Behringer V-Amp 2

Ok, the V-amp 2.0 is really simple, but you must to read all the manual to give the 100%. I don't edit my own patches but i think i do it in the future.

The sound is really correct, I use it for recordding at my home studio and it gives me a real amp sound. Secilly like the rectifiers and the smalls combos, like the champ or the classic 50. Is a little noisy but the real amps are noisy too!, the reverb is very "digital" I don't like it, and i hate the noise gates, but I admit that the v-amp 2 has a really good noise supressor. The effect are decent but no the best I heard, all are usefull, delay are really good you can retard it until 2 seconds! but the flanger and auto wah are wrong.

It's a nice thing: you can play all the stiles with this machine: jazz, rock, heavy... I play blues and rock and I have a ENGL and VOX combos, one strato, a Epiphone SG Custumized, and Fender Telecaster, and V-amp are at the same category that all my equipment.

You don't have it, but I register mine...

It's nice if you looking for a multiefcts or amp simulator don't look another thing. The V amp is really good value. I have heard PODS, BOSS (GT's), digitech, jonhson (really good) all are more spensive but not best than the v-amp

It's a fairly easy unit to use. It's got quite a few amp models, all of which have a useable sound. Editing patches is fairly simple, and it came with a pretty comprehensive manual, so what you can't figure out by playing you can read about. I've never used any firmware other than 2.0, so I can't comment on how it compares to previous versions, but I'm fairly satisfied with the unit.

Well, I have to give this thing two separate ratings. It all depends on what you want to use it for... or rather whether you use it for its intended purpose.

See, the V Amp is lousy for live settings, because you're modeling an amp THROUGH an actual amp, so you get a hybrid sound between whatever amp you're using and whatever you've specified through the unit, so it's going to sound bad. For live settings (and make no mistake, I wouldn't ever use this thing live) I'd have to give it a 2.

However, I use it for line-in recording. This is where the unit shines, as its intended purpose is to simulate a mic'ed amp for recording purposes. I love the thing in this atmosphere. It sounds real, it's got good reverb, and the amp models are reasonably tweakable.

However, the effects on the unit are dismal. If you're buying this thing as a multi-effects box, save your money, they suck. However, if you want to do line-in recording with a realistic amp sound and good amp overdrive, go for it, you can't go wrong.

Seems reliable enough. It's a desktop unit. Don't gig live with it because 1.) It's plastic, and 2.) the thing will make you sound like shit through an actual amp.

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Use it for recording. I can't stress that enough. This thing will ruin you live, but it will save you if all you were doing before was plugging straight into a mixer. Oh, and don't mistake this thing for an FX box either, because the effects suck. But if you need a good modeler for a line-in setting, don't pass it up. If mine broke, I'd buy a new one.

Also, don't let anyone kid you, this thing is just as good as a POD. The POD's effects suck also, the POD will ruin your live sound too, and the POD has good amp models for line in recording. The difference? A hundred bucks or so. Go with the V-Amp.

Dialling up sounds is really easy, and the LEDs around the knobs are extremely helpful as they visualise settings. IMO they are as good as motorised faders, perhaps even better because they are not prone to mechanical error. Unfortunately it's not possible to access all parameters on the unit itself. For this you will have to use Behringer's free software, which is extremely easy to use as well, but makes deep editing during rehearsals impossible - no problem for live use, though.

Live/rehearsal:
My live setup is an Ibanez RG550 plugged into the V-Amp 2 which goes into a Marshall 8008 Valvestate power amp and a Hughes & Kettner 1x12 Speaker. I really like the tone that I get from this setup. As I currently play in a cover band, covering a wide range of sounds is important to me, and I get all the sounds that I want from the V-Amp 2. I'm especially fond of the lead tones, but I have nothing to complain about the clean ones either. As far as noise is concerned: As with any other amp, high-gain settings tend to produce some noise, but it's not more than to be expected, and it can be controlled quite effectively with the built-in noise-gate. It's probably worth noting that I have the V-Amp's cab simulation turned off, since my signal is sent to a guitar cab anyway. As an additional benefit, the delay between switching patches is pretty much negligible this way, so I cannot share this criticism voiced by others.

Homerecording:
My V-Amp 2 goes into a Behringer 802a mixer, and from there into my audio card. For recording, cab sims are of course turned on, and I have only good things to say about the tone that I get.

I use effects fairly sparsely, and they're just fine for my purposes. That is not to say that they aren't good for more - I just don't use them extensively enough to comment on extreme uses. The choice of effects is appropriate for most needs as well, but using Behringer's software for programming is almost mandatory, as it will allow you to dial in effects combinations (e.g. compressor+amp model+chorus+delay+reverb) that are not accessible from the unit itself.

One effect that I would like to see is an acoustic guitar simulation, which would be great for live usage, but I guess you can't always get what you want. :-)

So far I haven't had any problems, but I haven't done that many gigs with it. I would feel better with a backup, but not more so than with any other piece of gear. From what I've heard, the original lithium battery that is responsible for storing presets tends to fail early, so replacing it with a fresh one in time and doing regular midi-dumps of the presets might be a good idea.

I've written them a couple of e-mails prior to purchasing the V-Amp and with regards to other upcoming products, and I have always received friendly replies within a couple of days.

Behringer have an upgrade available for download from their website, but you will need to find someone to burn it into an eprom, since Behringer Germany does not send out free eproms (unless you are experiencing bugs due to a faulty eprom). Line6 provide a better service in this respect, but then you can buy quite a number of eproms for the price difference between V-Amp and POD.

All in all I feel that the V-Amp was an excellent buy. I have been playing for 16 years and have owned various amps, preamps and effects devices (e.g. Peavey Rockmaster, Roland GP-8, Boss GX-700), and in my opinion the V-Amp stacks up to all of them very favorably.

If it were stolen, I'd either buy a new one or I would wait for Behringer's new "V-Ampire" combo amp, which they announced a couple of weeks ago. The advantage of that would be to have a V-Amp 2 together with a stereo power amp and one 1x12 speaker in one box, thus allowing for fewer cables and therefore less hassle when setting things up on stage. I have been thinking of purchasing a modelling combo anyway and have been looking at Flextones and the ZenAmp, but I either missed details such as the V-Amp's LED indicators or lack of effects combinations (no compressor, chorus and delay at once with the ZenAmp) or the fact that you're required to use a proprietary footswitch if you want to use all features (ZenAmp as well).

When taking the price into account, the V-Amp is currently without competition IMO, so I'll give it an overall 10.

Easy to use, but READ THE MANUAL. Very easy to edit patches.

Does not sound good. I'm running it through the FX Return of a Marshall AVT-50. The clean sounds are quite good ('Classic clean' is excellent) and some of the effects sound good (the delay, tremolo, chorus). The Hi-gain sounds are awful. Far too noisy and hissy. Un-unseable. I really did tweak this for ages and could not get any good Hi-gain sounds. Also, like a few reviewers have said, there is a really noticable delay between patch switching. This sucks. It cannot be used live.

It's very flimsy and the power supply is crap. It also has no on-off switch.

Not dealt with them, hoping to sell this dissapointment soon.

This is no good for me. I wanted quality Hi-gain amp simulations and some nice effects. I wasted 100 quid. Save your pennies and buy some analog stomp boxes.

We all know what this ones's about. Simulation effects. Pretty easy to use, however I don't like having to hold down a button to access the second tier of amp simulations - why not a press-down dial, or at least a toggle button. Apart from that, the unit is very easy to operate, however I would suggest at least skimming the manual.

I'm running this with a Cole Clark Defender and an Onyx 336 semi. Sounds great with the Defender, however IMO most of the simulations sound crap with the semi. Maybe I just prefer to run that through my amp direct.

Some of the effects are a little underdone - a slight overuse of flange (which is a bit grotty) combos, but a very nice tremolo and passable compression effect. It just isn't a TS-9 or equivalent though - don't sell your pedals just yet.

I run the unit primarily through the line-in option of a Princeton Chorus, which eliminates the amp's own sound coming through. Goes up to a fair volume, although I just run it direct to the PA when live.

Mmmm.... plastic cases... however, it seems that although it feels rather fragile, its quite tough. The foot switch it comes with is also reasonable. Don't like the proprietory power pack though - thats a real problem. If you want to gig with this unit, I'd suggest keeping an identical unit in reserve - given the price its no different to having a spare pedal. Certainly get a spare power pack ! Having said all that, I don't think the unit will cause much trouble.

Never needed to.

Overall, this is a good unit - good effects and simulations, and lot of flexibility. I tried the POD unit and was put off by the price - then this unit comes in at 25% of the cost with a better sound.

Some people may be able to get away with one of these, no amp, no pedals, however I am not one of them. I get some benefit from it, mainly in convenience and cost, but otherwise fairly minimal. That aside, I think its a decent unit at a fair price. Just make sure you don't run it through the input to an amp - very bad !

The only thing really missing is a metal case.

Easy to use if you RTFM! Editing patches is as easy as tweaking things to your liking, selecting a location to save to, and pressing a couple of buttons. The manual is fairly good, explains most things well. The amp model descriptions/comparisons are really handy. Mine is the latest version as of this writing.

Having read other reviews of this unit, several things need to be stated for prospective buyers of the V-Amp 2. Firstly, like any amplification device, you get out what you put in. If you are a crap player, use a crap guitar, a crap lead and crap headphones, then you end up with a crap sound. Secondly, the unit is designed mainly for connection to a flat-response output: mixer, PA, computer interface, QUALITY headphones. If you use in-ear walkman headphones, it sounds awful. If you use studio-grade, over-the-ear headphones, it sounds great. If you plug it into the effects return, or worse, the front end of a guitar amp, it won't sound good because you're running a simulated guitar amp through another guitar amp.

I use a Tom Anderson Pro Am, a George L's cable and high quality AKG headphones. Most of the amp models sound fine to me, although I've only played through a handful of 'real' ones. Brit Hi-Gain (JCM 800) is great, better than most real 800s I've heard. With the 'Drive' function engaged it's instant Zakk Wylde, if that's your thing. Most of the cleans are good and very useable. They have nice sparkle. Fender Twin, tweed Bassman and tweed Deluxe are my favourites. The Deluxe in particular sounds nice; at low gain it's very clean, and at high gain it's bassy, brown and flatulent. Very cool. The Voxes are very nice too. The high gain amps are quite chunky or smooth, depending on the model, and there is tons of gain on tap. The noise gate is fairly effective on those amps, but no gate is perfect I suppose. The only model I don't like is the Custom Clean/Drive (Dumble). It just sounds strange IMHO, but maybe real Dumbles sound like this? Overall there are tons of sounds in this unit, and it takes some fiddling to find sounds that suit you, but it's worth it. You can find sounds that work for every style of music.

The effects are okay; reverbs are quite good, delays are great, chorus is a bit mushy but still good, flange is a bit weak, the others I don't use. For live use they would be fine, but for critical recording work they wouldn't cut it. A nice feature is the way the output jacks can be configured; in one of the stereo modes, one output runs dry and the other runs wet for monitoring, so you can play against a delay (for example) but record the part dry and add effects later.

Some reviewers have complained about the low sample rate - real guitar amps don't exactly have 20Khz frequency response either, so this isn't really much of an issue. I don't think it affects the sound in a negative way.

I've never had problems with mine, but then I only use it at home. I have the same issues as other reviewers - no power switch, proprietry power adaptor plug which would be a pain to replace in an emergency, plastic case seems a bit flimsy for gigging. For the price I won't complain. The reason they are so inexpensive is because they are made in China, and Berhinger handle their own distribution in some countries, thus eliminating middle man costs.

Never contacted Beringher.

I write/play my own music - fingerstyle acoustic guitar (Carson Crickmore 000) and instrumental electric guitar (Tom Anderson Pro Am). I've been playing for over 16 years. I've come to the conclusion that, for me, solid state and modelling amps are the best choice in terms of price, reliabilty and versatility. The V-Amp provides a lot of scope for finding great sounds. Hopefully Beringher will upgrade the unit again and keep improving on it. IMHO it really does sound better than the POD, at 1/4 of the price.

