Behringer V-Amp 2

Very easy but also read the manual which is fairly short. This will definately give you some very valuable tips. The Tap button is the key here. I don't know how they made any money on this. It even comes with a STRONG stomp pedal and a sweet case. The pod doesn't come with a pedal included! By the way the POD manual sucks! This manual is at least simple to get at the info you want. One other guy mentioned the LEDS as a good reference and very easy to see- he's right, this is a great design- especially for an effects box!

Some people say silly things like they're pro artists and that this thing is not the BOM. I read ego all over that. Don't listen to those guys, this thing has great sound and for recording it works great, just as good as the miked stuff! It just depends on the way you look at your recording process. When miking guys usually go stereo or multi channel because they will record with two or more mikes. Well, If you have a good digital recording sytem/computer station set up you can get multiple channels on the same effect then you can look at each channel and alter it. Then you can blend the sounds or whatever... If you are good at recording then it won't matter, this thing will rule your guitar sound repitoire. It's the best piece of gear for the money I have ever seen.

The plastic Chassis is well designed, the stomp box is metal- I don't see the problem here. Whoever won't take this gigging are probably drunken slobs when they preform and so they can't control themselves and thusly nothing (metal or not)is safe from them. I mean common guys, I am sure you can find a place to put the unit off the floor anyways!

The manuals pretty good and there's a warranty.

I play all sorts of stuff, warying styles of popular music this fits it all and gives me more to try. I have been palying 13 years and I have owned lots of nice gear and expensive gear. I am a very descriminating buyer, usually I will pay big bucks for quality gear but in this case I can negate that rule- this makes me swell with gladness- thank you Behringer! This thing rules the realm of direct box's/virtual amps- I have used the POD and the V-AMp destroys it and for the money, I just can't get over it! I feel like I stole it or something. I want to sleep with it and wake up to it! After all these years of not being quite satisfied with an effects rig, owning one after the next, this is the end of the search. My only complaint is it should have had a switch and yeah, the shape could be a bit more conventional but that's no big deal, I mean we can all complain a little less.

The product is very easy to use. Very intuitive. I didn't read the manual first and I get no difficulties using the unit. But you must read it for better use ! Manual is complete and is multilingual. I got it for a couple of weeks now and I'm still tryin' to find the best sound. It's not hard yo edit sound patches but there's so many possibilities that I'm changing my patches everyday !

I'm using an Ibanez RG570EX with an Marshall VS100 head+ 4X12" cab. I've tried other effects before : ZOOM 505 (sounds like a toy), BOSS ME-30 (hard to get THE sound) and boss compact pedals (mainly Metal Zone : too noisy !). Then I saw Edguy, a Heavy-metal band, playing with the V-amp. And woaw... When I first saw the unit in a store and it's low price, I tought it was nothing more than a toy like the Zoom 505. I was fuckin' and totally wrong ! I mainly play Heavy and death metal so I use a lot of distortion and it's not much noisy (noise gate works very well). I'm able to make my guitar sounds like Iron Maiden or Obituary (fat,loud, low sound !). Other effects sounds great mainly the delay effect. Reverbs are good but I don't hear many differences between the selections. I plug the unit trough my effect loop so I use the unit as a pre-amp. Sounds great and loud !

I heard many bad things about the unit and its plastic case. But the V-amp looks as solid as the POD 2 (and the V-amp is much cheaper !). IMHO, you must be careful with every effect unit (even a metal case 19" metal case Rocktron unit !) so what's the matter if its plastic ? Nothing live forever ! I didn't use it for a gig yet but I will do it for sure !

Can't answer. But I heard that they are OK mainly for getting an upgrade.

I'm playing heavy and death metal for about 8 years now and this is my best unit so far ! I'm still discovering it but I'm sure that I'll keep it for many years. I really love it : good effects (noise gate !!!), good amps simulation, very nice sounds I you play trough headphones. I also tried home recording and the unit seems to be great for this too ! Compared to the POD 2.0, the V-amp 2 is a good deal for sure : some extras, cheaper, more presets... What if it was stolen ? I would get an another... And if it's stolen again... I'll get another one... V-amp 2 gets a nine for me cause nothing perfect (no power switch on the unit ! why ?).

