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Headphone Amp For Practice

#61
NotAGardener said:
Do you have a Spark GO BLE in your Tab A BT dash? If so, what the heck is it?
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Yes I do. But it's in available devices.
When the GO is powered up, it connects to Spark GO Audio (or Spark Audio, I forget). When I open the Spark App, nothing changes, it remains connected to Spark GO Audio and the Spark GO BLE is still in the available devices. I have not attepted connecting to it as all works fine as is.
SO I do not know what the BLE is, I will research. If you find out, let me know.
I suppose as long as you can stream music to it and apply patches with the app all is good!
 
#62
I got up at 6, house quiet, and I just wanted a little bit of simple, quiet time practice but suddenly realized that I didn't want to have to mess with the cable, amp, and carabiner for attachment to the strap, stuff hanging all over me simply to drive my IEMs. The core mission, the only mission that matters, just became crystal clear; the simplest, least kludgy way to power my IEMs; I'm not going to use the external speaker for bass practice; if I want that I'll go to the shop where my real amp is.

A bunch of y'all said "Fender Mustang" and "just don't break it". I'm going to try one out.
 
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#63
Just listened to a review saying that the Fender Mustang Micro isn't intended for bass; but some of you use it so it must work. I don't need "effects", just basic tone control for silent, IEM beginner practice. Suddenly the Ampeg hiss maybe isn't the big bad problem it seemed...but it was definitely a good bit more than the GO. Perhaps just the one I got; perhaps I need to turn my personal sensitivity down. Anyway, others mentioned or that I've run into:
Link Removed
Mighty Plug Pro - NUX
DNAfx GiT Mobile II - Harley Benton

The regular NUX Mighty-Plug or Mustang, assuming it actually is ok with bass, seem like the most basic options, which is what I'm after. This morning I didn't bother with the GO; I just did my fretboard exercises w/o amplification. I used the GO for Spotify while washing the dishes and brushing my teeth though! These First World probs are sooo tough.

The regular NUX Mighty Plug seems worth trying.
 
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#64
NotAGardener said:
Just listened to a review saying that the Fender Mustang Micro isn't intended for bass; but some of you use it so it must work. I don't need "effects", just basic tone control for silent, IEM beginner practice. Suddenly the Ampeg hiss maybe isn't the big bad problem it seemed...but it was definitely a good bit more than the GO. Perhaps just the one I got; perhaps I need to turn my personal sensitivity down. Anyway, others mentioned or that I've run into:
Link Removed
Mighty Plug Pro - NUX
DNAfx GiT Mobile II - Harley Benton

The regular NUX Mighty-Plug or Mustang, assuming it actually is ok with bass, seem like the most basic options, which is what I'm after. This morning I didn't bother with the GO; I just did my fretboard exercises w/o amplification. I used the GO for Spotify while washing the dishes and brushing my teeth though! These First World probs are sooo tough.

The regular NUX Mighty Plug seems worth trying.
Click to expand...
I also have the regular NUX and it's good. I was able to coax so nice bass tones out of it. Plug and play as they say. Only one tether for headphones.
BTW, what IEMS are you using? I have been bitten by the Chi-Fi bug for general music listening. Picked up a HIFI Walker on Amazon and am looking at millions of cheap Chinese IEMS with good reviews. The Walker sounds pretty darn good with headphones. I'd like to start checking out some IEMS.
 
#65
muggsy said:
I have the Pro model and it’s awesome. Plugs straight into the bass, Bluetooth connection to phone, headphone jack takes mini headphone plug. Super portable, and sound quality with decent headphones (AKG 240) is very good. Their free app has a bunch of modeling too, it’s kinda fun to mess with if you have some spare time.
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Yep, this one. I also have the Mighty Plug Pro. Amazing for the price. The Cab Sims for $100 are pretty great too. You can record with it as well.

It has a great swivel on it, unlike other models so is easy to get out of the way. No batteries either, charges via USB-C.
 
#67
MasterMonkeyMan said:
I also have the regular NUX and it's good. I was able to coax so nice bass tones out of it. Plug and play as they say. Only one tether for headphones.
BTW, what IEMS are you using? I have been bitten by the Chi-Fi bug for general music listening. Picked up a HIFI Walker on Amazon and am looking at millions of cheap Chinese IEMS with good reviews. The Walker sounds pretty darn good with headphones. I'd like to start checking out some IEMS.
Click to expand...

Pretty modest IEMs; CCA-C10 model. For drumming practice via Spotify through my stereo I use a Schiit headphone amp....but i typically put 3M's best ear protectors over them; that layer of protection isn't required when practicing base, obviously.
 
#68
I can tell you guys this: My experience with Positive Grid's return procedure has been so lousy that I wouldn't purchase their products simply based on that. It should be simple, quick and effective; four days in to it and it has been none of those things.
 
