As some of you may know, I recently bought a headphone amp. This device has transformed the way I feel about practicing. I plug into this thing and blast away like no one is listening… because they aren’t. The sound in my headphones is like I’m punching through a really nice amp/cab combo but silence surrounds me. THIS DEVICE INSPIRES CONFIDENCE. There’s no one there to listen to your bum notes or buzzing pinky finger… BUT YOU HEAR IT and can work on how to fix it in privacy. Also you can invent that groove you have in your head and practice it… If you’re anything like me you need to try it about 200 times before you’re happy that you are reaching all of the notes on time and that it sounds the way you want it to. With a headphone amp you don’t need to subject your family to the same pain you are feeling while you are perfecting it. I was a bit dubious about spending the cash but I’m glad I did. Like I said, it has revolutionized my practice regime and I think it might be helpful to those of us whom are a little shy about the noises we make and the outside impact it has whilst learning so I wanted to share.
Cheers. Russ.
With the headphone amp can you maybe plug your phone into it to do lessons or jam along to backing tracks etc… I have been thinking I find my amp really cumbersome… Im in a small room atm and pretty much have to rearrange the room everytime i want to practice and do my lessons so this would be much more convenient if i could listen to my phone through it.
Hi @locket, the answer is yes…but… I’m not sure all headphone amps have this ability. I bought the Darkglass Element and it does what you asked and sounds amazing but it’s a bit expensive. With the Element you can bluetooth your phone music (eg Spotify) to it and blend exactly how much music to your bass you hear in your headphones.
Wow that sounds amazing… I will look into it… Its funny this has come up because I was just thinking I needed a solution thanks
Here’s a review that might be helpful.
Gotta love Gregor !!
Thanks
It really is great. I have a regular amp, but I bought the ‘VOX’ (Bass) device last year and it does the job very well for my needs. I can turn on/off it’s tempo/beat feature (I don’t use it as much but it’s there).
I live alone, but I also live in an apartment (top floor), so I don’t disturb my neighbours. It’s nice and quiet. I can plug in my iPad or any other device to listen to/watch lessons and tracks to play along with as well.
I love that I can move around anywhere in my apartment, and just the other day, I was even practicing outide on my balcony. A nice sunny day overlooking a park/golf course and practicing, so I can even be outdoors! 
Ye that would have been perfect but I dont think you can plug your phone into
the vox it has aux for mp3s but I dont have an mp3 any more… That element would do the job but I cant quite afford that atm lol looks amazing though… Im saving for a pod go. So much gear I wants lol
Ohhh okay, so your phone doesn’t have that headphone jack then?
I can use it with my iPad, iPod Touch 6 and even my cheap little Android phone since they have the headphone jacks.
Ohh right ok I do have a jack so it works through that awesome thanks… I shoulda just asked thats great.
A Zoom B1four makes an excellent practice tool - probably optimal for this actually. Headphone amp, drum machine, tuner, aux in, and a bunch of amp and cab sims. Plus all the effects 
Oh good that you do have one then. All you need is the cable with the right size (3mm, I think) jack plug from any electronics store.
I just looked at one of those on Amazon. I didn’t realize it was a pedal.
My VOX just has a few built-in drum machine beats/tempos.
I’ve never bought pedals before. I may look into this one you mentioned in the future for more next level practice options. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the help @paula I got one.
What, already? That was quick, LOL! Did you get it through Amazon, or…?
Yeah it works for my basic lesson needs and I like how it plugs directly into the bass plug (no cable just for that).
When need more than the VOX provides, I’ll be looking into that ‘ZOOM B1FOUR’ pedal that @howard suggested. I already saved that on my Wishlist!
Ye got it on amazon… Will just help alot in this new room… I will be looking at multi effects pedals also when I move in july. Will be selling my amps and probably going with a pod go its expensive but will double up as an audio interface as well.
I just picked this up last week. It was less than $100 Canadian so about $10 bucks US I guess? I use it as an interface for on line lessons through my computer. A nice variety of amp sims plus pedals to play around with and a very nice built in drum machine that was my primary reason for buying it. Lot’s of drum presets plus really easy to change the tempo. It’s a solid thumbs up from me.
You can even run it on batteries so you could sit on your couch / deck with this and some headphones and you’re set. Plus an aux in port so you could play a backing track into it to jam over.
Powered via USB to micro USB or batteries. If you want a regular 9v transormer it’s sold separately (slightly annoying it’s not included)
1000% with this… The only thing lacking is bluetooth (I can do without it, but I can understand some people won’t want to)… Such a great value tool though…
Those withe VOX, you can just get another aux cable and plug from your phone into the AMP and play backing tracks over it. That’s what I used when I took the B2B course.
Yep, I use my Vox amPlug Bass every day. Either plug my phone or laptop into it and use an Aux cable from the headphone jack of the phone/laptop into the Vox Aux jack. Works a treat. My only complaint about the Vox is electrical interference noises and the built in drum loops are minimal. Does what I need it to do though.