Pocket Pod Express or Amplug AC30 for late night playing

[rolilohse]

Hi all,

I am currently looking for an headphone amp where I can hook up a mp3 player - so the family can sleep while I am playing

I do not need millions of sounds, one good clean and one distortion sound are enough for me. Oh yes, I do not want to spend too much $$ for that device.

There are two amps I am interested in:

Vox Amplug AC30:
+ Sound seems to be good
+ easy use
+ mp3 input
+ quite cheap
- no reverb/stereo effects, may sound a little bit too direct when using headphones

Pocket Pod Express
+ reverb/stereo effects
+ mp3 input
+ quite cheap
+ more sounds than amplug
+- sound?

So does anybody know how the Pod express compares to the amplug soundwise? Here in Germany the price differs only marginal; so if the sound of the pod is ok I would go for it. Or is there an headphone amp around that I did not take in account?

Cheers Roland

[Bigdawg]

hiya, for me its a pod all the way - the amplugs are good but they are one sound, the range of sounds and cd/mp3 input make the pod for me a bit of kit I cant do without...

[62Caster]

I LOVE my pod express. like Bigdawg said, the cd/mp3 jam along feature makes it the best unit out there.

[jjkrause84]

My only experience is with the Amplug and I pretty much use it only for transcribing without everyone else in the house having to hear the saem 5 seconds of music over and over again.

People seem to like their PODs....my instinct is that there's probably a reason for that

[studio1087]

Double post sorry

[studio1087]

I have both and this how I jam after 10 PM when the kids are sleeping. The AC30 gives distortion. The POD gives stereo reverb and trem and delay and many overdrives. I paid $60 used with the box and books. The POD at $60 or $70 is a much better value than an Amplug at $39.

Tons of fun!

[Ben Harmless]

Honestly, to my ears, after the first five minutes, the POD tones all start sounding alike anyway. I got the Amplug, some rechargable AAAs, and have been very happy.

I've been thinking about giving the POD another try too though. I will post a public retraction if I change my mind.

[jmontgomery]

I bought the Vox Tonelab ST. Works very well for playing with the mp3 player.

[Canuckcaster]

I've been looking for a decent headphone practice unit, and I'm leaning towards the pod. I think for a few extra bucks you get a lot more features.

CC

[imwjl]

You need to at least think about what a little more money will get you if you're looking at a Pocket POD.

Pandora - the headphone amp, recording interface, looper, MIDI, tuner, USB sound card, and effects box in one:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-c...ni-review.html

[rolilohse]

Thanks for all replies so far!

Pandora or Tonlab have impressive features - but I think I will not use these features. The only features I need are a decent sound and a plug for my mp3 player.

So I think I'll pull the trigger for the POD express; it's only € 59 here in Germany. The shop I'm planning to buy offers a 30 days "money back" guarantee so there's plenty of time for checking.

Cheers Roland

[74n4LL0]

Originally Posted by imwjl

You need to at least think about what a little more money will get you if you're looking at a Pocket POD.

Pandora - the headphone amp, recording interface, looper, MIDI, tuner, USB sound card, and effects box in one:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-c...ni-review.html

+ 1 for that little money the pocket POD gives you more

[neocaster]

I love my AMPlug, but it's definitely a one-trick pony. Dollar for dollar, it's the POD all the way. Line 6 has being doing great things with modellers for a while now and they're still getting better at it.

[rolilohse]

I pulled the trigger for the POD, I could not be happier!

Some of the sounds are great (Twang, Rock), there are some amp models that I do not like that much (Clean, Crunch), some great effects, some that I do not like (the flanger is way too intense).

All in all a perfect practice amp, especially when connected to a mp3 player!

Cheers Roland

Originally Posted by studio1087

[musicalmartin]

The Amplug does what it says on the label .It sounds reasonably like an AC 30 .It can also be run through powered speakers like JBL 's and sounds good.Its cheap and cheerful and I do find the settings get altered unintentionally .I do like it though.I take it with me to stores to give the guitar I am trying out a good run through .It gives me a constant to compare by . I am sure the pod is a better alternative but the Amplug has some very good clean tones , and is OK on overdrive . It gets noisy if the batteries are going flat .
I use my Blackstar HT5 at home now as that has speaker emulated phone output .Now that really rawks

[Grandma's Tele]

Another option, to play with headphones is the Zoom G2G. It's not very expensive, ~ 100$ CAD and has a lot of features including drum patterns and effects. If you want to listen to your MP3 player at the same time as you play with headphones, just use a "Y" cable [2 stereo plugs to 1 stereo jack] like this:



Edit: Congrat on the new Pod!! Have fun!!

BTW, I use a "Y" cable when I want to practice along with Youtube videos and use headphones!

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by neocaster

I love my AMPlug, but it's definitely a one-trick pony.

but it does that one trick very, very well!

[Justinvs]

I have both, and while the POD is definitely the more versatile of the pair, you can't beat the Amplug for honesty. With the POD you can basically get away with anything because the effects and amp models cover your playing, but with the Amplug (mine is the AC30) what you play sounds just like what you would get out of an amp. If you're really seeking to clean up your style, go with the Amplug.

Justin

[Slow Reflexes]

I had the Amplug for a day or three and found it lacking. Noise floor was kinda high and output was very low with anything other than cheapie headphones. Even with a fresh battery and full volume, it wasn't loud enough through my enclosed-ear headphones to drown out the strings. I returned the Amplug and bought a used SS Fender (with a headphone jack) on Craigslist for the same money.

I'd be interested to try the POD, though. I can see a lot more utility there. Hope you have fun with it!

[Grandma's Tele]

I've had a few devices that I used with headphones, a Pandora PX4D, a Zoom 505, a Vox Tonelab (the blue desktop unit) and I currently have a Zoom G2G.

They all have something in common: they sound much better with humbuckers or Noiseless single coils otherwise, they're very noisy!