Behringer V-Amp 2

Very intuitive. The clever LEDs on the knobs lets you know whats happening. Behringer manuals are usually worthless.

I use a Carvin Bolt. For recording: into the V-AMP, into the board, into the recorder. Very good simulations, much less digital clutter than either PODs. It's so easy to get a good sounding recording. The effects are pretty good but the real strengths are the simulations. Good touch response especially the clean settings. For live I go right into the house, and if I need to monitor I use a little Roland keyboard amp. No muss, no fuss, no bother. It's definitely not a tube amp, but still has a surprisingly good sound. The output is much more substancial than the POD. Put a little stomp box in front of the V-AMP and you are good to go. Atomic amps are coming out with a series of amplifiers dedicated to modelers. I can't wait, they are due out in April.

Never had a problem so I can't say. It's so inexpensive you could buy two, and it's still less than a POD 2.

Have never needed supoort.

Unless you really are a tone fiend, this is a remarkably good sounding easy to use device. While it would not fool a discerning listener, one can get very realistic amp tones from this little box. I felt that the sounds were superior to all of the simulators that I've listened to, at a cost that is unbelievably low.
Most of the music I play is contemporary/classic pop-rock. The Dead, Band, Southern rock, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Motown,etc. How can you go wrong, and if you decide not to use it as an amp simulator, you can defeat the amp tones and just use it as an effects processor. Cool!

If you can operate your guitar amp then this will not be a problem.
The software from the Behringer site is very intuative also.

I use this preamp for recording and my live rig. I've been looking to switch from my old rig (10 years now..), but I was never happy with the tone I was getting. This thing blew me away.
I can get the Vai mid wha sound with this and great clean sounds. Anyone that gives this unit a bad review has no clue of what a real amp with a microphone in front of it sounds like.
I play originals and covers. This thing can model any amp on the market today, past or present. The clean sounds are crystal clear and the tube sounds have the "squawk" you get from a cranked Marshall.

I went to the store to buy a POD Pro (rackmount) and I played this and the POD side by side. This sounds more like an amp and it doesnt have the latency issues like the POD. But if you have to have a USB connector then pay the extra $500 (sarcasm).

The bands that record in my studio will almost always use this instead of the amp they walked in with. They can get it to sound like their amp with no noise or hiss. Plus with its recording options you can record a dry signal while monitoring the wet signal then go back and add any of the tones you want to match the mix.



****** You can download the POD2Vamp app that will convert all the POD patches to Vamp! ******

I have used it everyday with no problems. Its my main gig rack.

Never had a reason to call tech help.

I play everything from hardcore to pop to blues. I've tried just about every preamp on the market and nothing beats the Vamp dollar for dollar.

It beats the Line6 stuff IMO. They sound similar, a little EQ tweaking and you can get the same results from each of the units. But for $500 I think I'll stay with the Vamp.

For recording to computer, its the best $200 I've spent so far.

Fairly simple to use, I mostly worked it out in the shop, programming's simple. MIDI control is a little more complicated, I found the implementation table in the manual a little confusing. Otherwise can't fault it. A power switch would be nice.

I bought this mainly as a recording preamp, but also hoped to use it for some live effects without having to hurl tonnes of cash at building a rack. The main problem with using it live is that there's a short cut-out when you change patches. Still, it's not what it's designed for, so I can't really complain.

There's an excellent selection of amp models, ranging from cool 50's blues combos to modern stacks. I find that some can be a little unresponsive as far as gain goes, you don't really get the claimed valvey response to pick attack, but it can only be expected to emulate, these aren't exact replicas! The speaker models are a little bit less convincing, and don't always behave as you'd expect, for example I find I get a better blues sound with 4X12 models than the Twin model. Otherwise, I'd just say that you have to be careful with the gain control; I play a lot of different styles, but even when I'm doing metal the gain rarely goes above 5 unless I'm aiming for the ridiculous.

The effects section is very impessive sonically, you can get some great classic tones, and with minimal noise. It's easy to dial up either classy understated modulations or total excess. The ambient effects are particularly good. The only problem here is that you only have two parameters to control (and you have a selection of different reverbs and delays), which can make dialing exact sounds up tricky, but i'm a perfectionist when it comes to effects, but for the money it more than does the trick.

I've had no problems, but I wouldn't want to drop it, and apparently the power input can be problematic. I don't use it live.

I emailed Behringer about the FCB1010 MIDI controller I bought with this unit (DON'T buy an FCB without any previous MIDI experience or a lot of patience), since I'd got an old chip, and they didn't get back to me. I had to find an electronics expert and get it done that way, which apparently voids my warranty). Not very impressed. However, it's the only contact I've had with them, so I'd be unfair to slam them.

A good all-round unit, it's not quite a Pod Pro but it's definitely on a par with Pod 2 etc.

Pretty intuitive. Only tapbutton can be a biatch.

