Author Topic: Alternatives to Roland Cubes? (Read 16413 times)

ToneMonkey · « **Reply #15 on:** June 20, 2008, 02:40:17 PM »

If the Vox is on the list then I'd pay the extra few quid and get the AD30VT, purely for the attenuator on the back........... and for when the neighbours are out :lol:

Philly Q · « **Reply #16 on:** June 20, 2008, 03:22:51 PM »

Quote from: MDV

Yeah, take the valvetronix for everything but scooped, high gain metal. (Wich the vox still does well enough). (My mates 15W valvetronix sounds better for 9 sounds out of 10 than my cube 30 - and the cubes sound very good for what they are!)

Thanks Mark, useful to have the direct comparison! :)

I know the Cubes have clean (sorry!

) sounds based on the Roland JC120 - does the Vox compete OK with those too?

(Just to confirm, this is the regular Valvetronix range, not the XL range? I think the XLs would be too OTT.)

Quote from: ToneMonkey

If the Vox is on the list then I'd pay the extra few quid and get the AD30VT, purely for the attenuator on the back........... and for when the neighbours are out :lol:

Very good point, I completely missed that feature when looking at the specs! But it could be very useful - does it work effectively?

ToneMonkey · « **Reply #17 on:** June 20, 2008, 03:50:04 PM »

Yup :D

I had a proper guitarist come round and have a go and he was well impressed with it. If you turn it right down then it's bearly audiable. If you turn it right up then it's bearly bearable. I think that for this kind of money, it's a very good buy.

EDIT: One of my mates borrowed this amp for a bit and now he's going to buy one........... same went for my brother 8)

Scotty477 · « **Reply #18 on:** June 20, 2008, 03:59:20 PM »

I think I give a definitive answer/opinion on the Cube vs Valvetronix debate.

I used to own a Cube 30 and sold it to get an AD30VT.

The Cube is far more solidly built. It could probably fall of the back of a moving truck and be fine - whereas I feel I have to be really, really careful just carrying the AD30VT.

When it comes to sound, it's a different matter.

Quite simply the AD30VT eclipses the Cube 30 in all areas - soundwise.

The Cube 30 isn't even in the same league as the AD30VT really.

dave_mc · « **Reply #19 on:** June 20, 2008, 04:05:40 PM »

^ i'm not sure you can say that definitively; a lot of that's personal preference, surely?

Quote from: Philly Q

Quote from: dave_mc
To me personally, the cut-off was 80s rock/metal- anything 80s rock/metal and heavier i preferred the cube, anything lighter i preferred the vox.

I don't think he'll be looking for anything very heavy - not sure, but I think he likes fairly middle-of-the-road '70s stuff.

I'll do some more reading up on the Roland and Vox lines. I'm liking the sound of the Vox AD models I think.

i'd probably personally go with the vox then, if that's the type of music i were after. :)

Quote from: GuiTony

Quote from: dave_mc
EDIT: i'm not sure about headphones either- i'd assume they have them, but i wasn't looking into that.

Actually, isn't that quite a key point?

If you think about the difference that a decent set of 'phones makes to the sound of something (even an iPod), it must be worthwhile spending a fair amount on decent 'phones, else you might not get the full quality of sound from the amp - the amp is producing the sound, but you can't hear it through bad 'phones ...

Just a thought :?

i meant i wasn't sure if it had a headphone socket or not, as i hadn't looked... :)

Just another option to throw out there now that i think of it, philly: I recently tried a fender vibro/super champ (whichever was the 5 watt one, i can't remember which is which). It's all-tube, but contains modelling too (and i was actually surprised by how nice the modelling was, for stuff up to and including classic rock, anyway). If he could get a deal on one (i think RRP is £199, but i'm not certain on that), it might be worth a look too. I thought its modelling was pretty good for the more vintage stuff, and you also have the advantage of tubes. again, though, no idea about the headphone socket... :lol:

Scotty477 · « **Reply #20 on:** June 20, 2008, 04:11:37 PM »

The Super Champ XD is better than the Vox AD30VT and miles better than the Cube 30.

It doesn't have a headphone socket though.

Philly Q · « **Reply #21 on:** June 20, 2008, 04:49:02 PM »

I was reading up on the Vibro Champ XD and Super Champ XD last night - I personally really like the look of them but they're both around the £200 mark which is probably a bit too much. And the lack of headphone sockets is probably a deal-breaker. The G-DEC Junior remains a possibilty though.

Shame about the build quality of the Voxes, otherwise I think they'd be the clear winners. :(

:idea: I notice no-one has mentioned the Line 6 Spider range. No love for them? :lol:

Kilby · « **Reply #22 on:** June 20, 2008, 05:14:18 PM »

Quote from: Philly Q

:idea: I notice no-one has mentioned the Line 6 Spider range. No love for them? :lol:

I had a Spider II and it was awful in every respect (the insane setting provided some fun I suppose). The clean was clean but no dynamics, the crunch didn't crunch. After that I have kept away from Line 6 altogether.

They may be better now but I can't be bothered to find out.

The little Fender Champs are excellent, and the regular GDec is great fun (I imagine that the Jr version is pretty decent too).

