Fischer Amps Mini Bodypack w. VolumeControl

I bought this product to use live as a headphone amp for a wired in ear solution. I play drums and I originally had the Millennium headphone amp, but it was a little time consuming getting set up with a lot of cables. This seemed like the perfect solution according to the details...literally plug and play. What it doesn't tell you in the details is that you need an amp to run it. I thought this was the amp so all I'd have to do is plug a cable into the Aux out on the desk, into the 'amp', plug my earphones in and go. But when I tried it I only got a weak signal from one side. After chatting to a friend who used them, he explained that they need a power amp to run from. I have since reverted back to my old Millennium set up live, and I use this in the studio for practice and my interface provides the power to run it. Other than that, a great piece of kit for the price. Durable, small and robust.

I spent quite a while looking for one of these things - My options were to spend about three times this amount on something from Canford, or to take a chance with this guy. As it happened, that was a good choice - it's a robust little unit which is very thoughtfully put together. It's very slim, so it's barely noticeable clipped to a belt. I'm pretty sure I could run over this thing several times, and I'd be surprised if I'd even manage to chip the paintwork. The XLR connector is locking (as you'd expect), which for a belt-mounted device is a bit dangerous, as anyone who has tripped over while wearing a ClearCom will tell you. Your trousers will rip before the cable comes out... so when that happens, just hope you're not on-stage trying to look important.

This runs as part of my hardwired iem setup and it's the one part that I haven't changed in the setup since starting to use them. It's clips on my strap easy and is very handy for on the fly volume changes when needed. I normally run it from a rolls headphine amp and the two work great together. I did have to make up a special lead when I got the rolls because this has the xlr input but not too much hassle. The stereo jack version is probably more useful in that situation. When you roll the volume back it looses some top end which I actually prefer on longer gigs so my ears don't tire. Wouldn't do an iem gig without one of these.

When I first saw these 2 years ago, I thought they were way over priced and that I could make them for less money. And I was right, I made one for half the price. But it broke. Not even the plastic shell that I used, but the connectors broke.

This is made using very good parts!

The XLR is a Neutrik connector, the metal casing is the same as the ones Neutrik use on some of their adaptors (w/ transformers). The volume control has the perfect friction to it. And it sort of has subtle "clicks" to help it from being knocked. The clip is very strong, and very much doubt it will break. The only thing I worry about is the 3.5mm headphone jack. But it feels like it's a good one. We shall see how long it lasts :D

Ultimately, as a general rule in life, you pay for quality. This is quality!

They do what you would expect!

Nicely designed and very well put together.

The only slight issue I have found in use is that the rubber volume knob can be inadvertently rotated by a movement of your clothing :-/ Maybe a plastic one would be better from that point of view, although the feel in use might not be as nice.

After using four of these in our band now for 25 gigs across a number of months, I can report that they remain excellent with no failures or shortcomings whatsoever.

The only thing to watch for is the fact that the belt-clip can begin to bend away from the main housing in use. It's easily rectified by removing a couple of screws and carefully easing the angle back to 90 degrees, but a slightly heavier material would prevent this issue.