Roland’s Cube line of compact, affordable guitar amplifiers have a well-earned reputation of great sound and reliability. With the company’s Composite Object Sound Modeling (COSM)-based amplifier simulations and DSP effects, the Cube amps pack a lot of punch into a easily portable gig- or practice-worthy package.

The Cube Street ($399 MSRP) is a 5W, two-channel guitar amp that runs on batteries or the included AC power supply. In fact, Roland says that the amp gives you fifteen hours of performance time when powered by six alkaline AA’s.

Two In One

The Cube Street offers 2.5W of power in each of its 6.5-inch speakers. But don’t let the low wattage fool you: this amp can get impressively loud, with enough volume for a small outdoor gig or coffee-house performance. Although it’s face is rectangular, the base is angled upward like a stage-monitor wedge, which helps the amp project sound more efficiently.

The Cube Street is designed to amplify two instruments or mics simultaneously (see Fig. 1). The mic/line channel has a combo jack that accepts an XLR cable as well as a balanced or unbalanced 1/4-inch plug. It includes a volume control, a mic/line button that switches between the two input levels, and a two-band EQ with bass and treble controls. Roland suggests that this channel is optimal for amplifying an acoustic guitar, an electric keyboard, or a microphone. However, I found the second channel to be a much better fit for acoustic guitar (more on this in a moment).

FIG. 1: The Cube Street’s controls are neatly laid out and easy to follow. Note how you select each of the effects using a single knob.

The mic/line channel offers two DSP effects—delay and reverb—controlled from a single knob: the left side of the control sets the effect to delay and the right side selects reverb. As you turn the knob clockwise through the delay half of the knob, you set the delay time and level. Turning the knob through the reverb side adjusts the reverb level.

Considering how little control you have over them, the delay and reverb effects sound pretty good—they’re clean and even at maximum level, without overpowering your signal. It would be nice to have separate controls for each effect, and be able to use them simultaneously. However, when you have too many effects going on at once, it can muddy up the sound, especially when playing outdoors. While singing through this channel in a small, impromptu outdoor performance, I found that I only needed a tiny bit of delay to thicken my voice. 

The guitar/instrument channel has an unbalanced 1/4-inch input that can be used with an electric guitar, a keyboard, an unbalanced mic, or an acoustic guitar with a pickup. This section includes the delay/reverb effect, but adds a 3-band EQ as well as the EFX control, which lets you add a chorus, flanger, phaser, or tremolo effect. Like the delay/reverb knob, the position of the EFX control determines the timing and level of the effect. I felt the chorus and phaser sounded full on keyboards, and a slight amount of chorus sounded great on my acoustic guitar. But with so little control over the parameters, these effects won’t replace the stompboxes on your pedalboard if you’re a guitar player.

The Cube Street also includes a mini-jack for plugging in a CD or media player—perfect for playing along with backing tracks during your gig—and a 1/4-inch stereo headphone jack, for those times when you want to practice without disturbing your neighbors. There is a footswitch input for each channel that works with the Boss FS-5U ($24.95) and FS-6 ($54.95) switches. The foot switch for the mic/line channel can mute the corresponding input or switch the delay/reverb on and off. The input for the instrument channel can be used to independently toggle the EFX and delay/reverb sections.

COSM and Effect

The guitar/instrument channel includes a COSM amp modeling section, and the EQ, gain, and volume knobs interact with the selected amp. The first and last positions of the amp switch bypasses the models, giving you two levels of clean amplification—one designed for instruments and the other for mics. Your mic will need to have a 1/4-inch, high-impedance plug in order to use this channel.

Roland claims the Acoustic Sim setting can take a clean electric guitar and make it sound like an acoustic. When I tried the cleanest single-coil setting of my Koll Sun Glide, the result still sounded electric. But when I used that setting to process the output of my acoustic guitar, it sounded quite good.

The Mic setting offers a clean preamp intended for microphones. However, I didn't think it added anything over the dedicated mic/line channel, which sounded a bit cleaner and can accept an XLR input. But for those times when you need two mics, this channel can make it happen.

The remaining five settings are models of classic amplifiers. The JC Clean position emulates the Roland JC-120. (Be sure to use the chorus effect with this setting for an authentic JC-120 sound.) Black Panel gets into classic Fender territory, while Brit Combo aims for a Vox-ier tone. The two Stack options—Brit and R-fier—emulate Marshall and Mesa-Boogie stacks, respectively.

Although Roland’s COSM emulations have earned high praise from guitarists, no 5W solid-state amp can be expected to sound like a raging 120W tube beast. Nonetheless, each of the models successfully gives you the flavor of the amps they model. Not surprisingly, the JC Clean is the most accurate emulation of the bunch. The Brit Combo sounded most Vox-like when played with a low gain setting. Of the two Stack models, the high-gain R-fier doesn’t quite capture the muscle of a raging Boogie, but the Classic does muster up that gritty Marshall upper-midrange snarl.

Conveniently, the guitar/instrument channel includes a built-in, dual-mode tuner. Press the Tuner switch to enter manual mode and use the amp knob to select the string you wish to tune. Hold down the Tuner button for a second to enter chromatic mode, and the tuner will automatically determine the string pitch based on what you play. Red LEDs indicate if the pitch is too low or too high, and a green LED lights when you are in tune. Because the chromatic tuner doesn’t give you a readout of which note you play, it won’t be as useful if your strings are way out of tune. But overall, the tuner is a nice touch.

Street Cred

The Cube Street fulfills its mission admirably. It’s a sturdy little amp with a clean, full-range sound that can get surprisingly loud for its low wattage rating. The COSM amp models and effects not only sound good, but offer far more flexibility than you’d expect from a mini-PA-style amp at this price point.

For small one- or two-person gigs, either indoor or outdoors, or as a small rehearsal amp, the Cube Street might be the only mini-PA system you need.

Pros:Two inputs. Battery operated. Angled enclosure. Balanced XLR mic input. Can be used with two mics.

Cons: Tuner has only three LEDs. Only one control for the effects.

When Orren Merton isn't writing and editing music-technology books for Course Technology, he simulates being a guitarist for Ember After.