A practice gamechanger for bassists? Boss reveals Waza-Air Bass headphone amp

Boss is bringing its headphone amp system to bass players with the Waza-Air Bass. Using its spatial technology to give bassists an amp-in-a-room feel wherever they go, with onboard effects, amp models and rhythms to play along to.

The Waza-Air Bass features an integrated gyro sensor to track your head movements as you play, driving  3D algorithms that produce the feel of playing with a traditional amp in a space.  

Waza-Air Bass even provides three virtual environments to play in; Surround mode places the amp in a virtual room for a recording studio experience, Static mode provides natural spatial localisation, where the gyro sensor is integrated to combine amp and room sound that continually changes depending on where the player moves their head. 

Stage mode delivers a "full-on performance experience", according to Boss. Your amp sound comes from a virtual backline behind you, that combine with along with the onboard drum patterns or your choice of music streamed from a smartphone to play along to.

The Waza-Air Bass's capabilities are realised with the free Boss Tone Studio app with inspiring presets, five different bass amp types and over 30 effects from the Boss library. When you dial in your own favourite tones you can save them to the six onboard memory slots to call them up quickly as needed. Then you can start jamming along with your own virtual drummer.

Ten acoustic drum patterns are available with the Waza-Air Bass. You can control BPM and reverb control  for them in the app and there’s also a metronome with 32 rhythm variations, including time meters such as 5/4 and 7/4.

The wireless Waza-Air Bass includes a transmitter with built-in rechargeable batteries plus auto standby and wake functions to get you playing fast without wearing down battery life needlessly.

The Waza-Air Bass Wireless Personal Amplification System will be available in the  in November for $449.99. The CB-WZ-AIR carrying case will also be available. More info at Boss. 

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