Having playwed with the Vox & Cube models in the local guitar shop I would head towards the Vox (I prefer the Vox onboard effects which nobody has mentioned yet)

As for build quality although the cube is a bit better, in reality whats he going to do with the Vox that may cause damage (throwing it at yowling cats on the garden wall) ?

The attenuation is pretty good on the Vox too, as a mate that runs a "music sanctuary" uses one and when the attendees are jamming it comes in useful.

kellar · « **Reply #23 on:** June 20, 2008, 05:28:02 PM »

I would stray from Line 6 amps. They are less than stellar amps to say the least, at least the ones in that price range.
The Fender Super and Vibro Champ are really good, but if they are too expensive than......
It would be the Vox or the Roland. I have played the Vox and it does sound very good. Although, quality is a serious Vox issue.
The Roland is built to survive a nuclear holocaust. I don't think he would regret buying either one. It's not like if he buys the Vox he'll say "I wish I would have bought the Roland!" or the other way around.
They are both very good at what they do. The Vox may sound a little better, but the Roland may be built a little better.
And for the record, the Roland sounds fantastic for what it is! :lol:

Philly Q · « **Reply #24 on:** June 20, 2008, 06:01:03 PM »

:D OK, thanks very much guys, at the very least I have a shortlist:

Roland Cube 20X (Pros: build quality, compact size. Cons: Vox may sound better)
Roland Cube 30X (Pros and Cons as above. :?: Any real benefit of this over the 20X?)
Vox AD15VT (Pros: sound quality, a real valve (FWIW). Cons: build quality, compared with Cube)
Vox AD30VT (Pros: as above, plus variable output wattage! Cons: as above)
Fender G-DEC Junior (Pros: classic looks plus band-in-a-box! Cons: none that I know of)

With the Fender Vibro Champ XD and Super Champ XD as high-quality outside possibilities.

And I just thought of a non-digital-modelling option, I'd love one of these for myself: the Tech 21 Trademark 30.

dave_mc · « **Reply #25 on:** June 20, 2008, 08:38:03 PM »

^ i think the roland cube 30x has a lot more amp models than the 20 (if the 20 even has any). Considering the main boon of the cube is its amp models, if you ask me it doesn't make much sense to buy a cube without (or with very little) amp modelling. I tried the cube 15 (which has no amp modelling) a while back, and, to be frank, it was terrible.

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=821&ParentId=57# (cube 20) "TYPE Switch (ACOUSTIC, OVERDRIVE, DISTORTION, METAL, METAL STACK, TUBE DRIVE), " (those aren't really amp models, they're more like stompbox models, from what i remember)

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=822&ParentId=57 (cube 30) "TYPE Switch (ACOUSTIC, BLACK PANEL, BRIT COMBO, TWEED, CLASSIC STACK, METAL STACK, R-FIER STACK, DYNA AMP), " (those are amp models)

EDIT: i'd say the pros of the cube are the high gain tones, and the cons are the non-high gain tones (though i can't comment on build quality or reliability as i've never owned one). i know (laugh if you like) us regulars over at UG generally recommend the cube as a starter amp if the starter plays metal, and the vox if he/she, er, doesn't. :lol: It's more or less as simple as that (though obviously take personal preference into account).

Quote from: Machinehead

The Super Champ XD is better than the Vox AD30VT and miles better than the Cube 30.

It doesn't have a headphone socket though.

ah, dang, i told you i hadn't checked about the headphone socket!

I still think i'd prefer the cube for out-and-out metal, but for everything rock and lighter, the 5 watt fender (still unsure which model!) is miles better. It's modelling, but it actually sounds like a tube amp too. :)

Philly Q · « **Reply #26 on:** June 20, 2008, 08:45:41 PM »

Thanks for those specs, Dave! Of course I should've looked them up myself :oops: but I'm a bit overwhelmed by all this amp research. Even the Tiny Terror has almost too many knobs for me!

dave_mc · « **Reply #27 on:** June 20, 2008, 08:47:31 PM »

you need to get a valve junior. :lol:

no worries about the specs, i was looking them up myself too, i figured i'd need to just to make sure of them to after persuading every thread in sight over at UG to go for the cube 30 over the 20 because of the amp models... :oops: :lol:

Mipple · « **Reply #28 on:** June 21, 2008, 11:02:24 AM »

Interesting how everyone seems to be suggesting that the Vox is better for the lighter stuff. On one of the jazz forums where I hang out the Roland Cubes (either 30 or 60) appear to be far and away the most popular choice for people who aren't intent on going down the valve route or spending a lot more cash. This goes as far as identifying some pretty big name jazz players who use the cubes live.

Of course, all of this relates to their clean tones rather than anything involving distortion but the comments on them are always extremely positive (about the valve modelled channels as well as the JC channel) and I don't remember hearing much/anything about the Vox. Not sure whether this means they find the Rolands better for (jazz) cleans or whether they're just not aware of the Vox though...

Mark

kellar · « **Reply #29 on:** June 21, 2008, 12:20:47 PM »

The modeler settings on the 30 are not far away better than the settings on the 20. They are actually pretty similar when compared side by side. I didn't feel like one was much better than the other. I chose the 20 because I didn't need the 10 extra watts, and the 30's modeling settings weren't so good that it justified me spending the extra cash.
The clean on the Roland is very good, especially when used with the reverb. It's based on the JC120, and while it is NOT the JC120, I find it very sufficient.