Double Bass Headphones

[redtomfunk]

Hi all,
how are your experiences with double bass and headphones?

I have no problem with bass guitar (I go only through DI, no mics). When I practise on my Marcustico (haven`t tried with my double bass) I feel I have a good rich sound through a speaker but in heaphones I get a sound that doesn`t cut (missing mids).
I have top quality equipment (Sarno V8, Sarno black box, Headway EDB VAP preamp, Ehrlund mic, various mics, UAD Apollo)
Is it something any of you guys have experienced.
As headphones I use some Phil Jones Bass ones. I plan to change them next year but it would be interesting to hear whether you guys have got advices also for headphones that make a difference.

For the moment I am thinking that I probably lack a cab sim

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

The only reason I can think of to use headphones with a double bass is to practice finding the range for an upcoming recording session, where it can sometimes be disconcerting to hear the bass in the mix if you are recording in the booth away from the other instruments. In those situations, I usually resort to some variation of the time, honored “one phone off one phone on” scenario.

I think the problem is the use of headphones themselves, which can’t really re-create the sound of the bass in the way that we hear it naturally. On a recording session last year, the engineer put me through an amazing $12,000 vintage tube Mic, and the resulting recording sounded fantastic. But tracking was still the same issue with not hearing the bass in the way that I usually do. So I kept one of the phones off and the other one. I think it’s just the nature of the beast.

 

[JBarz]

Headphones are a giant can of worms on their own. I suggest you start following the r/headphones subreddit to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Personally, I’ve modified a pair of Grado cans to be extra beefy for bass practice/study. I can’t tell you how invaluable it’s been to have a pair of cans tuned to double bass for transcribing otherwise faint lines. Not at all ‘accurate’ or ‘flat’ - not great for mixing, but different tools for different jobs.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

The problem with headphones is that the sound does only reach your ears, not your body/bones.

A low frequency shaker that would be driven by the amplified bass signal too might bring a bit of that back, but then it must be mounted to a bit larger plate that gets attached to the players body (sitting on it or mounted at the back are my best ideas for that).

I never tried it (I don‘t own a shaker), but that might bring back a bit of the body feeling that you miss with the headphones only.

With headphones only it might help if you can get an individual mix, not the general one for all players, on your headphones with a stronger bass signal, but the studio might not have enough monitor channels or separate headphone amps to allow that.
Of course EQ typically goes on both, recorded track and monitors. Monitors might have EQ too, but that applies to the whole mix of instruments there.

 

[redtomfunk]

Thanks for all the good answers.
Anyway probably my headphones are not the best for acoustic instruments. Mine are PJB H850 (Edifier H850, close back).
Maybe different headphones with a flatter response and open back would help

 

[Ed Fuqua]

I'm hard pressed to think of a situation in which I would be listening to my acoustic instrument through headphones, with the exception of DURRL'S recording scenario. Although the last two recording sessions I was on were done close mic'ed, behind goboes, but the full quartet in an open room with no headphones....

 

[ole Jason]

Open back headphones do help but mostly because you'll hear more of the actual bass in the room. The downside is that if you're recording and playing along with a click or stems they can bleed through if the mic is sensitive enough. I do recording sessions at home for a few friends fairly regularly and they'll send me tracks that just need bass added. I generally use close backed headphones and just turn up the bass track loud enough that I can make sure the intonation is on. Adding a HPF can also help you hear the bass better, you can set it higher than it needs to be to really bring out the mids to make sure you're in tune.

All of this is with recording in mind. I never practice upright with headphones.

 

[redtomfunk]

The whole reason for me asking is I normally rehearse in headphones with the Marcustico which doesn`t have enough acoustic sound. The reason I am thinking about open back headphones is I have read they normally have a more natural sound with less bass boom. I am considering AKG K701/702 which should be quite flat in response or beyerdynamic DT-990/DT-900

 

[redtomfunk]

I have fixed my issue by changing headphones and using the phase switch on my preamp.
I have always thought of using the phase switch to maximise bass frequencies but it worked against me so from now on I`ll be using it more creatively

 

[Ric Vice]

Glad you found a solution. I’ve only used headphones for practicing EB when I was traveling and couldn’t use an amp or recording.
I love the Beyer Dynamic’s with the partially open earpiece because there’s adequate isolation for recording DB with tracks and you get the
acoustic sound coming off the instrument For years I used Fostex T50RP’s because the low end frequency's response is 7 hz, their flat earpieces and
you replace the connecting cable, sliders, and ear pads.