Guitar World Verdict
It’s about time Android users got a compact audio interface that works with their devices, having been massively underserved while the iPhone hoarded the vast majority of previous offerings. Regardless of your OS allegiance, the Blackstar Polar Go represents one of the best ways to quickly and easily record your music alongside your smartphone, whilst simultaneously being a powerful tool for curating your online profile via video.
Pros
- +
Incredibly compact and lightweight.
- +
Great-sounding built-in stereo mics.
- +
Excellent mobile option for acoustic guitar and vocals.
- +
Superb-sounding DSP reverb.
- +
The companion app is really easy to use.
Cons
- -
Had issues using it with an Android phone.
- -
No guitar amp simulation or electric guitar preset built in.
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What is it?
There are precious few mobile-friendly USB audio interfaces out there that work on both Android and iOS, so when I came across the Blackstar Polar Go, I was intrigued to see what it could do for guitarists looking to quickly and easily create videos for social media. It’s interesting then that the Polar Go’s marketing campaign seems more aimed towards content creators versus guitarists, particularly as the Polar 2 and 4 interfaces were heavily geared towards guitar players.
On paper, it seems like an absolute winner
The idea with the Polar Go is that it can help you quickly and easily create content anywhere you go, just by simply plugging it into your phone or laptop. There’s a companion app that allows you to control the interface's inputs and outputs, and it features a camera mode that lets you record video with your phone camera while capturing your guitar or vocal through the interface.
On paper, it seems like an absolute winner, as creating content with your phone and a traditional audio interface has always been a time-consuming process. Videoing and recording with separate devices has typically been the go-to, but this results in the fiddly editing process of syncing with your video, so the idea of having it all in one app will be very appealing to content creators everywhere.
Specs
- Price: $129.99 | £79 | €89
- Simultaneous I/O: 4 x 4
- A/D Resolution: 24-bit/96kHz
- Built In DSP/FX: Reverb, compression, EQ
- Number of Preamps: 1
- Phantom Power: Yes
- Analog Inputs: 1 x XLR-1/4" combo
- Analog Outputs: 1 x 1/8"
- MIDI: No
- Headphones: 1 x 1/8"
- Power Supply: USB-C or internal rechargeable battery (up to 6 hours)
- Contact: Blackstar
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★½
The Polar Go is a teeny-tiny interface, no bigger than your average bar of soap. Into this diminutive package it squeezes in a single combi input with a Rean connector, 1/8-inch headphone output, and, intriguingly, two stereo microphones built into the front face of the unit. There are two USB-C connections, one for connecting to a phone or computer and the other for dedicated power.
Like all of the Polar family of interfaces, it’s an extremely good-looking bit of kit, the classy monochrome of its construction accentuated by the backlit symbols that glow gently when you plug it in. The smooth edges of its frame make it look a lot classier than some of the blocky and bulky gear you typically find in the audio sphere.
There’s a lot of music gear that claims to be pocket-sized sized but the Polar Go really can be chucked into your jeans
Despite much prodding and pulling, I can find nothing loose or willing to succumb to pressure across the whole unit, leaving me in no doubt that it will withstand the rigors of being chucked in a backpack and taken on the go. The knobs have a satisfying resistance when I turn them, and the two buttons for powering it on and engaging phantom power click nicely without feeling flimsy.
It’s incredibly lightweight too, weighing no more than my TV remote and less than my Pixel smartphone with its rather bulky protective case. There’s a lot of music gear that claims to be pocket-sized but the Polar Go really can be chucked into your jeans or trackie bottoms and taken anywhere and everywhere.
Usability
Usability rating: ★★★★☆
I’m immediately greeted by a glitchy and distorted sound
My first test of the Polar Go’s capabilities is to plug it straight into my Pixel 9 smartphone running Android. In the combi input I plug my Telecaster guitar directly in, and a pair of Sony MDR-M1 headphones go into the headphone out for monitoring. I load up my camera app and am greeted with a pop-up that tells me the phone has detected an external microphone. So far, so good.
Hopping into the settings to switch to the external mic, I prop my phone on my desk, upside down to account for the USB input, to try filming some noodling on the guitar. I’m immediately greeted by a glitchy and distorted sound, which is definitely not the direct sound of my guitar, and something I’ve encountered attempting to use other audio interfaces and guitar amp headphones via a smartphone.
Wondering if it’s because I haven't downloaded the official Polar Go companion app, I head to the Play Store to grab it, and the process of getting it downloaded, installed, and recognizing the interface is absolutely rapid, taking no more than five minutes of my time. Unfortunately, I get the same issue, unwanted distortion with every input I make, whether it’s through the direct input or the onboard stereo mics.
