Headphone Use?

SamIV

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Dec 7, 2015
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What are you guys using for silent playing through headphones? I have gone though a few practice amps that had headphone out jacks from Vox, Fender, and Peavey. Clean, they all sound ok. Over-driven, not so great. Had a Boss GT-1 for use as my travel amp through small powered monitors which was just ok. Once again, over-driven sounds just don’t cut it. Someone on another form mentioned the Quilter Superblock UK being very tube like sounding though headphone.

Was thinking about getting a Line Six Pod Go, but read some not so favorable reviews on head phone use. Not going to spend the money for a Kemper or AXE FX. I have quite a number of tube amps, but rarely use them. My wife has some health issues and she can’t handle the guitar playing through an amp. Looking for advice.
 
I use my Boss waza air quite a bit for travel and headphone duty. At home I mostly use the kemper but that's a whole nother level of greatness. They are two different animals but the waza are great for what they do.
 
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What kind of headphones are you using? My Helix sounds like garbage with a good pair of Beats, but sounds excellent with my Audio Technica studio monitors. I think you need something more flat and neutral sounding so you don’t add unnecessary color to the amps sound.
 
I have some headphones that came with a Focusrite recording bundle (they say HP60 MkIII on the side), and I've used them for my Line 6 Pod HD500X and recently for my new Boss Katana. I couldn't get behind certain tones with the Pod through headphones, even though they sound great through a studio monitor, but I have really enjoyed the phones with my Katana. I guess it just depends on the setup, the tones you're going for, and what headphones you're using
 
Line 6 is known for making modeling devices that are not headphone friendly. Many of them sound much better through even a cheap headphone amp. If you want the Go, that may be worth it to get that and a cheap headphone amp.

That said, headphones are always going to be very different, but I’ve never had an issue with any of my three pairs of headphones sounding good with my Atomic AA3 or AA12
 
I use a Strymon Iridium for headphone playing. Sounds pretty good through my Meze Noire headphones.
 
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There’s quite a few of these threads over at TheGearPage…. I’m using Shure 440, and I’m pretty happy (good enough for my needs).

Boss waza looks awesome for this application, but no way am I buying a separate product for guitar AND bass.
 
As far as headphones I've been using the Sony MDR 7506's for years now (I even had to buy replacement ear-pads for them) - I run a kidney Pod through a Mackie MG12/4FX board and send the board into an old Yamaha RXV995 receiver I had. The receiver then into JBL 4410s in front and 4406's for the rear. It works fine for silent practice when I don't want to share. I also run my Mac Book Pro into the board for playback into the room as well.
 
I forgot to mention, that while the HX Stomp handles most of stuff now, I've had years of success with the Yamaha THR10C. Can often be quiet enough to play electric guitar (and takes pedals just fine) at conversation levels without headphones. Bought the THR when my firstborn arrived....
 
I've been using Amplitube to record since 2019 and that software, especially Amplitube 5, sounds incredible using headphones. I'll also use my GT-1 with pedals in front of it for my OD/Distortion with one of the GT-1's clean amps if I want to play with headphone but not sit at my desk. The headphones I'm currently using are the Audio Technica ATH-M40x.
 
Old Blood Noise Endeavors makes a nice headphone amp. It’s normal pedal size, takes effects well, and sounds really good in my opinion. No Bluetooth, so it requires a 1/4” input from headphones. They’re $100 new, around $70 used. I owned one for a few years, and it worked great for practice. Good luck with your search!
 
Use a Kemper right now, my main rig, also for live use. Before I used an hx LT and still own an HX stomp. Both are very capable, and sound good through cans. I do suggest buying some good IRs and not use the stock cabs in the HX, makes all the difference in the world IMO. Since I use York Audio, all other IRs are collecting digital dust.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Guess I could order an HX Stomp and give it a try. I do have a small headphone amp that I have used in the past as well. Was also thinking about building an isolation cab and put it in the garage and mic it to a small small mixer with a headphone tap. Guess no one has had any experience with the Quilter Superblock UK. That would be plug and play.
 
I'm using AKG240 headphones. Sometimes I use my Shure IEMs. Both sound fine with my interface and my Helix rack. Most of the time I just play the Helix through Protools because I am jamming for ideas. Most of the time I have a loop going with EZBass and EZDrummer. That way I have key and meter.
 
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