DA5 Review

The new DA5 Digital Amplifier from Vox delivers high-quality guitar tone in a portable, compact and affordable package. In addition to heavy good looks, the 5-watt DA5 boasts some killer digital sounds, like 11 distinctive sound styles, 11 high-quality built-in effects, a super-easy knob-based control panel, and more. Plus, the versatile DA5 offers battery power making it the best sounding, most versatile, truly portable guitar amp.

Features:	8.8
Sound:	8.8
Reliability:	9.5
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	9
Users rating:	6.1
Comments:	9

overall: 7.5

Reviewed by: jtbull, on june 30, 2008

Price paid: $ 95

Features: I do not know when the amp was made, but it was made in vietnam. There are several built in effects including reverb, phaser, tremelo, wah, flanger, chorus, most of the effects have 2 going at a time such as chorus+delay, flanger+delay. You turn a knob to select the effect you want you can't really chose the combos you want like you could not choose chorus and flanger. The flanger and reverb effects are decent. It is 5 or 10 watts and has 2 clean tones, 3 blues tones, a couple crunch tones, three high gain tones and a overdrive tone. It also can be used just with batteries but I have not tried this yet. // 7

Sound: IT sounds decent. I am using a 1991 Peavey Tracer and a 1994 Hamer totally stock. The distortions sound pretty good not super but good especially for the begininer. The effects sound decent but I prefer to have more control over my effects. I have found it to be very noisy when you try to connect effect pedals because it only has one channel and you need to select a gain on that channel so when you go to distortion with your pedal it sounds a bit hazy but mostly while you are holding it. It still sounds good during the actual playing. There is not much in the way of an EQ. You just get a tone control and gain control along with the volume. // 7

Reliability & Durability: It seems to be built pretty good I have not had to fool with it and it is pretty sturdy. It appears that it will take one or two drops without a major problem. It also can be used with a CD plug in and you can put a mic in the back and sing along. // 9

Impression: I am mostly into classical and older '80s metal (Motley Crue and Kiss) it is a decent match for me. I did not pay top dollar for it. At the price I paid it was a good deal. I think that at $100 you could find a used Peavey, Crate, or Randall with some reverb and worry about the other effects later. The other thing is that I really like to control my distortion with pedals. // 7

overall: 10

Reviewed by: Guitar Freak 86, on june 26, 2008

Price paid: $ 180

Purchased from: Henri's Music

Features: This amp is good for any styles with it's style switcher, some styles that are on it are rock 'n' roll, rock, metal, blues, jazz, and almost any style possible. It includes a headphone jack that works very well, and extra jacks for multiple guitars. For features I would want I can say shouldn't be on it becuase of it's low price and it is a somewhat begginer amp. I wish there were more built in pedal effects, but it is good for begginers for sure! I love effects for a more rich sound. I never use the blues or Drive styles on the style switcher. I use this amp in my home and for practice, it has enough power for a meduim room and practice, not for on stage though. It can be switched onto.5 watts, 1 watt, or my sweet 5 watts, wich can be a lot of power. It has a stereo sound or a some what surround sound. Those are the features for my Vox DA-5 amp. // 10

Sound: The pickups I use are just plain Gibson pickups. For guitars I use a Gibson Epiphone, and a Gibson SG. It is incredibly when it comes to different styles and surly suites my style wich is rock to low metal not heavy. It is loud on crunch and the highgain setting, mostly in small to medium sized rooms. Wow, the variety of sounds is a ton with like 30 different varities from auto tremelo, delay, reverb, wah, chorus, flanger, and about 5 more. They can also be combined for richer sounds! The clean channel is not distorted at high volumes or low (unless you want it to be). The distortion can be low or high, how ever you want it to be with nice udjusting knobs. Overall the sound is awesome. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I think this amp has high durability, it won't break on you. It is made out of a Nasa material tough plastic and metal sound gate. I would use it in a gig becuase I know it wont break but I am not sure it would loud enough. If my gig is small it would the perfect amp for any small gig, practice, or a small family gig. My amp has never broken down, also becuase I don't treat it badly. Buy it, it will last. // 10

Impression: I play rock and a little metal like Metallica's Enter Sandman. I think it is a wonderful match for this amp. I have played for about 3 years (self-taught) and I also am about to purchase full Marshall Amps and review them. Becuase this is so good I don't wish I would have asked anything before buying it. If I were to lose it or it gets stolen I would buy it back but I am going to purchase the Marshall amps, but other wise I would buy the Vox back. I love all the styles and sounds and effects you can make and the multiple jacks. I don't hate anything about it but my favorite feature is the effects switcher. I did not compare it to other amps becuase I just focus on the amp itself and realized how good it was. I wish it had nothing more becuase it is awesome. Please buy one, they rock! // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: dzaerpoor, on march 26, 2008

