I appreciate the review, and big respect to Mitch, but I'm not sure this video has effectively highlighted the looping capabilities of this machine. In the first example the loop is cut off before the measure completes, resulting in an awkward loop length. In the second example, the first loop is recorded at 6/4 and the second loop is in 4/4 -- I don't think a polyrhythmic composition was intended here. I'm sorry to be nit-picky about this, but this review isn't really doing the product justice. I would suggest a reviewer more familiar with looping fundamentals in order to highlight higher-end looping products like this. Again, no disrespect to Mitch!
DreamBoard!! Headrush Is Such a Trip' They're Quiet For Awhile and Then They Just Appear With Miraculous Awesomeness and Are Like ' Yeah We Kinda Rocked It With This Segment Too ' Your Welcome!👍This Company Truly Lives Up To Their Mission Name'' Headrush!🎸🔊🎼✌
Just ordered this yesterday. The main reason I'm getting it is for the midi sync. Just tired of working around the RC300's need to be the master, and especially since I also use Ableton. Got a good deal on the financing $19 a month for 48 months. Without that I would have just soldiered on with the RC300. Im into using backing tracks more so than live looping on every song. This will make my show prep so much easier.
I wish. I'm sending mine back. The RC-300 was made with the live-looping musician in mind. I'm not sure who they spoke to when they designed this but, as Matt Bolton has been saying, it's missing some very basic features. It's all software stuff, though--the hardware is really breathtaking--but until they fix it, it's a big problem. I've been using an RC-300 for years and I'm still discovering things Boss thought of that I hadn't but that make perfect sense in a live situation.
@@gladejustglade Yeah, this is what bums me out the most. The RC300 came out 7 years ago! and has more LOOPING capabilities than the headrush. That's the key, the RC300 is designed for LIVE performance... yes the headrush's hardware is really nice quality and they thought of some new things...but why didn't they just have it FIRST do everything the RC300 can and then ADD to it!? Ugh. Frustrating. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the "Loop Settings" menu should be pages long if its the most powerful looper of all time! It's literally half a page. That says a lot. I hope they can fix these things in firmware. A lot of people don't even realize all the stuff that is in the menus of the RC300 (because the menus are so antiquated like a 1980s video game), that's why they think this Headrush is such a step forward.
The more I think about it the more powerful I realize this piece is. Would love to just play with this in a studio for a couple hours! Although I'm curious, what Zoom recorder are you guys recording into?
Super , best , same purpose, as a sounds voices mixers. But ....this are two steps more , than the mixers....solid build. Best looper board 's.. sd cards slots, and more ... like 👍
Is it possible to record all four tracks simultaneously? For example is it possible for me to hit record on a "master" button for example that starts all four tracks recording at once? Thanks heaps guys! 😁
Hi, Majelen! Thanks for your interest. Yes, you can record onto all four tracks simultaneously. There are several different looper modes on the Looperboard, but in most of them, you can enable each track to record and then hit the “Start/Stop All” footswitch to start them all simultaneously. Hope this helps, and feel free to contact me directly with any further questions! Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
I have a WDW rig and have a looper right before the stereo power amp. It plays back exactly the sound and effects I played while recording. Pretty much what I want....except it only plays back through the left and right wet speakers and is overpowered when switching to a gain sound as the live sound also comes out the center speaker. Can I route this looper so it works as it does currently only it also playsback through center dry speaker? Possibly by sending one of the outs to dry amp effects loop.
Yes, unfortunately that's the ONLY way it works (hitting stop and it still keeps recording til the end of a measure) But if you tap the button just a little late (beyond the end of the measure) it assumes you meant to add an extra measure. You MUST hit the button early...unlike other loopers that give a little bit of leeway for people new to looping. The HeadRush must be stopped BEFORE the end of the loop measure or chaos ensues. Everything out of sync. Mitch isn't an accomplished looper, but he's no novice when it comes to musicianship and timing...and he STILL had problems with this thing. Lots of things they need to fix in the software...it may happen though. You never know.
Can this board do repeat/hold? Does anyone know what modern pedal can do this function? Similar to the old mxr unit that Eric Johnson used for his intros and things..
Can you pre-record things like drum loops and save them for future use? If you're putting together a song to perform live at shows, could you pre-record drum loops with a drum machine, store them in the looperboard and then pull them back up to perform at the shows?
The ability to visualize the loops seems like an advantage so you can see where you are at in it to avoid starting to sing or record in the middle of a loop as opposed to the beginning .
I wonder does it have fixed bar lengths? Like, I have one bar of percussion I play on my guitar, and then it'll let me record the entire verse to use later for a solo, and then plays the verse from the beginning when I push that channel? That's the Boss RC300 feature I use the most. If this has it I have no choice but to buy it.
100% agree. I actually called and spoke to an engineer at Headrush and they confirmed it DOES NOT have tempo detection. Huge oversight. That's the absolute most important function of the Boss RC-300
Now that I've had a chance to play with it, it does do this, but 1) you can't stop the rhythm track any time but at the end of the bar (as opposed to immediately with the RC-300) and 2) when you play it again, it goes into overdub mode--tough when you need two pedal presses in the middle of a solo.
