Showing posts with label stax headphones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stax headphones. Show all posts

American DJ Supply Galaxian Gem Green and Red Laser with Built-In Popular Dual Gem Effect Light

American DJ Supply Galaxian Gem Green and Red Laser with Built-In Popular Dual Gem Effect Light
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $349.95
Sale Price: $249.99
Today's Bonus: 29% Off
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  • 2-Fx-In-1: Led Dual Lens Moonflower with Sharp Red, Green, Blue & White High Output Colored Beams + "Galaxian Style" Effect with 100'S Of Green Beams
  • 46 X 5Mm RGBW Leds: 16 Red, 10 Green, 10 Blue & 10 White
  • PROPER(S14)
  • IEC AC IN/OUT on rear to daisy chain power (up to 16 units)

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Great light with lots of functions. I do not have a DMX controler on it yet but will soon. A great mix of LED and laser.

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playing with it is great, does really cool things can't wait to get a dmx controller software and play a show

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Very good piece of light and I love it....people amazed when they saw it....they said wow..... it is beautiful and more laser....coming out and sound active is great.

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Excellent light. but its real potential begs for dmx control .the sound activation is (as i confirmed with the manufacturer) really designed only for high sound pressure levels. so if you are thinking of using the sound activation to trip changes in the programs and you live in an attached dwelling, your neighbors might complain . however , the lights and the programs are way cool. especially at laser ... trippy...

Shure PG27-USB Multi Purpose Microphone

Shure PG27-USB Multi Purpose Microphone
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $249.00
Sale Price: $199.00
Today's Bonus: 20% Off
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  • USB Plug and Play connectivity allows the convenience of digital recording, anywhere your computer can go
  • Integrated pre-amp with Microphone Gain Control allows control of input signal strength
  • Zero Latency Monitoring for real-time playback and multi-tracking without disorientation
  • Monitor Mix Control for blending microphone and playback audio
  • 1/8" Headphone jack for monitoring

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This is the first high quality mic I've bought, and it has worked extremely well so far. I've been recording in my garage which probably isn't the best place to record but it has done very well. My voice comes out very clear and I hardly hear any hissing or popping while singing (of course because of the sound bouncing off my walls there is extra noise coming in). I've recorded some piano, guitar and other music with it and it works well for those as well.

Even though it is bulky u can hold it and sing if you have to. I bought a heavy duty On Stage MC7201B Round Base Microphone Stand to use it on and it works great. I haven't noticed any vibration problems so I'm holding off on buying a suspension mount.

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This microphone eliminates all pops and hisses for voice-overs that I used to have with a fairly expensive Plantronics headset mike. My only complaint is that this Shure mike is too heavy for most goose-neck mike stands and it is too bulky to hold in one's hand.

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Product works well, very clear sound pickup. Sensitivity is a bit poor though. When speaking softly it is difficult to achieve -10 dBFS.

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Not as sexy as a baby bottle mic or retro-styled sphere, but this mic lives up to its reputation for sensitivity and responsiveness. I am amazed by what it picks up. In terms of finish, the knurled dial that controls the gain had some slight finish defects, but these are only visible if you look closely. I generally leave the gain at one position and adjust everything from my computer. The light is useful to let you know roughly when you are in the clipping danger zone. Given its sensitivity, you need to be very careful if attaching a headphone to the jack in the mic itself. I would only do so for some initial checks or in a very loud environment where occasional taps or the headphone cable against the mic would not be noticed.

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In looking at a number of microphones I first made use of the Heil which I have now sent back, and the Rode USB which I think is great as is this one. What I like about it is that you can simply place it on the desk and you do not have to sit on top of it and the sound that comes out of it is excellent. I have one of the similar microphones that has the integrated USB connection by Shure which has some hiss. This one is virtually silent and I must say that it has been a pleasure to make use of it with videos and podcasts. I mainly use it when I am doing videos and I do not want the microphone in front of my mouth and still want a nice stereo sound. In general I would say that it is an excellent product which produces a good sound.

If you are going to make voice-overs on top of PowerPoint slides and you are going to do anything into the computer my advice is to make use of a direct USB connection without making use of an external soundcard. It seems to add in an extra element of sound if you do it that way with no advantage. I saw a podcast that has recommended the exterior card solution and a Heil microphone, but I cannot say that that was a good way to go. I did try an external Rode with the soundcard and agrees a lot better but not as good as a USB version. I cannot say that I think that the Rode or Shure is better, as each has its uses. I have tried a wide variety of wireless microphones but all seem to be mono. Also when you amplify the voice without music is exterior hiss.

Rogue G10 10W 1x3.5 Guitar Combo Amp Black

Rogue G10 10W 1x3.5 Guitar Combo Amp Black
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $79.99
Sale Price: $34.99
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  • Compact sizeSwitch for clean or overdriven soundMaster volume2-band tone control1/4" Headphone outLighted on/off switch

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First off, you have to realize that 10 watts is not that much wattage. So, I just got it today, and the amp has some great sound to it. The clean is clear, and the distortion is beefy for a 10 watt. It has good treble, and good bass sound, and the balance it amazing. I would recommend it to anybody, of any age, as long as you know it is 10 watts, and not some monster huge amp. Understand the smaller amp you get, the smaller sound you have. Don't be stupid, and assume anything. My son will love this thing, and I love this thing, so it is well worth the money you pay for.

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We got this amp for our son who is learning guitar. It works fantastic for an 8 year old. It had plenty of volume and it was really easy to use.

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I think its a pretty good amp for the price. I needed something cheap and small so this amp was a good choice. The sound is nice and clear, the quality of the actual amp is pretty good too. The only negative thing I found is it the max volume is not very loud. You definitely get a good sound out of it but if your looking for some mega screech amp this is not it.

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I got this amp when i started learning how to play guitar. It was great for practicing alone. It's loud enough for practice, but that is about it. When you put in drums with it, the guitarist will be able to hear it, but the drummer will not. It does have a headphone output which is really nice for playing at apartments that people complain about noise. However you will need an adapter for the headphones.

Overall its pretty good, it is small for practice and not for playing huge shows with.

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This Rogue G10 is good and I bought it for my son and he likes it. The audio is pretty clear. Just the cable doesn't come with it but I already had one spare.

Golden Chord Fashion Over Head Stereo Hands Free 3.5mm Audio Plug Plus Headset with In-line Microph

Golden Chord Fashion Over Head Stereo Hands Free 3.5mm Audio Plug Plus Headset with In-line Microphone
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $14.99
Today's Bonus: 50% Off
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Just got these and am really pleased. I work from home and 70% of my work is teleconferencing so I spend a lot of time in a headset. I can't use Bluetooth because it gives me a headache and I do not like the earbuds because they fall out and my ears end up itching. I have been using Skull Candy over head earphones for a year and they have been gradually deteriorating in quality over the past 2 months. They finally conked out this week so I was looking for a reasonably priced alternative. These fit the bill! They are really comfortable and the sound quality is great. I went through a few products last year that claimed to be compatible with iPhones but weren't. With Amazon's reliable shipping, I got them on the third day so there was minimal down time. At this price, I may buy one in every color.

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*The delivery time was great.

*The sound quality is great.

*Comfort is good.

*The microphone for the phone is good.

It's a good headset for those who wish to enjoy good audio for music, having a microphone to speak.

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Behringer MS16 Powered Studio Desktop Monitors - (New)

Behringer MS16 Powered Studio Desktop Monitors -
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $119.99
Sale Price: $79.99
Today's Bonus: 33% Off
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  • Compact stereo speaker system
  • Powerful 4" woofer
  • Dedicated volume
  • Magnetically shielded
  • 1/8 inch TRS headphone connector

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SUBJECTIVE REVIEW: Behringer MS16 2-Way Active Personal Monitor System

Pros:

Accuracy, soundstage & imaging!!

