4-way headphone amp

[mrloofer]

I am waiting for the drum kit to be sold seperately (Jan 31st on Amazon) but the only thing that bothers me is the sound of hitting the drums drowning out the actual music unless the sound can be turned way up. So I was looking around for a 4-way headphone amp and found one for $49 (link here (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-HeadAMP-Four-Output-Stereo-Headphone-Amp-?sku=240368)). Just wondering if anyone has tried using something like this for the entire band with success?

[FlyinWhee]

Well that should work as indicated, but I can see a few problems:

Wire-city: there's gonna enough wiring as it is running through the living room like that, now with this? Being restricted by two wires is always an awful feeling, by experience (some crappy studio we used to record in).

Wack-a-wire: Drumming with a wire going to the side of your head is asking for the trouble, plain and simple.

[85_SWB]

just turn your tv up
or like other people are doing and use mouse pads to quite noise

[Ultrace]

I am waiting for the drum kit to be sold seperately (Jan 31st on Amazon) but the only thing that bothers me is the sound of hitting the drums drowning out the actual music unless the sound can be turned way up. So I was looking around for a 4-way headphone amp and found one for $49 (link here (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-HeadAMP-Four-Output-Stereo-Headphone-Amp-?sku=240368)). Just wondering if anyone has tried using something like this for the entire band with success?
Even better, does someone from around here or HMX have info on the setup they used at the tours? Sure, there was a huge amount of wires involved overall, but each person getting their own headset as they wanted it was a great experience.

[mrloofer]

Yeah I did think about the wires and since I don't have a dedicated space/room for all of this I can see it easily getting out of hand.


Even better, does someone from around here or HMX have info on the setup they used at the tours? Sure, there was a huge amount of wires involved overall, but each person getting their own headset as they wanted it was a great experience.

The only personalization I can think of is volume control for each headset, are you saying there was a different setup/experience than that?

[Ultrace]

Yeah I did think about the wires and since I don't have a dedicated space/room for all of this I can see it easily getting out of hand.

The only personalization I can think of is volume control for each headset, are you saying there was a different setup/experience than that?
I mean the actual equipment they used for that volume/headphone box, or a reasonable substitute. :)

[Tarzanman]

I played Rock Band when the tour bus came through.... there was no 'magic' set-up... all four headphonesplayed the same exact normal audio coming from the Xbox360.

The main reason the headphones were there was so that the sound from the three Xbox360s set up in the trailer (which were about 7 ft from each other) for playing rock band wouldn't be heard by people playing on different consoles. They just used a splitter and regular headphones, there weren't any individual volume or track level controls.

If I were you, I would buy a set of big headphones that cover your entire ear. That should muffle out the sound of the drums enough for your purposes.

[shoombabi]

For the first few days, I used headphones with my drum set. I don't think I encountered any problems getting tangled in the wiring. The main problem I found was when I tried to use the xbox headset with the drums so I could talk online. THAT gets tangled like whoa.

Also, I don't know how comfortable it would be for a singer to be wearing headphones like that. I suppose they do it in studio, but I usually need to hear myself to make adjustments. Then again, I'm more of a Medium / Hard 3-4* person.

[tf5_bassist]

Even better, does someone from around here or HMX have info on the setup they used at the tours? Sure, there was a huge amount of wires involved overall, but each person getting their own headset as they wanted it was a great experience.

Here's the headphone distribution amp that they used on the tours for all the stations:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/0/6/9/241069.jpg

Available here from Musician's Friend:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-HP4-Discrete-4Channel-Headphone-Amp?sku=184128

This is actually a really nice inexpensive headphone amp, I've used them in the studio in addition to at the tour. And there's a good inexpensive bundle that they offer too:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/regular/3/6/8/508368.jpg

Available here:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-HP4-Headphone-Amp-Bundle?sku=180125

Although I'm fairly confident that these were not as good as the cans used on the tour, I'm pretty sure that the tour cans were a better cup design to block out more external noise.


--This was all posted in my recap of the Sacramento tour date (http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=4703&page=7)... Ah, memories... :D

[FlyinWhee]

There's still one big problem... if you wanna play with that, be careful about the singing: sure you won't get the rest of the noise, but the singer might get carried away if he has a high volume in his ears.

[tf5_bassist]

For the first few days, I used headphones with my drum set. I don't think I encountered any problems getting tangled in the wiring. The main problem I found was when I tried to use the xbox headset with the drums so I could talk online. THAT gets tangled like whoa.

Also, I don't know how comfortable it would be for a singer to be wearing headphones like that. I suppose they do it in studio, but I usually need to hear myself to make adjustments. Then again, I'm more of a Medium / Hard 3-4* person.

My thoughts on these...

People who are concerned with getting the wires in the way, run them behind you. I put the headphones on from behind me so that the cord was running down my back. If I'm tracking guitar parts at home, I usually run the headphone cable over my shoulder somehow, or between the body of the guitar and the body of, well, me.

As far as tripping hazards, well, you're SOL on that one, unless you get four sets of wireless headphones as well lol...

Singers wearing headphones, always a bit tough... Whenever I've done studio work, I'll usually uncover one ear a bit so I have the room sound as well as the playback and tracking sound, and just "balance the levels" until it feels right. It'd be the same principle here, and I'd do the same thing if I was singing on RB with headphones.

[mrloofer]

I think I'll just order the $49 for now and try it out. I play lead with headphones 99% of the time to drown out the clacking on my Les Paul and, to me anyway, is a much more "realistic" experience. I also don't have a problem with the wire which I throw over my shoulder. I think this would stand true for the drums too but won't be able to try this out for a couple more months anyway. That 4 headphone bundle sure does look nice thou! :)

[Nekura20x6]

I agree - I've got a set of Turtle Beach's EarForce X1s that I use for gaming and the guitar experience is much more "real" when I have them on. I also can hear the beat better when I'm attempting the drums.