Glade Wilson thank you for bringing this up. You can stop any track at anytime in Fixed, Serial and Free mode. We are already working on a new update to add more features. As for the overdub mode, this can be changed in global settings. Have you done the firmware update on the official looperboard website?
@@HeadRushFX Yes you can technically change "overdub mode" to "after record PLAY" BUT when you stop a loop there is no simple way to start the loop again in play mode. It automatically goes right to overdub. The only way I've found to start the loop in play mode is by hitting "STOP" which makes no sense. Or hitting "start/stop all" which does you no good if you only want one loop to play. And yes, I'm updated to the latest firmware and know the global settings well. Also, yes you can stop any track at anytime in fixed, serial and free mode like you said. Free mode is basically an added bonus feature for doing soundscapes. Of course serial works that way because its basically a single track looper in series. And finally fixed mode.... fixed mode is for beginner looping, it's for people doing one, two or four bar loops. It is not best suited for a live environment (live production). Looping gets a bad name when someone takes five minutes to create a loop in fix mode. They record 16 bars of drums, then they record 16 bars or guitar, then they record 16 bars of shaker, then they record 16 bars of bass, then they record 16 bars of keys, then they start singing. This is a great fun way to practice at home, but no one likes seeing people do this in a live environment. Sync mode is what makes a looper a useful tool in a live environment. You can create your live on-the-fly production very quickly in sync mode. And this is key....having the tracks STAY IN SYNC when you turn them on and off whenever you want is SO IMPORTANT. Also being able to turn them on and off instantly at the press of a button! The RC300 does this of course. If you put a short drum loop on track one, a long guitar loop on track 2 with chord changes, and a long bass loop on track 3 following those chord changes. The bass and guitar should stay "in sync" with each other when you turn them on and off. They do not in the headrush. This is a fundamental decision on how the looper looks at and treats it's loops. I know this is getting complicated, but think of it this way. If you stop a loop on the RC300 it continues to PLAY SILENTLY in the background behind the drum beat. So when you hit play again it INSTANTLY turns on where it is supposed to be in the chord progression. NOT from the beginning. The way the headrush works, is when you hit STOP it RESETS the loop to the beginning. This is a huge flaw. STOP should not=RESET. This causes all sorts of problems. If whenever you need the bass or guitar or shaker or congos or whatever to cut out in your live performance it RESETS ITSELF to measure one of your loop. It will get out of sync very quickly. There is so much more to "syncing" then the tempos staying in sync. If the bass and guitar are playing different chords (due to STOP reseting) but they are playing at the same tempo...who cares they're at the same tempo! They need to be synced to each other...not JUST the tempo. I'm glad to hear you guys are working on an update. My guess is they will address the glaring oversight of microphone routing and being able to tell the microphone to go into the looper or the PA system with a touch of an external button. (see: the #1 problem of all live performance loopers "microphone feedback loops") The RC300 has solved this by adding a "Mic on/off" external button assign. It works but still requires you to use two microphones. One for singing and one for looping(that you turn on and off with your foot). Please direct more of your efforts towards SYNC mode. That is the mode that is designed for live performance. I play 250-300 shows a year live-on-the-fly-looping with no backing tracks. I have hopes that you will solve some of the many issues I've found. I've sent emails with suggestions and concerns and have received no response, which is concerning. If the next firmware update comes out and the only thing that's been updated is the ability to dim the screen (which is missing) and a microphone on/off assign and none of the concerns or the problems with sync looping have been addressed or even considered ...I'll be forced to jump ship on this thing. For now it waits on the shelf.
can you put backing tracks in serial mode? like keeping multiple pre-recorded tracks of drums and bass, then switching through them as the song progresses?
Hi Bantz, good question! You can absolutely have it set up like that. They even call it serial mode in their manual! You can have each of the 4 tracks act as a different section of the song and cycle through and overdub onto them. If you want to discuss this awesome pedalboard further, just give me a ring! Drake Sobehrad, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3271, drake_sobehrad@sweetwater.com
Can I control the Looperboard using a MIDI controller foot pedal? I just want to be able to hit record with a foot pedal (on ground) and have the Looperboard on a table so I can edit without bending over to adjust stuff… If yes, what midi or usb pedal would you recommend will work?
Hi, Lacerator KV. Yes, the Looperboard can be controlled over MIDI. Which pedal to use would depend on what all functionality you're needing. If you just need something small, the smaller pedals from One Control might be a good option. If you want control over more functions, something like the Keith McMillen Soft Step is really cool, as well. Thanks for your interest! Charlie Davis, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1320, charlie_davis@sweetwater.com
Does it allow the user to preset the number of beats per loop (4, 8, 16, etc.), so there is no chance of clicking out too early, or too late? The E-H 95000 allows this on the fly, but it would be nice to determine the loop length before recording. Thanks.
Can you link looper to the headrush pedal board and if you can what would be the benifits, already have the pedal board and trying to justify purchasing the looper
It doesn't have tempo detection. You can't play a drum beat and create a loop and let the looper figure out the tempo from the loop. It doesn't do that. The RC-300 does. This is a big oversight on their parts. I called Headrush and spoke to one of the engineers and confirmed. Check out my videos to see what you can do with tempo detection. It makes it so you don't have to tell the looper what the tempo is...it figures it out by what you play. Ableton does this. The Boss Rc-300 does this. Why wouldn't the Headrush do this?! Been waiting a long time for an improved looper and am disappointed by this oversight. It makes it WAY less functional in a live environment. I guess it is designed for people that use the dreaded pre-recorded backing tracks. Bummer.