The unit is very easy to use, even easier if you download the software for editing patches on computer. I use it with behringer's midi foot controller and it works a dream.

I use this in a live set-up using a Marshall JCM 900, and a les paul, I planned to get a pod and to be honest this is the better unit as far as sound quality is concerned. You will not get better sound for this price range! I personally have not had a problem with any of the effects.

I have never had a problem with it

Never had to use it

Well the lack of a metal chasis is disapointing, however for the price completely understandable, but why the hell did they not include a power switch this is the only really annoying thing about the unit. I now plan to get the v-amp pro when it comes out, so that won't be a problem in the future. If you are going to use this in a live environment then you must download the software to control it from your PC, setting the unit up for live applications is essential.

The V-Amp 2 is pretty darn easy to use. You've got to know a couple of things from the instructions but otherwise it's very intuitive. The rotary knobs are very nice. I was using a similar Digitech product, the RP200 and it is much more difficult and time consuming. If you want to really make it easy, download the software and make changes with your computer through the MIDI connection.

I'll give it to you straight here. Not all the effects sound good for a live set up. I still struggle to find a clean sound that comes even close to my clean Traynor YCV40. Where this thing shines is in the distortion settings. The Modern Hi Gain and the Brit Hi gain are phenomenal. They are worth the $130 price tag alone. The effects sound good to me too although I'm not to big of an effects player. I give it an 8 in this category because the cleans are about a 5, the two hi gain models above are easily a 10, and the effects are probably a 9.

I had one problem with it so far. It lost all my presets when I pluged it in one day. I have no idea why. I definitely recommend hooking it up to your computer and saving you library whenever you make changes. Besides that it looks pretty fragile. I would have for it to fall off my amp and hit the ground.

The website is pretty cool. Very easy to exchange presets with other V-Amp users.

Lately I've been playing a lot of rock covers and the V-Amp works well. I play with it live but it is better suited for recording into your computer. I think the clean models sound much better in that format. My only real problem with the V-Amp is that when you switch between sounds there is about a half-second space of silence which really sucks if you're playing live. I don't know why they can't fix this. The lack of an On/Off switch is a nuisance but not a reason to avoid buying one. If it were stolen I would probably buy another but I would try out more of the competition first to see if anything out there is better. Compared to the Digitech RP200, the V-Amp has better sounds and is easier to program but the Digitech has a sturdier package (all metal). Compared to the Zoom 505II that the other guitarist in my band uses, I think the sound are as good if not better and the V-Amp is way easier to program. Overall I really like the V-Amp. I gave some 7s and 8s because I was trying to be realistic. I think this is a hell of a lot of an effects processor for $129. My first effects pedal was a Digitech multieffects pedal that I bought in 1988 which cost $250, and it can't even come close to what the V-Amp can do. I've been playing guitar for almost 20 years now, I've owned Mesa Boogie and Marshall amps and none of them can get the awesome distortion sounds that Modern Hi Gain and Brit Hi Gain produce.

REALLY easy to use. So easy to edit patches with all the lights on it and shit. The manual's fucking awesome. Those German guys sure know a thing or 2 about our music.

Using it with a Strat and headphones (get some good ones and stop whinin ya cheap fux). It also sounds orgasmic through my valvestate. You can get anybody's tone through this thing... personal faves: Metallica, Zakk, Vai, Johnson, Satch, YJM (He fuckin' RULES), SRV, Andrew Ridgeley, Al DiMeola. I'll never play guitar as good as those guys, but if we were to strum an E cord together the tone would be pretty goddam similar.

I BETTER be able to depend on it or I'll be back in the store shoving up that scumbag salesman's ass. Its made of hard plastic but the thing you stand on (the pedal doofus) is made of metal and could withstand Oprah landing on it.

I would take some old BOSS pedals for a backup, or an acoustic and a kazoo if all the electricity in the building cut out. If like a rhino fell on me though, I'd be in deep shit, huh?

Dunno. But the website is way cool. Man, I love the Germans. Especially the way they always support us and stuff like the French. I'm sure their staff take their job very seriously though coz there's some stiff competition out there. Heed my warning guys... oh, and keep on rockin'... yeah!

Totally fuckin' rad. BUY THIS PRODUCT. Its cheap, its way cool, its blue, its got red lights that flash and shit. Sounds da BIZ. What more can ya say. Go download some samples from their site... they're real similar to the actual product.

Very simple to use. 8 because I can't get the editor software to talk to the V-amp though that may just be me.

I play a Gibson SG, mostly blues / rocky style, and into a PC, then out through some half decent studio monitors. I haven't tried the "real" version of every amp on offer but the tones are fine for me. The preset for Van Halen's "Ain't talkin bout love" is very good.

Reverb good, chorus / phaser / flanger OK but I would add these on the PC. Slightly restrictive combinations.

Plastic but cheap - no probs after 6 months.

n/a

I got this for home recording and it suits my needs perfectly. Comparison with the POD versions is subjective, and for half the price it was no decision.

My two cents:
I've been playing for 15 years to no great standard, and I have reached the age where I can afford the gear but not the time. After a long time of copies, I now have a nice guitar and like many an ageing guitarist with a handful of spare green, I thought about getting a half-decent valve amp to play through - one that I could play quietly but get a good overdriven tone. If anyone else is in the same position, get a V-amp. For example the Cornford Harlequin is a superb sounding amp at 6 watts, but driving it hard for THAT valve tone is still far too loud for a home situation (well my home anyway). When they introduce 0.1 watt valve combos then maybe I'll be waving goodbye to the V-amp.

Well, u need to fiddle around a bit (32 amp models and 15 cabs makes it difficult to choose if u dont know what ur looking for). I just took an amp with eq at 12 o'clock and searched for a cab i liked to join with it. Then just turn the eq to ur taste. So, finding a good sound works pretty easy. Finding the right sound needs some trial and error.

Editing is easy. Just turn the knobs. When u like wot u have, hold the preset knob and all is saved. I believe some parameters can only be accessed by computer. Editing program is really simple. Just hook it up to ur midi port (or gameport). 2bad my computer doesnt recieve midi under xp. Tho, my brothers computer has no problems at all with it.

Well, manual is a bit basic. The MIDI part isn't that extended. Hoped to have some more explained about the midi part. Well, phaps thats why there r some forums on the v-amp.

Unit hasnt been upgrade. I think it is the latest version, cuz its only 3 months old.

Overall, quite easy. Tho I recommend to read the manual for the amp models and the cabs. ALways nice to know what u r trying to model. Ow yeah, and make sure u use the right config mode. There r a view dedicated configurations for ur line outs. And it makes quite a difference choosing the right config. The manual has pictures with suggested configs (to mixing console, to recorder, to amp and pa etc)

Ow yeah, btw, it is offered as a quite complete set (with footswitch and soft bag and adapter). ANd the leds are sooo coooooooool and so easy to work with. When editing on computer, leds r realtime updated. So turn the knobs at the computer will adjust settings at ur v-amp immediately.

Got it hooked to the computer. Use it for practice thru headphones. I am going to play guitar in a choir (play bass now with that choir). They have a lucas pa system with a behringer mixer. So i'll be putting a balanced cable to the mixer then. At home, when practice with other musicians of the choir it is going into a Fender PA100 tube amp with 2 fullrange mcgregor speaker cabs (12" with horn)

I use a Dean D-92 (hb-sc-hb) with it and some ibanez type copy. That one is a neck thru model with stop tail and SD Custom Custom in neck and an EMG 81 in bridge position. SD has coil tap. Tho it is said the unit sounds best with hb. Guess it needs a fairly strong input signal.

It can be noisy (high gain models). ALso my amp need new tubes. MY amp is really noisy to at the moment. Tho, nothing annoying.

Effects are suitable to my needs. Autowah sounds fair, got more of a quack than a wah. Phaser is ok. Chorus is ok. Reverbs and delay r pretty good i think. But i'm no good judge at that (my only "pristine" delays i had were a DOD FX96 Analogue delay and an analogue delay on the Ibanez UE405).

I should be able to get the sound of my favorite artists. But didnt try it yet. I can get good clean, jazz, all types of blues etc. Still looking for 80's metal, and modern metal. Havent founds really brutal metal sounds yet. I need an extra eq for that i think (luckily i have one). BUt the sounds i have i like very much (got i very juicy metal sound. SOm greasy blues. Some jazzy stuff. Great crunches)

2bad i cant use more than 2 modulation effects at the same time.

hm, its plastic, got cheap jack connectors. Them connectors r easy to replace. It looks fragile but so does all rack equipment and desktop processord do. I'm really glad with the bag they gave with it. I will use it without a backup, cuz at the moment i need my money for other things. But, as it costs virtually nothing why not buy 2 or three of them?

Never emailed them. They got a very good homepage with downloads (manual editor etc) and some nice links. Repair shouldnt be a problem cuz they work with standard components. But with this unit, u just buy a new one when u trashed it.

I play all kinds a styles. So this is a perfect match. Playing guitar for 17 years now. First 5 years only classic (nylon strings). I've owned a Fender Bassmann 70, Mesa V-twin pedal, DOD FX96, Big Muff reissue (the cheap 1), Boss DS-1, Boss OC-2, Zoom 9002, Ibanez UE 405, Morley Wah, Behringer DSP1000 virtualizer, Boss GX700, Viscount Footcontroller (with 2 expr pedals). I still own a Kitty Hawk Quattro Tube preamp, an Fender PA100 tube amp (got rid of its original cabs) and 2 MCGregor fullrange pa cabs, this v-amp and a FCB1010 footcontroller. Also have an EKO shortscale bass and a Rok Axe five string warwick copy. Used to have an Alliance 4str acoustic bass. I have a nylon string guitar and 2 electric guitars. And an empty wallet.

I love the leds. I hate the crappy connectors. My favorite feature is the modeling part. Didnt compare it. THis thing is just more convenient and much cheaper than POD and Johnson.

Nothing extra i wish it had. Well, a good pitch shifter or harmonizer would be nice. But its better to use dedicated equipment for that.

Its a very inspiring unit. It only gets in the way with my mouse. Dont have much space on my desk left.

Well, very versatile unit. Just make sure u have a good amp to go with it, or use it for harddisk recording.

It is pretty easy to use. The factory patches are refreshingly good. Not a lot of effects on each patch so you can actually hear the quality of the models. I'd have prefered a larger display, but for the price it isn't a big deal. Editing is fairly easy and the controls work a lot like amps modelled. The manual is actually fairly well written with plenty of diagrams. The only addition I'd like to see is a one page cheat sheet of amp models, cabinets, effects, etc. My unit has the original ROM, I'm burning the new one this week. You also get the gig bag and simple pedal at no extra cost. A nice touch.

I have a variety of guitars to choose from. I've use a PRS McCarty, Strat and Les Paul '59 RI with this and they all stay true. It is a little noisy on the high gain settings - like a high gain amp would be.
The effects sound reasonably good, but it isn't a high end effects processor. It sounds like a decent set of generic pedals. But to be honest I mostly record dry or with a little spring reverb; I mostly add the effects later with PC plug ins.
I guess I'm my favorite artist, since I try to get sounds for the music I'm writing. However, I have done a few checks with CDs. I was especially interested in comparing it with Clapton's Blues breaker sound and it is very close.
I use Rivera amps live, so I'll probably never use this. This was bought to improve on my demo recordings. I had previously used a POD but got increasingly frustrated with it, especially after using a Korg Pandora PX4 for some scratch tracks. They sounded better than the POD models! So I started looking for something new that would fit in the mix better. I ended up with the V-Amp because the clean sounds are very good.
The models are all very convincing. Some Metal heads might want more low end on the Rectifier but it can be added by selecting a different speaker cabinet simulation or with EQ at the board.
Some people have complained about the sample rate, but it doesn't seem to harm the high end. Since a guitar amp isn't full range, I don't think it's a big deal anyway.

Overall, the models are very convincing. I've played through and owned a few of the amps modelled here and it seems to "get it" better than the POD. The clean amp sounds have sparkle in the high end, which is MUCH better than any POD I've played through yet. The twin and bassman are actually really bright. The distorted Marshall sounds are also very close. The other nice thing is that the distortion is not over blown on the "non-high gain" models giving a nice clear sound like a really turned up amp. It doesn't have the unnatural low end of the POD and fits in a mix better, IMHO.

