Do you want to play your electric guitar with headphones plugged in? It should be known that there are different types of headphones and obviously different uses or purpose. In this article you will learn about the best headphones for electric bass guitar practice.
Why use Headphones While Playing a Guitar?
There are a few reasons you might want to use headphones while practicing with your electric guitar:
- Your crew or neighbors start to hate you because you always play with the amplifier all the way.
- You want to hear better the sound of your instrument.
- You want to learn to record your guitar a headphone is a great alternative for the budget and just as effective.
Headphones for electric guitar practice will certainly not feel as powerful as the amplifier, but it will be suitable for your guitar sessions, recording, as well as listening to your favorite tracks.
Type of Headphones to Play with a Guitar
You must know that there are different types of headphones, whether by their sound, design or connectivity.
Headphones Connection
- Wired Headphones: undoubtedly the best solution for an optimal sound and a very affordable price.
- Wireless Headphones (Wi-Fi, Hi-fi): a good response time but can disrupt the electronics nearby.
- Bluetooth Headphones: maybe not the best option in this situation! Indeed, Bluetooth is a technology that is still prone to latency. This latency might affect guitar practice so not recommended.
Headphones Design
There are headphones that will isolate you or not from the immediate environment!
- Open Headphones: you hear perfectly what is happening around you and others will also hear some of your music.
- Semi-open Headphones: it insulates slightly better than the open headphones.
- Closed Headphones: it allows you to reduce the external noise. When you listen to music, it’s rare to hear what’s going on around you.
- In-ear Headphones: these are smaller devices that go into the ear and they are usually less sophisticated.
- Noise Cancelling Headphones: Headphones that cancel the ambient noise by sending an inverted signal: you are there, perfectly isolated and cut off from the world. Read more here.
Headphone Sound
In concrete terms, all the headphones you find on the market have a slight equalizer to give you certain sensations by listening to any type of music. In short, the sound is changed by your headphones.
On this note I recommend you buy monitoring headphones for your guitar practice. Monitoring headphones are used in the recording studio. They try to have the most neutral and authentic sound possible.
I personally have two monitoring headphones and they are the best investments I have made. You will hear your favorite music in a very different way by noticing certain instruments that you have never identified.
My Top 2 Best Headphones for Electric Guitar Practice
1. Audio-Technica ATH-M50x – Best for Guitar Practice
Rating: 4.5/5
Price: Here on Amazon.com
The ATH-M50 is a monitoring audio headphones with a very good construction and relatively low cost. Without extravagance, it is available in black and white. As soon as you pick it up, you have the feeling of having a quality product. The matte raw plastics and the silver headband surrounding the Audio Technica logo have an exemplary finish.
The assembly is very good, the hinges seem sturdy to fold, but also to rotate the headphones 180 degrees. The joints slightly brake the auricles to prevent their accidental overturning.
The adjustable aluminum headband also seems to last in time. The pads are quite rough and their foam is not very flexible. Everything is connected by a spiral cable finished by a mini-jack connector with adapter 6.35mm screwed.
This headphone is primarily made for the professional world, whether in a studio / production use or live mixing. The M50 offers a percussive sound, but bass that hangs a little on certain pieces. The scene is wide and the accuracy of the sounds and the positioning is consistent.
Usable with most types of electric guitars. This type of headphone is intended for home studio use, mixing or for recording sessions. The closed design makes it possible to isolate itself from the surrounding noise. More details here.
PROS
- Great sound reproduction.
- Solid design
- Very comfortable.
CONS
- Heavy on bass
2. Audio-Technica ATH-M20x – 2nd Best for Guitar Practice
Rating: 4/5
Price: Here on Amazon.com
The professional ATH-M20x monitoring headphones are a great addition to the acclaimed M-line. Though slightly cheaper than the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x. Modern design and high-quality materials combine to provide a comfortable listening experience, with enhanced audio and effective isolation. An extraordinary choice for tracking, mixing and even guitar practice.
The critically acclaimed professional M-series monitoring headphones provide precise sound and extraordinary comfort, making them ideal for long sessions in the studio and on the road. The contoured ear cups are firmly adjusted to provide excellent sound isolation, with minimal pickup of unwanted sounds.
In addition, the professional quality of the materials gives it durability, as well as comfort. This headphones is an unparalleled combination of audio quality and manufacturing that performs its work perfectly. Hour after hour, year after year. More details here.
How to Connect Headphones with a Guitar
Quick note, never connect your headphones directly to the jack output of your guitar! You may not get a good sound and damage your headphones. Indeed, the intensity emitted by your guitar microphone would be incoherent compared to the signal that the headphones is waiting for.
This is also why you often hear about DI box (direct input) to connect the guitar first and then re-inject the signal in a mixer for example to optimize the reception of this signal. I have had the Beaspire PDI-1G Guitar Direct Injection Phantom DI Box for short time and still loving it.
You can safely plug your headphones into your guitar amplifier only on the headphone output called “headphone”. You can also connect headphones using a jack adapter from the “small jack” to the big “jack”. The VOX AP2CR amPlug Classic Rock G2 Guitar Headphone Amp is about the best of this device you can get. Pop 2 AA batteries in it and you are good to go. If you need a rechargeable option I recommend Mugig Guitar Amp which gives you about 4.5 hours practice time from a full charge.
