How To Play Bass With Headphones?

audio interface and computer setup

• for home playing and recording you can use an interface.
• all you need is a cable to plug into to your bass and a computer.
• if you don’t have good computer speakers i suggest a good pair of headphones and you can jam all day long
• those focusrite interfaces have a direct monitor switch, which gives you a feed straight from the preamp, i.e no latency.
• handy for this kind of thing.

• i am about to buy an audio interface, mostly for practicing at home with an mp3 or song from spotify. i am just wondering is it possible to connect audio from phone/computer as the background sound?
• best investment i ever made was a scarlett solo external soundcard.
• i also play bass and use logic with a basic steinberg ur12 audio interface. even even though the headphone volume isn’t anything to write home about i can work with it and i get a clean sound from my bass.

• the setup you describe should work fine - if you can be more specific about the model of interface, maybe someone might be able to guess what's going wrong.
• do the interface and headphones sound ok if you just play back an audio track? if so then your headphones and adapter are probably fine.
• audio interfaces sometimes don’t have a lot of headphone output to begin with, most are powered just by usb.
• the impedance of your headphones will affect the amount of playback volume you will get through your phones as well, basically lower impedance will give you a little more volume and vice versa.
• you can try a different set of phones or consider getting a headphone amp but i assume you don’t want to buy more gear.

direct monitoring and quiet or bad sound

• as for the bass sounding both bad and quiet, it may be for different reasons.
• if it’s very quiet compared to everything else see if you have a pad switch and make sure it’s not activated.
• also check for a line/mic switch and make sure that’s set correctly.
• if the sound is distorted make sure the channel input gain is not overdriving the preamp.
• one other thing, if you have a “direct monitoring” switch, turn it on when playing and tracking your bass.
• it will sound better and with no latency.
• you may also need to mute the bass track in logic so you don’t get a slap back if you do this.

amp headphone out and combo options

• so you say "new bass amp", therefore i assume you already have one?
• if that is the case, i would buy either a usb-interface or a preamp with a headphone out.
• if you don't have an amp already, have a look at combos with headphone outs.
• i can't really speak to what is cheaper, it really depends on the specific products.
• a interface can easily be more expensive than a cheap practice amp and vice versa.

• this rumble series is cheap and effective with or without headphones.
• both will work fine it's just a matter of what you'd rather spend the money on
• got a new rumble 25 for $99 at gc 3-years ago and the thing has been terrific.
• lightweight and plenty loud for home.

• i have vox's mini amp with headphone jack.
• it's pretty nice.
• i have a warwick bc20 which i quite like.
• it's a decent amp for home or the occasional rehearsal; i also use it as a speaker for my computer

using a mixer with a line out

• my solution is to use the di out of my ampeg svt3 pro into a little behringer xenyx 802 mixer, then plug my headphones into the mixer and adjust volume accordingly.
• the tone from the bass amp sounds fantastic.
• so if your bass amp already has a line out (either xlr or 1/4" should be fine), just buy a cheap mixer and you should be set.

• my practice space is not isolated from the main living areas in our house and no one wants to listen to me practice, so it's been a small mixer and headphones only for many years.
• i can play whatever i want whenever i want, but i do like the times when i'm by myself and can fire up the rig and let it rip.

playing music and bass through one set of headphones

• so! i want to be able to play music and bass at the same time, through one set of headphones.
• i have picked up a decent set of headphones with great bass response, which i can use on the amp, on the dai directly (which sounds great), and through the headphone jack on the pc (i just haven’t tested that is all).
• i know that i can plug the bass into the dai, the headphones into the pc, import a track into reaper, turn monitoring on for a record track, and route that all to the sound card and out the headphone jack, but that’s painful if i want to play a few songs in a row.
• i’d prefer to, like, play music through itunes or youtube music or whatever, and have the bass come through the dai to the headphones as well.

• in the garage, i plugged into my amp which had an xlr out going to the xlr in on my dai.
• the dai was plugged into my pc via usb, and my stereo via rca.
• i would play music on my pc which went through the dai audio outs to the stereo and play along with the music through the amp.
• if needed, i could fire up reaper and record my playing, and i could also import tracks into reaper which i could play through the dai audio outs over my stereo if i wanted to record tracks.

phone or tablet interfaces

• here's my two cents.
• you'll get more use out of a really nice pair of headphones beyond just playing bass.
• you can use them for general music listening, gaming, etc.
• assuming you have some sort of smart phone or tablet you can get an irig.
• it's a cheap interface that will feed your signal to your smart device and still get audio output to your headphones.
• i believe irig comes with a trial version or something limited of its own andoid/ios app otherwise it works perfectly fine with garage band.
• if you want some digital stuff, irig2 and tonebridge for mac products you can get all different kinds of tones

headphone amps and multi-effect units

• if you want a small, easy-to-use setup for practicing bass with headphones, i like bass multi-effect units with headphone outputs - companies like zoom and boss make various examples.
• most of them use a mains adapter - some can run on batteries too, but i prefer not having to shop for batteries.
• try the zoom b2.1u - runs on bateries or a mains adaptor and does everything i need.
• has a 6.5mm headphone socket but works equally well on 3.5 ("iphone" ) plugs with an adaptor - you can also run it straight into a pa and sound huge.
• becuase they're old tech they are cheap to buy

• amplug but my only gripe with this little thing is the level of white noise it produces while playing.
• not sure if it's because of something on my end or my bass but it's very noticeable.
• headphones and some bass-headphones-interface (think vox amplug or similar) and a good headset is definately the cheaper alternative, but can you really beat feeling that rumble under your feet?
• late night i use a headset, and with the amplug i have to stand by the amp either.
• but i get the best experience and most joy from 2 15" speakers.

