To call the Line 6 Catalyst CX 60 a feels insufficient, a bit like referring to the latest iPhone as just a plain old telephone. Sure, Line 6 has done its best to make this Catalyst series look and feel like a regular amp: the chickenhead dials on the control panel, the familiar three-band EQ, presence, a master volume, buttons for changing between two channels. It is a good looking amp, tidily assembled.
But this is very much a 2024 amplifier: digital, lightweight, packing a dozen amp voicings and 24 effects from Line 6’s industry-standard Helix modelling tech, a single 12” 60-watt driver in an open-back cabinet, and functionality out of the wazoo. Each of the amps has its own boost. There’s a , onboard , an effects loop that allows you to bypass the preamp and run your /preamp pedals through the power amp.
There’s MIDI connectivity via USB, deep editing for all your sounds and presets via the user-friendly Catalyst Edit app, and you can use it as a , too. All of this is great. But amps live and die by their tones.
Each of the six amp categories – Clean, Boutique, Chime, Crunch, Dynamic and Hi Gain – has two voicings and they cover all the main food groups of tone, from spanky Fender-style cleans, sauced with a splash of spring reverb, through AC/DC crunch, ’80s hard rock and über metal. Such are the array of sounds, the more adventurous player will have much room to explore – sonic extremists should find the octave-down synth a particular highlight. It is .