Connectivity & Front Panel Controls (Right CH Speaker):

.... INPUT 1 (1/8" TRS) Connector

.... INPUT 2 (RCA Right & Left) Connectors

.... ADJUSTABLE 1/4" TRS Microphone Input mixable w/stereo inputs for playback and vocal monitoring applications

.... 1/8" TRS HEADPHONE Connector w/auto-mute loudspeaker function.

.... FRONT PANEL Controls (Bass, Treble & Level)

Cons:

None except deep bass which can be resolved by adding a powered-sub like I did!!! ;-)

NOTE: All subjective comments based on:

1) SPEAKER LOCATIONS:

.... a) Free-standing near-field monitor location, 4' apart, slightly tilted-in (closes walls 10') Music by my Polaroid 30 GB MP3 player (NO powered-sub )

.... b) Keyboard: L & R location installation, slightly tilted-in (with & without Altec Lansing FX2021 powered-sub**)

**NOTE: Adding a powered-sub relieves the Behringer MS16 4" woofer speakers of reproducing the lower frequencies thus lowering the possibility of distortion or breakup when played louder, 85 dBc to 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks!

2) Critical listening SPL = approx. 85 dBc to 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks measured @ 8' to 10' away from the speakers.

.... a) Radio Shack SPL Analog Meter: Dial = 80 or 90 / Weight = C / Speed = Fast

ACCURACY:

One of the Behringer MS16 hallmarks is the accuracy in reproducing encoded musical sounds from my MP3s, ... like, a violin sounds like a violin, a trumpet sounds like a trumpet, a tenor sax sounds like a tenor sax, a Grand Piano, like the Grand Piano that Diana Krall uses in her "Live in Paris" CD (I use to own a 6' Yamaha Grand in my HT/family room), etc. What is unusual for this price range, is the MS16 ability to reveal subtleties and the resolution of the high frequency characteristics within the encoded music/instruments, . . . they are just more evident with the Behringer MS16 vs. other speakers in this price and some costing more; i.e. with close mike recording of an acoustic guitar, you can hear the artist fingers (George Benson; Earl Klugh; Russ Freeman) sliding up and down the frets; you can tell that that two violins are playing a melodic line, rather than just one violin; the air harmonics off the crash or ride cymbal sounds, just like our Tama Rock Set w/Zildjian cymbals; Diana Krall breathing during some of her songs Intro ("Live in Paris" Music CD). Here I do chalk up the sound quality to Behringer MS16 1.5" (38mm) Diameter High-Resolution Tweeter., which is a nice size for a small personal Studio near-field Monitors.

SOUNDSTAGE:

The left to right placements of instruments & voices are excellent, providing a precise, very wide, beyond the speakers soundstage. The Behringer MS16 front to back (depth) soundstage is also excellent, as well as the dynamic's resolution (soft vs. loud) in playing back the encoded instrument sounds which helps provide excellent location placement of the instruments. Though the front to back soundstage can be a result of how close the microphones were to the instruments, no doubt, the quality of the best recordings, will be revealed by this speaker and the opposite is also true, poor recordings will be revealed as poor. The Behringer MS16 plays back all my Jazz CD Music with relative smoothness, with no surprising in-between the eyes, unnatural frequency peaks because of it's super flat & wide Pro Monitor like frequency characteristics. I also own the JBL N24 w/4" woofers (JBL NSP1 PKG) which was raved by Brent Butterworth for its super midrange playback (voices) and in direct comparison, the Behringer MS16 is equal to task providing the same balanced, natural, clear unstrained playback! (Samples: "Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim" 1967 Digital remastered DDD Music CD; Diana Krall "Love Scenes" & "The Look of Love" Music CD; Bob James "Fourplay" Music CD; David Benoit "Fuzzy Logic" Music CD [Album Of The Year 2003 National Smooth Jazz Awards], etc.).

IMAGING:

Another characteristic that the Behringer MS16 displays is its ability to image the specific instruments across the soundstage, with a floating in front, side, quality sound presence comparable to some JBL PRO Studio Monitors, though its point source is more precise due to the smaller cabinet side. The Behringer MS16 low-diffraction front cabinet geometry feature curved cabinet edges to eliminate diffraction, which ensures precise imaging and localization. I love the Behringer MS16 ambience reproduction in my room, because it gave me the feeling that "you are there" and if the recording is from a live concert, the ambience provided the right amount of reflections to make you think your listening to the performance outdoors, or in the symphony hall. ("The Corrs Live at the Royal Albert Hall" Music CD; Diana Krall "Live in Paris" Music CD).

BASS FREQUECY:

WITHOUT POWERED-SUB: (Bass adjusted slightly less than MAX @ the 5 o'clock position / Treble left flat)

The Behringer MS16 bass is rated down to 80 Hz, and after adjusting the Bass Control to near MAX (5 o'clock position), ... it easily matches my JBL 24s (Benchmarked down to 89 Hz -2.7 dB Fronts location by Tom Nousaine for Sound & Vision Magazine) lowest rated frequency reproduction in my familiar jazz music (David Benoit, Bob James, Joe Sample, Diana Krall, etc.) MP3 encoded music is not as demanding as a keyboard or CD (pure digital recordings), so what I hear was more than acceptable @ 85 dBc Fast SPL Peaks! (louder than normal listening). The deep bass is lacking of course, which is expected for a 4" DIA woofer, but it wasn't MIA and actually sounded better than most free-standing speakers w/4" or 5" woofers. The upright bass (Diana Krall) and electric bass lines (Bob James "Fourplay" w/Nathan East on bass) reproduction was way above average and overall, ... it nicely filled my 20 x 30' room with well balanced, clean & smooth frequency jazz music.

WITH POWERED-SUB YAMAHA PORTABLE GRAND KEYBOARD:

Reproducing a digital keyboard is demanding so to get that floor & air feeling bass SPL without distortion or breakup, I coupled the Behringer MS16 Speakers w/the Altec Lansing FX1021 2.1 Speaker System, or more specifically, Altec Lansing FX4021 Powered Subwoofer (w/Two 5.25" long-throw woofers in isobaric configuration). This unit is rated down to 32 Hz and takes care of the lower frequency duties. Matching the Altec Powered-sub to the MS16s took about 20 mins. using the Keyboard built-in MIDI DEMO files and by playing it personally! I'm finally happy with what I hear from my Yamaha DGX-505 88-key Portable Grand.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

If you want "budget" monitors that provides excellent imaging, revealing resolution, super flat & wide Pro Monitor like frequency characteristics, the Behringer MS16 is for you! At no time during my critical listening phase (w/85 dBc 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks) did I hear any distortion or breakup (with or without powered-sub) from my Behringer MS16 speakers!!!

Although the following is an OPTION & NOT REQUIRED to ENJOY these powered speakers, you can add a powered-sub to round out the lower frequency foundation and once you balance the SPL between the powered-sub & MS16s, ... you've got a very nice killer setup for MP3, PC, Laptop, Keyboard & near-field Home Studio application @ a very reasonable price!

In my case, I'm guessing, that the Behringer & Altec powered-sub combination for my Yamaha Portable Grand Keyboard frequency response is approx. 40Hz 18kHz ±5 dB in my 17' x 13' living room (see my attached Amazon photo's) and for the price, ... it just sounds GLORIOUS @ 85 dBc 90 dBc Fast SPL Peaks!!!

