HOW to Connect BOSS KATANA to your computer (and setup)
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- In this review, I give you my first impression of how to connect a Boss Katana to your computer using Boss Tone Studio. The Boss Katana is an incredible amp, however, how does it stand up against a lot of the other newer modelling amps out there today.
The Boss Tone Studio for the MK2 has amazing presets and can allow you to customize your Boss Katana MK2. If you are looking to find out how to change effects in the Boss Katana, check out this video.
So what do you think? Is the Boss Katana 50watt mk 2 still a great choice for guitar buyers? Let us know in the comments below!
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Setting up the Katana is so unnecessarily complicated. Every amp Ive used is just “plug and go”. Computers and DAWs immediately recognize them. The Katana makes you jump through several hoops just to use the one thing that they say is the big selling point for the amp.
Yeah, some of the extra button commands can be a pain. I agree 100%
It seems to be overly complicated. I haven't even bothered doing it with my one. The Spark amp I bought recently is much more user friendly.
@@Kevinacharles I've been trying to do this for the last year across 3 different computers. A Macbook, a Windows gaming PC, and my new iMac. I got none of them to work. I'm going to try this setup that Nick went through and hope that... I guess maybe THAT works? But I'm also just considering going a different route.
@@nickgjenkins that is shockingly bad. In this day in age it shouldn't be that difficult. It's not the early 2000s.
I hate this amp. Have a Katana 50 gathering dust. My Yamaha THR eats this piece of crap for breakfast. It's way too hard to update AND if you make a mistake, it's bricked.
My one tip: in the updated 2.0 software, booster options at the very bottom of the dropdown list is a Centa OD based on the Klon. Add that to one of your 3 Boost options and be sure to click Write to save. Blend that Boost dial 50% over Crunch or Brown and it’s glorious!
That’s a great tip. I will try that out for sure :D
so how do you get the USB playing with Ableton on windows??? everyone shows the MAC and Core driver which gives you input / output settings for USB - However the ASIO driver in windows only shows output once you choose ASIO so I cannot get sound into Ableton on my windows setup... HELP!!!
I’ll have to look more into this. I don’t run Ableton on windows. Are you using a Katana 2? If you have the older software installed for the first Boss Studio it may give you input issues. That happened to me
Where do you get the program (i.e. to see the BTS on your laptop screen?) Do you download one of the programs from Boss first, then the drivers and firmware updates? Basically what do you download first? I have the Katana 110 for bass. I know there's a app on Google play, but that's for Android devices. Where to you start from the beginning with a PC? Dontou download the android app and then just use a PC to update the firmware on the amp amd then control the BTS via a Android? I'm new to this. Trying to understand what to do and in which order to get it up and running. I have the BTS App already on my android, firmware is not updated. Amy help is greatly appreciated.....✌️
Sorry for the late reply on this. Im out for about a week but ill go over this and see if I can’t get some helpful steps for you :D
On some laptops you have to press F7 while it's loading windows and turn driver signature off before tone studio will work
That is really good to know. Thanks :D
everytime i open tone studio it tells me im using the old version and immediately after it says my amp isn't connected please help
I think I had this problem too. From what I remember there’s a separate version for the mk ii. The first thing I had to do was verify the firmware is correct. I had to update that first, after I downloaded the tone studio for the mkii (do a Google search for the mkii version). Once you install that it should work
what cable do I need for Mac because I bought one online and it was too big for the amp
I believe the connection on the back of the amp is a usb-b connection.
What do I do if my boss katana doesn’t have the usb B port in the back, it only has the standard like amp chord plugins and a USB C plugin?
I’m assuming the usb c will work just like the usb 3. Did you get through 3rd gen?
A video with katana and amplitube would ve great
I totally agree :D
I set up my katana 100 but I’m thinking about buying a Boss 50 for practice. So the question is…can I hook up my computer (that’s already set up for the 100), without ruining anything and set up the same settings to the 50?
