Vox Portable Guitar Amp Simulators

The Vox AmPlug Classic Rock version is yet another model for their AmPlug series of portable headphone amps that plug straight into the guitar's output jack. It's a simple little unit with only three controls to control guitar parameters. The three controls are volume, tone and gain. There are no onboard effects of note. The AmPlug is also equipped with 2 1/8" jacks, one for headphones and one that is an auxiliary in. All in all this is a very simple and decent 'grab and go' unit. It does have a good sound due to the fully analog circuitry inside, and it apes the vibe of a "Classic" 100w British stack very well for a $50 headphone amp. UTILIZATION Setting up the AmPlug is very simple by all means. It plugs directly into your guitar's output jack without need of a cable (the 1/4 plug is attached to the unit itself). Setting up good tones is very simple and self explanatory. The volume dial controls the overall output level, the tone control acts as an equalization balancing tool, and the gain control adjusts the amount of distortion or saturation. Being that it's basically a 'single sound' modeller, you are dealing with the sole tone of a Classic Rock type amp, which is supposed to be like a 100w Marshall or other British stack. It's not an absurdly high gain tone but it has enough to do up to seventies/eighties L.A rock fairly easily. As a note, you MUST be using either headphones or an auxiliary speaker... the AmPlug does not have its own speaker so if you don't plug it into one of those, it will not produce any sound. SOUND QUALITY I used this as a grab and go unit when I would have sessions or gigs to go to and I needed to go somewhere and practice quietly for a bit. For a $50 headphone amp, this has a surprisingly decent tone. It's got a very nice British esque raunch that I was not expecting. Turning the gain down yielded some nice "cranked AC30" type lower to mid gain tones. Turning the gain dial up to full tilt brought forth a cool cranked EL34 esque tone that was very reminiscent of a modified Marshall head. Mind you it doesn't have the tube sag and top end sizzle that the Marshalls have, but for a small headphone amp, it is very good approximation. I would like to hear it through a speaker as well, since my earbuds/headphones were of marginal quality. OVERALL OPINION All in all the Vox AmPlug line is a cool way to grab something quick to get your jam on. This Classic Rock unit has a nice sound overall and works for everything from Clapton to Whitesnake. They're about $50 new which is a great deal considering the tonal quality. I sold it in the move to downsize. If I had to buy again, I would probably choose the "Lead" model, which is more suited to my playing style, plus it has an onboard delay (this one has no effects). Definitely a good buy for a headphone amp for sure.

The Vox AmPlug AC30 is a small, portable practice guitar amplifier. Although it bears the name AC30, it really doesn't sound like a real AC30. You simply plug this into your guitar, plug your headphones into this, and you're good to go. It is designed to be a practice amp, and really can't be used for anything else that I can think of. It is powered by two AAA batteries. In addition to the headphone jack, it also has an aux jack to plug a CD or Mp3 player into so you can play along with music if you want to. UTILIZATION There isn't much to know at all about using the Vox AmPlug AC30. Once you've plugged your guitar and headphones in, you're good to go. Just control the three parameters of gain, tone, and volume, to your liking and that's all there is to it. The manual is really simple and really just outlines the obvious, so I don't believe it is necessary. SOUND QUALITY While I won't say that the sound of the Vox AmPlug AC30 is anything to write home about, for what it is to be used for it does the job just fine. It certainly doesn't sound like an AC30, but I doubt anyone was expecting it to anyway. The bottom line with the sound is that it amplifies your guitar sound, making it easy to play your electric on the go without needing a separate amp. It's also great if you want to play without disturbing anyone around you with loud noise. So while I wouldn't expect much from it's sound, it's definitely suitable for practicing. OVERALL OPINION I wouldn't recommend the Vox AmPlug AC30 in place of a real practice amp, but in addition to having a real amp around, the AmPlug AC30 can definitely be a useful tool. It's sound quality is about what you would expect it to be, which isn't very good, but this most likely isn't the main concern for someone looking into getting one of these. I don't know how the AC30 model compares to the other AmPlugs that they have, but I would imagine that they are all in the same vein. I do wish that this was a few bucks less, but I guess it isn't too expensive. As far as products of this type goes, this is one of the best that I've used, but I'd still only recommend it if it's something that you really need.

(Originally written by Stratman junior/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Good, violent, hard and real heavy metal distortion... and also affordable! I haven't tested it yet with multimedia speakers. It's very nice but you won't sleep a lot because you'll spend all night playing your favorite heavy metal riffs... UTILIZATION Ultra easy, no need for a user's manual. You get a huge distortion with your headphones... and I haven't changed the first batteries I installed. I normally set the gain and tone controls to max and the master volume to 2 or 3. The sound with headphones is very loud and you won't hear the sound of your TV. I also took it with me to try out a secondhand guitar at a café... very convenient. SOUND QUALITY Excellent value for money considering the sound. The device is faithful to the guitar you're using. Excellent! It's not very expensive so don't expect an exceptional sound, but it's enough to get a good feeling. No clean sound but that's no big deal... If you want a clean sound buy the classic rock model (and give up this fat distortion). OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for two months and I haven't changed the batteries. I don't use it every day but when I plug it in I play for hours. It's very convenient and you won't have problems anymore with your family and your neighbors. I hesitated a long time before buying it. It looks like a toy but watch out for your ears... It's a good purchase for people who play a lot and don't want to disturb their environment. There are also a classic rock and a clean version available... I give it an 8 because perfection doesn't exist...