Highly Recommended!!! (Another way to think about it is, ... you can't build a 16 Watt [2x 8 Watts] self-powered speakers like this for under $60 a pair!!!)

Background: Audiophile since 1980; retired Audio/Video dealer; retired semi-pro musician (piano, keyboard, acoustic / electric guitar, bass guitar & drums).

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i bought these speakers to carry round with my laptop when i go to friends. when i first tried them i thought the resonance on the upper bass was terrible, but then i tore up a shirt and stuffed cotton down the bass ports to dampen the bass resonance. now they sound quite good for a portable monitor speaker. i don't think i could have got better for the price. i wouldn't recommend them as a home studio monitor but as a portable monitor, they're good value if you tackle the problem of excessive bass resonance. i understand that the bass resonance is supposed to compensate for the lack of bass due to the speakers being small, but it's better to have a clear sound than boomy distorted bass at a single resonant frequency.

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Very good little speakers for the price. I purchased these to use as computer speakers because of the option to mix in two sources, as I use two PC's at my desk and enjoy the ability to get sound from both out of the one pair of speakers. I was slightly disappointed that there is no option to adjust the level of the two inputs independently.

The audio quality, however, does not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised by the power as well as the good high and low range response. I would recommend them over any similarly priced set of computer speakers. The bass response is comparable to (and the mid-range and high end clarity far better than) any low or mid-priced 2.1 speaker setup I've seen, so don't worry about the lack of a sub woofer option. They also drive headphones very well, even really demanding ones like my Sennheiser HD-540 reference headphones, which require a lot of power.

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I have a Yamaha P-155 piano, that has a very nice built in speaker system, but I wanted to try out with Garritan Steinway (Mac software piano).

Ever since my piano teacher was able to convince his ex-wife to give him back his pre-1900 Steinway C, I wanted to match "electronically" what he has.

So I hooked up my "Bose 201" Companion speakers and was ready to play.....UGH! This was nothing like what I heard. Was the software bad?.... or was the famed Bose speakers not up for the task? It turns out the Bose speakers are ok, with pre-recorded music, and thats about it.

On the hunt for a speaker that will physically sit the top of the Yamaha p-155, I came to these MS16.

To my surprise, they sound WAY WAY WAY better than the Bose 201. The advantage of the MS16 having a woofer and a tweeter helps over the Bose single driver.

The higher and midrange frequencies are very clean and accurate(my unprofessional opinion). The lower frequencies work sufficiently, but can be overworked with high bass music, or the lower notes on a piano. But, it works very well, otherwise.

Going back to my piano teacher's Steinway, figuring I got it made, I realized something was missing. That clean thundering bass that a real Steinway creates, was lacking back home.

To the rescue, I came across a Cyber Acoustics CA-3602 on sale at Staples. I was more interested in the sub-woofer. This $36 speaker system (gets great ratings), has a nice small sub, about 30 watts, perfect with (2) 8 watt Behringers. I liked the CA-3602, because you don't need to plug in the little speakers to turn it on, or adjust the volume....it has this blue hockey puck thingee for this. This sub only goes down to 50hz, but thats ok with me.

Off to Radio Shack for a 1/8" stereo mini splitter, and back home to connect the MS16 to the CA sub. Woohoo!

Now that the MS16's (sounds like a mexican gang?) are relieved of heavy bass duties (I set the bass controller down to 1/3 and treble up to 2/3), and carefully matching the bass of the CA sub's volume, I am able to achieve, a really nice (cheap) reproduction of a real Steinway. It is not a Steinway, but it sounds real nice for the $$$.

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I just hooked these up to my PC (I have a Turtle Beach sound card in the PC) and I am blown away by how great these sound listening to MP3 files. Great bass and overall clarity about 1,000% better than the stock speakers I was using. Awesome sound, easy to hook up, they look great what more can you ask? I would buy another set instantly and highly recommend these speakers.

I did notice the hissing that another reviewer mentioned and was a little dismayed until I turned some knobs and realize the MIC level knob was creating the hissing. Once I turned it all the way down (I guess you would only use this if you had a microphone hooked up which I will never do) the hissing disappeared completely. Just an FYI for anyone concerned about hissing.

Great speakers you will be glad you bought these I most certainly am.

NSIcable 3.5mm Female Audio Jack to 2 RCA (Left & Right Audio) Male Converter Cable -- 3.5mm Female

NSIcable 3.5mm Female Audio Jack to 2 RCA Male Converter Cable -- 3.5mm Female to 2 RCA Male -- 5Ft
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $8.98
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I have an RCA cable from my stereo aux port with 3.5mm male connector which I use to hook up to my iPhone. I wanted a simple way to hookup my TV's audio out to the male cable to connect with my speakers, so I bought this cable and plugged it into the TV. Easy $3 solution for iPhone / TV input to stereo. Awesome!

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This item worked as expected and the price was lower than other suppliers. I have had no problems with this item thus far.

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just what i needed its not high end but does the job for a minor amount of money.. it will do the job

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Not a lot of this particular item around. I needed a longer cable to reach the back of my tv to my headphone so I can watch tv in bed without adding a headphone extension. This is perfect for my particular needs. Not too long and not too short. The sound on my headphones is outstanding so there is no issue with the cable no being up to high standards. HIghly recommend this product.

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The product did not work with my tv. Tried to hook up headphones to it and there was no sound.

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Korg nanoKONTROL2 Slim-Line USB Control Surface Bundle with Headphones and Polishing Cloth - Black

Korg nanoKONTROL2 Slim-Line USB Control Surface Bundle with Headphones and Polishing Cloth - Black
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $75.00
Sale Price: $59.99
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  • Low-profile, multi-function control surface
  • New track select and marker advance parameters
  • Supports numerous software titles including major DAW programs
  • USB power for an uncluttered setup
  • Works with the "Korg Kontrol Editor" software -- available free on the Korg website

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I've been using this USB Control for a month and I can't complain at all. Works as expected with Ableton software on Mac OSX. The Headphones are not superb quality but saves the day.

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Blackstar HT-5 Series Combo Amp

Blackstar HT-5 Series Combo Amp
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
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  • 5 Watt, all-tube, 1 x 10" Combo amp
  • Tube Complement: 1 x ECC83 (12AX7), 1 x 12BH7 Power Tube; 10" Celestion Speaker
  • 2 Channels: Clean (Volume); Overdrive (Gain, Volume,); 3-Band EQ
  • Exclusive ISF control; Emulated Speaker /Headphone Output (1 x 12" or 4 x 12"); Series Effects Loop
  • Footswitch controller for switching channels

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I walked into a music store to buy a strap, saw some guitars that I wanted to test so the shop owner let me use this amp. The sounds that came out of this little amp was unbelievable. I came back the next day with my own guitar and I walked out with this baby.

Pros:

-Tube amp, nothing like the warm sound of a well driven tube amp.

-10in Celestion speakers, the do make a difference.

-Two channels (Clean and Overdrive), footswitch included.

-Great sounding overdrive channel.

-ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) adjusts your tone for that good old British or American tone.

Cons:

-No reverb

-Don't expect to gig with it

-Pricey for a practice amp at 500 smackaroos

I've never owned a tube amp in my years of playing guitar. The other amp that I own is a 75W Line 6 Spider II modeling amp and I like the Blackstar more than the Line 6. If you are looking for something cheap then look elsewhere, however if you want the best practice amp money can buy then you've got to try this amp. If you have the chance of testing one out then do it, hearing is believing!

