Here is the 2nd part of the article on ferrites and RFI.
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I decided Iâm going to return my Vox amPlug 2 Bass Headphone Amp. Iâm not going to disparage the thing. I can see how it would be useful in a number of different situations but, for me, it just wanât a fit.
As for the ferrite (bead/core/ring) solution, based on what Iâve read, I donât think it would help in this situation. Also, given the current pandemic, I canât find any I wouldnât have to buy in bulk. Thanks @ButchMoore.
As for the ground loop isolator, recommended by @forrestgibb, this looks like the best solution. However, Iâm not willing to spend $10 more on something Iâm planning to return.
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Hi Eric,
Yes, after some basic testing this weekend using a laptop and a pair of amplified speakers that produce a hum, the ferrite did not remove the hum. The ferrite works for external noise, like RF signals from my ham radio.
I agree, the solution proposed by @forrestgibb seems be the best choice.
Good luck heading down your fretboard journey! Stay safe, more bass.
Butch (aka MoorBass)
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Hi all,
I was afraid by the buzz you talk about - I thought it was some king of larsen or electric noise. Actually it is more like whitenoise, some kind of âffffffâ. I find it totally bearable compared to the signal of the bass. The whitenoise is not getting stronger if you use the aux input, so I can listen to Josh and my bass at the same time.
It is definitely not perfect at all, and you should definitely use a real amp if you can! But Iâm in an apartment and Iâm very satisfied with this setup.
Cheers and please forgive my approximative English.
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@VNRPPR I found the same thing: a little bit of white noise that does not interfere with the bass or the lessons over aux. Itâs fine for the audience of one it is intended to serve. At this point in the lessons, a little noise in addition to what I am playing is probably for the better.
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The little bit of noise that is always there is fine. The noise some of us were talking about is worse. It happens when you hook it up to certain devices. For me, if I use my cell phone in the aux port, while my cell phone is also plugged into the wall. I believe someone was having it elsewhere. It is a wonderful little device overall, but if the way you want to use it happens to cause that really bad hum it can be a bummer.
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Oh OK I understand, my bad. Iâm using a jack cable from a 2015 Mac Book Pro to the amplug, and I canât hear additional noise, even when the laptop is charging. But I guess it depends on the whole electrical setup, and that is beyond my skills level 
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Yeah, thereâs nothing wrong with the AmPlug. It just doesnât work out for everybody, depending on your environment, setup, needs.
I still think itâs a cool device. It just didnât work for me because of grounding problems.
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I really like it for the flexibility but I do find I can easily get into bad habits with it. It doesnât seem to highlight my failings in the same way that using an amp does.
E.g. I sound much cleaner with the AmPlug but when I plug back into my amp I get to hear a lot of string noise from poor fretting hand technique and then spend my next couple of practice sessions fixing my technique. Perhaps it is just my selective hearing. Or perhaps my amp (Fender Rumble 15) just doesnât like me ;-(
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It is also most likely the EQ settings on your amp, more profound high and mid, even at 12 oâclock.
Try cutting the high pass, and possibly the mid.
Itâs good to hear mistakes you can correct, but there is some amount that is going to happen no matter what, so try to adjust the amp to cover that bit up
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Yeah this definitely sounds like an EQ thing to me too.
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Thanks @T_dub and @howard - yes; tweaking the EQ definitely improves my playing! It is just frightening how quickly I could slip back into bad habits.
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Cool, glad it helped.
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Eric.kiser
is there a way that the Vox AP2-BS
bass plugged in to my bass can drive any small portable speaker for audible sound? It is great for headphones and ear buds. I wear hearing aids, and dont want to keep changing them to be listening to my bass practice outdoors
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I would of thought you could connect the headphone out jack of the Vox to the line input that say some portable Bluetooth speakers also have, and then adjust the volume out of the vox so as not to overload the portable speaker input.
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I just tried this setup:
The drum loops from the VOX sound great but the bass is very distorted. I guess the small speakers canât handle the power.
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I just bought Vox amplug2 bass and Äą have a buzz problem when using with headphones (cheap phone ones) and I think it cant handle the power ? Will it solve if I buy a good pair of heaphones or speaker ?
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There could be a number of things going on here causing the buzz. Without knowing your setup itâs hard to be sure.
Definitely could be the headphones not handling the signal.
Using a bass with single coil pickups can cause a hum. (Jazz bass style pickups)
If youâre using the AUX in and the device is plugged into a power outlet this can create a grounding problem. (This happened to me)
Dialing back your pickups will also reduce some hum and buzz.
Let me know if any of this works or if you have any other questions.
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I´ve bought mine amplug 2 a week ago and the light, which in the first days (and in every video I´ve watched in Youtube) was green had become orange/yellow (see the picture below). I tried changing the batteries but it didn´t help.
I don´t know if it´s my mind or not, but it seems to me that since the light´s color have changed, the E string sound has become muffled and seeming out of tune.
Does anyone know what this orange/yellow light means?
Thank you.
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