MELONARE PM-1 for Bedroom Practice
I was visiting a local guitar shop and a salesperson introduced me to the Boss Waza Air wireless guitar amp system. As I was playing with the Waza Air, I really enjoyed the lack of wires and great amp modeling, but I was turned off by the price and single specific-use aspect of the product.
The Waza Air only works with the one instrument you buy it for. So, the guitar version might partially work for bass or keyboard but the amp modeling is focused on guitar. Since it’s an all-in-one unit, the Wazas also only support the amp & effect models that Boss provides. The $350 price tag on top of the single use case just seemed like too much. I’m also not an impulsive buyer, so I needed to do some research at home before buying something like this.
When I got home and did some research, the Yamaha YH-WL500 appeared to be the main alternative to the Waza Airs. They connect to the headphone-out port of your instrument or amp modeler and transmit that signal to wireless headphones. I suspect that the YH-WL500s are a great product, but I’m still not sure if they’re worth the $350 asking price to me. I wanted to try something out that didn’t create such a big hole in my wallet because I wasn’t sure how frequently I would want to practice guitar or bass with headphones.
It’d be convenient to use bluetooth headphones to hear what you’re playing on an instrument, but there is a quite noticeable delay between playing a note and hearing it through bluetooth headphones. The latency with bluetooth audio is too high to stay in rhythm with a song you’re playing. The advertised latency of the PM-1s is 6ms. To my ear, the latency is imperceptible. Even when using an iPad app for modeling, It feels like audio is hitting my ears as soon as I pluck a note on my guitar.
I ended up purchasing a Wireless In Ear Monitor (IEM) system called the Melonare PM-1 for this purpose. I can mix and match this gadget with various amps, modelers, iPads and headphones depending on what I’m trying to do. And at $80, the PM-1s are substantially cheaper than both the Boss and Yamaha products I was considering. I really like that the PM-1s fit into my existing audio investments as opposed to being totally separate.
The Waza Airs do have a couple of big advantages over using an in-ear monitor with your existing kit. First off, The Waza Airs feel much more integrated. Everything you need to do to hear your guitar is right there in the headphones and transmitter. Secondly, with my setup there is a guitar cable running from my guitar to an amp or iPad. The guitar cable doesn’t bother me nearly as much as long headphone cables annoy me, but there is definitely an appeal to a completely wireless setup that the Waza Airs provide.
To me, the Yamaha’s YW-WL500s don’t have much benefit over the PM-1s. The integrated receiver/headphone unit is a little less clunky, but you only get the one headphone option. With the PM-1s, I can use whatever headphones that I already know I like.
So, if you’re practicing a musical instrument with headphones and are interested in doing so with wireless headphones, I’m happy to recommend the PM-1s as a wireless in-ear monitor system that does the job.