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To preface this review, I've owned two other tube amps both of which I loved certain things and disliked others. I owned a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410, 60w, and I still own a peavey Delta Blues 115, 30w amp. For starters, I play music in Church which is extremely demanding for sound and versatility in musical equipment. The problems I would almost always have with the more powerful amps were that they were ALWAYS too loud when I turned them up past 3. The problem with this? Tube amps don't sound good at all if they are only on 1 or 2. I played smaller blues gigs before I played in church and let me say that even for those blues gigs, even a 30w amp was too much.

This is where the beauty of this Blackstar amp started for me. (I've owned this amp for over a year). It delivers EXCEPTIONAL sound for only 5w of output and it is PERFECT for smaller gigs, or even bigger gigs (except it'd probably be wise to invest in the ht 112 cab and you'll likely need to mic the amp). But in today's day and age, the loud, melt your face, style of stage sound has gone sorely out of style (unless you're playing huge venues and amphitheaters). So this amp is a very good solution for the hobby/church playing musician. It has great features, there isn't one lame thing about this amp as far as the included features. It's a little bit of a bummer that there's no included reverb in this amp but stompboxes or modelers in front of the amp solve this issue wonderfully anyway. So I don't really consider this a con. The onboard overdrive sounds great and is as good as many of the stompboxes out there. Its more of a rock sound than a blues or ambient sound. But you can't find a better amp for the price and its also great for home practice. Its also fairly lightweight (compared to a big tube amp like the Fender 410!) and is easy to transport. I personally think this thing sounds better than my old Fender 410 and is MUCH more well rounded.

Let me also note that even though its only 5w of output, this amp gets very loud. You won't be turning it up to 8 or 9 trying to squeeze every decibel out of it, it keeps a great volume and tone at 5 or 6 and is plenty loud for any smaller gig (which is most of us musicians that play around town or at church). I would recommend this amp to any musician looking for a great straightforward rock sound with versatility in ambiance and blues sounds. Just a great amp. Bravo Blackstar!

Rockman Bass Ace Headphone Amplifier

Rockman Bass Ace Headphone Amplifier
Customer Ratings: 3.5 stars
List Price: $131.16
Sale Price: $67.99
Today's Bonus: 48% Off
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  • Lets you hear your instrument's dynamic range and clarity to inspire you to "pick up your guitar and play"
  • These high-quality, low-priced headphone amps offer built in compression, volume control and auxiliary stereo input/output
  • You can even route the output to a mixer for recording!
  • The Bass Ace offers selectable treble boost and mid boost to add to your sound

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I just got the Rockman Bass Ace last week and have had a chance to play with it for several hours. In that time I'm decidedly lukewarm about recommending it too highly.

I'm 44 and I play the bass in a very progressive church with music that ranges from heavy rock to funky gospel to nice slow worship music. We have a great sound system and I use pro-quality equipment so I place a premium on high fidelity tone. I bought the Bass Ace so I can plug in my Ipod and practice along with the upcoming week's music without bothering my family.

I've owned a number of headphone amps in the past including a Boss HA-5 Play Bus (which I still have) and an original Tom Shultz Rockman Guitar model (long gone). I also sometimes use the headphone-out option on my Line 6 Pod XT Live. Incidentally, the Guitar Rockman was great as long as you wanted to sound EXACTLY like Boston. The XT Live produces the the best tone overall but it is not very portable. The Boss is easily the best portable headphone amp of the group for bass even though it's designed for guitars and it's over 20 years old. But I a bass-centric unit...

At this point you're probably familiar with the specs and basic attributes of the Dunlop Rockman Bass Ace so I'll skip to my impressions.

PRO'S

Price: Overall, the Rockman is not a bad unit for the price.

No power switch: The amp comes on when you plug the bass in and goes off when you unplug it. No switch to forget just remember to unplug it after use each time.

Bass tone: With decent headphones (see below) and some tweaking the bass tone produced by the Rockman is not bad definitely usable. That said, compared to the Line 6 and the Boss listed above it is clearly the worst of the three.

CONS

Auxiliary Input Tone: When I did an A/B comparison with my Ipod direct into the headphone and then through the Bass Ace, the tone through the Rockman was MUCH worse than direct. On other headphone amps I've used the AUX input was very transparent and sounded virtually identical to the direct line. The AUX input on the Rockman sounds muffled. Very disappointing. Also, the input jack is a 1/4" meaning you need to have a converter to plug in your Ipod. I suppose that is a personal preference.

Headphones: The headphones that come with this unit are virtually unusable. I have a set of mid-priced Sennheisers and in an A/B comparison the difference is incredible. The elcheapos that come with the Rockman buzz and distort at even the lowest volume. Push them a little and the tone is unbearable.

Size: This thing is HUGE compared to other headphone amps. Based on the weight (it's relatively light) it must be mostly empty space so I can only assume that the Bass Ace was purposefully made larger than necessary in order to give it gravitas. This thing is the size of a small cigar box. The result is that it feels cheap and hollow and it's too big to comfortably hang on your belt or on the guitar strap like I've done with other units.

EQ: This is a con because there is no real EQ. I never have a problem getting excellent tone out of my Warwick Thumb but I had to tweak the EQ on my bass dramatically to coax a decent tone out of the Rockman. The Bass Boost function is useless. To me it seemed like less of a boost and more of a scoop. Engaging the Bass Boost actually reduced the bottom end. The Treble Boost function improved the tone somewhat (after I rolled back the treble settings on the bass) but introduced a serious hiss. I got used to it but overall what you get is what you get with this unit. There are no effects, delays or reverb. Also, there is no Drive or Gain option. That's fine with me since I like a fat, clean tone but don't expect to be able to dial in monster tone if you bass doesn't have it already.

Name: Bass Ace? Really? That's the best they could do? C'mon Dunlop. Haven't you ever heard of a focus group?

Summary:

Overall, this is not a particularly high quality unit compared to the Tom Shultz equipment I've used before. I would imagine that he is disappointed in the unit bearing his name. That said, what can you expect for this price point.

If you want excellent headphone tone out of the box or if you want a unit that serves double duty as a pre-amp to run direct into a PA, keep looking. This lo-fi amp is not going to make the cut.

If you need a cheap, portable, easy to use headphone amp to practice with then you might be happy with the Rockman Bass Ace as long as you pick up a good set of headphones to go with it.

NOTE TO DUNLOP: Get Tom in with the guys at R&D and design a serious bass DI with a headphone out option with the following features:

>XLR Line Out

>1/4" Line Out Dry

>1/4" Line Out Blended

>1/8" Headphone Out (Blended Only)

>Gain (Punch)

>Treble (Top)

>Bass (Bottom)

>Presence (Attitude)

>Blend (wet vs. dry signal)

>Output Level (also controls headphone volume)

>Ground Lift Switch

>Active/Passive Switch

Put in a metal box in a color other than black and work up a better name. Price it at $199 and offer it as a DI/Headphone amp combo that sounds better than a C Tech and offers more options than a Sansamp. You'll rack up.

IMHO

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I agree that the headphones are a piece of cr...

Used with good earphones, you'll get a decent sound.

One downside: playing bellow the standard E will cause distortion, especially on a fifth string.

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I had one for my guitar in the 80's and it was nice ! This new product seems to have been made as cheap as possible. Probably like many companies looking to have more profit at the cost of quality. The case is cheap plastic and the headphones are probably worse than ones at the dollar store. The headphones were a BIG disappointing as being shipped with a "BASS ACE" because they cannot handle the bass sounds, and just rattle like crazy. Might be good for an old 9v transistor radio. They should be ashamed shipping these with this product (Bad Form). I would have preferred the AC adapter over the 50 cent headphones.

I paid $62.00, but the quality seems like it should have been $39.99 since it does not have the AC adapter. I do like having the Bass Ace, though, using my better headphones...the sound is much better. Needs the AC adapter because the battery life seems short.

