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Thread: PC & Teach Me Bass Guitar

  1. Default PC & Teach Me Bass Guitar

    Hi,

    Apologies upfront if I have posted this thread into the wrong area but it looked like the best fit for this question.

    My question is around the use of headphones - sounds bizarre , please let me explain.

    I have my bass plugged into my amp and it works fine. I have my PC which I use to watch Roy's TMBG lessons on. I'm looking for the best way to get both the output from the PC and the output from my Bass amp to be sent to my headphones. That way I can hear the DVD and my bass playing at the same time. At the moment I can either put my amp output to my headphones or my PC output to my headphones - neither of these scenarios helps me at all.

    Can someone out there please tell me what I need to do to get the setup that I want. I'm assuming I need to route the output from my PC through my amp somehow?? As a small aside , right now, my practice area where my amplifier is , is not near my PC - I could move things around though.

    I have tried various gadgets for getting my bass to play through my PC in the past and none of them seem to work particularly well.

    Is there an easy way of setting this up?

    I'm not sure if there is an amp out there that you can plug into a PC via USB so all the audio comes out the soundcard??? I thought I’d read that some of the Fender Rumble apps had something like this?

    If anyone has some sensible advice on this can you please answer this thread or mail me back on chris at dreamline dot me dot uk

    Thanks very much
    Chris

    Chris D
    Aberdeen
    Scotland
    UK
    Last edited by Elmeaux; 04-29-2014 at 01:29 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Charlottesville, VA.
    Posts
    219

    Default

    Hi, Chris.

    You can use something like the Vox AmPhones or AmPlug to connect to your bass and pc (or MP3 player). You would not need your amp when using either of these products. See the links below. By the way, there is a place on this site where you can download all of the TMBG songs in MP3 format. Elmeaux can probably tell you right where to go.

    http://www.voxamps.com/uk/amphone/
    http://www.voxamps.com/uk/amplug/

    I have a set of the AmPhones and they work pretty well. I don't use them much as I really am not a fan of practicing with headphones, but when necessary these work fine.
    Bass Rx When Feeling Blue:
    I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I
    Repeat As Necessary.

    (Minor Variations Allowed)

  3. #3

    Default

    I like Dave's idea, too. Or, how about a splitter y-jack. One end of the two pronged side into the amp's headphone jack, the other into your pc headphone jack... Then both come together to your headphones. You might need some adapters to make all the ends fit, but I think it could be done. Anybody else?


    - low life -

  4. #4

    Default

    http://www.thunderrow.com/content.php?2180

    BTW, the mp3s are here. I think I got them all moved over.


    - low life -

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Peak District
    Posts
    316

    Default

    I've been known to use the low tech solution of ear buds for the PC output coupled with over-ear headphones for the amp. It works remarkably well. Easy volume control and balance is an additional benefit. Here is a thread discussing it and various other ways to get at the TMBG stuff in unusual circumstances:

    http://www.thunderrow.com/showthread...1115#post11115

    That talks about using the DVDs, now though I usually just plug a Tascam MP-BT1 into my amp (via RCA input on one - Fender, stereo jack input on the others - Roland) and play mp3s taken from the above link (if I want to play "out loud"). If I want to be quiet then I can plug in headphones to the amp, although the MP-BT1 is actually a portable headphone amp too, so the amp is not strictly required at all.

    Slow down, speed up, loop, play segments, change pitch - it's all possible and easy.

    MP-BT1s are no longer made but come up on eBay all the time; I find mine completely invaluable. In fact I recently bought another as a back up for when the first one (5 years old) finally turns up its toes.
    Last edited by PaulUK; 04-28-2014 at 05:14 PM.
    Shine on you crazy diamond.....

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Alberta, Canada
    Posts
    2,088

    Default

    Does you amp have an AUX IN jack on the back?

    Some (my Eden amps) do and I simply plug the computer headphone output into the AUX IN jack. Adjust the volume with the control on the amp and listen to both through the headphones. Works great for CD's/MP3's etc. as well.
    ___________________________________
    Steinberger NXT5 EUB, MTD 535 Fretless, Tobias Killer B6, 72 Fender Precision
    Eden WT500, WTX1000N & WP100, QSC PL230
    Eden D410XLT, D410XST, 215, Fender Bassman 10

  7. #7

    Default

    The Ampeg Micro-CL has 1 Line-In and 1 Phones out.
    So you can use a mini-jack patch cable (male to male) and connect your soundcard to the Line-In on the AMPEG and then connect your headphones to the phones out.
    You will probably need some headphones that have good bass support (most cheap ones are not good for bass).
    I also have those VOX Ampphones like DaveB but I'm not very satisfied with them (they don't seem to fit well on my head and they are a bit loose IMHO) but the sound quality is pretty good. If you go this way you might want to ask in the store if you can test them there before you buy them.

    I don't use headphones but my setup is like this:
    - I have my DVD-Player connected to my TV and the audio out connectors on the back connected to a Radial PRO48
    - The PRO48 sends the audio to a set of external speakers so I can hear the play-along tracks and the XLR (microphone) is connected to my Interface (Yamaha Steinberg CI2+) this allows me to record the play-along with my D.A.W. (Digital Audio Workstation)
    - My Bass guitar is also connected to a Radial DI but that's a Radial J48 the out of this DI goes to my Amp and the XLR goes to the other input of my Interface.

    if you have an active bass you might need another DI (for a passive bass you need an Active DI and for an active bass you need a passive one IIRC). Also not that your interface needs to support Phantom (that's 48 Volts) for an active DI, but having phantom on with a device that doesn't require phantom power can damage the device. The Radial website has more information and some graphs on what setups you can do.

    Also, if you have unwanted interference (I had this when I connected my Amp to my PC before I had the J48) you can use a DI that has "ground-lift" which might solve the problem).

    Hope this was helpful.
    Fender 2012 American Standard Precision Bass (Left-handed)
    Fender '59 Bassman LTD.









  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrisdenslow View Post
    mail me back on xxx@dreamline.me.ux.
    A word of advise, NEVER put you email in a forum post !!
    There are spambots that do nothing but scan the internet for exposed email addresses.
    if you really need to put your email in a post you can do it like this for example : chris_AT_drealmine_DOT_me at least that give some protection.
    It's also a good idea to use a free account (gmail.com outlook.com ...) for stuff like this so if you do get spam it's not on your main email account.
    Fender 2012 American Standard Precision Bass (Left-handed)
    Fender '59 Bassman LTD.









  9. #9

    Default

    I made the corrections to Chris' post. Lookin' out for ya, Brudder.


    - low life -

  10. #10

    Default

    Hi Chris,

    I don't have much to add, it seems like everybody gave you good advice and covered all the bases.

    I agree with DaveB, that the amphones work pretty well. They sound decent and have all the basic amp controls right on them. However, I also agree with Patrick that they don't really fit very well on my head and the ear cups feel kind of loose and sloppy (on my head, not in design). In my opinion, another design flaw with the Amphones is that the cord enters through the left ear cup. This means that you have to run it down your body, under the bass and eventually connect it to your bass' input. In my experience the cord ends up getting pulled over time as the bass makes minute movements back and forth while playing.

    Ultimately, though, when I first came to TMBG Elmeaux suggested the Amphones to me pretty early. I went through dozens of headphones and different pre-amps and all kinds of different set-ups only to find out that the Amphones offered the best bass response without going into the $300+ professional studio phones.
    Ibanez SR1200
    Ibanez AFB200
    Carvin MB210

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