I'm looking for a portable amplifier for performing.

June 8, 2005 9:00 AM

Can anyone recommend a small, portable, battery-powered voice amplifier that would work well for a street performer?

The only ones I know of are the maxi-mouse which seems to be discontinued and the fender amp-can. I figure some other companies must make this sort of thing. Two of the most important features would be sturdiness and ease of repair on the road, another useful feature would be a universal power supply for use in Europe.

posted by milovoo to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

The Crate Taxi or Fender Amp Can. Both have two channels (instrument and mic) and both work off of rechargable batteries and both can be had for just over two bills.
posted by sourwookie at 9:09 AM on June 8, 2005

The Crate Taxi also comes with a carrying bag and a microphone.
posted by sourwookie at 9:11 AM on June 8, 2005

The Crate Taxi is awesome; I've used them when singing with a cappella groups, and they're effective.

For something that clips onto your belt, try a "personal voice amplifier" like this one. These are mostly used by people with vocal health issues so that they don't strain their voices, but I imagine it would have some use in your situation as well, particularly if mobility is important.
posted by the_bone at 9:19 AM on June 8, 2005

Depending on your price range, you might try a pignose. I had a hog 20 for a while and it was a great little unit, and very sturdy.
posted by ulotrichous at 10:45 AM on June 8, 2005

The Pignose (while a great product) tends to run a little "gainy" for my tastes, as it is optimized for guitar. Additionally, you are limited to a single channel (though I know not your specific needs).
posted by sourwookie at 11:37 AM on June 8, 2005

Response by poster: I just went to the music store over lunch and the salesman pointed out the Roland Micro-Cube, which also seems not too bad, it does have a vocals setting - unlike the pignose. Anyway, still looking ...
posted by milovoo at 4:42 PM on June 8, 2005