Looking for a practice/recording amp Vox Lil' Night Train or Orange Micro Terror

[ParisStarlight]

So I have a Fender Ramparte (9w all tube 1x12 combo), but with having a small home and a young child I rarely get to play that. I am looking to buy a small amp to use for practice/writing/direct in recording.
The two amps I have been closely considering (though can't try either locally) are the Vox Lil' Night Train and the Orange Micro Terror.
Both amps have a headphone out that I can use to listen or as a DI for recording without having to use a speaker cab, though both have a speaker out. The Vox is all tube and the Orange is just a Tube preamp.
I typically like a clean that has a tinge of bite to it, but not too much treble. As far as the gain goes I am typically one who goes more to a classic rock tone with some clarity and a growl.
I am leaning toward the Orange because it sounds to get just a little darker tone than the brittle Vox tone. Anybody have any experience with both amps that can weigh in and give any thoughts? Or something else under $200 that I can look at?

[ParisStarlight]

I should add I've also considered the AC4TV with the attenuator for getting quiet enough to play at home.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by ParisStarlight

So I have a Fender Ramparte (9w all tube 1x12 combo), but with having a small home and a young child I rarely get to play that. I am looking to buy a small amp to use for practice/writing/direct in recording.
The two amps I have been closely considering (though can't try either locally) are the Vox Lil' Night Train and the Orange Micro Terror.
Both amps have a headphone out that I can use to listen or as a DI for recording without having to use a speaker cab, though both have a speaker out. The Vox is all tube and the Orange is just a Tube preamp.
I typically like a clean that has a tinge of bite to it, but not too much treble. As far as the gain goes I am typically one who goes more to a classic rock tone with some clarity and a growl.
I am leaning toward the Orange because it sounds to get just a little darker tone than the brittle Vox tone. Anybody have any experience with both amps that can weigh in and give any thoughts? Or something else under $200 that I can look at?

Not the Terror but I got the Orange Crush 20 RT 1 X8 combo for $189 in black w/ Reverb and Tuner . $139 without RT https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Crush20RTOR
So as to also have the ability to also play it thru its spk. when traveling .
I auditioned all the practice (HP option ) amps that GC and our local shops had and like the sound of the Orange the best. Did not play the Vox you list however.

[roylor4]

Not tube, but the Yamaha THR5 and 10 are both universally liked and also run on batteries. Very tube-like.

[ParisStarlight]

Originally Posted by roylor4

Not tube, but the Yamaha THR5 and 10 are both universally liked and also run on batteries. Very tube-like.

Thanks! I tried the 10 used at Music Go Round near me yesterday. It sounded okay to me at best. It had passable tones with crunch and goodncleans (the cleans I expected), but nothing I played on it made me go I need this. The effects are nice, but they had so little control I couldn’t dial in anything I enjoyed with them so I doubt I would use them much. It just made me think that I could just use the Garage Band amps to do what it does and I already have that. Not a bad amp, just didn’t blow me away.
I also played the Fender G-Dec and it left me feeling much the same. I strongly disliked the Fender though, because it had too much control based in a digital menu. I want dials for things! Call me old....

[ParisStarlight]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Not the Terror but I got the Orange Crush 20 RT 1 X8 combo for $189 in black w/ Reverb and Tuner . $139 without RT https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Crush20RTOR
So as to also have the ability to also play it thru its spk. when traveling .
I auditioned all the practice (HP option ) amps that GC and our local shops had and like the sound of the Orange the best. Did not play the Vox you list however.

That’s a great option I should look at also! I like the tube preamp in the Micro or both Vox have tubes obviously also, but for what I’m using it for this would probably be more than passable and the headphone out gets much better reviews than the Micro.

[ParisStarlight]

Well I ended up finding a micro tear for hundred dollars shipped. Took the plunge, should be here sometime this weekend I can post how it sounds! I am excited to give it a try.
Maybe in a couple months I can order in AC4TV with the potentiometer so that I can play at the quarter white with all to power.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by ParisStarlight

Well I ended up finding a micro tear for hundred dollars shipped. Took the plunge, should be here sometime this weekend I can post how it sounds! I am excited to give it a try.
Maybe in a couple months I can order in AC4TV with the potentiometer so that I can play at the quarter white with all to power.