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I bought this item with a history of having own a Bass Rockman many years ago. To my surprise, it was not what I remebered or expected when I received it. The older rockmans were metalic and sturdy. Was new is molded plastic an seems a little frail.

So far, I am not impressed, but satisfied with what I got. The unit produces descent sound if you DO NOT use the supplied head phones. I'm currently using mine with BOSE QuietComfort noise cancelling head phones, which produces better quality sound from the unit. Also, I'm using Bartolini active pick ups on a pre-Gibson Tobias , which can overdrive and distort.

So, for the price, it's not a bad buy. But expect quality to equal the price, and nothing more.

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You like to practice your arpeggios, right? You can't wake the kids or neighbors or roommates while you do it, right? This is the gig for you.

It doesn't sound awesome. It gets you where you need to go. And for the price it's tough to beat.

Yamaha P85 Digital Stage Piano (Black)

Yamaha P85 Digital Stage Piano
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
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  • Extensive Voice Selection and Dual Voice Function - The versatile P-85 also gives you a variety of other high-quality instrument Voices, including electric pianos, organs, strings and harpsichord plus a Dual Voice feature for playing two Voices at once.
  • Record Your Performance - You can capture your own playing with the song recording feature, then play it back for studying or accompaniment. There's even a built-in metronome for practicing and recording in perfect time.
  • Expressive Half-pedal Control - Features a half-pedal effect that gives you greater acoustic-like expressive control over the sound (with optional FC3 Foot Controller or LP-5 Pedal Unit).
  • Matching Stand (optional) - The optional L-85 & L-85S stands provide stability and optimum sound projection for the instrument -- as well as a stylish appearance with matching finish.
  • Three-pedal Pedal Unit (optional) - The optional LP-5 Pedal Unit gives you three pedals for the same kind of comprehensive sustain, sostenuto and soft control found on grand pianos

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When a master controller keyboard started to go flaky on me, I started looking for a replacement, and since I didn't REALLY need anything but a basic piano at this point (already having other keyboards that can serve this purpose), the focus was going to be on having 88 weighted keys, but being lightweight and portable. In the start of the 90s, stage pianos that remotely sounded like the real thing were becoming affordable, though hideously bulky and heavy. Let's just say they wouldn't fit in my car so easily, which leaves you reliant on the rest of the band for your transportation. End of the 90s, Korg was selling their 88 key Trinity keyboards, one of which I had the pleasure to lug around in my car for 10 years (it just barely fit!) but ultimately wore out because I couldn't get a case or even bag for it it was just too big. It still works but gets unpredictable when I move it, so I had to make the call, and buy a replacement.

I checked out some of the lower end piano models, Korg's P250, Roland RD700s, and Yamaha's P85 not only sounded much better, but was jaw-droppingly cheap. I find Roland's sound sweet but a bit muddy or saturated, the action was not bad. Korg's P250 sounds nice but I find their samples are compressed too much and the decay sounds unnaturally fast. Yamaha hit the sweet spot with their piano samples, granted there's only two sets of samples for piano, but they both sound absolutely brilliant (especially considering the cost of the keyboard). The expressiveness you get out of this instrument is amazing very careful attention to detail. (Compared to the 'honking' piano on the Korg Triton.) The key action is a bit heavier, I can see that I'll be doing scales for a month before I have the strength to really play that thing. That's ok, I'm still waiting for the stand anyways... Which brings me to :

(1) To incorporate built-in speakers, the bottom is not flat, it's basically a 'V'. It will not sit really stably in ANYTHING but the stand made for it. Handstands and other acrobatics are right out. So you basically are forced to buy the stand which sells for extra. Give me a break.

(2) There are no stage outs on this piano (if you want to use this piano in a band and hook it up to an amp and/or mixing board), you have to use the headphone jacks (!) VERY odd omission, instead of offering both analog and digital outs, Yamaha actually regresses and doesn't even have stage outs. Anyways, you have to get a cord that goes from stereo 1/4" (RTS) to two 1"4 jacks (very common cord BTW, your music store will have it), you can't just use a standard 1/4" jack because aspects of the piano signal are heavily panned and you get a weird phasey sound if you try to just take one side of the signal. And since it sticks out the front, you need a 1"4 right angle adapter to keep it out of harms way.

Apart from that, the piano sounds very crisp and convincing, some nice onboard effects to enhance this. But basically it's just a piano, not a workstation. Use it for one instrument at a time (you can layer the instruments but I couldn't find a single combination that sounded better than the individual instruments).

There are other sounds built into this, besides piano. There are two electric piano patches the first is a Fender Rhodes sound, with a DX-ey tinge to it, sounds beautifully full, if a bit tine-y. The second patch, kind of a Wurlitzer or (I guess) Yamaha CP type patch, is almost worth the price of the keyboard itself. Sounds very like Supertramp's keyboard sound, very expressive to play.

The organs are the worst of the samples. Honestly they couldn't find better organ patches than this, at least after the very high standard they established with the pianos? These sound like a circus calliope (E. Organ 1) and a bad Soundblaster pipe organ patch (E. Organ 2)! They are absolutely terrible, but if you really really need a calliope or pipe organ sound and not one of your instruments does that sound, you might use it.

The strings patch isn't bad, isn't noteworthy either. Definitely usable. I would have liked to be able to apply an (onboard) phaser effect to it for instance.

There are two harpsichord patches that are fairly high quality, better than the Korg Trinity's, anyways. Layering them sounds cheesy, but onboard compression might have helped. Workstations have me so spoiled...

The vibes patch is pretty good too, clear and bell-like. 'Tis purty.

All in all, this keyboard is an absolute steal at this price, once again the bar is raised in terms of quality and portability. You get bang-for-the-buck with this! It fits in the trunk of my car, just barely. Don't even have to put the back seats down! It loses 1/2 a star for the stand issue, the lack of even a proper set of analog outs, and the wretched organ samples.

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Pros:

1) Sounds like a Yamaha Grand Piano.

2) Touch/feels like a Yamaha Grand Piano

3) Considering the sound and the touch the price is unbelievable.

Cons:

1) It has 2 built-in speakers which leave a LOT to be desired. The guy at the music store handed me a pair of Yamaha headphones the difference in the sound quality was incredible.

2) He also recommended a Z stand for it which sells for 49 bucks. It is more stable that the standard X stand.

3) It comes with a really cheap sustain pedal. Amazon is showing a good option in the "Customers who bought this item also bought" M-Audio SP-2 US65010 $25 pedal.

4) And finally, I'm with the reviewer that said, "Where are my stage outs?" especially when you consider the quality of the onboard speakers.

I gave it 5 stars anyway, between the 2 of us it should get 4 1/2 stars.

Read Best Reviews of Yamaha P85 Digital Stage Piano (Black) Here

The Yamaha P-85 is well-designed digital piano with the full 88 keys at a price point that is hard to beat. 10 different voices are included, which can also be layered in many different ways (e.g., octave-shifted). The grand piano voices and the first electric organ are in stereo (and there are two stereo headphone jacks at the front of the device) and sound absolutely amazing. Multisampling is used, and the samples are blended expertly, so there isn't that jarring effect where suddenly a completely different sample is played when you hit a key a little harder, as I noticed on the Casio PX-320. Polyphony on the P-85 is sufficient that dropped notes should not be noticeable. Reverb can be added to the voices to simulate small rooms (or concert halls), and there is a built-in very basic MIDI recorder.

