Markbass CMD 121 -- Creating a practice setup

[kmon]

I traded in my shuttle 3.0/10T and got a Markbass CMD 121P. I love it, and I think it was a good move.

Only issue is this...I have a living situation that constrains my allowable volume much of the time. My shuttle had a headphone out and an aux in, so quiet practice capability was built in.

The markbass has neither headphone out nor aux in. I think I can work around this with a mixer and I wanted to do a reality check with you guys on my plan to do that, and see if I could get any advice or recommendations.

I'm thinking I get a mixer with a headphone out and an aux in(for ipod or whatever), and it looks like they all pretty much have this. I keep the rest of my setup the same except that I run an XLR cable from the XLR out on the amp to the mixer. I might also run a drum machine or something into the mixer.

problem solved? Am I on the right track? Am I completely misunderstanding xlr(never done anything with xlr)? Any recommendations on a small cheap mixer? Thanks!

[lomo]

You can use a mixer, or Korg Pandora PX4D (which will also add a drum machine, effects, other features and portability) or a pedal like an MXR M-80 where the parallel out can feed headphones. Depends what other features/functions you want and what you're ready to spend. Note that you can feed aux (like iPod) through the FX return of your combo because it's in parallel and you don't need anything in the send jack. You just need a 1/8 to 1/4" adapter (<5$)

[jasonbraatz]

Pandora, Roland MicroBR, Earwig, or a Cafe Walter.

[ksandvik]

Get a used Zoom B2. As a bonus you could use it as an effect pedal, trainer and so on... You should be able to get a used one for around $50 or so.

PS: I swear by my MarkBass CMD121, small one for practice/small gigs, take an additional 2x10 cab for medium sized concert and the stage just shakes.