It's not a tube amp and doesn't quite react the same, but it works well for my purpose which is for recording.

For recording it seems pretty well built. I'm not going to gig with it but I don't think you would want to drop it alot.

Haven't used it.

It works well for a lot of different styles. I own several modellers, from the original Rockman and Sansamp to a POD and Pandora. I play through amps live, because the air moving inspires me and the modellers aren't as good. I'd buy another one if it got lost or stolen, because it is a great bargain.
I really like the sound and it makes recording a lot easier. I wish it had a power switch and downloadable upgrades. I chose it for the sound and tried it the recommendation of a guitarist I respect.
Try it with an open mind and ignore the price. You might like it.

All the specs have been listed here, so I'll forego that here. VERY easy to use. Even the sub-layer tweaks are easy to figure out, even without the manual (Assuming you've used a POD, J-Station or anything else digital for that matter). The benefit of the Vamp over the POD (Including the XT) is the lighted perimeter of the knobs that gives you an instant read on your settings for the amp model you've chosen. Surprisingly, the factory presets are useable, and even tasteful.

I bought the Vamp mainly for recording, and for headphone practice when the little ones are asleep in the room next to mine. I should start by saying that I just sold my POD2 and PODxt for my Vamp2. I owned a Vamp2 before, but sold it to get the cash up for the 'latest and greatest' PODxt. After doing an A/B comparison I could'nt justify keeping the Line 6 stuff when the Vamp sounded just as good (if not better) to my ears. I run directly into the Vamp using a EBMM Axis, and it sounds great. I truly love the distortion sounds I can pump out with this thing. To me the POD2 sounded good, on one setting (The Soldano X88 preamp setting) and even that got old after a while. It just seemed sterile and brittle to me after a while. The PODxt was a big dissapointment. I won't go into it here, but I was expecting the XT to sound warmer and truer to the originals. To my ears, the Vamp sounds warmer and more believeable to me. I mainly play hard rock, and compared to my Marshall half stack the Vamp sounds better on some settings. In fact, my band had a gig at a really small club recently, and I decided to try the Vamp live. I had the sound man mix the signal to my monitor, and it sounded great! The effects are good, but not knock-out. I don't like to bury my sound in effects, so this is not a biggie for me. I can say that the reverbs on the Vamp are fabulous, and much better than anything else I've tried in this format. The clean sounds are useable, but not really the Vamp's forte. In the future it'd be cool to see an acoustic patch, or some more advanced effects like a ring modulator and pitch shifter. Overall this little guy sounds FABULOUS, especially for the price.

As I said, I had one before and it worked flawlessly for the 3 months I had it. There are some beefs I have with the unit that certainly would effect the reliability. First, I REALLY HATE the fact that there's no on/off switch! They tell you NOT to plug the power cord into the unit if it's already plugged into the wall, or it'll fry. I have mine connected to a power strip, so I turn off the power strip to turn the unit off. To make matters worse, it has some custom power cord that looks just like the connector to a PS2 mouse or keyboard, so if you lose the power cord, I have no idea where I'd find another one. The case is plastic, which really makes the unit feel cheap. (But hey, for $130 what do you expect. It IS cheap!)Also, the input jacks really feel flimsy, since they're not anchored to the case but mounted directly to the PC board they're mounted on. For the price I paid, I can certainly forgive these quirks, but I'd pay a little more for one in the future for the added piece of mind.

I've never dealt with them. Since they're made in Germany, I'd think getting one repaired might be near impossible for us in the U.S., but they do have a Satellite office in the states somewhere, but their website doesn't specify.

Been playing for 18+ years now, and owned TONS of gear. When deciding to buy a recording amp, money was no object. As I've stated, I sold the more expensive POD's I owned since they have'nt been used since I got the Vamp. Even at the same price as the POD I would have gotten a Vamp and not looked back. What really floors me, is that for $130 I got what I feel is a superior sounding piece of equipment that includes a travel case AND a footswitch, all for $100 to $300 less than anything else comparable! It's not perfect, but for the money this is an outstanding value. As I stated, I HATE the fact that it doesn't have a damn on/off switch, and has a plastic case. If it was stolen, I'd find the change in between the cushions of the sofa and go get another one. The fact that it's so easy to use and sounds so good lets me focus on playing more than tweaking endlessly. Does it sound like a tube amp? Who cares? It's all about the sound you want, and for me, I can get any sounds I need (and even sounds I don't need). For the money, it can't be beat.

Ease of use? Just plug and play. I think the presets are just fine. When I tweaked them I found I was screwing the sound up so I just go with the presets. I have never downloaded patches or burned EPROMS. With 125 presets it gives you just about every combo of cabs, amps, and effects you need already. I read the manual once and instantly understood the operation of the V-Amp 2.

I found that you can use ANY guitar with the V-Amp 2. I had two or three good amps at my disposal. I don't use any of them anymore. I run the V-Amp 2 directly into the mixer. Balanced TRS output means you don't even need a direct box. By the way I work with a variety of bands and provide instruments sometimes as well as doing the sound. Thanks to the V-Amp 2 I save a ton of money. Got rid of all the traditional amps and use a cheap Squire Affinity Tele. It now sounds like a $3000.00 guitar.

I use two V-Amp 2's on stage (one for lead and one for the rythm player) and a Line 6 Bass POD for the bass player. Modelers are the way to go when you gig on small stages. I don't even tote around regular amps anymore.

Never had to use it

The V-Amp really rocks. Its especially good for metal, grunge, rock, and new age. I use it for country and blues. The crunch is super crunchy but the clean presets are a whole lot cleaner than standard amps and there is ZERO hum.

This is an additional comment about the Vamp. (I already submitted a review) I used it for a jam session playing through a PA, and it sounded OK. (mostly heavy blues stuff for this jam, but I used the Mesa sounds anyway because I like them alot..)
Anyway, just some comments about this product: I recorded a couple of tracks using the Vamp direct into the recorder, then recorded my real mashall on a couple of other tracks and did some A-B comparison. It was hard to tell them apart based on the recording.
In fact, I doubt that anyone other than me would be able to tell the difference.
Also, you have to use studio quality flat response headphones if your going to play this thing that way. Would you load your amp with El-cheapo speakers and expect it to sound good? The headphones are your speakers for this thing, so you have to spring for the good ones.
Also, I ran this thing through a tube power amp today (EL34 stocked marshall power amp with the speak sim turned off) and I couldn't believe how great it sounded. You have to re-EQ the amp model after turning off the speaker sim, so I saved about 15 patches just for running "live" into my power amp. The rest of the memory can be used for recording patches.
Guys that know alot about guitar amps and tone will tell you that the power amp is what makes the sound. Not the pre-amp.
I have no doubt that the killer rig in this day and age is not one of the many digital amps out there today. Buy a amp modeler and a nice tube power amp. (Marshall, Randall, etc.) and run the amp modeler through it into a good speaker cab. You won't believe your ears.
I wish they had this technology when I first started playing back in the 1980's. We had to play through crappy solid state peavy's and stuff.
The crummy thing about power tubes is that they don't sound magic unless you crank them up loud. (You have to buy a Marshall power brake or similar product to get them to run hot at lower volumes.)
Anyway. You can get some good sounds out of this thing, so play with it and have fun.

With certain applications, i.e., using the second parameters, two hands are needed, not a big deal but, not a perfect situation.
Other than that, self explanatory.

In this category, there is so much difference in opinion.
Here's mine.
Using the cab sims and models, effects and such...

Through headphones:
The distortions sound very similar, just differences in tone settings.
Whether it be the brit higain or the modern, or the rectified, same sound, just different tone settings. This is also painfully obvious in the POD. Very muffled/inhibited sounding.
The effects are OK, thats all. The reverbs are very digital sounding, chorus isnt very plush, delay is good.
People speak so much of the cab sims, some are too exaggerated. Sounds like you put a stop phaser in front of them. Not very natural sounding.
Through a poweramp/ powered speaker cab:
This is the best of the scenarios, still not great. The sounds are fairly good, again the distortions are similar in sound and feel.
With certain cab simulators, very muffled sounding. Not real crisp or clear sounding at all.

One feature overlooked on this item is this....

YOU CANT SAVE A PATCH WITH OUT A CAB SIMULATOR.
WHY NOT?
You can turn it off, but as soon as you change the patch, it assumes the default cab sim setting.
Its very harsh, buzzy/scratchy sounding with out it, but...
By putting this in the INPUT of my amp, turning off the cab sim, adjusting the tone controls on the v-amp AND amplifier, the sound came alive! It wasnt harsh, muffled, or muddy, it was clear, articulate (more so anyway..) finally, a good sound out of this thing.

BUT NOOOOOOOO! YOU CANT SAVE IT LIKE THIS, WTF!! (what the F#*k?)
change patches and bada bing, bad muffled tone once again.
They need to work on this a bit.
This rating is based on with and without cab sim

Cant speak of this criteria.

Havent contacted them.

I play mostly George Lynch, Van Halen, Queensryche, you know...
REAL MUSIC!!!
It would deem apropos for these and other styles, but, it needs work.
I have an Jackson soloist, Rockman xp100, peavey transfex, a 412, 212, have had other equipment, (a custom tube amp)If it were stolen or lost, I would do nothing, not buy another one, or something else. I would bust out the window in my pickup truck, say it was stolen out of there (along with a bunch of other stuff to make up for the deductible) and keep the money.
As a matter of fact, I am taking advantage of the return policy at Guitar center and bringing it back today or tomorrow.
I compared it to the pod and they are very similar, the features on the vamp are a little better. But similar in sounds and aggravating factors.
Anything I wish it had?
Yeah, usable tone would be nice.

Much like using an amp. Controls are very intuitive and there are no deep layers of menus to navigate.

I've had mine for almost a year and I love it! For the price you can't beat the sounds. I especially like the Fender Twin emulation for clean sounds and the Marshall and Mesa Boogie sounds for overdrive and distortion. I usually play a 1988 American Standard Strat through an old Peavey Heritage hybrid amp, but the V-AMP has sounded great no matter what I've plugged it into for amplification. I have heard that it is particularly good going direct to a PA or through a neutral-counding keyboard amp. I love it for home recording.

I have had no problem with mine, and would depend on it without a backup. However, because I don't trust ANY equipment in a gig setting but can't afford a backup, I would be sure to use an amp that has a sound I like without effects, just in case it failed.

Have had no reason to deal with them. However, there is lots of good support available for this product, including a very helpful Yahoo discussion group that is monitored by Behringer for customer feedback.

I play a variety of styles including blues, rock, hard rock, R&B, and a bit of metal. It has served me well for all styles. I have playing for about 30 years, and was never one to use effects other than a bit of chorus and overdrive from stompboxes. Now that I have my V-AMP I love having the effects, even though I tend to use them sparingly. The amp models and cab sims are outstanding for the price.

There is nothing about the V-AMP that I strongly dislike. I wish the input jacks felt sturdier and I wish Behringer would include some kind of mounting bracket. I bought an Axxess Raxxess (about $10) for mine and it works great on top of a combo amp or mounted on a mic stand. I hope latency when switching presets will be improved, but I haven't found it as much of a barrier as some people have. I don't often make drastic changes in my guitar sound during a song, so if there is a bit of delay when switching sounds it's not a problem for me. Again, FOR THE PRICE, I have absolutely no complaints about the V-AMP. It's the best $130 investment I've ever made, and I will be buying other Behringer products because the value/price ratio is so good.

Much easier than a Pod...when you press the tap key the effects LED changes and you can see what the second parameter setting is for the selected effect and the presence, (should be that way for which amp selected too). And the lights are just cool. There's also one indicator for the second set of amps. Both the Pod and Vamp use a crappy LED which IMO could easily be more informative and have more than 2 numbers. Korg and Digitech boxes have much more informative displays. There is a simple floor board but it only changes one of five banks and does not allow you to change banks. It does provide access to the tuner though.