The P-85 looks very stylish and has a solid, well-made overall feel to it. Although the keys are weighted, the instrument is remarkably slim and lightweight. In fact, the instrument looks serious enough (in the black version) that many of the higher-priced Yamahas and Casios seem pretty toy-like next to it, with their little LCD screens and all.

I think the included sustain pedal is mainly a friendly gesture by Yamaha towards parents: You don't want a Christmas morning to go sour because Santa forgot to buy a pedal! In this regard Yamaha is much smarter than Casio, where some digital keyboards don't even include a power adaptor. Third party gear such as the M-Audio SP-2 Pedal goes very well with the Yamaha.

All in all, the Yamaha P-85 looks and sounds great, is a joy to play, and has all the basics for piano playing covered, as well as some advanced features like voice layering. The quality, convenience (headphone jacks, easy recordings), and price of the P-85 make it pretty hard to fathom why anyone would bother with the hassle of a real grand or upright piano anymore. But I suppose the flower vase has to go somewhere...

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I purchased the P85 to learn the piano after stopping for 15 years. I picked the P85 because it was affordable, it would fit in an apartment with limited space, and it was the best sounding digital piano for the price. I've had the chance to try this piano against an upright acoustic and a grand piano, and while there are differences, it isn't difficult to transfer skills between them.

[+] good [-] bad [*] different than acoustic piano

THE SOUND

[+] Piano voices sound realistic. Each note is beautifully distinctive, and never goes out of tune

[+] Better with headphones. The richness of the notes is even better when listening through a good set of headphones

[-] Other voices are worthless. The recordings for the other instrument choices sound toy-like compared to the high quality of the piano recordings. It feels like you are playing with MIDIs when you use the other voices.

[-] Speakers lack power. The speakers are not good enough to reproduce the sounds of the original recordings.

[*] Max volume is softer than an acoustic piano. It is easy to get into the habit of hammering the P85 keys because the digital records will still sound good, and it never gets too loud. But when switching to an acoustic, the same banging will sound ugly.

[*] The sustain is shorter when holding the pedal. Since the digital notes don't interact with each other, you can continuously hold the pedal, and each new note you play can still be heard clearly. For acoustic pianos, the sustain is longer and the new notes jumble together with the previous notes creating a muddled wall of noise.

THE FEEL

[+] The keys have a nice weight to them which transfers almost exactly to the skills needed for an acoustic piano

[+] The size of the keys also transfers nicely to an acoustic piano

[-] The pedal is too small to use. Fortunately, better petals are available, and not expensive.

[*] The keys of the P85 were heavier than the upright acoustic I used, and similar to the grand piano. You will get stronger fingers playing the p85. I found I could play the upright better after spending some time with the P85, but that it took longer to transition back to the p85 after a few weeks with the acoustic.

THE FEATURES

[+] Ready to go. You can turn on the piano and start playing within a few seconds. There is no need to fiddle with setting as everything is optimally set as defaults.

[-] The metronome is one of the most annoying features of this piano. There is a left and right button which changes the speed of the metronome, but each time you press it, it seems to double the speed. So it is always too fast or too slow. And it has an extra bell that signifies the start of a bar in 4/4 time. In order to change the time signature or get a more precise speed, you need to hold down the metronome button and press a specific note on the keyboard. Which requires having the manual on you at all times. An extra button to control the time signature, and easier control over the metronome speed would have been ideal.

THE SETUP

[+] Lightweight. It is easy to pick up and move, and the small profile makes it less awkward to carry.

[+] Stable. It sits firmly on a z-stand, and I've never had a problem with it shifting while playing.

OVERALL

The P85 makes piano playing addictive because it sounds so good, but can lead to bad habits with how loud to play, and how long to hold the pedal. However the fundamentals of how to play transfer very well from the P85 to an acoustic piano. You can also play at any time of day or night without bothering others because of the headphones option. The P85 is a joy to play, and I highly recommend it.

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This keyboard is a very good deal for the price!

Pros:

The touch is almost like a real piano. They feel like the keys on a piano and respond quickly when pressed. However, you can still slightly feel the mechanicalness when you carefully push down and observe. Most people won't notice though, so this is not a problem at all.

The sound is great overall! The sampled sound of the keyboard sounds real, too.

The keyboard easily connected via MIDI to my Mac (Leopard) and works smoothly with Garageband, which I use to compose.

The 50 preset songs (Liebestraum, Moonlight Sonata, Pathetique, Maple Leaf Rag, etc.) are also nice to listen to. They are some of the best interpreted pieces I have ever heard! It's like having a free CD that you can listen to!

The keyboard is pretty flexible, as you can change the amount of reverb/echo, change the touch sensitivity, and transpose what you play into another key. I use some of these features often they are really handy!

The model has all the basic features you probably need. A built in metronome, and a recording feature are included.

Cons:

Only ten instrument voices. I don't mind this but people who need more voices should consider another model.

The bass is a bit heavy compared to the treble. It may seem a bit louder and more noticeable than an actual acoustic piano.

The general sustain is a bit too short, both with and without pedal. I have the optional three-pedal unit, but the sustain is still too short. After awhile, I didn't notice, but once you sit in front of a real acoustic piano, you'll know the difference.

Overall, this is one of the best pianos you get get for the price. Once you have a good pair of speakers or earphones, this keyboard will sound very nice. However, if you are considering this as your primary instrument, I'd recommend an actual acoustic piano to this.

Sennheiser HD 600 Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Professional Stereo Headphones (Black)

Sennheiser  HD 600 Open Dynamic Hi-Fi Professional Stereo Headphones
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $499.95
Sale Price: $399.95
Today's Bonus: 20% Off
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  • Lightweight aluminum voice coils ensure excellent transient response
  • Neodymium ferrous magnets maintain optimum sensitivity and excellent dynamics
  • Sophisticated design, elegantly finished in black and gray
  • High-quality open metal-mesh earpiece covers
  • Detachable, Kevlar-reinforced oxygen-free-copper cable with very low handling noise

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This is the best dynamic headphone in the world, and is rivalved only by the Grado RS-1 headphone. Many studio engineers and audiophile's use these as their REFERENCE headphone...they are a steal for such a high quality headphone. The Grado RS-1 [costs more], and is definately less comfortable than the Sennheisers. These headphones have an extremely detailed, open, airy sound, that nears electrostatic sound. They are also unique in that they suit all types of music very well, they have great punch for rock music, but can perform clasical pieces with all the fullness and detail they were designed.

It should be noted these headphone have an impedance of 300 ohms. Most headphone are 16-32 ohms. What this means is to get the full potential out of them you will need some type of amplifier. Headphone.com offers a couple inexpensive sollutions to this problem, as does audioadvisor.com. Althought they are not true audiophile components, they will greatly enhance your experience with these headphones. If you are planning on travelling with them, you can almost bet you won't be content with their sound when powered only by a portable CD player. I use a Audio Valve RKV Mark II Headphone Amplifier at home, and the headphone.com Airhead on the road. Buy these headphones if you are looking for true audiophile sound, or just the best dynamic headphone, but be aware of their limitations without am amplifier.

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How can four hundred dollar headphones be a good value?

Consider it this way: Let's call a CD 10 dollars. Let's say you get a certain amount of pleasure from a new CD: new sounds, new music, a new experience to last you a few weeks before it gradually inches its way into the dusty corners of your collection.

Now, let's say you have about 100 CDs.

These headphones are now worth about ... because you have never heard any of those CDs before. These are headphones that revolutionize all the music YOU ALREADY OWN!

But be warned: remember how when CDs first came out there were all those pretentious warnings about how the superior quality of the recording may expose flaws in the master that you could never make out before? I always thought there might be some audiophile somewhere who could hear some "flaw".

