Headphone Practice

[EskimoBassist]

So this September I am upping-sticks, leaving the nest, spreading my wings etc. etc. and going to University .

However, when I get there I really, REALLY want to keep playing my Bass. And whatsmore, I want to take a buttload of my pedals with me too. Can't be a good idea surely, but even so. (Another question for you BassChatters at Uni - did you take your uber-expensive-prized-posession of a bass, or your old, battered, well gigged machine, relegated to your second bass at home?)

Obviously I'm NOT going to be lugging an amp with me, so of course I'm think of buying some kind of headphone amp, to keep me happy.

Currently, when I want to do some quiet practice, I use an old Korg AX10B, swap it on line mode and take a 1/4" headphone adapter straight out the back. SORTED. However, I want to get rid of it and use something else. I'm not going to take my massive Diago Tourman laden with pedals to uni, just a select few on a much, MUCH smaller pedalboard. Smaller pedal board...I NEED ALL THE SPACE I CAN SPARE FOR MY PROPER PEDALS! This is where you guys come in, what would you recommend?

I need some kind of device, not necessarily with tone shaping or a tuner as I've got pedals for that, that will happily take a strong signal from a selection of pedals and most likely the high-output Epiphone Thunderbird. It doesn't need to fit on my pedalboard and it's no problem if it requires its' own power supply.

Reading through previous posts, it seems that a Korg Pandora would be a good idea, any thoughts?

Cheers,
Rich

[ahpook]

ebs microbass

great headphone amp as well as everything else it does.

not cheap mind, but you'll only ever buy it once !

[hubrad]

I just heard from the rep that the Vox Amplug headphones amp is now available in bass format. Not had a go yet, but if the AC30 version is anything to go by it should be well worthy. Gets some good comment on TalkBass.
Will get one in the shop when possible and assess.

[danlea]

Well there are a myriad of devices that will do exactly what you want, but I'm assuming that given you've done headphone practice, you realise how unpleasant shoving effected signals straight into your ear can be (like those three fuzz pedals you refer to in your signature).

I'd recommend getting either a Behringer V-Amp (I have one myself, though I've not used it in a long time), or as you say, a Korg Pandora. I really think you'd appreciate the amp/speaker/ambience simulation. This is the key to satisfactory headphone practice in my opinion, so anything which does that is going to helpful, and I think the V-Amp is the cheapest of your options, although I've just checked the price of the Pandora, and it's not far off, plus appears to be smaller.

Dan.

[voxpop]

I have this little beauty......

[url="http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/index.htm"]http://www.cafewalter.com/ha1/index.htm[/url]

Very rare here in the UK.

It is very very good, transparent, detailed and very dynamic.
3 weeks ago I put it up against my friends Musical Fidelity X-can, this retailed at £500 and my little Cafe Walter simply smashed it when we put them head to head with a quality £200 pair of headphones.

[simon1964]

[quote name='ahpook' post='504901' date='Jun 3 2009, 06:05 PM']ebs microbass

great headphone amp as well as everything else it does.

not cheap mind, but you'll only ever buy it once ![/quote]

+1. I've just picked up one of these, and they are a fantastic piece of kit!

Korg Pandora is a good bet too. I think the current version has both bass and guitar amp modelling which is a bonus if you occassionally dabble in six strings

[WinterMute]

The Line 6 Studio 110 combo is excellent for your needs i think, I got one for £100 off evilBay, it's got a headphone output that cuts the speaker, it's got good DI output with speaker emulation, and if you should need an amp for a bit of impromptu 3am jamming with your mate, your good to go.

It's even got an iPod input for jamming along with your faves, all in a 1 foot cube that actually doesn't sound bad at all.

[Paul Cooke]

I use a Boss Micro-BR. It allows you to play along to MP3s or backing tracks you've laid down yourself... has built in drum patterns and effects (mainly guitar oriented). One big advantage is being able to slow down MP3s without the pitch being affected.

I also use the output of my Zoom B2.1U as it automatically adjusts to drive headphones when it senses them in the circuit rather than an amp input.

