Players looking to tap into the sweet sounds of a vintage Vox AC30 amplifier while out and about might plug into one of the company's excellent amPlug headphone amps and rock out. But now there's another option, as Vox announces three new headphone variants that have guitar amps cooked in.
For the VGH series, Vox has taken the essentials from its popular amPlug series of plug-in headphone amps and cut out the middle man to throw the tech into a pair of closed-back Audio Technica headphones that are plugged directly into the instrument jack. And like those stand-alone headphone amps, you'll need to buy a different set of cans for different amp tones.
If you're looking for the classic sound of a classic Vox AC30 amp, for example, you will need to choose the VGH-AC30 headphones, which deliver a faithful simulation of that amp's iconic "chimey" tones, turning the volume knob of the guitar for clean, bright sounds or cranking it up for full-bodied crunch. Then there's the VGH-Rock flavor, where players can tap into the amp stack sounds of the 80s and 90s. Both of these versions include adjustable reverb, chorus and delay effects.
Vox hasn't forgotten to include bass players, with the VGH-Bass headphones offering low enders a "wide dynamic range that still achieves enough volume to please discerning players." This bass amp on your head includes a built-in compressor.
Each of the headphones rocks 40-mm drivers for a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, sound pressure level of 97 dB and impedance of 49 ohms. The amplifier circuitry is powered by two AAA-sized batteries for convenience, with the AC30 and Rock models managing up to 16 hours of play time from alkaline cells, while the Bass can rumble for up to 20 – though personally I'd prefer a rechargeable internal battery. Controls on the housing dial in gain, tone, volume and effects.
The headphones include an auxiliary-in jack to allow players to jam with favorite tracks, and when the built-in amp is powered down, each of the model variants can serve as regular headphones for plugged-in audio delivery.
The VGH series headphones go on sale from March for US$99.99 each. The video below has more, but if you're in the market for a guitar amp/headphones experience without having to mess around with annoying cables, the Waza-Air headphones from Boss offer more sonic versatility, too – though there is a higher price of entry.
Or if you already have a pair of decent cans and just want to hang amps and effects from your guitar, Fender launched the capable-looking Mustang Micro earlier this month.
Product page: Vox