I mainly play rock (pixies, U2, nada surf, neil youn & crazy horse). I 'm playing a godin radiator. It's a pretty mild guitar. So I can't blame the V-amp for lacking Metall-sound (not my style anyway). It rocks. Just don't expect real-amp-presence, it would not be fair to do so. I am a Vox fan. I was a bit disapointed in the AC30 sound. BUT with a little tweaking it's available. Take the AC15(Britt Class A 15W) and ad the AC30 cabinet (no. 11). Ad a compressor if u like. It pretty much nails it (works for me). You will need good headphones or audio-stuff to extract the full potential of this mother.

Have had problem's with Tap-button. Had it sent to behringer. No problems since.
Sometimes sounds weird and dull after switching it on. Resetting is the only cure. So I've learned not to get too much attached to my presets.
I don't gig. Don't want to dodge tomatoes.

Had it sent to behringer through the dealer. Had it back in a few weeks. Nothing special.

Works really nice. I only use a few of the modelled amps. Not very much effects. Some compression and occasional wah.
Don't expect the versatillity of the individual amps. Most have multiple channels in real life.
I like pure guitarsound and even though it's a Fisher Price Styled Toy, it delivers big time!

I think it is very easy to use after having checked all the features out. The interface is very easy to understand, so I didn't have to use the Manual very often. I only used it for special features i.e. the Studio or Live settings.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul Standard and a Yamaha Pacifica 812d. I connected the line out of the Vamp2 with the effect return of my Marshall JCM800 Combo having turned off the cabinet simulation.(I think the Marshall preamp sucks and the Poweramp rocks.)The Vamp2 does much better than the Marshall Preamp.So I have a good Live Setup. The noise gate is very reliable, but I think while using monstrous gain or a compressor the noise could have been reduced in another way.
I found some amp-sims that I Like, but there are too many, that do not have that sound, they pretend to have.
THe effects section is nice.Using them carefully can produce a good bonus to your sound.
The only thing that didn't convince me is the cabinet simulation. You can get much better sounds by using a real cabinet and turning the sim off. Using an earphone, the cabinet sim sucks. Only with clean sounds it works well.
I give an 8 because of it's amazing sound when using a poweramp and a real cabinet.

It has never broken down or such a thing.

Nice thing - very good price. You can nowhere else get such sound for that few money.

Not at all complicated though it sometimes requires a bit of two-handed dexterity to get at certain features. Not an impossible thing, just a little too much cost-cutting on the part of Behringer; an extra knob or too, even small ones, would be better than holding down a button with one hand whilst twiddling another knob. Still, the accessibility of good sounds and effects is very easy. I have a Line6 AX2 which is comparatively much more difficult owing to its infinite tweakability. Behringer have got it right here: I want to enjoy the brew, not spend hours concocting it.
The manual is good and once you've gotten through it, you never need refer to it again, unlike the AX2 which I occassionally must refer to to remember what to do next.

I'm using an Ibanez R?-240??...I don't remember anymore and it doesn't matter much since I've replaced the neck and bridge pickups with Dimarzio's 'Humbucker-from-Hell' and 'Dual Sound' pickups respectively. Both have mini-switches for accessing series and parallel combinations that provide a complete range of tones. Anyway, using this guitar at least, I pronounce the V-AMP2 the finest all-digital modeler out there. Maybe the tube-equipped Vox Tonelab is marginally better, but not by much. This thing actually breathes like a tube amp. Tonal nuances imparted by finger pressure and attack all come through and invite endless noodling and playing just to enjoy the tone!! The clean tones blow away every other modeler I've heard and have actually brought me back to all-clean playing again. Add a little dirt and I'm in Texas-Blues heaven, cranking out Stevie ray licks. Go crazy and you've got super-drenched distortion and sustain just dripping off the guitar's neck. The cabinet models are fantastic and clearly evoke the sounds from different speakers, from loose and fizzy to tight. I don't know enough about how these digital guys are doing this but they've moved the bar up another notch with this thing; Line6, and everyone else, beware! I vastly prefer to headphone-practice through this thing rather than running headphones out the back of my AX2. In fact, running the signal into a stereo mixer and full-range speakers yields better sound quality than my AX2. Amazing! My other 'toy' is a Zoom digital PS-02 pocket recorder with so-called built-in amp emulation. I bought this thing to run a better signal into the unit since its own sounds were so crappy. The V-AMP2 totally solved that problem. I've looked at every other modeler out there and this is the one that covers all the territory, from clean to full nasty distortion, faithfully. When you factor in the ridiculously low price, it's the hands-down winner. I see other reviewers in here who have totally blasted the sound quality of this thing which makes me suspect a defective unit or a defective user and/or defective ears.

The thing sits unmolested in my basement where I practice with it so I can't really comment. Were I to play out with it, I'd probably build it into some protective carrying case since it doesn't look indestructible to me and I'd be anal about damaging it.

No need for them yet; hence no opinion.

