Mojo’s Pick of the Week – VOX amPlug 2 Bass

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Mojo

I received this little guy in error and almost sent it back. I’m very glad I didn’t! The VOX amPlug 2 is a slightly pricey but very fun headphone amp for practicing with some real analog circuit tone.

My musician neighbor recently found his long lost Metal amPlug and told me how much fun it was for practice and general jamming, so I ordered one from Amazon. What arrived a couple weeks later was the Bass version, and since these guys will in fact set you back around $40US I was about to send it back when I thought, hey let’s at least give it a shot.

Since it didn’t come with a manual, I didn’t know until I went to the VOX website that it not only has three gain settings (cycle select using the power button), but also a built in drum machine with three patterns and tap tempo! What!

The amPlug 2 runs on two included AAA batteries and is just a hella fun way to quietly get your practice on. The tone is good, I like the ballsy primary setting, and the syncopated drum patterns are interesting enough to spur the imagination. I do recommend putting your headphone cord through your strap like you would a standard lead, in case it falls out while you jam.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like it but I definitely recommend it, and now I have the amPlug 2 Lead on order. Check the website, each of the VOX amPlug 2 have different specs and settings. Rock on!

VOX amPlug 2 Bass specs

1 x Aux Input Jack
1 x Headphone Jack
requires 2 x AAA Batteries (included)
On|Off|Standby, Volume, Gain, Tone, Beat Controls

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Mojo’s Pick of the Week – String Butler

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Mojo

String Butler is a small but mighty device whose sole purpose is to correct the angles of your guitar strings as they pass through the nut. This isn’t an issue on certain models of guitars – most Fenders, for instance, where the string passes straight through to the machine head. But on Gibson Les Paul type headstocks, the center strings are at a steep angle to the nut, causing binding which in turn causes tuning issues. Ever wonder why you can’t get that G string to stay in tune on your LP? It’s the fact that it’s unwound and the angle is steep heading to the tuner. String Butler corrects this issue in a very clever way. No more G string binding (ouch)!

It’s one of those products that you can’t necessarily tell right away how much impact it’s having. But now that I’ve had it for a few months, I can say It’s definitely one of those products I wish I’d known about sooner!

I was initially surprised at the size of the device for the $, but I can attest that it’s very well made, light enough to be unobtrusive, and well designed enough that you’ll want one on every LP type headstock in your arsenal. Especially if you do a lot of high string bends.

String butler is designed and assembled in Germany, and I got mine on Amazon for about $47. It comes in several color options to make it easy to match your guitar. If you have an LP type guitar and have either center string binding or tuning issues, check this little guy out. Very clever solution to a very common problem.

String Butler
Mfr Dietrich Parts
Approx $47 US at Amazon

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Mojo’s Pick of the Week – Dragonfly Black DAC

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Mojo

The Dragonfly by Audioquest is a pro quality Digital Audio Converter and headphone amplifier for converting your digital music to analog for a much richer, truer listening experience. It plugs into your USB port (adapter available), and comes in two flavors, Black and Red, at price points of $99 and $199 US respectively. There are some differences outlined here, but essentially the Red is the higher end version (and a bit out of my price range). The Black is still well worth it.

Essentially, this plug & play DAC takes over for the built-in audio output of your computer, which is not necessarily optimized for sound. I’ve been mixing in the box for many years, and I was just listening to a long interview with Andrew Scheps talking about how much he loves mixing in the box for all the reasons I do. At the very end, he said “but don’t use your built-in audio out, it’s built as an afterthought and not optimized for high end audio”. Which believe it or not, has never occurred to me. I did notice sound was richer when listening through my Presonus AudioBox out instead of my Mac but because I don’t always have the AudoBox with me, that just wasn’t a practical option.

Enter the Dragonfly.

Note: when I first plugged it in, it was LOUD. I mean, throw your headphones off loud. So set the Dragonfly’s output volume before listening through it. Once I set the volume (easily done in the menu bar or the sound Preference Pane), I opened the Audio-Midi Setup App* and tried it at all sample rates before setting it at a conservative 24/48K.

Very cool feature: the Dragonfly LED changes color to indicate what sample rate it is processing. This is true even if it’s set to one setting and your DAW is set to another, it will switch to reflect the current output. Easy way to tell at a glance what your session is set to.

One thing I did notice: it’s better for mixing than tracking; I had noticeable latency when tracking through the Presonus and listening through the Dragonfly. Too many converters, I’m thinking.

To be honest, I’m still getting used to hearing music through it, the range and depth is expanded in every dimension. But it’s definitely a game changer for me. I feel like I can feel the air from kick drums now!

*Something I discovered in the process of setting it up that was very cool and somehow NO ONE HAD TOLD ME before is that you can set your built-in audio out from the default 24-bit/44.1K to up to 32-point/96K. I don’t mean the Dragonfly, I mean your actual MacBookPro audio out. I can definitely hear a difference between 44.1K and 96K even streaming an MP3, so if you do nothing else, do that. This is set for your default audio out using the Audio-Midi Setup application under Utilities.