Revv D20
The best amp for most people.
The Rew D20 has been quite hyped up on YouTube lately for being one of the most versatile amps out there. It boasts an incredible set of features:
All-Tube 20W amplifier (switchable to 4W)
XLR out with excellent cab sims and support for IRs
Headphone out for silent practice or speakers
Ability to bypass the power amp when going direct out
FX Loop
Excellent clean tones and a perfect pedal platform
It’s tiny, weighs 8lbs (4kg) and is very well built.
The Sound
The most important feature of any amp is, of course, the sound. In this area, the Revv D20 doesn’t disappoint. I run it through a single 12" Celestion Vintage 30, and the clean tones I get from it are amazing. You can go from crystal clean to saturated edge-of-breakup, using the gain knob. You can pull out the gain knob to activate a boost, which will take it into overdrive territory. It sounds fine, but I wasn't too impressed by the crunch tones. Without support for a footswitch, this feature isn't very useful anyway, so I get my heavy sounds from pedals. Lucky for me, that is where the D20 really shines! I mainly use it with Line 6 Helix, and I am able to get some very nice, saturated distortion. This also means I don’t need to bother with the effects loop, although it is nice to know it is there.
While not quite as responsive as a Fender Deluxe or Twin Reverb, the Revv D20 is not too far off. It responds to pedals extremely well. In fact, with a BE-OD in front of it, the Revv sounds more like a Friemdan, than the Friedman Runt… and at lower volumes, I might add! Add a Wampler Tumnus and a delay pedal and your rig can handle anything from blues to metal.
I find the amp to sound best with the master volume turned about halfway or higher. It gets quite thin when turned below 10 o'clock. This is where the 4W setting comes in handy if you need to play really quietly. Although, I prefer to keep it on 20W and use the headphone out to monitor speakers in those situations.
Two Notes Cab Sims
This feature makes the amp so incredibly versatile! Cab simulation takes the output of your amp and digitally simulates it being played through a speaker cabinet and recorded with a microphone. You can turn on the internal load or just disconnect the speaker and run the XLR out directly to your interface. Two Notes are highly regarded for their Torpedo Captor Reactive Load Box, and you get the same amazing sound quality and feature set here. I have never needed to go beyond the 6 pre-installed presets. They are 1×12, 2×12 and 4×12 Celestion cabs with or without reverb. But you also get a lot more options with the torpedo software, including custom IR support. The ability to skip the power amp is very cool as well. I don't use this feature much, but it is nice to have a choice of different power amps (through the cab sim) when recording.
Headphone Out
This is the feature I find myself using the most. This output is provided by the embedded Torpedo Captor. I run this into the aux input of my Presonus Eris E 3.5, while also having the speakers connected to my computer. This lets me practice along to a metronome, Spotify playlists or recordings of my band. I can turn up the master volume on the amp and turn down the XLR output, and with the 1×12 Celestion V30 IR, I get a very similar sound to my actual 112 V30 cabinet, but at a much lower volume.
This has been a life changer for me, as I can now dial in the effects on my Helix at home, and then get the same sound at band practice or gigs. In the past, I used the amp sims on my Helix and just switched them off at practice, but it never sounded the same. And it can be annoying to have to adjust it on the fly.
Build Quality and Portability
There isn't much to say here. The Revv D20 looks very classy and is built really well. It weighs just 8 lbs (4.1kg) and fits in my backpack, together with my HX Stomp. Who would have thought that I'd be able to cycle to gigs and practice with an all-valve amplifier and a great sounding pedal board with every effect under the sun! Tone purists may say it doesn’t sound as good. Maybe, but you get a consistent tone everywhere you play! And there is never a faulty patch cable or a knob in the wrong setting to worry about!
Final thoughts
The Revv D20 is the perfect amp for a lot of people. You can practice, gig and record with it. Using the right pedals, you can make it sound like anything. The only issue is the £1000 price tag. But if you look at it as the only amplifier you'll ever need, and take into account the included £400 Torpedo Captor X, it is a bargain!