“Precision-engineered sound and true wireless freedom”: Positive Grid turns the headphone amp market upside down with the wireless, AI-powered Neo

Positive Grid Neo
(Image credit: Positive Grid)

Positive Grid has added to its range of amp modeling tech with the launch of the Spark Neo headphone amp.

The firm is building on the momentum generated from the Spark 2’s star-spangled launch, which saw Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt, and Periphery’s Jake Bowen get behind its latest amp modelers.

The Neo offers “true wireless freedom,” via a 2.4GHz, low-latency system to stop players from getting tangled in guitar cables while shredding.

It also boasts a “precision-engineered sound,” for “rich, detailed audio,” and noise isolation so guitarists can play distraction-free, even if the apocalypse is happening right outside their door.

By connecting to the partner mobile app, the headphones can benefit from one of the Spark 2's most impressive calling cards: AI-generated tone sculpting. The feature can turn prompts like “give me a Van Halen-style lead tone” into shred-ready presets as the firm looks to change how players will interact with their amps in the future.

Spark NEO: Technical Overview - YouTube Spark NEO: Technical Overview - YouTube
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It also gives players access to a bank of 100,000 presets via the Tone Cloud, offering huge tonal versatility in a portable and wireless package.

Elsewhere, individual acoustic chambers allow for precise frequency control, having been “built for guitars, with end-to-end optimization.” It is also designed to be lightweight and durable.

Positive Grid Neo

(Image credit: Positive Grid)

The next-gen headphone amp is set to cost $199. Head to Positive Grid for more.

It joins Spark 2’s growing roster of forward-thinking gear, with recent additions including a multi-instrument amp that aims to replace your band’s backline, and a portable PA for buskers, while adding in the much-requested looper feature across the range.

Phil Weller

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.

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