@@christopherpederson1021 I make a living looping and playing live. I've just spent a ridiculous amount of time testing this thing. Yes, it is a big deal. Plus I'm finding all sorts of other gremlins in the way it works. They can definitely update it to have some beat detection, it would remove the step of having to tap in the tempo....and make it so the Master Track is always DEAD on accurate as the MASTER. The MASTER track (track 1) is designed to be your backbeat, your rhythm section in the HeadRush. The Boss RC-300, believe it or not, has a lot more customizability in its looping abilities. I wrote a long detailed critique of the many problems with this looper to HeadRush. Hopefully they will address the concerns. I'm considering making a detailed in-depth youtube review of the shortcomings and pros of this product. The more I use it the more things I find. Yes it has lots of customizability, but the way the looper works for a live environment is not customizable enough. For instance...If you are in sync mode (the mode with the most live performance possibilities), and you want to have a track STOP!. You hit "STOP!" and it continues playing for the WHOLE length of the master loop! Ugh! There is no way to change the way the "Stop" button acts (LIKE IN THE RC-300) So in other words, if you want to cut out the guitar chord track on a 12 bar blues for a little soloing over just bass line and you click "STOP!" on the guitar chord track, the guitar chord track doesn't stop right away AND it resets itself to the beginning. If you hit play again ANY other time other than at the beginning of the 12 bar blues, the chords and bass will be out of sync. You should be able to turn off and turn on tracks whenever you want and they stay in sync RELATIVE to each other. Cut out the bass for a few measures and have it turn right back on a few measures later for dynamic purposes? NOPE can't do it. I GUESS you could bend over and use the touch screen to turn down the volume of the guitar loop...but why would it need to be so complicated?! I want the loop to STOP! I hit "STOP" it continues playing until it syncs up to the first beat of the first measure of the Master track. That's annoying enough as it is...but when you hit PLAY again it starts at the beginning NOT synced to the other track.. (AND it goes directly into overdub mode!!! not Play) I know this might be a little technical for some people and not seem like a big deal if you're not familiar with loopers and how they work...but this is a deal breaker in my book. And if you're just getting into looping it'll make the process less user-friendly and more complicated than it needs to be. Hopefully this is something they can fix!
@@MattBoltonMusic Hey you seem to be the man when it comes to looping. And you definitely now have me leaning towards the rc 300. I'm currently playing out with the digitech trio plus. Can it be used in sync with the rc 300 so I can have the drums and bass backing me up as I play without having to actually create the drumbeat myself on the fly ? Any answers or advice would be much appreciated.
I'm an audio engineer who's been dealing with a couple of these a lot lately- and this product has two REALLY big flaws! 1- You can't assign loops to specific outputs, or the same outputs the instruments that created them are going to. Thus if the user has three different inputs they pick up and put down to create different loops, the audio engineer is powerless to process them differently. This especially becomes a problem with acoustic guitars, where loops greatly intensify feedback, and where the user is inputting vocals or something else that's not a guitar, but it gets all the processing of the guitar channel once it's looped. Or even just going between bass and guitar. Also makes volume balancing much tricker, because you've gotta calculate in advance the differences between the instrument coming from one output, and the loops coming from all outputs simultaneously. 2- I'm told that the only existing user manuals aren't very good, and aren't up to date. BOTH of these problems seriously need to be fixed before this can be called a professional piece of gear.
On the Headrush website it says: "The intuitive audio routing feature enables you to quickly route any of the four inputs, four looper tracks, backing track or click track to any of the four outputs and/or headphone output, giving you the ultimate flexibility to quickly get your sound set up with any sound system." Is this not accurate?
Not exactly. You are limited to three effects "racks," which means you can put the studio rack on all three and have an eq for three channels (a three-knob type), but that's it.
Hello! You can now save loops with the latest firmware update - which Sweetwater actually handles for you in-house before we ship it out. Let me know if you want to get one on order. Thanks for the interest! Kevin Spunde, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1732, Kevin_Spunde@Sweetwater.com
In all fairness to the loop station Mitch did mess his loop up badly where he ended it. You can hear that it's jerky when it comes around to the one. This is rather uninspired demo by him really especially compared to what people are doing with their loopers on RUclips...
No guitar amp sims? No built in drum machine? How is this ‘next level” ? Did I miss something? Seeing as HeadRush makes a killer guitar effect processor they could of take a portion of that and put it into the looper along with a drum machine and now you have a killer all in one looping board worthy of $900. You wonder who designs these things?
Ok, then this is not a good demo of the unit. Why would Mitch not show that? Every guitar player would want to see that. If you want me to do a proper demo of this unit contact me. I do demos for home studio gear all the time for companies. Check out my channel..personally I have been looking for such a board with out having to use additional pedals and drum machines.
Read all the info on Sweetwater site and no mention of on board drum loops or guitar amp sims. If this units does those things among others then boy the roll out of this product is lacking. Oh well, maybe more info will release soon. On the surface it seems like it has a ton of potential and could dominate the looper market.
