flat and, well "digital" compared to plugged into a power amp straight into a guitar speaker. I also tested it plugged straight into my powered monitoring studio speakers, and got a similar sound to the Celestion FRFR. (Note: Celestion is recommending a specific bass reflex build for this speaker, which I didn't do, so I can't really comment on that. All I'm saying is that the Ampero sounded bad through it when chucked into a standard guitar cab.)

The unit itself is very well built, very practical. The software is great (need to update the firmware for it to work, look for instructions on youtube as that's not explained in the manual). The effects are just ok, I found (I mostly use reverbs and delays). They do the job but the delays and reverb are nothing to go crazy about. The spring reverb is quite bad - to me the Plate sounds more like a Spring should, anyway.

But the most important thing for me is how it feels. Basically, it makes me want to play. I'm having so much fun. For low volume practice, it's the best thing I've had in a long time. And at that price!

I sold my old Line6 digital guitar processor and got the Ampero one and I have been very happy with it. It’s a really compact size unit (the old Line6 was huge and did’t fit a bag) and it’s easy to take it with you to a band practise. I plug the Ampero straight to a mixer and PA cabinets and it sounds great. You don’t really have to modify any of the preset sounds or mix it, everything blends in to the other instruments (bass, keyboard and drums). Most of the presets are usable. You’ve got all you need from distortion to clean sounds.
Still if you want to tweak it, there are plenty of choices and the attached good sized screen works really nice. You can easily build your own sounds or adjust the presets. Me, I like to keep it simple and I really appreciate the fact that the presets are sounding great and are well balanced.
The build in drum machine is great and it is easy to use as anyting with a clear UI. I like to practise with the Ampero at home with headphones on.
The build quality of this thing is good. You don’t have to worry that it breaks. Ok, the included small foot ”volume” pedal is not the greatest but even that gets the job done. There is not many outputs but for my use it’s fine. I use a single instrument cable to connect this mono to the mixer.
I’m happy with the sound. It’s not like the new processors that cost 1500€ but hey with the price tag under 300€ this one is well worth the money.

Great sound, you can find a lot of real amps inside, can customize and replicate a lot of great set-ups. Out-of-the-box patches are also decent: there are of course some weird echoes and delays, overdrive to the max, even organ lol, but most of the default patches are realistic and not overly complicated.

I spilled water on the touch-screen and it doesn't look great now, some touch functions are a bit glitchy, so the build quality is not professional. Try to keep it dry.

Also small negative: it is a bit fidgety to move the pedals back and forth when creating a custom patch, better to connect with PC. Also when playing you have to bend down and use touch functions, which is not very handy to do all the time (for example to change tempo precisely or to control the looper).

Looper can record around a minute and it is very fun to learn solos: you set up the drums, record the rhythm guitar with looper and then solo over it. Fun! However, I saw some other loop pedals can record a small bit (phrase A), then record a longer bit over it (phrase B), so it sounds like A is played two or more times and B is played once over it. Then you can record even longer bit over those two (bit C). And it will sound like AAAA in the background, BB in the middle and C on top. With Ampero the total length of the loop is determined by the first bit A. So you can't strum some ghost notes as a metronome and record over it. You would have to strum for a minute to create a loop of needed length. Therefore, you need to record first a full loop of rhythm guitar to be able to solo. And if your solo consists of two rhythms longer than 60 seconds, you have to play first part, stop, record second rhythm and only then play the second part of the solo.

I use the device mainly at home. On a wide variety of equipment, and with a personal computer through monitors, and through a variety of speaker systems of all sizes. On everything from the smallest to very large systems - I can set up a very good sound.

I had many different processors, line6 m series, vox, zoom g5 ms70, m-audio black box. If you need a processor that is not expensive, with IR, looper, and overall good and modern sounding, this is the choice for you.

On the plus side, the amp simulators are great, even the fuzz sounds good.
From the minuses - the processor is of course not a competitor to top-end ones, there is no such dynamics on overdrive, but if you know what you want from the sound in a particular patch - you'll be able to adjust it.

As a whole - it does everything it's supposed to do. On the table, in the pedalboard, it doesn't take up much space. In the pedalboard by the way can be very well placed anywhere in the circuit.
When connected to the computer, using it as a sound card, looper retains its functionality, which is also definitely good.
Very happy with the purchase, thanks Thomann.