• i have a b3n which gives me all kinds of effects too.
• it cannot be connected to a computer without extra hardware though (i think), but works for me.

headphones directly into a bass

• just wondering if there’s a company that makes headphones that don’t require any kind of external amp and can be plugged directly into the output jack of an electric bass.
• there are no headphones alone that can be plugged into a bass guitar.
• they need some sort of amplification system for them to work
• headphones alone won’t work . . . you need some sort of amplification system.

• if the amp is built inside the 'phones, then the headphones are self contained and don’t require an external amplifier.
• the headphones are specially made for bass amplification.
• if you just want to use plain headphones you would need some sort or device to amplify your sound.
• there are many options out there.
• for a beginner these vox are fine you can play any were with out taking any thing but your bass and vox headphones.
• you won’t be bothering any body with your playing.
• there’s aux to plug in your phone and play along with you music also.
• it has a little drum machine built in it and 3 different amp modes to pick from.

• i use a vox amp and akg reference headphones.
• i would imagine that with the vox you would be fine with an ok set of headphones.
• you also have the advantage of a drum track and a line in from a phone or lap top.
• the angle is adjustable so it shouldn’t stick out

practice at home, apartments, and late hours

• ive been doing this a lot recently as i am apartment living now.
• my headphones into an ampeg rb-110.
• on one hand, i like that i can hear little nuances to the tone i cannot playing thru the speaker.
• like im hearing the real tone of the bass.
• on the other hand, do those nuances matter?
• no one will ever hear them, especially in a mix with a band.
• like one of my basses, i hate the tone by itself thru headphones but it sounds great playing with tracks i have mixed with drums, guitars and vocals.

• last thing, if you have a family sleeping in the house and you get an urge to play bass nothings is gonna stop you
• i practice exclusively through headphones.
• i do hear a lot of noise that i don't like that doesn't really bleed through an amp especially with a band.
• it can make me a little crazy trying to squash it all
• but i've learned what noises mater and believe it's made me focus on a few technique leaks that i wouldn't otherwise

hearing tone and playing details

• i love the way bass sounds through a good set of headphones.
• the only problem is it's sort of addictive (for me) and getting close to the same sound in a live acoustic environment is virtually impossible.
• one thing to keep in mind is that the typical consumer headphones do not have a flat response and more often than not have boosted bass and treble.
• can't believe how good they sound with all of basses, including the acoustic ones.

• i think that going through headphone's is really a great thing.
• like you said, in an amp or with a band, you cannot get the real sound of your bass or pedals.
• even if you're in a band or else, the sound you are looking for is yours.
• headphones are a good way to get your sound.
• before, i never really sat down to really listen to myself with headphones.
• now i own my sound and all thanks to my headphones.
• i only tweak a bit before gigs depending on the size of the place.

• believe me, you can never go wrong hearing little flaws in your playing and fixing them as the headphones tend to let you hear these far more easily than an amp in a band environment.
• i think a good set of headphones or better ear buds will make a huge difference in your experience.
• i’ve been playing with headphones for recording for almost 45 years now.
• i also have 15 years experience using iems, and currently using a digitech effects modeling pedal with headphones for my practice rig.
• for me it works great, but none of those options sounds as good as my eden world tour gear at a reasonable volume, and i don’t expect it to.
• when i’m practicing i realize i’m not exactly playing at the kennedy center for the performing arts and my goal is practice, not perform in front of a bunch of highly critical patrons where great tone is imperative.

in-ear monitors and live monitoring

• until a few months ago, i was in a cover band that used in-ear monitors (iems).
• i got a set of kz as-12s off amazon for like $70, based on reviews saying they were more accurate/less hyped that other kz in-ears.
• i'm sure there are better iems, but the performance/$$ on these is shockingly great.
• they're super-efficient and seal pretty well, so they get loud enough to be heard over a drumset, and they block out a lot of background noise.
• highly recommended and as you've already found, you will hear a lot of nuances in your playing that you can either develop or work to eliminate

• i practice using headphones.
• at the gig, i hear myself via in ears.
• the places i play have great pa’s.
• there are also a lot of people that hear us (church gigs) online - on home speakers or headphones.
• in the last 8 years. i’ve done 600 or so church services, and not a single person (including me) has heard my bass through a bass amp.
• details that you can’t hear when using a bass amp? yes they matter, because nobody hears me through a bass amp.