I won't tease you — the detail missing is a tuner. I was kind of blinded by the massive amount of features and forgot to check if the amp had a built-in tuner, but oh well — it is what it is.
It sounds very good for home practice, band rehearsal, and even a live gig. The flexibility with the speaker out is just insane. In my opinion, its sound is not very convincingly "natural" but it can definitely get close when paired with a good guitar cab and thrown into a band mix. And yes, it can cut its path in a band mix.
However, you do need to adjust settings between those scenarios and this is where the Katana falls flat a bit. You only get to save a few presets. And, when you are in a specific preset, you can't know where exactly your EQ pots are dialed in, so rotating one of them makes your settings jump to an extremely different location.
What I am saying is, it needed LED markers around the pots to show you exactly what each setting is dialed at.
Putting aside the woes of editing your presets on the fly, this little amp is a true champ for the bedroom musician who gets to gig only occasionally. Without breaking the bank, you get a quiet practice amp and a live amp with integrated effects, all in one.
