As I'm moving to new place, I would like the opportunity to play at all hours without possibly pissing anyone off, so a means to practice silently is a must for me.
Initially, I thought the Helix sounded good, so out a refundable deposit down on one.
Then I tried a Kemper. Incredible.
Then, I thought, "is this overkill?". I already have a 65 DRRI and a pedalboard that I love the bones of, can great amazing tones. Why not just get a small practice amp with headphone input?
So the choice at the moment is:
Helix/KPA/other digital amp modeller with incredible tone that has a headphone input.
Small practice amp with headphone jack and an excellent speaker emulation (Blackstar 1W combo, Blues Cube).
Discuss.
Comments
My YouTube Channel
My music:- https://soundcloud.com/hubobulous
My YouTube Channel
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57632/
If it was me, Id use a computor (Mac in my case) and via Garageband or Logic. Great, fun modelling.
If you are PC based, something like Amplitube .
Cheap, simple, silent.
Obviously a a combo is just a head plus speaker all in one so the physics are exactly the same as a separate head/cab.
My music:- https://soundcloud.com/hubobulous
If you're anything like me - I like how valves compress, I like pedals with knobs and i find the gain staging on line 6 (not tried the Helix), just not right.
Kemper if you like it (not dared try one!) or
Two Notes - that's what I use, reason I like that is I use my amp and pedals - don't have to repatch, it's all just there, didn't make sense to me to have two rigs, one won't get used.
I went the cheaper way - have a Jettenuator which gives me attenuation and a line out (you could even get a simple load box from someone like Rat amps) and the Two Notes CAB, it's cheaper but exactly the same with cabs etc.
Decent IRs and you're absolutely there.
Keep using the amp and pedals you love, just on headphones
For practice I don't think you need bother too much - a Line 6 Pod, or Tech 21 Trademark via headphones ought to be sufficient.
I like the idea of a Kemper preamp for my home setup (sounds to me like a lot less fettling than AxeFX too) , but it's still way too expensive
Feedback
I have tried all sorts to solve the headphone / late night practice issue (2 kids under 3).
Started with a THR10, okay but not for me.
Blackstar HT5R (headphone out), really didn't like that.
Kemper, this was really good and relatively straightforward but gave myself option paralysis after spending a small fortune on buying far too many profiles. The sounds were good as profiled, but hated the librarian ( I believe they launched a new way to control it on the pc soon after I sold it).
EVH 5150 combo, not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it fun for what it was, and the headphone out, whilst buzzy with gain was okay.
irig from amplitude, tried it for about 10 minutes and got bored.
Line 6 Amplifi, didn't like it.
The various Marshall 1 watts, okay and can be quiet but no headphone output (I think)
Apollo Twin duo, love this, and I think sounds better and easier to use than the Kemper. It has great plugins and lots of lots of them if thats is your thing, if not you can keep it simple too.
I love the fact that you can use it without turning on your PC as well, also looks good sat on my desk and takes up very little space.
Downsides, whilst you don't need to buy lots of plugins they are there and that makes them tempting.
However, having said all that I found myself playing unplugged as often as not, when everyone is asleep and don't enjoy it any less...
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57632/
Can't recommend the Suhr Rective Load and Torpedo CAB enough. Although, heard good things about the other Torpedo units, with a reactive load inside too.
Works with a combo too. :-) Good luck
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922