SONICAKE Mini Guitar Headphone Amp for Home Silent Practice - US Classic

So silly me, I thought that because I was an adult that owned my own home and could play my guitar and bass through my regular amps whenever I wanted. Turns out that when the wife is cranky and I am working on the same riff for an hour straight I am in-fact not allowed to use my big amps. So since I have been really happy with the pedals I have purchased from Sonicake I decided to check out their headphone amp for use when the wife says no to the big amps. I have tested the headphone amp in a Peavey G-90, Predator, Patriot, and Generation EXP as well as a Peavey Fury Bass, and a Cort Curbow Retro 4 (active) Bass. This little amp worked out well in all of them. The reverb is nicely there, It is not overpowering, but not anemic sounding either. The volume gets loud enough through headphones, as well as plugged into a small set of non-powered headphone jack speakers. The gain gives you a little punch but stops short of distortion. The amp arrived with a full charge, and through several hours of testing the battery lights still have not moved from the 4 full bars. There is some slight hum, which I found was almost completely reduced by turning the amp up and then using the volume knob on the guitar instead. The hum was more noticeable with single coil pickups but that is to be expected. The construction is plastic, and the switches and knobs are small, but it's a $30 headphone amp, it's not a half stack. Be nice to your gear and don't come at it like Godzilla and it should be plenty durable. It will have a space in my gear for testing craigslist guitar purchases, for going camping, and for keeping the wife happy when she says I'm being too loud. :( There is only one negative that i found and that was that it would not fit into my wife's 2006 lefty MIM Strat. The angle of the jack plate in that guitar seemed to start putting upward pressure on the amp before it fully seated. There was however no problem using it in my 1994 Peavey Predator which is a strat type guitar. I do not have a another Fender Strat to test so I can not say if it is a Fender issue or if it is an issue only related to her particular guitar. In any case if you have been told to quiet down based on my experience I think this is a good option and I would buy it again.

The Soncake headphone amp is a great item to have in your guitar case. So many times at a gig I try to find a quiet corner to practice at, only to find I can't hear myself. Now with The Sonicake headphone amp, I can practice anywhere. The Sonicake has a rechargeable battery that you can recharge with the USB cable provided. When charged it lasts about 5 hours. The volume will get loud and precise. The tone control over halfway up will be a little shrill for most. The gain I would equate to a tube screamer in front of a Fender. The gain works well for blues,jazz and lite rock. Those looking for more saturation will be disappointed. This is not a metal or heavy rock distortion. That being said the Sonicakecake headphone amp does give you a warm and colourful sound. I first used a Strat and found myself in "Stevie Ray Vaughn" land all day. My Les Paul took on an " Allman Bros." Tone. The Sonicake does come with reverb, although it is not adjustable. The reverb reminds of a "Surf Guitar" sound. Like a Fender Twin with the reverb on 10 or 11. The Sonicake says it also has chorus, but I could not detect any. There also is no switch for chorus. The Sonicake comes with a USB cable, an adapter so you can have two headphone outs or two aux in. The aux in works perfectly for playing along or learning new songs. If you take the the time to adjust the volume on The Sonicake and the media your putting in the aux in, it sounds great!! The price for the Sonicake is respectable, compared to other units with less features.