Yes... BUT... big BUT here: Can you actually chain the "awesome" 4 channel loops? (not just "serialize" individual tracks within any given "loop" which seriously limits what you can "add/mix/chain" into a SONG?) No you can’t!! Ridiculous! What's the point of having a great four channel “loop” if it's essentially nothing more than one "mono-thematic" section of a song!! Actual musicians (and songwriters and producers) KNOW AND HAVE LEARNED that LOOPS ARE NOT SONGS! Even stupid songs have the advantage over “loops” that they can actually have some variation between an “A” section and a “B” section. Not this thing. If you're ONLY into LOOPS, well sure, you might think this thing is great. The fact that Headrush did not provision being able to chain these “awesome 4 channel stereo track/loops” to create actual songs/arrangements from them... (like VoiceLive and a dozen other somewhat flexible loopers ) ... is unbelievable to me! What they do let you do is put any of the four tracks within a loop into a song order...what a load of bull... because what you have to understand is that doing so strips away ALL of the value of having the four tracks! Because your song sections now comprise only one stereo track each ... so now your brilliant “4 channel” machine isn’t any more advanced than a $99 Nuxe Looper, which actually has WAY more functionality because at least with it you can actually chain up to 99 sections/loops! In short calling this thing "the most advanced looper" is just total marketing bullshit. Sorry... it's just another plain STUPID Looper when you actually want to use it in an actual song/arrangement capacity. To be able to chain the actual 4 channel loops (into interesting, changing, textured, MUSICAL SECTIONS!!!) and not just sequence single tracks IN a “limited-to-only-4-sections” capacity ...well, THAT would be very useful Headrush! ... Meanwhile here’s a metaphor for you all to chew on before you go plunk down $900: ”We've got this great new RV fer y’all ... sooo advanced better than any motor-home out there ... every feature imaginable in a "home" ... except ... uh... you can only drive this thing around the block. Doesn't drive on highways." Seriously Headrush! Do your homework! It's like when you came out with the "killer" Gigboard and then totally tied it's lush stereo "sonic hands" with a frikin' MONO FX send/return! You just sucked the life out of every decent pedal I have ... looping into/through your box. Okay... now for a little compassion on my end: I LOVE the Gigboard. I almost sent it back because of that... meaning when I discovered that I couldn’t insert my $600 Strymon Timeline without collapsing it to mono (like essentially turning it into a $99 Boss delay!) ... I originally said, “fuck it”... BUT... in the case of the Gigboard (it really it IS a killer sounding beast) I was actually able to gerry-rig a workaround using a $2 stereo adapter cable from my stereo Timeline back into the aux in. Otherwise I really would have sent it back. Here’s why I’m telling you this: this proved that the Gigboard actually HAS the ability to have a stereo FX send/return... but they DIDN’t integrate it. The Looper also totally HAS the capacity to chain its four channel loops and make it actually highly functional/desirable... but again, they HAVEN’T integrated it! WTF not?? is my big question. It really makes you wonder who’s “drivin’” doesn’t it? My advice: until they get their asses in gear, and stop letting lame-o marketing dweebs run the show instead of integrating needing functionality based on talking to real-world users/musicians/producers/song-writers (or possibly “padding profits” with some down-the-road- “upgrade”)... don’t waste your money and/or support this kind of bullshit!
Wow, I didn't even realize how limited the Serial function was on this thing. I mostly use Sync, so didn't bother delving deep into the serial function. I said it in one of my other comments that the people that think this is "the most advanced looper" just didn't read the manual on the other loopers or were afraid of the user interface (old school menus, attenuator knobs) of other loopers. The RC50 and RC300 have SO many more looping abilities...under the current most updated firmware on the headrush, there is A LOT to be desired. I wonder what their R&D was on this thing when it came to its looping capabilities. They didn't even add a way to turn the microphone on and off with a footswitch. I feel like that's the FIRST thing any live looper would mention if asked. "Hey, don't forget that EVERYONE that live loops has to deal with the microphone feedback dilemma and make sure you add a way to route the microphone in and out of the looper with a tap of your foot, so when you're recording guitar parts it's not also recording your voice". The boss RC-300 has a way to turn the microphone input on/off with an external footswitch. Still requires two microphones, but at least they tried to solve the problem. Headrush didn't even address it in their first two firmware updates. It's like they just forgot about all the people that actually use a looper in a live environment to produce/arrange/on-the-fly.
Hey I'm kind of confused by what you mean that you can't chain them... I was under the impression you could record and overdub and set up your verse loop on 1, then go do your chorus on 2, and switch between them (etc.). Is that not the case? Or do you mean something else
Here’s the FAQ. www.headrushfx.com/kb/article/2470 302 drum/perc backing loops included. There’s amp modeling, but not the same as the headrush pedal/gigboards. I don’t know what the differences are (the faq doesn’t say). Frankly I’m tired of specs. If it sounds right, it is right. As a guitarist that also uses a drum machine and synth to perform it would be amazing if the amp modeling was legit.
Lol yeh noticed that too but he did play a full 4 bars later on so I figured he knew how to end a loop. OAN I own rc303 & 505 and others but I noted some criticisms in the comments here - hopefully fixed in updates last 2 years ?