[wateroftyne]

I've used the EBS MBII, the AmPlug and the Pandora PX4B.

The Pandora and the EBS are very coloured, but do the job well. The amplug was unusable tat (IMO).

I'd love a Cafe Walter, but they're too expensive for me. [url="http://www.easounddesign.com/earwig.htm"]These look like a decent alternative, mind...[/url]

[ZMech]

why not just get some lil' 10W practice amp? I brought one with me this year to halls, and it just sits nicely under the desk, ready for whenever I feel like a quick noodle.

It also doubled as a sub-woofer for my laptop, as I split the signal between that and my normal desktop speakers.

[NJE]

Check out the Dave Hall Amps VT1 bass EQ. Dave has a section on this forum and would answer any questions you have. I bought one a few months back and it has been brilliant. It has bass input headphone out and you can also plug another line in such as a laptop (great for jamming to youtube) or MP3 player. It also works extremely well as a valve preamp and general bass grind/distortion unit and gives me an awesome sound to play Muse Hysteria. I am sure has more tricks up its sleeve that I forgot to mention, oh yeah bass DI but you can read through that on the website.

There are a couple of glowing reviews on here and you can check out Dave Hall Amps here: [url="http://www.davehallamps.co.uk/Products,%20VT1-EQ%20Bass%20Drive.html"]http://www.davehallamps.co.uk/Products,%20...ss%20Drive.html[/url]

These are custom built and Dave will paint them whatever color you want (within reason) best part is they are £149 with a power adaptor which is a fair chunk under the price of a new EBS plus they look much better IMHO.

[51m0n]

I would suggest a Nemesis N8 practice amp.

They sound the absolute canine undercarriage, take up virtually no space, will allow you to jam with friends on occasion (my son has gigged with one and it kept up with a drummer just!) and have a headphone out.

All for around £100

Sorted!

[Buzz]

I just took my Peavey Microbass and bought some £20ish Sony headphones (which are a bit crap tbh).

I've used the amp a few times when I've bothered turning up to the music related soc that I belong but not too often.

Basswise, halls are generally pretty secure these days due to students having laptops and stuff, obviously varies from uni to uni, but normally only Security and yourself have access to your room via a key/keycard/some other method so just take the one you're gonna want to play. As a side note, you're much more likely to get broken into and robbed in private housing.

I left my MIJ Fender Aerodyne at home and took my Squier VMJ, mostly because I'd bought the VMJ to test out a "normal" jazz and it's not an expensive instrument.

Personally, I'd ditch the pedals though, have a good critical look to see if you need them for your sound (or indeed, if you'll need them if you join a band or such) because space is at a premium in uni halls for the most part.

[danlea]

[quote name='danlea' post='504915' date='Jun 3 2009, 06:21 PM']Well there are a myriad of devices that will do exactly what you want...[/quote]
See.

[dougal]

When I went to Uni halls (in Salford; room 5M in Faraday) (too many years ago to mention...) I took my #1 bass, Sessionette 4x10 100w combo, a lead, a duvet & a pillow. I didn't have much room left for clothes in the car: not that that bothered me much!

These days I'd still take my #1 bass (although it's harder to choose which is #1 any more) and a bass pod, and use whatever I was given at the rehearsal room.

I'd have to agree with those who've replied before & say that I think a simulated speaker makes for a much more pleasant experience: as already mentioned all you layabout students will have laptops so I'd go:

POD --> USB --> Laptop (mix with mp3 playback)

I had the MOST fun at university. Try not to ingest too many narcotics and you'll be fine!

[charic]

+1 on the line6. Brilliant amp, cant recommend it enough, plus if you get into a band it can plug straight into a PA for full volume playing. Remember the point of uni is to be drunk, when drunk you write the best tunes (atleast you will think so). So make sure to take advantage of the situation, plus uni groupies

[WinterMute]

When I went to uni in 1982, I had a Sound City 200w valve amp, a Custom Sound 1x15 bin and an Aria Pro 2 Precision copy, in a room a little bit wider than a single bed and twice as long...

That sucker was LOUD, so I had to buy a hi-fi that was just as loud to play along with...

