In case Marshall decides to do another round of Codes, or for people that want to buy one, here is my bottom line after dealing with this thing for a few years. I had Line 6 experience and wanted a simpler all-in-one modeling combo with a bluetooth app that could do hard rock. The Katana looked like a toy so I bought this.

PROS: Solid construction. Looks great. Good range of amps and effects. Bluetooth app is very good and can tune every parameter. Tones can be downloaded and backed up to/from Marshall site. Amp can sound very good (after a lot of tweaking). The Plexi, American OD, JTM Crunch and Acoustic amps are good. The Guv’nor, Compressor, Chorus, noise gate and all the delays and reverbs are useable. Marshall has done sufficient software updates to correct early issues (bluetooth, tones, bugs). Can be used at bedroom volume with Master on ‘1’. Optional footswitch gives good control. Documentation is good. Updater software on PC works well.

CONS: Other than those mentioned above, all the other amps and effects are bad. This includes the JCM800, JVM and Silver Jubilee. All the cabs are bad. None of the stock patches are usable. You have to make your own. There are user uploaded patches you can try but very few are usable. Learning curve is significant. The amp is too loud. When you turn up from bedroom level to louder, the sounds change and become very boomy which should not happen with a modeling amp. No effects loop. The ‘out’ is a mini USB. Connecting to a computer requires a mini USB to USB or Lightning cable, which is not included. I tried to use the USB to record to Garageband and sound came out but I couldn’t make it sound good. The footswitch also has a learning curve, and like other people I had to have mine replaced. 

ADVICE: Don’t buy it. I bought my Code 50 new from Sweetwater for $299 and now the same version of the amp is $399. If you must have a Code, get the 25 instead. It is cheaper and still absurdly loud. The higher volume available in the 50 is useless because it sounds bad. The extra hundred bucks just gets you painfully loud solid state power amp watts. 

If you do get a Code, upgrade all the firmware immediately. You need to connect to a computer to do this, but first you have to find the cable on Amazon. This is unforgivable.

BOTTOM LINE: I have spent too many hours tweaking the Code. This is what I hated about Line 6. But the Line 6 tones were superior. I never got a good JCM 800 sound out of the Code, after hundreds of hours of work. It’s only “great” amp sim, oddly, is the American OD. Marshall’s own Classic Metal patch uses this, not a “Marshall” sim! The Code is marketed as Marshall technology with amp sims created by Marshall, but it is not. Softube created the software and tones. This is not a Marshall amp. Line 6 Marshall sims are far better.

I have now bought a tube amp. I am keeping the Code because I have mastered it and can practice on it but I would not buy it again, certainly not for $399.

Buenas tardes, el día de hoy actualicé mi aplicación gateway y también mi amplificador code 25 mediante USB. Lamentablemente al tratar de cambiar de preset a un preset guardado desde la app se desconecta el Bluetooth.

Por favor, necesito una solución! 

My gateway app won't connect with my code 50 and the gateway on the pc with usb cable won't do anything either.

First of all, sorry for my bad english. 

I recently buy a Marshal Code 25, anda when I conecct it to the PC with de mini usb cable, i can donwload presets, but just that. I cant hear the guitar in my computer phones. There a posibility to do this? Or its just de way it is.

Another thing, there an interface like Bias fk to interact with the amp?

Thanks

im using garage band and it records but the issue i have is that it doesnt record my code presets . it doesnt sound the way im hearing it from the amp. if i disable the plug ins it just sounds like electronic mess. if i record just a audio track from usb out from the code it sounds like an electronic sound and not the sound of my amp. i can hear it combine with my amp when i turn the plug ins on put its not what i want. help ?

Hello everyone from Portugal,

Here are a few things I would suggest as improvements to the Marshall Code series. I have a 25 so some things may be specific to that amp. I have stuck to things that could be improved only by software or firmware as these are improvements everyone can have simply by updating the firmware rather than modifying the amp itself.

1. Reduced power mode to switch between full power and lower power mode. This would fix the volume control issue everyone complains about.  Maybe this could be a global setting in the firmware ?

