LEKATO Micro Guitar Headphone Amp Bass Guitar Headphone Amplifier with Multi Effects - Amp Models, IR Loading, Tuner, Rechargeable Electric Headphone Amplifier Delay Reverb Chorus Overdrive Portable

Some users are complaining about the tone from this unit, and I get that-- if that's really important to you, consider this more of a 4-star review. My Vox Amplug does sound better, and has a rotating plug, which might be better for at home or weekend getaways. Eight months out of the year, I can only practice a few times a week. However, I find that bluetooth is essential for rehearsing late at night a few months before I start playing shows-- I have a seasonal job and only play live in the summer, and usually only a handful of gigs a year, so there's a three-month period where I really need to practice STANDING UP AND WALKING AROUND to get my basic skills back before I even get to the point when I plug in my pedal board. Bluetooth makes that so much easier when you're practicing to track. Having a cable between your phone and your headphone amp was really distracting for me-- created something new for me to worry about that I'd never have to worry about on stage or in live rehearsal. The ability to use this as a recording interface is incredible as well. I haven't tested it, but I'm sure it works, and that will be great for sketching songs on the road on my iPad or even my phone (using Audio evolution.) An OTG cable is an essential piece of kit to have around anyway. For 40 clams just for those two features? To me, that's worth more than the better sound of the Vox. Let's be clear: The presets SUCK. Most have this ghastly delay on them, and are almost unusable-- I can see why that would put people off. And I think the manual is junk (and I wrote software documentation for 6 years) though it is true, as other reviewers noted, that once you understand how to edit patches, you won't forget how to do it. Don't even try to read this thing if you've had a glass or two of wine, or any other substances for medical or recreational use, or even if you're sleepy-- the first few times I tried, I was sober but sleepy, and I just didn't have the patience! But the UI itself is still much simpler than ProTools or some DAWs or even some effects units or drum machines where you have to use them weekly in order to remember all the tips and tricks and avoid errors. Once you get it, you got it, and you wonder why it took you so long to figure it out. Duh! I need to experiment with the tone -- perhaps I can get it to equal the VOX, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Out of the box, I don't find it tinny, I find it too mid-rangey and lacking in crispness with a pair of double coils (though it's fair to say my go-to guitar is a bit neutral and flat sounding, not super bright -- there are reasons why that's good for me, mainly b/c of the effects (and sometimes guitar synth) that I use. So if you want massive slabs of beefy tone or sparkling highs just for practice, this may not be for you. What I need is mostly: The ability to hear myself, and practice tracks, adequately so I can practice quickly and without a lot of setup, and practice standing up and walking around. With the Vox Amplug, there is a very, very real danger of pulling my phone of the desk and having it crash to the floor, even if I'm very careful. Not having to worry about that means a lot to me. Who cares if the Amplug sounds a little better? This is great for those nights when I'm done with dinner and chores at 11:00, and I want to bash out a 45 minute set before I crash, and the capability of sketching songs with friends without bringing a lot of gear, using this thing as an interface. Dang, I could put this and my iPad in my guitar soft-case, which has backpack straps, and ride to a friend's house to record on my bike. So I'm giving it five stars, though with some reservations-- call it 4.5 stars rounded up to five.

Everything worked as advertised. The 10 default presets are pretty good. The app, while simple, makes it easy to create your own custom setups. Too bad it only has 10 presets storage locations. To be clear, you can modify or completely change the 10 defaults that are provided. So, read the description, it works just as described.