#70
MasterMonkeyMan said:
You are returning the GO?
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I am. Short version: It does great with phones, it's a fine little BT music speaker but upon waking up early and hooking up to practice in the quiet of the morning, I realized that it's a bunch more stuff hanging off of me than I want; and I'll never use the external speaker for bass practice. The guys here that said, MOL, "just get the AmpPlug type units and simply don't break'em" got it right for me. Plug the teeny thing in, plug my IEMs in...that approach has the minimum of clutter and I realize now that that is what I'm after. Once the GO has been returned, and PG still hasn't gotten back to me with the RMA, I'll most likely try the NUX Mighty Plug 2.

To anybody who is wants to try a PG product (and I think it's a fine product, just not the right fit for me) I suggest getting it from GC or some such that has professional, quick and efficient return policies/procedures; PG clearly doesn't.
 
#71
NotAGardener said:
I am. Short version: It does great with phones, it's a fine little BT music speaker but upon waking up early and hooking up to practice in the quiet of the morning, I realized that it's a bunch more stuff hanging off of me than I want; and I'll never use the external speaker for bass practice. The guys here that said, MOL, "just get the AmpPlug type units and simply don't break'em" got it right for me. Plug the teeny thing in, plug my IEMs in...that approach has the minimum of clutter and I realize now that that is what I'm after. Once the GO has been returned, and PG still hasn't gotten back to me with the RMA, I'll most likely try the NUX Mighty Plug 2.

To anybody who is wants to try a PG product (and I think it's a fine product, just not the right fit for me) I suggest getting it from GC or some such that has professional, quick and efficient return policies/procedures; PG clearly doesn't.
Click to expand...
Sorry it didn't work out for you. It is nice for what it is. Looks like you've found what you need in the NUX.
 
#72
While it may be overkill for your needs. There are small mixers like the Behringer Xenyx 1002B that can be battery or mains powered. You can plug in a an (older) iPad, laptop or phone with Spotify, a metronome and other apps to practice with. The Behringer Xenyx 1002B has 2 instrument inputs and a reasonable headphone output.
Maybe I have just spent so much time in studios I can't do music without a mixer under my hands??
 
#74
The Nux looks pretty good. I haven't used it yet.

My Fender Micro seems more appealing to me because I don't have to use my phone unless I want to play along to it via Bluetooth.
The less menu diving, the happier I am.

Quick/funny story:
I love playing outdoors in the park, so some years ago I bought a Fender Kingman acoustic bass.
A week later I learned about headphone amps ...

I hope you find the piece of kit that works best for you.
 
#75
I use my Darkglass ADAM preamp pedal as my practice headphone amp. The ability to add CabSim to the signal really does make a difference.

If you foresee yourself buying any kind of preamp pedal in the future, the majority of them do come with a headphone jack...

2 birds, 1 stone, and all that...
 
#76
MasterMonkeyMan said:
Sorry it didn't work out for you. It is nice for what it is. Looks like you've found what you need in the NUX.
Click to expand...
Just to close the loop:

I've had the NUX MP2 (not 3) for a week or so and it's just great; does exactly what I wanted; it runs my IEMs fine and is the least amount of stuff, short of wireless, adequate for the job. Seems well made, easy to use.

PG Spark GO: Once I got the RMA and shipping label, four or five days, the PG GO went back and my cc was promptly credited so that was to the good. The GO itself was great for headphones but was just more dangley stuff than I wanted. It's a nice external speaker for BT streaming music too but you'd have to run it very softly for bass practice, else overpower it, which is what you'd expect.

So I'm happily in NUX MP2-land.
 
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#77
Dunno if they still make these, but have used this Dean Bass In a Box since 2000.
Super simple and easy. The headphones that came with it were terrible - just plug in something good! Can clip on pocket, strap, belt, or music stand.

Great for hotel/motel rooms.
Pretty dang punchy. Three tone settings and "lo", "hi" setting to save the 9v battery.

R.jpg
 
#78
I've got a EHX headphone amp. Pretty decent, fairly burly build quality. I wanted something with bluetooth connectivity to play along with some tunes when I'm too lazy to plug everything into my DAW, but the Mustang Micro seemed a bit spendy for an occasional use item. I bought a Donner Mini Turbo instead as it was only $53 CAD--seems like it's Donner's MM copy which also has BT. Anyone have any experience with these--a reasonable facsimile, or just junky?
 
#79
obvious1 said:
I have the VOX bass headphone amp and I totally agree, the hissing is unbearable. I've since switched to the Ashdown Tone Pocket, and I highly recommend it. It's feature packed and can be used for more than a headphone amplifier and it is specific for bass. Check out this review...
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Have you had any problem with charging the internal battery of the Ashdown Tone Pocket or using the USB socket as a recoding interface? I've read posts on different sites indicating others had problems with the USB port. I bought mine through Sweetwater Sound and it's having those issues. They're offering to replace it, but they're out of stock and won't have any in from Ashdown till August 3.
 

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