Headphone Practice amps

[jazzyvee]

In a moment of frustration, yesterday I bought on-line a Phil Jones BigHead headphone amp as the last straw was when the jack plug of my few months old Vox Amplug bass snapped off in my Europa bass. This is the second one to fail on me since the beginning of the year. I have a PJB briefcase amp which is superb and thought, why don't I stop messing about and just get something professionally made to do the job for when I'm doing quiet practicing. 
I have to say I do like the sound of the Vox Amplug but it is so cheaply made it never felt like it would last although the previous one lasted a year.



I think I've made the right choice although i've not tried one. Annyone here have one and can comment on what I'm letting myself in for?

[hammer]

I've got one and use it all the time for practice with the H850 headphones. I love it. The battery powering the Bighead hasn't lasted the full 8 hours they claim but darn close. Recharging the unit in between uses is easy via a USB connection to my computer. I usually like to plug things in but the size of the preamp is such that I can put on the headphones, stick the preamp in my back pocket and move around wherever I want. 

My experience with PJB equipment has been exceptional. Great technical support (at times from Phil himself) that comes very quickly.  I called a while back because I had a faulty speaker in my rig that needed fixing and the replacement arrived in less than two days for no extra charge.

[jazzyvee]

Thanks, I also ordered the headphones. I do have a briefcase amp from PJB which sounds great but unfortunately i caught the graphic EQ sliders when picking it up out of my boot, (trunk), and three of them broke off.

[wfmandmusic]

I got a vox two weeks ago and it didn't work right out of the package. So I exchanged it for a different model vox. My gut told me to just get a refund and buy something else but I didn't listen. You would think at this stage of life I would learn. I'll check out the PJB after my vox breaks.

[jon_jackson]

I have both the Vox and the Phil Jones Big Head. I much prefer the PJ BH over the Vox. It works with Alembics MUCH better than the Vox, cleaner sound, and lets the Alembic tonal character come through the headphones. The Vox has its own sound and a degree of background noise which colors everything. It was OK before I got the PJ BH, but I will never go back. I think you have made a great choice.
Jon

[jazzyvee]

Both arrived in the post yesterday however the headphones seem faulty. The box has had a heavy drop on the edge and the sound from the headphones is quite distorted even at low volume. I usually use Sony headphones and I like them although they don't have a natural sound. So I'm sending the PJB ones back for a replacement. the Big head sounds good so far. I tried it out with my series II and with the tone off on the PJB and it sounds great very clean and no noise. Just what you need.

[jazzyvee]

Got the replacements back today and they are still distorting even at low volume whereas my bog standard sony closed back headphones  cope fine with the bass and Big Head.  The PJB head phones sound really hi-fi in every way apart from what I thought they were good for and that is bass. It's better on the higher frequencies but once I start closing down the filters to get some more bottom end emphasis they start distorting even though I have the input gain fully off and the bass controls at 50% or less. The volume in the headphones is quite low compared to my Sony headphones.  I've emailed PJB for advice and also put the big head on for a full recharge in case any distortion is coming from a low charge on the battery.

[hammer]

I've run the battery on the Bighead down to zero and it distorts just like my Alembic when it's really low. 


In addition, have you tried it with both your Series and non-series basses. I haven't used my headphones with my series bass yet but will try them out later today

[hieronymous]

I don't know much about these things but could it be an impedance issue? Maybe try putting an effect pedal in between the bass & the headphones? Defeats the purpose but might be worth a shot.

[jazzyvee]

I have been trying it out on my Series basses only as they are the ones I use when practicing at home. Keeps the batteries fresh in the non series ones for gigging. :-) I did lower the output gain on my series I & II basses this evening to see how that worked but It wasn't any better just lower volume but still distorting on the lower notes of the E and the B string. I haven't heard any distortion before from any of my basses so I'm confident those are putting out a clean signal.
I'm sending the headphones back to the shop for a refund then wait till the plastic bits break on the Sony which they will do shortly then investigates something else high end but able to cope with me and my basses. BTW they also distort when I played my alembic guitar and passive stratocaster.

[hammer]

I ran mine with the Series I last night and had no problems.  The sound was totally clean.  Given that there are errors in all manufacturing I could see if the first pair didn't work but would assume that given the quality for which PJB are known, it would be virtually impossible for you to have received a bad second set of phones.  Could the problem actually lie with the Big Head or be an impedance problem as hieronymous suggested.

I'll be interested in learning what you find out when the PJB people get back to you.

[jazzyvee]

I haven't got any response back from PJB and I posted them back to the shop I bought them from this afternoon and will be getting a refund.

[lbpesq]

The Vox headphone/USB inteface mini amp is on sale today as the Musician's Friend Stupid Deal of the Day for $26.99.

Bill, tgo

[jazzyvee]

I think I'm gonna keep away from as many plasticky things as I can in my gear as, I'm finding they are not durable at all. Both of my Vox amp plugs broke. one on the head phone jack and the other on the jack plug.

[David Houck]

I ran across a discussion among guitar players about portable headphone amps, and I remembered that you guys were having a similar discussion.  Mentioned prominently and positively were headphone amps by FiiO.  I don't know if this is on point to the discussion here, but I thought I would mention it in case it might be helpful.