2. USB audio Volume level setting (e.g.  -3dB, 0dB, +3dB etc). This could also be a global setting in the firmware ?

2. Normalise the volumes of the models, some are way too hot (British class A power-amp), some are way too low (Natural pre-amp). I beleive this is the reason why some models have strange low frequency distortion (50s British, OD DSL).

3. Show the configuration of the Cab models, not everyone is a Marshall fanboy and I have no idea what cab a "1960X". even if it was displayed as "1960X (4x12)" I would at least know what the configuration of cab the model is.

4. Fix the spring and hall reverbs, they sound very cheap, like the "echo" you would get on a cheap karaoke machine, certainly nothing like a spring reverb.

5. For god's sake release an official desktop editor!!! with the option to save/restore/edit patches.

6. A sync button to sync the amp presets with your gateway. It you want to rearage the patches online in gateway, you have to manually save all the patches one at a time to the amp using the phone app. So if you add a new patch at position 0, you have to manually save all 100 patches one at a time in order to match your gateway sounds!

 7. Fix the tuner, it is pretty bad on both the amp and the app. It's slow to respond and not very accurate (at least thats what its like on mine). Ive no idea how well it works on the foot controller.

8. If possible add a Fuzz pedal model, even at the expense of removing another model (I wouldnt miss the pretty poor Acoustic simulator for instance).

These are just some suggestions that I feel would make the amp just a little bit better, but in general I'm having a lot of fun with this little amp, and love the sounds and features it has. It is way better sounding than some of the negative reviews online would suggest.

Maybe other people can suggest firmware updates too?

Hello,

I added presets that I would like to add to my Code 50. They appear on the bottom of My Gateway, but I am unable to drag them into my 100 presets. Even clicking the amp icon to demo the preset does't work. I am using Chrome and have my computer connected via USB to my amp (status is Code: Connected).

Also, the 100 presets currently in My Gateway are in a different order than my presets on the amp. 

I have watched the turorials but it doesn't seem to be working. If you could let me know how to add the selected presets from My Library to my presets on the amp that would be great. 

Hi, I just recieved my Code 50 yesterday "bought brand new" and the amp sounded great until i hooked up to my pc this morning and downloaded a featured preset not a communiy preset. I am running usb not bluetooth and its my studio setup. Now all the distortion and gain sounds like the input gain is wide open clipping the signal coming in at all volume levels, and on all distortion and od gain presets. I tried to reset the amp and did a firmware update now its litterally so bad you cant play it. This is certainly a software issue cause the effects and clean tones sound fine. This happened immediatley after i sent the preset usb from the website to the amp from the pc. Also i tried several guitars, usb cables, guitar cables and even my mac. just dont know wether i should send it back or if thiscan be fixed with a firmware patch or something , Thanks

I have had a chance to spend a few days with the Marshall code 25 and I would like to share with you a few of my findings. I have played guitar professionally for over 30 years and have had all makes and models of guitars and amps in my time, but in general I would have killed for the equipment available to guitarist today.

This is the point where I look at the Code 25 and think “that looks like fun”. I have a few amps kicking about already, mostly gigging volume amps but I also have a Blackstar ID-Core 40, so this would be in reality what I would compare the Code 25 against.

Firstly my experience with the amp and a look around these forums makes one thing apparent. This amp is well named because it is a bit of an enigma.Out of the box I would consider the amplifier not fit for purpose this is really down to a few reasons.

Firstly, some of the presets are just absolutely terrible, I mean some of the worst patches I’ve ever heard on anything, “Small combo” and the “Brit” overdrive amps for instance are shockingly bad. You can make the excuse that all amp and effects units come with bad presets. However this is usually down to strange or weird effects to give bizarre sounds to show off effects but that nobody would ever use in a musical context. However some patches (such as Small Combo) are just basic amp modelling with no effects and are still absolutely terrible. Maybe these sound better on the 50 or 100, but if that’s the case remove them from the 25 it just gives a bad impression.