Very easy to use....the basic controls are intuitive and the dial position lights really serve to giveinstant feedback on where the dial is set when looking down on the unit. Making instant changes to preset patch is a snap.....want more delay?....turn the knob to delay and tweak the effects knob and whallah! More delay. Want more chorus.....same thing. I only got this unit yesterday so I'm still fiddling. I haven't had time to get into setting up cabinet and amp model combos yet....but after briefly looking over the manual...it's a pretty easy task. Factory presets are varied ranging from dreamy clean ethereal tones to brutal tripple rectified distruction. Turn a knob and yer there.

Ok....I'm a Satriani nut...I admit it. As a matter of fact, I'm late for my SA (Satch-A-Holic's Anonymous) meeting right now. I've been playing a JS1000 into a BOSS GT-3 Multi-effects and then either direct to my PC or into the effects loop of my Peavey Special 212 amp. I can get some really great Satch tones using the GT-3, but every now and then I just wanna rock out with some seriously heavy tones....i.e. dimebag darrel, zakk wylde, etc. I've been trying for months to program my GT-3 for these tones to no avail. I went to Guitar Center, demo'd a V-amp for about 30 minutes....and was sold. I took it home, plugged it into my Peavey and was blown away. I already have some really sweet clean tones programed on my GT-3 so, I'll be using both processors for my direct recording. The V-amp has 32 amp models, and like 12 cab simulations. It also has a plethora of effects in a similar setup to the Line6 POD. It has great delays, including echo and ping pong delay effects that really give the base tones some serious afterlife. The reverb is ok, but not great. also has an Auto Wha feature...but I have a Dunlop Crybaby 535Q, so I'll prolly never use it. The compression is ok, but not great either. With some tweaking though....it is quite easy to get anything from a lush dreamy clean sound to brutal earth shaking distruction and pretty much anything in between. As with any multi-effects unit though....if yer looking to get your favorite artist's sound perfectly, your best bet is to buy that artist's guitar....buy that artist's amp....buy that artist's exact effects....find out how that artist's set said effects.....well...you get the idea. But if you looking for something that give you a WIDE range of tones and effects....for the price? The Behringer V-Amp 2 CANNOT be beat.

As far as artist tones go, I can get a smooth overdriven Satriani blues tone (Mainly cause I have a JS1000. Outside his fingers and the Boss DS-1, those Paf Pro's and FRED pickups are the heart of his tone.) to a heavy, crunchy, Steve Vai "Die to Live" sound. Metallica, Pantera, Puddle of Mudd, Nickleback, Linkin Park.....you can dial up ANY of those heavy tones with this thing. SRV you say? No problem. Some of the British Amp models will give you that Ibanez Tube screamer sound without a hitch.

When using the rectified amp models, the unit does get a bit hissy when plugged direct into a soundcard on a computer.....but through my Peavy's Effects loop....almost zero noise, even on the most brutal distortion settings.

If you are looking for "Live" Marshall Tones outta the box.....you wont get it here....but you WILL get Marshall tones that sound like they are digital recordings of someone playing live. And this should be ok for people who don't have a fully Pro Tools equiped studio with a Stack of Marshal 6100's and a rack of Eventide Harmonizers. For casual home recording....its tits!

For those folks who say.."But my triple rectifier Mesa Boogie Full Stack blows this away!".....well, Duh! However, most of us don't have $4000 just lying around to blow on that kind rig, not to mention replacing blown tubes and other maintenance. The V-amp provides a very viable home recording solution for the average Joe who's on a limited bugget. For what it does....it is absolutely the best bang for the buck I've ever seen.

For generic tones, blues, rock, clean..etc.....I give the unit an 8

For heavy metal tones.....the unit gets a solid 10.

Average score......9!

Well....in order to cut costs for this unit production, Behringer has cut corners on a few things. The case is molded out of high density plastic....which makes the unit light weight, which is good, but....Its not built like a tank the way BOSS builds their equipment. I would never take this thing to a gig. I would be too worried some drunk bastard would spill beer on my pedal board and fry the damn thing. But, I am quite comfortable leaving it on my desk where I can reach the controls easily and make adjustments as needed.

The weird shape, while cool to look at, poses some connection issues. When connecting it up, you end up having cables radiating from the unit in all directions which can create a jumbled mess on anyone's desk or pedal board.

