Quiet Home Playing

darthed1981

Yes legit quiet!  Funnily enough everyone's favourite pair recently did a video on this: -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcSPwhyGDc4

The point they make that is unique as far as I can see is that everyone has different definitions of home volume and many (including Chappers) don't understand that in many enivornments, home use volume is really very quiet indeed.

I'm not sure I agree with them you need to drop £250 (though obviously Lee can clearly afford to) to get a little praccy amp, and in fact they start at £50 for the Blackstar Fly 3.

However, the comparison to the valve amps is a bit scary, though neither are considered the best in the world, at those volumes they sound sierra hotel india tango.

So the rest of you who, like me, play so quietly when not simply forced to use headphones, how do you fix the problem?  My Katana 50 never gets above about 8 o clock on the 1w setting.

I'm a bit like Lee in that I want to play guitar through an amp, not through my PC...

I know a lot of posters here like me are home players with wives and children who are in roughly the same boat, so... thoughts, comments?

munckee

I have a THR5 which I play at night when everyone is in bed or if I only have 10 minutes, sounds great at any volume.  I have a 5 watt champ which has a master volume and sounds great at home I can play this during the day in a room on my own no bother, it has a 5F1 switch, if I crank the gain then the master is at roughly 9 o clock.

Debating a bigger amp as a lot suggest they play all sorts of valve amps at home with pedals but need to try some.

Edit - I would add the THR sounds great and has reverb/tremolo etc but not a patch on the champ at daytime volumes in terms of warmth, champ with tubescreamer = loveliness.

rivercider

I've had THRs before (all three models actually) but have now moved to the Vox Adio GT Air, which is indeed way better in my opinion (and for my needs).  I play through the Vox weekday evenings when its just a quick plug in and play, quietly enough that wifey can actually still watch the TV at the same time but I can hear myself.  If required it can go loud enough to annoy my neighbours though (i'm in a semi detached), and the sound quality stays good to levels a bit beyond a THR. 
Main bonus for me with the Vox is that I utilise the Bluetooth on it for all my knob twiddling needs.  It sits opposite me, its in the TV cabinet, I'm on the sofa, and I've had it months now without actually turning physical knobs on it at all.  I just use either my phone or my ipad to adjust volume and presets (and everything in fact) from an app so I can keep my fat lazy ass planted to the sofa or the floor. Great. 
In the same room I have a Bassbreaker 15 for using on the weekend when I want to plug in a few pedals.  Yes, its much louder but not as instant a fix. 
In the bedroom I persuaded wifey to let me have a Blackstar 1watt valve amp with a 12 inch cab (hard to fit it in but managed it!) - the HT1R sounds very nice but doesnt really get much use, its still really loud and in hindsight I'd probably have been better keeping one of my THRs for that room, although the best place for an amp is on top of a unit where its easier to use Bluetooth than reach up and twiddle knobs.....so if I could do it again Id love to have a second Vox Adio there!  
Here's hoping Vox make a new one that doesnt look so shit, then I'd be tempted to get it and lose the Blackstar. 

JAYJO

havent plugged into any amps for yonks! I am limited to headphones only in work. I play through JM4looper for practice and use amplitube 3 through Reaper. Ive started using Riff Station also to work stuff out. Plenty to be getting on with but no playing through amps. I have Wem dominator Mk111 Vox ad 30, Fender superchamp  so all quite small and some loaded with effects. Ive only gigged the WEM and used it for guitar and Bass. 

joetele

I've been looking into this issue a lot recently since I have a 2 year old and the only time I get to play is when he's asleep - so it has to be silent practice sadly. Previously I've been using the simulated XLR output from the back of my Peavey Valveking  into the Zoom R8 multitrack, which has a headphone socket, but although this is a pretty good approximation, it seems to struggle with some of the crazier pedals and distortion - I thought it was the fault of the headphones but in actual fact it's been suggested that I need some decent cab simulation before going into the Zoom. The local guitar shop suggested a Mooer Radar, with perhaps a preamp just before it, at the end of my pedal chain. I tried out the Mooer 006 'Fender' preamp into the Radar in the shop, and they seemed to work really well with the pedals before them. I know it's still headphones, but, y'know....

