Boss Waza-Air Bass Guitar Wireless Headphone Amp

Boss Waza-Air Bass

The announcement this morning of the new Boss Waza-Air Bass wireless headphone practise system was not much of a  surprise. The regular Waza-Air for guitarists has been a very popular product, initially selling out on launch and creating a huge buzz in the process.

BOSS Waza-Air Bass the perfect practise rig?

Space for your Bass

Now it’s the turn of our bass playing brothers and sisters. The system archtecture is the same, just with what Boss is calling ‘five expressive amplifier types and over 30 effects optimized for bass’ on offer. The system uses Boss’ spatial technology and has an integrated gyro sensor; just like the guitar version, you can place your playing within a 3D virtual environment and hear yourself in the mix, making it far more realistic than a regular practise setup.

Practise Time

Boss throws in a basic suite for practising, including 10 acoustic drum grooves and what Boss calls an ‘advanced metronome’ with 32 rhythms available. These should help you get your groove on and play in the pocket.

Don’t forget that this whole system works coupled to your smartphone via Bluetooth so you can play along to your favourite recordings, backing tracks and demos as well. This setup allows you to control your bass guitar volume and the Bluetooth audio playback. Six user-configurable tone settings can be tweaked. Boss says you can expect five hours of playing time with the headphones, and up to 12 hours with the included WL-T Transmitter.

Boss Tone Studio

A big component here is the BOSS Tone Studio app, available for both iOS and Android mobile devices. It’s a tool to configure all these settings and edit, organise and playback your tracks. The onboard tuner has audible tones, but the visual chromatic tuner built into the Boss Tone Studio app is available too, so you have both types at your disposal.

Added Extras

An optional EV-1-WL Wireless MIDI Expression Pedal allows you to map controls, then assign them to effects and settings, so you can get on with playing. Boss also makes an optional CB-WZ-AIR carry case that will hold the system, charger and USB charging cables.

Benefits for bass?

I know that when you use the regular Waza-Air that the 3D spatial algorithms really do make a huge difference and that the latency is negligible. I can see this being an attractive, enjoyable system for bass players to lock into the groove and get ready for rehearsals, practise new songs and just have some fun playing their instrument. What we can’t figure out is why the bass version is €120 more than the guitar version.