I've been playing guitar and off for about 10 years and recently went through a very long "off" bout. I'm realizing how much playing guitar kept my mental health stable so I've been trying to get back into it. I live with my aging parents, who are prone to random naps or TV binges. They're pretty tolerant of me firing up one of my loud amps so long as the amps stay in the basement and I don't crank them. During their TV binges, I can fire up one of my practice amps if they're blasting the TV's volume, since my practice amps can't get loud enough for them to hear over the TV. But for nap times.... I have to keep the guitars in their cases. So I decided to get a couple of headphone amps: This Sonicake and another one from Valeton. I have a Valeton TAR 20g guitar amp which is currently my favorite all 'round amp, so I really expected to prefer the Valeton headphone amp over this Sonicake unit. It is with mild surprise that I write that I actually find myself reaching for this Sonicake amp for muted playing sessions! As some readers will likely guess from reading thus far, I have G.A.S. , or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I have many guitars, many amps and have owned many more in the past. What's my point here, you might ask? My point is that I've found that I play best- and most, with simple gear. The amp with one channel and a few knobs. The guitar that I haven't modded with pickup-altering configurations. When I play my modded guitars, my feature laden amps, and/or hook up some effects pedals, I spend a lot of time toying with my gear, and I never further my guitar skills. This nuance is one of two reasons why I favor this Sonicake amp. It's very straightforward to use, and while it's very lacking in features compared to the Valeton, that means I spend more time playing my guitars! Yes, this amp does have a couple of effects, but they can only be switched on or off; there are no controls to adjust them in any way. Plus, this amp costs a fair amount less than the Valeton as well. The second reason I favor this amp is simple yet complex: Tone. While I have and enjoy a few very nice tube amplifiers, I'm not a tube snob (The Valeton TAR 20g is solid state, case in point) but I expect good tone from my gear. I don't think I set the bar high here; I've got a 10 watt Donner guitar amp that I think sounds fine and am just as willing to play that little amp as I am hooking up my mighty Hughes and Kettner 36 watt Tubemeister and feeling like I might level the house with it's volume. Unlike many guitarists, I am a stickler for clean tone. It is my belief and experience thus far that it's far easier to overdrive/distort amps than it is to clean them up, so I strongly prefer amps that perform well with clean tones. And this Sonicake does just that. No, it's definitely not Fender clean, but given it's size, and compared to the sorry excuse the Valeton headphone amp has as a clean channel, I find the clean tones this amp puts out agreeable. And true to my statement, rolling up the gain knob easily pulls you into overdrive tone territory. The amp does start to "fart" when you max the gain, but for one, that's just my ears hearing that, and two, this amp is meant for clean and slightly overdriven tone, so maxing out the gain is using it out of intended context. In closing, I will cover two gripes I have about this amp: 1. It uses a USB Micro jack. WHY? Sorry to sound snobby, but I find USB type C plugs and jacks to be so much more reliable. Please update your headphone amps to use USB type C jacks, SONICAKE!! 2. The "thumbwheel" controls on this amp are quite irritating to use when this amp is plugged in to any of my guitars. At first, I reasoned that the thumbwheel controls were to prevent the controls from getting moved should the amp get bumped, but the Valeton headphone amp has actual raised knobs, and they've never been moved by my accidentally bumping the amp while plugged in. All in all I'm very satisfied with this amp, and unlike many of my gear purchases, it is conducive to my playing my guitar instead of just fiddling with gear.

I really like the rechargeable battery feature-a big plus over my previous headphone amp. The LED: Lights blink L-R while charging. At full charge, plugged, in, lights remain on, solid. Unplugged, turned on; LEDs show remaining charge. The Gain control has a nice range; Full left; mild, mostly clean, just at the verge of natural amp breakup,. Back off either the amp or guitar volume, and you’ll have a clean on the edge of breakup sound that crosses into breakup when hitting the strings hard. Turn the gain up and the amp provides plenty of dirt, but with clarity, and warmth. The gain does not get into the metal “crunch” range, but that’s not what this amp is designed for. . The single Tone control provides a fair range without ever getting too muddy, or too brittle. The reverb/chorus effect is a welcome addition for a headphone amp. The back of the package says “chorus and reverb” but I did not really hear chorus in the mix. If I strum an open chord, I hear the very slightest, almost imperceptible swirl, so it’s quite subtle, which is good, because the “fx” are either on or off-there’s no adjustment for the reverb/chorus control. I think the chorus effect such as it is provides a slight thickening to the overall tone/ The reverb is nice! It’s usable, and actually sounds good-warm, not sterile or digital at all. Sounds to my ear like a Hall reverb, rather than a spring type reverb, or a blend of the two. The reverb adds nice depth and warmth to the sound. I like reverb, and the reverb is not too “wet”; nice touch by Sonicake! The Amp also comes with a headphone splitter (nice touch), and a 3.5 mm stereo auxiliary cable for the auxiliary in, allowing one to practice along with one’s Music player, laptop, or tablet. Fantastic buy for $29.99, and has the quality of other Sonicake products I’ve bought (I own the mini-Wah-volume and 5th Dimension Pedals-very happy with both of those as well). Packaging says 5-hour battery life; I'm into hour 2 so far, and the battery is going strong. Thanks Sonicake!

