Has anyone tried the new VOX Valvetronix+ amps?

[(octagon)]

VOX announces New series of Valvetronix+ modeling amps

Musician's Friend has them.



Vox Valvetronix VT20+

Vox Valvetronix VT40+

Vox Valvetronix VT80+

Vox Valvetronix VT120+

[(jingle_jangle)]

Looks to me like the 33 songs on the "preset songs" patches can be done with about 3 distinct patches...

[(electrofaro)]

Anyone ever given this series a try? I sold my Vox DA5 to a colleague as I got tired of the loud hiss. Some reviews mention the hiss on this one as well? As I would hardly use the settings on the VT20+ (model I am looking at), would it be better just to save a bit and go for the Lil' Night Train which I did once try and like a lot?

I am looking for a small home amp which has a phones out so I can play with m KRKs on and not upset the neighbours.

[(woodyng)]

My guitarist just got the 80w 1-12" version. He has brought it to practice about 4-5 times,played an acoustic and an electric through it,tried multitudes of settings,and to my ears,has failed to get a decent tone yet. He wants to have a large pallette of sounds available,but most of what i am hearing lacks clarity and sparkle,which is what i think guitar should sound like! I was hoping he would come back from GC with a small Fender combo. Sure it only does one thing,but it does it GOOD. I will say that he has only had it for a few weeks,so maybe he will be able to coax some better sounds soon.

[(electrofaro)]

Thanks, Woody - did it give off a lot of hiss though? Not sure I would like to experience a learning curve.

[(woodyng)]

I didn't notice any excessive hissing,Werner,if anything,it seemed muted. I think every setting he used had an overload of compression on it. As i said,he is still figuring it out. I cannot judge, i prefer dead simple amp layouts myself,it's easier to dial in a good sound that way.
I know modelling amps can sound great (Steve Howe is proving that for me),but i prefer an amp to just ....amplify.

[(electrofaro)]

Well, to me an amp should do just that as well - just a treble middle bass volume knobs kinda amp usually is dials enough. I guess I'll save a bit more and get the Lil Night Train instead!

[(woodyng)]

I was real intrigued by the Orange "tiny terror" amps,too.

[(electrofaro)]

Tiny terror doesn't sound like it will suit the music I play, which is mostly alternative?

[(Rubsoul)]

I like the older version Valvetronix with the Blue Diamond grillcloth.
I played a newer model but it sounded like a blanket was over it... it doesn't look
like traditional Vox either.
Just my 2 cents.

[(woodyng)]

My guitarist discovered he previously had extreme compression dialed in on all of his settings. The amp is sounding quite good,now that it's sorted!

[(bitzerguy)]

I own a VTX150Pro and it is a great sounding amp. No noise other than you woud get with a similar tube amp, and in fact less noise than my hi gain tubeys, which can also be dialed out with the NR circuit without damping the tone.

When set like the amp it " models" it sounds very good with less of the blanket-over-the-amp effect that some of the old Blue series had. Less flexibility than the blues regarding effects, but better tone overall from the models. I really like the extra crunch and warmth the EL84 gives it instead of the 12AX7.

Like all amps, moderation is key when setting it up. It will not replace my tube amps, but it is a very capable tone tool, and it only weighs 20lbs. It is monstrously loud if needed, or can be dialed way back without too much tone change. I used a bluetooth audio adapter and connected my Ipad with Moog synth app to the aux input and got a great and easy mix with the guitar, so I could use the synth and guitar simultaneously. All in all very flexible and I carry a guitar, foot controoler bag with cables and mike stand, and amp in two hands, one trip. A big plus when you are over 50...

This model is different from the other VTs though, but it is a great versatile amp for covers and jam nights.

[(grenadilla)]

I have the VT 120+ and it took me a good while to get some good sounds. The bigger ones like my 212 can be bassey. I never have the bass up to 12:00. Mine is loud; the others not as loud as you would expect. The built-in tuner is handy. All you need is a guitar and a cord. The 5 button footswitch can have 8 user pre-sets of plain clean Vox or Fender, with verb,or echo, going to slightly distorted Vox, to Marshall domination. Clean with Vox fuzz is just as mean.

[(woodyng)]

Wow,thread revival one year later,so i will update my guitarist's experience with the Vox. I persuaded him to trade it in for a Fender Excelsior amp and a Boss distortion pedal. Muuuch better for our purposes. The Fender is about as simple a layout as has ever been made,i think,but it sounds great! He is playing the Epiphone Dot i bought through it,and gets a great variety of sounds using just the amp and pedal.