IK Multimedia ToneX Plug

This is without a doubt the headphone amp on the market with the highest fidelity sound. Straight A's for that one. But the app is just awful, the tweak-ability is very limited compared to other similar products and the user experience is just really poor. Don't expect to buy this and just use the phone app. This requires hours and hours of searching for the right captures on a desktop while connected via a usb-c (why can't this be done via Bluetooth?). You have to LOVE the sound above everything else (and it is really good), and be willing to put in the hours making the right set of presets that you won't touch on the app so that it literally just becomes a preset-bank that you switch up and down so that it becomes a "set and forget" piece of gear. And if you like just a little more "something" on a particular preset, you have to be ready to go browse the infinite tonex capture vault again to find an entirely new one. If that is for you, then this is the product for you.

This little device is arguably on the expensive side but has a lot of things to make up for it.

A) Access to tonex ecosystem. This is really a huge plus, you can jump to tonex from your phone, search for any preset or tone model and send it to your device wirelessly to play around with. Also you can create your own presets while on the tonex plug.

B) Stock tonex tones are mostly great. No question, some of the most realistic tones and they sound just as good as with tonex pedal or tonex one. And you can always buy paid V1/V2 capture collections if you feel you need extra.

C) Battery life of, I would say about 4 hours, is acceptable. Don't know if the battery tends to deteriorate over time but so far so good.

D) Connects via usb-C to your PC and can act as an audio interface. You can find drivers in your IK product mgr app.

E) Stream sound via bluetooth (open backing tracks on your phone or youtube) and you can play over them in the tonex plug

F) The product is fully plastic, albeit a good quality plastic. Still, don't treat this device like it has metal casing, you need to be more careful with it, that's just good practice. Overall the button feedback feels like good quality and everything looks sturdy and stylish enough.

G) Note that if you use it on an LP style guitar you need to memorize where the buttons are cause you dont really see them under your guitar and also tonex plug tends to swivel around its axis when plugged in your guitar. By that i mean that the connection jack always stays in place, just the body of the plug is not really locked in place. Nothing that will affect your sound, but an inconvenience.

Overall, you could get the tonex one and get the same functionality while being able to slot it anywhere in your pedalboard - BUT - if you are looking for something that you can take with you when you go out, or go on vacation, or just need to quickly plug in your guitar in your room and practice with headphones while not compromising on the tone side, you can't go wrong with tonex plug.

I would recommend buying the pouch, it is not a hassle to put it in and out and it saves your tonex from a lot of dust that can be collected over time.