Sound:
The sound of this thing leaves a lot to be desired. The only decent sounds are in the accoustic mode. I hate the built in compression that while reduces unwanted distortion, makes it drop in volume when you pick hard which I do. The distortion sucks completely. Even adding my sm-9 super metal pedal in front of it doesn't help. To top it off, it's not even in stereo but mono through headphones, something that impressed me with the original rockman. This thing aint even close. If I were Tom Scholz, I'd find a way to get my name off of this thing.
Feature:
The buttons sometimes don't stay down so you have to push several times to get it to stay down. There were no accessories as I bought this thing used but I don't see anything added to this thing that would improve it much. The most useful feature is probably the volume control that drops the volume pretty low so that nobody else has to hear how much it sucks. How about the supposedly stereo aux. input? Nope, not even that is stereo but passes the sound mono to the headphones. forget about jamming along with anything. The mix of the guitar and the input music is so close that either you listen to the mono mix or the guitar drowns it out. Terrible.
Ease of Use:
While the interface is pretty easy, there is just no getting good sound out of this thing. Like I said earlier, the built in compression pretty much kills any pedal you put in front to boost the very weak distortion. If you want to just strum along accoustic style, then maybe this things for you.
Quality:
Probably the best thing about this unit is it's very rugged build. The jacks are sturdier and stronger than ordinary jacks and can take a beating without jarring any of its solder connections loose. We'll see though. I'm still going to use this thing when I travel because I'm broke and can't afford the original thing, if it's even manufactured anymore. Looks like ol' Jim bought this thing out from Tom and cheapenized it. Sad. I use Jim Dunlop picks because they are the very best. Wish I could say same for the Guitar Ace.
Value:
I bought mine used for $45 and I think I spent too much. I have an old 80's headphone amp, Arion Hot Watt II, that atleast has stereo input, chorus in stereo and a comb filter like affect as well as decent distortion and I got it for $20. I think the Ace should be priced along the same. If Tom could have them drop his name off it, it'd probably sell for that.
Manufacturer Support:
I went to the website and it sucks hardcore. I went to see if there was a way I could get stereo music through this thing so atleast the mono guitar would blend better making it nicer to jam along with songs and the support section of the website was pretty much 90% "buy this accessory or part" and very little of any info on what to do. Most of the website is devoted to buying and not enough set aside for questions like mine.
The Wow Factor:
Sex appeal? If this were compared to sex, I'd have to say it was some really bad sex. As it looks, it invites you to use it being black, very sturdy and most guitarists know that Tom Scholz made the best headphone amp in a box ever. This aint it.
Overall:
I am probably going to place this in an ad similar to the one I answered for it and sell it. The Ace series doesn't impress much. Bring out the original equipment that made these things famous and now you're talking. Otherwise, this thing should be buried along with all of the other music gadgets that didn't quite take off.
7 of 9 people
(77.78%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Sound:
Simply duplicate the old Rockman X100 and you've got an awesome, "usable" product.
Sound: Terrible
Sound Quality: Terrible
Sound Response to Playing: Terrible
Sound is not expressive enough
Product does not achieve what the old Rockman X100 does...not even close.
It is compatible with any "style"
Clean sound is better than istortion but is still poor
Product sounds terrible "by itself"
Sounds terrible with all of my of my other products
Absolutely terrible live sound
Doesn't matter which settings I use, it's terrible sounding
Feature:
Had to purchase the power supply seperately. Really dumb. The only real useful feature is that you can play with an external source such as a CD player or tape deck.
It really needs to have seperate clean and distortion settings along with the options of using reverb and chorus. Again, refer to the Rockman X100.
I used a Fender Heartfield guitar which is a screaming guitar. Sound, options and volume were much better in the Rockman X100
Ease of Use:
Very easy but again, so was the Rockman X100!
Quality:
Seems to have been made well. Nice finish, just like the Rockman X100. No loose parts or cosmetic blemishes. It seems to be reliable. Dependability: We'll see. The old Rockman was known for scratchiness after a while and the power supplys didn't last. It seems like it will last a few years but again, we'll see.
Value:
Was definetly not worth what I paid for it, including the extra cost for the power supply.
Manufacturer Support:
I emailed the company and haven't heard a word from them yet.
The Wow Factor:
It's fine.
Overall:
I'm not satisfied at all. I would return it but I've tried every similar item on the market and none of them last, much less sound quite right. So, I'll wait until someone who "knows what they're doing" gets it right. This is so simple for any electrical sound engineer to do these days and everyone keeps producing cheap junk, to make a buck. Get it right and the customers will come!
4 of 5 people
(80%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Sound:
The distortion is nice if you like very thick, but it has a hard time the lighter you set it.
Feature:
There are TONS of other amp simulators that do so much more for about the same price. They may not be as pocket-sized but not much larger. This isn't much more than a distortion+amp simulator, where theres other stuff out that lets you add modulator effects and all kinds of lil' features.
Ease of Use:
It's pretty easy to figure out. I never did the hang of the 'volume' knob though ;P
Quality:
It's so simple there isn't anything I can see going wrong.
Value:
It's an alright headphone amp, but theres so many other options out nowadays that are that, and more.
Manufacturer Support:
5 for no idea
The Wow Factor:
its up their with the 'walkman' in the world of the ipod
Overall:
Just way too simple and unfeatured for its price. nice sound. I guess the headphones are worth something, but I think there's a lot of small multieffects out there that do far more for about the same price.
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