Who owns a Waza Air?

JodyJames

Lazily reposting myself from an old topic:

Yes, they are expensive, but for me it's worth the price of admission for the wireless capability, the very decent modelling, and the fact that they're pretty good headphones on their own. It's so much better and more convenient than any other headphone-based solution I've used - I've bought a Pod Go since then, and good though it is with some decent headphones, I use the Waza Air more. The best thing I've found is that I almost never play electric guitar unplugged any more, and this has had a positive effect on my playing. I expected benefits to come from just playing more, but my touch and dynamics have improved a lot by not hammering the guitar to get any sort of volume - after almost 30 years of playing, it's striking to have a piece of gear make a difference like that. 

All of my gear lives in a large cupboard, safely away from the wrecking ball that is my son. Even with everything you need for a wired setup within easy reach, it still takes a few minutes to get going, and then there's always the possibility that you end up down a rabbit hole with your pedals etc and don't actually practice. With the Boss headphones you can be plugged in and playing within 30 seconds - which means you will, and often. That's what you're paying for.

Just so I don't sound like a shill/fanboy:

- the gyro feature does not work, and it wouldn't be my cup of tea even if it did
- it would be better if the ambience could be dialled lower than the current minimum level
- I wish it was USB-C rather than micro-USB, and that the battery life was a bit longer.

Perhaps these are the kind of things that might be ironed out in any future v2 release, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy them regardless. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

Seziertisch

JodyJames said:

Lazily reposting myself from an old topic:

Yes, they are expensive, but for me it's worth the price of admission for the wireless capability, the very decent modelling, and the fact that they're pretty good headphones on their own. It's so much better and more convenient than any other headphone-based solution I've used - I've bought a Pod Go since then, and good though it is with some decent headphones, I use the Waza Air more. The best thing I've found is that I almost never play electric guitar unplugged any more, and this has had a positive effect on my playing. I expected benefits to come from just playing more, but my touch and dynamics have improved a lot by not hammering the guitar to get any sort of volume - after almost 30 years of playing, it's striking to have a piece of gear make a difference like that. 

All of my gear lives in a large cupboard, safely away from the wrecking ball that is my son. Even with everything you need for a wired setup within easy reach, it still takes a few minutes to get going, and then there's always the possibility that you end up down a rabbit hole with your pedals etc and don't actually practice. With the Boss headphones you can be plugged in and playing within 30 seconds - which means you will, and often. That's what you're paying for.

Just so I don't sound like a shill/fanboy:

- the gyro feature does not work, and it wouldn't be my cup of tea even if it did
- it would be better if the ambience could be dialled lower than the current minimum level
- I wish it was USB-C rather than micro-USB, and that the battery life was a bit longer.

Perhaps these are the kind of things that might be ironed out in any future v2 release, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy them regardless. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

I used to do quite a bit of playing on unplugged electric guitars which was great for developing bad habits such as not damping strings which you don’t want to sound as well as not differentiating how and where you strike the strings because it didn’t really make a difference to what you heard.

If I had had the Wazas when I was first starting to play I’d be a much better player today.

Seziertisch

Wazmeister said:

I’ve just got a pair of these… wow, they are very impressive. Review to follow.

When I have a bit more time for a set up I use the Waza for speaker simulation and a PettyJohn Predrive, the Big Trees, an API Tranzformer, an Effectrode LA-1A and a ChaseTone Secret Pre for the amp sounds. Loads of fun. 

ToneControl

they are very good, but it doesn't cover all tones, so 9/10
I would recommend it to anyone

JodyJames

Seziertisch said:

JodyJames said:

Lazily reposting myself from an old topic:

Yes, they are expensive, but for me it's worth the price of admission for the wireless capability, the very decent modelling, and the fact that they're pretty good headphones on their own. It's so much better and more convenient than any other headphone-based solution I've used - I've bought a Pod Go since then, and good though it is with some decent headphones, I use the Waza Air more. The best thing I've found is that I almost never play electric guitar unplugged any more, and this has had a positive effect on my playing. I expected benefits to come from just playing more, but my touch and dynamics have improved a lot by not hammering the guitar to get any sort of volume - after almost 30 years of playing, it's striking to have a piece of gear make a difference like that. 

