Heart of a Worshipper International Expounded Upon

The LX-112 came in a nice double walled box that was made specifically for the amp. It was extremely well protected because of the box-in-a-box packing. I cut open the first box, and then the inside box, and pulled the amp out. The weight of the amp surprised me at first. I figured it would just be a light puppy with only one 12” speaker. Not so. The LX-112 weighs in at 47.5 lbs., which is very near what the Carvin SX200 2 x 12” combo weighs. Of course that amp is very light for a 2 x 12” combo, but the Behringer is a bit heavy as compared to the competition. I have taken the LX-112 to gig after gig, and the weight has never been a problem though. It’s just that every time you lift it, you are reminded that it weighs a bit more than you’d expect. The amp does have a large housing which contributes to it’s heft. I tested it beside a Peavey Transformer 112 Combo, and a Tech 21 Trademark 60 1 x 12” Combo, and the Behringer is much larger even though all three are 1 x 12” combos. It is more the size of a second generation Peavey Bandit 112. Even though it’s heavier, I have to admit that I like the fact that it is big. When I take it to a gig and put it on an amp stand, it’s nice to have something a bit more substantial looking.

The LX-112 we tested was put together well. There was nothing unsightly as far as construction goes. The black material the amp was wrapped in was tight and clean with no mistakes. There are chrome metal protectors on each corner (why not black?), and rubber feet on the bottom of the V-Ampire. The amp is tough and reliable. I used it regularly in worship services/gigs for 6 months before writing this review. The walls of the V-Ampire look to be a bit thinner than some other combo amps we’ve tested but not to it’s detriment. It’s just a tall, thin amp.

Features

The great thing about the Behringer LX-112 V-Ampire is it’s feature set. The question “What more could you possibly want?“ comes to mind. Behringer has designed this thing with so much flexibility that it is basically a jack of all trades. Why the V-Ampire is not $750.00 and on backorder everywhere I don’t know. Maybe because of the name. Who thought of that anyway? V-Ampire…please! At times when I have the amp in a church, I want to cover the name with black electrical tape because I’m afraid it’s gonna offend somebody. I get it, I just would’ve named it the LX-112. Period.

But the features of this amp outshine any mistake made in naming it. I like it so much, that if Behringer puts out a LX-212 in 2005, I’ll order one right away. This manufacturer continues to amaze me by including features in their products that gigging and recording musicians want and need in everyday playing life. Somehow they do it cheaper than anybody else, without making “cheap” products. There will always be that uninformed group of people who opt for the more expensive brand because of the name, but Behringer is ruling in the features and value per dollar market these days in my opinion.

The LX-112 is filled with features. One look at the back panel and you see that Behringer has made this amp to do duty as a live amp, a recording amp, and a stereo amp using another cabinet such as a 112 or a 412 cabinet. There are 12 rear panel connectors believe it or not! They have included midi in, out/thru so that the amp can be controlled by a midi foot controller. EXCELLENT! We purchased a Behringer FCB1010 midi controller board to test with the LX-112 and it performed flawlessly. Through the midi controller, you can switch banks up and down, switch between the 5 presets on each bank (giving you basically 2 rows of 5 channels = 10), and you also have two expression pedals for volume and wah (programmable.) This is a great setup. Fully midi controllable, from the board, the LX-112 is a formidable offering from Behringer. Who else has an amp in this price range with such features? The answer is NOBODY! To get a comparable Line 6 product such as a Spider II 112, you would have more cash outlay, and the Line 6 short midi board is over $100 more than Behringer’s and has less features. We will test a Spider II 112 soon to give you a nice comparison with the other combos we’ve tested.

The V-Ampire has lots of ¼” jacks. There is a footswitch jack for the included footswitch which will allow the owner to move between presets (up and down only.) There is a stereo auxiliary line input with a volume control for inputting and CD player, etc. There are effects send and return jacks, and additional speaker output jacks. This is a true stereo amp with one speaker. When an additional cabinet is plugged into the jack, then the LX-112 is a stereo combo amp. NICE! The main speaker is Left and the additional cabinet speaker is Right. You can also plug in a 2 x 12” or a 4 x 12” cabinet instead, and the combo’s speaker is turned off, so that all the sound comes out of the big cabinet. Again in stereo. Another feature most manufacturers can’t seem to include in their 112’s. For recording or going into a house PA, the LX-112 has left and right XLR output jacks. We recorded some tracks using this feature and the amps sound at least as good, if not better than the sound coming out of the speaker. There are even options for having cabinet emulation, etc. when using the XLR outs. BEHRINGER’s calls it ULTRA-G cabinet simulation designed by Juergen Rath. There's even a ground lift switch on the back, and a stereo headphone jack on the front. HOW DO THEY DO IT FOR UNDER $300?

