Vox Amplug 2 AC30

I wanted a small headphone amp for practice and something to hook up on a P.A. as a backup or for rehearsals.

specs

It?s supposed to be model after the classic Ac30. It has many features, volume, gain, tone pots, 9 presets for chorus, delay, reverb, and 2 presets for tremolo. The construction is not rock solid, the input jack is a bit fragile and the inputs are direct connected to the pcb board, so as the pots. Careful operation is required. You don?t have to replace batteries all the time.

Sounds

With headphones the sounds is excellent, with full gain it has a nice crunch with more open high mids. Rolling off the gain you can enjoy some nice clean sound. This is not a high gain design. The fx presets are usable. Chorus is very good, especially with a dirty sound. The 3 delay presets are a classic slap back delay, a more rock lead tone delay with 3 repeats and finally a strong one repeat delay for those who want to mimic Gilmour or U2 delay dot eight riffs. Reverb has a short preset perfect for surf, and two longer presets the third is too pronounced. Tremolo first preset is nice mild sound; the second is intense, more like a helicopter sound. So all the presets are enjoyable, you can have the tremolo always on and combine it with the other 3 (as I do). When using the FX, sound becomes a little noiser.

connect to P.A.

The surprise is when you connect this amp to a home stereo or a P.A., the eq and the general feel is just right. You can use the volume pot as a second gain pot to get some more saturated overdriven sounds. Perfect for rehearsals, and with the onboard fx you don?t need to carry pedals. Very convenient.

Conclusion

This is a great little amp with so many useful applications. Nice for backup, for rehearsals, or as a headphone amp. Finally, I have never played a Vox amp, I realized that after I played with the amplug, I started to realize, recognize and enjoy the classic vox sound (especially from U2).

I've been playing for years. I use a good old Marshall Combo JCM 800 50W and for small clubs Laney vc15 -110.
I find the VOX Ampplug very useful both for warming up and for playing when the family is asleep. The effects implemented in Ampplug are good and usable. The workmanship is solid and so far I have not had any problems. The AUX input for combination with backing tracks is also interesting. All in all a nice toy that is not too expensive. I didn’t connect it to the mixer so I don’t know what it sounds like when connected to the sound system. For the best experience, you need to have quality headphones, so you should count on additional costs if you do not already have them.

I bought this small amplifier because I wanted to have something battery powered so I can take it outside and that can output to headphones so I don't wake up all my neighbors when I play at night.

It takes two AAA batteries, has a mini-jack output for headphones and a mini-jack input for a backing track. The jack for the guitar can be rotated to work well depending on the guitar or folded in altogether thus becoming quite pocketable. It also has 3 selector wheels for volume and effects, though they are on the far side of the device when plugged in so you can't really see them.

The sound is honestly quite great, I'm quite impressed. I prefer it over my larger Cube amp. The effects are useful additions and can be configured (some of them can definitely get too strong for my taste, but hey, it goes to 11).

The only downside is its flimsy build quality. It's cheap plastic and it feels like it's gonna break easily. Especially on Telecaster-style guitars where the amp sticks out of the body, this feels somewhat precarious. The control wheels are very easy going and it is a bit too easy to accidentally change the settings. The UI with overloading the buttons with functions is a tad unintuitive. But I guess they had to save somewhere given the price so this feels entirely acceptable to me.

I really like this little amp. Thomann delivered again competitive pricing with fast delivery. It was nice to play my guitar headphones on and this little machine gives drums on the background and i could jam over it. Just amazing at its pricepoint. With this amp i could play where ever i want and i can get so many different tunes out of it. This sounds much better than i expected and its versatility was just astounding for me atleast. I will keep this as long as i live. It takes two aaa battery and batterys last about 17 hours of playing. So it is enough i believe. Buy this and wont regret that. Only if they will make model Mark 3 i would think of selling this and buying that new model.

I waited patiently for several months for the Vox Amplug I/O to come in stock, which it never did (until now). I therefore decided to go ahead and order the Vox Amplug 2 AC30.

The design is cool. It looks like a mini retro amplifier. Half of the front is black, the other half is in a checkered red and green pattern. The two halfs are separated by a gold border. The AC30 and VOX text is also in gold.

There are three rotating plastic wheels on the top: gain, tone, volume. The top also has an AUX port, as well as an FX button, giving a number of effects like delay and reverb and tremolo. On one of the sides of the amplug is a power button, together with an LED light indicating if the device is on or not. On the opposite site is a headphone jack (standard 3.5 mm).

The guitar plug on the back swivels 180 degrees, in discrete steps of 45 degrees, giving five stable settings for connecting it to the guitar. The setup feels quite compact.

The amplug is powered by two AAA batteries, and it seems to last a good while. If you accidently leave it on when you're done playing, it will turn itself off after a while.

Given that the Amplug I/O has been released, I would consider buying that one instead if you want the practicality of connecting the guitar to a computer. This, however, is a more proven and mature product than the I/O.