But with these headphones you can hear a good studio from a cheap one. I can hear the buzz of unshielded electronics in the second rate studio on some indy cds. Some of my beautiful old classical music suddenly sounds muffled and dead, flattened by an unflattering production job that my speakers could not convey.

The clarity is unreal. Guitar strings are made of gold and they ring clear as crystal; layers of techno pile atop each other in multicolor, multidimensional textures that knock you breathless; the exotic reverberant groan of a cello solo that you have heard a thousand times will bring tears to your cheeks.

And all of this at a fraction of the volume you might play music on your speakers with: these headphones are brilliant and clear and perfect at low volumes. Given their open air construction these things may well preserve your hearing for an additional decade.

I cannot recommend these highly enough.

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I have been building and listening to audiophile sound systems for more than 20 years. Having listened through Sennheiser HD580s for several years and finding them excellent, I feel comfortable saying that the HD600s are a very significant improvement in clarity and overall sound quality. The main differences between the HD580 and HD600 appear to be in better reasonance control throughout the entire mechanical system and evolutionary driver improvements. The HD600s do indeed approach perfection. Their sound quality is not easily surpassed by $10,000 loudspeakers.

However, several caveats are in order. Like loudspeakers, these headphones do require several days of playing time to break in and open up, particularly in the lower frequencies. The reason for this is simple physics: when new the suspensions are stiff and need some work to loosen up and allow larger, low frequency excursions to happen more easily. The may sound a little cool at first, but will warm up after many hours of playing time. They will also sound clearer. When breaking them in, don't play them louder than you would normally listen.

Second, these headphones are extremely revealing of the electronics feeding them. An audiophile-quality headphone amplifier, such as those made by headphone.com, is necessary to get the best sound of of them. The source electronics are also clearly audible. It would be appropriate to use these with multi-thousand dollar D/A converters or CD/SACD/DVD/vinyl rigs. Used with cheap or inferior source electronics, the sound will be severely limited. It's a bit like putting ketchup on a $20 steak.

Third, these headphones are extremely revealing of the quality of recordings. Unfortunately very few recordings, especially mainstream commercial ones, have really good sound quality. A few audiophile labels have consistently good sound such as Reference Recordings, a few jazz labels, etc. Occasionally a large record company may have a recording or a track with good sound, but they seem very rare and almost due to random chance. That's not a fault of the headphones, but of the source material. It's proof that the quality and resolution of these headphones is extremely high that they can help reveal those differences to the attuned ear.

Other highlights: very comfortable for most people, relatively light weight, free-space equalization, meaning the frequency balance is designed to be like natural sound in an open area. The latter is part of the reason these headphones "don't sound like headphones" and instead sound like real music, along with the mechanical resonance reduction practiced throughout.

Very likely these headphones will not be the limiting factor of the sound quality for most systems they are used in. Electronics and recording sources are probably a larger factor, which is a sign that these are indeed audiophile goodies. Given the very high quality of engineering and quality control behind the HD600s, they are a tremendous bargain even at their price. However, their benefits will not be fully realized in less than excellent systems.

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Plenty of superlatives have been heaped upon the HD-600s and for good reason. They almost hint at perfection, and even while that outworldly ideal will always prove elusive, the HD-600s are an livable earth-bound solution. Their most remarkable sonic characteristics are balanced, natural tonality and the presence of remarkable detail and transparency. The sounds coming from these 'phones are of such natural rightness, you sometimes forget you are listening to a reproduced event. Of course, since the HD-600s are so transparent, you'll hear source tape flaws you never noticed before and these can ruin the magical illusion. But don't blame the Sennheisers for revealing the truth.

Prior to owning the HD-600s, I used the fantastic HD-580s for about one year. One thing that surprises me (well, actually, it doesn't) is how quickly audiophiles pronounce the HD-600s leagues better than the HD-580s. I listened to each set profusely under careful conditions and came to the realization that the HD-580s offer about 95% of the performance of the HD-600s. The most notable difference is that the HD-600s remove a very thin veil of "sonic haze" from the music. But they both share the same character and personality and I would expect them to generate very similar test lab results. In my experience, many audiophiles will consider that extra 5% "a tremendous improvement". As to avoid being hypocritical, I did enjoy the HD-600s more and decided to keep them over the HD-580s, but take all superlatives and Grand Statements with a grain of salt, as you should in audiophiledom. If the HD-600s are priced out of your league, the discontinued and discounted HD-580s are a can't miss baragin.

But even at [price], the HD-600s are a surprising value. A pedestrian pair of bookshelf loudspeakers will set you back [price] and they don't even come close to producing the heavenly sounds of the Sennheisers. And if you aren't a headphone person, time spent with these Sennheisers might change your mind. They did with me!

I also connect my Sennheisers directly to my Panasonic portable on the go. Sure, an outboard amp would be nice, but who wants all that bulk and weight? Aside from more limited volume, most portables I've used are more than capable of driving the HD-600s with clarity, neutrality and practically no distortion. So don't worry about getting an amp right away...you might find the extra equipment unnecessary.

The Sennheisers are my favorite piece of audio equipment. Their sonic performance and portability allow musical contentment late at night, at work, outside, wherever. They are the best [price] I've ever spent on audio.

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There have been so many reviews here I almost didnt write one but with the lack of reviews by producers I decided to add one more to the list.

If you're producing audio like myself you already know theres no replacement for a good set of monitors. That said there's a few reasons you may be mixing through a set of cans.

My reasons are that my studio is sometimes mobile and that I'm often mixing in my apartment (I've found that boxers and a t-shirt are a superior choice for studio apparel).

I'm running an Mbox2 with Pro-Tools 7 (sometimes switch to Nuendo... don't hate me... hush now Abelton users).

I also use these with my Ivory Keys VST and it sounds pretty nice, I think they add a bit of warmth when compared to a set of Mackies, could be the spatial difference, but I actually like it better through the Senns, a bit more personal I guess.

That said, I feel pretty happy with the sound from these cans.

I've been using them for almost a year now, extensively.

They're a bit lacking in the low-ends when I push them, but when you pair them up with an analyzer you can usually compensate pretty nicely with a combo of visual and audio reference.

They are open-ear, so dont expect your vocalists to be using them in the sound booth or you'll be recording the sound coming from the headphones along with the vox. For the producer, the only real place for these is in the mix down if you're trying to be quiet... or your one of those weirdos who uses cans for some bizarre voodoo mixing ritual.(I've heard of these guys but never met one)

They are definitely more comfortable than some of the other headsets I've tried, Grado's being the least comfortable, Sony's aren't bad.

Sometimes I seem to put them on wrong and my ears start hurting pretty quickly but if I slide them around on my head a bit so my ears are good and centered I can wear them for a few hours before I need to take em off.

I think the most important thing to note here is my experience with Sennheisers customer service.

Recently I snapped the headset in half, dunno if it was from cheap plastic construction or just lots of use. Regardless I contacted Senn and asked what I needed to do, assuming I'd have to send them in and wait a week to get them fixed. Instead Senn offered to just send me a new headband and I could replace it myself.

Because of the modular construction of these cans that will be pretty easy to do and lets me keep using them while I wait for my replacement.

Needless to say, that made me pretty happy.

The cords firmly snap in and out of the cans via 2 pronged plugs, nice for those who accidentaly step on the cord while they stand up.

On a consumer level note, if you are listening to MP3's or any compressed audio format in a portable device... or any device for that matter, dont buy these, you're wasting your money.

I'm not insulting you, I'm being serious.

There are cheaper alternatives for compressed audio.

