Guitar Headphone Amp Compare Prices And Buy

Review by Kevin W. Sturges:

I recently discovered this little tone wonder by cruising the guitar effect pedal vids on You Tube. (I discover a lot of new things that way, especially with independent user reviews). The sound of this little effect box was a real eye-opener! Plus, I was looking for something that would be very simple for practicing on the couch, that didn't require connecting a lot of wires or an AC adapter. Everyone seemed to be very positive about it - which has got to mean something.

My gear lust got the best of me, so the next day when I happened to be in Best Buy, I checked with their new music department (!) and there it was, they had several of them. I purchased it on the spot and couldn't wait to get home and tear the wrapper open.

There are almost no instructions included, except to tell you the obvious not to break it. I was a bit worried that it would not fit into the jack cavity on my two Stratocaster's, but it does quite nicely, so obviously that was part of Vox's design criteria.

All the Amplug effect plugs were made to be plug and play as simple as possible. All you need is a set of headphones, and your guitar to be ready to go. The body features a very bright red LED indicator for on/off status, and three tiny embedded pots labeled: gain, tone and volume. That's it!

The most obvious difference between this and any other distortion/amp modeling effects I've tried, is that the Amplug is completely modeled with analog circuitry. There is nothing digital involved. The benefit is like night and day. The unit totally reacts to your playing, and your guitars pick up and volume settings. When you push it hard, it sags a little bit, and pushes back at you like a real amp and does - NOT like a digital model. The effect is uncannily warm and realistic, like a real tube amplifier.

There is one simple headphone output, which is fine for personal listening, but is a bit of a minus for recording. After hearing this thing I definitely decided that I'm going to be using it for a lots of my recording sessions, but it is a little weak in the output department, which adds a little noise to the signal. It's not a horrible issue, and certainly not worse than using a real amplifier, but I wish they could have addressed this and given the output a hi/lo setting. I record with this by using an eighth inch stereo adapter cable from its headphone output to the stereo RCA ins on my mixer.

The unit is powered by two little AAA batteries. I think it goes through them faster than the 15 hour rating, because it's crucial that you use it with full battery power, otherwise the tone suffers. So, if you buy this keep several pairs handy (or better yet use rechargeables.

I am giving this a rating of 10 for sound quality simply because it just sounds so good!. It's the closest thing I've ever heard to a real Vox AC30 tube amp, without having the real thing cranked and miked up in a room. The fact that you can have that kind of sound for is pretty unbelievable.

I have had several tube preamps (Hughes & Kettner), a Marshall combo, a Roland VG-88 modeler, and most of the latest guitar amp software - this little unit simply blows them all away. The sound is rich and juicy, without ever becoming shrill or brittle, no matter how you set the controls. The three knobs are extremely touch sensitive; the slightest change makes a huge difference in the sound. I have never had anything that reacts so much to changes in my guitar settings. In fact, before this I always left the volume and tone on my guitars all the way up. You have nearly an infinite variety of sounds from clean to dirty (within the realm of an AC30 - this is definitely not a metal device), and even after hours of playing you'll find yourself discovering juicy new tones from it.

The basic sound is warm yet chimey, like a classic AC30. Roll the gain past 8, and the drive suddenly kicks in and puts you in Brian May territory. So convincing! It can also do cleaner Beatles 60s type sounds.

Every other distortion type effect I've tried (especially in Guitar Rig3 and Amplitube - yuch), simply sounds like a dead layer of brittleness stuck on top of your sound. Usually they don't change depending on how you play and lean in. This is completely different, it's more organic like a real amplifier. Back off and it's clean - push in hard and it really rings and grinds. I was really surprised by how it did that - and I'm wondering why it took so long for any manufacturer to do it right - especially since this is built with older analog technology.

With the tone control up past five there is definitely noise introduced. It's not horrible, and no different than any real amp I've played, but you'd think they could make a modern device a little quieter. It sounds very good with all my guitars and seems to bring out their true character, but it really sounds the best with my Fender Strat with stock single coils. Chime city! With my Les Paul I was able to coax out sounds from buttery smooth to 70s rock. It was easy to get the chunky sound from the beginning of T. Rex's "Bang A Gong" (no digital modeler ever let me do that before), to the blocky rhythm guitar sounds from Thin Lizzy's "The Boy's Are Back In Town".