No loop decay? No resampling? Sheesh, this is basic. Should sell millions. Strictly one for the Ed Sheeran generation, not Robert Fripp/David Torn/Andre LaFosse
@@HeadRushFX I just read through the manual and found no reference to loop decay. Is this function called something different on your device? I've seen it labeled 'feedback' on other loopers. Basically setting the amount the previous loops attenuate after each new layer is added.
Alan Kahler ahhh sorry about that, when we saw decay we thought you meant fade. You can fade any track you want at different rates. In terms of feedback controls that is something that will be added soon.
Not for guitarist! You will need external effects and a midi sync'd drum machine if you don't want to play to a click track! Plus, this thing is huge! RC-300 smokes this overpriced pig!
After you watch, give this video a thumbs up and subscribe! 😎🤘
I appreciate the review, and big respect to Mitch, but I'm not sure this video has effectively highlighted the looping capabilities of this machine. In the first example the loop is cut off before the measure completes, resulting in an awkward loop length. In the second example, the first loop is recorded at 6/4 and the second loop is in 4/4 -- I don't think a polyrhythmic composition was intended here. I'm sorry to be nit-picky about this, but this review isn't really doing the product justice. I would suggest a reviewer more familiar with looping fundamentals in order to highlight higher-end looping products like this. Again, no disrespect to Mitch!
this guy is a virtuoso product demonstrator, here's to you sir!
easily the most concise versed demoer ever
Mitch's demo is better than the official Headrush videos!
DreamBoard!! Headrush Is Such a Trip' They're Quiet For Awhile and Then They Just Appear With Miraculous Awesomeness and Are Like ' Yeah We Kinda Rocked It With This Segment Too ' Your Welcome!👍This Company Truly Lives Up To Their Mission Name'' Headrush!🎸🔊🎼✌
I’m just sayin- Mitch Gallagher deserves his paycheck. A fine demo and product.
Mitch deserves TWO paychecks. YOU ARE AWESOME, MITCH!
Like most things that Headrush makes, this thing is next level!
Hi Mitch, thanks a lot for this excellent video. Many greetings from Germany 👍👍👍
Just ordered this yesterday. The main reason I'm getting it is for the midi sync. Just tired of working around the RC300's need to be the master, and especially since I also use Ableton. Got a good deal on the financing $19 a month for 48 months. Without that I would have just soldiered on with the RC300. Im into using backing tracks more so than live looping on every song. This will make my show prep so much easier.
Hi, where did you get the deal from?
@@PeterMusician musicians friend
@@Shemra Thank you! Great stuff ;)
Wow, great review bud! Thank you!
😎👍
Can it also be utilized as a floatation device?
Now I know why this was the hit of last year's GearFest!
Answered so many of my questions. Thanks
The RC300 has finally met its match
I wish. I'm sending mine back. The RC-300 was made with the live-looping musician in mind. I'm not sure who they spoke to when they designed this but, as Matt Bolton has been saying, it's missing some very basic features. It's all software stuff, though--the hardware is really breathtaking--but until they fix it, it's a big problem. I've been using an RC-300 for years and I'm still discovering things Boss thought of that I hadn't but that make perfect sense in a live situation.
@@gladejustglade Yeah, this is what bums me out the most. The RC300 came out 7 years ago! and has more LOOPING capabilities than the headrush. That's the key, the RC300 is designed for LIVE performance... yes the headrush's hardware is really nice quality and they thought of some new things...but why didn't they just have it FIRST do everything the RC300 can and then ADD to it!? Ugh. Frustrating. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the "Loop Settings" menu should be pages long if its the most powerful looper of all time! It's literally half a page. That says a lot. I hope they can fix these things in firmware. A lot of people don't even realize all the stuff that is in the menus of the RC300 (because the menus are so antiquated like a 1980s video game), that's why they think this Headrush is such a step forward.
@@MattBoltonMusic Have you tried the Aeros yet? I think Anthony from Singular Sound is a genius with this stuff. Bless you pal.
Wow Very awesome its on my list of new toys
The more I think about it the more powerful I realize this piece is. Would love to just play with this in a studio for a couple hours! Although I'm curious, what Zoom recorder are you guys recording into?
Super , best , same purpose, as a sounds voices mixers. But ....this are two steps more , than the mixers....solid build. Best looper board 's.. sd cards slots, and more ... like 👍
My head is spinning! I have a lot to learn.
Would be great if you could do your loops in time mate...
Is it possible to record all four tracks simultaneously? For example is it possible for me to hit record on a "master" button for example that starts all four tracks recording at once? Thanks heaps guys! 😁
Hi, Majelen! Thanks for your interest. Yes, you can record onto all four tracks simultaneously. There are several different looper modes on the Looperboard, but in most of them, you can enable each track to record and then hit the “Start/Stop All” footswitch to start them all simultaneously. Hope this helps, and feel free to contact me directly with any further questions!
Caleb Lowrey, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1620, caleb_lowrey@sweetwater.com
Great piece of gear. Thanks for the demo. Side note: where can I do a copy of the VW bus/guitar picture in the background?