I've been playing for 36 years now and like the other 'oldsters' in here, have bought and played just about every popular guitar/amp combination out there (and some not so popular ones too!). I cover lots of styles as the mood strikes, from jazz to country, to rock, to blues and metal. Nothing else, not even my much loved AX2, let's me cover so much territory so happily. I feel inspired to play in all of these genres now. Before, I'd dial in a patch and then quickly dial out because the experience seemed so artificial. Now I'm content and can sit for hours without changing a setting because the sounds are just that good. Then I switch into saomething else and that same feeling swallows me up all over again. I haven't ebjoyed playing this much since those early wide-eyed years when everything sounded amazing just because it was new and I didn't know any better. That's partially what got me bored over the years; once I knew better it became harder to be satisfied with any old single rig. The LIne6 products came along and re-awakened dormant interests but eventually I narrowed my listening and playing field because only certain modeled tones sounded authentic and were able to capture my interest for any length of time. I always felt like something was missing...... Well evidently, Behringer have found that 'missing' ingredient and built it into this box and I'm back in guitar heaven again.
I love the simplicity of its operation and am only mildly annoyed at the two-hand teawing. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy another one. Everything else suffers in comparison (even the Line6 POD)to varying degrees. I do wish it had some built-in stomp boxes and/or EQ, though they would add some complexity that the unit benefits by not having. I admit that I will be checking out the Vox ToneLab in the future because I am ever in search of ultimate tone and reviewers in here indicate that IT might be THE ONE. But for now, and for THIS PRICE, the V-Amp2 has no equal.

Very easy to use, I learned it right away. Editing patches is just a matter of turning the knobs and then pressing the patch buttom to store it. The manual is ok.

It sounds great!!! I use it at my home studio and I also have the V-Amp Pro for live work. The amp simulators sound good, I don?t know how close to the real thing they are but they sound good. It's hard to say, " it sounds like a Marshall 800" for example, because I've owned 4 Marshall 800s and they all sounded different. So I don't worry too much on how "authentic" they are, they sound good.
You can hear some samples of the v-amp at my website: www.bill-lima.com

Not rugged enough for gigs..I have the rack version for gigs and use this at my home studio most of the time. For light gigs such as churches, lounges etc it should be fine.

Company never responded an email I sent 2 weeks ago. That means bad customer in my book.

Well I wasn't going to post a review here but the last review I read was so harsh, I thought I should say a few things also.
This is great unit for recording, IMHO better than the POD 2.0 and depending on your set up this would be better than miking an amp (especially if you don?t have proper acoustic treatment in your room etc). Ideally the best thing would be to have lots of amps in a soundproof, acoustically treated room great mikes and stuff, but how many people can afford that? This is much more practical.
Another thing: lots of people say this is a copy (rip-off) of the POD but they don't even emulate the same amps!! For example this one doesn?t have the Layer amp simulator you find on the POD, the POD doesn?t have the ENGL etc .. I think this thing sounds better than the POD overall. I'm very happy with the results.
If you want, listen to my samples on the site and feel free to ask me questions about it.

I found it easy to learn to use - the manual is clear and well written.

I play sort of bluesy - jazzy - laid back rock (??? what the f....!)
sometimes I like to put a little dirt into the sound and I do make judicious use of FX when I'm recording (delay, reverb, tremelo). I bought this piece of kit for recording - can't see why I would ever want to use it live given that I've got a nice amp and my own carefully selected set of peddles. What I really wanted was to get a decent guitar sound into my little hard-disc recorder.
For me the acid test of a piece of kit like this is the clean sound - and I could not find a decent clean sound in this box! Hi end is anaemic, mids are plinky, bass is rubbery. Think 80's casio keyboard "Guitar".
This cheap and nasty basic sound seems to pervade all the sounds available in the box. Many of the presets are frankly ludicrous - so if ludicrous is your thing, well . . . .
Playing through this thing makes it feel like you aren't playing a guitar at all - all the vibrancy, resonance and string dynamics just get lost and you're left with a smoothed out, synthetic guitar simulation effect that just eats the guts out of your music.
I can't compare it to other similar products - this is my first sorti into digital guitar modelling stuff - and probably my last.

It seemed to be a little on the flimsy side and one of the output sockets came loose - I fixed that myself.
Can't comment upon use in a live gig 'cause I just did not buy it for that purpose.

Never tried them

I have a few other pieces of Behringer kit (DI box, MX802A mixer, Composer Pro compressor) with which I am very pleased, and I really wanted to like the V-Amp - I'd spent #99 on it! and I really thought from the reviews I had read that it would do the business for my guitar recording.
Sound quality is obviously a very subjective thing - however, I have to say that I'm surprised that so many reviewers here seem to think that this thing sounds good - I think it sounds really bad - cheap, synthetic, nasty, non-musical sound. The processing in this thing seriously downgrades and dilutes the natural rich harmonic and dynamic sound which comes out of a decent guitar. I think I read somewhere that the sample rate of the A to D converters in this box is lower than average - if this is correct maybe that explains why the basic sound is so poor - who knows?
It just didn't come anywhere near cutting it for me and I sold it (to a young metaller who thinks its wuuunderfull! so there you go . . . .)

A mentally challenged monkey could operate this thing........so I would say: easy.