Hey congrats let us know how you like it, I really like my unit

[YamahaGuy]

My buddy has a micro terror. It's really impressive what it can do. He ran it to a single 10 and it has lots of oomph. I'm curious as to how well it will serve your purposes for recording.

I own a THR5 and though it may not impress for live playback, I've gotten phenomenal recordings with it.

Congrats on the new amp!

[The Growler]

I haven't tried the Orange, but I have the Vox Li'l Night Train and run it through an Egnater Rebel cab. It has a "thick" channel that you ought to try. I think it would have the dark and growl you're looking for.

[Dylan]

Its technically an acoustic amp, but I'd look into the Fishman Loudbox Mini. I have one for my acoustic/classical gigs, but I've also played electric through it. It has a nice clean sound and is very versatile. It's on-board effects are pleasant and definitely not tacky. It has a headphone jack which is a big plus. Also, if you ever need to gig with an acoustic amp, this one is a real winner

[ParisStarlight]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Hey congrats let us know how you like it, I really like my unit

Thanks! I will post a recording once I get it and have it all setup to do so. I'm pretty excited. At $100 I figured I can always see it for that if for some odd reason I dislike it that much.....

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

My buddy has a micro terror. It's really impressive what it can do. He ran it to a single 10 and it has lots of oomph. I'm curious as to how well it will serve your purposes for recording.

I own a THR5 and though it may not impress for live playback, I've gotten phenomenal recordings with it.

Congrats on the new amp!

I believe that Yamaha has some great recording tones, I just didn't have the patience to sit and dial it in with all the knobs and options.....it was a nice size and had some great options for it's price.
I will definitely try to post a sample of it recorded with my bad guitar skills!

Originally Posted by The Growler

I haven't tried the Orange, but I have the Vox Li'l Night Train and run it through an Egnater Rebel cab. It has a "thick" channel that you ought to try. I think it would have the dark and growl you're looking for.

I would have considered the Vox more (I would still love the AC4TV with the attenuator).....but at $100 I couldn't find any Vox in that range. Though they are all tube, whereas the Orange is a hybrid. We will see how it sounds! My eyes are still watching for a good deal on the AC4....

[moon]

To get a line out with the speaker disabled you have to provide a tube amp with a dummy load. I can almost guarantee this will be a simple resistor in the amps mentioned but to do this right you need a reactive load where the impedance varies with signal frequency, like a real speaker driver. Simple, resistive loads can give you most of the tone but they crush the dynamics flat leaving the amp rather unresponsive.

My own solution for practising or recording quietly at home is a home-made 5F1 Champ plus reactive load box into a convolution cab sim running on the computer. You can get some excellent sounds with good speaker impulse responses (Ownhammer seem to work best for me) and a decent sound system/headphones to listen on.

In fact, with a reactive load, you can use any amp of any size. Just choose whichever one you like best.

[ParisStarlight]

Originally Posted by moon

To get a line out with the speaker disabled you have to provide a tube amp with a dummy load. I can almost guarantee this will be a simple resistor in the amps mentioned but to do this right you need a reactive load where the impedance varies with signal frequency, like a real speaker driver. Simple, resistive loads can give you most of the tone but they crush the dynamics flat leaving the amp rather unresponsive.

My own solution for practising or recording quietly at home is a home-made 5F1 Champ plus reactive load box into a convolution cab sim running on the computer. You can get some excellent sounds with good speaker impulse responses (Ownhammer seem to work best for me) and a decent sound system/headphones to listen on.

In fact, with a reactive load, you can use any amp of any size. Just choose whichever one you like best.

I’ve been trying to find a good di speaker thing for recording, but can’t find much under $300 so far?

Both the Vox Night Train and the Micro Yerror have lime/headphone outs that don’t require the dummy load. I do know in the Orange it runs purely solid state when doing so, but at least that’ll give me options for practicing and recording when my toddler is asleep. When he is awake I can always run it into my 1x12 and see what it does/mic it.

[moon]

A Torpedo Captor is (I think) under $300. The Suhr Reactive load is about $400.

You can make your own reactive load with a handful of parts for much less - probably with better quality components too.

What I like about this option is that it captures the full flavour of the amp from input stage to output transformer. Add a good (convolution) cab sim and you can get some great tones.