I have a WDW rig and have a looper right before the stereo power amp. It plays back exactly the sound and effects I played while recording. Pretty much what I want....except it only plays back through the left and right wet speakers and is overpowered when switching to a gain sound as the live sound also comes out the center speaker. Can I route this looper so it works as it does currently only it also playsback through center dry speaker? Possibly by sending one of the outs to dry amp effects loop.
Can you set it so that it only stops recording at the end of the measure (in case you goof like happened in the demo)?
;) You betcha
Yes, unfortunately that's the ONLY way it works (hitting stop and it still keeps recording til the end of a measure) But if you tap the button just a little late (beyond the end of the measure) it assumes you meant to add an extra measure. You MUST hit the button early...unlike other loopers that give a little bit of leeway for people new to looping. The HeadRush must be stopped BEFORE the end of the loop measure or chaos ensues. Everything out of sync. Mitch isn't an accomplished looper, but he's no novice when it comes to musicianship and timing...and he STILL had problems with this thing. Lots of things they need to fix in the software...it may happen though. You never know.
Can this board do repeat/hold? Does anyone know what modern pedal can do this function? Similar to the old mxr unit that Eric Johnson used for his intros and things..
Can you pre-record things like drum loops and save them for future use? If you're putting together a song to perform live at shows, could you pre-record drum loops with a drum machine, store them in the looperboard and then pull them back up to perform at the shows?
Thankyou!
The ability to visualize the loops seems like an advantage so you can see where you are at in it to avoid starting to sing or record in the middle of a loop as opposed to the beginning .
I wonder does it have fixed bar lengths? Like, I have one bar of percussion I play on my guitar, and then it'll let me record the entire verse to use later for a solo, and then plays the verse from the beginning when I push that channel? That's the Boss RC300 feature I use the most. If this has it I have no choice but to buy it.
It's got that and more :)
100% agree. I actually called and spoke to an engineer at Headrush and they confirmed it DOES NOT have tempo detection. Huge oversight. That's the absolute most important function of the Boss RC-300
Now that I've had a chance to play with it, it does do this, but 1) you can't stop the rhythm track any time but at the end of the bar (as opposed to immediately with the RC-300) and 2) when you play it again, it goes into overdub mode--tough when you need two pedal presses in the middle of a solo.
Glade Wilson thank you for bringing this up. You can stop any track at anytime in Fixed, Serial and Free mode. We are already working on a new update to add more features. As for the overdub mode, this can be changed in global settings. Have you done the firmware update on the official looperboard website?
@@HeadRushFX Yes you can technically change "overdub mode" to "after record PLAY" BUT when you stop a loop there is no simple way to start the loop again in play mode. It automatically goes right to overdub. The only way I've found to start the loop in play mode is by hitting "STOP" which makes no sense. Or hitting "start/stop all" which does you no good if you only want one loop to play. And yes, I'm updated to the latest firmware and know the global settings well.
Also, yes you can stop any track at anytime in fixed, serial and free mode like you said. Free mode is basically an added bonus feature for doing soundscapes. Of course serial works that way because its basically a single track looper in series. And finally fixed mode.... fixed mode is for beginner looping, it's for people doing one, two or four bar loops. It is not best suited for a live environment (live production). Looping gets a bad name when someone takes five minutes to create a loop in fix mode. They record 16 bars of drums, then they record 16 bars or guitar, then they record 16 bars of shaker, then they record 16 bars of bass, then they record 16 bars of keys, then they start singing. This is a great fun way to practice at home, but no one likes seeing people do this in a live environment.
Sync mode is what makes a looper a useful tool in a live environment. You can create your live on-the-fly production very quickly in sync mode. And this is key....having the tracks STAY IN SYNC when you turn them on and off whenever you want is SO IMPORTANT. Also being able to turn them on and off instantly at the press of a button! The RC300 does this of course. If you put a short drum loop on track one, a long guitar loop on track 2 with chord changes, and a long bass loop on track 3 following those chord changes. The bass and guitar should stay "in sync" with each other when you turn them on and off. They do not in the headrush. This is a fundamental decision on how the looper looks at and treats it's loops. I know this is getting complicated, but think of it this way. If you stop a loop on the RC300 it continues to PLAY SILENTLY in the background behind the drum beat. So when you hit play again it INSTANTLY turns on where it is supposed to be in the chord progression. NOT from the beginning.
The way the headrush works, is when you hit STOP it RESETS the loop to the beginning. This is a huge flaw. STOP should not=RESET. This causes all sorts of problems. If whenever you need the bass or guitar or shaker or congos or whatever to cut out in your live performance it RESETS ITSELF to measure one of your loop. It will get out of sync very quickly. There is so much more to "syncing" then the tempos staying in sync. If the bass and guitar are playing different chords (due to STOP reseting) but they are playing at the same tempo...who cares they're at the same tempo! They need to be synced to each other...not JUST the tempo.
I'm glad to hear you guys are working on an update. My guess is they will address the glaring oversight of microphone routing and being able to tell the microphone to go into the looper or the PA system with a touch of an external button. (see: the #1 problem of all live performance loopers "microphone feedback loops") The RC300 has solved this by adding a "Mic on/off" external button assign. It works but still requires you to use two microphones. One for singing and one for looping(that you turn on and off with your foot).
