Yeah, I definitely think the amp settings were to run into the front of an amp only, and/or for small combos or something... because the line output worked fantastic with the band, and wasn't too muffled or too bright once I had it set right. My drummer played in a band with a guy who used a Dual Recto and said that it sounded similar to that when I was using the US Modern model, which is what I was going for. Everyone noticed a marked improvement, even my fiance who isn't musically inclined at all.