I was also surprised that it sounds very good with my two bases (a Hamer Cruise Bass and a Thunderbird). With a little low end EQ added into the mix, I was able to get a very warm and satisfying recorded bass sound. Not the SVT I'm looking for, but that's another search....can't wait to try the Amplug Bass when it comes out.

The build is made from very light plastic. It looks nice, but it feels a little cheap. I worry that the pots, and the jack are not going to last very long. For something that sounds this good I do wish they could have made it more robust - because I plan on keeping this around for a very long time. Oh well, guess I can't complain for . At this price point, if it broke I would definitely go out immediately and buy another. This device is just begging to have a pro-model made that uses the same analog technology, but in a rocksolid floor mount case, with better output options.

I've been playing guitar for longer than I'm going to admit here. My playing and tastes tend to go a little towards the eclectic. I like 70s album rock and progressive styles ranging from Zepplin, to early Genesis to Killing Joke, with a dash of Terje Rypdal. All played with taste of course

Currently, I am primarily concerned with recording in my home studio. For the last few years most of my guitar sounds have been coming from my Roland VG-88, primarily using my own patches that I've spent ages tweaking. I'm not going to put down the VG here, as I plan on keeping it for ever, but since getting the little Amplug AC30 this week and recording with it, the Amplug has now earned it's place as MY sound. It's that good. In fact, I'm going to put my opinion on the line and say that this device with my two Strats is possibly one of the best guitar sounds I have ever heard. At least coming from my hands anyways....

In my studio instead of plugging it into my guitar, I have it plugged into the output jack of an MXR 10 band EQ so it can always stay in one place, with an adapter cord going from it to my mixer. My guitars plug into the MXR pedal. Don't think you can put another distortion pedal in front of it - it can't handle any type of boost in the sound and will break up in the most horrible brittle way. The MXR EQ is just tweeaked ever so slightly to remove a bit of middle and add top end.

It's very important to remember to change the batteries as soon as the light begins to dim, otherwise the sound loses its character and becomes very thin and brittle as well. Keep several sets handy. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that a pedal has become my signature sound - but it's the truth. I plan to try out the other Amplug flavors, and maybe collect most of them, but the AC30 seems to be the most versatile as it can go from clean to dirty.

Oh yes, one more useful thing that I've discovered about it: if you turn the bright red LED on and and hold it by the jack plug right up to somebody's face, and tell them it's a small personal Taser device, they tend to jerk back really quick as it's really very convincing at that too....

Review by JR Media Freak:

I have always thought of getting some sort of small headphone amp to plug into my guitar and practice with while lounging on the couch or around the house.

When I saw that Vox had made something that fit that description, I wasted no time in ordering this. I have a Vox Tonelab and just love it. This little do-dad is easy to use...thumb wheel controls for Gain, Tone and Volume. There is an Aux jack to plug in a CD or MP3 player to jam along with, and then of course there is the headphone out for your choice of headphones.

The analog circuitry inside is said to emulate AC30 amp, and I think it really does sound more like an amp than a tiny headphone amp. The Gain and Tone controls give you a pretty good control on tones either dirty and distorted or chiming and clean. I think you could even take the headphone out of this and go to a recording device to get a different tone for solos or recording projects as something different!

My take is that this little do-dad is well worth the .99 price tag!

Review by Mark Anderson:

After reading about this gadget from a number of reliable sources, I went ahead and gambled the 40 ducats on it and couldn't be happier. The first time I popped this little doohicky into my Ibanez RG, plugged in the phones, maxed the gain and slowly raised the volume I was nearly slammed into the wall by forcefield of metal madness. I attacked the Phrygian scale then glided into my favorite riffs. Power chords: BANG! Who knew you could get such big amp sound out of this tiny plastic box?

Substitute a plain old minijack cable between the phones jack and anything with speakers and you have an improvised amp with sound as big as the remote speakers allow.

It also has a minijack auxiliary input so you can jam along to your iPod or PC output in virtually total silence. No more annoying neighbors banging on your walls when you get the urge to shred at 2:00 a.m.

It would be nice if there was some reverb on the device, but metal holds up well with big gain so I'm not complaining. The device also has a tendency to swing around while you play -- if you are a highly mobile shredder this might annoy you (but can easily be fixed with a bit of gaffers tape).