The jacks seem flimsy because the unit is made out of plastic and you might want to set it up someplace where you aren't anticipating unplugging it or moving it around alot. Repeated plugging and unplugging will certainly wear out the connection jacks.

The unit also doesn't have an On/Off switch. To turn the unit off, it has to be unplugged, so you run into a paradox.....do I leave it on all the time and run the risk of it burning out? Or, do I unplug it after I'm through using it every time and run the risk of shorting something out?

Behringer could solve ALOT of these problems by releasing a Rack Mounted version of this unit....but in improving the things mentioned above....the cost would most certainly go up. Even if Behringer came out with a rack mounted unit that solved these issues and charged $300 for it.....I'd still buy it in a heartbeat!

Overall reliability - 7 simply because of anticipated problems in the future

Haven't had to use any .......yet.

As I said before...I'm a Joe Satriani fan, thru and thru. If it wasn't for him...I never would have picked up a guitar. As you can bet, my style of music falls mainly in the melodic instrumental rock catagory....but I love all kinds of music....grunge...rock..heavy metal...easy listening...alternative...electronica, you name it.

I have been playing guitar for nearly 5 years. I own a JS1000 with custom graphics, a RG570 with Sparkle Blue finish, a Peavey Special 212 amp, a BOSS GT-3 multi-effects, a BOSS DS-1, and a Dunlop Crybaby 535Q Wha pedal.

I was mainly looking for something to conduct direct recording on my PC. I can do this with my GT-3, but couldn't quite get ALL the tones I was looking for. The V-Amp 2 is a welome addition to my home recording arsenal. I had been looking seriously at a POD from Line6 and had demo'd it several times before, but I couldn't justify the expendature. $260-300 is a chunk of change no matter what way you slice it. The V-amp 2 does everything the POD can do....some things it does even better. The delays are better and the heavy metal tones are better as well. With a price tag of $128 for the V-amp 2, it became a "no brainer".

If this unit broke or was stolen....i would most certainly buy another. The feature to price ratio is unbeatable.

The potential reliability issues aside...the Behringer V-amp 2 earns a solid 10!

If anyone is interested...you can hear my tunes (Satch covers and experimental stuff) at http://kencampbell.iuma.com

easy to use; manual could be organized better

Using it with headphones (studio - AKG141); some presets are noisy - sometimes helps to change pickups on guitar (using a Strat). Great effects & nearly endless conbinations...

Seems well made, even though mostly plastic. I'd be careful to get water on it or to drop it.

Play classic rock style, mostly. Played in band when I was a teen. I'm 52 now. Getting back into electrics. Back in band, played a blond Tele w/vibrato thru a Fender Twin Reverb. Sold both years ago to a friend at work for #300...could kick myself, now. The V-Amp 2 is very impressive...exactly what I've been looking for. A friend showed me a 'Musician's Friend' catalog; I looked thru it & saw the V-Amp 2...seemed to fit the bill & boy does it! A friend suggested I buy a cheaper one, but for the price for feature ratio, I couldn't resist. I recommend this product greatly.

This is based on my initial opinion of the unit after recieving it in the mail on Friday night and playing with it all weekend. (And it was really too nice outside to sit inside playing with this unit, but I just couldn't help myself.)
Pretty straight forward in it's usage. Well labled. The manual is OK. (Printed in every language known to makind.) Editing is easy, saving the edit is easy. The manual has the firmware / hardware version printed on it. No real problems.
Getting good sounds out of it takes some fine tuning. More than just tweaking. You have to pick the amp type, the speaker type then add effects. Each of these steps changes the sound and requires more tweaking. I ususally found that the effects detract from the tone, so if I use them at all, its very minimal. (just like my real amps.)