I had a blast in uni, I'm teetotal cos I'm allergic to alcohol, and this in a time when safe sex was a padded headboard.

[bluesparky]

I took a 10W practice amp to uni, was perfect for halls.
I'm away a lot and when i need to practice in hotels etc, I use my line-6 Gearbox Tone Port GX.
Perfect for my needs, and if room size, hassle of moving etc is key to you, then it could be up your street too.

[jamesf]

I took a 100W valve 1x15 combo, no.1 and no.2 basses, but found it a bit loud and hot in a room where you could touch both walls if you reached out your arms sideways! Replaced the amp with a Phil Jones Bass Buddy in my final year for space reasons, and a pair of Beyer DT150 cans, still sounds ace, and I still use the 10W amp in the 'Jones into a cab for practice now!

[Buzz]

Judging by some of these memories and stories, I've been doing Uni wrong. Might scrape a 2:2 (deffo got a 3rd though) as it was bloody boring, did get drunk a bit, but I seem to be lacking the oodles of sex and general fun. I can only assume that if it's meant to be the best part of my life I might as well pick a fight with a train now.

[Geek99]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='505009' date='Jun 3 2009, 08:11 PM']I also use the output of my Zoom B2.1U as it automatically adjusts to drive headphones when it senses them in the circuit rather than an amp input.[/quote]
+ 1 on the zoom - it also has a metronome and a basic drum machine built in.

[cytania]

Seeing alot of very purist devices here but I would recommend a pod with some form of tweaking. Pure sound is all very well but it can be frustratingly dead.

Being able to up gain, add a smidge of reverb, a smidge of compression, etc makes practice more real and fun. By Behringer V-Amp is just the guitar version but I find the Fender Bassman simulation pretty decent with both my basses, just dirty enough IMHO.

[Bikenbass]

Hi.
My kit to keep the peace at home is;
Sennheiser H150 fully enclosed headphones, 2m lead so you can pick up and put down your guitar without pulling them off your head. Great sound from them.

Korg Pandora PX4D. This is soooo useful. Built in tuner, rhythm unit, multiple effects (half of which can be customised), different cabinet sounds, cd in, mains power input (unit not supplied), fairly good on AAA batteries, passive and active input, screen illumination on and off, big chunky clip holds it securely on your guitar strap.

If I were away from home I'd take the Pandora as it does so much and a good set of headphones (and my bass of course!).

Hope this helps.
Good luck at University.
Regards
Mark

[Owen]

Small mixer.

[james_guitar]

If it were me, I'd consider a different approach. Like many others on this forum, I own a lot of gear and have experimented with a number of floor units etc with headphone outputs...

I really don't think anything comes close to the Line 6 UX-2 recording interface for sound quality, versatility and value for money. You'll obviously need some kind of computer or laptop to run it through, but for just over £100 (plus optional upgrades for additional modelling expansion packs), you get some fantastic software bundled with it, including 'POD Farm' which feautures emulations of pretty much every classic bass and guitar amp going, in a very user-friendly format (a very visual drag and drop affair that can be either as in depth or as simple as you could ever possibly need complete with a very cool KORG Rack-style tuner).

Being an audio interface, it's mainly aimed at the recording/studio market and whilst it excels in this department, I find myself using it 99percent of the time for the 'POD Farm' amp/effects software for practice using either headphones or pc/monitor speakers. You can even run an output in to a guitar anp or PA speakers if you wish.

Being a pedal junkie like myself, you'll especially appreciate the emulations of all the classic effects pedals included; I play guitar in a Police tribute band and own pretty much all the pedals Andy Summers ever used in the original band and yet often find myself getting sounds closer to the original tracks using the Line 6 POD Farm emulations than the real things :S

Finally, you may want to think about how good the headphones you currently use are - a good set of headphones (IMO) will be the difference between a decent headphone amp/floorboard/interface sounding good or not. Something like the Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones may seem expensive at around £80 (if you shop around), but do your bass tone far more justice as well as hugely enhance your more recreational music listening experience...

Hope that helps,

James

Edited June 6, 2009 by james_guitar