Best Headphone Practice Rig?

[Chris Bauer]

I haven't practiced using headphones in years and am coming up on a stretch where I'll need to be doing so.

Who has recommendations for quick 'n easy headphone practice rigs? Bonus points for something easy to set up and take down. Double bonus if the sound is really good.

I don't need to be able to play along with anything but that would be a nice plus.

Thanks!

[Dennis Anderson]

A couple years ago I had a six week sabbatical out on the left coast and brought my strat along. I used an Apogee Jam interface through an iPhone with GarageBand app into a good pair of headphones and it worked pretty well. GB has a bunch of different amps and efx pedals you can play through. Sounded surprisingly good and kept me playing throughout my California trip. I'm sure there are many new ways to do that now.

[Jon Light (deceased)]

Very likely extreme overkill, Chris, but this thing pretty much works as advertised. As a simple headphone amp or as a track creator for fast and dirty BIAB tracks.
It's got a bit of a learning curve and it requires some of the same operating chops as using a looper.





Digitech Trio...click
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[forrest klott]

I was wondering the same thing when a random brain storm hit me. I got a $70.00 five channel mixer from GC. It has a head phone jack, and I simply run my POD XT into it and it's fabulous. I also got a cheap DVD player for thirty bucks that plays CD's as well and run that into another channel. I could not be happier. The sound is crystal clear. If you run the two EQ knobs straight up, it neutralizes the EQ on the board itself so what comes out of the headphones is exactly what you put into it.

[Ken Pippus]

Pod XT or later. Great headphone amp, infinite effects, USB so you can play along with your computer coming through the 'phones. Cheap used, they don't make them any more.

[forrest klott]

Really?. I never knew that function was possible. Thanks for the additional tip!

[Jerry Overstreet]

I bought one of these kits, but it's available as a module only without the speaker, etc. for about $20. Makes a nice little portable deal for just a headphone amp and accepts a 1/8" input from CD player, MP3 etc.

I spent the last couple days building this little project with a $29 kit I got from http://www.parts-express.com/build-your ... y--249-400
It's just components, so you have to build a cabinet of some sort.

It's a 5W amp module with a line out, headphone jack, ext speaker jack, cable tester and a power supply w/8 1/8" 9VDC adapter jacks for your stomps etc. plus more features.

I put in a closed/ported chamber for the speaker and built it like a pedal board with room for stomp boxes. Basically for plugged in use w/my mandolin and dobro, but it sounds pretty good with a tele too. I built the cabinet so I can flip the little amp module around, and set the thing up on the big end like a combo amp too. Just 5W but plenty loud for practice etc. and the little 6 1/2" Eminence speaker sounds really good.

You can switch the speaker off and just use your headphones for silent practice and there's an input for your CD, media players etc. as well.

I thought some of you tinkerers might be interested.

Actually it works just fine, is a good tool for practice, etc. and the added features make it well worth the cost for me. I put the module in a tiny case so I can take only that with me anywhere I go if I just need a headphone amp etc.

Caveat: They don't tell you this, but the 8 9VDC power supply ports for stomps, etc. are center negative but the jacks are made for 1/8" male plugs. Most modern effects use barrel style plugs, so you would either have to build cables for thoses or use polarity switching adpaters like the Godlyke Powerall daisy chain assortment which I just happened to have. Bummer there, but works OK in my case. A few pics with obvious cable disarray just plugged in for testing.
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[Justin Emmert]

I use my iPad with an iRig and Fender Amplitube application. I can play by myself or along with songs or videos. And can slow down, speed up and loop sections to play over and over.

I also use a Tascam guitar trainer. I can play by myself or along with songs I loaded into it. It can also loop sections and slow down. Unlike the iPad, it can also tune down and up the songs which helps for some of the singers I play with who change original keys.

[Rick Contino]

Roland Mobile Cube is the ticket. I have the "AC" version. At only $120 bucks you can't go wrong. Is great in multiple contexts:

1. As a headphone amp. This has independent volume controls on the top for your guitar and audio in. The onboard reverb is decent and only applies to the guitar and vocal channels, not the audio in.

2. As a portable boombox. I often unplug this beauty from my steel when its time to grill. Great battery-powered boombox.

3. For those "acoustic" gigs and practices. Again, battery powered, so fully portable. Surprisingly, the amp doesn't hog the batteries either. There is more than enough power here to keep up with fiddle, bass, guitar, and banjo.

[Michael Haselman]

If you have an extra $100 Fender Mustang I. Now you have a very cool modeling amp for steel or 6-string, headphone jack, 1/8" input for cd/mp3/computer. Does it all. Been using one for 3 years for multiplicity of uses. Awesome tool, IMHO.

[William Fraser]

I find that I can use my Korg DT-1tuner & get decent tone & no parts to buy . Just plug the steel into the input on the tuner & use the headphone jack . you can put effects in line if necessary . Bill

[Dale Foreman]

Look on Ebay, there is a butt load of these amps cheap!!

[Bill Hatcher]

used pod xt. cheap and a great practice/headphone unit.

[Mike Neer]

Tascam MP-VT1 is good and under a hundred bucks. Plus you slow things down to learn them.

[Jim Peter]

I use one of these.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audi ... 2usb-mixer

You have 4 inputs so I put my guitar in one, Laptop in another, tape deck in another and you can mix them any way you want and the sound coming out of the headphone jack is very good. When I was working I had one of these and at lunch time I would shut my door, plug in my lapsteel and PC with my Cindy Cashdollar DVD and have at it. It appears the new ones can even be powered off a PC USB port.

[Paul Arntson]

I just picked up a Vox AmPlug for 6 string. Haven't tried it for steel but it's really tiny plus it has a cd input.

[Lefty]

I used a Johnson J-Station. The blackface preset with a little delay added. Very easy to program. Has a built in tuner. You should be able to find one on Ebay cheap.
Lefty

[Jean-Sebastien Gauthier]

Don want to hijack the tread but anyone know a good setup to practice and record with a MacBook? I use GarageBand to record myself, I like record myself with a click to see if my timing and pitch is good. I use a iRig device but dont like it very much and I have some latency with Garageband. If someone know a good, practice and recording solution I can use with my MacBook please let us know!

[Willie Sims]

try a casette recorder that has a mic. and head phone input.dirt cheap ,put on record when useing head phones. willie sims.

[Mark Lee]

I'll put in another vote for the compact, lightweight Fender Mustang I amp. Great-sounding built in effects, delay, reverb, modeling, etc. Like Michael said above, it does it all. However it doesn't run on batteries; it needs to be plugged into 115VAC power.

[Vladimir Sorokin]

I use the VOX AmPhones Twin headphones, and they sound great for this purpose - nice clean sound, AUX stereo input for (almost any) mp3, CD player, and so on.

The only downside is that the cable is a bit short, but for me personally, this is not a problem

BTW, the you can use the headphones in a usual way, Audio-Technica sounds quite nice ))