Everybit as good as a Pod and probably a little better than Korg and Digitech. The amps sound great and very full. If you think you can hear the difference between a real amp and one of these with all the different possiblilities of guitar tone setting, choice of pickups, bass, treble, and mid settings on the v-amp or on the real amp with who knows what knd of reverb thrown in and in what kind of room and where the amp is placed in the room and you've actually played in person more than 3 or 4 of these amps, you've got to be on tour. (rant mode off, sorry) Now I have played several Marshall amps loud and the sound is viseral, but the Vamp comes close. I have a PX4 which I love for it's convienence and display, options, percussion, and sound, but the vamp's amp modeling is better. The effects are fine.

No on/off switch???..if it blows up will Behringer fix it? Probably costs 50$ just to see if could be fixed. Plastic but seems solid.

Nice web site and upgradability

Great box and the price is fantastic. No reason to get a Pod. I play many kinds of electric and acoustic music for about 20 years with about 8 or so different guitars, though the Parker Supreme is my favorite. Again, if you're a top pro you may want the real thing, for the rest of us the V-amp works great. I wish it had a better display. It easily compares with anything out there and I've used a Pod 2, Digitech rp2000, genesis 3, Korg px3 and px4, and costs less.

Pretty easy to use just spend half an hour reading the manual instead of having a wank and your there.

Having only used solid state combos this thing kiks fukkin arse!! i was after that hi gain scooped sound and ive found it. i run it through a marshall 4x12 cab and it sounds awesome. I know some of you out there are going to say that tube amps are better, thats fine if you want to spend however many thousand pounds/dollars getting a rig together, but most people havent. for the price this kinks more ass than i evr thought it would.

it plastic which could be a problem but as long as you keep it out of the way of the fat kid in the front row, and dont stand/kick/throw it then it will be fine.

never dealt with them.

I play thrash and shred, and for this this thing is the bollocks. I record with it as well and it is so versatile. It beats miking an amp up and trying to get everything next to the PC.

You have to read the manual, some of the editing options are a bit confusing (such as having to hold down a button to edit a parameter that you wouldn't know existed if it weren't for the manual).

The manual is excellent, and the unit comes with 3 different manuals. English, German and another language (French I believe).

The unit does not come with the software for PC (and how effortless would it have been to include a CD-ROM?), you have to hit the Behringer website and download it.

The amp modeler in the V-Amp 2 is very good, a vast improvement over the original V-Amp. You get more sustain, more amp models, etc... Even with its low price I felt the original V-Amp was not in the league with the POD and POD2, but the V-Amp 2 is a different story.

Compared side by side with a POD 2 the V-Amp 2 holds its own quite well. Search the web, and you'll find professional musicians testifing to this. Recording direct with it is a blast. I've always thought the true test of a sim simulator is how well it sounds without any effects added, if you put any of the low end processors to the test, almost all will sound unconvincing (take any of Zoom and Digitech processors, turn off all effects and just listen to the amp models dry or with slight reverb many of them are a joke), they rely on a combination of "modeling" plus effects to get their tone and this is the key difference you will find when comparing products such as the POD 2 and V-Amp 2 to other processors, the POD and V-Amp are in a class of their own and what they do is quite amazing.

One thing I really liked is how the manual goes into the history of each amp model, which artist help make it famous, etc.. This helped give a path to dialing up familure sounds, including:

- Classic Clapton (Cream era)
- Classic Van Halen
- Hendrix
- The Edge
- SRV
- Hammet
- Eric Johnson

Although best used for direct recording, the V-Amp 2 can also be used though a PA or an amp. I have a Fender Princeton Chorus, I ran the V-Amp 2's earphone output into my stereo effect loop (return) with dazling results. I've tried this same approach with other processors and was unimpressed.

It's pastic, but it seems well made. The footswitch makes a poping sound when you change settings, so it's not idea for live gigs, unless you put it up on a stand or having it controlled via MIDI.

Never tried to contact them.

If you're considering a POD 2 I would highly recommend you consider the V-Amp 2, you'll save hundreds of dollars for a product of equal quality. There's a reason Guitar Center keeps these in the back off the floor, I think they would much rather sell you a POD 2 and if people knew how well the V-Amp 2 sounds they wouldn't shell out the bucks for the overpriced POD 2

This is an update to a previous post of mine. I have had this unit for 2 weeks and have done extensive recording with it. I have recorded 4 songs in 2 weeks right in my own bedroom using the V-AMP 2, my guitar, bass and Cakewalk's GUITAR TRACKS PRO. This thing has given me an outstanding sound on my recordings and was worth every penny! The High Gain sounds are just fantastic.

The noise gate is so useful on this unit. When I used to record using my TECH 21 PSA-1, I would have to turn my computer monitor off everytime I started a recording. The hiss would be unbelievable. With the V-AMP 2, I bump up the noise gate and can record without laying a finger on the monitor.

Even with doing recordings, I have not even scratched the surface on what this unit has available. The ones I use the most are the Marshall 800, Engl, and Mesa emulators. Like I said before, the cab selections are really helpful. As far as gain settings go, I have found myself actually turning down some gain to get a better sound. I used to always crank the gain no matter what. I have not even delved into the online downloading capabilities of this thing. There are just so many options with this unit.

I still stand by my opinion on this thing, that it can stand with the big boys (POD, J-STATION, etc.) The price on these cannot be beat right now. For all of you looking to do inexpensive recording, pick up a V-AMP 2 and CAKEWALK'S GUITAR TRACKS PRO. You will get everything for about $239. You can do everything you need to without breaking your bank account. And, GUITAR TRACKS PRO comes with Fruityloops so you can instantly have drums for your recordings.

If you've ever used an amp modeler you should have no trouble w/ this unit. The LED's let You know what the settings are, no guessing. Most Behringer manuals are poor, but not too bad w/this one. Sounds for these devices tend to be over processed, but they were not too bad.

I found the sounds too be quite good. I use a Carvin DC127 going into a board. I was able to get some monster sounds from this unit. I have POD's both ver 2.2 & 2.1 & the Behringer easily keeps up with both devices

I can't answer about reliability, but I've had no problems using the unit.
I would never gig without back-up.

haven't needed it yet

Pretty easy, just a quick look at the manual and you are ready to go.

I have a 82' Strat , a 98' Standard Les Paul and a Tagima (brazilian luthier) floyd rose, seymour duncan, scalloped rock'n roll strat type.
Very nice sounds for 129 dollars. Far away from a arm hair moving bass sound of a real set up but outstanding for its price range. I use it also on gigs with a Mosvalve Poweramp and a custom made Celestion Vintage 60 1x12'' cab. Decent sounds with great mobility with its FC10101 MIDI footcontroler. The effects are also very usuable and you don't need anything else to get a good (not wonderful) sound going. A little noise? Sure, but my Marshall did it too... of course. Set its noise gate and shut up.

* Can you depend on it?
Hmmmm... I guess so... but plastic is always scary.
* Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
Shit happens... but the same applies to any piece of equipment...any.

didn't need yet... the site is cool thoughand you can get free firmware upgrades...nice!

I used to own a rack with Marshall JMP-1 + 9200 power amp + 4x12'' marshall cab with a Hush unit and a Boss SE-50 for effects. Since a was rarely using it on gigs and also needed a quick buck, I got rid of it (sadly) and decided to get a cheap raplacement for home recording, practicing and eventually giging. This thing covered my expactations regarding cost/benefit , no, what am I saying, it exceeded! My Marshall is gone but I have a cool usuable sound and I'm ok with it. It is a little thin, but what would you expect, probably a BBE could do a lot for it live.
I play pop through metal and think you 'll have lots of sounds covered here, the Twin is great and the JCM is pretty cool too, not to mention the Soldano..nice!!! In the end, I think this is a GREAT toy for serious players, and it is a serious tool for recorders, in the middle, you will have great fun giggin' too. Bang for the buck: 10. Overall: 9

what can I say? this thing is easy to use

If you use the bypass mode this could be usefull.. But if youre not the footswitch will make clicks between the banks so its useless live..

The adapter got broken after like 5 times using this.. The guys I bought it from fixed a new one but behringer didnt care.

They atleast answered my e-mails but didnt want to help me.. The store helped me instead..

for home use this could be usefull.. You cant use this live due to those horrible clicks the footswitch occures.. This thing sucks.. Save your money and buy a pod or stomboxes instead. Although its cheap for all those effects.. but they are so noisy that you cant use them live anyway.

Pretty easy to use really. Even easier if you use the PC Editor.

Very marginal. Many of the amp models sound fairly organic but thin. The FX are even less than so-so. The Delay is nice, the reverbs are metallic, the chorus' and flangers just don't sound very good. And like the Johnson J-Station there is some kind of weird ringing always happening in the high-end - is the the A/D converters? Could be, I don't know. Stil and all - for $140 it's not bad - but I'd be sorely tempted to spend $60 more and get the Digitech Genesis 3 - way more tweakability - vastly superior FX. The amp modeling still isn't better than the POD 2.X though.

This is an inexpensive product made inexpensively.

Seems to be uneven. FWIW - I know Behringer tech folks lurk in the yahoo V-amp group. They have put out several EEPROM updates to address problems and user concerns.

If you just can't possibly spend more than $150 - this is probably a good choice, but I would A/B it against the J-Station.

No problems here,
It may be slightly easier than the POD

Good enough to fake it in the mix, great for at home with phones.

Are you kidding me?
They are none existant.
5 emails not a single response.
Forget Behringer if you need support.
I would give them a 0 if I could.

Behringer support, is a joke!

I guess you get what you pay for here, not quite as good as the POD2 with 2.3 firmware.

And the fact that their support is non-existant forced me to forget about Behringer for any product.

Behringer should be ashamed of themselves for even offering support. They should simply tell you 'WE HAVE NO SUPPORT'

Pluggin it in, checking the presets out: easy.
If you dig how the whole guitar-preamp-effects-amp-cb-mic-thing, setting of your own sound is VERY easy. Just set the thins as you would in "real world", and the sound gets already close. Then fine tune it a bit, and there you are. Due to the fact that there's a maximum of 2 functions per knob, everyone should make it there.
For the more complicated settings with the downloadable Software, it get's more complicated: this software definitely needs a full reprogramming of it's interface, therefore overall only a 8.

My "standard"-setup is very basic: Wah, Mesa Dual Recto, old Intellifex, 4x12. Strat-Type Floyd Rose Guitars (Robin, Fenders).
This is what I use for gigs, for Recordings same thing, w/o Intellifex, plus Les Paul and a 2x10" Marshall Valvestate for bright Clean sounds, which the Mesa just can't deliver.

So, now the 1st job for the VAMP2 was: Recording for a Film Score. I had no time for transporting/setting up my rig, so I bought the VAMP literally on my way to the Studio- where I plugged it in, realised that the presets suck, quickly turned the knobs to "recreate" my real gig and I had my basic sound. Don't misunderstand me, It obviously didn't sound like the real one, but I had a sound with a usable quality in about 5 minutes. Normally I have 5 minutes just for placing the microphone correctly!

Later, as I got 7more used to it, i developed a set of about 20 Sounds for me, and all work well. Especially the clean ones, which - let's be honest- don't depend _that_ much on tubes, cabs, etc.
I am more flex-able for recording situations and I'll use it everywhere where not the full high-gain sound is needed (for that, a tube, a 4x12 and a SM57 is just the only way for me...).
BTW, Mode 2 with the dry signal to tape and Wet for having fun playin' ist just real COOL!

No, for the live-Situation: I'm so used to my standard equipment and so happy with my sound, I can't imagine replacing the real thing with Amp-Modelling. I tried it in rehearsal situation, and the VAMP2 just couldn't cut trough. It's sounding (in every setting) always to thin and kind of to much compressed ("dead") in Band context.
Maybe, If I'll for example will have a short gig as supporting Act or so in a small location, where speed counts, I'll give it a try anyway - pluggin it into the FOH and Monitoring, I'll tell you when I have my experience with that.
I mean, why rent a bus just for the 4x12 when you're playing for 30 minutes and no fee?

For the rating: 10, because I really think for about 100$ you just can't ask for more - period.

