Amp Solution Playing Along

[topdealmans]

Hi guys I'm new here.

I had a Bass many years ago and stopped playing, now I want another one. I want to use it to play along to my favourite CD's.

I know there is a ton of advise out there. But what I'm looking to be able to do is run my music from my computer to an amp that I can plug my headphone into. I want to be able to play my music back through the amp and be able to hear my bass, so I can play along with the music.

Is there a piece of kit I should be looking at that do this? It has to be pretty small too as it is just for use in my bedroom.

Some suggestions of what to get would be really helpful.

Thanks

Jase The Bass

[steve-soar]

[quote name='topdealmans' post='255716' date='Aug 5 2008, 07:58 PM']Hi guys I'm new here.

I had a Bass many years ago and stopped playing, now I want another one. I want to use it to play along to my favourite CD's.

I know there is a ton of advise out there. But what I'm looking to be able to do is run my music from my computer to an amp that I can plug my headphone into. I want to be able to play my music back through the amp and be able to hear my bass, so I can play along with the music.

Is there a piece of kit I should be looking at that do this? It has to be pretty small too as it is just for use in my bedroom.

Some suggestions of what to get would be really helpful.

Thanks

Jase The Bass[/quote]Hi Jase the Ashdown combos have a line in socket so you can plug a CD player in or drum machine. Or you could use the effects return on the back of the amp to plug a CD player into. Or a phono left and right to jack lead for the CD, then a "Y" adaptor, so you can put your bass and lead from the cd player into it then put the single jack on the other side into your amp.

[stevie]

You shouldn't need any extra equipment to do this. Just plug your bass into the aux input of your sound card - then use the sound card's mixer to balance the levels. All you will need is an adapter to reduce the standard jack from your bass to the minijack on your sound card. An adapter cable is preferable to a solid adapter, as the weight of the latter will eventually ruin the input socket.

Use your computer's CD player and headphone socket as normal. The sound of your bass will be a bit twangy unless you have an active bass that allows you to cut the mids. Still, it's the simplest way of doing it.

[Balcro]

[quote name='topdealmans' post='255716' date='Aug 5 2008, 07:58 PM']Hi guys I'm new here. :)

I had a Bass many years ago and stopped playing, now I want another one. I want to use it to play along to my favourite CD's. I know there is a ton of advise out there. But what I'm looking to be able to do is run my music from my computer to an amp that I can plug my headphone into. I want to be able to play my music back through the amp and be able to hear my bass, so I can play along with the music.
Is there a piece of kit I should be looking at that do this? It has to be pretty small too as it is just for use in my bedroom.
Some suggestions of what to get would be really helpful.
Thanks. Jase The Bass[/quote]

[i]Hi Jase the Ashdown combos have a line in socket so you can plug a CD player in or drum machine. Or you could use the effects return on the back of the amp to plug a CD player into. Or a phono left and right to jack lead for the CD, then a "Y" adaptor, so you can put your bass and lead from the cd player into it then put the single jack on the other side into your amp.[/i]

Hello topdealmans/jase and steve-soar.

I was in the same position and looking for the same sort of facility 10 months ago. That's why I ended up choosing an Ashdown 5-15. CD input & headphone socket. By the way steve-soar is right: the Ashdown 5-15 certainly has a CD/line input socket, even though the Ashdown web-site doesn't show it. The 2 input sockets, (1)headphone and (2)"line" or "aux in", are the most obvious way to go. If I'd known that you could put a CD input into an "effects return" I might have looked more closely at other brands and models.

Some don't have CD/aux-in, others don't have headphone sockets and others don't have effects loop sockets. It's a nightmare to choose. Check with the supplier before you buy.

Questions - can you help Steve?
Is it OK to use effects-return without using effects-send? In other words as a substitute for the lack of a CD/aux-in socket.
(I'm not questioning your judgement steve; I simply don't know). Can effects-return be used for any other low level signal devices?

Balcro.