Ampeg SCR-DI - €249
TC SpectraDrive - €166
Palmer Pocket Amp Bass - €144
Quite a difference between them for me.
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Interesting. Ampeg is owned by Yamaha so maybe it’s just cheaper here? No idea.
Meanwhile the Palmer is a bit more than that here.
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The B1-four can easily be bypassed. I did the B2B on it with the aux in from my ipad.
you just press the two foot switches at the same time and it throws it into Bypass / Tuner mode.
Investing in a pre-amp prior to a pedalboard is not a bad idea, but the education about effects and pedal chaining you can get from the Zoom when ready is really valuable.
I get if you tried it and it just was not for you, that is cool, but if you thought it was too hard to just plug in and get a clean tone to use with Aux in and headphones, it is pretty simple to get to actually.
There are blank patches you can run also that are the same as clean mode.
Just FYI in case you did not know, cuz the value to what you get and what you can learn is pretty incredible when it comes to those Zoom B1-four boxes.
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Hey y’all!
Sorry if I haven answered anymore (although I was probably the most interested in the subject lol), but I had a rough time in the last few months. I’ve read every answer though, and many alternatives were very appealing (but expensive!).
Anyway, I ended up getting the NUX, because I decided not to get anything more expensive than my bass. I’ve been playing with it for the last couple of days, and it’s quite an intriguing toy. The only real downsides I see are the lack of a direct output volume slider on the thing, and a compressor pedal. I’ve had a hard time finding a good sound that was loud enough without clipping (is that the right term?), but I’ve found a few, and I’m satisfied so far.
It’s clearly a guitar thingy more than anything, but it’s very comfortable, and the ability to stream your music library directly in your headphones through this thing is way more convenient than I thought.
I’ll let you know how durable it is in a few months, if you’re interested. So far so good.
Anyway, happy new year everyone, and keep practicing!
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Hey everyone, I have a VOX amplug and I think it was originally ground breaking technology back when it was released (2012). It just does not sound that great and is incredibly flimsy. In hindsight I wish I did the darkglass Element, but had sticker shock and will probably buy one as soon as my amplug splits in half.
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Back to this topic again after a while! In the end I stuck with the Zoom B1 but haven’t totally gotten along with it. With the new NAMM announcements there’s 2 more products that are looking interesting for that simple home practice setup.
Vox VGH-Bass - looks like a new version of their old amPhone product, all self contained with a pair of headphones and just plug straight into the bass. It’s a bit lacking in details so far as to what effects etc. you get with the bass version, but might be a nice practice solution? Downsides seem to be needing AAA batteries, and only aux-input (no bluetooth)
Fender Mustang Micro - now this looks neat. A more modern version of the old amplugs, and though it seems quite guitar focused, it did mention “fitting most guitars and basses” so I assume it has something for us too. The major plus for me (if it works as advertised) is that they claim to have bluetooth streaming with audio/video syncing, which was the main reason I didn’t keep my NUX mighty plug. Perhaps not as customisable as the NUX due to no app, but if the presets are good enough this might be a winner?
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I’ve had my eye on that Fender Mustang Micro since they announced it, wondering if it could be used for bass. All I’ve really found is what you mentioned plus this bit from its product manual regarding the “Studio Pre-Amp” setting:
“Direct-to-mixing-desk studio-preamp purity with clean, uncolored tonal response. Ideal for bass guitars and acoustic instruments.”
Sounds like it can be used for bass, but gonna wait for a bass demo video before I jump on it. Here is one I found from a guitar player:
I do like my Vox but the bluetooth streaming and rechargeable battery would be really nice. So basically it’s between the Fender and NUX for me.
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Yeah, I noticed that line from the manual too. I’m curious how the other guitar presets will sound with a bass too, as I’d like some more options than just a clean sound. I’m guessing many of the review videos are going to be from guitarists though so may just have to test it out and return it if it’s not doing the job. Would have been cool if they came out with a Rumble Micro too.
The NUX Mighty Plug was great overall when I tried it, lots of customisation with the app, and potentially more bass-focused options. The problem for me was their older bluetooth version meant noticeable latency trying to watch a video while streaming the audio, and it had no aux input as a backup. Fender are super vague about how their claimed a/v sync works, it may just be a bluetooth 5.0 thing, but I’m curious.
Those Vox headphones are tempting too though, partly because they’re entirely bass focused, but I haven’t found a manual for it yet so I have no idea what it can really do tone wise.
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Man a Rumble Micro would be so awesome. Maybe one day.
Re: Vox tone, it’s pretty limited. You have 3 “gain settings” which work fine. There is also a tone knob but half the time mine produces noise/hiss so i just leave it at 0. No extra amp modeling or anything like that.
The built in drumbeats are pretty nice, and the AUX in is handy. Otherwise it’s a no-frills device that does the job acceptably.
EDIT: Just saw you were referring to the Vox headphones, not the Amplug, my bad. But same, curious for more details on those.
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I dislike my Vox headphone amp, too much noise/hiss.
For now I use my focusrite for this stuff but can’t relocate so easy.
Nux looks cool but want to see what the Fender is all about first, so I guess I am waiting.
Fender is very bad at details on products. They seem to like a lot of white space on pages vs. just telling you everything.
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Here’s a better video of the Fender one:
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Seriously considering getting the Fender Mustang Micro now that they’re available and there’s more info out there about them. FWIW here’s a review from a bass player, sounds like the Studio Pre-amp setting is great for bass and all the guitar amps/fx are unsurprisingly meh for bass. So for bass-only, the NUX is probably the better buy. I would want to use it for guitar too so leaning towards the Fender.
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Fender is very bad at products, period.
I mean outside of four or five classic lines of guitars and amps they have made for decades of course. They know what to do with those.
But when they try new stuff it feels like bolt-on afterthoughts that they don’t put much weight behind.
Like, they make a line of guitar pedals that are supposedly excellent but no one knows about, because you can barely even find them on the fender site without coming in from a google search.
They seem to promote things poorly in general.
They don’t have enough staff spare to promote things. They are too busy counting all the money they are making during the pandemic.
They do seem pretty bad at advertising accessories and things. I found their new power blocks on Andertons, but can’t even find a mention of them on the Fender website for example.
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Yeah exactly, it’s like they have five things they know how to sell and the rest go to the marketing interns as starter projects.
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I’m going to give the NUX a shot.
The Fender clearly is not designed for bass, at least the NUX has some functionality.
I will try Fender if they come out with a Rumble version…
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There is one by NUX. Attaches to an app on your phone which allows you to pick whatever amp/cab/effects you want. Excellent practice tool!
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I have the NUX Mighty Plug for bass. I like it better than the VOX amplug. The Bluetooth gives you freedom from the source backing track if you’re using it for that.
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I just saw one today for first time. That is cool extra feature too
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I was thinking the same. We need a Rumble version aimed at bass players. Lets hope they do this. Too often bass players are forgotten as the market opportunity is a quarter of the size of the guitar market.
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