Orange amplifiers may have your perfect piece of gear. Its called the “OPC” and its a PC with a built in amplifier.
Still in development for possible release in a few months, the amp-PC sports a 8″ JBL speaker, 1/4 input jack, output jack for external cab hookup and stereo output. It also comes with amp modeling software based on Amplitude.
Not much info was provided on the PC specs other then it comes standard with integrated graphics(blech!) with an optional discrete ATI Radeon 5670.
For a guitarist/computer geek it’s certainly the coolest looking computer I’ve ever seen.
UPDATE 4/16/2010: Orange just officially announced this product and filled in a few details.
The OPC will be leading the way with a number of ‘Firsts’:
– The first computer of its kind to have a built-in high powered speaker which delivers superb full range hi-fi quality sounds as well as vintage guitar sounds.
– The first computer to have a universal input jack enabling users to plug in a multitude of musical instruments (guitar, keyboard etc ) and peripherals such as the iPod, MP3 players, microphones.
– A unique cooling system to ensure air goes in and exits only after cooling the internal computer
As a fully fledged computer it has 4GB DDR2 RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, Intel chips, Windows 7 x64 home premium, 8 x USB2.0 ports, is Wi-Fi enabled and has an integrated GeForce 9300 graphics card with an optional dedicated ATI 5670 512MB card for those who may want to play a few games while they put their guitars down. The first models will include modelling software incorporating computer samples of vintage and current Orange amps and cabinets as well as free branded recording software package. Once plugged in, you can then use the software included to create music or choose your guitar sound and then play, record and hear your guitar through the computer! Release date is June 2010.
