After a few of weeks of using this amp everyday I thought I would post the review I promised. I have run it from low volume for just practicing to high volumes for effect and it sounds pretty good at all levels. Even the distortion and other effects sound good at low or high volumes. Speaking of volume, there is definitely enough volume for most any occasion. At about 25% I can rattle the windows in my house. At about 50% I can rattle the windows in the house across the street from me.
It weighs in at a healthy 48 pounds and is 24" wide, 19+" tall and 10+" deep. Overall a little bulky but not bad compared to some amps and cabinets I have carried around.
Cabinet is pretty solid and quiet at all volumes (so far). No noticeable rattles at any volume. I have heard that some may need to be tightened up but not the case with the one I got. Who knows, may loosen up after some use but I have run into that with high end amps also.
It has the capability of hooking up one or two external speakers. It runs at 60W with just the internal speaker or 120W (2x60) with external speakers.
One thing I noticed right off was a mild hum once and awhile when sitting idle.(never mind, found the hum. it's feedback when the guitar is sitting in the stand next to the amp - silly me)
Modeling is pretty good allowing you to simulate 32 different amps and 15 speaker cabinets in combination. You can select an amp type and speakers to simulate and then add effects and EQ. You can go from very clean to heavily distorted with decent sound. The controls are pretty intuitive and easy to use and see with the LED's that point to the option rather then just a pointer.
There are 125 presets (25 banks of 5 per bank) using a combination of different amps cabinets and effects which are all editable. I would say that more than half of the presets are useless as they are either setup too weak or way too overdriven. The good news is they are good starting points for building your own sound and you can edit and save the changes.
Provides all the common effects like compression, chorus, flanger, echo, Wah Wah, etc. and a separate control for reverb.
Recording from xlr balanced outputs is almost identical to what you hear on the speaker. The good part is that you can configure options to determine what actually gets sent to the outputs. So if you want all effects and simulations you can send it for recording. If you want just a dry out then you can do that.
Now to just a few of the functions and options:
PEDDLE
PRO: Reasonable speed response changing presets.
PRO: Tuner on peddle selectable by holding any button down. Press it again and you are back to whatever preset you had active.
CON: Only changes between the 5 presets in whichever bank you are in and not the bank. No big deal if you program the first 5 in any bank as your favorites. You can still go to the amp and select the other 24 banks and switch between the 5 in that bank with the peddle.
TUNER (Chromatic)
PRO: Dead accurate when compared with my handheld Boss TU-80 and my intellitouch PT-2.
PRO: Amp is silenced when you are in tuner mode.
PRO: Switch to tuner with the touch of a button or the included peddle.
CONS: None that I noticed. After all it is just a handy tuner.
EFFECTS
PRO: Provides all the common effects like compression, chorus, flanger, echo, Wah Wah, etc. and a separate control for reverb.
PRO: Reverb excellent and fully adjustable.
PRO: Fully adjustable effects. Some even have a "tap" feature where you edit the effect and tap a button to the beat of the music and it sets the effect at that speed.
CON: Limited to using only two effects plus reverb at any given time.
Oh yeah, it does have ins and outs for effects peddles so you can still do what you want with effects externally.
RECORDING
With all of the options for outputs this makes for a great recording amp.
PRO: Choice of stereo or mono output.
PRO: Choice of 1/4" jack or XLR cables for connecting to just about any interface. I hooked up my M-Audio Mobile PreUSB with two short XLR cables to the amp and can plug the USB into my laptop and record in an instant. I leave the M-Audio sitting on top.
PRO: Can configure what is sent to the outputs.
PRO: No separate monitors needed while recording. What you hear at the amp is what is recording.
CON: Can't think of any.
SUMMARY:
For the price range ($200 to $250) this is an excellent amp especially in the studio environment with the options for recording. Can it compare to say a Hot Rod Deluxe, nah I don't think so, but it is pretty close. I would not hesitate to use this on stage.
Nils...EXCELLENT review! Just one tip...if you get a midi to usb cable you can edit the effects further using the V-Amp Editor 2.03 software from their site. I haven't used this yet but Arjen said you can use more effects and tweak the settings even more than with the dials.
Nice job!
Nils...EXCELLENT review! Just one tip...if you get a midi to usb cable you can edit the effects further using the V-Amp Editor 2.03 software from their site. I haven't used this yet but Arjen said you can use more effects and tweak the settings even more than with the dials.
Nice job!
Yup, and the side benefit is you can back up your presets and never lose them.
Bump for Wes. He made me write it.
Nils
Thanks for the great review. I really enjoy reading about amps, especially those I have never had the opportunity to use.
I hear so much good about Behringers modeling. I just might pick one of these up some day. I love my tube amps, but it would be nice to get all the classic amp sounds with the push of a button.
Thanks once again for the very good review. 8)
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Nils
Thanks for the great review. I really enjoy reading about amps, especially those I have never had the opportunity to use.
I hear so much good about Behringers modeling. I just might pick one of these up some day. I love my tube amps, but it would be nice to get all the classic amp sounds with the push of a button.