I don't think the plastic case and cheap knops would stand 5 gigs (even my Mesa can't tour forever - I'm a ****** freak on stage).
But for Studio it's perfect (with the carrying bag), just threat it like all other studio material.
OK, the POD is made of metal, but it cost's 3 times as much.

For the purpose I use it, it gets a 9.

I'm used to Behringer equipment that way, that I throw it away when it's broke. To cheap to ask for support ;-)
Never really needed support.
For this particullary Item I give it only a 5, because I count the Software for this rating, and this SW really is not that good..

Read my opinion in "Sound Quality".
I would get another one if it's stolen - in fact, I'll buy me a second one, the I'll have one always ready in the bag to carry it with me, ant the other one at home, plugged in my stereo for practicin.

Cool device! I can't Imagine how I lived without!

This gets an 8 for ease of use, but not because it's any less easy to use than its competition, rather because it has the same shortcomings as its competition. I hate having to hold down a button and turn a knob to access features, but all desktop modelers I've owned have this issue, and I realize it's necessary to keep the size of the unit down.
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Editing is VERY simple. I quickly created a bank of very useful presets for myself, thanks to a clearly written manual. Again, for "deeper" editing, you have to hold buttons and turn knobs, but that's just the way it is.
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Footswitch included, and that's nice, albeit very simplistic.

I've owned a good lot of desktop modelers: POD 2.0, Genesis 3, and the Gay-Station. Once I finally found a tube amp I loved (Peavey XXX....OH YEAH!), I ditched the modelers. With my new band, I've moved virtually my entire rig to the band's studio, and was left with....OH GOD! MY 15 YEAR OLD LANEY 50 WATT COMBO!! NOOOOOO!!!!!
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So, I decided to check out the Behringer, because I wasn't going to pay $200 for a modeler I'd already had, and $400 for the POD XT is ridiculous. I made a good decision.
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I run this unit through my PC into a home stereo or I use headphones. Either way, it sounds good...every bit as good as a POD and equal to my old Genesis 3 (notice I'm not mentioning the Gay-Station...I wonder why.)
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I play metal, and typical 80's style shreddy leads, and need a unit that allows me to create good metal rhythm and lead sounds for when I'm writing stuff at home. I really like the high gain models on this unit (even the rectum-fire, though I tend to dislike the sound of rectum-fires), and I like the idea that Behringer went beyond modeling the Soldano SLO and attempted to model an Engl. With the Genesis 3, warping allows you to create something similar to a Bogner or Engl, but the Behringer has it as a stock simulation.
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For those unfamiliar with Bogner and Engl amps...Soldano is basically a hot-rodded Marshall. Bogner and Engl amps sound somewhat like a hot-rodded Soldano. They're absolutely insane sounding, and Behringer captured that quite well.
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It's nice to be able to use this unit as an effects processor only, as the effects are of good quality. What I didn't like was the lack of a compression/delay combo effect, which I remember the POD having.
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Once again, as everyone will say (so why be the only one who doesn't?): IT AIN'T A TUBE AMP.

It's plastic, but has a safe home on my desktop. Behringer includes a carrying case with the unit, which actually has some padding, so at least you won't destroy it or scratch it up if you transport it anywhere.
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You don't gig without a backup, period. I don't plan on using this unit live, though it certainly will see some studio use.
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Treat your equipment properly and it won't break, genius. This would get a 9 or 10 if it had a metal casing (not something I fault Behringer for with the low price tag on this thing).

As stated earlier, I needed something to use at home, and didn't want to pay the money for a POD XT (nor did I want to buy a POD 2.0 or Genesis 3, since I've owned these already...both are good units, by the way).
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I've been playing for about 16 years, and am just as into 80's metal now as I was when I started. My influences are the same now, as well (Yngwie, George Lynch, etc etc etc).
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The best thing about this unit is bang for the buck, without question. None of the competition gives you this much for so little. One might think that the low price tag and all the included stuff equates to sub-par amp models and overall poor sound, but that simply isn't the case.<p>
You really can't go wrong with a POD or Genesis 3 (you can go VERY wrong with a Gay-Station...I don't understand how Yngwie can endorse such absolute garbage), but you just get MORE with the V-Amp 2.
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So, if you're looking for something for direct recording, or something to use for practice when your entire rig is not accessible to you all the time, check this thing out...you'll probably like it.
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I'm giving it a 10 because it is, in fact, a fantastic value.

I purchased this V-Amp from Musician's Friend at an outstanding price of $139. In addition to the unit itself, that bargain price came with a footswitch and a padded (zippered) bag. I'll try to not sound redundant with the features as many people have already commented on them:

The V-Amp 2 reminds me alot of the POD (naturally) but there are some differences. Before I get into too much detail though, I want to first point out that I only owned a POD 2.0, so any comparisons are just to that unit.

The knobs are obviously easy, as you just turn and see an LED of where you are at. The one annoying thing is that the master knob has no LED, numbers, notches, etc. There is no way to know where you have it set. It is not a problem for me because I am just doing home recording, but I could see it getting annoying for a gig. It is a small thing they overlooked.

The unit has small rubber "feet" on the bottom which ensure it stays on your desktop, etc.

When I was reading the manual, I thought I would absolutely hate how you have to get to the cabinet settings, noise gate, etc. but after I actually messed around with it, I found it easy. You basically press two buttons down together and then you can change the settings for the extra features. When you are done messing with the cab settings, noise gate, etc., you hit exit (the tuner) and you are back to the main setup.

One thing that might be annoying to some people is that the settings all stay the same if you turn the knob to the different amps. The good part is that if you like certain treble, bass, gain, etc. settings they stay there. The bad part of that is that if you change from a Dual Rectifer to a clean amp, obviously the gain is going to be cranked on the clean amp, giving it a "dirty" sound. It is not a huge deal because you can save your own settings anyway, etc.

You get 3 manuals with this thing (in 3 different languages), a Behringer sticker, registration card and a reference sheet (very helpful). The reference sheet breaks down what presets are currently loaded in the V-Amp. If you are a rock historian like myself, you will know what type of sound to expect with names like Eddie's tapping, ZZ's lovin, etc.

I am currently playing a Gibson Gothic Explorer through the V-Amp and then into my computer's soundcard so I can do home recording. I think the sounds on this unit are outstanding. If this unit would have preceded the POD, then it would have made history. Since it came after, it is considered a "twin" of the POD.

*** MOST IMPORTANT THING *** Let me tell you what the key to this unit's sounds are...the cabs! If you never mess with the cab settings, you are depriving yourself of 448 more sounds (32 amps and 14 different cabs). Trust me, the cabs make a huge difference. When I was playing the recto settings, I was able to go from a Godsmack type of sound to a Slipknot type of sound (more muffled, bassier) by just changing the cab.

The higher gain amps do produce some noise, but the gate is very helpful (even sitting in front of my computer monitor). I think it is important to play with the gain and noise gate to find a compromise.

I think the effects are very good also, but I didn't buy the unit specifically for those. I think the delays and reverbs really add to the sound and are fantastic. I don't really use the other effects, but they will come in handy sometime. The auto way isn't bad but more of a novelty. One thing I found cool is that you can use reverb with any effect. I originally though that the reverb was one of the effect choices, but it is actually a separate knob. Very smart. The key with these effects is to add just a touch to beef up your sound.

I would give this area a 10 but with having to rely on a noise gate for some settings, I can only give it a 9. The amp sounds are on par with the POD, J-Station, etc.

I don't think I'll have problems with this unit. I am only using it for home recording and will keep everything plugged in, etc. I don't find it too irritating that this thing doesn't have an on/off switch. I just yank it out of the wall when I am done playing.

The power cord is strange though. It starts out as a regular two-prong cord, then after a few feet of cord turns into a "wall wart" type box. You follow a bit more cord and the part that plugs into the unit looks exactly like the connection for a computer mouse. I have no idea why they couldnt just use a regular type of adapter. I'll keep mine plugged in all the time, so I don't anticipate problems.

The jacks on mine don't seem loose, etc. but I can see why people are paranoid. It looks like the unit was built and then right before it left the factory, they through a blue "shell" around it. The jacks are not attached to the shell so it feels unstable, etc. With any "computer chip" type of stuff I guess you are bound to have problems sometime.

I really like Behringer's site. It is great having soundclips, etc. before you try out a unit. They are probably hard to reach, especially for a $139 unit, but I don't think I would ever try to reach them. There are alot of good forums, etc. out there.

This unit is outstanding, regardless of the price. The price just makes you feel even better when you hear the amps, etc. If you are not ready to make the leap to a POD XT ($400), this unit is a great buy. If you put it in perspective, a BOSS delay pedal costs more than this thing. The V-Amp can definitely hang with the big boys. The most important thing about this unit is that you have to have patience. Mess with the cab settings. Play with the noise gate. Try everything and really try to expand the sounds. I think the V-Amp 2 is too good a deal for anyone to pass up.

A few trips to tha manual are necessary to learn how to access the second "layer" of features but it really is simple to use.

Like all electronic music gear these days, most of the presets are not mainstream usable patches. There are some really great sounds in this thing. Shames my Line 6 AX2 on some of the High Gain Patches. I bought this for my Girlfriend to run through her Keyboard amp for rythm guitar . It runs direct to the mixer and she can monitor it through her amp. Great flexibility to nail guitar sound for covers. I often find myself liking her tone better than mine.

It's plastic, it's cheesy. I always carry some kind of backup. I will probably pick up a used on on ebay for a back up.SO far so good but it gets babied.

Behringer gear is disposable. This thing cost 129.00. More than one decent effects pedal. When it breaks I will use it for target practice. I've heard that Behringers support is basically non-exsistant.I've emailed them for other questons with no reply. It's tough to find an email address to even try. but, Line 6 sucks too. 4 months to repair my amp that was fried because they sent me the wrong transformer. I spent 400.00 to repair something that was their fault. LINE 6, YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!

I wanted to get her a pod but LINE 6 would have to improve their customer service and business practices just to suck!!!!! LINE 6 is evil!!!!!!!! I use a few different modeling amps because it is easy to mimic tones for covers. The V-amp does this as well as anything else. What else are you going to buy for 129.00 that does as much? No, It doesn't sound exactly like the amps it supposedly models but chances are neither do any one elses models. I will buy another for headphone jammin just because it kicks ass for 129.00

Very easy to get going and dial in a great tone, but stacking effects is a bit cumbersome.

I use it for direct recording and the noise gate works great.
While playing it is as clean sounding as anything in ANY price range.
THE BEST stereo effects for a multi-effects guitar unit I've used.

Nope, it's very undependable. I wish this wasn't true but I told another studio musician friend of mine he needed one of these after I first bought mine and his went nuts right after he got it. My V-Amp 2 acts strange most all the time, once you dial in a sound it usually is ok though.

Wow, I own several Behringer products because the cost vs. sound ratio and I can't believe it is so tough to get a response from them.
After several e-mails I got one response, but after sending the info he asked for I never heard from them again!!I re-sent it several times and still no response. Good luck with all of that.

I would've paid three time as much if the thing would just work right. (5 because it does sound great, but then again I have no proof any of these things work right)

As with the POD, dialing tones on the V-Amp is very easy: just select a preset as a starting point, and use the classic gain and tone controls found in any guitar amp. When you have found the right setting, select a bank where to save the new preset, and keep the preset button pressed for a couple seconds. That's all. However, deeper editing needs the user's manual, since indications on the display are next to none.
Feature-wise, the lack of a power switch and the crazy placement of connectors is one of the few minuses, together with the nearly unreadable grey silkscreens for second functions, and the so-so tuner.

I'm using a modified strat-like solid-body, with two mini-humbuckers and a center single coil, directly connected to the V-Amp. The V-Amp goes to a Yamaha 01V, and from there to a Mac through an ADAT interface.
Even with the Master set to the maximum, the thing is not noisy at all. Behringer is know for replacing components during the life of a product, so maybe I've been luckier than others, and my V-Amp is fitted with nicer components than theirs. There is noise and hum generated by the various simulations, but this is that touch of realism that is the juice of amp simulation.
While I find the amp and cabinet simulators are doing a good job at imitating the originals (at least, the ones I know, like the JCM800, the Fenders, the Mesa's, the Soldano), I find the FX processor very weak. Not really a problem for me, since I prefer to record in Config S2, where the left channel just carries the dry signal.
I optimize my signal chain, by keeping all outputs as hot as I can, but the V-Amp (like the POD) remains rather thin and flat, compared to a true amp. Anyway, it does its job very well in two fields: songwriting, and live gigging with minor setups. In these cases, it's very easy to fake even an expert listener.

