I am now completely wireless tracking and HEARING guitars in the studio

[Dinosaur David B]

A couple of years back, I picked up the Xvive U2 Wireless System and I've been playing guitar cordless ever since. Truly not much better than that. 
 

I found -- to my surprise, I could even record with them. By that I mean I A-B'd them against a guitar cable, and not only was there no latency, there was no appreciable difference it tone that I could hear (as I am not Eric Johnson).  So I recorded the entire Last Chance album wirelessly from guitar to amp. 

The big win there was that the guitar chord no longer got tangled in the headphones chord. When you're recording yourself, you are constantly taking the guitar off, working in the DAW, putting the guitar back on, tracking. Repeat, repeat.  The old way, those two cords CONSTANTLY tangled up. Especially since my 7506 cans use a curly cord. 


Anyway, going wireless on the guitar took away HALF that problem. But the other half remained.
Do you put the guitar on OVER the headphones so it's easier to take it on and off?
Or do you put the guitar on UNDER the headphones so it's easier to track without your guitar strap pulling on the cord?

Neither way is perfect.

This week, I solved that problem with the TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ headphones from AIAIAI.  These $350 wireless headphones use a low-latency transmitter (rather than Bluetooth) that plugs into your AI to let you track wirelessly track your instruments. They also DO have a Bluetooth setting if you want to use them just as wireless listening headphones. 

But the big deal here is now no more tangled cords! And you're also no longer physically tied to the console. You can keep the cans on if you need to go across the room for some reason. 

I was HIGHLY skeptical of them working, so I bought them from Amazon so I could return them if they didn't cut it. The advertised latency is 16ms. And I can tell you that on my system, 16ms is just short of being too much latency, and problematic. But they DO work!

And like all electronics, I'm sure future-gen products will get much lower latency, but I'm recording an album NOW. In a couple of years from now I'm sure multiple companies will likely be doing this better and cheaper. 

So this is another game-changer for me NOW. I just spent 4 hours tracking guitars without issue. Guitar to amp wireless. Headphones to DAW wireless.

I can also tell you these cans don't sound quite as good as the 7506s for tracking and editing, but they're certainly good enough and I'm happy to make that tradeoff for wireless.  Not sure how they sound as straight up Bluetooth listening headphones, but I'm sure there are better and cheaper ones for that. 

Here's a quickie demo/review:



 

[Stitsel]

This is super cool, thanks for sharing. We can lament the "good 'ol days" forever, but some of the modern day tech is by far cooler huh.....

As far as guitar goes, I've been wireless forever, once you get used to it, there's no going back. I've found the little plug in & play ones are ideal & simple, but the old transmitter  pack on the strap ones going to a receiver either on the pedalboard or in a rack or whatever, are probably more trustworthy for live....but for just dinking around the house the little cheapo ones work just fine. They always work great for small garage jams/rehearsal type situations. 

I knew it was just a matter of time before studio type headphones started going wireless, this is great.

[Dinosaur David B]

This is super cool, thanks for sharing. We can lament the "good 'ol days" forever, but some of the modern day tech is by far cooler huh.....

 

I agree with you. For years I was a total gear snob, tube purist. And while there are some things I still insist on (like my own amps for recording), I've come a lonnnnng way in terms of embracing technology. ESPECIALLY the technologies of CONVENIENCE. 

I can look back over the last 20 years and truly MARVEL at how differently I do things now than I did then.

What I practice and work out song/solo ideas through.

• Early 00s: Korg Pandora - you could patch your MP3 player into it.
• 2010's: Tascam Guitar Trainer. You could load mp3s into it. 
• Late 2010s: iRig HD2 with AmpliTube 4 - stream with wires from my laptop. 
• Recently: BOSS WAZA AIR wireless headphones - stream wireless from my laptop or phone. 

What I use to play live.

• Early 00s: Marshall head and 2 1x12s or an 80w 1x12 combo
• 2010s: Lunchbox heads in stereo 2 1x12s (I'd still do this live if/when it mattered)
• Recently: Blug Amp1

What I use in the studio. 

• Early 00s: A physical, Roland digital 8 track (128 virtual tracks) recorder that had a 2 inch LCD screen and recorded on 250MB zip disks. Real amps, real cabs, real mics.
• 2010s: $5K Mac Pro, Logic DAW, real amps, real cabs, real mics.
• Recently: $750 Mac Mini, Logic DAW, real amps, simulated cabs, simulated mics.

And to be honest, nothing about any of the old sounded better or was easier than what I have now.  One of the best things is that with the simulated cabs and mics (aside from them being incredibly good, and taking up no space), you can blast away, anytime, day or night and not bother anyone. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Stitsel]

It's a great time huh. I have enough gear for recording ( MAC, Reason DAW, UA Apollo interface etc. ) that I can get some pretty killer tones at home without cranking up the real amps....I just need to conquer the learning curve with this stuff. Simply YTing it doesn't always work....I need someone to slow walk my caveman brain through this shit, but I'll get it someday. 

But for my relatively small investment, I can make some killer sounding demos at the least. 

[Dinosaur David B]

It's a great time huh. I have enough gear for recording ( MAC, Reason DAW, UA Apollo interface etc. ) that I can get some pretty killer tones at home without cranking up the real amps....I just need to conquer the learning curve with this stuff. Simply YTing it doesn't always work....I need someone to slow walk my caveman brain through this shit, but I'll get it someday. 

But for my relatively small investment, I can make some killer sounding demos at the least. 


 

Surprised with a Mac, you're not taking advantage of Logic Pro. When I first started with it -- version 7 I think it was like $800. Now  it's $200 and it has an amp farm, pedalboard effects, and a very intuitive drum machine made for songwriters.  For the kid with no money, you could do it ALL in the box. 

Best resource I had for the basics was this guy: 

https://www.youtube.com/@recordingrevolution

Wealth of info on basics.  We also have a bunch of conceptual stuff in the DRG KB.  
 
 

[Stitsel]

That link is an excellent resource....thank you much!
 

[Dr Nick]

This looks very cool.
Here's a thing: at the moment my rehearsal studio (well, garage) works using 3 powered speakers and a crappy 8 channel mixing desk, vocals + keys through this, live guitars/bass/drums. Anyone know of a not too expensive system that would allow in-ear monitors instead? 
Save hearing!

[Dinosaur David B]

There are people who think in-ear monitors actually harm your hearing. 

Like everything else, I'm sure they make a range of in-ear monitors from cheap to expensive. Check Musician's Friend, Sweetwater or the UK equvalent.

[Dr Nick]

I guess it depends on how loud you turn it up, like anything else. I'm torn - I prefer the live feel, with the audience in the background. But recently I had to do an improvised solo and discovered that it was easier to hear what I was doing, and I possibly played more confidently as a result. 

I read somewhere that all of Def Leppard use in-ears, apart from Sav who insists on monitors. And because he goes all over the stage, they have to set up the same number of monitors as in the old days, plus the in-ears for everyone else. 

I guess they can afford it. 
 

[Dinosaur David B]

If you're not worried about hearing damage, my understanding is that the in-ears are a lot better.