Headphone/Practice Amp Recommendations?

[nicolasd]

hi everyone, just thought i'd throw a coin into the fountain and ask the collective for wisdom on this.

i have a great little headphone amp. a raven labs pha-1. thing is powered by a pair of 9v or AC adapter. compact, durable, sounds amazing. no color at all. very pure.

anyhow, raven labs is no more and there's no back stock. i've been looking around to see what i'll replace it with someday. i was hoping d-tar would come out with something, but it doesn't look it.

does anyone have a great little headphone amp they use? something that they can slip into their bass case for traveling, etc?

-n.

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

http://www.vintagebass.com/cafe-walter.htm

 

[nicolasd]

wow. that's probably the closest i've seen to what i'm looking for. perhaps a bit too basic for my taste.

the PHA-1 had a few more valuable features for me. two ins, two outs, a mix-in for a metronome or cd player etc.

does this run on batteries?


i love the explanation though. i agree that a good practice amp should be merciless in revealing your playing weaknesses. if you can sound good with that kind of audio-microscope, you end up sounding awesome through an 8x10.

-n.

 

[58super]

http://www.vintagebass.com/cafe-walter.htm

My Cafe Walter works great and was purchased from Steve.

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

More info on Walter's site.

http://www.cafewalter.com/

 

[Aussie Mark]

Another vote for the Cafe Walter here. Great unit, and has a line in and volume pot for a CD/MP3 player, and a tuner out. What more do you need?

 

[oddjob]

Another vote for the Cafe Walter here. Great unit, and has a line in and volume pot for a CD/MP3 player, and a tuner out. What more do you need?

+1... don't have one but my best bud swears by them (Steve's site is right... it doesn't hide anything. What you hear is 100% you - good, bad and ugly)

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

Got 5 Right Here

 

[midopa]

I've got a Cafe Walter headphone amp as well. It's great.

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

I run mine through a Korg Pandora 3 to use some of the different effects and or drum machine.

 

[todd4ta]

I have both a Raven Labs PHA-1 and a Cafe Walter. I keep one in the basement and one upstairs for late night practicing.

The Cafe Walter has a mini-jack input for CD player/iPod/Computer/drum machine. It has an extra 1/4" output that I have a tuner plugged into.

The new ones can run on AC. Mine is the older battery-only, but I'm still on the original set of batteries after at least two years. I just unplug the instrument cord when not in use which turns it off.

I have the PHA-1 hooked up to the computer so I can play any MP3 files, and I use my iPod with the Cafe Walter. The Cafe Walter sounds great, I don't miss having the tone controls at all.

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

I have the tascam cd-bt1 which isn't really a headphone amp, but does the job.

I also have the Kord Pandora (4?) which is great, as you can use it for either bass or guitar. Has a metronome/drum machine built in, has a bunch of different amp/cab/effect modelers, line in for an mp3 player, ability to alter the pitch of the input, record a bit to loop it, plus a bunch of other stuff I don't even use most of the time.

 

[bdgotoh]

I had a Raven PHA-1 but didn't like all the knobs and preferred the Cafe Walter. I like it so much I bought two, and I really like the simple normal 9V adapter Walter supplies instead of that 18V Raven adapter. Wonderful clear sound!

 

[RockinRayDuke]

The Walter gives the true sound of your bass. Great for setting pickup height or action. Now comes w/AC adapter, unlike mine.

Talk to Dude.

 

[AnthonyD]

Tascam Bass Trainer

I love my Tascam BT-1. It incorporates a CD player to practice along with. It's got lots of features (tuner, effects, etc.) but most valuable is its ability to shift the key, pitch and/or speed of the recording.

 

[Mobay45]

I love my Tascam BT-1. It incorporates a CD player to practice along with. It's got lots of features (tuner, effects, etc.) but most valuable is its ability to shift the key, pitch and/or speed of the recording.

Hey Anthony. Save me some time. Do you know how to turn the bass effects off on these things?

 

[AnthonyD]

Ha! Takes some getting use to, but then becomes easy (I hear the Mark II has a more 'intuitive' interface!).

I am at the office, so I don't have the thing in front of me, but... The big 'star' looking button - go one way to get to the effects menu, then go perpendicular to turn it on or off (e.g. go right or left to get to effects, then up or down to toggle on or off).

But I could be wrong...

Here's a tip - of the 6 effects banks, I program one with no effects, so that I can just cycle through my favorite effect or no effects without drilling to deep into the menus...

 

[Mobay45]

Ha! Takes some getting use to, but then becomes easy (I hear the Mark II has a more 'intuitive' interface!).

I am at the office, so I don't have the thing in front of me, but... The big 'star' looking button - go one way to get to the effects menu, then go perpendicular to turn it on or off (e.g. go right or left to get to effects, then up or down to toggle on or off).

But I could be wrong...

Here's a tip - of the 6 effects banks, I program one with no effects, so that I can just cycle through my favorite effect or no effects without drilling to deep into the menus...

One of these days I've got to sit down and read those instructions.

Thanks for the info. I'll try it tomorrow.

Today, I'm at work then I go straight to the gig. I'll get home about 2:30 tomorrow morning.

 

[AnthonyD]

One of these days I've got to sit down and read those instructions. ...

Yep - worth it!

This is one device where the instruction book is kept out and nearby. A few minutes invested will get you going for the majority of things, but every now and then I find myself peeking back in for direction!

 

[roballanson]

Hey Stevo how much to ship one of those units over to Blighty? Its just what I am looking for...