It works for a clean sound that’s all. Gave it away after one use

Has an ancient charging cord. Seems like there getting rid of old stock. Other than that it works well. Just don’t loose the cord it’s pre micro usb

Three o'clock in the morning. I love the sound of my Fender Hot Rod, but my neighbors don't. The solution for me, a Sonicake Headphone amp ... Every guitarist wants to get better, needs to get better, the key is practice, regardless of the time of day or night. This is the perfect solution ... Fender, Les Paul or a PRS, a perfect fit, clean tight connection into your guitar's output jack output with zero crackle. The tone is very clean, beyond my expectations, the volume was good, again better than I expected, full gain gave me a 70's overdrive sound. The reverb effect is quite good. Not over powering. The “Aux In” worked flawlessly from my phone. Unlike some of its competitors, this headphone amp has built-in rechargeable batteries. The USB charger works while using the amp. Battery life for me was longer than the specs stated. If your amp has a headphone jack (mine doesn't), you're still tethered by the phones to your amp, but not with this. The package includes, the USB cable, an Aux In cable and a headphone splitter. I have a number of Sonicake pedals, they have never disappointed me and neither does this. Overall, very very good sound quality for the price, Five stars ...

Build quality of this Sonicake headphone amp is solid. It’s molded plastic, but sturdy and slightly textured, not slippery. All the controls and jacks are solid, too. Feels like it can last a long time. I’m impressed by the overall sound of the US Classic, which is rich with great amp crunch. It’s responsive to the guitar’s volume control and can clean up nicely, when desired. I tested this with 2 very different headphone sets and plugged straight into the power amp/return jack on a 65w combo amp and plugged into a cd input on a practice amp. It’s a bit on the hissy side in headphones, but not unlike a real amp, really. It’s most quiet with the guitar turned up high and the amp volume turned lower. Hiss becomes a non-issue once you start playing, but it might be a bit too much for recording. There’s plenty of gain and saturation from the gain control and a fairly wide range of tone from the one tone control. Beside the basic control set, the pocket headphone amp is equipped with an auxiliary input for piping in sound to play along with and an intense spring/hall reverb, controlled by a single on/off switch. The reverb sound is quite realistic, if not a bit overboard. It would be nice to have a 3-way switch to include a high and low intensity setting adjustment (not meaning louder and softer, but more and less). The headphone amp comes packaged with a stereo 1/8” male to male cable, a molded stereo 1/8” y-adapter and a micro USB cable for charging. Very well thought out product packaging, I think. Rates 5 stars, especially for the price. Pros: Solid feel and build Good sound emulation Good choice of controls Added reverb effect Cons: Reverb could be less intense, or 2 modes offered The 4 bright blue leds is a bit much. They could be dimmed down.

Good clear sound with an affordable price ...will review after 5 months

Bello bello bello. Se avessi continuato a leggere le recensioni probabilmente non lo avrei comprato, invece approfittando del black Friday per sole 20€ mi sono aggiudicata ore e ore di vero divertimento. Ho suonato per due ore senza nemmeno accorgermene...nella sostanza fa le stesse cose che si possono fare con un multieffetto e un paio di cuffie ma senza cavi e cavetti. Alla fine si può suonare anche in piedi spostandosi per la stanza, con il cellulare in tasca e le cuffie sulle orecchie. Nel cellulare ti metti Spotify o YouTube con il tuo brano preferito e ci suoni sopra e ti arriva tutto in cuffia. Io ho preso l'US Classic che con la mia Telecaster suona come la chitarra del boss o come quella di John Mayer...certo, saperla suonare come loro è un'altra cosa ma almeno lo si fa più comodamente e quindi più volentieri. C'è chi si lamenta del fruscio...io sinceramente non sento niente di più di quello che sento normalmente con il mio Marshall MS2 e poi per 20 € non si può pretendere di avere alta fedeltà in cuffia.

Doesnt work at all complete garbage

Just received it, plugged it in, works beautifully. No, I wouldn't gig with it, but it's perfect as a headphone practice amp. Nice overdrive with reverb. Simple, discrete and tiny. It does have a little hum, but very acceptable. This kind of sound without the clutter of plugging into a real amp or a pedalboard is just great. The tone is pleasant and definitely good enough for practicing. Again, simple and just perfect for what it is designed to do.

Hola.......necesitaba algo para tocar en casa sin tener que molestar a nadie y algo simple para cuando viene la inspiración no tener que enchufar el ampli con el jack, los pedales y demás. He encontrado este mini ampli y la verdad que con los cascos puestos suena genial, muy realista. Además que lo puedes enchufar al ordenador y grabar tu sesión. Es fácil de manejar con sus controles de volumen, tono y saturación. Tiene un efecto de reverb bastante logrado, sobre todo en la envolvente. Viene con cable para cargar, otro por si quieres tocar por encima de alguna música desde tu móvil por ejemplo y con una clavija doble por si alguien quiere escuchar lo que tocas o, para enviar la señal para grabar. Da más calidad y mejor precio que otras marcas conocidas. Creo que todo el mundo debería tener uno de estos en casa para luego darle bien con el ampli. Saludos