Practicing with headphones

[Growler]

Anybody have a solution to the problem of trying to hear two sources exclusively through headphones? I normally practice with a macbook and my amp. However, sometimes I have to be quiet, which would mean using headphones. How can I merge both sources into a single pair of headphones?

Thanks

[aikakone]

It may depend on your amp. I have an Ibanez practice amp that came with my jump start pack, and on the amp itself there is a CD input jack and a headphone jack. So, it would be easy enough on that amp to send a signal from a stereo or a computer into the amp, then the line from the instrument and hear it all through the headphones.

I didn't pay much more than $300 for the pack, so I'm sure you could pick up a similar amp for practice purposes very inexpensively.

[Just J]

You could run the headphone out from the amp to the line in on the mac. Avoid using a mic input if you can, they crank the level up pretty high and a hot line input could fry the soundcard. Also, keep the volume of the headphone out low.

Personally, since I DJ too, I have my turntables and mixer hooked up to my PC. My PodXT Live is connected to the "session" input on the mixer, and the computer is A/B'd to one of the lines. I can play over either the turntables, or my computer.

You could also try a headphone amp. Fairly cheap, most have a line in for a CD player or computer, and they sound ok enough for practice.

[jsingles]

Originally Posted by aikakone

It may depend on your amp. I have an Ibanez practice amp that came with my jump start pack, and on the amp itself there is a CD input jack and a headphone jack. So, it would be easy enough on that amp to send a signal from a stereo or a computer into the amp, then the line from the instrument and hear it all through the headphones.

I didn't pay much more than $300 for the pack, so I'm sure you could pick up a similar amp for practice purposes very inexpensively.

+1

i use an ibanez practice amp with a CD input from my laptop

[Slax]

Music on computer; bass plugged into line in jack of computer or through amps line out / headphone.

Works great. Just use a plug converter to get the cable to fit the back of the computer.

[ksandvik]

If you want to mix sound and your bass, see if you could use GarageBand between. Now, if your laptop is slow you could get latency issues, but MacBooks are pretty fast. --Kent

[GreggBummer]

I have a little device I bought ten years ago called a Rockman Bass Ace by Tom Scholz.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Amp?sku=180252

When I was in the Army, practicing in the barracks was usually a low volume affair... and this little thing came in pretty handy. I still use it when I don't want to wake the house up. It is also cool because I can clip it to my belt and walk around. I stick my iPod in the other jack and rock out.

However, this is pricey. I don't think that it is worth $80. If you find one used.... that might work. For $40 you could but a 15W ElCheapo amp with a headphone jack and a line in and get the same results. Look on Craigslist.

[lowb1970]

A unit like the Korg Pandora PX4 has a stereo aux input that you can attach a laptop, or an I-Pod to and jam along. Set up would be Bass > Korg input and headphones to Korg output. It also allows you to slow down the tempo....though the sound quality isn't that great when you slow it down. It works if you are trying to hear soemthing though. This little gem has come in very handy for me over the years. Hope this helps.

[Rune Bivrin]

I have a Zoom B2.1u. I plug that into the computer, and the bass and phones into the Zoom. I set the computer to use the Zoom as primary sound card, and Bob's my uncle.

As an added bonus I have a wireless for the bass and wireless phones, so I can walk to the bathroom while practicing. Sweet!

[MarkTAW]

+1 one of those little boxes that mixes the bass sound with the CD input. I had a Pandoras Box and sold it because I no longer needed to make headphone mixes for myself, but it was a great little box.

[mambo4]

I use a Cafe Walter headphone amp, it has an aux input for CD player/mp3/macbooks whatever. Get em thru Bass Northwest.

it's a great tool, and there's great customer service from Walter himself. recommended.