Practice through headphones

[roger]

Ok, I’m sure it’s been addressed a lot but what would be the best way to play along to my playlist from phone or tablet into my Bluetooth headphones? (So the bass is obviously amplified through headphones) make sense??

cheers

[jrixn1]

26 minutes ago, roger said:

the best way

Depends what "best" means - cheapest, or highest audio quality, or something else?

Here are some popular options:
Zoom B1 Four
Phil Jones Bighead
Yamaha SessionCake

Or perhaps your existing amp head or pre-amp pedal, if it has an aux input and headphone output?

Your Bluetooth headphones might not be any good because of the latency (you'll pluck the string but won't hear it until 1/10 second later).

[roger]

Thank you, I’ll check them out 

[Cuzzie]

Don’t use Bluetooth for headphones-it’s crap, latency will kill you

Focusrite iTrack Solo, One pre

iRig

Palmer pocket amp

loads out there

[Cuzzie]

You could use the Waza headphones - but they are expensive 

[acidbass]

3 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

iRig

Plenty of reason to avoid this for home practice - see the other thread re volume balance issues. I had to send mine back! Good for recording however.

[ubit]

I am forced to practise through headphones due to four people  being in the house. Stepson and his girlfriend who NEVER go out. It's driving me mad. I have this amazing set up that I can't play through, so am forced to go through the mixing desk into my powered near field speakers and using Bose noise cancelling headphones. At lease I can play now instead of practising unplugged, although the sound is nothing like the real thing.

[ubit]

8 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

Don’t use Bluetooth for headphones-it’s crap, latency will kill you

Focusrite iTrack Solo, One pre

iRig

Palmer pocket amp

loads out there

Does the new iRig app have bass amps on it?

[Mrbigstuff]

Big thumbs up for the bighead. I think there’s a new version with better battery life too.

[Cuzzie]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

Does the new iRig app have bass amps on it?

Been a while since I used it, but if I remember correctly it does, AmpliTube has some and you can use Garageband which is free and that has a tube amp which is actually pretty tasty - of course you can put any of your pre-amps etc you have in front of it. 

[Cuzzie]

Bit more bulky but you can get a cheap mixer like a xenyx 502 pop bass in a channel, phone or audio device in an aux in and headphones in that.

If it’s just a static device not for transport (as it’s bulkier than other listed here) it’ll do a job and may have other uses down the line, extra slots for other instruments/microphone 

[Cuzzie]

6 hours ago, acidbass said:

Plenty of reason to avoid this for home practice - see the other thread re volume balance issues. I had to send mine back! Good for recording however.

Yep - not perfect by any means - but you can get em reasonably priced and it comes usually with multiple connectors for different devices and needs no extra power supply.

[ribbetingfrog]

I’m using my line 6 firehawk at the moment, only because I have one anyway and it works!

bluetooth steaming from my phone and good bass amp models on it to download.

 

There are loads of options out there, all good.

I previously used the Blackstar Fly. Sounds great with headphones.

[PaulWarning]

I just use my laptop, plug my bass into the mic socket via an adapter ( I also use a Behringer BDI21 to even out volume issues and fatten up the bass sound, but it's not essential), headphones in the headphone socket, also use audacity to play along to tracks which I can slow down or change the key if required.

As has been mentioned, blue tooth is not a good idea due to latency issues

[ubit]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Been a while since I used it, but if I remember correctly it does, AmpliTube has some and you can use Garageband which is free and that has a tube amp which is actually pretty tasty - of course you can put any of your pre-amps etc you have in front of it. 

It's frustrating at the moment because I have an iPhone 7, which doesn't have a headphone socket. I have an old iRig which needs a headphone socket. My iPad has a headphone socket but can't download the app as it needs a more recent update. I try to update it and it says its got the latest version.🤨 Basically, I am going to have to buy the new iRig which uses a lightning connector to plug into the phones charging port instead but I cant afford to buy a new I Rig until I get back working.

[Muppet]

8 minutes ago, ubit said:

Basically, I am going to have to buy the new iRig which uses a lightning connector to plug into the phones charging port instead but I cant afford to buy a new I Rig until I get back working.

I've got one you can have for free, I don't use it and don't have an iphone anymore! I'll message you

[lemmywinks]

Don't go bluetooth, sounds like a nice idea but is pretty much useless due to lag. I use a USB mini desk (https://www.thomann.de/gb/soundcraft_notepad_5.htm) and a pair of KZ ZS10 IEMs. Advantage here is you also get a sweet mini desk as well!

[ubit]

5 minutes ago, Muppet said:

I've got one you can have for free, I don't use it and don't have an iphone anymore! I'll message you

I will give you something for it mate. I can't take something worth that much for nothing!

[ProfJames]

On 04/05/2020 at 20:12, jrixn1 said:

Depends what "best" means - cheapest, or highest audio quality, or something else?

Here are some popular options:
Zoom B1 Four
Phil Jones Bighead
Yamaha SessionCake

Or perhaps your existing amp head or pre-amp pedal, if it has an aux input and headphone output?

Your Bluetooth headphones might not be any good because of the latency (you'll pluck the string but won't hear it until 1/10 second later).

Phil Jones Bighead +1

[tauzero]

Tascam GB-10 - just copy all the music onto it and it's a one box solution.

[ProfJames]

Or a Korg Pandora's Box?

[Burns-bass]

I’ve had all of these (don’t ask) and I found the Bighead to be amazing, but expensive. Don’t discount the importance of a decent pair of headphone (another plus for the Phil Jones headphones!).

I now have 2 session cake things, one for downstairs and one for the office. Personally I find it a more intuitive interface than the PJB. 

Sadly the Session Cake was super value at £10 but I don’t think they’re for sale at that price anymore!

 

[ProfJames]

Never heard of the session cake...........will look it up.........  +1 for headphone quality

[Iacopo San]

Vox AmPlug is £30 and allow you to play along anything you connect through a AUX cable. It's been my only practice tool for the past 4 years as I live in a flat and can't have an amp.

[Cat Burrito]

My Orange Crush practice amp has an aux input for laptop / iPhone and a headphone jack so I can play along with whatever I like. Having grown up in the 80s it still blows my mind that I can do that. Technology moves on... who knew?!