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Practice headphone recommendations?

D

DianeS

Nov 9, 2024
1
0
#1
Hello! My teen son recently started electric bass lessons, he's loving it but we live in an apartment and our downstairs neighbors are not loving it. We are renting a bass and practice amp and I hope to buy him a bass and small amp in next weeks, maybe a Fender P. Or maybe we don't even need an amp?

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations for headphones for practicing, especially if any exist that are wireless with no lag.

Can you describe the headphones you use to practice and what exactly that looks like? I am an acoustic musician myself (violin/'fiddle', guitar) so I'm very comfortable with the music side of things, but know nothing about the electronic gear side. Does anyone use Boss Waza headphones? Those look great but maybe too fancy for my son's needs. Maybe he could just plug his usual headphones into his amp and practice that way?

Is there an app for practicing without an amp at all, through an ipad or something??

Any and all advice and recs would be very much appreciated. THANK YOU!
 
#2
I've been using the newer Fender Mustang Micro Plus headphone amp along with my trusty decades old Sony MDR-V6 headphones. The Mustang is a very versatile unit that allows me to play in my condo complex at 300am before I go to work. Most of the presets are oriented for guitar, but I have been able to save several presets that are great for bass. It connects to your computer or iPhone/iPad via bluetooth so you can play along to music. It's also a tuner and a recording interface. A great value for $129.
 
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#4
I have a Zoom MS60B+ effect box that has some amp sims, plus an electro harmonix headphone amp. Not too excited about the latter, but it works. I'd look at something that can drive headphones with its own volume control and something that can do an amp sim like thing. Vox has a bunch of models that are basically a little thing on top of a plug. Someone gifted me the V2 bass one. I'm not very happy with it, tends to overdrive very fast and for the price I think it's a total ripoff, but others seem to like it.

Maybe one of the newer ToneX models? Small one can get you basically an amp sim, bigger one gives more controls. Or a Boss me90b or something, if you want to go all in, a Neural DSP Quad Cortex, but that's a top of the line box. In any case, I would look for something that fits your budget first.
 
#5
The AKG 240 headphones are a good option — comfortable, a warm tone, and under $100. They're open-back, so there might be a bit of audible sound in the room but nothing that would reach the neighbors. But really, if your son has "usual headphones" that are OK for general music listening they should work fine.
 
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#6
DianeS said:
Hello! My teen son recently started electric bass lessons, he's loving it but we live in an apartment and our downstairs neighbors are not loving it. We are renting a bass and practice amp and I hope to buy him a bass and small amp in next weeks, maybe a Fender P. Or maybe we don't even need an amp?
Click to expand...
If he’s just going to practice with headphones, then you don’t need an amp. In that case, one of those Vox devices (or similar) that plug straight into the bass would be a great option, and they can be used with any headphones (you may need a cheap adapter plug for the headphones). This may be obvious, but I’ll say it just in case: if you’re going to buy an amp, make sure it has a headphone out.

DianeS said:
Can you describe the headphones you use to practice and what exactly that looks like? I am an acoustic musician myself (violin/'fiddle', guitar) so I'm very comfortable with the music side of things, but know nothing about the electronic gear side. Does anyone use Boss Waza headphones? Those look great but maybe too fancy for my son's needs. Maybe he could just plug his usual headphones into his amp and practice that way?
Click to expand...
Wireless headphones with low latency exist, but there aren’t many and they are expensive. The only alternative to the Waza that I know of is by a company called AIAIAI. But for your situation, I wouldn’t recommend going this route. Start with something basic.

DianeS said:
Is there an app for practicing without an amp at all, through an ipad or something??
Click to expand...
Yes, but you’ll need an interface for the ipad or iphone, and which one depends on the model of the device. IK multimedia makes both interfaces and apps (search for ‘iRig’), but there are other options as well. I have an old cheap iRig that connects via the headphone port of my iPad, but the basic newer iPads don’t have a headphone port, so they require something more expensive that connects via the lightning or USB port.

For software, I recommend GarageBand. You can make whole tracks in it, but you can also just use it for its amp and effect models. The virtual drummers are great for practice. And it’s very cheap for what it offers.
 
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#7
In addition to being a bass player, I'm also an audio engineer and have been using Audio Technica M40x headphones for musicians to monitor themselves. They have great bass response and can be found easily under $100. I would imagine they will end up on a Black Friday Blowout deal somewhere. They also have a replaceable cable. I honestly wouldn't recommend wireless/bluetooth headphones for this purpose.

