October 15th, 2011 
Deal Finder Vox DA5 Digital Guitar Combo Amplifier - 1x6.5 Inch, 5 Watts, Black
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 List Price: $190.00 Sale Price: $139.00 Availability: unspecified 
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Product Description
Introducing the affordable, portable DA5 Digital Amp from VOX. Don't let the small size fool you. This rugged small beast boasts some killer bells and whistles, such as 11 distinctive sound styles ranging from clean to high gain, 11 fantastic sounding, digital effects, a ?knob-based? control panel that's really simple to use plus a whole lot more. The new DA5 even offers battery power, making it the best sounding, truly portable guitar amp.
Details
- Number of Styles: 11
- Number of Effects: 11 plus noise saving
- Signal Processing: 24-bit (both A/D and D/A conversion), 44.1 kHz sampling frequency
- Input and Productivity Jacks: INPUT, AUX IN, MIC INPUT, LINE/PHONE
- Power Amp Productivity: Maximum 5W RMS @ 8 ohms
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Rating
The Vox DA5 is a powerful, crisp-sounding small amp that packs a lot of punch for something this small. It’s a scaled down version of the Valvetronix amp that Vox introduced a couple of years ago. This is the new breed of practice amp, which means that it’s really a digital effects processor housed in an amp’s cabinet. There are 11 amp simulations, along with 11 effect combinations. All of them are quite excellent and which ones you prefer depend on what your musical tastes are (as well as your alternatives in equipment). I prefer the cleaner and blues settings, particularly with the tremelo and reverb effects as these sound the most like a ‘real’ Vox combo to my ears. I was very impressed with the reverb as it sounded a lot like an actual built-in spring reverb. Digital effects usually don’t imitate that sound well. I’m less pleased with the wah-wah, delay, and flanger sounds because I already have fantastic-sounding versions of those effects from Digitech. If you don’t already have a box full of pedals like I do, I reckon you will be very pleased with the Vox DA5.
As a twist, this amp has a variable power productivity. You can choose a minimum of 1 watt or a maximum of 5 watts. This allows you to dial up the overdrive and still have a lot of bite at lower volume, in theory. In practice, it means that you can play with excellent tone at very low volumes. As such this amp is ideal for apartment dwellers. At 5 watts, the amp is loud enough for small band practice (without drums), a street architect (with the microphone input), or even a suitable choice for classroom or small church functions. The amp uses C batteries or an built-in AC adapter which is thankfully not a wall-wart.
While the amp sounds fantastic, I wasn’t impressed with the craftsmanship. On the outside, the vinyl coating and metal grating looked very qualified. On the inside, there was some very sloppy shopwork. The glue was sloppy. The walls of the amp were particle-board, not plywood. The wiring from the battery-terminals to the circuit board seemed very fragile. One of my knobs pulled off the gain pot immediately. In small, this screams “Poor Quality Control!” and makes me wonder how this amp will stand up to repeated use in multiple settings over time. I docked it a star for this. Otherwise, this is a winning combination especially for the price.
If you care about the look of the amp, Vox also has a ‘classic look’ version (presumably for Beatles fans), a camoflogue version (for the weekend warrior), and a pink box (for those in touch with their femininity).
Rating
I’ve gotten back into playing guitar mainly as a result of my son who is learning to play. He needed an amp for practice. Looking around at available offerings, my criteria was low wattage power (to allow for silent play), on-board effects (to minimize the need to buy a bunch of pedals), reasonably light for convey to lessons and excellent, if not fantastic, sound. The Vox DA5 fits that criteria nicely. Don’t be fooled by the 5 watt maximum power rating. It will place out enough sound to rock a house or apartment. Ours stays on the 1/2 watt productivity attenuator setting. The effects are excellent enough to give a student an understanding of the difference between a chorus effect and a compression effect. The different digital amp models let you play from clean to metal distortion. Is it as excellent as a tube amp with pedals? No. But, it is about 15% of the cost a tube amp with all the DA5′s effects duplicated with guitar pedals. It is a excellent value. We like it.
Rating
Incredible small amp. I bought this for my son and me to take and play on vacation and trips out-of-town. The size is perfect for tucking behind a front seat. The price was just dropped to $99 (from $134) so I thought, “how could I lose?” The amp has three power out settings (0.5, 1.5 and 5 watts) so you can play at lower volumes and get the same feel out of the amp as louder volumes. The battery feature is fantastic, I never use the ac, just plop it down anywhere and let ‘er rip. The effects and tone are awesome, if you open up the back and use the kick-back panel it improves the sound. Very loud, a 6.5″ speaker, and all the features such as line in, out, phones are fantastic extras. My son’s Phat Squire now sounds “phat” and my Rick is at home. Fantastic sound, fantastic practice and travel amp. In fact, we never use our larger Fender and Vox amps anymore unless the mini is being used. At $99 this is the best value of the year in gear.
Rating
I have been entertaining at a couple Farmers’ Markets this summer. One has no power outlets, so, I wanted an amp that would run on batteries. This small Vox amp has been perfect for that kind of situation. It is also fantastic for small areas, such as Senior Centers and nursing homes. I’m pleased with it.
…Bill