You might think that the LX-112 would have to be noisy because of the price. In our experience, the amp is very quiet in live use, and is only noisy for recording if the guitar being used is noisy (single coils/bad shielding/too close to the amp/etc.)

Behringer has also included a built in chromatic tuner on the main display of the LX-112. The tuner works great, and comes on with the touch of a button. I believe the tuner can also be controlled on/off via the midi functions of the amp, but have never used this feature.

As stated, the V-Ampire has an effects send and return. The built in effects are high quality, but I’d imagine some owners will eventually use the effects send/return jacks for pedals/etc. Behringer seems to have thought of just about every need here. The only other feature I maybe would like, is to have a optical or coaxial digital out for recording digitally into a multi tracker; but the XLR outs do the job well enough.

The LX-112 is feature laden. More-so than any other amp on the market for under $300 as far as I know. Feature/price wise, it is head and shoulders above the competition.

Sound/Tone

So it has a bunch of features, but what’s it sound like? Well sound its relative, but it sounds good enough to have been one of my main amps lately. My preference is the tone that comes from tube driven amplifiers. I like the way they breath and the way they respond to subtle nuances of guitar playing. Having said that, I also hate upkeep on tube amps, and I hate pulling my back out of alignment when I want to take one to a gig. Most of them are just across the line for me to be too heavy enough that I don’t wanna bring one. My back just complains too much! Now if somebody would always carry it, then hey I’d bring one…along with a solid state modeling amp!

The LX-112 sounds good with some tweaking. I generally roll the mids off of all the presets and bump the bass as a starting point. The distortions are many and varied. You can go from a little bluesy growl, to an all out metal crunch with the various amp and cabinet models. The distortions do sound better with a cabinet attached to get that deep thumping hardcore feel if that’s what you’re looking for. Actually the amp sounds very good by itself, and then with a cabinet attached it sounds very, very good. Because of the fact that it is stereo with a cabinet attached, you get a totally different picture than without. The choruses and delays sound fuller and more rich. The distortions seem more spacious and have a bit more tube like tone to them.

I compared it side by side with a Carvin SX200, a Peavey Transformer 112 Modeling amp, a Tech 21 Trademark 60 Combo, a Peavey Bandit 112, and an in store try out of a Line 6 Spider II 112.

This amp doesn’t have much character without all the modeling and effects, but I don’t think it’s supposed to. It’s made to get it’s tone from the modeling and effects, and as such it sounds good and does an admirable job. There is so much tweak ability, that you’d have to possess a severe lack of skills to be unable to find some good tones in it. Because of my love for tube tones, I ran a Genz Benz Tubeworks pedal with a 12ax7 tube through the input and it really warmed the tone of the digital amp up quite a bit. I think when you do this on any amp it changes some of the dynamics and there is a trade off. It just depends on what you’re looking/listening for. Even though I tried the tube pedal, I really never used that setup live playing out. The LX-112 with the midi controller pedal was plenty and it sounded better than good all by itself.

This is a 120 watt mono amp...with an extension cabinet added, it's a stereo 2 x 60 watt amp. If you plug a cabinet into the back jack, the amplifier splits into two 60 watt sections. It’s loud, but not overly loud. Powerful, but just by enough I think. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience the amp keeps up with a full band and some backup singers just fine. We used it in small sanctuaries and large ones, and at a few outdoor gigs if my memory serves me correctly. It was loud enough and you can always run it though the house via the XLR outs for more volume from the board. The LX-112 was louder sounding than the Peavey Transformer 112 and Tech 21, but not near as loud sounding as the Carvin SX200 or Peavey Bandit 112. Those two are just beasts in the volume department for combos. So Behringer's 120 Watts seem to be measured different than the other amps, but I'm not sure. The Line 6 Spider II 112 seemed to be about the same as the Behringer, but I was testing it at a store and that certainly isn't the best environment for trying an amps volume capabilities.