Please direct more of your efforts towards SYNC mode. That is the mode that is designed for live performance. I play 250-300 shows a year live-on-the-fly-looping with no backing tracks. I have hopes that you will solve some of the many issues I've found. I've sent emails with suggestions and concerns and have received no response, which is concerning. If the next firmware update comes out and the only thing that's been updated is the ability to dim the screen (which is missing) and a microphone on/off assign and none of the concerns or the problems with sync looping have been addressed or even considered ...I'll be forced to jump ship on this thing. For now it waits on the shelf.
just note this has four MONO tracks, not stereo in the data, at 16 bit / 48 khz. It is NOT 32/48 as some of the advertizing points to.
In none of these videos did anyone use a stereo input source. How does looping work if you put a stereo input into, say, inputs 1 and 2 and link them?
Curious to know if it allows you to control the transpose with midi note instructions.
can you put backing tracks in serial mode? like keeping multiple pre-recorded tracks of drums and bass, then switching through them as the song progresses?
Hi Bantz, good question! You can absolutely have it set up like that. They even call it serial mode in their manual! You can have each of the 4 tracks act as a different section of the song and cycle through and overdub onto them.
If you want to discuss this awesome pedalboard further, just give me a ring!
Drake Sobehrad, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 3271, drake_sobehrad@sweetwater.com
Can I control the Looperboard using a MIDI controller foot pedal? I just want to be able to hit record with a foot pedal (on ground) and have the Looperboard on a table so I can edit without bending over to adjust stuff…
If yes, what midi or usb pedal would you recommend will work?
Hi, Lacerator KV. Yes, the Looperboard can be controlled over MIDI. Which pedal to use would depend on what all functionality you're needing. If you just need something small, the smaller pedals from One Control might be a good option. If you want control over more functions, something like the Keith McMillen Soft Step is really cool, as well.
Thanks for your interest!
Charlie Davis, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1320, charlie_davis@sweetwater.com
How about volume control pedal for the whole loops or just the drum sounds?
Does it allow the user to preset the number of beats per loop (4, 8, 16, etc.), so there is no chance of clicking out too early, or too late? The E-H 95000 allows this on the fly, but it would be nice to determine the loop length before recording. Thanks.
it does
Can you link looper to the headrush pedal board and if you can what would be the benifits, already have the pedal board and trying to justify purchasing the looper
It doesn't have tempo detection. You can't play a drum beat and create a loop and let the looper figure out the tempo from the loop. It doesn't do that. The RC-300 does. This is a big oversight on their parts. I called Headrush and spoke to one of the engineers and confirmed. Check out my videos to see what you can do with tempo detection. It makes it so you don't have to tell the looper what the tempo is...it figures it out by what you play. Ableton does this. The Boss Rc-300 does this. Why wouldn't the Headrush do this?! Been waiting a long time for an improved looper and am disappointed by this oversight. It makes it WAY less functional in a live environment. I guess it is designed for people that use the dreaded pre-recorded backing tracks. Bummer.
Bummer :/
Hope theyll fix this in a softwareupdate
Meh, is that a really big deal? i am sure they can update it to do that.
@@christopherpederson1021 I make a living looping and playing live. I've just spent a ridiculous amount of time testing this thing. Yes, it is a big deal. Plus I'm finding all sorts of other gremlins in the way it works. They can definitely update it to have some beat detection, it would remove the step of having to tap in the tempo....and make it so the Master Track is always DEAD on accurate as the MASTER. The MASTER track (track 1) is designed to be your backbeat, your rhythm section in the HeadRush. The Boss RC-300, believe it or not, has a lot more customizability in its looping abilities. I wrote a long detailed critique of the many problems with this looper to HeadRush. Hopefully they will address the concerns. I'm considering making a detailed in-depth youtube review of the shortcomings and pros of this product. The more I use it the more things I find. Yes it has lots of customizability, but the way the looper works for a live environment is not customizable enough. For instance...If you are in sync mode (the mode with the most live performance possibilities), and you want to have a track STOP!. You hit "STOP!" and it continues playing for the WHOLE length of the master loop! Ugh! There is no way to change the way the "Stop" button acts (LIKE IN THE RC-300) So in other words, if you want to cut out the guitar chord track on a 12 bar blues for a little soloing over just bass line and you click "STOP!" on the guitar chord track, the guitar chord track doesn't stop right away AND it resets itself to the beginning. If you hit play again ANY other time other than at the beginning of the 12 bar blues, the chords and bass will be out of sync. You should be able to turn off and turn on tracks whenever you want and they stay in sync RELATIVE to each other. Cut out the bass for a few measures and have it turn right back on a few measures later for dynamic purposes? NOPE can't do it. I GUESS you could bend over and use the touch screen to turn down the volume of the guitar loop...but why would it need to be so complicated?! I want the loop to STOP! I hit "STOP" it continues playing until it syncs up to the first beat of the first measure of the Master track. That's annoying enough as it is...but when you hit PLAY again it starts at the beginning NOT synced to the other track.. (AND it goes directly into overdub mode!!! not Play) I know this might be a little technical for some people and not seem like a big deal if you're not familiar with loopers and how they work...but this is a deal breaker in my book. And if you're just getting into looping it'll make the process less user-friendly and more complicated than it needs to be. Hopefully this is something they can fix!