If you're on a budget or just want to jam loudly in peace, you could do much worse than this. Throw one in a gig bag with a set of decent phones (and an iPod if you want) and you may as well be carrying a pocket sized amp with you. Note also that this was designed for METAL -- it's all about the gain. If you are looking for something bluesy or some other wimpy sound, consider the other amPlugs.

Review by R. Craig:

When you're just beginning to learn guitar there are two things you want. You want to play LOUD, and you don't want anyone to hear how bad you play. This thing solves both of those problems. Sure you could get one of those "Mini" amps, but they aren't really all that mini, then you need a cord from your guitar connected to the mini amp, and then you need headphones connected to the mini amp.

With this, it's so small, you just plug it into your guitar, and plug your headphones into it. Done.

Review by Duane L. Gibson:

I enjoy playing guitar but sometimes you can disturb others when you play like in hotel rooms etc. I bought this equipment on a whim... but I was supprised at the quality of this product! This thing is killer! It sounds like a marshall stack in the head phones I even plugged it through the board at my Recording Studio and it sounded great! I would recommend this product to anyone it is amazing!

Review by JCP:

I really wanted this to be the one, but the sound and material quality is poor. I returned this and bought the Danelectro Honey Tone for about , it has much better sound quality. They have all the features right but the sound quality, (poor tone, and effects are noisy/buzzy) and material quality is poor. Cheap plastic case, poor battery door, poor printing on the case. Hope they improve it, it is a great product idea, and made in the USA, but where's the quality, especially for this high price? If it was I wouldn't be complaining, well, OK, the Honey Tone still sounds better, so I guess I would. Just my 2-Cents worth, try it your self!

Review by C. L. Corbaley:

I have a nice big Laney amp, but I don't have room to keep it out all the time. Enter the Stack in a Box. This clips right on my guitar strap or on a belt, and I plug in and play, litening via headphones.

The sound is really good, considering. The output can be run out to my stereo in the living room or to an amp where you can use the distortion to play around. Again, the quality is not as good as a pedal through an amp, but when space is tight, this is convenient and crisp. It stores right in the gig bag with the guitar or hangs easily on the strap when I have the guitar in use or resting on the stand. It is almost as convenient as playing my acoustic.

Review by Daniel T. Carey:

i honestly didn't know what to expect but it worked. i don't know if all the ultra static and high pitch squealing was because of my guitar or the amp. i never heard it before in a regular amp.

who knows, i basically muscled passed the squeals and it sounds great.

[squeals on distortion settings only...on clean it's great]

Review by El Rey:

I just bought and received this new generation mini amp yesterday, and I am completely pleased with this plug direct to your electric guitar amp without cord. It's my second ampuplugnplay mini amp. The second amp I still have that I bought about three years ago and still works like when I bought it. This model has better features clean mode for rhythm and clean playing and the overdrive mode for blues, metal and rock guitar. The switch and 1/4 plug seems pretty sturdy built but common sense tells you make sure you don't bump into things with it on your guitar. I like the headphone input switch in case someone is sleeping your playing is private to your ears. But the speaker on is still ok to play without neighbors knocking on your door to turn it down especially if you live in an apartment - it's ideal amp to have, meaning, it's loud enough for you and the people you are playing to in a smaller environment. It's convenient because you don't need to connect to a regular amp. The mini amp is there by pluging to your amp right away even outdoors like in a park. The main thing is I like the sound from this amp it is no Fender Twin or Marshal but it's sure nice to have and I like the features of it, too.

I have been playing off and on since the '70s and and bought many effect pedals from early on not to mention guitars and amps but having this little amp is one of my best guitar accessory purchases I have made.

The MP3 I will have to wait I understand you play along with the recorded music which is great, but I don't have access to a MP3 right now sounds like another good feature to have.

Review by T. Smith:

Received my Ampuplugandplay and tried it out. Came with its own 9 vlt. battery. Very simple operation. Plugged it in, turned it on, sounded fine on my Tele. Suprizingly good volume, clean and crunch. I actually purchased the Plug and Play to practice my Ibanez SGR Bass without waking the kids. Tried it out on the bass, however, the 1/4 jack did not fit into the front/angled output on my bass. So, great little practice amp IF you have a end pin jack.