Vox AC 30 Headphone Amp

M J Scott · Post by **M J Scott** » 5 Jan 2013 11:37 am

I am thinking about buying this amp. I understand there are better ones on the market, but for significantly more $$$. This one will be used for practice and mostly for travel, so I don't want to spent too much (plus my lap steel is a cheapo so tone is probably not ideal anyway). I did a search and didn't come up with a lot. Anyone have any opinions on these?

Thanks, Mike

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 5 Jan 2013 2:28 pm

Moved to Electronics.

M J Scott · Post by **M J Scott** » 5 Jan 2013 3:05 pm

Having done a bit more study-does anyone have an opinion on the iRig?

Peter Harris · Post by **Peter Harris** » 5 Jan 2013 4:01 pm

MJ...

..I have the Vox unit, and while it is obviously limited, it is fine for me for practice sessions to keep the juices going...

...in fact i bought the bass version for my son as well, and he loves that..

Probably it is more important to have access to good quality, comfortable headphones

Happy New Year from DownUnder

Don Sutley · Post by **Don Sutley** » 5 Jan 2013 6:45 pm

I have a Vox Amplug AC30 and think it sounds great. It's perfect for travel or sitting outside and playing.

I also have a Peavey Ampkit and it's OK, but I greatly prefer the Amplug. It's simpler with less wires and sounds much better.

-Don

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 5 Jan 2013 6:50 pm

Do they have any reverb, or are they bone dry?

Don Sutley · Post by **Don Sutley** » 5 Jan 2013 7:26 pm

Jim Cohen wrote:Do they have any reverb, or are they bone dry?

No reverb. I almost always have a little bit of reverb dialed in on my amp whenever I'm playing, but I don't seem to miss it with the Amplug. It's got kind of a tube like fullness to it. Vox does make some Amplugs with a little delay built in (Lead and Joe Satriani models), but they're higher gain/distortion types.

-Don

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 8 Jan 2013 3:25 am

I tried all the Vox headphone amps, and to my ears, the Bass version worked best for pedal steel. All the others had built-in distortion, ugh.

Chris Walke · Post by **Chris Walke** » 8 Jan 2013 9:30 am

M J Scott wrote:Having done a bit more study-does anyone have an opinion on the iRig?

I use the iRig app/connector. I like the Fender version better - I think it's a nicer tone, but I often bypass the amp modeller anyway.

Nice thing about the iRig app is you can import your songs from iTunes and play along. There's also a phrase trainer to let you select a start/stop point of a section of a song you are working on, slow it down, speed it up. (If only it could transpose.)

I like it. Good practice tool.

James Holland · Post by **James Holland** » 8 Jan 2013 12:35 pm

I played around with my son's last night, and a tele while UA drummed ND. It was a stocking stuffer...from me. It was ok, but not much better than the $20 cheapo I gave him years ago, that finally cracked to pieces. It did drive my larger headphones just fine. I think I paid $40? And no reverb was hard to get used to.

M J Scott · Post by **M J Scott** » 8 Jan 2013 12:55 pm

Thanks for all the replies. I found a "used like new" one for $25 which should serve my minimal needs well. If not, I can always get the iRig later.

Mike

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 10 Jan 2013 7:08 am

I was laid up for a bit and while recovering I had a Samson S-amp (headphone amp) with 4 inputs $50.00 and a small reverb pedal had a ball with a lap steel and did not disturb the wife at 3:00AM when I couldn't sleep.