Just DO NOT forget to plug in ac adapter to unit before plugging it into the wall.

I was sceptical that a unit I got on Clearence for $125.99, would sound any good........WOW!!!! I am totally blown away!

This thing ROCKS! It has inspired me to play guitar again.....and it makes my piece of crap Peavey amp sound GREAT!

If you cannot find the sound you want or need on this.....you best take up the flute, because you ain't a guitar player!

Unless you throw it aginst the wall, or take a piss on it......it will hold up well!
They include a tough metal footswitch to take out your frustrations on.

I hear that Behringer is pretty good with CS.....I emailed them a few days back...haven't heard back from them yet????? So, I am not going to give an opinion yet.

Overall this is the BEST purchase of gear I have ever made! It made me realize my Strat is awesome...and that fact is due to great amp simulations which let your guitar sing! It has inspired me to play again. It also is a wonderful headphone amp, so the rest of your house will appreciate that.

Do yourself a favor...RUN out and buy a Vamp2!!!!

Took a little bit to get used to what the buttons do. Actually wanted to go through all the presets to see what they sounded like and missed about half of them until I read the manual.

Glance over the manual. It will help you figure out what the thing is doing.

I was just looking for a headphone amp and saw this thing. For $70 more than the headphone amp, I got this. Sound great practicing in headphones and also sound great using it to DI for recording. Doesn't sound to good with my live rig. I would not recommend it if you are replacing any effect processors and pedals.

Plastic case so be careful. Plug in the power adapter to the machine first and then the wall.

No need yet.

Good match for any style of music. Again, it sounds great for recording and headphone practice. I wouldn't use it for live playing.

Easy enough but you can't survive without reading the manual.

I have used V-AMP 2 over two years with Gibson Les Paul Studio, Tokai LC-80, few Jacksons etc. for practising and recording purposes. It's benefits compared to POD's are Marshall and clean amp modellings. In fact only territories where Line6 beat V-Amp are the high gain modellings. The truth is if you want perfect lead sounds you need a tube amp. You can't find it from V-Amp, POD or any other amp modelling units.

This is the weakest part of V-Amp. I wouldn't gig with it ever. Midi setups keep resetting and whole box is made of plastic which means you have to handle it like woman or it'll brake in pieces in no time. I've already broke one of the pot knobs. There's no main on-off switch in this thing and you have to pull cord off if you want shut it and plug it in again when you want it on.

Never dealth with them.

I play mainly 80's hard rock, heavy metal etc. and V-Amp suits that kind of music as good as any modeller can. I've had Flextone III XL which has built-in POD xt (not with all features but amp modellings are same) and I must say it sucked ass compared to my V-Amp. If you are planning to buy an amp modeller V-Amp is the only solution.

Very easy to use, manual is acceptable, but is necessary to navigate all of the options available.

Very close on certain models, almost completely accurate on some of the clean amps, but some of the heavier ones are pretty bad. Send a chill right down your spine, some weird signal that's just not quite right. Pretty good for blues and rock, two decent models for jazz, and the heavy ones are just ok. You can, however get just about any sound you want, there are just so many options.

I play mostly jazz, Pat Metheny, Dimeola, etc. I can get that pure, crisp tone of Pat. Love the headphone jack.
Only problem is the lack of a power switch and the inability to plug the power supply into the wall before plugging into the unit. I work in electronics and this is totally unacceptable. Still worth the money, though.

Ease of use...easily a 10. A monkey could work this thing. Even the "hidden" options are easy to configure. Editing and saving patches couldn't be easier. The manual is good.

My unit has been upgraded (hardware) from 2.0 to 2.1.

I've used this with a few guitars, 6 and 7 strings, a few amps - Fender to a PA. Noise gate could be better...but you'll be glad you have it none the less. You can get a LOT of variety of sounds with it.

Mine crapped out on me....be careful to never unplug or plug it in AT THE UNIT. Always at the wall. That will delete all your presets and sometimes give it a horid sound that requires it to be reset to fix. It's plastic...

Ok, this is why I really wanted to write this review. They have the BEST customer support. I went about trying to get an RA for this and get a replacement unit, but they said this problem was common so they sent me a new chip to upgrade it from 2.0 to 2.1 -- never had a problem with it since. I have also had trouble with the PMX2000 we got for our church, and they were great about getting an RA for that and we're getting it replaced. Behringer mass produces so many things it's not funny and a lot of units get messed up in the making, but if you follow them up on their warranty then you get it fixed and your moneys worth.

Great sounds, very cheap. Does just what you'd want it to do.

I have been gigging for the past 20 years and during this time I have used a vast array of amps and effects. I bought this unit new and it is among the easist of all the units I've ever used. It's very easy to setup and use, for the average guitarist, even without using the manual. However, as with all other digital effects, reviewing the manual will only assist you to enhance your overall pleasure and experience. The manual is easy to understand and is set out simply enough for most people to navigate there way through.