If you like your music and can't blast your speakers for some reason or the other, then I'd say these are a pretty nice set. Not the best for sound but close enough that the price and comfort make up for the slight difference you may hear in a set of (very uncomfortable) Grado's.

For those of you who are worried about reproducing the "original sound" of a recording, you need to laugh at yourself for a minute and realize that we process those sounds pretty thoroughly before we even bounce them to a track. Compressors, EQ's, Verbs, etc., sometimes before the signal even hits the sound card it's gone through a pre-amp. Aside from that the difference between audio still in the DAW and a bounced track is pretty dramatic. You're just not going to hear what we hear in the studio. Go with what you like.

Some like it crispy, some like it warm.

If you can listen to your favorite track through the headphones before you decide to buy them, do that.

Leave em on your head for a while see how they fit.

I recommend trying them out if your searching for a set.

They work nicely for my purposes.

Kustom KG210FX 20W 2 x 10 Guitar Combo Amp with Digital Effects

Kustom  KG210FX 20W 2 x 10 Guitar Combo Amp with Digital Effects
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $207.99
Sale Price: $149.99
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  • OUTPUT POWER 20 Watts SPEAKER 2 x 10" INPUT Single Input CHANNELS Lead & Rhythm AUX INPUT Stereo 3.5mm HEADPHONE OUT Stereo 3.5mmTONE CONTROL Bass, Middle & Treble EFFECTS Reverb & Delay EFFECTS LOOP Send & Return
  • 1/8-inch MP3/CD input for practicing along with tunes
  • 5-year transferrable electronics warra
  • Whether you crave the sweet, chiming tone of today's Country music or the intense low-end and scooped midrange of the heaviest Metal, KG amps can deliver it and a lot more.
  • Designed in the USA
  • 5-year transferable electronics warranty

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It's a good amp. It has a little electronic buzz coming through though, like it wasn't made with a good ground. I would recommend it as a cheap practice amp only.

Buy Kustom KG210FX 20W 2 x 10 Guitar Combo Amp with Digital Effects Now

I was amazed with Kustom 20watts sound, "It's 20watts but sounds like 50watts. The price is affordable, I can't afford Marshall, but this amp will not let you down from clean to overdrive. I used DOD FX7 effects and I love it!!!

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This is a really good bargain in a guitar amplifier. It doesn't have a foot switch for the reverb/delay or distortion, but they are easily accessible with push buttons. The amp section sounds much louder than 30 watts. Also the ten inch speakers deliver great tone. I think you could use this amp for practice or gigs. Great clean, punchy sound and good distortion too. Best amp for the price that I have seen.

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This is a really good bargain in a guitar amplifier. It doesn't have a foot switch for the reverb/delay or distortion, but they are easily accessible with push buttons. The amp section sounds much louder than 30 watts. Also the ten inch speakers deliver great tone. I think you could use this amp for practice or gigs. Great clean, punchy sound and good distortion too. Best amp for the price that I have seen.

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphones - Silver

Sennheiser  HD 280 Pro Headphones - Silver
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
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  • Position-independent audiometer headphonesType approved by the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
  • Excellent reproducibility of measurementsSoft, exchangeable ear padsSpace-saving design with collapsible
  • Rotating earpieces Comfortable to wear due to exchangeable headband paddingSingle- sided

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I bought these as a gift for my husband and he loves them! He did most of the research before hand and chose these over the Bose or others.

We live in a 3-flat apartment and can hear both our neighbors both above and below us (mostly bass and them walking above us). When he has the headphones on, he can't hear them or even me when I'm in the apartment it's great.

He says the sound is great too, he can hear things in the music he hasn't noticed before. He has not had any problems with fuzziness or buzzing.

He did mention that they can be uncomfortable if worn for long periods of time, that would be his only complaint, and the reason for not giving it a 5 out of 5.

He uses his mostly in his office on a Mac computer and with his ipod. He uses them all the time.

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These headphones ARE good, there's no doubt about quality. The issue I had was that, based on all the research and web surfing I could do, they're virtually idnetical to the MUCH cheaper HD280 headphones that are plain jane and come whithout the fancy silver accesories. They both come with the exact same instruction manual! So, save your pennies and go for the regualr joe version.

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I rarely write reviews, but after reading the exaggerated review below, I figured I'd chime in with my feedback.

First off, I'm far from an audio expert although I do know when something sounds good to me relative to other audio sources. Yes, the Bose QuietComfort II's are great sounding headphones with effective noise-cancelling for low-level constant sounds like airplane engines. I just didnt want to shell out over two-hundred dollars for earphones, so I did a lot of research and figured the HD280's would suffice. They definitely do!

First off, they do block out a lot of ambiet noise since they're closed cans. They're designed to fit snug against your ears in order to not let any unwanted sound in (or out) which is perfect for use in my apartment so that my neighbors cant hear my music/TV/games. I have a fairly big head, and they are snug enough to be comfortable without being tight, and dont fall off my head. They are adjustable to fit a variety of head sizes and shapes, and took me a little while to get them to fit just right.

The cord feels professional and is thick enough to prevent getting tangled on itself without being heavy. It does not weigh the earphones down at all. I actually prefer the looped cord over the straight cord since I dont have to wind/unwind it before and after every use.

The sound re-production from my iPod at 192kbit rate is an incredible improvement over the Apple-supplied earbuds. I can hear subtle nuisances and sounds that I've never before heard in my music. After first getting these, I played many of my favorite songs so that I could hear those things I was missing out on previously.

They're also great for use with my Xbox since I can play games at night without waking my girlfriend or neighbors. They've actually improved my game-play in first person shooters because I can pinpoint the location of enemies much better with headphones than my regular speakers (wow, that sounded really nerdy!)

The only downside of these is that they're not very attractive, which makes it embarrassing to use them when traveling through busy airports. However, this is a small trade-off I'm willing to make since I do see a lot of Bose headphones also in use. I purchased the silver one's since I thought they looked a little better than the black.

I also didnt have any problems enjoying these right out of the box. I hear a lot about burn-in, but I have to admit they've always sounded really good to me. Maybe it's because they were already a huge improvement to what I was used to right out of the box!

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These are spectacular headphones for the price you pay. My set has come with me across half a dozen countries and I have used them for audio recording, video recording, gaming and even just with my ipod and they work great in any situation. They're tough too. The only problem I've had is that the 1/8 inch jack bent when I left it plugged into my ipod in my backpack. But that was not fault of the headphones. Shop around though, I found these for $50 and have never regretted getting them.

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Replaced another set of Sennheisers. The difference in sound is incredible. Very crisp sound. I could not be happier with the sound. They also fit very well and are quite comfortable. Solid construction.

Peavey Tour TNT 115 Bass Combo Amp Black

Peavey Tour TNT 115 Bass Combo Amp Black
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $649.99
Sale Price: $499.00
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  • 600W maximum lightweight class D power15" specially designed speaker High Frequency tweeter7-band graphic EQ
  • Effects Loop Master Volume Headphone output Tweeter on/off switch DDT speaker protection Powered speaker output with Speakon jack
  • Convenient kick-back design Legendary Peavey reliability Lighted

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I got my son this amp for Christmas...this is his review of the amp: My mom got me this amp for Christmas after we looked at a few others; it looked and sounded like a great deal for the price. She got it for me and it is everything a bass player could want!! Crisp clear sound -the deep bass stays deep and the high stays high! I play it for hours and it never gets hot. It's too strong for just that one speaker and it could push 2 or 3 more other cabinets with no problem. It's a good quality combo! I play in a small church and it does fine. All notes are heard to perfection! It has a tweeter speaker that has an on/off switch to allow you the option of having it on or off for the sound you're looking for. I would strongly recommend this combo for any event!!

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