Another dude looking for a bass preamp with headphones

You say tube would be great, but these tubes always give a degree of distortion. So if you want a clean tone then maybe a tube preamp isn't for you.

 

NuX NBP-5. $179

 

SLO mkiii

right under 500 should tick all your boxes

nux would work too for 179

 

Shift line Olympic

it’s a tube pre/di

 

NUX Melvin Lee Davis NBP-5 Dual Switch Bass Pedal Bass Preamp,DI box,Impulse Response (IR) Loader,Audio Interface in one :B083W43HVL:fullmoon - 通販 - Yahoo!ショッピング

 

ベース用DI/プリアンプ 通販｜サウンドハウス
I usually order stuff from here since we have nothing in the inaka. Can't recommend anything (I use an old 3 leaf pre amp going into a dedicated headphone tube amp all of which I've ordered from the states), but there is a good selection. You just have to dig through it.

 

Just read the description, it's actually ships from the states. Sucks things are the way they are, but sometimes ordering from abroad direct and paying shipping was still cheaper than buying things here. Now who knows how long things will take if you order from the states.

I feel Sound house is the "Musicians friend" of Japan complete with catalog if you ask.

 

You can also get small class D amp with headphones output like Trace Elliot ELF or TC BAM200... You can use it as a backup to your normal amp...

 

What about a GK PLEX?

 

I have no idea what I'm talking about. But my gut was telling me "There has to be SOMETHING made right there in Japan that would work."
I mean, Japan has been making electronics for decades.

 

There are some boutique makers I'm sure, but 95% of the stuff is from abroad or big japanese companies like boss. Those boutique makers will charge an arm and a leg. I'll go to a used store and find zvex, proco, etc. Japan hasn't really made any real descent electronics for years. For god's sake they still use fax a lot here!