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Headphone amp suggestions.


neilb
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I have just sold my little practice amp due to keeping the kids awake at night!!

Im after a small guitar headphone amp that can take an ext source, eg IPod/IPad, so i can listen to the track but mix in my bass for headphone practice.

Dont want to spend silly money but nothing to cheap.

Any suggestions appreciated.


Neil

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"Pocket Rock-it", plugs directly into the bass, comes with headphones and a minijack input for iPods / metronomes etc... Two built in amp types (can also be used as a recording preamp, but not tried that). Nice. I bought mine for exactly the same reason as you. Now, Kids happy, Wife happy ergo, I'm happy. :)

[url="http://www.pocketrockit.com/Page.php?id=0022s1b"]Pocket Rock-it[/url]

you can probably find the cheaper elsewhere on the net.

Edited by paul_5
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[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1083514' date='Jan 9 2011, 07:56 PM']I use a Korg Pandora (I have a PX3 and a PX4)

They are great.

Plug in your headphones and MP3, dial in a bit of chorus and off you go!

I got one off Ebay second hand for £40.

Just a brilliant bit of kit :)[/quote]

+1 on that I have a PX4D I use it for guitar and Bass great for jamming along to tracks via ipod through the Aux in. Most of the presets are ok, but you can play around with it and really get some nice sounds out of it. But if you get one get the optional mains power they eat batteries seriously cheap batteries only last 30mins or so Duracell Ultra's probably 3 or 4 hrs hours max costs soon rack up! If you want to check out what you can get out of one of these check out Marlowe DK on you tube He does all his recordings via these

Edited by dan670844
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Just to counter the 'battery/have it plugged in thing' -

the Tascam will play MP3 and bass for up to 3 hrs solid continuous (longest I've managed to endure it, and it was still going strong) use before needing recharging - so it is incredibly portable plus with the memory card you can store a ridiculous amount of tracks.....

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The Pandora PX5D has drum loops, tons of effects and can run off a usb cable from your computer. It can also be used as an audio interface. Runs on 2 x AA batteries which I found much better than the Pandora PX4 running off 4 x AAA, also runs off a mains adaptor. It doesn't store tracks but you can listen to tunes thru your computer with it as it effectively becomes the computers soundcard. I tried a Tascam for a while but didn't get on with it and can't remember why :)

Pandora gets a good seeing to every day though :)

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I have a Pandora PX4D also. I run it on some hefty (1200mAh) NiMh rechargeables. They last for ages, so my mileage certainly varies. I'm assuming everyone has the display backlight [i]off[/i]!
I recommend a decent pair of headphones in the long run, too.
I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 415 (mk1) which are excellent. I'd opt for a circumaural, closed-back design to improve isolation and leakage. Any of the good manufacturers should do something suitable..

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[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1083609' date='Jan 9 2011, 09:09 PM']I recommend a decent pair of headphones in the long run, too.
I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 415 (mk1) which are excellent. I'd opt for a circumaural, closed-back design to improve isolation and leakage. Any of the good manufacturers should do something suitable..[/quote]

+1

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Another vote for the Korg PX4D.
I dont have any issues with batteries either. I use some good eneloop type rechargeable and these last for weeks, although i dont use it every day.

You can shift the key of the music you are listening to, although as with most of this type of thing you dont want to go too mad with the shift as it can sound nasty. Some fo the presets are pretty naff (i tend to use Motown most of the time) but the building blocks are there to create some very nice tones. I personally dont use the effects but they are there if you need them.

Last year i brought the Amplitube iRig adaptor lead and this lets you run a free or paid for iPhone version of guitar rig on a itouch or phone. This seemed like a great idea but i found it had too many shortcomings. The biggest was you had to load in specially converted MP3's to the app, rather than just being able to play along with any of your tracks already on the device. I also found the volume level a bit hit or miss and too fussy to use.

Edited by dave_bass5
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[quote name='MikanHannille' post='1083616' date='Jan 9 2011, 09:14 PM']I have Vox Amplug Bass.[/quote]

^ Me too, and I love it :) Especially because it allows me to run FX pedals if I want to (i.e. by plugging the Amplug into the last pedal in the chain). In all honesty, it's a very poorly made piece of kit, in my opinion (i.e. cheap and plasticky) but the sound you get from it is great.

I also use Amplitube/iRig on my iPhone, primarily as a tool for recording ideas when I'm away from my desktop Mac. It's a very versatile piece of software, but the sound isn't as good as the Amplug. Still, not bad for something that runs on a phone!

Both Amplug and Amplitube allow you to play along to a backing track - Amplug needs you to connect a separate CD/MP3 player (via a simple 1/8" AUX socket), whereas Amplitube allows you to load in songs from your iPhone or iPod library. I haven't had the same problem as the poster above - i.e. I'm able to play any song in my iPhone library, without having to convert the MP3 format [Dave: are you sure your version of Amplitube is up to date? Might be worth checking].

Edited by Skol303
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