In a word - AWESOME! I am currently using an Ibanez JEM and a customised Ibanez RG550 - V-amp2 and fcb1010 (footswitch) - ADA MP1 -Alesis Qaudraverb GT - custom (100watt per side) power amp - 2 marshall duo cabs.

The amp simulations are just brilliant. I've used an Vox AC30, Mesa Boogie dual rectifier and various marshall amps and I can tell you that these amp simulations are right on the money!! The manual has a list of the simulated amps so that you are able to distinguish between them, which is really good because the best part of it all is playing through all the amp sims and knowing that you have all these amps at your finger tips without the enormous cost. And they really do sound like the original amps.
What I like about this unit is that you are still able to really individualise a personal sound. Even with the presets, you're still able to clearly hear the pick attacks and your finger vibrato. The processing and sustain is truly amazingly pristine and precise.

Very sturdy. No Problem.

N/A

I believe that every guitar player should have one of these, if only to save themselves a hole heck of money.

Easy to use

It should be in a sturdy case. The power connect is the one I worry about as it seems vary fragle, The way the pulgs come out from all sides is kind of weird too, (German design?)
So far it has been reliable.

N/A

Play mainly in church praise and hymns also some jazz and blues. I really like the sound varations that this unit is capable of. I got the footboard too and it makes picking other banks east and gives two pedals to control paramiters in the V-amp.
I play my home built guitar into a Musicman RD-112 50,
also I play a Dean Performer 7 string acoustic and Ibanez 6 string bass.
It is a great buy for the money!

Coudn't be easier. Unless you want more cabinet/reverb options, there are nothing else than knobs to twist. It's just like a real amplifier.

I'll give it a eight because it doesn't sound great with any kind of setup. I'm using a custom made guitar, A/B swtich and the V-Amp. The other output of the A/B goes to my pedals and amp. Sometimes I don't even use my fx/pedal setup.

The V-Amp sounds great through the P/A with proper equalization, but I just can't get a great high-gain sound through my amp, but I can get good cleans and semi-distorted. No, it will not sound good with a cheap amp.

This unit is not noisy at reasonable gain levels. It behaves just like an amp, and depends a lot on your guitar too.

The effects are really basic - no weird effects - but they're not limited. Unlike other multi-fx units, you can take them to their extremes.

I've been using my V-Amp for over a year, and never had a problem with that. I gig withtou a backup.

Never had to deal with them.

My biggest influences are Reeves Gabrels, Jonny Greenwood, Mike McCready, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, John Scofield, and some others. I'm not a heavy modulation effects user. Mostly delay and reverb. I bought the V-Amp because I needed lots of different (and good) distortion/amp textures, and that's what I got.

It's just as easy as a amp interface: just turn the buttons e find your sound. Editing patches is easy too, just eqaulizate the way you want, choose the effects and press for a few seconds the corresponding letter(A to E). I recommend you download the manual from th website(www.v-amp.com) because it's more complete than the one that comes with.

I use a Yamaha Pacifica 012 with two singles on neck and middle postion and a humbucker on bridge, a Meteoro Thor(which is almost dying :), the V-Amp2 and a Behringer MIDI Foot Controller FCB1010 that switch the V-Amp2 channels. Well... the sound... here we go: Amazing, just for start. This little thing can do everything you want, from jazz to heavy metal, it does it all, and really good! My top five emulations are: Calif. Clean(clean channel of a Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ Head), Classic Clean(Roland Jazz Chorus), Brit. Hi Gain(Marshall JCM 800), Modern Hi Gain(Soldano SLO) and Brit Classic(Marshall Plexi 100W).

I depend of it totally! It has my main tones, I don't have other rig beside it.

It's good but when i needed them once, it wasn't what I've expected.

I play in a cover song, we play brazilian rock of all kinds. I play for 6 years, and I know a good tone when I hear one, and I think I've find it. If It were stolen, I HAD to buy antoher, it's my only fountain of sounds, and I have no amp. One advice: if you have an amp, plug it into the effects loop(if the amp have one), pluging into the input may kill the sound depending what your amp you're using. In it's case, let the EQ flat. And another advice: it sounds warmer than POD!!!

Okay, you have to figure out how to use all these knobs (parts of them have a second function) and it takes a SHORT while to get a feeling how to produce good sounds...but imagine you would habe all these available amps on stage or at home..it would be much harder to control all of them...

I'm using the V-Amp 2 with an ESP M-107 7-String guitar, into a H&K Warp 7 Amp (Aux-In) into a bigger then normal 4x12 Cabinet with Junior Celestion Speakers. It didn't take long to find this special "own sound" for me personally. Most amps are useful and sounding great.The drive-function (you can choose between two drive-modes) is great for me, I'm playing hard and deep metal (like Coal Chamber, Mudvayne, etc...)and I really get those tones and tunes with it. The effects don't beat you off the edge, but they are useful as well, especially the tap-button is great to control your delay-effects. Only the rotary-effect should be used with a keyboard/organ, with guitar it's not really necessary. The equalizer is very effictive with most amp-models.
So:
-Many great sounds well done
-Good effects
-Great control of your tone
-Lots of possibilities to find your own sound

It rocks

I had no problems using it, but you should not play football or soccer with it I think ;) ...