All of my gear lives in a large cupboard, safely away from the wrecking ball that is my son. Even with everything you need for a wired setup within easy reach, it still takes a few minutes to get going, and then there's always the possibility that you end up down a rabbit hole with your pedals etc and don't actually practice. With the Boss headphones you can be plugged in and playing within 30 seconds - which means you will, and often. That's what you're paying for.

Just so I don't sound like a shill/fanboy:

- the gyro feature does not work, and it wouldn't be my cup of tea even if it did
- it would be better if the ambience could be dialled lower than the current minimum level
- I wish it was USB-C rather than micro-USB, and that the battery life was a bit longer.

Perhaps these are the kind of things that might be ironed out in any future v2 release, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy them regardless. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

I used to do quite a bit of playing on unplugged electric guitars which was great for developing bad habits such as not damping strings which you don’t want to sound as well as not differentiating how and where you strike the strings because it didn’t really make a difference to what you heard.

If I had had the Wazas when I was first starting to play I’d be a much better player today.

Likewise - even reaping the benefit now leaves me slightly wistful about what could have been!

Just to reinforce the point... I happened to bring them to my parents' house yesterday for my dad to have a go - he's been playing for the best part of 60 years and I don't mind admitting he's a more talented player than me. He also rarely gets the opportunity to plug in and, unprompted, basically said exactly the same thing about the difference it made to his touch when playing. I've asked him if he fancied a pair before, but my mum needs round-the-clock care and he worries about his attention wavering while using them. I'd argue he could do with the respite (as would she), so might keep planting the seed now I know he likes them...

pmbomb

yes - I live in a noise intolerant house (I get told to turn it down when playing unplugged ...). I use them daily. 

(the gyro feature doesn't work, forget about it).

monquixote

What puzzles me is I think they use the modelling from the katana which many consider crap, yet everyone seems to rave about them.

Seziertisch

monquixote said:

What puzzles me is I think they use the modelling from the katana which many consider crap, yet everyone seems to rave about them.

The 3D spatial thing is what makes them special. 

pmbomb

monquixote said:

What puzzles me is I think they use the modelling from the katana which many consider crap, yet everyone seems to rave about them.

it's not about the tones for me it's about convenience and form factor. the tones are good enough.

the headphones can simultaneously handle the guitar input (via MIDI, no detectable lag), a connection to the Tone Studio app for editing and a Bluetooth connection for a backing track, from a separate device to the app if needed.

all cable free, plug in and go. makes my so called "bedroom amps", which in my experience sound rubbish at true shared-house bedroom level, redundant.

if you only practice somewhere you can crank your amp, you don't need it.

pmbomb

Bass version - new AFAIK https://www.boss.info/global/products/waza-air_bass

The app appears to have a metronome and some grooves for jamming - no idea if that's a new bass specific app or it's an upgrade to the generic Waza Air app.

TimmyO

I wonder why it isn’t just a different set of patches in the app? 

pmbomb

dno - would have thought it would work for bass anyway.

could be just a marketing strategy.

monquixote

It's a bit disappointing if you can't use both versions for guitar and bass. There is simply no need for special guitar and bass versions of modellers these days.

pmbomb

yeah - does the hardware need to be different to handle bass in any way?

otherwise, I don't get it. just a different set of models that can be loaded from the app anyway.

or it's a marketing strategy, brand a product specifically for bass players to get targeted PR and market presence.

fretmeister

pmbomb said:

yeah - does the hardware need to be different to handle bass in any way?

otherwise, I don't get it. just a different set of models that can be loaded from the app anyway.

or it's a marketing strategy, brand a product specifically for bass players to get targeted PR and market presence.

Wouldn't be the first time.

the MXR 5 knob compressors are identical and yet the money is very different.

stonevibe

Also a price rise for bass version