That is an excellent question. Let me do some digging and see. I think it will work but not 100%
@@nickiden awesome. Thank you
@@AskingForAFriend ok I did a bit of digging. The 100 and 50 mk2 share the same software so it should work :D
Just a question but why buy the 50 when you can just set the 100 watt for 50 watt
@@brinenstiles8581 it’s good for home use and over 100$ cheaper
super super dumb question but is there any way to operate this without a pc or labtop? thank you so much
It’s a good question. You can operate the amplifier with the loaded presets. To change out those preferences sets you will need a computer. There’s no app at this point that will sync up unfortunately
What is the minimum pc configuration to run tone studio for windows?
That’s a good question. I don’t actually see a min requirement in the documentation. I’ll keep going through it and see what I can find. What system are you running?
@@nickiden Windows 10 and 11. With 4gb/256gb
@@a2zonlineunboxing873 hmmm you should be fine running the software. If anything there might be an issue with memory but I think 4gb is fine. Like I said, I'll keep looking and see
@@nickiden Thnx Sir❤️
Is it possible to hook up boss katana into your daw, and then run the sound through the amp speaker (I don’t have any speakers other than a set of headphones) but I don’t want to always use headphones…. I want to run the sound through the amp speaker….. lmk!
I don’t think you can via usb. I guess technically you can output it from your interface, I don’t know if it will sound good. My advice would be to look at getting a decent pair of monitors if you plan on mixing
Would an actual decent pair of computer speakers work decent? Not trying to create a whole studio…. I just want to be able to patch my amp, play through headphones and sometimes speaker
@@pauladkins9803 yeah I think a decent pair of computer speakers will work for what you’re looking to do.
My new boss katana booster light is getting on if i turn reverb at 12 or the treble but the booster knob cant off the green light. On the other hand it is not taking factory reset though I tried to do many times. Nothing happens as told in videos. What to do?
That’s interesting. So if you do a factory reset nothing changes?
@@nickiden Nothing happened Sir, tried a number of times, I have the video too. Sending the amp for replacement.
One more question Sir
Should I go for Blackstar ID core 40 in place of Boss katana mk2 50?
Which is a better buy?
Need your suggestion. Thnx in advance 🙏❤️
Will this procedure work with Katana 50 Mk1?
That’s a good question. I believe it will, but make sure you’re using the right software for the MK 1
can you use nueral dsp amp sims from computer thru it?
I don’t think so. I think its what ever their tone studio can run
Why after the update, when turned on, all the effects light up red. The instructions say that only the Booster should light up.
Are you downloading the right update? I was having a similar problem originally. I was downloading the mk1 version but I needed the mk2 version
@@nickiden mk2
The software looks really easy to use for sure
Yeah they did a good job on the layout :D. Couple minutes and you’re making noise
Haven't tried it yet, do you have to be online to record the sound's if you don't use a DAW in your recording process???? Can you upload the effects to the amp itself??? If not, that's pretty stupid.
Luckily the amp already sounds great without the tone studio, which makes it more than worth the price of it. I really don't know of any amps this good for the price...just sucks if you have to be on a computer to use it.
I think if you want to change or upload anything to your amp you have to connect it to your computer
At this moment Windows 11 Smart App Control (SAC), if it is turned on in a computer, blocks Boss Tone Studio from starting. There is no way to make an whitelist to enable it. Only way is to turn SAC off. Permanently. So BTS is considered being a malicious or unsafe aplication by Microsoft Corporation.
Is it malware or spyware? I don't know. But if it is not, why does SAC block it then?
That is a really good question. I have no clue. I am installing it on macOS. I’ll see if I can find some documentation
@@nickiden It seems that if your Windows 11 computer SAC is in evaluation mode, that problem does not occur. If you turn SAC fully on, it can cause problems. It is strange that Microsoft's information tells for example that SAC cannot be turned on again (without full restore to original state) if it is turned off. But it is not true because restoring to an earlier restore point (when it was on) turns SAC on again. Whether it works correctly after that, I am not sure but at least it starts behaving very strictly.