If you think your son is showing some promise and will be playing with other people, there are lot of entry-level amps that have headphone outputs and inputs to play music through so that you can mix the sound of your bass with the music you're learning. You can have the speaker volume all of the way down for this on most of these amps, but if your son starts playing with other people, he will have an amp ready to go.
 
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#8
I was using this this weekend to play while my wife was watching TV.
IMG_6757.jpg

The earphones are KZ in ear monitors... Less than $50 on Amazon.

KZ ZS10 Pro in ear Monitors Wired Headphones​

They are "in ear monitors" but actually just great headphones.
KZ makes some cheaper models too.

I can plug my phone / tablet in and play along.

The Boss Waza headphones look very cool - But I don't really know anything about them.
This actually seems like a very cool option - but a big investment vs something like what @pingvuiini mentioned.

If it were me, I'd look at a Fender Rumble 15 or 40. Would be a fine first amp for a new teenage player in an apartment - and it has a aux in and headphones out. I would go ahead and size up - rumble 40 or even bigger if you think he is going to stick with it. Also, the 40 has some different voicing and some cool features that might inspire a young player.

IMO, an amp would be nice, so he is not limited to headphones only. Having a bass and an amp for a young player is cool. A bass player should have a rig. And, he can play along with others - which is kind of the whole deal. If his buddy is learning guitar, and they want to hang out, that kind of sucks if he only has headphones. Heck, he can play along with you in the apartment if he has a little amp.

The Ampeg SCR-DI would be a good option if you want to stick with headphones. Not wireless though.

IMO, look for a small combo amp that has an Aux In, and headphones out for silent practice. Best of both worlds. You can get an extension cable for the headphones so he is not too tied down.
 
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#9
The Audio Technica m50 headphones are what I use for both drums and bass.

I also use the KZ in ears mentioned above for drums.

An amp with aux in and headphone out is a solid recommendation. The Rumble line gets a lot of love around here.

What ever you choose just be cognizant of volume levels and time spent with the phones on. It’s way too early to start with hearing damage
 
#10
Consider ear fatigue.
The Sennheiser HD 280 Pro is a well respected set of headphones at a reasonable price. I find them good but fatigue sets in faster with them than others I’ve tried.

I’ve got a set of Beyerdynamic 770 and they are more comfortable for longer sessions.

Both of the above are closed back designs. I’ve worked with open back headphones and find them the least fatiguing but they let in outside sound and the low’s aren’t as strong. A set of semi-open might be a decent compromise but I haven’t tried any. If a future goal is sound design and mixing then I’d probably avoid this route. Open back is comfortable but not practical for those applications.

I had a set of Bluetooth Grado headphones that were open back. I never noticed latency issues running them as the audio output from my laptop.
 
#13
I 'd simply recommend pro headphones that can handle low frequencies well ( that really becomes a deal with 5/6 strings down to low B) and to keep an eye on their impedance:

Phones can run anywhere from the 20's or 30's up to 600 ohm impedance.

You can use this as a guide to how loud a given phones will play on a source: The lower the impedance, the louder they will be on their source.

I run Audio-Technica AT40 fs phones off a Mackie 1202VLZ board for my practice headphones rig.
 
#14
Most practice amps have a headphone jack these days, just look out for them when you're buying. Some fancy ones even have bluetooth now, thought I see that more on guitar amps than bass amps.

The BOSS Bass Cube has lots of good features, I would recommend that for a practice amp that will do a lot of work now as he starts and down the line when he needs more.
 
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#16
jthisdell said:
The first question is open back or closed. I prefer open back headphones, that way I am not isolated from the family.
Click to expand...

I prefer closed backs - the way the Physics works, closed back headphones, as long as you have a good seal to your head, have solid, well extended low end. Open backs always have a low frequency rolloff, which can be an issue with bass. (if the seal is perfect, there is literally no low frequency limit on sealed headphones). I'm using Beyer DT 700 Pro X's, driven by a Mackie 402.

Yes, with open backs, you hear more of your family, and they hear more of your playing. I can hear enough of my wife to know she's talking to me. With any headphones at a decent volume, you're not going to be able to converse with someone unless you take them off (or, in the case of open backs, turn off whatever is driving them.
 
#17
Closed back is better for us old folks for sound quality reasons.

Open back is better for a kid that you don't want blowing his/her ears out ( warn them ) AND so they can hear you when you tell to them to come to dinner.
 
#18
Depending on your budget I’d recommend getting a preamp/di with aux-in and phones out. Genzler Magellan Pre or Ampeg SGT would be great. “Practice amps” usually fall a bit short in any type of rehearsal situation with other musicians. If you need to make a bit of amplified noise, but still prioritize solo practice check out the offerings from Phil Jones - especially the small amps with Bluetooth connectivity
 

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