Best headphone practice amp type thing

ThePrettyDamned

As above.  

Just finished a sweet little rant in SC, and now want a headphone practice tool.  Let's say I have, say, £100 to spend.  It has to have a clean sound.  It has to have a heavy metal rhythm sound.  It has to have a dripping-with-gain lead sound.  And, most importantly, it must have a metronome or, better yet, drum loops.  

Complex drum loops would be nice, but I doubt I'll get that.  

So far, the Korg Pandora seems to be the choice.  But just in case anyone has a better alternative that *doesn't* require the booting up of a borrowed laptop and an interface to plug in to work.  Just quick and easy. And acceptable sounding if possible.  

Fretwired

Got an iPhone? Try a Line 6 Sonic Port. Plenty of amps and effects via the app and the ability to load backing tracks and such like.

ThePrettyDamned

Nope, I'm a phandroid user.

Grumpyrocker

If you can save up a little more then it sounds like a Zoom G3 would suit you. That has a looper and drums. 

stickyfiddle

If you're not an iOS user the G3 is probbly your best one-box solution.

Shame, because Jamup Pro XT is blindingly good.

steamabacus

Secondhand Line6 JM4 looper? You might find one at a shade over £100.

assat012

I use a boss micro BR (the old 4 track one).

Sounds great through headphones, has drums and you can loading backing tracks onto it.

Can be picked up on ebay for 60_70 quid.

ThePrettyDamned

assat012 said:

I use a boss micro BR (the old 4 track one).

Sounds great through headphones, has drums and you can loading backing tracks onto it.

Can be picked up on ebay for 60_70 quid.

Might be a winner, if I can create a drum track and upload it on.  

Cacofonix

ThePrettyDamned said:

assat012 said:

I use a boss micro BR (the old 4 track one).

Sounds great through headphones, has drums and you can loading backing tracks onto it.

Can be picked up on ebay for 60_70 quid.

Might be a winner, if I can create a drum track and upload it on.  

It has inbuilt drum tracks and you can construct a drumbeat using them.  I still haven't figured out how to use it though, and I've had the unit three years.

Edit:  the new one might be better.

One point of note is that the headphone socket is now getting tired, and as it's all SMC, I can't find a replacement, and if I could, probably couldn't re-solder it.  It has been brilliant during its time, but I feel cheated that it is non-fixable in any practical sense.


Edit 2:  It has metronomes at various time signatures.

monquixote

G3 all day long. 

You'd easy get one for £100 SH. 

Only stupid thing is the lack of a line in.

ThePrettyDamned

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.

if it works nicely as an effects board, and the wah is good (rather with amp models) then it could lead to me selling some pedals, too. 

samzadgan

Its good and the headphone emulation is good too...i had the regular G3...but don't sell any pedals. 

Like i said, its good enough and does the job, especially the mod and delay pedals, but for me it would never replace real pedals.

ThePrettyDamned

samzadgan said:

Its good and the headphone emulation is good too...i had the regular G3...but don't sell any pedals. 

Like i said, its good enough and does the job, especially the mod and delay pedals, but for me it would never replace real pedals.

Gah, that's a real shame.  Hopefully, it'll stop me bidding on Boss CE-3's at least! 

MPH

I know this is not strictly a 'headphone practice tool', but if you can stretch your budget by just £9 (or look for a much cheaper S/H one), I can recommend the Vox Mini5.

It has everything you have asked for.

1) Clean, 2) Metal, 3) Lead, 4) Drum Loops, 5) Emulated headphone output.

And, due to the fact it is a combo, you can use it without headphones, should you want to.

samzadgan

@ThePrettyDamned ...i have an update on my search for a small solid state head...i bought a Crate Powerblock, mainly to use with headphones.

and I tried it for the first time last night.

the clean is good, no character, but its clean...the best part for me is that i get to use my own pedals with it...which i did.

the headphone audio quality (using Bose over-ear headphones) is surprisingly good. Its emulated output, so that helps and the character of the pedals definitely gets through. its not the same as going through a cab etc, but i didn't expect it to.

If i had to compare using this set up with the zoom g3 with its on board effect and headphones, i would say the crate option is actually better, plus the added bonus of using the pedals i have spent so much time/money to acquire.

just a thought...

57Deluxe

BOSS ME-5