Play guitar through earphones????

[nodehopper]

onewily!!!  I have one of those TASCAM MP-GT1 doo-hickys.

It does work pretty well. I have loaded MP3s on it and played along with earbuds.

Some good things about it. It has multiple volume controls ..i.e. Master volume, guitar input volume and a volume to set the balance between guitar and MP3 playback. There is no way you can't get it so the levels are right for you.

I have some decent earbuds ....they were about $40 and it does sound good.

The loop feature is very awesome. During playback you hit the loop button once and it sets a beginning tab then you let the song continue till it gets to where you want it to stop and set the end tab. The portion between the tabs will now loop until it drives you insane or you get what you wanted to learn. Hit the loop button a third time and it re-sets the tabs away. Very Nice Feature!! Great for learning licks etc.

The slow down and + and minus pitch both work as advertised ...BUT only to a certain degree ....i.e. a 20% decrease in speed will make the music sound just a little fluttery or odd. (hard to describe the sound..but it isn't perfect)

OK so now some of my critiques.

The buttons / menus are so-so. I have used it for hours, yet I can still get frustrated trying to navigate and do a few simple things. Again....not terrible ...not bad ....just so-so.

Battery life is again so-so. nothing bad but I did finally get the plug in power supply. I got tired of getting everything set up cords - guitar- earbuds.....and then finding my batteries were low and you can't use it when it is plugged in via USB to charge. Plug in AC adapter is $19 on Amazon.

And my biggest complaint is the Amp sound effects. In my opinion they just suck ass. 90%of their presets sound like Death Metal or  some Alien Space Creature. So I tried the customize feature and after a couple hours I just gave up and plugged a Boss Overdrive Pedal between the Tascam and my Les Paul and was much happier. Not a big deal.... it just makes the whole thing less convenient.

So I would say that it is definitely worth-while. It does what it advertises mostly and be prepared to use a pedal if you want a good sound.

************** Tech Notes to save frustration ********

Make sure you use non-DRM MP3s

Never use a USB hub to transfer files onto it. Only plug it directly into the USB port on the computer itself. The hub will mess it up and you will get file errors trying to transfer music onto it.

Don't make yourself deaf ...it can get loud !!!



Stephen......   Ain't no more potatoes, the frost have killed the vine ......
Well, the blues ain't nothin' but a good woman on your mind MJH

Gibson CJ-165

WASHBURN 125-ANNIVERSARY-R316-SWRK PARLOR                                

Martin D 16 H

Gibson Les Paul Studio Premium Plus

[onewilyfool]

Hey Node.....can you transfer I-Tune files from a Mac? Or, do you have to translate them into MP3's first? Thanks

[nodehopper]

quote:Originally posted by onewilyfool

Hey Node.....can you transfer I-Tune files from a Mac? Or, do you have to translate them into MP3's first? Thanks

I believe the majority of ITunes music has DRM (Digital Right Management) included.

I only use DRM free music (i.e. I buy the CD and rip to MP3 then archive the disc) so I can't say from experience. Right after I got it I vaguely remember seeing a post about it and the person was having issues with play back and I believe the problem was ITunes DRM music.

I do like mine and I would suggest getting one and trying it out.....worst case is you have to burn the ITunes DRM music to CD then rip the CD to MP3 to remove the DRM (The dirty little ITunes secret that everyone including Apple knows) You will lose a little quality, but for practice applications I don't think it would be an issue unless you are a real Hi-Fi-Guy.

Stephen......   Ain't no more potatoes, the frost have killed the vine ......
Well, the blues ain't nothin' but a good woman on your mind MJH

Gibson CJ-165

WASHBURN 125-ANNIVERSARY-R316-SWRK PARLOR                                

Martin D 16 H

Gibson Les Paul Studio Premium Plus

[dschwartz]

Consider getting a compact headphone amp like the Vox Amplug. I use the Audio Technica ATH M50X guitar headphones instead of in-ear headphones.