Secondly, the amp is stupidly loud. I don’t know if this is a marketing decision, but Marshall should look at its target demographic. This thing is a small bedroom practice amp, maybe at a push for some very small live situations, but that is it. Why make the thing so loud? If you need to use this amp near anything over half volume you have bought the wrong amp it’s as simple as that.

Thirdly, some of the modelling is not all it could be with digital artefacts (in the low end in particular), and a fizzy noise gate that for some reason is on patches where there is absolutely no need to have it as the patch is pretty quiet. Once again this is not a professional gigging or recording product and it should be judgged accordingly.

The last bad point I would say against this amp is the tuner, both onboard and on the app are two of the least responsive and wildly inaccurate tuners I have ever seen. Really not even close to tune! Put this down to another marketing tick box.

OK, now the good points.

It seems pretty well made and solid for what it is.

I like the size and weight, ideal for a bedroom practice amp.

I like the complete range of controls on the amp, and how you can do everything on the amp that you can do on the app, and it’s easy to do. Great user interface design work.

I like the Bluetooth features and the app. I know people have had problems with Bluetooth, but both my IOS and Android phones connected right away and are stable. I can stream music no problem from outside the house or in other rooms with no issues.

I like having 100 presets to store all the patches I could want (My Blackstar only had 6, and you can only have 1 for each model).

The headphone socket sounds OK, but if I wanted that as a primary feature I would have just bought headphone amp with effects.

I don’t use the recording over USB feature. If I did I wouldn’t expect something this cheap to be amazing. Once again if you want this you probably have bought the wrong product, and are in the wrong price bracket.

I like the cost, its amazing what it does for the money.

I like the sounds, now that I’ve got rid of the awful ones.

It looks pretty cool.

It’s a Marshall.

To make this amp useable, I basically had to do the following:

1. Delete all those terrible patches that are just filler and basically just give the user a bad experience. After doing this I was left with around 20 good sounding patches and 20 OK patches, the other 60 I replaced with a patch called “Blank” (which I have put up on this site). That way every patch sound good to me.
2. I turned the Mater volume up to ¼ (around 9 o’clock)  and went through the remaining patches adjusting the patch volume of each to make it a sensible volume for bedroom levels. This ranged from around 0.3 to 5 for most patches depending on the patch. This means that you have more control over the master volume and can change patches without is suddenly blowing you head off. There is still plent of volume in the amp after doing this. OK I admit if I want to use headphones I have to turn the master up around half way, but that’s no big deal. Likewise as I said I don’t use the USB for recording, but I assume I would have to turn up the volume for that too. I don’t see that as a problem either for a product in this price range.

Overall I like the amp and doing just these 2 thing make it much more of a pleasure to use. The volume level are more what they should be for a product of this type and I don’t ever hear any of the awful patches (there are plenty of good ones).

Maybe other people can share their first experiences or tips with the Code 25?

Hey Folks

I love the sound of my amp just as is out of the box ....I never thought to update the firmware ...it's of no super significance because I can make my own custom presets ,...

Buit when I decided to use the usb connection it looks as though there are these ( teeth) looking holes in it ....where the usb cable gos and my question is 

What kind of CABLE ( speciality) or USB CABLE FITS THIS CODE 100 COMBO ? 

Micro USB OR ?? 

HIT ME UP When u can

Hi all,

Happy New Year! 

I have recently switched from a MacBook to a Windows 10 desktop and had previously recorded via USB straight into Garageband using the CODE with no issues at all. After switching to Windows 10 I can't get the CODE to connect though, it wont recognise in Chrome to manage the presets (I just get the "CODE: Not Connected" message in the bottom left of the screen, I have tried free trial versions and free to use DAW's and none of them see the CODE as an input. I've installed the ASIO4ALL driver but still no joy, the CODE is on the 1.44 firmware.

Am I missing something or is there a setting to change other than switching the MIDI input to ASIO?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

Marshall,

I purchased an iPad 2020 and I can not find an adapter that works to plug into my CODE to add presets. Any thoughts?

Hi,
owned a code 25 for a while now but only really started using it during lockdown but have to say I'm really impressed. I'm just using it for living room playing and connected to my DAW as a way of laying down ideas but seriously, it's REALLY good.

