[Ozzel]

I'm looking for a small, portable headphone amp I can use for practicing my bass. I practice to songs which I play on iTunes. So using both my PowerBook G4 17" and bass guitar as source, the amp must accept audio from the computer plus XLR or 1/4" line in from my bass' preamp. It must also allow adjusting the levels of both sources and have a master volume adjust to the headphones. My G4 is equipped with USB, Firewire and digital audio out. My IEMs are a pair of Westone UM2s.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

 

[maladjustdeath]

A multiple input amp is only one direction to explore. Might consider using an external mixer, or maybe an external soundcard for the powerbook that contains line-in + control the multiple audio levels from there.

I've experimented with these configurations:
1. bass output(1/4'' connection)->digitech bp-8 preamp(1/8'' headphone output)->headphones + PC headphone output jack->(1/8'' connection) digitech bp-8 jam-in input.
2. bass(1/4'' connection)->digitech input, digitech bp-8 2*mono 1/4'' outputs-> 2 * 1/4'' output to 1/8'' headphone cable -> PC onboard line-in + PC onboard headphone output -> (sometimes ibasso p1 amp - it has normal 1/8'' headphone in/out connectors + volume control) -> headphones (I prefer hd212 pro over dt770/80 for this as they are more forward sounding and "disposable" - see related thread in headphone section).

Option #1 has better sound quality for bass, not so great music input quality but usable for jamming.
Option #2 allows me to do some low-fi recordings of myself, and also jam along with music (music sounds better than bass here).

 

[Packgrog]

Personally, I would recommend using the Future Sonics Atrio if you're a bass player. I'd be surprised if they didn't better, much less match, the bass response of the Westones.

Can't help on the amp question, though. :/

 

[cer]

I would suggest E-MU 0202 USB (for portability reasons). I actually use it for the same purpose - on a PC though. It has everything you need, plus playback. 16 mW per channel should be enough output power for IEMs (correct me if im wrong). Just switch on mono direct monitoring and it works perfect.

 

[Ozzel]

Thanks for all your suggestions so far.

Since starting this thread, I have found this:

http://www.philjonesbass.com/PRODUCT...SS%20BUDDY.htm

It's the swiss army knife of preamps for bassists as far as I'm concerned. Not only does it offer a phones plug and aux in for private practice, it's also a direct box and preamp with 5-band EQ for live performance. What's more, according to reviews it also makes an outstanding headphone amp with seperate input level adjust simply for enjoying music when not practicing the bass. And very reasonably priced for around $350, as well... something we can all appreciate. Oh yes, it shall be mine.