I've had this thing for a couple weeks, now. Too soon to say about its reliability. It's plastic, and jacks are of the cheaper type. A little care may make it last forever.

Never dealt with them.

I play mostly degenerated species of hard rock and metal, with some fingerpicking added. Sort of 'Sting meets Ministry'. The V-Amp doesn't deliver the needed power, but is a good fake before recording a true amp for the final take. Clean simulations are nice, but I prefer to use better FX processors for this task.
I've been playing as an amateur for years, but am still an absolute beginner. The V-Amp is more a songwriting tool than my professional companion. For the price, it is foolish not to have one of these things!
The price difference with a POD is fully justified by the more robust construction of the latter. For spare-time players like me, price does matter against reliability, so the V-Amp is the nice smally toy that doesn't tax your bank account.

Like someone else said, you can get this things sounding good right out of the box. After about a half an hour with the manual, I was ready to rock, so it's not that big of a deal, you just need to take the time to read it. It's easy to edit patches, just hold down a button for two seconds, and your ready. The only thing I'm a little confused about is how to upgrade it, and to put dl patches onto it. Other than that, it's all good.

I haven't tested this thing on my crate w/EMG's yet. But I have played it on my Gretsch, and it's sweet. I just have been playing it through my stereo, but through my amp, it sounds just as good. And it's so quiet, and what noise there is, the noise gate knocks out. All the effects are sweet. Some of them are a little weak, they need a little more balls. I don't have a lot experience with effects, but they sounded good to me. My amp is a fender m80. You can get just about anyone's sound out of it. All of the amp models seem great. I haven't really gotten a chance to test out the metal one's yet, but I'm sure they are as good as the clean. The clean sounds on this thing are beautiful. No remember all of this is coming from a poor muscian. I have never had any experience with a tube amp, or a lot of effects pedals, but for the money, and things, this is an awesome piece of equipment.

Okay, flaws. This thing could definately use a metal casing. And the jacks are bad, if they were sturdier it would be better. "But if you take care of it it will take care of you" If you don't kick it or step on it, or throw it, it should be okay. The thing shouldn't be on the ground anyway....

I have never deatlt with them

I play metal, classic rock, spanish stuff, lol. This thing does it all, like I said, I havent' really busted out the distortions yet, but from what I've heard they are good, and I'm sure they will be. I have been playing for almost 5 years. I have a gretsch hollowbody, crate les paul, fender m80, and a digitech metalmaster. If it was stolen I would buy it again in a heartbeat. I love all the amps and most of the effects, the style of it, the sound, just pretty much everything. LIke I said it lacks a sold design. This thing definatley helps me make some beautiful music, it like, makes you sound better. It's hard to explain, but it's just an awesome piece of equipment.

This thing is a blast!!! I love the gizmo!! You have to cycle the presets and adjust some to your taste to unlock it's potential, but I am a die hard tube fanatic and it does a really nice job of capturing a vintage Marshall head and cab for recording! I use preset "1" and play all day and night on it!!! Easy, easy , easy!

I use a 77 Gibson Les paul and 2 marshall 100 watters and this is the easiest way to get the tone into your PC. Does, it have the "feel" of a tube amp? No way...not even close, but does it do a good job at recording? You bet!!

I would not play live with it as I prefer the real deal. Tube amps will never die, but this is a great tool for recording!

N/A

Not a live use gizmo, but for recording, I love it. I am in awe of its usability!! For $129.00 or $500, this thing kills!!! Please do yourself a favor and try it...

I think that I am the only other person on this board that thinks this thing is a piece of crap. Either that or I just lave a lemon... It sounds like I'm playing in a shoebox. Really any other piece of gear I own smokes this thing! What a dissapointment.

Cheap sounding "Models" of real amps. some sounds were useable though. There is no MoJo in this box... THIN SOUNDS GET ME MAD. IMHO a lame entry from Behringer who'se mixers I use and like. I along with seemingly only a few on this board, cannot find a use for this piece. I never trusted these digitoys much anyway. ANALOG IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO. However, My old guitar player had the POD and from my perspective it passed... but now that I remember ... there was that kazoo type quality to the sound. For example... when I see a band, it's kind of easy to hear if the guitar player uses a Digital "Modeler" . It jumps right out at you clean or dirty. That Nasal sound. and to me Nasal is Lame. And let's face it.. this thing uses a much lower sample rate than the POD or J Station. So it's supposed to sound better?

I'll give an 8 as props to Behringer for putting out "mostly" quality gear for little $$

Overall I think it is weak is the fact that it sounds weak. Rhythem work is a chore/bore cause it's overcompressed and muddy and just no fun. It's alright for solos but still with that middy kazoo quality. I guess it's "Great" or sounds "un-believable" to some, but I prefer the real McCoy. I still can't believe how many of you gush over this $130 toy (sorry Uli)... Buy a Modded Distortion or Overdrive and become addicted to playing again. :) Much Love and Happy Holidays!

This unit is very easy of use. About 95% of the options are on the front panel. It's pretty straightforward. WYSIWYG interface. Editing patches is easy with the program. The manual is translated in several languages. even though it is not very usefull.

I have a godin LG and a Peavey ultra 112. The unit itself is not noisy at all since it has a noisegate. The effects are very good to my hear. I finally got the delay I've been looking for for so long. The amp sims are very good. Compared to a POD this baby wins easily. About 70 % of the amp models are usefull...some sound kinda distant so I don't use them but they do sound good. I'm playing blues, shred, metal and punk and it always gave me the soubnd I wa slooking for.

this thing doesn'T seem to remind my settings....The chip into it is kinda fucked right now so whenever I open it I have to reset all the factory presets cuz evertything is gone ( even factory presets) this might be caused by the way I used to plug the v-amp on. I would not use it live thoough....I have a powerfull amp for this

never tried

It works fine, I love the sound, it beats everything in it's price range I wopudl recommand it to you! great TOOL for practicing aloen at home.

THIS BOX IS GREAT. PREVIOUSLY ENDORSED ZOOM FOR QUALITY/VALUE RATIO BUT BEHRINGERS V-AMP2 SUPPLYS ALL TONING MOST SMALL TIME GUITARISTS REQUIRE AND FACE IT THATS MOST OF US.AT THIS PRICE YOU CAN GET STADIUM SOUND IN YOUR BASEMENT OR IN SMALL ROOMS. IF YOU'RE SANTANA SPEND THOUSANDS ON EFFECTS-IF YOU JUST WANT YOUR GUITAR TO HAVE THE SUSTAIN AND HARMONICS HE GETS, BUY THIS.

Its so easy to use. A number of basc dials, LEDs and buttons make this unit so simple to use even for a starting musician

The beauty of it is it pretty much sounds as same on my fender strat and my Gibson flying V. The sound is a bit weak at first and you really have to crabk it up but when you do the budgie will die! ts well cool for wah wah so you cn play some funky seventies dance tunes and the distortion sounds like a building falling down so its cool for all you metallers out there.

she hasn't let me down yet!

I ordered this over the phone and it turns out that the guy was a rather dpiffing bloke and actually knew what he was talking about.

I play in a ska band with a few mates and it kicks the preverbial arse when it comes to clean crisp sounds (you can actualy pick specific amp models to suit your sound) and the wah wah is sound when it comes to the obligatory solo in the middle eight of a tune. overall a banging piece of equipment.

too easy for musician who use this small effect! just plug, turn and play

IT'S GREAT! i Found many sounds here! I use ibanez s with evolution di marzio picksup. you may got a many great musician sounds. like steve vai, js, nuno bettencourt, bang paul, yngwie, jimi hendrix, eric clapton, steve morse, etc.
just choose your preamps and you'll get the 90% sound like the original amps. Need a metal just turn knob to rectified / american hi gain, Need sound bluesy, just turn it on american / british blues, Need a jazzy/clean u can use v-amp clean. what a great sounds! no noise at all in this v-amp if u use the right cable. i like to play some extreme song like hip today, decadance dance, rip and other and i got the nuno's sound in this effect. for information I DIDN'T USE ANY AMP, i just use a common speaker which is made by my dad. why i use any amp if i can found many amps in v-amps 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NO ! i wouldn't depend on it!

till this day it is the best!

If you use digital multi-effects pedals(the types that store presets in banks and patches) then this should be a snap. Reading the manual also helps (duh!). Very tweakable!

I use it for home recording. Setup: Yamaha RGX>V-Amp 2>Audiophile 2496. Sounded a little cold at first, but that was before I monkeyed around with the cabinet settings. This little gadget is very convincing. It has 32 amp simulations, and I have tried only a few as of this writing (only had it for 3 days). The Brit Hi Gain (Marshall sim) is wonderful. I can't believe how many ways you can make that sim sound just by tweaking the cabinets and gain parameters! And it sounds so warm! The other sims aint bad, and for anyone to appreciate these sounds, you just got to hear them and monkey with them. The effects are ok, and having the reverb separate from all other effects is one of the best things I have ever seen done to these all-in-one packages. It has noise, but so do real amps so that can't be a complaint. Besides, the noise gate is effective, but dont complain if you need to compromise some sustain with it when using single coils. Its not the V-Amp's fault that single coil pick ups are naturally buzzy. The presets also aint all that bad (some are actually useful) and are a good jumping point for beginners. I haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg of this thing and Im already impressed. Like with all good things, it requires patience in tweaking (and its not all that hard). I cant believe that anyone with a little patience will be disappointed by the sounds this thing can give.

Does it sound like a real amp? YES it sounds LIKE real amps with real speakers, but NO it doesn't sound EXACTLY like them. If you want a real as in REAL tube/valve sound, then buy the real thing (cabinets and all). The V-Amp2 is not a tube amp... but yes it does sound very close to one (or oneS!). Home recording enthusiasts will definitely benefit form this thing. Not only will you get good convincing sounds (depending on your tweaking ability of course) but you dont have to disturb the neighbors by miking an amp. How cool is that?!

I've had it for 3 days as stated above. I've used other Behringer gear, they seem pretty ok to me. Have never had any problems with their other gear so I wont expect any here. Don't gig much, but If I do, I dont think I'll use this. I'll keep this strctly for desktop recording use... but just because of the great sound quality and that spanking metal pedal I might just try.

They have a nice local dealer here. If this broke, I'll just trot down to them and get it fixed. No problem.

I play original compositions exclusively, and this thing is giving me tons of ideas on what to parts write. Its easy to imagine those guitar parts when you can hear how you want them to sound. Its like daydreaming you had a Soldano while actually listening to one through your OWN guitar. I have been playing on and off for the last 14 years and I have had my experiences with stomp boxes, digital effects and all sorts of amps (both bad and good). This thing is all of those combined (to a degree of course). I see nothing about this thing I can possibly hate. If it were stolen may God have mercy on the thief's soul if I ever get my hands on him. But I wont live a day without it, so I'll definitely go to my dealer the next day and get another one. A bang for the buck? Biggest bang I ever heard!

No es dificil obtener cualquier sonido que este en tu cabeza,si trabajas un poco todos los parametros de tono basico(eq,gain,cabinets..)y los efectos;los presets de fabrica son un poco artificiales en general,pero nada que no se pueda corregir con un poco de trabajo.El manual es muy completo y en todos los idiomas;es posible actualizar la eprom mediante un fichero que se puede obtener de www.behringer.com,pero necesitas una eprom nueva(no es flasheable).

