Headphone playing options

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I’m sure this has been dealt with before but I thought I’d ask anyway. I’m looking for a relatively cheap set up (under £250) to practice with the cans on, that can be battery powered. I’ve got a boss katana air for the living room, but it’s not so portable and needs to be plugged in.

I found an old Irig phone adaptor yesterday and tried AmpliTube, which whilst sounding decent, seems to cost a slightly ridiculously amount when you buy a few presets/packs. 

Any suggestions will be much appreciated!
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  • ennspekennspek Frets: 1626
    Boss pocket GT!
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  • Rich31kRich31k Frets: 776
    Vox Amplug for basic practice. It has aux in, so you can plug a cheap bluetooth receiver into it to play along to songs/access a metronome etc. 

    I've just bought some Waza Air headphones - £311. They make practising spectacularly hard to avoid, as they're really easy to use and have a good range of sounds.
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  • Rich31k said:
    Vox Amplug for basic practice. It has aux in, so you can plug a cheap bluetooth receiver into it to play along to songs/access a metronome etc. 

    I've just bought some Waza Air headphones - £311. They make practising spectacularly hard to avoid, as they're really easy to use and have a good range of sounds.
    Oh nice, how do you find the headphones? Is the battery life/build quality decent?
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  • ennspek said:
    Boss pocket GT!
    Hadn’t heard of this. It seems to have mixed reviews though 
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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    Boss Pocket GT looked perfect for me until I saw the price - given the Pocket Pod is £99 or less brand new .....
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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  • The original Zoom G3 is great with headphones. Last ages on a set of rechargeable AA batteries. 

    There's an FX block called "Air" which makes the patches sound particularly spacious with headphones on. 

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  • Rich31kRich31k Frets: 776
    edited November 2020
    Rich31k said:
    Vox Amplug for basic practice. It has aux in, so you can plug a cheap bluetooth receiver into it to play along to songs/access a metronome etc. 

    I've just bought some Waza Air headphones - £311. They make practising spectacularly hard to avoid, as they're really easy to use and have a good range of sounds.
    Oh nice, how do you find the headphones? Is the battery life/build quality decent?
    The sound quality is excellent and they're pretty comfortable. No problem with battery so far, but I haven't had them long.

    The app is fine - its like having a Katana amp built into a pair of headphones, and you can connect multiple bluetooth devices. So my phone controls it, but then I can stream audio from my tablet to the headphones at the same time.

    I wish there were more controls on the headphones, but I think I can map the buttons to enough sounds/effects, I just haven't worked out how yet.

    They are well sealed, so I can't hear people talking when I'm playing. I don't think they can hear me playing, well they haven't complained yet.

    Edit: and build quality appears good. The wireless adapter to plug into the guitar is really nifty. The switch is engaged when you plug it in, so it turns on and off automatically.
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  • WAZA Air all the way for me. Great sound and find I’m playing much more due to the convenience 
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  • @deadgrateful just to clarify - would a laptop fit your requirements in terms of not needing to be plugged into power 100% of the time?

    If so, and you already have a laptop, a decent but basic USB audio interface (esp, any on Black Friday discounts) + a copy of either S-Gear 2 or your Neural DSP plugin of choice would fit just about in budget, and most likely blow a lot of the competition out of the water in terms of sound quality/flexibility.

    But obviously it's a more involved setup (plug interface in, etc).

    Otherwise for very basic practice, I can vouch for the amplug: dirt cheap, uber practical and sound surprisingly good.

    Overall, the best mix of quality + convenience would probably be the Waza headphones (which I haven't tried but clearly people really rate them)
    Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
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  • The Waza air do sound really good. I thought the wireless feature of the Katana air was a gimick, but I actualyl find myself using it more simply because as soon as I pickup the guitar it starts working. Unfortunately I don't have a laptop, just desktop and an ipad so software seems to be out of the question.
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  • Rich31kRich31k Frets: 776
    I have used the ipad with an irig and Apple's garage band app. A reasonable selections of amps/effects and its free.
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  • TeleMasterTeleMaster Frets: 10103
    WAZA Air all the way for me. Great sound and find I’m playing much more due to the convenience 
    Yea the Waza Air is amazing. Live mine and use them every day. 
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited November 2020
    Must be me, but I just don't 'get' the Waza Air. £350 for headphones with built in Waza modelling that can't be used for anything else?  Just seems faddy, and very expensive.

