Silent or quiet practice in the evening - what setup can you recommend?

[Flappydoodle]

Guitar -> Interface -> Amp Sim -> Headphones

Works 100%. NeuralDSP amp sims are amazing. And by going through the computer you can also play along to drums, backing tracks or just jam with Spotify

 

[Steinmetzify]

Well yeah, if you got a Herbert you're gonna play the damn Herbert lolol

Right?! I’ll switch it out for the Orange or Egnater but yeah. Tube amp/loadbox/interface/comp most of the time.

Works best for me.

Travel a lot, on the road I’ll go guitar/interface/Mercuriall whatever/Reaper.

Their XTC sim is killing it for me lately. I know NDSP is the lately hype but I like Mercuriall a lot better.

 

[c7spheres]

Just give everyone else ear plugs when they complain. Then you can still have it loud. jk.


- My vote goes to either a load box on the amp or a modeller with headphones. Headphones get annoying though but I feel give a better playing experience than attenuators and are a closer experience to actually playing really loud. They also make you deaf like a loud amp if you turn them to loud but you can forget there's no cab there.

- Studio monitors on either the load box or modeller setup is probably the best way to play without headphones at low volumes though. With those you can still work on your tone and mixes with progress and potentially get usable results.


- Attenuators are still really cool though. If you pump a smaller cab like a 1x12 and use it as your main tone you can still make it sound good and just go through a PA for louder applications. This way nothing about your rig changes. Problem is they're still usually to loud at bedtime levels unless you get a good one that can do it that low, and well.

- Blues Juniors can sound really good at low volumes as a pedal platform, even for heavy chugs stuff with a chug pedal. They even feedback and everything like they're loud. No joke, they're pretty sweet. For bedtime levels you have to put the volume around 1/64. Plus they still get loud enough to jam with too, depending on the music you might want a mic to PA on it.

 

[odibrom]

+1 on the regular rig + captor loadbox into audio interface and headphones.

I use 2 captor 8ohm to get the stereo out of my rig: Triaxis preamp, G-force fx unit, 2:fifty poweramp. Although the captors' own analogue cab simulators aren't brilliant, they're good enough to play through out the night and if I'm in the mood for it, I'll open REAPER and record whatever I'm working on. Having a computer as a "mixer" allows one to play-along with whatever youtube video/backtrack/etc. you may want.

 

[4Eyes]

IR cab simulation is your friend - either IR loader in pedal format, or as reactive load for your amp or as a plugin on your PC, whatever you can use - speakers, headphones doesn't make huge difference - electric guitar on it's own, when picked hard to sound right, is loud enough "to be an issue" in the evening if kids are around.

I use audio interface/PC setup and amps sims, I've used tube amp with reactive load and IR loader either with headphones or monitors and I was/am able to get usable and satisfying tone without disturbing anyone at night, even with people sleeping in the next room

 

[Jeff]

I use either an HX Stomp or tube amp into Captor X.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Axe-FX II into studio monitors or headphones. It's already integrated with the rest of my studio stuff and computer, so it's easy enough to jam along to songs or record scratch tracks so I don't forget riffs. Probably overkill for that purpose, but I've had it for years and it sounds killer

I also own an HX Stomp that acts as a catch-all for oddball effects and a solo boost/eq in my main rig, so I've also been tossing around the idea of purchasing Helix Native. For what it's worth, that would probably be my first choice if I didn't already have the Axe FX

 

[Steinmetzify]

Also have a Fryette GP/DI; that thing is sick for late night playing. 1 watt tube amp that’ll actually drive a burly 2x12 but it’s got a reactive load built in and a tunable cab sim that you can defeat.

I have it in the truck with me right now, and I’ll usually defeat the cab sim and use IRs in my DAW when using it but the built in shit works great.

 

[DEUCE SLUICE]

Is your goal to practice or to dial in tones?

If it's to practice, strongly recommend the Waza Air. That and an iPad are the best practice combo I've ever had - it's the only thing that's actually pushed me to practice more. It sounds good enough to use for practice, for sure.

 

[mongey]

I just bought a boss katana 50 for this exact reason . and I'm super happy with the purchase .

sounds great on .5w mode at low levels and sounds good with headphones

to be honest its making me question why I have my dual rectifier when I'm not in bands anymore

 

[Alex79]

Thanks to everybody for their advice, it's been really useful to see the breath of practice of others in the same situation. I was expecting a lot of advice to use either a laptop or a small amp plug for headphones; it seems the three most popular options are:

- Audio interface into laptop
- Loadboxes for amps
- Separate modeller such as HXStomp

I'm going to look into these and probably start with the laptop approach.

 

[WarMachine]

Chances are if you get an interface, you'll end up recording a lot. If you do that, save some $$$ and get some plugins. Helix Native/Overloud THU/Neural etc.

 

[laxu]

Thanks to everybody for their advice, it's been really useful to see the breath of practice of others in the same situation. I was expecting a lot of advice to use either a laptop or a small amp plug for headphones; it seems the three most popular options are:

- Audio interface into laptop
- Loadboxes for amps
- Separate modeller such as HXStomp

I'm going to look into these and probably start with the laptop approach.

The laptop and plugins approach will always have the highest latency so it has some effect on the feel but usually not too bad. Personally I like having real knobs to adjust and sit on the computer enough as it is so a hardware digital modeler is my preference for your usecase. There's also something to be said for having an all-in-one setup that works without a hitch.

 

[BabUShka]

I use HX Stomp and Positive Grid Bias FX through an interface.

I think the stomp works best. Simple to use. No layency and no noise. But Bias FX sounds better and has a way bigger amp database to choose from.

 

[maggotspawn]

Pod Go. Inexpensive and sounds killer.

 

[MoJoToJo]

I have an el cheapo GP-100 ( $100 ) I use for noodling while staring at the idiot box & hooked it up to my THR10X aux input. Sounds ok for what it is & can get extremely low volumes. Or just hook guitar up to a THR10X for very good low volume practice, I doubt anyone would complain about noise. Just not big on using headphones for extended periods.