Soy basicamente un guitarrista "de habitacion" y toco usualmente con varios amigos y canto de manera habitual con una banda de rock duro con la que hacemos versiones de hits rockeros desde los 70's hasta hoy(Metallica,Kiss,Purple,AC/DC,Priest...):Utilizo el V-amp para grabar con mi PC o bien en el local de ensayo,conectado directamente a una consola y mis guitarras son una PRS EG del '91 s-s-h pastillas originales(Duncans bobina simple y PRS HFS humbucker) ,una Vigier Excalibur supra h-s-h(DiMarzios Paf Pro-Fast Track,creo-y Tone Zone),una Ibanez Roadstar II del '86 super modificada con EMG's s-s-h y otra Ibanez de modelo desconocido en la linea de las Jem,mas sencilla,pero con un mastil de ensue?o,vibrato Schaller/Floyd Rose II y pastillas h-s-h(Humbucker original-Boston bobina simple,hecha por Gotoh,creo-y Dimarzio Fred en el puente);con todas ellas no he podido encontrar todavia ni un mal tono;el ruido que se puede apreciar en algunos presets,sin ser excesivo,es consecuencia,a mi entender del propio modelado del ampli de valvulas(el sonido,en su origen TIENE RUIDO),y se ve minimizado si la guitarra esta bien apantallada y te alejas de fuentes de radiacion electronica (fluorescentes,monitores de ordenador...);los efectos son correctos y de calidad aceptable (seamos sinceros,?que necesitamos para que una guitarra suene bien?,pues unos pocos efectos de calidad aceptable y TONO,TONO,TONO,y esto ultimo lo tiene el V-amp a raudales);el unico defecto a nivel calidad sonora que encuentro es que hay un cierto retardo poco apreciable,pero existente,si utilizas combinaciones de efectos complejas,p.ej,chorus+delay con algun modelado de tono de alta ganancia,como si al procesador le "costase" procesar tanta informacion,pero por el precio ?que mas se puede pedir?.La sensacion al conectarte a este cacharro es muy estimulante:No soy un purista de las valvulas,pero cada cosa en su sitio;en el local tengo un combo Carlton Camel 50 w con un altavoz Celestion y el otro guitarrista un Cabezal Marshall JCM series de 50 W y una pantalla Marshall con 4x12 Celestions,y realmente,no te puedes medir con eso,pero el V-amp 2 les llega muy cerca a traves de la consola (una Inkel barata) la P.A que utilizamos para voces (2 JBL EON de 150 w cada una,autoamplificadas):lo de la frecuencia de muestreo de 31 khz que esgrimen algunos SNOBS del tono es una soberana ESTUPIDEZ:?que frecuencias es capaz de entregar una guitarra electrica?;con una frecuencia de muestreo como la que tiene el v-amp 2,llegamos hasta los 16 khz(si el teorema de Nyquist no falla),lo cual es mas que suficiente para una guitarra.En general una unidad muy completa,y esto viene de un usuario que previamente ha tenido el tan cacareado POD(si,tambien sonaba muy bien,pero tenia menos cosas que el V-amp 2,y era muy caro,ademas de en mi opinion,mas esteril,quirurgico en las saturaciones que el v-amp 2)

Bueno,la construccion es un tema aparte;el POD es solido como una roca,y aunque el V-Amp 2 esta hecho de un plastico muy resistente,no se si aguantaria una caida,asi que si tocas por ahi muy a menudo,considera este hecho,los accidentes ocurren aunque seas muy cuidadoso con tu equipo;como ya he dicho,en mi caso uso el v-amp 2 en mi casa o en el local y no me ha fallado nunca,aunque solo hace unos 3 meses que lo tengo.

No he tenido ningun contacto con la compa?ia,solo he registrado el aparato a traves de su website.

Suelo tocar rock y blues tengo 37 a?os y toco la electrica dede los 16(con la guitarra espa?ola comence un poco antes),pero siempre como una aficion;he tenido varios amplis(Marshall Lead 12 a transistores-!que gran ampli,es una lastima que lo vendiese!,Gorilla gg-40,transistores-no era muy bueno pero hizo su trabajo-,y actualmente Carlton Camel 50 w todo valvula-impresionante que un combo suene asi,simple pero efectivo-)y en cuanto a procesadores un Zoom 9002-todavia lo tengo;un poco limitado en cuanto a saturaciones,pero no tiene malos efectos-,un POD que me robaron unos cacos que entraron a mi casa-mi primer contacto con el sonido modelado-,una Alesis Quadraverb GT del '91-la seccion de previo y saturaciones bastante pobre,pero los efectos simplemente excelentes-,y actualmente el V-amp 2 que reemplazo al POD y con ventaja,a mi juicio.Encuentro a faltar un interruptor on/off,pero tampoco es algo que condicione mucho;el rebaje en la parte inferior es todo un detalle para montar el v-amp encima de un ampli de guitarra (!el POD bailaba encima del asa de transporte!).En fin,es muy estimulante tocar con este trastito ya sea a traves de auriculares,conectado a una P.A,a tu hi-fi domestico,a un ampli de guitarra o para grabar en tu multipista de toda la vida o al disco duro de tu PC.

The V-Amp2 isn't too difficult to use. Twist the knobs and go. Storing presets is simple and there are enough banks to store as many sounds as you want. Midi was a plus as well as free software downloadable from the berhinger website. I think the V-amp is global because there is a manual for pretty much every language.

Here is where I have a problem. I have to agree with an earlier post. The sound was totally disappointing and I don't get why everyone here rates it so high! I really did give this unit a chance and spent hours tweaking, but I never did get a good sound. I would think I would have a sound, but when I rehearsed with a buddy, his little crate amp with an ancient multi-effects pedal blew this thing away! My setup was - Gibson Les Paul Special SL to V-amp2 to Roland KC-300. I am totally into digital amp modelling because I believe in the more bang for the buck, and eventually they will get the tone and feel down perfect, but this thing is just not up to par. It is a great price and you get tons of amps, cabs, models, effects, etc., but not the quality!

Made of plastic, but very reasonably priced. Take care of your gear and it will take care of you. I agree with other posts, a metal casing would be nice.

No experience here, can't say.

I play mainly rock and alternative (I hate classifying what style! It's just rock and roll man!). Been playing for around 3 years. I'm not looking for a digital modeling amp/pedal to exactly replicate the amp its supposed too. I just look for a good sound and tone. If digital modelling is your flavor, do yourself a favor and LOOK AT ALL YOUR OPTIONS!!!! I ended up selling this and I picked up 2 great sounding digital modelling pedals - sansamp tri ac and the hughes and kettner tubeman. Even though these things might not have as many features as the V-Amp, they nail 3 amp tones just right. Good luck finding quality tones on the V-AMP! It just wasn't for me!

Quite easy in fact. The lighted knobs are great and quite visible even when the stage lights are down. Making your own patches are easy as pie after about an hour of goofing with the settings. Great footpedal and bag that came with it as well(hint hint POD).

I have an Frankenstein Ibanez RG with a Fred in the bridge and Paf Pro in the Neck (can you tell I'm a Satriani/Vai fan?) and am running the V-Amp through the power amp section of a Peavey 5150 (perfect match since it totally bypasses all preamp functions of the amp). It can be noisy on certain amp settings, but hey...that's what the built in noise gate is for.....and it can take care of it quite well. Effects are not bad. Delay and Chorus and useful. They about the only ones I ever use. Maybe abit of compression in the cleaner tones. No, it really doesn't sound like a tube amp, but it does a great job mimicking the important qualities of each. I have played some of the amps that it models and does recreate their personality, to a point. But it is just a little plastic box that is really quite inexpensive, so let's not start complaining about little details. I find that about 80% of the models are really quite useful ( I like the cleaner ones myself, not much of a metalhead).

As far as rating the sound quality, that is in the ear of the listener, right? It's all relative. So for a true rating, try one out in the store with a good set of headphones or into a power amp long enough so you can get over the initial buzz of having a new toy and really listen to what's coming out of it.

But I really like the way this things. :=)

Had trouble with my presets disappearing on startup after about 6 months. After a new memory battery replacement and unplugging the unit AT THE WALL AND NOT THE V-AMP, things are great again. Plastic construction seems strong enough. But please Behringer, make the next version with a power switch and better cord connection! I'm always paranoid I'm going to rip the thing out one day by accident.

Never needed it so far, we'll see.

I play all kinds of musical styles in a worship band and I can say this thing performs very well for the price. I either run it into the 5150 or straight into the PA. Either way I can dial up an extremely usable sound in a matter of minutes. As compared to a POD, it seems to have abit more....kick to it....not as dull.

Get one and you won't be disappointed!

Out of the box there are many sounds that are built into the 125 patches that can be used and are of a good quality but each to their own tastes. Once you find some you like, editing the sound to your own liking is very straightforward and the interface on this unit is a breeze. To make your own sounds just dial in an amp model then add reverb and effects to suit, then find a spare patch and store with a two second push. The LEDs are a great feature indicating current and most recent settings,

I use mine mainly on my desktop with headphones and play my Mexican Strat through it. I have also recorded with the unit into my computer sound card line-in with good results. My main musical preference is to play the old Shadows/Hank Marvin tunes along to my backing tracks. I therefore use the Vox AC30TB simulation mainly. To my hears on headphones this is very good considering the price of this unit and its competitors. I find when I attack the strings hard with the pick the unit responds very nicely and some nice harmonics come through. I have used other amp sims as well and they standup well to my ears. The separate reverb section is great, especially the spring reverb, but would probably be better still with plate reverb added. The effects are also very good and I use the tape echo simulation a lot. They are all quite good except mainly the wha effect which I have only used the auto wha.
When I bought mine I tried the POD 2 and would have been happy to pay the extra price for the POD but to my ears the POD seemed duller and less responsive and the effects were not as good a quality. I have played guitar for nearly 30 years and this is the nicest sounding unit I could find for the money.

Had no problems since June 2002 when I bought it and played it several times a week for several hours at a time with no problems. Its case is plastic and would probably be okay for gigging as its not a floor unit.

The company website offers good support and if you want to you can even flash the EPROM and upgrade.

This unit gets a good overall rating particulary as a practice tool and for home recording. I have tried it as a front end for my Crate GX212 combo and some other small practice amps and its not as good as on the headphones but nevertheless it is good.
Its a well thought out piece of kit well designed and specified and the price is marvelous given that it comes with the gig bag and footswitch as well, not to mention midi control. If anything it could be improved with a proper on/off switch, plate reverb would be nice and multihead delay perhaps. A metal case maybe.
I play a lot of Hank Marvin style instumentals mainly. I particulary like 2x12 combos and this unit models most of the top ones very well. I cannot afford the #1100 pounds for a VOX AC30TB yet, but this supplys me with a great alternative! I recommend you give it fair try like I did and I think most will like it. Well done Behringer.

This unit is PACKED w/ useful, good tones!!! The presets are good, and easy to edit to your taste.

Editing patches is easy, u gotta love knobs :-)
Theres a 3 band EQ, plus a useful and powerful gain control.
Well written manual, provides all the uselful info, like hooking up the VAmp to CPU, amp, miker etc.

Easy to follw, beginers should have no problem after poking around a bit.

My guitar is aself built mut w/ an ESP alder body, neck, EMG's and a Schaller Floyd Rose. I mainly play Heavy stuff, but also goof around w/ some blues and jazz stuff.
If you play metal, or hard rock, you gotta hear the gain and seriously good tones on this unit.

The VAmp gives me access to a room full of expensive amp tones in a little $130 bundle. I LOVE this unit.

Cant speak for reliabiltry yet, i havent had it more than a week.

Havent dealt w/ them yet, hope not too.

I maostly play metal (Ozzy, metallica, pantera etc)
I have been playing for 17 years. In that time I've owned over 20 guitars, 15 amps, and more rack effects than I care to remember :-)

This unit blows away EVERY multi effect/preamp/amp sim I have ever used. Hands down, it wins. So many great tones at ur fingertips; you gotta check this puppy out.

If mine were stolen, I'd run to the store and grab another after I imposed some street justice on the fool that gaffed my gear.

It's easy to use & versatile. Slight learning curve but worth the effort.

