Silent Practice

[retslock]

There are so many devices available to enable silent practice. This is my preferred method. It enables line in, headphone out, multi effects, amp emulation, compression, built-in drum machine and battery operation as well as mains. It sounds way better than you'd expect for such a small amp and I've used it outdoors in small gatherings. I use it a lot for silent practice because it's light, convenient and sounds great through headphones.

https://www.roland.com/au/products/micro_cube_bass_rx/

 

[timothy1207]

I am looking for a way to practice quietly. I know I can use the output jack on my amp, but I can't put a song on at the same time or use a metronome (I use an app for that).

What do you folks use for this?

Thanks for your time, J

You just need a mixer to mix your stereo output with your amp output. I mean something as simple as two jacks in, one out would work

 

[oddeotek]

I use a Zoom B1on with Sony 7506 headphones. It has a drum machine to play along with, an aux in for playing along with your phone or tablet, a looper, a tuner and about 100 different effects to make your bass sound any way you want. The unit is small enough to fit in your guitar case and costs less than $100.

 

[Grttmz]

+1 Fender mustang micro. Dial in a wide range of effects & distortions or go clean. Bluetooth in your audio tracks or GarageBand loops or iReal pro tracks to play along with.

Awesome on bass even better on guitar!

 

[slam dunk]

I am looking for a way to practice quietly. I know I can use the output jack on my amp, but I can't put a song on at the same time or use a metronome (I use an app for that).

What do you folks use for this?

Thanks for your time, J

I'm currently using the Zoom B1 Four to practice with. Takes batteries or AC. It's got an input for bass, an auxiliary input, and I can use headphones with it. A few of the presets sound incredibly good. I even enjoy playing through this live. There's also a very simplified drum machine and looper. The whole thing fits in a gig bag and costs less than $100.

I am looking for a way to practice quietly. I know I can use the output jack on my amp, but I can't put a song on at the same time or use a metronome (I use an app for that).

What do you folks use for this?

Thanks for your time, J

I am looking for a way to practice quietly. I know I can use the output jack on my amp, but I can't put a song on at the same time or use a metronome (I use an app for that).

What do you folks use for this?

Thanks for your time, J

 

[MovinTarget]

View attachment 4483970

I'm currently using the Zoom B1 Four to practice with. Takes batteries or AC. It's got an input for bass, an auxiliary input, and I can use headphones with it. A few of the presets sound incredibly good. I even enjoy playing through this live. There's also a very simplified drum machine and looper. The whole thing fits in a gig bag and costs less than $100.
View attachment 4483970

Yup and for a few bucks more you can get an expression pedal on the X version.

 

[Beejay772]

A lot of small practice amps now have an rca input you can play music thru as well as a headphones output. I have a small Fender rumble with this setup.

 

[Womber]

Vox Amplug with headphones. There is a Jack to plug your phone in to play along with a metronome app or music in your iTunes library. I used it all of the time in hotel rooms. Bonus is it takes up no space.

 

[Blankandson]

During my years traveling I used the Vox Amplug. Still have it and use it occasionally. But now that I have a practice room I use my GK 500 Legacy. I set music levels from my computer and set bass levels on the Legacy. Music and headphones have plugs in the back. Bass plugs in the usual plug in front. Sony headphones for good sound or just turn it down and use speakers. For that I have a PJB CAB 27.

 

[toddsterbassist]

This is the answer for me.

I've been using a Rolls PM351 personal monitor for years, works great, only $99. The Aux In (Line In) is STEREO which really helps when practicing with tracks. It's a little Swiss army knife.
https://www.amazon.com/Rolls-PM351-Personal-Monitor-Station/dp/B001032IDS

View attachment 4477456

 

[Assen Mladenov]

Here are the options I use:
- Blackstar Amplug Bass - way better sound and less noisy than the Vox Amplug Bass. Long battery life - about 20hrs with some good quality rechargeable batteries. That's the most portable option.
- Gallien Krueger MB108 - has a line in and headphone output.
- TC electronic SpectraDrive Bass DI. I put a 8-battery pack (8x AA 1.2v = 9.6v) taped to it underneath, so it's portable. Battery life in this case - 13hrs.

 

[MovinTarget]

Here are the options I use:
- Blackstar Amplug Bass - way better sound and less noisy than the Vox Amplug Bass. Long battery life - about 20hrs with some good quality rechargeable batteries. That's the most portable option.
- Gallien Krueger MB108 - has a line in and headphone output.
- TC electronic SpectraDrive Bass DI. I put a 8-battery pack (8x AA 1.2v = 9.6v) taped to it underneath, so it's portable. Battery life in this case - 13hrs.

I use the spectra drive too as it has some nice EQ/Comp/OD options. I have never even updated the toneprints (sorry, no editor in this version) as I like the stock ones. My *only* wish was that the mids had tweakable frequency controls.

When I travel for work by car, I can stow this pedal, my looper, Octave and Comp/Sustainer in my gigbag pocket and use a AC/DC chain converter to power them all.

Yes, I use pre/post compression! the extra pedal is for heavier compression when needed while the SpectraDrive adds the final comp to smooth it all out.