For context, I've played guitar for 27 years and working in live music has been my primary source of income (pre lockdown....) for around 17 years. I'm usually a live-sound engineer and tour manager and occasionally fill in the gaps with some guitar-teching. I'm uk-based but have international clients, mostly guitar-based, playing mostly academy sized venues but have done major festivals worldwide and one short stint of an arena tour. The point here is not to blow my whistle, simply to say I've spent a lot of time being exposed to all manner of amps and modelling.

I own a line 6 helix and while the CODE isn't as flexible with regards to I/O, I genuinely feel like it's amp-modelling, especially for crunch, fuzzy or blown out tones, blows the Helix out of the water. Not that I'm as likely to use metal tones or had much cause to tweak them but I've noticed those kind of presets can sound a little thin. Also, higher gain sounds in general could benefit from a graphic EQ somewhere in the modelling chain, as it can be prone to squeak at frequencies usually outside of a regular amps range, presumably because of the full-range nature of the cab.

So, my query is, is there any chance that the CODE range is likely to get any substantial firmware updates or maybe 2nd generation hardware that could bring additional functionality/Pro level durability and a decent footswitch... I'm impressed that you've managed to get that much functionality out of a mono-jack but a few extra switches or even just midi connectivity for use with after market footswitched to access would open the amp right up.

Personally, I'd love to see one capable of more complex I/O routing i.e. the ability to record your dry input to DAW over usb and similarly, route from the DAW to the amp input for re-amping.

Midi I/O and an xlr input with phantom and a decent sounding pre would make it a nice little hub for a solo recording setup.

Anyway, great work Marshall/Softube, really hope you develop the line further.

I recently connected my code via usb....went to ACDC preset, downloaded to test it out...I liked it but didnt save it...now when I come back to save it nothing (any preset) will not transfer to my code....It reads CODE connected....Help please!!!

I am not able to transfer presets from Mac to Code 50. The display below preset shows code not available though usb is connected

I have a CODE 100h + CODE412 and I love them !!!!
I use a pedal board with different effects and was thinking of adding a looper / switcher (Boss ES-5 or MUSICOM LAB EFX LE).
I would like to know if with the looper I have listed I can change presets to CODE100H via midi. Do I need a USB / MIDI interface? Thanks

Hi! I have an issue while trying to transfer dowloaded presets to my Code25. It occures both usb and bluetooth connections.  On a usb connection i click the “amp” icon on a preset, it’s name appears on a Code screen. I push and hold store button on amp, “saved” appears. But then Code becomes freeezed, it does not react on button push etc. when i switch it off and then switch on it works fine, preset available on amp. The same issue appears when i try to transfer presets using Gateway app. What I do wrong?

Hi,

if i use a clean preset of the marshall code 100H i got issues with crackling sounds. Even after turning it off and on. Its extremly annoying and it destroyes all that i record into my DAW. With this crackling sounds this Device is absolutly useless!! I've also updated to the latest Firmware version but nothing changed!

Please help!

I know I can override any CODE amp preset with CODE USB connections from the website or by changing on my phone while connected and saving either on the phone and/ or amp.  But How do direct amp changes work with Gateway while disconnected and then synced later on?

 In other words, if I save modifications on my amp to a particular preset and I am not connected to my gateway on my phone, when I do connect and sync later, which setting wins?  Does the phone setting override the amp-stored setting (ie. back out the mods made on the amp / push the settings to the amp from the phone) or does the phone pick up the modified amp setting from the amp and store it in Gateway (ie, pull the settings from the amp and store in my phone)?  

Also, I have the first 30 presets set up for ones I use to perform and are addressable using code programmable foot controller.   If I want to archive/backup those presets someplace to guard against an unplanned need to do a factory reset, does it make sense to store them perhaps in the cooresponding setting in my Library ( the blue section of My Gateway )  That way i can bring them into the amps and store them one at a time from the library back into the presets on the amp, or is there a better way to backup/restore presets in the event of a factory reset?

Thanks!