Home rehearsal gear
 

Hi there, I play in a pub cover band and I've been having troubles picking up new songs, since I don't have any decent speakers at home, and when using headphones I can't hear what I am playing.

So i went and bought a cheap little Behringer Xenyx302 USB

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/302USB.aspx

Nice little mixer that does just what I need it to. One channel for bass, and stereo track trough USB. Has a two band EQ and a Pan/Balance

It's relly mobile, runs off USB bus power, so there's no cable clutter. Bass cable in, USB for power/playback, headphones out.

It doesn't give me that sweet bass sound.. But really who cares when playing along with songs trying to learn them.

I can pan my bass a little bit to one side and the playback to the other, adjust volume for each and headphone level. What else could you really need ?

I'd reccomend it as a training tool, it's mobile and quick enough to setup that you'd do it for a 5 minutes of playing and you can take it with you in your computer og giggbag.

I've been using a VOX Amplug for a few months now. Runs off batteries. This looks a bit more flexible.

tascam guitar trainer would do the job by itself

but now I'm running it through the Roland Bass cube and plugging the bass into the amp and sending all that to headphones and yes there are a cables and power cords and it can get messy, but it all sounds so much better.
I've discovered I'm a snob when it comes to sound even if just practicing.

I have a Soundcraft Compact 4 in which I run the bass and playback from my computer. Sennheiser HD-25 headphones in headphone jack, don't want to disturb the neighbors. In between the bass and the mixer I sometimes have nothing, sometimes my overdrive (Mad Professor Blueberry), sometimes my AX3000B, sometimes my B2.1U, sometimes a combination of these.

I have an old Toshiba laptop - I plug my old POD (kidney bean) into the line-in and use headphones - no prob. The POD allows me to push plenty of signal in. Super simple, no additional hardware, patching, knobs... Never had a problem. Maybe you just needed to fiddle with your input settings. Mic boost is one way to increase your basses volume (on a PC laptop, that is...)

Regardless, it sounds like you found a good solution.

I use my Shuttle 9.0 to play along with songs or my Alesis SR18 to play with drums tracks.

I use a peavey minx 110-sometimes i'll put it through an old Boss eq, but most times not.
great little amp for practice

Irig with Amolitube iOS.

It gives me a great B15 tone, multiple effects, and the ability to not only jam along with a recording, but to record myself as well.

And the whole thing fits on the arm of my recliner so I can play while watching TV.

Aguilar TH500 into DNA d112 cabinet. (Guess this isn't very portable) Ha Ha

Tascam GB-10. Works on battery or AC. Change pitch change speed, loops, records.

It works for me as well, just 1min. ago I posted a pic in the "Show off your rig" thread, where you can actually see my 6 channel Behringer mixing board. I usually use it for the same purpose: plug in the bass directly, get sound off the computer, and use headphones to hear me in the mix. Works like a charm. And if I want to sing I still have 4 available channels. :)