Initially I was pissed and ready to send it back. All presets were too over processed, masking the amp tones. (I'm a tube-tone snob.) I bought the unit in hoping to get good digital approximations of real amps. (Fender, marshall, mesa, etc.)
My setup is basically just a guitars into the unit. (duh.) My list of guitars used covers solid bodies (Paul, strat) and Jazz archtop. I wanted to set up a bank (5 sounds) for each guitar type, ranging from clean to high-gain lead tones in progression. I got the strat and Les Paul banks set up this way, and initially was disappointed after recording the sounds on my 4-track because they sounded very thin. Like the sound you get by plugging an electric guitar directly into the recorder. Then I started working with the sounds again after regrouping, and found the problem to be the noise gate. (setting was on 8 typically) Killed the gate and cut back a little on the gain, and the sounds were much-much better.
There is noise, but it's not white noise from the unit. It's the sampled noise of amp hiss. The higher the gain on the amp, the more amp noise you hear. (just like the real thing.)
I've done alot of recording (originals) over 10-15 years, and I recognize the sound that these guys sampled. It's the sound of a mic stuck right in the cone of your speaker. (Which I never do with real amps, unless I'm running more than one mic.) When running only one mic, I like to have it at ear level about 5-10 feet in from of the amp. (This is the sound that your used to hearing.)
Anyway, I was damned impressed with the sounds that I finally wound up recording. (65twin-clean, 60 tweed champ-blues, 59 plexi-heavy blues, Mesa MKIIc-crunch, Mesa MKIIc-more crunch.)
The sounds may or may not sound exactly like the real amps, but who really gives a shit if they sound good? (Fender-ish, Mesa-ish, etc.)
Did not try running the unit through speakers yet. (I'll update on that later.)
The only sound that I am not yet happy with is the Marshall sound. I can't get that old blues-breaker and Plexi sounds yet. (clapton, Alman bro's, etc.) I'll keep using my marshall for this if I have to.
I'm not really into effects, but they work just like the pedals that I have in my gig box and never really use with my Marshall. Have to use at least compression and EQ on the Sovtek if you want a non-fuzzed out sound.
In short, I'm keeping the unit.

I dunno.
It's plastic. Don't stage dive off of it, or through it at the drummer. Has a one-year warranty

There web site seems OK. They say not to bug them if it breaks in the manual. Send it back to the outfit you bought it from. (Musicians friend, $130+delivery)

I'm not listing my equipment again. See my other reviews for Marshall Artist, Les Paul custom, Sovtek mig 50H, fender Bassman, and lots of crappy solid state amps over the years. (Fender, Ibenaz, Peavy)

Overall, this thing seems pretty cool. This is my first digital piece of equipment, although I have been messing with stuff in music shops when I get the chance.) Played some of the LIne6 Spyder stuff, read alot of reviews on this page, talked to other guys about there stuff, etc.)
My main worry was that this box would be like the J-station in that it doesn't really matter what guitar or pickup you use, you are just triggering the sampled sound. Not so with this unit. A strat sounds like a strat, a Gibson sounds like a Gibson, etc. Very good touch sensitivity and responce. Switching between patches is slow and would be a challenge to use live. Your best bet would be to work around the gaps if you had to change sounds in the middle of the song, and use your guitar volume or volume peddle for gain boost on leads.
I try to play all styles and bought this unit to help. (Right now I am into fusion, jam bands and jazz.) I believe that it will. It's a good tool and should be very popular based on it's price. I would go as far as to say that If I can get all the sounds that I want from this unit, I'll sell my real amps and buy a good power amp and speakers to run this rig as my main amp.
(I don't gig anymore, but may start again at any moment.)
Wish it didn't have the goofy guitar body shape. That sucks. I would love a rack-mount version. Mount it with rack power amp. That would look professional. I don't think you would want the crowd to see the goofy guitar body shape of this thing, so you would have to hide it. (Look folks, I'm playing through a toy!! NOT) Of course, POD's shape sucks too, but at least thay have an expensive rack mount version.

This is just like operating your normal tube amp. Pre-amp sectons couldn't be easier. However, the effect section is a bit messy unless you memorize all the paramters. And who has the time for that? Still, it's a very user-friendly little gadget.

I use this thing with speaker simulation straight into a mixer, or without ss into the power amp-section of just about any amp (thruogh the effect loop return jack). Sounds great no matter what. I like the semi-distorted, crunch sounds the best, especially the AC15 model is amazing! Marshalls are very good too. The Boogies sound very much like the originals, but they have focused on the lead channels. Boogies are coolest crunched or clean. I've compared this thing to a Pod II, and though the Pod sounds almost as good, it doesn't FEEL like a tube amp. The V-Amp does. I recently used both the V-Amp and my miked Peavey Classic 50/410 on a recording session, and I can't remeber which is which anymore. They sound just as good. Effects are decent, nothing more, but they get the job done. Very cool ping-pong delay. The Pod doesn't have this feature.

