Back in December 2019, stomp veteran and music gear maker Boss launched a pair of wireless headphones called the Waza Air that squeezed in premium amp tech and effects, and allowed a player to connect to an electric guitar sans cable. Now bass players can also get in on the quiet practice action.
Practicing bass lines at home can be problematic for others in the house. Even if you lock yourself away in the basement or loft, the low frequencies can rumble through the walls and floors. Donning hi-fi headphones does allow you to play quietly, but they generally lack the kind of depth needed for a satisfying session.
The Waza-Air Bass system offers a similar sort of full-fat user experience to the Waza Air headphones for electric guitar. Players cover their ears with the angular earcups, power on, plug a transmitter into the instrument jack, choose an amp emulation and effects, and bring on satisfying thunder that only they will hear.
The amped-up over-ear cans put just 12 oz (320 g) on your head, and Boss is promising ultra-low latency over the 2.4-GHz wireless connection between the transmitter and headphones thanks to technology drawn from its proprietary WL-series digital system.
Five different amp types are available for "everything from clean and punchy modern sounds to vintage and driven tube-style voicings," and players can tap into more than 30 effects. A bunch of acoustic drum patterns are also available to help tighten up your playing, and a metronome is in there too.
There are different ambience modes too – one places the amp inside a virtual room for a recoding studio experience, another makes use of the built-in gyro and spatial algorithms to alter the immersive sound depending on head movement, and the third creates a virtual backline to deliver a full-on stage-like feel.
Six memory slots can store favorite setups for quick recall, and the headphones can pair over Bluetooth with a smartphone running the Tone Studio app for tone tweaking, access to the effects library, and rhythm control. Jamming along to tracks streamed from the smartphone is also possible.
Per-charge battery life for the headphones is reckoned to be around five hours, while the 2-oz (43-g) transmitter can span multiple sessions with its 12-hour usage life.
The Waza-Air Bass Wireless Personal Amplification System goes on sale in November for US$449.99, with an optional sturdy carry case costing an extra $29.99. The video below has more.
Product page: Waza-Air Bass
