Yamaha SILENT Brass Trumpet Mute SB7X-2, Complete System

My schedule is pretty tight and most of the time I have available to practice is after my daughter goes to bed. This means I need a solution that allows me to give my chops some exercise, but also doesn't disturb the sleeping members in my household. Other practice mutes do allow for substantial noise reduction, but the tone is off which makes practicing some things a little difficult. However, with the auido-reconstruction Yamaha does with this mute, you get the noise reduction AND you can faithfully hear what you're playing. Definitely not 100%, but so close that I can still work on things like tone and finer details I simply cannot do with a standard practice mute. Further, I used to have a tendency to over-blow practice mutes (since they're so quite) which led to shorter sessions overall. With this mute, you can hear yourself loudly in the headset, so that doesn't really become an issue.There is only 1 complaint I have with this product, and it's not enough of a problem for me to remove a star. The headphones they ship this with are literal garbage. I used them for a whopping 15 seconds and immediately tossed them. Get a set of over-the-ear headphones for sure. They don't even have to be mega-quality studio headphones. I have a Logitech set (see, everyone name-drops fancy headphones here, but I don't have those and wanted to say that even non-fancy headphones work great) and it works magically. I really think they should just not include those ear-buds they send. I'd suggest maybe shipping with a better pair, but that would end up increasing the price which currently stands at "worth the money" and just isn't worth it.Included earbuds aside, this is a fantastic product for literally any level of player (but the newer the player, the more valuable this is...). I also think this is a must-have for new players. I remember when I just started and was quickly shown just how hard it is to make decent sounds with this instrument. Unmuted, I was always way more timid and less willing to take "musical risks" and attempt things I knew would come out terrible at first. Getting a system like this allows you to really push your own boundaries without making the others in your house/apartment/immediate area suffer. That means you can really push yourself, and you won't feel self-conscious about doing so. This helps you as a player build a lot more confidence, and I even find myself using the mute less (during the day when people are awake) a lot more. Confidence is one of the top 3 most important things to have when playing, and this system also helps you build that.If you're on the fence, seriously just get it. I know it's just under 200 bucks and that's not an insignificant amount of money, at least it wasn't for me, but its worth every cent and you will not regret it. I cannot say enough good things about this product and wish it had been in my life much longer ago.

This is a must have for any horn player. I was previously using a Dennis Wick practice mute. The silent brass is considerably quieter with about the same resistance (maybe just a bit more). With the personal studio, the resistance is much less noticeable because it actually sounds like you don’t have a kit and I think it kind of tricks you into adapting to the resistance of the mute. The sound is amazingly realistic, and helps you hear feedback from your playing much better than with a regular practice mute. The mute fits almost completely inside the bell so it can fit in almost any case.Could the product conceivably be better? Sure- Bluetooth compatibility and more effects options would be awesome. Some organization/ some kind of case for the cords would be nice. Some have complained that the unit should have more features or better build quality for the price. Compared to a ordinary practice mute that might cost $15, ten times that much may seem expensive, but it really isn’t much when you think about what it is. This is not in the same category as those cheap practice mutes, it’s an electronic device. And considering that good headphones or a quality guitar pedal cost $300+, I’d say Yamaha has delivered an amazing value on an unprecedented product. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this cost $1000 and was meant just for professional musicians; there is no other product like it that I am aware of.Sure, playing an open horn is the best practice, but how many of us live alone in a detached home? If you play or anyone who lives with you plays, don’t hesitate!One note: when I first tried the personal studio, I thought it was defective, but is was just because I thought I had the headphone and mute jacks inserted all the way, but I didn’t. The audio jacks on the unit are very stiff- you have to push them in really hard until they are in all the way.

I can echo many other reviews here: it's a great system overall. The earbuds are junk; I'd hate to see the anatomical monstrosity they would actually fit. Yamaha would do well to forget the earbuds and include a set of cheap AA batteries.The mute itself is about the same quietness as the Bremner mute I have been using, but is more free-blowing. In my case, I found my range with the mute is a little higher that it is with the Bremner. I rarely get a chance to practice without a mute, and when I do I'm working on sound and pitch accuracy, not range.The mute "cork" is some sort of tacky rubber compound, so this thing does NOT fall out. I hope it stays tacky. I hope also I can keep it clean.I was surprised it fits in the bell of my small-bell pocket trumpet, since Yamaha says it does not work in piccolo trumpets and that's about the size of the small pocket trumpet bell.The two reverb settings are lots of reverb and a ton of reverb. I wish there was a reverb off setting, but there is not. I wonder if some of the reason is to make it harder to compare the sound in the phones with an unmuted trumpet. That's about my only nit to pick.

Works great! Noise reduction is amazing. Sound quality is very nice.

I love the system, it's surprisingly working very well: there is not so much air resistance while playing (still is of course) and the mute is efficient as hell. You can play at 2AM and people could sleep in the next room without hearing your annoying learning ranges (your sights and frustrations would be louder).But Yamaha... WTF with those horrible low-quality earphones?! You're well known for your sound items, so don't ruin this good product with cheap earphones... Especially at this price.The missing star is for the price and earphones.

Muy buena sordina, con un poco de resistencia. El audio es muy Real cuando se conectan los audífonos. Muy recomendada para cuando no se tiene espacio para poder estudiar.

I had the original Silent Brass decades ago, and although good, it never replaced unmuted playing. I haven’t really played for years since moving into my flat, because I didn’t want to upset neighbours. The latest version of Silent Brass is much, much smaller and lighter than previously, has much less blowing resistance, and the sound quality is very realistic. I am now enjoying playing nearly every day. The only negatives for me are that the controls on the side are not well designed, and I cannot really adjust them without looking carefully, and the batteries seem to run down quickly if left in overnight. Best to remove batteries when you finish practice.

