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  #1  
Old 07-23-2020, 07:28 PM
SingingSparrow SingingSparrow is offline
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Default practice amp - headphones, loop, record to phone

Hello,

I am considering getting an electric guitar (thinking about either the eastman t64 or t185mx -- the latter being hard to locate, which is just as well as it is more expensive).

I really don't know much about amps, effects, etc. It is kind of overwhelming (I have read quite a bit so far).

I am looking for a practice amp that I can use with a pair of headphones. I have a nice pair of bluetooth headphones so it would be nice to use those, thereby saving an additional expense.

I am also hoping for the ability to record something I play and have that loop in the background while I play something else over it.

Additionally, I would like to be able to record what I play to my phone and save it there. I like to do this to hear myself better and note/save ideas.

I am looking for mainly clean sounds (fenderish) with the ability to add some hair (tweedish). It would be nice to have some reverb.

Do you know of anything that may suit these needs? I really don't want to spend more than 3-400 bucks, but I could be persuaded to spend upto 500.

Of the the criteria mentioned above, I suppose the looper ability could be acquired by also buying a looper pedal. I would like to avoid pedals etc as much as possible though, because I'd like as simple a set up as possible.

So far I have been leaning toward the thr10. But it seems there are also options that aren't the traditional amplifier llike the Waza Air and Strymon Iridium. It is very confusing. It would be nice to have a speaker and not have to use a headphone all the time.

Thank you.
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  #2  
Old 07-23-2020, 07:59 PM
robj144 robj144 is offline
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So, this is unconventional, but it will work. I was just to update a thread about it.

You can get a NUX MG300 for about $150 which is a modeler/effect processor. It sounds great and does cleans very well and can also do dirty sounds. You can run it off a cell phone battery bank with an adapter. Everything is like $170ish. It also has a looper and drum machine which works great.

Now, you can plug in headphones. It doesn't have bluetooth, but most bluetooth cables headphones with an input for a normal cable. So you just connect it with that cable (you might need a 1/8" to 1/4" stereo adapter though). So, that setup will work with headphones.

If you want to use it without headphones, just get a bluetooth speaker with an Aux in... you can even use the same cable as the headphones.

A little unconventional, but it's cheap, sounds good, has a looper, and it's completely portable with the battery pack. You can bring it room to room or even outside.

The only thing it won't do is record to your phone. I actually don't of any device right now that records to your phone. Although you can use your phone's voice recorder to record. Or, with $100+ left over, you can get digital recorder like a Tascam DR05 or something similar which is good to have in general, anyhow.
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  #3  
Old 07-23-2020, 08:43 PM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Bias Amp and JamUp pro iPhone apps will do everything you mentioned. I would stick to wired headphones and speakers because latency can be an issue.
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Old 07-23-2020, 08:57 PM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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The Nux Mighty Air does all you are looking for for about $200. But it is relatively quiet so it really only is for practicing by yourself and keeping the sound down.
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Old 07-23-2020, 11:18 PM
SingingSparrow SingingSparrow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aspiring View Post
The Nux Mighty Air does all you are looking for for about $200. But it is relatively quiet so it really only is for practicing by yourself and keeping the sound down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by robj144 View Post
So, this is unconventional, but it will work. I was just to update a thread about it.

You can get a NUX MG300 for about $150 which is a modeler/effect processor. It sounds great and does cleans very well and can also do dirty sounds. You can run it off a cell phone battery bank with an adapter. Everything is like $170ish. It also has a looper and drum machine which works great.

Now, you can plug in headphones. It doesn't have bluetooth, but most bluetooth cables headphones with an input for a normal cable. So you just connect it with that cable (you might need a 1/8" to 1/4" stereo adapter though). So, that setup will work with headphones.

If you want to use it without headphones, just get a bluetooth speaker with an Aux in... you can even use the same cable as the headphon@es.

A little unconventional, but it's cheap, sounds good, has a looper, and it's completely portable with the battery pack. You can bring it room to room or even outside.

The only thing it won't do is record to your phone. I actually don't of any device right now that records to your phone. Although you can use your phone's voice recorder to record. Or, with $100+ left over, you can get digital recorder like a Tascam DR05 or something similar which is good to have in general, anyhow.

Wow, thank you for those suggestions. The nux products look very viable. @Aspiring: how good are the speakers on the NUX Air?

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
Bias Amp and JamUp pro iPhone apps will do everything you mentioned. I would stick to wired headphones and speakers because latency can be an issue.
Thank you for the heads up about latency. That is a bummer. Embarrassing question: those apps look great. Simulators on the phone is a great idea, but how does one use them? What is the guitar plugged into in order to interface with the app on the phone?
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Old 07-23-2020, 11:39 PM
aknow aknow is offline
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When the house needs to be quiet I use headphones thru a Yamaha THR 20w. wireless.......It has several effects, (although IMO the 1st generation of this amp has better sounding ones), but thru headphones the basic sounds of the amps sound good. I plug in a Mac Air to learn new songs or just move around the neck. This is a good choice, and they sound surprisingly good straight through the amp. Good luck.
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  #7  
Old 07-23-2020, 11:47 PM
hazmuz hazmuz is offline
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https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irig2/

this too can be an option.
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  #8  
Old 07-23-2020, 11:59 PM
robj144 robj144 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aspiring View Post
The Nux Mighty Air does all you are looking for for about $200. But it is relatively quiet so it really only is for practicing by yourself and keeping the sound down.
NUX Mighty Air is awesome and I'm not knocking it, but does it have a looper? That's why I brought up my option. I just tried that tonight: running the MG300 into a bluetooth speaker and it sounded surprising good. I might post sound clips in the next few days.
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  #9  
Old 07-24-2020, 01:15 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SingingSparrow View Post
Wow, thank you for those suggestions. The nux products look very viable. @Aspiring: how good are the speakers on the NUX Air?



Thank you for the heads up about latency. That is a bummer. Embarrassing question: those apps look great. Simulators on the phone is a great idea, but how does one use them? What is the guitar plugged into in order to interface with the app on the phone?

I have the older version of this for over 5 years and it works great. This newer version must be much better.


IK Multimedia iRig HD 2 digital guitar interface for iPhone, iPad and Mac (IP-IRIG-HD2-IN) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KPYGBR6..._HOOgFb5J39DV6
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  #10  
Old 07-24-2020, 05:03 AM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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I use a looper app on my phone via either Bluetooth or USB with it. The one I tried managed to calculate the latency for Bluetooth and actually work with it.

Haven't tried the mg300 but it looks pretty cool as well.

The speakers are very good in the mighty air. Main limitation is the total volume. I am currently also using mine as a portable Bluetooth speaker for tunes and it sounds quite good. I have a thr30ii as well and it does sound better from the speakers but the mighty air holds its own tone wise surprisingly well given how much smaller it is and the price difference.

Quote:
Originally Posted by robj144 View Post
NUX Mighty Air is awesome and I'm not knocking it, but does it have a looper? That's why I brought up my option. I just tried that tonight: running the MG300 into a bluetooth speaker and it sounded surprising good. I might post sound clips in the next few days.

Last edited by Aspiring; 07-24-2020 at 09:50 AM.
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  #11  
Old 07-24-2020, 06:31 AM
Aspiring Aspiring is offline
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Here is a quick sample I was playing around with recording my travel electric using the Nux over Bluetooth via loopify in Android

Super new to using the app so I couldn't find the relative volumes yet for the lead and the rhythm but you get the idea.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hPl...w?usp=drivesdk
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