I've had this nice little practice amp for quite some time. I've also got the big brother Cube 80XL and the almost twin Bass Micro Cube. I live in an apartment and like to practice - without headphones *and* staying friendly with my neighbors. At those kind of low volumes a large amp sounds very flat. This micro cube sounds *wonderful* in a smaller setting. I've also had/tried a Peavy nanovyper, older Marshall and Ibanez mini amps (think both were 15 amp models). The Peavy does have more effects, and the other two much more limited. In all cases - the Roland amp simply has a superior speaker system and base clarity. This seems to be a characteristic of all the Roland amps I've tried - superior clean sound and more conservative effects. The effects tend to be not as extravagant or adjustable as some others perhaps, but they are very solid and tasteful. Preferable to how I gear up - I have pedals do most of the work and want a very nice output. Getting back to those effects - they always work very well on top of what ever input via a bunch of pedals arrives at the amp - quality there. I can't speak for the battery operation - mine is always plugged in. Once you go past a typical house room size - you will run out of enough speaker ooomph. Beyond what this amp was designed for. Again - it sounds wonderful at small room volumes - easy straight forward to use 3 band EQ and amp settings - very solid, standard effects. It does also have a nice rhythm/simple drum machine - what little I've used it. You can forget about it/ never notice it dependable in its operation - and focus on playing your guitar - earns it that final star...