Other than that, I was considering getting a Boss Katana Mini or something. But I'd rather have an almost full sound in headphones than a quiet practice amp.   

munckee

joetele said:

I've been looking into this issue a lot recently since I have a 2 year old and the only time I get to play is when he's asleep - so it has to be silent practice sadly. Previously I've been using the simulated XLR output from the back of my Peavey Valveking  into the Zoom R8 multitrack, which has a headphone socket, but although this is a pretty good approximation, it seems to struggle with some of the crazier pedals and distortion - I thought it was the fault of the headphones but in actual fact it's been suggested that I need some decent cab simulation before going into the Zoom. The local guitar shop suggested a Mooer Radar, with perhaps a preamp just before it, at the end of my pedal chain. I tried out the Mooer 006 'Fender' preamp into the Radar in the shop, and they seemed to work really well with the pedals before them. I know it's still headphones, but, y'know....

Other than that, I was considering getting a Boss Katana Mini or something. But I'd rather have an almost full sound in headphones than a quiet practice amp.   

The THR with headphones in sounds really good, stick reverb etc on sounds really full, need to be decent headphones though.  I'm sure the Adio's etc would be similar.

ArchtopDave

Fortunately I live on my own in an old house with 2 foot thick stone walls. I do have neighbours, and have checked with them from time to time to see if they have any concerns, which they never have had. I mostly play though a Rivera Jazz Suprema (50 watt valve amp) which sounds good at any volume. I have occasionally, when the neighbours are out, turned my glorious 35 watt Rift Vibro 63 up to 4 or may a little more, which is bloody loud in the bedroom.

Grangousier

I have a Fender Greta, which I bought on here almost on a whim (as I was after a Roland JC40 the seller listed at the same time) and is probably the amp I use the most. It sits on the table next to my chair, and if I want to play the guitar I just plug in to it and switch it on. For playing at conversational levels - about the same volume as an acoustic for me - it's perfect: noodling along with the TV or radio, or practicing or just playing, nothing fancy. It's not versatile, really, but it responds in its own way - at loud conversational levels it starts to break up, especially if you put a hot pickup into it - and it's far preferable to a normal solid state practice amp or trying to fake a big amp in a tiny box. 

I'm sure there are other one or two watt valve amps out there. 

joetele

munckee said:

joetele said:

I've been looking into this issue a lot recently since I have a 2 year old and the only time I get to play is when he's asleep - so it has to be silent practice sadly. Previously I've been using the simulated XLR output from the back of my Peavey Valveking  into the Zoom R8 multitrack, which has a headphone socket, but although this is a pretty good approximation, it seems to struggle with some of the crazier pedals and distortion - I thought it was the fault of the headphones but in actual fact it's been suggested that I need some decent cab simulation before going into the Zoom. The local guitar shop suggested a Mooer Radar, with perhaps a preamp just before it, at the end of my pedal chain. I tried out the Mooer 006 'Fender' preamp into the Radar in the shop, and they seemed to work really well with the pedals before them. I know it's still headphones, but, y'know....

Other than that, I was considering getting a Boss Katana Mini or something. But I'd rather have an almost full sound in headphones than a quiet practice amp.   

The THR with headphones in sounds really good, stick reverb etc on sounds really full, need to be decent headphones though.  I'm sure the Adio's etc would be similar.

How does it sound with pedals? They're a pretty huge part of my sound,even for silent practice...

munckee

joetele said:

munckee said:

joetele said:

I've been looking into this issue a lot recently since I have a 2 year old and the only time I get to play is when he's asleep - so it has to be silent practice sadly. Previously I've been using the simulated XLR output from the back of my Peavey Valveking  into the Zoom R8 multitrack, which has a headphone socket, but although this is a pretty good approximation, it seems to struggle with some of the crazier pedals and distortion - I thought it was the fault of the headphones but in actual fact it's been suggested that I need some decent cab simulation before going into the Zoom. The local guitar shop suggested a Mooer Radar, with perhaps a preamp just before it, at the end of my pedal chain. I tried out the Mooer 006 'Fender' preamp into the Radar in the shop, and they seemed to work really well with the pedals before them. I know it's still headphones, but, y'know....

Other than that, I was considering getting a Boss Katana Mini or something. But I'd rather have an almost full sound in headphones than a quiet practice amp.   

The THR with headphones in sounds really good, stick reverb etc on sounds really full, need to be decent headphones though.  I'm sure the Adio's etc would be similar.

How does it sound with pedals? They're a pretty huge part of my sound,even for silent practice...

