Question: Tascam bass trainers

[ausf]

I'm looking into one of the MP3 bass trainers. It seems like a great little gadget but have read a few reviews that have mentioned problems with active basses having distortion.

Any of you players have one?

I'll pull the trigger as soon as I hear one 'Ray, Sterling or Bongo owner say they have without trouble.

[Grand Wazoo]

Yes I have one and so does Aussie Mark, they are a great gadget, one of the greatest features is the internal memory where you can store 100? or more mp3 tracks, and yes there is a certain level of distortion but it can be minimized if you follow their suggestion to use a 32ohms or greater headphone set because a 24ohms for instance will be like a 400W amp into a 1 x 5 speaker.
To avoid distortion with an active bass like our EBMM basses you have the input volume on the Tascam that you can keep at a low setting and also your own bass volume which you can play with, and then if you use the suggested 32ohms headphones you have enough voume to ear the sound decently clean.

Not only that but there is a yet another volume between the recorded playback track and that of your bass, so you can mix your voume perfectly.

The main feature of these units is the ability to slow down and loop a particular segment of a song with and I/O button so you can repeat a phrase or a whole song over and over at a particular speed without losing pitch, but also you can practice along a song using "CUT" which cuts out or dimes out to unaudible level the original bass line from an MP3 track so that you can play over your own music and be THE bass player!

Other feature are "BOOST" and "ENHANCE" that allow you to boost the original bass sound so that when you slow it down to learn a fast passage you can hear it boosted or enhanced which is a bit like a Loudness setting.

Last but not least, the units comes with on board Metronome, Tuner, and a very large array of preset effect batches each one user edit friendly, you can alter them and you can store them in something like 5 banks A, B, C, D, E with all the usual suspects like distortion, compressor, graphic EQ, flanger, phaser, echo, reverb etc etc.

As you can see they've packed quite a lot of stuff in one little unit, it does a lot but don't expect all those effects and features to reproduce a hi-fi sound, yet for the little that they cost, they provide hours of fun.

[Aussie Mark]

The Captain has covered it pretty well. With proper use of the main input control and the level control that mixes bass vs mp3 sound I don't notice any distortion at all. I've got around 150 songs stored on mine, in several different folders for the different bands I play with, and as such it's a fantastic little practice tool when working on new songs.

I like that the unit recharges via a USB cable so there are no batteries or AC adapters to worry about.

I don't use any of the built in effects other than the loop feature, tuner, and pitch change (if something is recorded a semi tone down, or part of a semi tone down in the case of some old 60s recordings) but even so I find it's an essential piece of equipment for someone whose personal practice consists of plugging in with headphones in the living room after the kids are in bed.

[kayneex]

Been using it for a moment now, go get it! It stomachs my Bongo5HH with no effort, just as they said, keep the different volumes in check and you're set.

[DTG]

i have the cd version for about 5 years now and its great,could not learn songs without it now.

[bassmonkey]

Korg PX5D is also worth looking at. You can plug an mp3 player into it, r plug it into your laptop. I had the CD version of the bass trainer. I sold it to buy the Korg PX5D.

[WillPlay4Food]

I've used the CD version of Tascam's trainer for 2-3 years now. Has worked great for the most part, it's the main component of my lunchtime practice setup. I have run into issues with occasional skipping/lagging with home-burned CDs but I imagine this would go away with the MP3 version.

[ausf]

Thanks guys, I'm grabbing one today.

[Grand Wazoo]

Thanks guys, I'm grabbing one today.

And let me also recommend you to get a Sennheiser HD 415 32ohms headset to go with it. Best quality/price Sennheiser Worldwide: HD 415 - HD 415=

[ausf]

I was going to get their HD280 pros. They seem to be highly recommended. I'm just waiting on a price match email from the retailer and I'll pull the trigger. So far they've dropped the Tascam to $149, so I'm hoping to get the Sennheisers for $72.

By the way Cap'n, you have had a hand in me spending quite a bit of scratch in the last week between powerballs (love 'em) and bass trainer-headphone combos. I'll be sure to lay the blame at your feet when the wife asks.

[Grand Wazoo]

By the way Cap'n, you have had a hand in me spending quite a bit of scratch in the last week between powerballs (love 'em) and bass trainer-headphone combos. I'll be sure to lay the blame at your feet when the wife asks.

Ut-oh! Look at the bright side, you could alway, errr get your wife interested in playing with your... power.. balls!!

As for the headset the HD 415 do what is required for that price, and with the Tascam being a do-it-all middle of the road tool, it wouldn't be worth spending too much money (as you would with the HD 280 pro), which is why I've found the 415's to be the best compromise between the necessary quality required at the best affordable price.

[tadawson]

i have the cd version for about 5 years now and its great,could not learn songs without it now.

I have one of those too, but could never really come to terms with the (at least to me) really crappy sound quality. I now use a Phil Jones Bass Buddy and my IPod, and i't just wonderful. The BB can also be used as a small practice amp (it'll do something like 2 watts out as well as headphones) or as a really sweet active DI . . .

- Tim

[Grand Wazoo]

I have one of those too, but could never really come to terms with the (at least to me) really crappy sound quality. I now use a Phil Jones Bass Buddy and my IPod, and i't just wonderful. The BB can also be used as a small practice amp (it'll do something like 2 watts out as well as headphones) or as a really sweet active DI . . .

- Tim

Yes but your Phil Jones Bass Buddy, whilst is a great little practice amp, does not slow down tracks or be able to a/b loop fractions of them, which is what the Trascam Trainer was deviced for.

If we are talking practice gizmo I have to agree that the PJBB is cool but if we talk trainer and learning tool the Tascam wins hands down

[ausf]

As for the headset the HD 415 do what is required for that price, and with the Tascam being a do-it-all middle of the road tool, it wouldn't be worth spending too much money (as you would with the HD 280 pro), which is why I've found the 415's to be the best compromise between the necessary quality required at the best affordable price.

I plan to get use out of the 280s with other units: keyboard, CD player and even to see how it sounds out of my Bassman. At least that's how I'm justifying it...

I appreciate the heads up and the lookin' out though, I was originally looking at that series and it's nice to hear it's a viable option.

[Mr Light]

I used to have one, and would use it to learn particularly fast and difficult bass lines. However, don't drop it! Mine fell off my practice table at music school and that was it. They're not durable at all, unfortunately.