I will start right in with my only major “dislike”, and it is major: THE MANUAL! The Lekato PA-1 comes with an actual printed paper manual, but it is so small, and has such tiny print, it is practically useless. I wondered if I could download a PDF, searched online, and found a downloadable manual, and exactly the same. I downloaded it to my iPad, and there was able to blow it up a lot bigger on screen, and THEN, was able to start figuring this thing out… This is a lot of irritation to put up with just to get a usable manual… OK, rant is over… I have stopped being “amazed” at the small size of digital electronics; there seems to be nothing these guys can’t shrink down to the size of your shirt pocket if they want to. The PA-10 is quite a nice little gadget; it sounds pretty good, and has a limited, but decent variety of effects and amp/speaker simulations, and although they seem to be very heavily weighted toward the overdrive/distortion end, there are 3 clean amp settings. All of the amp simulations have their own individual “characters”, but the descriptions use terms like “Gas Station Clean”, “Day Tripper OD”, and “Mr Smith “Dist”; at first I thought it was because the trademarks would not allow them to use the actual names of the amps. But then I looked at the speaker cabinet list, and those say, for example: “Line 6 Vetta 1x12”, “Marshall 1960AV 2x12”, & “Peavey 5150 + Mesa 4x12”. According to the manual, it is possible to download your own speaker simulations, but I did not try this. You vary the amount of overdrive with the Gain control, and there’s a final volume control and a “tone” control that varies the brightness. The MOD control lets you choose between Chorus and Phaser; 1-5 is Chorus, and 6-10 is the Phaser. Between 5-6 is a “dead zone” where both are off. There is no speed control; both are permanently set to a medium speed setting. The Delay is the most variable effect on the PA-1; there are Time, Feedback, and Mix controls. The Time control ranges from a very short “slap back” echo, to about 500 millisecond delay. The Delay actually has a tiny amount of modulation working on it: if you turn the feedback up to max, you can hear the pitch changing as the echoes fade out… The reverb has only a single control which combines the reverb time and amount. There are 10 preset locations, and all are user editable. So… not a fantastic amount of variability to the effects, but not bad for a whopping $40… quite a good little guitar headphone amp, and my biggest gripe is the tiny little manual…

Sound quality (am only addressing clean sounds as I haven't tested distorted sounds) - The sound quality is OKish, at best. I have other headphone amps that sound better. The clean amp models are middling, at best. It might be possible to improve things somewhat by uploading IRs. Haven't tried it yet. Bluetooth - Prone to interference (loud clicking noises) which is an issue for anyone who wishes to use this feature to play along a backing track. The issue is intermittent, i.e. there are stretches without any interference followed by stretches with an unstable connection characterized by ample loud clicking noises and skipping audio. Ease of use - programing is quite intuitive and straightforward. For me, the lack of a rotating controls isn't a significant drawback, as once set up I tend to not tweak the sound much. If you're continuously tweking things, it may be less than ideal. Battery life - Had it on for nearly 2 hours straight and it drained about 50% (hard to give precise numbers). So, I'd estimate 3.5~4 hours on a single charge is attainable (and quite likely depends on the volume). Software - a welcome idea, but the current version (as of Jul 2024) is unstable and keeps crashing, thus practically useless. To summarize, if you don't mind a middling sound quality (the review refers to clean sounds, as I didn't check distorted sounds) and an occasionally unstable/noisy bluetooth connection, this might work for you. In retrospect, it seems that spending a bit more for a higher quality device would make a better choice.

Bought a VOX at a local music store and the quality was poor, and the headphone output did not work - so I returned it. I bought this LEKATO for much less than the VOX and really wasn't expecing much - just wanted something for my son to be able to practice with. I was REALLY SURPRISED at the quality compared to the VOX. It's a good consumer level quality. My only complaint is that the text is small and dificult to read on the plastic, but once you are familiarized with it, that's a non issue. I would sum up my review by saying that this offers great value for the price point. Decent sound, great effects variety, and very functional!!!

This thing is fantastic. The tuner is as basic as it gets but the effects are great. A bit of line noise but for $40ish you can't beat it. I suggest a male to female cord as the placement is inconvenient on a Gibson. Overall, a great value.

Hobbiest guitar player, absolutely enjoy this little gem. Always chasing sound and enjoy researching various means of acquiring tones. This is a great practice enhancer. From headphones to studio monitors, this little modeling emulator does it all. Really enjoy the ability to seek various options. Shout out to the folks who provided videos and links to files for tone chasing. For a budget player or even a road warrior, this is a must. The application is user friendly and the tone is impressive for the product size. Great tool to bring one back to regimen practicing.

Very disappointed at this .it sounds great special when you figure out how to go on edit mode but it just stopped working randomly . Didn’t have it for more then 2 days . Would like a replacement but nothing guarantees that replacement will last . Cool little tool but sadly it’s cheap . Better off just going for the mini vox and save yourself from a headache