Never had to use it

For every kind of hard/rock music it's great, blues and jazz as well...you're playing guitar? Then the V-Amp is your thing!!

It's pretty easy to figure out, but it takes a long time to get the sound your looking for sometimes.

I have used this with a Princeton Chorus and a Telecaster, and have even been able to get some full body tones from the Telecaster. I have used this slightly with a Behringing UltraTwin 2x12 and a Jay Turser Electric, and have found some real nice tones. It is limited in its uses and the effects really aren't as great as they are made out to be. The Echo, Tremolo, Ping Pong, Delay, and Compressor are up to par, but the modulation effects like Flange and Phase really don't cut it. This has some really nice clean sounds, but is hard to get a crisp distortion, but has a lot of balls for "hardcore" stuff. If you mess around with it long enough, chances are you will get the sound your looking for. One problem I noticed as the unit got older, I would get a lot mid-range sound, almost as if it was hooked up to a crybaby that was pushed up half way. Almost sounded like a duck.

This is where the POD really advantages. I used this unit pretty heavily for about 2 years. I had to replace the power supply jack, and the 1/4 inch jacks are starting to get loose. I also lost all my presets one day, and have had problems with getting good sounds ever since. I still use it with my old princeton and it can still make do. It wouldn't last me much longer though.

I called them when the unit started causing me problems. The service seemed great, but I didn't have the receipt from the store I bought it from. I am sure they would have given me a new one if I would have had it, or if I would have pressured enough, but I was just ready to move on and get some newer equipment.

I play rock, with some blues, jazz, and funk influences. I am now using a Jay Turser Strat copy with a humbucker and a Behringer UltraTwin 2x12. The V-Amp worked very well for its time. I am sure the rack mount version is really solid, I would highly recommend that to someone who wants a variety of pro sounds without buying all the pedals and amps, ect. I have been playing pretty much nonstop for about three years now, and about half of that time I have depended on the V-Amp. My recommendation would save up the extra money and get the rack mount version.

It is pretty simple to use just twidle the knobs around or play with the presets, i play thru hifi speakers and it the amp models work really well strate out, after a few weeks you'll know the whole layout and its completly fine. Setting up amp/speaker combinations could be slightly easier but thats it.

The sound quality is brilliant at low settings, its just as you start to push the volume up that you can tell this is a MFX rarther than a stompbox, for practicing/basic recording jobs its great :-)

My plugs contacts have snapped off or been bent loads of times, meaning the unit doesnt power up right, the power lead should just be permently attached, this also happened to my friend who has one and the vamp is now unuasble, the actual box itself itd good.

I tried to order a new plug, they were helpful in locating a plug down to a local supllier, but it was going to cost me almoust as much as a new unit, forcing me to sort of do a DIY jobby on it....

I play mainly rock and strummy type songs aswell as sum lead stuff, no 5minute harmonic tapping solos... and it works great, the only little thing is the deley with the footswitch meaning you have to click the footswitch just b4 you need to change but thats nothing major for practice.....

V-Amp 2 is good when talking about the ease of use. It gives you a general control over the sound by pressing a few buttons and playing with a few knobs. However, sometimes it becomes a nightmare to find the sound you want within the menus. Manual is good and it helps you to cover the abilities of the product. The additional carrying bag and footswitch is also useful to select pre-arranged tones. Not bad but needs to overcome that "too much buttons" problem. You may feel as if you are controling the USS ENTERPRISE at some point...

And it also needs a wah controller rather than giving an auto wah.

I ve used an Ibanez RG470 and a Jackson Performer PS4 with V-Amp 2 near to the studio equipment i use (Tascam Mixer, Behringer compressors, etc.) and the final outcome was not as good as a real amp. The sound is too noisy and cannot give you the feeling, the ambience. You can get a good tone to play at home or to record a demo tape but when it comes to a real recording or a live gig, stay away from this one. You will get some dry tones with too much noise. The noise gate stops that stupid fuzzy sounds but then you loose the tone inevitably. The noise gate is not much useful due its lack of control within small ranges. There are 15 levels, and it makes a real difference of sound when changing 1 level, and therefore, it kills the ability to have a control over the tones. My favorite artists are Blind Guardian, Symphony X, Shadow Gallery and I was far away from getting good tones like they do. Also the effect controls are not that good. You are forced to use a small variety of effects with limited control. A good EQ would be good rather than having a bass treble mid set. However, as i ve said, it is good to practice at home. And it has a good price.

No. As sound, I don't think it is very reliable to have good tones on a gig, if you don't have hours to do a sound check with a good sound tech. And as the machine itself, the plastic cover and the knobs should be used very gently. Even with great care, my treble and mid knobs broke 2 times, while trying to get a good tone. Also, after 7 months, the machine went crazy and started to erase tones and give a strange "beeep" sound whenever I used an overdrive tone.

