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Headphones Playing Quietly.

Do you practise with Headphones

  • No:- why bother

    Votes: 9 7.2%

  • Yes:- In my amp

    Votes: 40 32.0%

  • I have an amPlug, amPhone or other headphone amp

    Votes: 74 59.2%

  • The louder the better headphones are no good.

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • Total voters
    125
mickeyj4j

mickeyj4j

Dec 5, 2006
256
43
#1
Hi all today I am wanting to ask what Headphones you use to practise quietly so not to disturb others.

This is broken into several things
  1. Pluged into the headphone jack of an amp.
  2. Headphone Amp: like the Invalid Link Removed Video of the amPlug. They now have a specific Bass version
  3. New Headphone Amp: like the Invalid Link Removed A headphone with the amplug directly built in.

My Setup:
  • I use cheep overhead headphones which do the job.
  • plug them into my Roland Cube: 20XL Bass amp
  • also use them in my amPlug2 Bass version, with an aux input for jam'n to your favourite tracks, and I love the different drum beats built in to jam along with (I may upgrade to a set of bass amPhones. These are really good quality and can be used as regular headphones).
Your Setup & Ideas:
  1. What headphones do you use.
  2. Do you use headphones in your amp.
  3. Have you used a headphone amp. What are your opinions on these.
  4. Anything else you would like to add.
Thanks for sharing and providing your ideas, knowledge & experience on this topic.
 
#3
I have some BeyerDynamic 235's that I use both with a VOX and with the headphone output on my amps. Very good sound and low end and I can hear what is going on outside, so I can watch TV or stay in the conversation. This is a drawback when I want to work with an mp3, then I will need to go to a quieter room. I like the headphone output on my amp better than the VOX because it has a lot better sound but the VOX can be handy.

Most of the time they keep the wife happy but last week I got fussed at for popping too loudly (with the headphones on). Go figure.
 
#4
Spector2112 said:
Another option that I use is to plug my bass and an ipod/phone/etc into a small mixer and use it's headphone out.
(Sennheiser HD280 headphones)
Click to expand...

This is basically what I do. I have a rackmount 8-channel mixer for this but you can buy small 2 or 4 channel mixers you can throw in a bag that would work. All you need is a channel for your instrument and then a line-in. Depending on what else you want to do it makes for an easy but versatile setup.
 
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#5
i use the standard POD Farm software via a Line6 UX2 into either Sennheiser HD202 headphones (cheap, sound great for the price, lots of low mids/bass) or Grado SR125i headphones (not so much bass/low mids but overall nicer tone).

i've said it before on here but honestly the HD202 headphones are a bargain.
 
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#6
Didn't click an option in the poll (you need carrots here!). Yes, I use headphones, I mostly practice in the morning before everyone else is up. But it's not through my amp nor through a plug. I use a Yamaha MG10/2 mixer, with a channel each going in for my bass and the computer audio (also guitar and keyboards, when I want them), and headphones out of that. Sennheiser HD280 headphones (I used to use a $20 pair of Yamahas, which were fine, but eventually decided to splurge).
 
#8
I use closed Alesis SRP100 headphones (cheap, but has sick & unbalanced bass... awful for mixing anything tbh but incredible for bass sessions), my Steinberg C1 USB interface and run the bass signal through Reaper or FL Studio. Got lots of preset-projects for different sounds / drumloops / guitar'n'keyboard doodles to improvise with.
 
#11
Grado on-ear headphones usually from my Scarlett 2i2 interface, because I am usually practicing to MP3's sourced by the computer.
I like the on-ear phones because I can hear the bass just fine, but also sounds around me (minimises surprises).
I've got a couple of cheap headphone amps and they're fine for what they are - $25 portable practice tools.
 
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#14
I use my POD HD500 as a very big, very expensive headphone amp lol. Actually, the reason I own it is for guitar, but my bass pedal board has a SansAmp at the end of the chain, which I run into a dry channel on the POD so I can mix it with an mp3 and play through headphones.

I'm currently in the process of designing and building my own headphone amp with an aux in that should be able to fit in a 1590a enclosure and stay on my pedalboard.
 
#15
living in an apartment in NYC this little thing has been one of the best gear buys in years!
715ut9Th5IL._SX522_.jpg
 
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#16
I recently did some experimentation with headphone setups. I had a couple sets of headphones: Sennheiser HD600 - these are great for music, but weren't that great for bass guitar, and Sennheiser HD280 Pro, these are pretty good in general, and work fine for guitar, but also not great for bass. So on a whim I got a pair of Shure SRH840's and I like them much better than what I had, for practicing with bass.

I also found that no matter what else you have, a decent headphone amp always helps. The best solution for me now is to plug into one of my preamps, and run that to the headphone amp to the cans.

The Zoom B3 is not bad with headphones (and better with the headphone amp).

The headphone output on the Genz Benz Shuttle amps is really good (even without using an outboard headphone amp).
 
#18
I was just using a Korg PME pedalboard as a buffer and then running to my small Mackie mixer and using the control room/phones out.

I have several headphones. Lately I've been using old Sennheiser HD 400s, mostly because it amuses me to use headphones that I got 40 years ago. They sound generally good, except that bass can easily overload their low end limit and cause buzzing. Both the Beyer DT 770 M and Sennheiser HD 600 sound better and handle the low end better, but for just practicing I've gotten a kick out of using the older HD 400s.

Lately, I've switched to using a couple of Anderton PAiA kits (Compressor/Limiter as preamp and then Super Tone Control for EQ) as the front end feeding the mixer and/or a power amp and bass cab.

I'm going to do a post on that in the amps forum soon with pictures and details. That EQ gives me a tone I like better than just a plain buffer and actually as much as from my Traynor YBA-1, but without any trace of hum in the output.

Otto
 

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