Restoring earlier C: disk image apparently can turn SAC on or off.
But this SAC is quite confusing because when it blocks something, you cannot whitelist any applications. However, if SAC blocks an app to start, it sometimes but notvalways seems to offer a possibility to send request to MS to whitelist that application. 😁
BTW it can be so called Windows Device Guard as well, which can in some situation block BTS but it is very difficult to make sure which settings exactly affect the policy how Windows handles more or less unknown applications.
Well this information sucks.
Update:
I contacted both Roland Support and MS in November because of this annoying problem, and after waiting for a couple of weeks, when I a week ago again tried to open BTS which was earlier blocked by SAC, I noticed that SAC did not block BTS from starting anymore. So it seems that this annoying and stupid problem is solved, so far. Probably because of Windows update. I hope this problem does not reappear ever again.
The settings of Windows security applications, for example whether the OS is allowed or not to send samples of for example 3rd party program files to MS to handle risks of potential malware could affect to this problem but it was very difficult to get 100% accurate information of behaviour of SAC and it's settings because even the information about SAC from MS itself was either incomplete or incorrect in many ways.
Hello you. :)
Thanks alot for your video.
I´ve managed to set it up.
Not sure if you ever gonna read or answer this but ...
Is there a way to get the sound from my Katana MK II to my PC?
So I can listen it through my headphones which are connected to the PC?
That’s awesome you were able to set it up :D. I think you can do it through the usb connection. If you have tone studio set up I think that will work. :D
Can this process work with the Boss MK 1?
I’m not sure but I don’t think so. Let me double check. I want to say these changes are implemented by the firmware…. Let me see what I can find out
@@nickiden it’s probably different but I really appreciate you taking any time at all to answer my question
I have one of these little amps and I am embarrassed to admit... I had literally no idea they can connect to my PC lmao!
Haha it’s all good. There’s some cool stuff you can do with the software.
Its not showing me the bossktmk2 folder
Interesting. Do you see any folders?
So we're still living in the age where "plug and play" is a dream...I guess that's still acceptable😒
I guess if your an older player that isn’t too much into computers one should stay away?
Could you bugger up your amp permanently?
I think if you are looking for something less complicated then yeah. But for the most part it’s not to complicated. I very rarely use my computer with it and still get a lot out of it. As for buggering it up permanently, worst case you can always factory reset it
i did the update
and now my katana is broken it doesnt give any sound
That’s not good. Do any of the lights flash or anything when you power it up?
Does it have to be connected to a DAW/online to use the tone studio???
It already sounds amazing without it, but but if you have to be a DAW user, that's pretty stupid. Good thing it sounds so good without all that. I've been playing, touring & recording for over 25+ years & it's one of the best sounding amps I've ever had. Only other that came close was a Marshall (don't remember the model) but I'll never own another Marshall. They cost way, way too much to start sounding terrible for seemingly no reason within a year or two, & not be fixable. Literally no tech I took it to could figure out the problem. I mean, it sounded amazing for a little over a year after being bought brand new, to being the worst sound I've EVER heard from any guitar amp. it was that bad. I held onto it for years, until recently, but in 20 years or so, nobody could fix it or even figure out the problem. & It also cost over twice as much as the katana back then... adjusted for inflation it'd be close to spending $1,000 on an amp in today's money only for it to last maybe a little over a year.
So even with the factory settings, the katana is an amazing deal....just stupid if you have to be connected to a computer to access the tone studio.
Can I use the mk 1 like this
Let me double check. I think you can but you just need to use the right software. I think :D
Tone studio is the reason to get that amp but even more so a distraction from buying the amp.
Haha I totally agree
my tone studio keeps saying connection failure
I think I was having that issue as well. It’s possible you might need to check and see if you have the newest version of tone studio. My issue was I installed a older version
@@nickiden I just re downloaded it, turns out I wasn’t using the right software for my amp. I was using tone studio instead of tone studio for boss katana mk2
Yes the Katana is not an easy setup. I am still battling with errors, support is limited to FAQ and a forum, no way to chat with boss.
