BlackstarElectric Guitar Headphone Amplifier (AP2FLYGTR)

The quality of these little lamps becomes obvious once you put your headphones on. Super portable and effective. Battery seems to last a while especially if you remember to turn it off. I've got the box and the black star. They both feel super cheap and chintzy but both work great. Wish they were a little cheaper or a little bit more rugged. Neither the Black Star nor the vox feel very durable. There's definitely value here.

I own this Blackstar Amplug2, plus three of the Vox models. Since most of the features are the same as Vox's, I've simply cut-and-pasted my review of the three Vox's below. As mentioned briefly in the review below, the Blackstar is most similar to the Vox "Classic Rock". If you're looking for differences with the Vox CR, it's mainly a matter of the gain/distortion, as playing clean is largely the same. Even though I joke in the review below about the 70's and 90's decades as being the same, it's probably the subtle differences in those decades' sounds that separate the Blackstar and the Vox CR. The Vox CR emulates the 70's hard rock sound, while this Blackstar takes the 70's hard rock sound and adds that 90's emphasis on the heavier low-end. Not Nu Metal 90's (this is not really a metal amp, like the Vox Metal), but more like Soundgarden 90's.Some of the reviews are a bit misleading -- placing a value judgement on the type of distortion? Buying an amp that is specific to hard rock, and then complaining that it doesn't sound like an amp built specifically for blues? Distortion preference is just that -- a preference, and not qualitative. Also, the effects may be digital, but the actual amp channels and gain features are analog circuits, according to Vox's own website (and the Blackstar/Vox are the same product).Regarding the Amplug2's in general, this is my review of the Vox models I own, much of which applies to the Blackstar:I bought the "Clean", "AC30", and "Classic Rock" versions (I also own the Blackstar version of the amplug2, which isn't as well known, but just as good). All versions are really good for their size and price point. The effects are the same for each model and surprisingly decent (chorus, delay, reverb). Note that you can only do one of the three effects at a time, although you can combine one of the effects with gain/distortion. The AC30 has one additional effect -- tremolo -- which is actually enabled by switching channels (not the effects button), so you can simultaneously do tremolo and one of the other three effects and gain/distortion. Each of the three effects has three strength levels -- some online videos/blogs mistaking state that the effects are simply on/off (they clearly didn't read the instructions) when in fact they each have three strength levels. The AC30's tremolo has two levels (or three, if you count "off" as a level), which again is controlled by switching channels.In terms of individual models, the "Clean" model does what it says, so not a whole lot to say. The green channel is pure clean, the orange channel is a bluesier/jazzier twin amp sound, and the red channel can give you some dirty blues tones with the gain maxed-out. The "Classic Rock" model competently does three channels of various 70's-style overdrive (or I suppose 90's-style too, since grunge was similar to the 70's -- so you get two decades for the price of one!). The AC30 is a version of the original 60's British invasion sound, although I've never owned a full AC30 to say how accurate it is -- but I definitely like the sound with the gain maxed-out. You can also get some surprisingly beautiful tones out of the AC30 using the orange tremolo channel with no gain, and with the chorus effect setting on low. I bought the AC30 for the overdrive sound, but did not expect getting such other beautiful tones out of something for $40!One thing I will stress is that headphone type matters a lot. Use the wrong headphones (in-ear or on-ear), and these things are simply toys. Use the correct headphones (over-the-ear, and preferably "closed"), and they are surprisingly good little practice amps. For guitar practicing, I use 80-Ohm Beyerdynamic DT770 PROs, which I highly recommend. As a side note, I'd also recommend a one-time investment in a AAA-battery charger, to save in the long run.Another tip regarding hum, which I've seen others mention -- I also have a low hum on the Clean & Classic Rock models when using the higher-gain red channel (but not the other channels), although this is always with the guitar volume pot at 100% w/treble bleed. The AC30's red channel is not higher gain, so it does not have this issue. In any case, I found that simply rolling down the guitar volume pot a little (like 10% or whatever is required to squelch your treble bleed) eliminates the hum. In any case, it's really only a factor when playing clean, and treble bleed is usually only desired with distortion anyway. If you have separate pickup volume pots like me -- rather than rolling down the master volume, I simply roll down the neck pickup volume 10% or so (since I mostly use that pickup when playing clean), and keep the bridge pickup volume at 100% w/treble bleed, which I mostly use with high gain anyway. Plus, you can't hear the hum when playing anyway, so not that big of a deal. At the end of the day, it's a practice amp, not a performance amp -- but a darn good practice amp for the money!

I bought the Blackstar amPlug2 so I could practice bass while I was on a road trip with my family. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of tone and overall functionality but I was not disappointed. If fact, I was really surprised by how many different sounds I could get from this little amp. The sound quality is very good with nice clean lows, clear mids, and crisp highs. There’s a built-in overdrive that sounds awesome, a classic sound that is like a vintage thumpy tone, and a modern channel that has really nice resonant tones. There’s also an aux port so you can plug in your phone or another source to play music or backing tracks while you practice. As if all that wasn’t enough, it also has multiple built-in drum loops to jam with to help keep time or just to have some drums to play along with. You don’t need any guitar cables or power supplies since it plugs directly into your instrument and runs on 2 AAA batteries that last a very long time. Just don’t forget to bring your wired headphones and some extra AAA batteries if you’re going to be using the amp a lot. Overall, I don’t have any complaints about this little amp. I’m home from our trip now and I still use this amp when I just want to quickly plug in with some headphones and practice or if I want to practice in a different room then where I have my amps set up or even outside.As a side note: I have pretty good over-the-ear headphones that I use with this amp. You should probably have headphones that can handle some bass or you might experience some clipping or distortion.If you’re looking for a good travel amp, need to be able to practice quietly, or just want something super portable this is the amp for you! Honestly, even if you have a great studio setup, having one of these around is still a great idea. It’s such a convenient solution for quick and/or quiet practice sessions I’ll keep one in my bass case for the rest of time.