I haven't contacted the company in any way. I've dealt with the local dealer and they did repair the device as the official dealer. The service was good and I got back my V-amp2 within a few days.

I play progresive metal and V-Amp 2 cannot support the variety of tones I need when composing/recording a song. However, when practicing at home or having a rehersal with the band, it may be useful because of its small size, easy to carry bag and small footswitch. Next month I'll buy some Mesa Boogie rack stuff and I guess V-Amp 2 will be a quick-to-set and use equipment for me, nothing more. Especially, if you are using tones with wah wah (like Blind Guardian), V-Amp 2 is nothing more than a piece of junk because it doesn't give you a control over the effects. Final words; good for amateur players and in-home practices, far from being helpful for professional recording, live performances, taking good sounds.

If You are used to this kind of gear most of the parameters are quite easy to adjust. But there are menues You need to press different buttons to reach and parameters You need to press buttons and turn potis at the same time. The manual explains these procedures quite well but I did borrough my V-amp to a novice and he did not understand at all how to use it

My guitar is an Ibanez Sa 160QM. I used the V-Amp in front of a guitar amp, a mixer and with headphones. The best result I got with the headphones, in front of the amp I did not like it at all. There are millions of possibilities in there with 32 Amps all kind of effects, box simulations... At the beginnig I was quite impressed by this but when I tried to program some nice settings I never was really satisfied. The high gain amp simulations make quite a lot of noise. But this was not the main problem, but there was always something missing, especially in the high frequencies.

I bought a Matchless Chieftain some time after I got this unit and the simulation does not even com close to it. There is quite some difference in the price, but I think still a bigger diffence in the quality of the sound. I think it is not possible to compare these units. I liked the V-Amp for just trying some different sounds and for carrying it around on trips but when I got my Matchless I never touched it again. I'll give it a 6 because I think it is quite good for headphone use on trips and for its price but compared to a real amp it should actually be rated below this

I did only own it for a year. In this time period I did not have any problems with it. It does only have a plastic enclosure, but You can put it on your box and it has a heavy duty footswitch so it should not be damaged. I would not expect it to make any problems

Never dealt with them

This is quite a nice unit if You just want to try some different sounds. The possibilities You have with it are very good for the price. But don't think You get some great tube amp sound with this unit.

its eazy to use this piece, leds arround the pots, big display, everything's clear. only prloblem: if you want to set any parameter to an shift-position you need two hands. or the tip of your nose.

for me the V-AMP sounds like if you put a wet carpet over an amp. the simulations are quite similar to the originals. but theres no top end. the sound does not open wide as i would expect from a box like this. there is a lot of hum and noise supressed by the build-in gate. the problem is the gate doen't work proper all the time during the envelope of an note. sometimes you can recognize the noise before the gate closes. if you play any chords you cant hear each string any more. MUDD!!!!

i think it will work for long time until the plastic box will crack. the laquer finish did chemically react with my rubber cables. this looks really ugly. i hate this very often seen way of product quality of behringer

never used it

i play jazz funk soul rock. this piece would be a good match if the sound would be right. i played it for 1 year and now its ready for ebay.

i've bought the VOX tonelab last days. man, this sounds great. not really like a real AC-30 or fender or whatever other amp but ist IS very similar. yes it is expensive, three times of an V-AMP but it's worth each cent. check this out if you can and you will be amazed.

Sounds Fantastic.
I play a Fender Strat with a Seymour Duncan 59 on the bridge and 2 standard Strat single coils.
I use nothing else, just direct into Sonar 3.0 via Aardvark Q10.
I didn't hear any appreciable noise, there was some noise on certain presets, but they just sound like authentic amp/cab noise, so no problem. The verb is passable, and the effects are adaquate, obviously not TC or the like, but for my purposes the effects don't matter as all effects, i.e. verb delay etc.. are applied after the fact.
The gain is healthy and flexible, there are very nice spaces between eq levels, the over all tone is as good as one could ask for, unless you're one of those "Picky because it's cool to be" types.

There's plenty of Distortion even with my not so metal 59 pickup, so if you are using a Super Distortion or 85 you should have no trouble getting the Rectified, Metalfied sound.
clean sounds are what you make them, quiet and ready to work.

I just got the V-Amp 2 for a commercial project I was called in for on very short notice. Had used a POD last time but had to drive 20 miles out of my way to borrow it. I play almost every type of guitar work there is (no I'm not saying I'm a great player), doing alot of commercial jingles and the like so the V-Amp 2 does a great job of supplying ample tones via presets. This is one of the most important features that most guitar FX or Preamp manufacturers totally miss on. They've usually got a bunch of presets for wacked out, weird sounds to show off the FX capabilities. Behringer went the other direction, this thig is ready to plug in, start recording and get to work. With the limited time I had to work with on this particular project , 30 minutes or so, I didn't have time to have to learn a new piece of gear, so having great quality, again, USABLE (Hey Roland and Digitech, try this sometime) presets is fantastic.
I'd like to see an acoustic sim, but can certainly live without one. A S/PDIF out would the final touch on this. Oh yeah, and a power switch.