Oh no, what type of errors are you getting?
@@nickiden USB driver error, it tells me to download current sub driver, sends me to Boss driver update page I have looked and none listed as usb drivers, I have loaded the correct windows driver out of Boss.
@@Kendo276 oh that’s weird. I was having a lot of problems with it when I first got mine. Is yours a mk2? Also, which windows are you running. I’ll see if I can find anything out
@@nickiden yes MKII windows 10, thank you
@@Kendo276 ok I found something on Reddit www.reddit.com/r/BossKatana/comments/eocc1h/please_i_need_help/.
It seems to have a fix for a similar issue. This might help with the usb updates. If you haven’t already, give it a go and let me know how it goes :D
Very upset I need to buy a damn USb cable . Wish it came in the fucking box
Yeah I wish that too.
Yeah i thought that should came with it too
Iv had the 100 a year now and barely used it as its shit to record with. Doesn't sound anywhere near as good in the daw as it does unplugged from my computer. Latency is shocking and sometimes sounds like the amps 3 miles away. The only people that can make it sound good are sound engineers like juca neary and studio rats that play it back through expensive audio interfaces using high end pc. I'm a beginner and all this amp does is take away practice time from guitar. I primarily use bias fx 2 now, just load it up and the sounds blow the katana away in my headphones.
"reinstalled the boss tone studio" whats this!
Did you have an issue with the tone studio?
No issue. I am a complete newbie to the boss studio. When the speaker mentioned "boss tone studio" with no context I was lost. I got it going now after watching and researching. Really cool thx@@nickiden
Those amps are cool but i dont have the patience to dick around in the basement for days trying to figure out what i want. Too much! The tone studio or whatever u call it is awesome but not for me. Give me a 2 channel head and a pedal board with a tuner/volume pedal/chorus/OD/reverb/ delay/flanger.
Yeah I totally agree. Even with this amp I tend to dial in one or two tones max and I’m good
There is no need to make operating an amplifier so complicated. Are you a guitarist or a computer geek?
Haha actually. I’m both :D but, that is still a really good point.
@@nickiden I bought a Katana Boss 50 years ago, but have never plugged it into a computer. Still like it.
@@brucewilson2763 yeah to be honest I don’t ever plug it in either. I have my settings and I’m happy :D
Amen
It's really now a bullshit all this update nothing at all now work i can't connect my katana 50 since 6 months...
Do you know which software version you have installed?
Finaly i have done but really don't do it ! it will put after many parasite noises to the katana that i don't have before... I regret to do it
@@renmad0078 oh no. What happened? Is it like crackling noises?
No it's a broadband noise that i have before but could manage easely before but now it's much more louder it's like they have pusch something to loud in the amp. I have disconnected all my pedals charger to see if it's come from one of them and nothing it still there and i can't get ridd of it. It pass true my noise gate pedal that i have plug for trying to stop it...
I'm coming crazy... Buff
In fact it's there fault because what they call the w400 system update in fact it the firmware update that's why they complicate all and because the tone studio tells you it need to uodate drivers but it's not drivers at all you download a file and when you extract it there are 2 files only and no instal exe. That's how i understand it's a firmware update because there is a .bin in the 2 files. I am talking to boss with this serious problem to help them to solve it. But now my main problem is this firmware who put me too much noize in my amp.
You know this is a really good amp but the whole tone software is pure crap. literally had this amp a while and never sinked up its a joke
What kind of sync problems did you have. I haven’t had any issues but honestly I don’t really use the software that much
I have a boss katana MK2 50 combo amp and ive seen many videos of people using the same amp and getting a beast of a metal tone like death metal and heavy metal that i cant get even get and when i watch it more there plugged into a computer i dont own a computer or anything like that to give it that tone if anyone can help me with that problem that would be amazing
I’ll have to play around with it and get some metal tones. I’ll keep you posted :D.