Well, it's plastic, so it's bound to break eventually. Haven't had any problems with mine, though, and the plastic looks quite durable. Power supply cable enters the V-Amp in a weird angle, guess this will have to be replaced after some time. Still excellent value though, especcially with the gig-bag.

Very quick reply, but I had to write them a couple of times before they really understood mu question. The seem eager to please..

I work as a session guitarist as well as fronting my own band, and I use the V-Amp for smaller gigs because it's so portable and sounds so good. You will eventually grow tired of hauling large amps around. It's excellent for studio or practice. Actually sounds best to me through a P.A. or stereo. It's a the ideal backup for a rack system, and great for studio gigs. My only complaint is that there is an annoying dip hen you change programs (the effects processor cuts the signal). If it hadn't been for this, I'd probably have used it live more often. You have to think about when you change programs in mid-song. Still an excellent product, though!

The V-amp 2 is one of the easiest to use guitar units I have ever used. the knobs are all placed well, all the effects are accessible. like when your playing late at night after one too many and you want to stop and kick in some lush monster reverb, you can without stopping to 'think' to hard about it.

The sound quality is really great. there are some high frequency artifacts that can be kind of annoying, but these can be worked around. There are a lot of really sweet distortions and overdrives here. although the fuzz box setting sucks big time.

The effects are nice, so much better than my old Rp10. I recorded direct with it and it worked well.

here's the real problem with the V-amp2
it's real flimsy, the input jacks tend to get loose the more you use them. and after a few days the reverb quit working on me. I would never take this to a gig, or get it close to any with a beer in hand. you get what you pay for.

don't know. their web site is nice. they have a lot of presets to download and there is a nice bit of software that allows you to change the settings on the fly. this worked without a hitch

good sound, smart design, flimsy construction

I LOVE THIS THING, I have been playing a an old digitech peice of crap, all the settings were tooooo distorted and too hard to edit, this vamp is great.

VERY good, some better then others, i found that i like to use the Classic Clean setting, and turn all effects off, and turn the gain all the way up, and it gives a good sound.

yes
, i already have

I upgraded to vamp2, and it worked fine

Like i say, i highly recommend this, dont let the cheap price scare you into thinkin its cheap equipment

straight forward to use. maybe i'm not fussy about sound but a few hours experimenting should get you most of the basic sounds you'd need. just turn some knobs to adjust parameters... very easy

it doesn't sound so good, but its certainly the BEST sound this kind of money can buy. the sounds a little thin and harsh, but all the sounds are still very usable. amp modelling is very good, at least for clean and rock sounds which i use. metal and blues sound seem ok but i can't judge properly i guess. effects are usable... especially the stereo delay. its noisy but not excessively used with single coils. there's a noise gate but it kills sustain so i avoid using it as much as i can.

electronics and knobs, display, input jacks are fine, only time will tell.
but the body is plastic and seems fragile. could easily be damaged by mishandling or accident. but its CHEAP, so buy a new one. its still cheaper than a pod.

excellent, useful email reponse on next working day always. gd manual online. behringer seems good in the US, they apparently send the upgrades for some products (fcb1010) free. but i haven't dealt with them in my country singapore

its the most versatile piece of gear i ever owned... because i'm a poor student i guess. if u're on a budget this is the one of the best tihngs you could get... save your money for a better guitar!
go look at the manual to see the deal u're getting with this baby.
most excellent!

Pretty easy you do need to read the book.

For the money this thing smokes. I really like the jcm 800 model they have sounds really great sounds some models are not there but you be able to find some great sounding ones. For the money this really sounds quite good I am really enjoying it.

Some things you will notice cost cutting. Like cheap connector to power supply plastic housing. Just be careful and for price it a well made value.

Great I asked for a another power supply and they jumped right on it.

I use this direct and thru my amps effect chain and have been pleased with it. Are they some quirks and could their be improvements yes their could be. With some tweaking(not much)some great sounds can be found that sound really good. With proper monitoring I would have no problem using thru a whole gig. Great bang for the buck. I really like the british models on this.