    Surely you'd be better off with a Pod Go or Mooer GE150, 200 or 250, or an Ampero, and a decent set of headphones, both of which could be used independently with other gear? 
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • Voxman said:
    Must be me, but I just don't 'get' the Waza Air. £350 for headphones with built in Waza modelling that can't be used for anything else?  Just seems faddy, and very expensive.

    Surely you'd be better off with a Pod Go or Mooer GE150, 200 or 250, or an Ampero, and a decent set of headphones, both of which could be used independently with other gear? 
    The ambience settings and panning options on the Waza are the difference.

    I also have a Helix and a nice set of headphones and even ignoring the inconvenience of having to set it up and plug in, it isn’t as “realistic” to play through even though it sounds “better”. The Waza are immersive, close your eyes and it feels like you are actually part of the performance you are playing along to, this is particularly true of accompanying live recordings.

    Also, don’t discount the wireless element, before trying the Waza I’d have said it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me but having tried it, I wouldn’t go back.
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  • jackiojackio Frets: 132
    New WAZA-AIR user here. Love it. 
    Wireless
    bluetooth to phone app to change tones
    bluetooth to phone spotify to play along
    just brilliant and I’m playing more again. 
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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    edited November 2020
    Pocket pod for £20-30 second hand, some decent headphones and spend the rest of the budget on the obligatory coke and hookers I'm sure there are better options but the PP is actually alright once you dial it in with the editor. I tweak it less than I did my HX Stomp. Maybe just because I've accepted its never going to sound much better so just crack on with playing instead
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited November 2020
    Voxman said:
    Must be me, but I just don't 'get' the Waza Air. £350 for headphones with built in Waza modelling that can't be used for anything else?  Just seems faddy, and very expensive.

    Surely you'd be better off with a Pod Go or Mooer GE150, 200 or 250, or an Ampero, and a decent set of headphones, both of which could be used independently with other gear? 
    The ambience settings and panning options on the Waza are the difference.

    I also have a Helix and a nice set of headphones and even ignoring the inconvenience of having to set it up and plug in, it isn’t as “realistic” to play through even though it sounds “better”. The Waza are immersive, close your eyes and it feels like you are actually part of the performance you are playing along to, this is particularly true of accompanying live recordings.

    Also, don’t discount the wireless element, before trying the Waza I’d have said it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me but having tried it, I wouldn’t go back.
    I understand re ease of wireless, but Pod Go has panning, and isn't ambience just about the type/settings of reverb and cab/mic you use? 
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • +1 for Amplug Lead.  Awesome gadget for sofa noodling.
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  • Voxman said:
    Voxman said:
    Must be me, but I just don't 'get' the Waza Air. £350 for headphones with built in Waza modelling that can't be used for anything else?  Just seems faddy, and very expensive.

    Surely you'd be better off with a Pod Go or Mooer GE150, 200 or 250, or an Ampero, and a decent set of headphones, both of which could be used independently with other gear? 
    The ambience settings and panning options on the Waza are the difference.

    I also have a Helix and a nice set of headphones and even ignoring the inconvenience of having to set it up and plug in, it isn’t as “realistic” to play through even though it sounds “better”. The Waza are immersive, close your eyes and it feels like you are actually part of the performance you are playing along to, this is particularly true of accompanying live recordings.

    Also, don’t discount the wireless element, before trying the Waza I’d have said it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me but having tried it, I wouldn’t go back.
    I understand re ease of wireless, but Pod Go has panning, and isn't ambience just about the type/settings of reverb and cab/mic you use? 
    It feels different from just adding reverb, as I said, it is more interactive, like a spatial positioning thing, I’m guessing that is the technology that you pay for with the Waza. 

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  • NPPNPP Frets: 236
    edited November 2020
    I had a PockedPod and it was just dire. Gave it away to someone on here for the price of postage. 

    The HX Stomp (and other Helices) just gut a 'stereo imager' in the latest update which seems quite useful for headphone use 

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