Question for anyone gigging with Vypyr headphone out

[alienux]

This is in regards to the Vypyr VIP 2 amp.

I've read numerous posts here and on other forums where people have said that use their Vypyr amp to play live using the headphone jack out to a PA system (since we have no true line out). I've seen some say that they just plug in all of the way, cutting out the amp speaker, and I've seen some say that they plug halfway in, getting output to the PA and leaving the amp speaker active.

My question is this; is there some secret to making this sound good, or at least better? I've always thought that every amp I've had with a headphone jack sounded thin and "tinny" through the headphones. I was hopeful that the VIP 2 would be better, but last night I ran my headphone out into a PA system at church and it sounded awful, regardless of whether it was plugged half-way in or all of the way. The sound coming out of the PA was very screechy with hardly any low end, and sounded very much like it was in a tin can.

I ditched the cables and miked the amp, and it sounded amazing. So, is there some secret to getting the "studio quality" headphone out to sound good? I'm definitely just going to mic my amp in this setup, but I'm curious if I'm overlooking something that can drastically change the sound from the headphone jack so I'd have the option if I ever need it.

[Agileman]

Sounds like you were getting a lot of feedback with the headphone out cable. What kind of cable did you use? Mono 1/8th to mono 1/4 should be good. When I used a stereo cable I got all kinds of noise. A really long cord will make problems too.

[Jspencer]

To get good tone it would be easier to connect a DI box between the speaker and the speaker line out. That's why I installed a speaker output jack in my Vypyr 30 and modded 15. The stock speaker doesnt provide coloration to the sound , so the DI box to the PA sounds excellent

With the non-tube Vypyrs it is even possible to run the DI box without connecting the speaker. With a tube Vypyr you must run a speaker load to prevent blowing the output tranny.

[jackstrat]

I just tried it with my VIP 3 (headphone jack to keyboard amp) and it sounds good.

jack

[Ljoe1969]

I have a 75w (old version). the DI box has a XLR output and a 1/4" straight thru connection. which connection do I use for the speaker, the recorder I have is a Boss Micro BR which only has a 1/8" line in and a guitar input for recording. Would I connect the straight through to the speaker and get an adapter cable to connect the XLR to the input of the recorder?

joe

[alienux]

Sounds like you were getting a lot of feedback with the headphone out cable.

Well, when I said "screechy" it wasn't so much a feedback screech as much as just very thin with too much high end.

What kind of cable did you use? Mono 1/8th to mono 1/4 should be good. When I used a stereo cable I got all kinds of noise. A really long cord will make problems too.

It's a mono 1/8 to mono 1/4 that is 3 feet long and otherwise sounds ok. The amp sounds pretty good with actual headphones, at least much better than my last couple of Crate amps did.

[TheOldMan]

I use my VIP 2 at church, too. I go from the 'headphone out" jack to a direct box. I use a mono cable 1/8 at one end 1/4 at the other. I have and 1/8 stereo to mono adapter plugged into the amp and the 1/8 end of the cable plugs into it. I usually play bass with this setup and the sound guys and some of the people in the congregation say my bass sounds really great. Occasionally I use the same setup with my acoustic guitar and get similar compliments about the sound. Are you plugging into a direct box (when you don't mic it)?

[alienux]

Yeah, I was plugging into a box, but it just sounded thin and tin-like.

Yesterday at church I just mic'd the amp and it sounded really good. I got some compliments on the tone, so I'm not going to worry about trying to use the headphone out any more. I don't really need that set up, and the sound with the mic is so good that I'm just going to stick with what works.

[TheOldMan]

You're lucky. We aren't allowed to mix our amps. We have to run a cable from our amps to the direct boxes. They want to have as little sound as possible on the platform. Lucky for the required method works for me.

[alienux]

I'm glad we don't have that restriction. If we did, I would have had to buy a different amp, or just bought a head to run directly into the system.

[MidiMan]

If you plug into the headphone jack part-way to keep the speaker active, you will not get the speaker simulation required to make the headphone signal sound good. That's probably what's causing the tinny sound. The speaker rolls off that tinny high end - as with almost any guitar amp out there. When using headphones (or to a full-range PA system or recording device), the simulator takes over that task.

The amp senses when you plug in all the way and responds by engaging the simulator and muting the speaker. You can't really get both simultaneously. Not correctly, anyway.

[alienux]

Thing is, when I tried it, I did plug my 1/4 to 1/8 mono cable in all the way and it still sounded pretty bad.

I tried a 1/8 stero to 1/4 mono too, and didn't like the sound. The other guys at practice agreed that it sounded very thin with no low end at all.

Oh well, like I said, everything is great when the amp is mic'd, so not a big deal to me anymore.

[JamesPaul]

Live, we would mic mine. So no experience running headphone out, directly into the board. However a couple years ago we did our winter rehearsals in my basement, using a JamHub. Mine sounded fine, headphone out, into the JamHub, listening through isolation headphones.

Edit: Du'oh! I missed the VIP2 specific line. I need a bigger screen on my mobile. This post pertains to my 75.

[TouringBubble]

Last night I was working on some tones and used the headphones for the first time. I got a tone dialed in that sounded great through the headphones but was completely different through the speaker. The headphones did seem to roll off the low end a bit, but the biggest issue for me was the gain.

Through the headphones the gain sounds about 20% lower than through the speaker. I don't know if that's just the natural analog sound through the speaker or an effect of the headphone jack adjustments.

I was able to roll down both the pre and post gain and tweak the lows and mids a tough to get a comparable sound through the speaker.

I don't know if this is the case for everyone, but I noticed it on several of the tones I'd already set up.

[erky32]

Would there be any possibility of accessing the software switch ,via USB connection ,that mutes the speaker during headphone use? .....maybe that would enable the amp to be used as a stage guitar monitor and use the simulated headphone output for the PA?