Looking for an amp with Line Out

[gardo]

2 hours ago, 1001gear said:

Can't complain. I don't either.

I did try putting something on YouTube once  just to see if I could do it.  Using a USB cable from a  Mustang amp into a laptop running Audacity didn't exactly give good sound

[gardo]

Here’s a demo I found 

[WRGKMC]

On 8/10/2021 at 11:32 AM, Mikeo said:

I haz a Vox that has programing on it. 

Cost me 80 buckeroos for the multi button foot swithceroo

Cheap amp option.

 

Line / headphono out

https://reverb.com/p/vox-ad30vt

 

https://reverb.com/p/vox-ad30vt

 

 

Hey guys, I have the 50W version of this amp.  Bought it as a portable right which fits easily in the back of my Mustang GT.  The amp does have a line out but beware. It cuts the sound to the power amp and speaker when you plug into it.  Also it only captures the preamp, not the valve tone of the power amp.  Its not that the preamp tone is bad, it simply doesn't have the same drive as a driven tube it uses for its tone.  

What did with mine is to rewire the jack so it only taps the tone from the preamp leaving the power amp running.  The 1/4" jack is switched so I bridged the two pins on the jack with a switch so I can run the amp with the power amp on or off.  

The other issue with allot of line outs on amps, most are wired between the preamp and power amp. because of this they are often full frequency and lack the drive and coloration the power amp and frequency curve a speaker provides. Some manufacturers realize a direct "Speaker Emulated" line out is an option many owners want.  If done right it can not only isolate the amp from stage/'studio noise but can add the coloration and time delay a speaker cab produces.  

The best example of this I've used is the one in my Marshall Valvetronix head. The cap emulation is top quality. Other then the unwanted bleed a mic cab produce the difference between micking the 1960 cab and direct tone is so good I quit using a mic on its cab for recording. 

For most other amps that have a line out with no cab emulation, there are two easy solutions. For older tube amps you can build an amp emulated DI box for the cost of a few caps and resistors.  I added one to my old Bassman and music man heads decades ago and they still work fine.  You can even build them into a box you can place between the speaker out and cabinet.  I used one live for 10 years when I played bass using my old V4 Ampeg setup.

This is the circuit.  I added a 500K pot to attenuate the signal down if needed.  These components can be placed in a small metal box and you simply connect it to an external speaker jack for recording.  These specs are good for an amp up to 50W.  If you use a 100W amp I'd use a higher value resistor then the 470K.  The caps in this circuit add the cabinet coloration and get rid of the ice pick tones you normally get straight from an amp without a speaker 

 

For guitar amps, the speaker itself has the effect of compressing, delaying and rolling off frequencies. This is why most sound men prefer to mic the cabs.  A typical speaker and say a SM57 mic have a distinct roll off below 200Hz and above 5K Trying to create a frequency curve that matches that ideal result using the line out and an EQ is extremely difficult and even then the spatial aspect if a cab and the delay of the speaker piston pushing compressed air is non existent. 

Luckily you can buy a small digital speaker emulator box to do that job for next to peanuts now. I bought one of these new for $29 and it worked so good I bought a second for stereo applications.  The box is far better then the antique EQ solutions I used to use recording.  It works similar to a virtual amp plugin in a recording program that uses speaker IT cab impulses except the impulses are hard wired into the box and you use a selector switch to choose the speaker type from a small 10" open back cab tone all the way to a full stack of 12"  The Vox, Rolland and Blackface and even the Marshall cabs produce excellent tone for live or recording purposes.  You can simply Velcro it into the back of a combo amp and leave it plugged into the line out to bake it easy for setups.  

You can find dozens of others if needed. Some are way over priced so beware.  Anything over $75 for these kinds of boxes is likely a ripoff.  

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