After a little back and forth with Blackstar and a few different iterations of the software, I finally got a beta version that allows me to get a sound free of unwanted noises, and I can continue with my testing. Blackstar themselves state that this is an issue with phones that support up to 96kHz playback, whereby the unit defaults to the higher sample rate. The fix returns the sample rate down to 48kHz, which hopefully should mean no further issues for Android users.
The app features three main tabs, the first of which is called home, and gives you control over the inputs. You can choose to mute the direct input or the mic input, adjust the input and output levels, and delve deeper into the tone by adjusting the sensitivity, silence, body, clarity, and space. The sensitivity control acts as a compressor, while body and clarity are EQ adjustments. Space adjusts the amount of reverb you hear.
There are presets on the direct input for vocal mic and bass guitar, while the stereo mics have acoustic guitar, vocals, and wide vocals presets. You can also save your settings and the Polar Go will remember them next time you power it up. I’m a little surprised to find there’s nothing for electric guitars here, though, especially considering the Polar’s heritage as a guitar audio interface.
I find everything super easy to use, and the touch dials respond really quickly to my inputs
The camera tab takes over your phone's camera and allows you to film without having to exit the app. There’s a setting here for removing the built-in reverb, but everything else is as you’d expect from your typical smartphone. Finally, there’s a settings section that lets you adjust the reverb types and EQs, record multi-track, direct monitor, USB loopback, a switch for built-in mics or headset mic, and a power saving mode that auto switches the interface off should you unplug the USB.
I find everything super easy to use, and the touch dials respond really quickly to my inputs. The app has zero lag, making switching between the tabs and scrolling around super smooth. The additional side scroll function, like what you get when editing photos on an Android phone, makes fine movements possible, so you can quickly and accurately set your levels.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★★½
My first test involves plugging a Gretsch semi-hollow guitar into the direct input to see how that sounds. It’s as expected, a clear and crisp but a little lifeless and as there’s no preset for guitar, it doesn’t really make much sense to use it this way. So, I grab my IK Multimedia Tonex One, and use that before the direct input to generate some proper guitar tones.
Loading up the camera portion of the app to film myself playing some Mars Volta-inspired freakout licks, when I watch back it sounds fantastic. There is a little compression that comes when I strum a full chord hard despite having the sensitivity control at the minimum, but for the most part it sounds exactly as the pedal does. The body and clarity controls allow me to tweak the sound to get it how I want, and with that I’m quickly and efficiently able to record myself playing, all without having to edit audio and video together in post.
The mics catch the sound of the rain outside, my partner coughing across the other side of the house, and every little touch on my desk
Switching to a Lowden small-body acoustic guitar and utilising the onboard microphones, I find them to be astonishingly sensitive for something so small. They catch the sound of the rain outside, my partner coughing across the other side of the house, and every little touch on my desk, even the sound of me dragging my finger across the touchpad of my laptop. It’s like having a condenser microphone with the gain whacked up, I can hear every tiny detail of what’s around me.
They're really incredible sounding, picking up the ambient space with rich detail. I can see them getting good use for a wide variety of content creation tasks, whether you're interviewing someone for a podcast or creating a promo video for your band performing an unplugged version of your next hit song.
Strumming some moody chords in DADGAD, I play with the space setting on ‘Cave’ mode, which applies some galactic-sounding reverb to my guitar tones, pinging off the squeak of the strings as I move around the fingerboard. There’s also Hall, Room, Plate, and Vocal reverbs to play with, so there’s plenty of choice if you want something a little less gargantuan.
Verdict
Electric guitarists will probably feel a little underserved
For singer-songwriters and acoustic instrument players, the Polar Go is a great tool whether you’re recording videos for Instagram or just want to quickly put down song ideas. The dual onboard microphones deliver recordings of fantastic quality, augmented by a luscious-sounding set of onboard reverbs. It’s not just musicians it will appeal to either, as podcasters, vloggers, and other content creators are sure to find plenty to love here.
Electric guitarists will probably feel a little underserved though, due to the surprising omission of any onboard amp simulation or even just a preset for DI electric guitar. Paired with an amp modeler however, the Polar Go quickly becomes an excellent tool for creating recordings on the go, as well as guitar videos for social media.
Guitar World verdict: It’s about time Android users got a compact audio interface that works with their devices, having been massively underserved while the iPhone hoarded the vast majority of previous offerings. Regardless of your OS allegiance, the Blackstar Polar Go represents one of the best ways to quickly and easily record your music alongside your smartphone, whilst simultaneously being a powerful tool for curating your online profile via video.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | Very solidly built, although so lightweight it gets pulled by cables. | ★★★★½ |
Usability | Easy to use, but I had some issues with earlier versions of the software. | ★★★★☆ |
Sounds | The onboard mics are incredible, but I wish there were some guitar presets for DI. | ★★★★½ |
Overall | Easily one of the best ways to record audio and video simultaneously with your smartphone. | ★★★★½ |
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