Not so good although I haven't tried many, with the amp choices plus reverb , delay, phaser etc I can't usually be bothered to get the pedals. 

joetele

munckee said:

joetele said:

munckee said:

joetele said:

I've been looking into this issue a lot recently since I have a 2 year old and the only time I get to play is when he's asleep - so it has to be silent practice sadly. Previously I've been using the simulated XLR output from the back of my Peavey Valveking  into the Zoom R8 multitrack, which has a headphone socket, but although this is a pretty good approximation, it seems to struggle with some of the crazier pedals and distortion - I thought it was the fault of the headphones but in actual fact it's been suggested that I need some decent cab simulation before going into the Zoom. The local guitar shop suggested a Mooer Radar, with perhaps a preamp just before it, at the end of my pedal chain. I tried out the Mooer 006 'Fender' preamp into the Radar in the shop, and they seemed to work really well with the pedals before them. I know it's still headphones, but, y'know....

Other than that, I was considering getting a Boss Katana Mini or something. But I'd rather have an almost full sound in headphones than a quiet practice amp.   

The THR with headphones in sounds really good, stick reverb etc on sounds really full, need to be decent headphones though.  I'm sure the Adio's etc would be similar.

How does it sound with pedals? They're a pretty huge part of my sound,even for silent practice...

Not so good although I haven't tried many, with the amp choices plus reverb , delay, phaser etc I can't usually be bothered to get the pedals. 

Ah OK. I think I'll stick with the idea of the two Mooer pedals for silent practice, especially if I'm only ever using headphones at home. 

Matt_McG

I use a THR with pedals and it sounds fine. I've read others complaining that it doesn't play nice with some pedals, but I've never found anything that I have an issue with. I don't totally blast the THR with super high output from the pedals, they are all mostly set to unity gain, or unity plus a bit. Works fine.

Pedalboard into THR10 with headphones is my standard practice regimen. Laptop plugged in via USB for backing tracks, and for recording my practice sessions.

RMJ

Helix and monitors. Best sound I've ever had at low volumes

joetele

Matt_McG said:

I use a THR with pedals and it sounds fine. I've read others complaining that it doesn't play nice with some pedals, but I've never found anything that I have an issue with. I don't totally blast the THR with super high output from the pedals, they are all mostly set to unity gain, or unity plus a bit. Works fine.

Pedalboard into THR10 with headphones is my standard practice regimen. Laptop plugged in via USB for backing tracks, and for recording my practice sessions.

That's good to know - I've been thinking about a THR just for something fun, but the Mooer preamp and Radar could probably suit me as I'd avoid needing to use any amp and just add those to my existing setup. Especially as they're convenient mini pedals. 

rivercider

Not to knock THRs at all (as mentioned, I had three and loved them), but the Vox does it all just a bit better in my opinion, and has a lot more amp models plus effects built in, especially when using the app.  Plus its nice to send Youtube backing tracks etc to it over Bluetooth to jam along with.  I know the THR does this too, but bluetooth/wireless is nice.   

darthed1981

Sound like the Vox handbag has stolen the THR's crown as "slightly overpriced praccy amp of choice"...

I'd like to try one, tried a THR at the last jam and it was decent enough but not enough over the little Blackstar ones for me to go drop £250, but maybe the handbag is a bit better?

NelsonP

Quiet home practice = modeller plus headphones.

Not very rock n roll but the best solution for me.

Hick81

I bought a Smokey cig amp from @JerkMoans  for this very reason (2 small kids in bed by 8). I love it, really great garage rock sound. 

Well, I did love it until my 2 year old ripped it apart with his bare hands. So not the most durable but whilst it was alive I never got any noise complaints from the wife or kids 

JerkMoans

Hick81 said:

I bought a Smokey cig amp from @JerkMoans  for this very reason (2 small kids in bed by 8). I love it, really great garage rock sound. 

Well, I did love it until my 2 year old ripped it apart with his bare hands. So not the most durable but whilst it was alive I never got any noise complaints from the wife or kids 

OMG!

Are the guts of the thing salvageable? You could retrofit into a chic Silk Cut pack, or similar?

Hick81

JerkMoans said:

Hick81 said:

I bought a Smokey cig amp from @JerkMoans  for this very reason (2 small kids in bed by 8). I love it, really great garage rock sound. 

Well, I did love it until my 2 year old ripped it apart with his bare hands. So not the most durable but whilst it was alive I never got any noise complaints from the wife or kids 

OMG!

Are the guts of the thing salvageable? You could retrofit into a chic Silk Cut pack, or similar?

That’s not a bad idea, although all the wires have been ragged out as well.

I’ll just buy a new one with the birthday money his Grandparents gave him...that’ll teach him! 

slacker

I use all my amps and turn the volume down. For home drive the friedman be od is awesome.