Conference napalm::guitar

    
    The new Boss headphone amp (I forget the model number, but it just
    came out and is about the size of a credit card) will do what you
    want.  It's under $100 and has a "Keys/bass" switch which kicks
    in a low cut filter to keep your phones from breaking up on low
    notes.  It has the usual stereo aux input feature for patching in
    a tape deck.  Sounded like a Rockman minus all the processing.
    Hey Dan, it even has an *alpha dial* on it.
    
							Brian

RE < Note 1389.1 by AQUA::ROST "It's the beat, the beat, the beat" >

	Any idea how much 'under $100' it is?  The pocket Rock-It can be had for
about $50.

	Dan

re: .last   -< So, no-one's heard of this thing? >-
    
    I think the "of" in this line is the crucial part of the phrase.  I've
    heard of these units, and have seen them in stores, but have never
    heard one.  :-)
    
    Greg 

    I actually OWN a Pocket Rock-It.
    
    What do you intend to use it for - practice or recording? As a practice
    amp it's okay, though you may find problems using it as the last
    "effect" in a chain: as the whole device plugs into the jack socket,   
    the weight of it can make the jack move in the socket (force of
    gravity) and so affect the connection. When I've used it like this,
    I've put something under the pocket rock-it to suppport it.
    
    For recording, it's not too useful. Although it's supposed to give a
    line level signal out of the headphone socket, it's actually very low.
    Running it into my Fostex with the faders all the way up, it still
    doesn't hit 0 dB. Also, the distortion sound is VERY noisy. Although
    this doesn't matter when you're practising, it's a pain when recording.
    
    Now, this probably sounds like I'm bitching, but I'm just trying to set
    expectations. It's perfect as a headphone practice amp - particularly
    since it easily fits into your guitar case (headphones an' all).
    Speaking of headphones, recently at home I've been using Koss TD60 (?)
    phones with it, and they really improve the sound over the small
    open-back things supplied with the unit.
    
    If you want any more info, feel free to ask...
    
    Nick

RE < Note 1389.4 by IOSG::CREASY "Love is a cheap perfume, it hangs around" >

	This has become a moot point for me as of last night.  I was in Daddy's
in Shrewsbury and spotted a small used GHS headphone amp for $19.  It's the size
of a pager (in fact, when clipped to a belt, it could easily be mistaken for 
one) and has gain and volume knobs.  It is EXACTLY what I wanted!

	To be specific, I wanted a simple headphone amp that would amplify the
net result of the signal processing from my pedals.  The main reason I was
looking into the Pocket Rock-it was simply because it was the cheapest thing I 
knew about that came close to what I wanted.  With the one I have now, if I 
want any distortion to practice with and I don't have my pedals, I have a much 
more flexible situation with the gain and volume pots on this thing (i.e., I'm 
not stuck with a preset effect as in Rockman, Pocket Rock-it, etc.).  Granted, 
the distortion is not that great, but it will do in a pinch when the pedal is 
not convenient or available.

	Thanks for getting back on this, though.  It's nice finally hearing from
someone who uses one.

	Dan

    
    Re-.4
    >For recording, it's not too useful. Although it's supposed to give a
    >line level signal out of the headphone socket, it's actually very low.
    >Running it into my Fostex with the faders all the way up, it still
    >doesn't hit 0 dB. Also, the distortion sound is VERY noisy. Although
    >this doesn't matter when you're practising, it's a pain when recording.
    
    If your mixer has a high impedance mic input, use that, but don't use
    the low impedance balanced mic input or a patch return as an input. It
    doesn't seem that PR could actually put out line level at the head-
    phone output in order to drive those inputs.
    
    Neal
    
    

    The Pocket Rock-it folks, CB Laboratories, have come out with two new
    headphone amps.  The first is a bass version of the Rock-it, and the
    other is the new Performer, which I tried today at Daddy's.
    
    The Performer is intended to go head-to-head with the Rockman Soloist.
    It has a single 1/4" input (no aux in for tape deck play-along), an
    1/8" headphone jack and a jack for an AC adapter.  There are switches
    for power off/on/bright, clean/edge/distortion and
    chorus/delay/ambience.  Three knobs control effect depth, volume and
    "bite".  It takes a single 9V battery and includes folding headphones.
    
    I plugged in using some Ibanez Strat clone and immediately noted that
    this baby has plenty of volume available.  The chorus setting sounded
    pretty out of tune, but this was improved by lowering the depth.  It is
    possible to get no effects by setting depth all the way off.  The delay
    was a disappointment, more of a quick slap than the reverb-ish Rockman
    sound.  The ambience setting was a different type of chorus, it also
    sounded out of tune at high depth settings.
    
    The edge setting had plenty of distortion and also a midrange boost to
    give it that nasal tone you get from a halfway-on wah pedal.  The
    distortion setting was excessive, very noisy and way too much gain.
    Even with the "bite" all the way down, the edge setting had too much
    overdrive for blues styles, but for hard rock it would be OK.
    
    All the knobs and switches felt cheap and were difficult to operate. 
    I'm not sure how much abuse this could take before it broke.  The sound
    is decent, not as good as a Rockman (particularly as it's quite noisy
    in distortion mode) but worth checking out if your budget precludes the
    real thing.
    
    Daddy's prices:  Performer $110, Pocket Rock-it $50, Bass Pocket
    Rock-it $60 (why is the bass version always extra???)
    

    

    The pocket Rocket is hard to find around here with more than one store
    owner telling me that they are over priced and have a high failure
    rate, thus spawning lots of returns and exchanges. 
    
    For my purposes, sitting in a hotel room somewhere in the bowels of the
    Southern Teir of NY state, I picked up the cheesy looking Fender amp.
    This has an external speaker and headphone jack, with 9v operation or
    AC adapter. It has a clean and distort setting, which aren't that much
    different really, except the distortion may make you laugh a little,
    but I use the clean sound most any how. It packs nicely in my suitbag
    and is available in designer colors all for 29.95!!!
    
    Dave Kinney

    I notice the last note in here was 2 years ago.  Anyone else pick up
    one of there Pocket Rockets?  I tried one yesterday, the Pro (not 
    mentioned in earlier notes) and liked it.  But, this is the ONLY 
    headphone amp I have ever tried, so I have nothing to compare too.  
    The guy at the store said the Pro went for $90.00.  I didn't ask the 
    price on the other models.  I want to ask (read beg) for one for my
    birthday, but I don't know if the $99 is good for this model and if
    these are any good at all.  I read the previous notes, but a lot can
    change in 2 years.
    
    Chris D.