I love, Love, LOVE the SilentBrass.It's 20 years since I stopped playing trumpet, and I'd been putting off starting again because I live in a condo townhouse with a condo board that enforces the rules with relish. I'd worried that at the first hint of 'noise' we'd get one of the notices the board members love to serve. With the SilentBrass, I've been able to practice at all sorts of time of day - even in the small hours of the morning - without a problem.My wife worried that it does still make some noise (it's a mute, after all, and air - and therefore sound - have to come out somewhere) but I sat with a noise meter right next to me, and it registers around 60-70dB (60 is the same as a quiet street, 70 is like a normal conversation).Many people complain about the earphones. I found them passable, though I recently switched them out with a set of musicians' in-ear monitors, not because I HAD to, but because I saw a decent set at an unbeatable price and couldn't help myself :)I've also had fun feeding the signal from the SilentBrass into a guitar effects pedal. If you've ever wanted to "shred" your trumpet like a rock god, this is your chance! (Google "SilentBrass effects pedal" and you'll discover many people are doing it). I can see some great applications for that in ensemble playing.The sound is pretty accurate. There's a slight reverb at the lowest setting, but it's designed to mimic a typical room rather than an acoustically dead studio, which is probably more realistic for most players (who aren't professional recording artists). It does change the tuning of some of the fundamentals, and you do end up overblowing slightly because of increased resistance, but it's close enough for most purposes.The Aux socket is invaluable. I can play an accompaniment recording on my iPad, feed it through to the SilentBrass amp, and hear the backing and my own playing mixed together.Now for the cons:1) you'll find yourself draining the spit valve every few minutes. I can go through a half hour lesson without the SB and maybe open the valve once. At home, with the SilentBrass in, it starts to gurgle like bad plumbing after a few minutes of playing.2) The preamp is separate from the mute, so there's a cable from the mute to the amp, and your headphones plug into the amp. The cables get tied up in knots (especially when there's an aux cable in the bag too) and it takes me a few minutes at the start of every practice session to disentangle everything. There's a competitor device that has the electronics built into the mute, which seems much more sensible. I understand why Yamaha did it - it's easier for them to manufacture, and if you play multiple instruments, you can buy a mute for your trumpet, another for your trombone, another for your French horn, etc., and just connect them in turn to a single preamp - but I just don't like the setup.3) I do find myself getting tired and blown out a lot more quickly. Long notes are hard to sustain, and sometimes, I can't even make it through a long piece without stopping to catch my breath. Part of that may well be me, but I suspect a lot of it is the backpressure created by having a mute that pretty much seals the whole instrument off.4) it would be great to be able to turn off reverb altogether, especially for recording.Even with those 4 cons, I'm still giving this a five. Without it, I'd either be having to rent a practice space or move.Ultimately, using a SilentBrass with your trumpet (or any other brass instrument) is rather like a drummer using eDrums instead of an acoustic set. You need to make adjustments to your technique, and it does alter the quality of your sound, but if the alternative is not being able to practice at all, this could save your chops.Update after 5 months==================I still love the SilentBrass, and after using it for a few months, here's my feedback.1) I recently bought a flugelhorn, and the separate preamp is no longer a con. I simply had to buy the mute for the flugel and I can switch between the two as I change instrument. That saved me at least a hundred dollars, so it was a definite plus.2) I've tried the trumpet mute in a Bach Strad (37 bell), a B&S soprano cornet, a Jupiter 600ML trumpet, and a Jupiter 520 cornet. It fits all of them perfectly.3) This thing is tiring. The backpressure does get to you. So, I've taken to practising with a cup mute during "sociable" hours, and using the SB in the evenings and at night. But I still miss being able to blow freely. I've found that our local Long &McQuade music store rents out the teaching studios quite cheaply when they're not in use, so I've ended up going there a few times, but in the long term I'll probably end up looking into soundproofing a practice space or buying a booth.So, overall, this is perfect for its intended use, and I wouldn't be without it. But - and it's a big but - you do need to find a way to practice without a mute if you can.

The mute is lightweight, you barely notice the weight difference when the mute is inserted inside the bell. It doesn't really affect the intonation. The sound that you hear through the earbuds is incredibly realistic to the sound of your open trumpet.The little black box is very basic and easy to use, there is a volume control, a natural studio sound and a reverb mode, that's it no unnecessary controls and it fits inside your shirt pocket.The mute offers little resistance when blowing but it's no big deal, you get used to it and it is easy to adapt to this by blowing less hard. The system is incredibly quiet, a person behind the door of a practice room won't hear a sound. What is really nice is that it doesn't have that annoying "hiss noise" that the older models used to have, I still have the early model from the 1980 and it still works great apart from the hiss and the fact that the mute would fall out occasionally. The new mute doesn't fall out, Yamaha introduced a type of rubber around the mute that seems to stick to the inside of the bell. Also, there is almost no condensation that accumulates inside the mute even if you practice for a few hours compared to the older models that would be dripping after a while and that affected the microphone inside the mute that would become less responsive.The only negative point are the earbuds that don't stay inside your ears, they seem to be too big and they fall out all the time. You can correct this problem without having to buy new earbuds by going to the local Radio Shack store or something similar and buy very inexpensive earbud foam covers (+ \ - $2 ) that cover your earbuds, this will prevent them from falling out all the time.I highly recommend this product, with this system you can practice at all hours of the day or night and you now have less excuses for not practicing. 😂

Excelente calidad del producto, realmente se siente bien al practicar o ensayar, cumple lo descrito