Sounds somewhat digital when recording but that can be fixed later with mastering software or a TC Electronic 96K. I use it live through a console. I just set 1 patch (5 presets for my electric guitar) and use another patch for my acoustic. I would recommend setting complete patches in advance for every guitar you're going to use or you could run into feedback problems. ie:patch 1 PRE A RYTHYM B LEAD CWAW D E TREBLY Rockabilly all the sounds are there. You don't need the midi controller. Good enough for live and beats lugging guitar amps around.

I use a back-up. It's been reliable for about 1 year and cheap enough to replace on a dime like a disposable razor blade.

N/A at these prices get real.

I play contemporary rock and pop. You can run vocals through the aux in or loopers. I've plugged a mic into the input to get distorted reverbed vocals for recording. I really love this little box. It does create some noise depending on the gain of the distortion but it's all tweakable. The sounds are there. You can even smash it up against the wall if your blood sugar gets low and it's no big loss. This is the disposable razorblade of preamps. I'm on my 50th shave now.

I found the unit very easy to use straight from the box. However, the manual is very concise and all in all, this is a fantastic package when you consider the sound quality, editing options and features, price and the bag, tough footswitch and adaptor included. The layout and user friendlyness is second to none. The lights around the knobs show you exactly where your settings are - an excellent inclusion.
I'm using a Nobels MIDI pedal but will be purchasing the dedicated Behringer pedal because not only does it give me ultimate control over the unit, it has a mains plug (bye bye annoying wall plug adaptors), has both a volume and expression pedal built in and has relay switches which can channel switch you amps - I believe there are 2 of these. Best of all, it's retailing in the UK for about #80-90. have you seen the price of the Roland F200 and the POD mother board?

I compared this to a POD, Line and Johnson Amps and found the sound to be more pleasing and organic (to my ears anyway). I was blown away by the amp sounds and whilst I haven't recorded with the unit, my best results have come from hooking it up to a Valvestate 80:80 Power amp and running it through 2 Mesa Boogie 1x12 cabs loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. Results through my 100 watt Fender Roc Pro were ok but a tad noisy. This brings me nicely to the noise gate which is effective on those high gain settings. Let's face it, you would expect some noise when running Rectifier/Soldano type amps at those high gain settings and I found the unit to be no more nosier then the real things.
The effects are very good quality and worked extremely well when run through my amp with the preamp models and cabinet siumlation switched off. You've got most common effetcs and combinations included. Only thing I would have liked to have seen is an octaver or pitchshifter but that may follow in a future upgrade. The amp models are fairly convincing and put you in the "ball park" of the amp you're morphing. However, some tweaking will be required and if anything, I believe the treble needs to be tamed at times.

I play in a function band and rely on a variety of sounds from the cleanest cleans,to compressed funk, acoustic settings (v.good), jazz, blues (R.Ford/Carlton) and Neal Schon/S.Lukather/Dan Huff type sounds - this unit does it all and my guitars are PRS Custom 24, Fender Strat (customised to include a S.Duncan Little '59 in the bridge and a GK2A Roland pickup) and a Yamaha APX4 elecrto-acoustic.

I've only had the unit for 4 months and whilst it's made from plastic, it seems ok. The adaptor gets hot but my sets normally last anywhere between 4-6 hours!!!! My back up is the Fender amp previously mentioned but I may well buy another one as a spare. Two of these still come in #30 ($70) cheaper than a POD Version 2 and sound better.

The company were great. Having made direct comparisons with the POD and in view of the fact that I'm using this with a rackmounted power amp, I wondered if a rackmounted version would be available. The company got back to me within 3 days and said there were no plans at present but they would put it to their engineers and they'd monitor custom demand and interest.

This unit suits my needs very well and I just wish there was a rack version. My previous gear was a complete Marshall Rack system(JMP1, JFX etc) but it fell short on many sounds. I can emulate the sounds of my heroes and have received compliments from many people. My favourite sounds are the AOR types in this unit is perfect for Journey, TOTO etc and really takes you back to that 80-90's scene. I managed to nail John Sykes' Whitesnake sound but it does so much more as well and at the other end of the spectrum.

It is quite easy to use, it has knobs to adjust everything, 5 patch buttons, and bank up/down buttons. It also has a tuner button and a tap button to adjust tempo on the delays and mod efx.

I use this with a Gibson Flying V into the V-Amp -> Power Amp -> Rogue 2x12 cab with 75w celestions. I dunno if it faithfully reproduces the sounds of the amps it is trying to model because I dont own any of them, but regardless of that this unit can still produce good sounds.

The high gain amps produce a tight warm sound perfect for any kind of metal and the clean models sounds as they should. I can't really comment on the blues amps cause I don't use them much. The cabinet sim is really cool, essentially you can take one of the modelled amps and get 15 more sounds out of it by playing with the cab sims, very cool.

The effects are pretty good, the chorus and flanger are a little thin but still effective. The compressor is barely noticeable, but the chorus/compressor is very nice. The tremolo and rotary are pretty good but a little stale. The delays are probably the best at doing what they shoud, as far as effects go.

As a direct recording unit it isnt quite as good as it should be since that is what is is marketed as, but it sounds tremendous through my live rig, and I can easily get a very believable Metallica/Death/In Flames/Slayer sound out of this thing. Having it run through a real speaker cab adds some much needed definition to the tone of this unit.

I dropped it onto my desk once from about 3-4 inches above the desktop and it messed up all of my patches but I reset the unit and fixed my patches, also the pins in the power cord bend easily and if you plug it in with them bent it WILL mess up your patches. This can be fixed by reseting the unit and straightening the pins, but it is a pain notheless. I have used this live without a backup and would again, as long as you soundcheck and make sure the patches are fine it wont give you any problems WHILE it is plugged in, but every time you turn it on you need to make sure all your sounds still sound like they should.

Haven't dealt with them.

I play heavy metal, and I am a ringer in many local bands from time to time so I need something that can cover all the bases, this unit does it pretty well. Like I said before I sounds killer through my live rig, but lacks somewhat in the direct recording dept. All in all it was a worthwhile purchase, especially since it came with a free carrying bag and footswitch, however whether or not it gets stolen or lost I will be replacing it very soon with an Oberheim GM-400 which is only about $70 more than this unit and absolutely mops the floor with this unit in all departments. So if you're a diehard Behringer fan or something then buy this, it should serve you pretty well, but if you want the best then get a GM-400, it does everything.

Well first things first you need to learn how to use this thing.Editing is a breeze once you figure it out,manual is very useful.

ok here's the deal as far as a SETUP goes i run a lil studio for myself,recorded 2 or 3 heavy metal bands,2 out of 3 guitarists wanted to record with the v-amp instead of their rigs miked up in all their glory!The noise gate on this one i swaer is not too much better than on v-amp1 they are both useable.I do hard disc recording and i like to add the fx after on my computer but i have recorded with fx and got pleasing results.Funny thing that gets me is you get these people who own 1000$ tube amps and they try or do use 1 of these in front of it.Hell i TRIED it on my Randall Protube 2000 100 watt all tube head,that was a waste of time.THE V-AMP2 is a VIRTUAL AMP..Meaning in the right enviorment this will do what it's suppose to do,Model Amps.By the way for those of you who do not know the<RIGHT ENVIORMENT>is recording on your computer period.THE AMP SOUNDS ARE AWESOME

Yes the input jack on this thing does suck,just be careful VERY and you SHOULD be OK.I just bought V-AMP2 and have owned the first one for about a year and never had any and i do mean any probleams at all with my particular unit.Gig?You Say? NOT WHEN your running dual tube 100-watt halfstacks!! Can you say CHUG?

I own like 5 pieces of gear from them,NEVER had any problems,never had to deal with them either.

I play Heavy Metal,this is the best amp modeler i've heard so far.So you can forget about your GAY STATIONS or your PEA'S AND POD'S or your LINE SHITS for this kinda cash pleez you cannot go wrong!If it were lost or stolen somebody you can bet your ass is gettin a BEATING!!I LOVE BEHRINGER PRODUCTS!As far as a wish list one other axe slinger hit one of the best ideas this thing needs a RACKMOUNT,BUT i got another one for ya A 12AX7 PREAMP TUBE would do this amp simulator justice. KEEP ON PLUCKIN!

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it? I think it's impossible. How about Editing patches? Easy. How is the manual for it? Good. This is the V-amp 2 model.

Now, this is where the Behringer V-Amp 2 really lacks! I just can't understand why everybody here thinks this is something good sounding. Is it because it has so many features and things to tweak with? I was ONLY tweaking with it, but never satisfied to the point I was happy to play with it. It has only got a sampling rate at 31,125 kHz! For me that quality simply is not enough. I wasn't aware of that before I bought it, so it was a huge dissapointment to me when I realised you can't get a deep,soft and warm sound out of it when playing with the cabinets and amps in it with a sampling rate of 31,125 kHz! That is because the treble is just too sharp and cold sounding, so imagine what the gain sounds like! You don't like that sound, you really don't! I would never use that gain for rhythm playing, never. It would sound like crap. I wouldn't use it anywhere.Sorry! I have a Fender Richie Sambora Stratocaster USA guitar that I really really love! It has a lot of deepness in it, the V-amp 2 takes that away and turns it into something cheap and bad sounding. I tried this unit through my PA system, my Home Cinema and my Mackie HR824 Professional studio monitors and my headphones. But a sampling rate at 31,125 kHz makes it noisy and bad sounding everywhere. I tried everything, read the manual and finally tried it without the preamp and cabinets on, that was probably when this unit reached the top. Maybe because one wasn't limited to that low sampling rate then anymore. The effects were pretty good for that price, so then I thought I would use it as a tuner and effect module, but no, I don't think the effects kick ass.No way. I can't get it sounding like anyone's sound.However I thought the rectified hi gains and those cabs where not that bad, but still pretty awful. I give this unit a strong 5 in sound.Behringer's biggest mistake with this unit was the low sampling rate. When you buy things you want to use in a studio or elsewhere, you want CD quality, not 31,125 kHz and much noise! I wasn't happy with that sound, so I give it a strong 5, just for the low price.

I think it seems to be well made. I would use it on a gig without a backup without fear of getting lost...hehe , if I had to...

I haven't been in contact with them.

I play everything from hardrock to country and jazz. I thought this unit would be somthing pretty good sounding and fun to have. After playing with it now in 5 days, tried everything I can to make it sound good, I realised that I'm just not happy with it, so I'm returning it! No doubt about the fact that it is a pretty cheap and well made product. You can also dial in some new tones, but don't expect to become exited over something beautiful sounding. The sampling rate at only 31,125 kHz makes it thin in the cleans and sharp and unclear and unpleasant when playing with some gain on. Playing chords with the gain on was not a very nice experience. I have never heard a distortion that bad! The bottom line is this. Many features, many possibilities, a low price, but an overall sharp sound. You don't want to use it in a studio, unless you only use the effects and no amps/cabs, then it sounds better and has less noise. I think the guitar is an extremely beautiful sounding instrument and it should be like that. What you want is a rich tone both disted and clean. With the Behringer V-Amp 2 you can't expect something like that. It takes away deepness from the guitar and puts on sharpness. The result is something noisy and you don't want the guitar to sound like that, especially not on a record. Then even the price is not a priority anymore! So stay away from the thing. I was so exited about all the amp models and about the high overall rating here, so I bought it without testing it first. I'm happy that I never transfered the money and now I'm returning it. This was the first Virtual Amplification unit I tried, myabe my last one. Yes it is a low price, very low and you get a bag, a tuner and some decent effects. But I want something I like all the way and that was not the case with the Behringer V-amp 2. I will save my money and buy something better. If I go for a Virtual Amplification unit I wont't buy one with a sampling rate at only 31,125 kHz, that's for sure! At least 44,1 kHz is required to try what Behringer did with this unit.
I would pay half the price, because I wouldn't use more than half of it. I will never buy this thing again. When you buy things like this you really need to know the specifications before, that's what I learned from this. I also learned that my expectations on amp modeling units may have been too high. It made me dream even more about the real things... Save the money! It's worth it! This unit i not worth 9,2 in overall rating, not by far. 7,6 would be fair, because of the interesting price, the bag, some decent effects and the tuner that worked. But something like 9,2 is ridiculous on a great site like this! I give it 5 and I am glad that I can return it. There are so much better things out there to save money for.