Price paid: $ 140

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: This amp is somewhat versatile. It has 11 amp settings with eleven effects. I'm not going to list them all out because you can look them up but they are pretty good. Mainly I use clean 1 and Hi-Gain 1 because they sound the best to me. They are pretty adjustable by the tone and gain knob. It has 11 effects which are all pretty good. They have tap tempo and an effect "intensity" knob. It is really loud when turned all the way up and the guy at the store said it sounds a lot more like 15 watts. // 8

Sound: I'm using a standard hss strat and it has pretty good overall control. It has a lot less hum when using it with the bridge and middle pickups. it's a pretty versatile amp overall. The high gain settings can be noisy but you wont hear it when playing. Pretty good distortion. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This amp probably isnt loud enough for gigs (large ones) but it could play in a small cafe. It seems realiable though I've only had it for a week or two. It is reliable though. It has a strap attached on it to make is easy to carry and it seems very strong. It would probably withstand a few drops. // 10

Impression: This is a pretty good overall amp for me, it's my first amp. If it were stolen I would get a better amp for an upgrade but in a budget I would get a Roland microcube. It has a amp models but the DA5 has more effects. Depends what you want. In this price range I would go for this amp, a microcube, or a Epiphone Valve Junior. The DA5 and microcube are excellent practice amps but no more. // 9

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: bluemoon05, on april 04, 2007

Price paid: $ 183

Purchased from: Harker & Howarth

Features: I bought this amp around 4 months ago and it has been a great acquisition for me. I like to play indie rock and things like Oasis and the three different hi-gain options all having their original sound also there are crunch options and nicer softer options. It has 11 different 'style' options and a lot of effects to go along with it. It also has a headphone jack which is very useful when you are living with other people. There aren't really any features I wish this amp had, it is everything I need, and for £100 it is great value. // 10

Sound: I am using this amp with my Fender Mexican Strat and it works very well with it. This combination works perfectly me it can provide some great hi-gain for the solos I want to play and the softer settings also sound superb. In my own house I have only ever turned it up to full volume, full gain once and it nearly blew my ears off. I never have the need to turn it up to more than one-quarter of the volume it has. For such a small it packs one hell of a voice. One aspect that some may not be happy about is the distortion can never become that 'heavy', I don't find this a problem because I do not play metal music but some Who like metal may not like this amp. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This amp is very durable I have never had to service it and it is fine. It has been dropped a number of times and still doesn't show any signs of me having done so. The amp has never broken down on me whether I was using it on mains power or on battery power. It is a very reliable amp, I would definitely play a gig without a backup. // 9

Impression: This amp has been great ever since I bought it and has worked perfectly for me, I have been playing for 9 months and also own a Fender strat, as I mentioned before, it works well with this guitar. I love the hi-gain and crunch features; they have a wide range of sounds to work with. The only thing I dislike is the inclusion of the 'drive' sound; it seems like a pointless add-on. My favourite feature is the tremolo which sounds superb on the hi-gain settings. If it were stolen or lost I would save up and buy it again, it is just such a top quality amp. It was between this and Roland Micro Cube for a practice amp, I had played the Micro Cube at my Guitar Teacher's house and it doesn't come close to the Vox DA5. I chose this amp because of all the great features and it was a great choice. // 10

Comments

[hardcoreatheist]

I take this amp to college with me for jamming and when I first brought it in people were amazed that it ran off batteries. They also asked how loud it could go, so I showed them by making the ground shake . It really is that f*cking loud.

[AirGun]

This amp rocks. My guitar teacher has one, and it sounds especially awesome when its running out of battery for some reason.

[im_bored]

^^it sounds better plugged in, only problem i had is when i turned it up about half way the metal part in the front would vibrate and buzz, i just tightened the the screws a little and its fine

[ihatehentais]

this amp is awesome, the only thing i dont like 'bout this is that you don't get to control the treble, middle, and bass of the styles you can select- the styles and stuff like that are already predetermined through the style... but otherwise iz good !

[i.am.akim]

i'm thinking of getting this amp..
i'm more into saosin, a skylit drive, underoath..
is it okay to buy this amp?

[azrael_1]

fantastic amp, good for crunch and clean. shame it has no eq

[Itz_Relyt]

This thing is awesome - idk why there is no eq though...

[NateCordova]

this is a pretty cool amp. We can compare it to 15 watt amps in sound quality , which is awesome!

I went and tested Cube 20 X, Microcube, Line 6 spider III 15 watts and this Vox DA5 was my pick

The only thing i dont especially like is the distortions, they arent very versatile and they dont hv much tone, tho they pack some punch are ok for now, im getting a distortion pedal tho.
The effects are awesome.

[mappy]

great sounds, sooo much fun, awesome!!!!!