Thanks once again for the very good review. 8)
Wes, you can pick up a V-Amp 2 or the V-Amp Pro on eBay for GREAT prices. I have seen the V-Amp 2's go for $50 plus shipping (usually less than $10) and the Pro version for $80 plus shipping. These little things are very powerful. I know they don't compare to a real tube amp but I'll tell you most of your audience would probably never know.
Mike
You know, I just might do that. I already have a great amp for a modeler. If the Hot Rod Deluxe is known for one thing, it is that it has an excellent clean channel. Maybe not as good as a Fender Twin or Twin Reverb, but probably the very best next thing. It is a great amp for pedals. So I think it would work very well with this modeling pedal. Really, I think it would be about as good as you can get. You get great modeling with the warmth of a tube amp.
I am not worried about the money. I basically do not have much life beyond playing music. I already spend every spare penny on gear. So I don't mind spending a little more. :D
I think I will pick up one of these soon. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Just in case anyone is interested I have created a couple of sound files for your listening distress.
Just: Amp out --> M-Audio Mobile PreUSB --> Laptop --> Audacity.
No mixing or anything in Audacity and no EQ outside of amp.
The two are on my DMusic page filed under Behringer V-Ampire test. One is a picking sample and the other is a strumming sample. I recorded 5 different setups for each so on each there are 5 segments with about a second or 2 between each and playing exactly the same thing for each.
On both the segments are as follows:
1 - Pretty clean
2 - More of a blues sound with a fair amount of compression and lots of bass
3 - Same as 2 with less bass and more mids
4 - Same as 1 with just some echo and reverb added
5 - Really overdriven.
Nils
Thanks for the clips, that amp gets some nice sounds. I liked examples 2 and 3. Example 4 is too much effect for me.
I dunno, I might go out on a limb and try the little V Amp foot pedal. The one that is $70. I have always been torn when it comes to effects or modeling. They sound good through headphones or a little amp at low volume (to me). But when you really crank up an amp loud, effects just kinda sound overboard to me. I always end up tweaking all the effects out to a bare minimum, just a little for color only.
My favorite tones have always just been pure guitar like AC/DC.
But I do like the idea of getting some vintage amp tones with the easy push of a button. So I might try one.
So thanks for the clips.
Could you post some of the amp models on your site?? That would be very helpful.
Thanks,
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Wes,
I know you mentioned that you didn't care if you paid full price for the V-Amp but heck...if you can save a few bucks why not. Like I mentioned you can get the full V-Amp 2 for the price of a new pedal. There have been several listed lately. Even the V-Amp Pro rack mounts are at great prices on eBay.
About cranking the volume...I have not been able to fuly test what you said about the effects not sounding good at high volumes, however, using the Software from Behringer's site it allows you to tweak all the effects quite well. I am still waiting to get a USB to Midi cable but from what I have read and hear from others on the V-Amp Yahoo Group you can get some nice results. I was able to get a great Angus Young setting without the software. I planned on doing what Nils did and record several samples of what the V-Amp can do. I like that Nils did the exact same riff with different settings. I just planned on using popular song riffs.
Also, here is a link to the manual for V-Amp. It lists all the Amp Models in there for all the V-Amps. It is in PDF format.
Mike
Thanks, I read the manual about amp modelers and cabs. Pretty interesting.
Maybe I'll head to Guitar Center and see if they have one of these pedals I can try out.
I already get good effects with my Zoom, and it has some good amp and cab simulations. That is not what I'm looking for really. I want "classic" sounds already prepared. It seems the Behringer has that. Whether they sound good at volume or not who knows?
Thanks for the link.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Nils
Thanks for the clips, that amp gets some nice sounds. I liked examples 2 and 3. Example 4 is too much effect for me.
Could you post some of the amp models on your site?? That would be very helpful.
Wes
Good taste, I like 2 and 3 myself and those are the ones I built and use daily. The others were just to cover the extremes.
By posting amp models on my site do you mean a list of what is available or sound clips of different ones. There are 32 in all.
By the way, options 2 and 3 were a "black twin" model.
Nils
I guess what I am looking for is some of the more classic presets, like the short clips they have on sites like Musician's Friend. They usually have names like "British High Gain"
I would like to hear a classic Rockabilly sound, maybe some very modern heavy distortions used in the down-tuned songs of today, a good crunch tone, nice warm acoustic, stuff like that.
But that was just a request. I don't want you to go to any great trouble or time.
But if it is not much trouble, I would like to hear some of the famous amp simulations. But just a couple, not all 32. :D
Thanks,
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Wes: http://www.behringer.com/V-AMP2/index.cfm?lang=ENG ->multimedia->virtual gear. Fair bunch of samples.
Arjen
Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for. I really enjoyed Crunch V Amp, American Blues, Modern Class A, Brit Class A, Brit Blues, Tweed Combo, and Classic Clean and Brit High Gain.
Rectified Hi Gain was pretty good too.
So, is the V Amp 2 much better than the V Amp footpedal?
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
