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11-23-2009, 07:54 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Los Angeles | | | best headphone amp for bass
I'm looking to buy a headphone amp. It doesnt seem like there is a lot to choose from. All I want is one that has pretty good (clean and bassy) sound and an aux input so i can practice with my ipod. I'm not too worried about price as long as its under like $300
Anyone have any thoughts? 
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2008 Fender Vic Bailey V, Moog Little Phatty, 2011 Am Dlx Jazz, circa 1900 German upright w/ C extention, and Markbass Amps and cabs
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11-23-2009, 08:28 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London, England | | | The Cafe Walter is supposed to be the best there is for 100% clean reproduction of your bass sound. If you want some dirt / tone-shaping with a DI and other features, check out the EBS Microbass or DHA VT1-EQ-Drive. If you want something small, cheap and battery powered, check out the EA Earwig.
I use a Behringer Micromon MA400, which is stupidly cheap and does the job admirably. You need to feed the XLR input via a DI box or just take the XLR out from your Markbass head. |
11-23-2009, 08:36 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Raleigh, NC | | | I love my Korg pandora |
11-23-2009, 08:36 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New York, NY | | take a look at the iGTR I like it for practice.
review: http://www.gearwire.com/igtr-03.html
Last edited by PaulNYC : 11-23-2009 at 08:46 AM.
Reason: added a link
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11-23-2009, 08:38 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Norway | | | Tascam BT, sounds good and is a great practice tool.
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Out of time - out of tune |
11-23-2009, 09:04 AM
| | | | Vox AMPlug Bass is working great for me. Really small and handy! |
11-23-2009, 09:08 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas | | | Raven Labs PHA-1
If you can find one, they are great headphone amps and pre amps. The company went under several years ago. |
11-23-2009, 09:19 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: redpineuberalles@hotmail.com | | | Don't bother with anything but the Cafe' Walter. Go to the Bass Northwest's website. They are built like a tank, quieter than anything I have used in the studio or otherwise. NEVER, NEVER buy a VOX whatever...pieces of junk, noisy, worthless and very expensive for what you get.....for $160, you're buying a handmade, American made piece of equipment that will probably last you the rest of your playin' days. |
11-23-2009, 09:27 AM
| | Supporting Member | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Metro Boston MA | | If it's late & I want to hear an amplified sound I use the headphone jack on my Hartke KB15 amp. I spent years traveling with an original Pocket Rock-it. The sound quality I gave up was compensated by being able to plug in a CD player or iPod for play along. http://www.pocketrockit.com/Page.php?id=0022 It looks like they've made some improvements + the price is hard to beat.
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"... you have to be a musician first and an instrumentalist second." - John Lewis
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Headless Club #14 Hartke Club #121
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11-23-2009, 09:28 AM
|  | Supporting Member | | | | | +1 on the Cafe Walter. I also have the Korg Pandora mentioned above, but it's not at the level of the Cafe Walter, IMO.
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Rob Allen -> TecAmp -> Fearless
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11-23-2009, 09:37 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Seattle | | cafe walter hands down. Period.
Definitely THE best. The motto on the box said "you sound like this" and it's true: uncolored & transparent, it'll tell you exactly what you sound like, which can be a real painful revelation lemme tell ya! 
Make sure you get the HA-1A, which runs either on two 9v batts or the included power supply (the thing eats batteries like that's it's job). 
And walter is a nice guy, too.
JMHO
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"We become good only at that which we practice every day" - Auguste Rodin
Last edited by deckard : 11-23-2009 at 09:52 AM.
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11-23-2009, 10:36 AM
|  | Supporting Member | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: La Crosse, WI and Mpls, MN | | Try a Phil Jones Bass Buddy... http://www.philjonesbass.com/pjbdire...products_id=39
Retail price is closer to $350, but you can find them used for around $250 easy.
It not only works as a headphone amp, it also can be used a pre-amp, compressor and it can be used to power an external speaker. I love mine....
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I am not a "yes" man. If my wife says no...I say no. |
11-23-2009, 10:59 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: St. Paul, MN | | | My opinion regarding headphone amps is to get something thats quick and easy to use. I've grown to love my Tascam MP-BT1 - its essentially an mp3 player with an input jack and some extra features like tempo change and bass cancellation. Its not perfect but its taken a lot of abuse and its extremely convenient. If I was going to buy something now I would also look at the Tascam GT-R1 which is a recorder that has an SD slot and can play mp3s to practice to.
Yet another option is the Alesis JamDock. You just stick your ipod on it and plug in. |
11-23-2009, 11:42 AM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by lamarjones  I love my Korg pandora |
+1...
- georgestrings |
11-23-2009, 11:42 AM
| | | | The Zoom B2 makes a fabulous headphone amp and it has built in drums to play along to. Its only about $120 new and of course it has a bunch of amp and speaker sims along with effects but its really easy to use and sounds quite good through headphones. It also runs of batteries and again, its really nice to have some simple drum beats to practice with.
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Dwelling on the banks of the deep end.
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11-23-2009, 11:56 AM
|  | Keepin' the Groove Alive ! | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Stax 1966 | | | I have one of the original Tom Scholz bass headphone amps, still going strong after 20 years! More options than you could use, and can be used as a preamp. I think they are called Bass Ace now.
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R.I.P Duck Dunn, 2012.
Last edited by jnewmark : 11-23-2009 at 01:33 PM.
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11-23-2009, 01:28 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Raleigh, NC | | | Another vote for the Tascam MP-BT1...I have found it to be a great practice tool.
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Ruling the Low End With:
'90 Fender Jazz Bass Plus
Schecter Custom 5
Squier VM 70's Jazz
GB Shuttle 6.0
GB LS-410T
Sansamp VT Deluxe
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11-23-2009, 01:48 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: westchester new york. | | | The fodera headphone amp. is a very cool pratice tool you can blend your signal with a ipod or cd player drum machine... you can find them used....
I love them... |
11-23-2009, 01:57 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NY | | | +1 for the Cafe Walter HA-1A. |
11-23-2009, 02:21 PM
|  | Registered User | | | | | The only thing keeping me from buying the Cafe Walter is that I want something small that either plugs into my bass or that can fit in my back pocket.
With that said, all of the small battery jobs I have tried are way too hissy.
Is the Pandora or Tascam hiss free? | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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