Vox Amplug 2 is a compact modeling amp that is meant to serve as a portable piece of gear for your practicing needs. You can use this amp with a pair of headphones so you aren’t bothering anybody while you play or practice.
You may have always wanted an amp that could easily fit into your pocket, and the Amplug 2 is exactly that!
It’s deceivingly tiny but packs many cool features and an excellent sound that makes it one of the best headphone amplifiers to practice with.
In this review, we take a look at the Amplug 2 portable amplifier by Vox to see if it’s a good purchase. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Overview of Vox Amplug 2 Amplifier
Vox – The Brand
Vox is a popular name in the guitar industry that brings innovative and helpful gear for musicians.
If you take a look at the amps in the market, you will find that the brand not only has high quality performance amps but also tiny practice amps meant for beginners and intermediate level players.
The Amplug 2 Series by Vox is a premium collection of tiny specialized amps for a specific musical style. If you are into blues, you can get the Blues Amplug, and likewise, the rock one if you are into hard rock and thrash.
Features
The Amplug 2 has a gorgeous gold and black styling and since it comes in 7 different varieties, the aesthetics differs as well. Overall, it has a neat look and feel but can feel a bit flimsy at times.
It is battery-powered and comes with an auto-off feature as well. It automatically turns off after half an hour of inactivity which comes in really handy at times.
If you are using the effects it lasts about 11 hours but if you’re not using effects, it can last for about 18 hours. For a pocket-sized amp that’s inexpensive, it’s got an excellent battery backup.
The dimensions on this are 31 * 86 mm and it weighs just 40 grams which makes it super convenient to carry around. The foldable plug mechanism is a super handy way to reduce space.
There is a quarter-inch jack input that nicely connects to your guitar and it even turns around at a 180-degree angle, so it keeps out of your way when you play. One of the things that I really love about this is that it also works as an mp3 player!
You can also directly record the power output to an interface if you’d like, so that’s a bonus feature on this. There is also an Aux input jack on the Amplug 2 amplifier. It’s pretty cool that you can use the amp as an audio player super easily.
The interface is quite easy to use, and there’s a LED indicator to show the selectable effects. The output jack on this is also well-made, so you won’t feel like the headphone jack is cheaply made.
Here, we are going to take a brief look at all of the models and see which one you might find useful. Personally, I am guilty of collecting these models though I only the Vox Amplug 2 Blues model on a day-to-day basis.
Our Verdict
The Amplug 2 AC30 is a banger and is modeled after the iconic AC30 amp and sounds superb. It shines in the mid frequencies and you would be surprised by how robust the mid boost feature actually is.
It has the standard Gain and Volume controls that let you adjust the gain and dynamics respectively. It’s super basic and if you’ve ever played through an amp, you should be already familiar with the controls here.
The tiny amp also has a chorus, tremolo, delay, and reverb built-in and so, the AC30 top boost sound can lead to some versatile tones that suit a variety of musical styles from psych-rock to heavy blues.
Our Verdict
If you are into classic electric guitar riffs, you will find this Amplug model to be one of your favorites.
There are three settings you get- clean, classic crunch, and gain lead tone. Clean is good for crisp fingerstyle guitar as well as full-on practicing and the crunch has a fat nice tone. You can use the gain control to get a grungier aggressive sound if you dial it to the high setting.
The sound effects are pretty much the same as on Amplug 2 AC30 except for the fact that it doesn’t have a tremolo control.
Our Verdict
This amp is pretty clear about what it’s meant to do from its name.
The Amplug 2 Metal amp is capable of extreme high-gain sound and outputs fantastic quality to the headphones as if you actually were playing into a 100W metal amp.
The advanced analog circuit on this thing is pretty cool at simulating a real tube amp. I use this one for practicing legato and sweep picking exercise on a regular basis, so I would highly recommend this amp model.
Our Verdict
This one was actually a surprise for me. The Amplug 2 Bass amp is great for bass guitars and since most bass amps tend to be very expensive, having a cheap handy amp that you can take anywhere with you is great!
The Amplug 2 amp doesn’t have any built-in effects; instead, it’s got rhythms to accompany you while you play.
The rhythms are quite versatile, and whether you choose to play rock/pop style or Funk/R&B, it’s got you covered.
You also get to adjust the rhythm tempo and gain on your amp, so that’s great.
Our Verdict
The Amplug 2 Clean is a portable amp with a sparkling sound. It offers three ranges of modes- Pure Clean Tone, Twin Clean Tone, and Boutique Overdrive Tone.
I would use the Pure Clean setting to play fingerstyle or chill music with clean sounds, and the Boutique Overdrive for a punchier edgy sound for blues.
It also has the same selectable effects as the Vox Amplug 2 AC30 model.
Our Verdict
Like the other models, the Vox Amplug 2 Blues also has standard effects, so you can freely adjust the Chorus, Tremolo, Reverb, and Delay.
It has Clean, Crunch, and Lead styles that come in quite handy when you want to get a versatile range of tones ranging from clean to distorted. The same amp model can also work for classic rock riffs.
I personally prefer using the crunchy blues tone as it’s got a good bite to it.
Our Verdict
If you are into playing crisp lead lines, the Lead model will serve you just fine.
It features three levels of mid-boost which can be very handy for players. The Amplug 2 Lead also has a high gain effect which can be great if you are into shreddy chops.
Bottom Line
Overall, the Amplug 2 series is quite versatile and features a quality line of portable amps for your electric guitar. You can also get it in a flavor that you feel suits your playing style, and since it’s way too cheap, it’s a great purchase.
As far as headphone amps go, the Amplug 2 amp remains unbeaten for the value it provides.
FAQ
What batteries go into the Vox Amplug 2 amp?
The Vox Amplug 2 takes in two AAA-sized batteries. If you would like to, you can also get rechargeable AAA batteries so you don’t have to throw them away.
Where can you buy the Vox Amplug 2 Blues amplifier?
You can check the Amazon links on our site above.
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