the only other behringer I've got is a Composer Pro, have never had a problem with it.
The V-Amp is made of fairly durable feeling plastic but has a surprisingly heavy, metal footswitch and thick, good quality cables on both the power supply and footswitch

I've been playing for about 20 years on and off, have been playing pretty steady for about the last 6 or 7 years. I've owned Randall Rg 80, Peavey Classic 30, several digitech pedals (ick, it's like I buy one every few years to see if they've gotten better.)
Boss Blues Driver, MXR Distortion+, Morley WAH/DIS/Volume.. Roland GR30 and several guitars from Kramer to Gibson.
I think if I was to lose this I would by the V-Amp Pro for the rackmount and output connectors (AES/EBU, XLR etc..)
I would have bought the pro this time if I could have found one locally.
Love the Amps, and Cabs, I'm not all that sure about the models sounding like the real thing, but that I don't care about, when I'm looking for a great blues tone, I don't need the amp to say Fender Twin accross it, if it sounds good, it sounds good period. I think people get a bit carried away compairing models vs. the real thing.
Again I'd like to see S/PDIF out, and a power switch.
The effects are fine for live club gigs iffin you like, but for serious recording gigs, I'd use the amps and cabs without hesitation, but use your expensive effects.
And it sounds better than the POD, not just for the price, period. Sorry Line 6 but you been beaten by a company offer better performance for less money.

Easier than a 20 dollar hooker. Super simple and easy to use. Great instructions and very clear and concise. 100 times easier than any $2000 DOLLARS IN 1989 rack piece of shit that some mullet headed 80's hair metal cover band still uses!

Kick ass. A bit of hum on some settings but AMPS HAVE HUM (especially with my shitty cords and badly grounded pickups) so how the hell is that an appropiate criticism. THe only amp model I truly dislike is the Dual Rectumfire setting. I don't know if I'd hate the real amp, but the setting for this lacks to say the least (never heard the real one). But the other Mesa models are good-great (so this is no criticism of Mesas at least the types Petrucci or Hetfield have used and of course the nu metallers have used the Rectum ones so who knows). My favorite settings though, are the Modern High Gain setting, and the Classic Clean setting (Soldano/5150 and Roland Jc120 respectively). These two are the most useful to me, and also the most articulate for the style of music I play (prog and power/death/black metal type stuff). Fx could be better, but thats only the icing on the cake with this thing (its a bonus not a main feature). The auto wah is useless and I prefer a real wah anyway (love my crybaby) . The FX are even tweakable to some extent which is cool, and I'm likely going to try this as a stand alone fx unit on my real 5150 before I get something better. The Fender and Marshall amps are all pretty good-wonderful, of course not the real thing (not as organic and tweakable) but what do you expect from a modeler. I am using this with various Jackson guitars, and am using it to record various projects so its going to good use. Pristine, a bit digital, but wonderful and alive. One thing this is good for, is for fledging guitarists to find the tones/amps they wish to buy. I was considering a 5150 before (would prefer a Soldano but I'm limited with money) and experimenting with this thing cemented in me that I should buy one, since its somewhat similar to the "Modern High Gain" setting. So I bought one. Now I want to buy an actual Jc120 as well. As for recording, this thing is AMAZING. Some of the sounds on it are VERY PROFESSIONAL compared to some Zoom or Digitech bullshit (not that all those companies stuff are bad) for the same price. It kicks ass, BUY IT NOW!

Its plastic. What can I say. I wouldn't gig with this version. I'll probably buy the PRO version and get a power amp for it down the line though. Its built (somewhat) cheaply as far as parts go. But if you're careful with it (like one should be with ALL musical equipment (a hard learned lesson for myself over the years) ) it should last! It even comes with a padded case for all you careless people out there! I have heard about people losing their presets occasionally, but most of the times I've followed up on that they've said that it was some software conflict (I.e third party software they were using with it on their computer) so I can't say how reliable the actual software is. Probably just as good as anything!

Have no idea. THey seem OK. I forgot to hand in my warranty card, so that sucks but I've been busy so I don't know how the support is, etc.

As far as bang for the buck- this is a NUCLEAR EXPLOSION. It comes with a foot switch (though a kind of sucky one) unlike the Pod, and I've heard a lot of the models are a bit better (than at least some of the earlier pods. I got it for cheap and its so DAMN VERSATILE I'm telling EVERYONE I know who plays guitar to get one immediately. A recording tool, a backup amp, an effects box, a vocal booth (just read what they say about the tube preamp and what it can be used for) a midi controller (somewhat limited as that and I haven't tried it much but we'll see)- all in ONE UNIT! No it ain't a POD. I expect the Pod to be somewhat better, more options. But consider that this thing already comes with a footswitch, and you're saving probably 400 DOLLARS on the cash that would go to a Pod and all that shit. Plus there are people coming up with ROMs of a lot of the POD sounds you can download for this thing. This thing may be cheap, but it is the dictionary definition of BANG FOR THE BUCK, hell its a GANGBANG FOR THE BUCK!