Posted: 2/6/2026 1:45:50 PM EDT
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Started playing guitar again a few months ago and I have the same problem as a lot of others. Excess volume lol I play through a PRS tube amp so low volume sucks and no headphones. I bought a Focusrite solo that’s on its way and I already some great Audio Technica headphones. I played a little with amplitude phone amp. What do you all recommend I look at that’s more on the budget friendly side. I play for fun not live. Slayer, Metallica, 5FDP sound influences. I do play a lot of Eb, C and 7 string tuning. I’d like a little variety. I’m sorta chasing a old sound from my teen years Peavy VTM 60 head with a jaguar loaded Randall 4x12 |
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience."
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Some guitar porn since this is a slow Fourm Attached File Attached File |
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience."
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So many good options out there. What's your budget? For home use I'm a fan of a modeler going into powered speakers or studio monitors. I personally use a Helix Rack into a pair of QSC K12.2s but maybe something like a Boss Katana is more in line with what you're looking for. |
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I didn’t really set a budget. Ideally, it would be nice to be able to buy something for 100 150 bucks and be done with it seems like everything wants to be a subscription service these days. Keep in mind this is mainly just for me having fun but needing to have headphones on I figured digital is the way to go if I wanna replicate something that I would hear it at high volume through a tube amp |
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience."
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I am 100% like 3 weeks into the hobby so take this with a grain of salt. But I bought a Positive Grid Spark Go and its usbc rechargeable and has tons of different simulated amp and pedal sounds. You can literally type in a song by any artist, and the app will give you the tabs or chords and let you download tone settings. I originally wanted a cheaper amp and overspend on this, but I have absolutely no regrets. And it sounds great with headphones. Look into them, for $150 it may be useful to you. |
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Originally Posted By NWJohnny: I am 100% like 3 weeks into the hobby so take this with a grain of salt. But I bought a Positive Grid Spark Go and its usbc rechargeable and has tons of different simulated amp and pedal sounds. You can literally type in a song by any artist, and the app will give you the tabs or chords and let you download tone settings. I originally wanted a cheaper amp and overspent on this, but I have absolutely no regrets. And it sounds great with headphones. Look into them, for $150 it may be useful to you. |
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Originally Posted By mc556: I’ll check it out It really hits above it's price point. Practice rig, gig rig, recording rig, expand your existing rig... You can expand it's capabilities even further with the Airstep footswitch.  TONEX ONE mini guitar pedal - Managing Presets |
| I'm using one of the little Boss IR-2 pedals and it is really simple to use, built-in USB interface, headphone out, all sort of easy to access settings right on the pedal without software. I have it in my gig bag for a backup in case my amp goes down in rehearsal or a show. So, my use case is a bit different but I'm someone who hates using software to change these settings. |
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Originally Posted By RickFinsta: I'm using one of the little Boss IR-2 pedals and it is really simple to use, built-in USB interface, headphone out, all sort of easy to access settings right on the pedal without software. I have it in my gig bag for a backup in case my amp goes down in rehearsal or a show. So, my use case is a bit different but I'm someone who hates using software to change these settings. Didn’t know about the pedal that’s pretty cool I bought the focusrite scarlet solo for an interface. I play around a few days with some free use amp sims but ultimately I’d like to have the full sound of a 1/2 stack being driven hard and a headphone friendly package. I’m a fan of tube amp sound but you have to drive them hard to get that nice chugging sound. |
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience."
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I have a little Sonicake Pocket Master. It's about $70 on amazon. It is small and is made for headphones, but you can also send it to an amp. I think you can load third party IRs but have not done it. It is my travel effects unit. I also have a Valtron GP-200 I just got, made for FRFR speaker, you can also load third party NAM and IR into it, although I have not done that yet and has a lot of great features and it has a headphone out which is what I use it for. $350. It has a display in the form of a pedal board / chain and is very easy to use and intuitive. There is software for it but it is so easy to use right on the device, I have never bothered to download the software. I prefer to just make changes on the effects processor and this thing makes it super easy and understandable. Although to load NAM and IRs I think the software has to be used, but not sure. |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
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Nobody is coming to save us.
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the OG Nux Amp Academy is $199 and the new Boss GX-1 full featured floor modeler that can work off battery power is $229. David vs Goliath! Strymon Iridium vs NUX Amp Academy!  BOSS GX-1 | New Entry Level Multi FX Pedal From BOSS! I use a little more pricey modeler, 500-ish, but these caught my eye..er..ear recently. |
Crap Magnet Extraordinaire
| You'll be in the $300 range for this, but I love my Spark 40 amp by Positive Grid. The phone app works really well and allows me to sync up music or pro tabs with the amp via Bluetooth to blend in audio to play along. Almost unlimited amp/effects modelling combinations. It's fairly loud for 40watt solid state, but I play through my headphones 99% of the time. |
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Originally Posted By Mach: I have a little Sonicake Pocket Master. It's about $70 on amazon. It is small and is made for headphones, but you can also send it to an amp. I think you can load third party IRs but have not done it. It is my travel effects unit. I also have a Valtron GP-200 I just got, made for FRFR speaker, you can also load third party NAM and IR into it, although I have not done that yet and has a lot of great features and it has a headphone out which is what I use it for. $350. It has a display in the form of a pedal board / chain and is very easy to use and intuitive. There is software for it but it is so easy to use right on the device, I have never bothered to download the software. I prefer to just make changes on the effects processor and this thing makes it super easy and understandable. Although to load NAM and IRs I think the software has to be used, but not sure. I forget the brand but I have pocket sized interface and have used the free amputube app with my phone. I keep it with some headphones at work for when I want to decompress a bit and play. Not great nor horrible sound. My Solo gets here Thursday. With the AT headphones and powered monitors it should be fun and much better sound quality. It will also be so much easier to play with some drum tracks etc. I have a little Mac mini that isn’t being used. I’ll set it up as a dedicated cpu and that 65in TV as a monitor. At least that’s the plan. |
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience."
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Originally Posted By Pennsilfaanisch: You'll be in the $300 range for this, but I love my Spark 40 amp by Positive Grid. The phone app works really well and allows me to sync up music or pro tabs with the amp via Bluetooth to blend in audio to play along. Almost unlimited amp/effects modelling combinations. It's fairly loud for 40watt solid state, but I play through my headphones 99% of the time. I’m going to stick with a software based setup. I already bought an interface and have a dedicated Mac mini. Honestly I started the thread with just the guitar in mind. Looking at the flexibility now I’m excited I can make a full song with multiple tracks. Keep in mind this is all for my personal enjoyment. IE making noise at home. I have a nice MT 15 tube amp with a 8 pedal board for the garage. It’s all for fun but everyone is make some great suggestions. Much like the other forums this one will cost me some $$$ |
"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience."
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Originally Posted By mc556:I'm going to stick with a software based setup. I already bought an interface and have a dedicated Mac mini. Honestly I started the thread with just the guitar in mind. Looking at the flexibility now I'm excited I can make a full song with multiple tracks. Keep in mind this is all for my personal enjoyment. IE making noise at home. I have a nice MT 15 tube amp with a 8 pedal board for the garage. It's all for fun but everyone is make some great suggestions. Much like the other forums this one will cost me some $$$ I would use either for anything more than home use, but you can get good tones out of both, and they can be a lot of fun to play around with. |