Behringer Review: V-Amp 2

History:

Purchase: £89 from www.studiospares.com

What I Like About This Behringer V-Amp 2: The Behringer V-Amp 2 has swiftly become a necessity in my PC orientated studio as it's features fulfil all of my needs when recording guitar directly into my computer. Most importantly it provides very realistic amp sounds and speaker simulation. It also eliminates the dreaded 'flatness' from PC recorded audio signals and works wonderfully as a DI or pre-amp into a soundcard. It's signal processing and audio effects are of such high quality (24bit) that I'm still surprised it cost just 89 quid. With additional features such as a chromatic tuner, MIDI interface (you can download the software from it's official site www.v-amp.com) a free foot controller and much, much more it's fair to say that I feel totally spoiled by Behringer It's amazing how versatile this piece of equipment is in the studio and I urge any serious musician to buy one immediately. I've produced many professional recordings with it and for it's price, you can't go wrong.

What I Do NOT Like About The Behringer V-Amp 2: If you're purchasing the Behringer V-Amp 2 as a means of plugging it into your existing amp at band practice, convinced that it'll somehow instantly convert your battered equipment into a professional sounding rig then you're gonna be disappointed. The Behringer V-Amp should not be approached the way you would one of your standard guitar effect pedals either as it's totally wasted in that area. It's more suited for a recording musician and if you're not 'that type' of guitarist then chances are you wont enjoy this device. The slight delay when operating the foot pedal is nothing really to cry about but that and the lack of a power switch make the V-Amp lose a coolness point.

Behringer V-Amp 2 Quality Rating: Like most amp modelers the V-Amp is shaped like a guitar which bugged me at first but hey, it fits neatly 'ontop' of other things which I suppose is what it was designed for. It's very durable and tough but naturally it's an electronic device and wasn't made to be thrown around rooms and stuff. I'm confident that it's solid construction will keep it safe from me on a bad day.

Review Summary: This is an essential, 'must have' device for PC guitarists and in my opinion officially rivals it's more expensive counterparts. Bottom line, it's cheap, sounds awesome and does the job, what more could you want?

Rating of this Behringer product: 4

This Behringer V-Amp 2 Recording Gear Review Submitted By: The Finch

Review Date: 2003-12-29