@@MattBoltonMusic Hey you seem to be the man when it comes to looping. And you definitely now have me leaning towards the rc 300. I'm currently playing out with the digitech trio plus. Can it be used in sync with the rc 300 so I can have the drums and bass backing me up as I play without having to actually create the drumbeat myself on the fly ? Any answers or advice would be much appreciated.
I want one
I'm an audio engineer who's been dealing with a couple of these a lot lately- and this product has two REALLY big flaws! 1- You can't assign loops to specific outputs, or the same outputs the instruments that created them are going to. Thus if the user has three different inputs they pick up and put down to create different loops, the audio engineer is powerless to process them differently. This especially becomes a problem with acoustic guitars, where loops greatly intensify feedback, and where the user is inputting vocals or something else that's not a guitar, but it gets all the processing of the guitar channel once it's looped. Or even just going between bass and guitar. Also makes volume balancing much tricker, because you've gotta calculate in advance the differences between the instrument coming from one output, and the loops coming from all outputs simultaneously.
2- I'm told that the only existing user manuals aren't very good, and aren't up to date.
BOTH of these problems seriously need to be fixed before this can be called a professional piece of gear.
On the Headrush website it says:
"The intuitive audio routing feature enables you to quickly route any of the four inputs, four looper tracks, backing track or click track to any of the four outputs and/or headphone output, giving you the ultimate flexibility to quickly get your sound set up with any sound system."
Is this not accurate?
Does it allow EQ for each of the 4 inputs? To avoid having to have an outboard EQ for each input.
Not exactly. You are limited to three effects "racks," which means you can put the studio rack on all three and have an eq for three channels (a three-knob type), but that's it.
Headrush.. PAY THIS MAN
How does this compare to the Boss Rc 300? Tone wise and user friendly? The Jam man sounds terrible
Was ready to bash this thing. Pleasantly surprised. Definitely better than the rest of the looping options
Why does it keep looping a hair too quickly?
Quite a versatile device. Would love to get one assuming it competes with the Boss looper price. Woops, $900 plus tax. Pricey. Still desirable.
This thing sounds lightyears better than Roland
Polyrhythms? And what about real time bpm detection..?
Does anyone know if the loops can be saved?
Hello! You can now save loops with the latest firmware update - which Sweetwater actually handles for you in-house before we ship it out. Let me know if you want to get one on order. Thanks for the interest!
Kevin Spunde, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1732, Kevin_Spunde@Sweetwater.com
Go MItch!! :-)
Appears one would need to spend some time learning all the features before taking to live gig. The playback sounds robotic to me.
In all fairness to the loop station Mitch did mess his loop up badly where he ended it. You can hear that it's jerky when it comes around to the one. This is rather uninspired demo by him really especially compared to what people are doing with their loopers on RUclips...
it also requires a TON of tweaking to get the level matching right
Overpriced by $300. They should release this box with modeling included
No, please don't 'cause the effects ALWAYS suck in these things (especially Roland).
The hardware is amazing. It's worth it. Except they have a long way to go on the software.
Strange how the speed control also changes the pitch!
Only four loops can be created? Why Headrush, why?
Make a desktop model PLEEEASE!!!!!!
This is a sick looper but the price is way to high for me. If it was two hundred dollars cheeper then I may get it.
They have 5% and 10% coupons all the time.
@@gladejustglade I’m getting it soon.
No guitar amp sims? No built in drum machine? How is this ‘next level” ? Did I miss something? Seeing as HeadRush makes a killer guitar effect processor they could of take a portion of that and put it into the looper along with a drum machine and now you have a killer all in one looping board worthy of $900. You wonder who designs these things?
Home Recording Made Easy this has all of that and more! 😎
It has guitar multi effects (and other multi effects) and drum loops.
Ok, then this is not a good demo of the unit. Why would Mitch not show that? Every guitar player would want to see that. If you want me to do a proper demo of this unit contact me. I do demos for home studio gear all the time for companies. Check out my channel..personally I have been looking for such a board with out having to use additional pedals and drum machines.
I did not see this on your website. Is the looper board not there so you can read about all the things it can do?
Read all the info on Sweetwater site and no mention of on board drum loops or guitar amp sims. If this units does those things among others then boy the roll out of this product is lacking. Oh well, maybe more info will release soon. On the surface it seems like it has a ton of potential and could dominate the looper market.
Yes... BUT... big BUT here: Can you actually chain the "awesome" 4 channel loops? (not just "serialize" individual tracks within any given "loop" which seriously limits what you can "add/mix/chain" into a SONG?) No you can’t!! Ridiculous! What's the point of having a great four channel “loop” if it's essentially nothing more than one "mono-thematic" section of a song!! Actual musicians (and songwriters and producers) KNOW AND HAVE LEARNED that LOOPS ARE NOT SONGS! Even stupid songs have the advantage over “loops” that they can actually have some variation between an “A” section and a “B” section. Not this thing. If you're ONLY into LOOPS, well sure, you might think this thing is great. The fact that Headrush did not provision being able to chain these “awesome 4 channel stereo track/loops” to create actual songs/arrangements from them... (like VoiceLive and a dozen other somewhat flexible loopers ) ... is unbelievable to me! What they do let you do is put any of the four tracks within a loop into a song order...what a load of bull... because what you have to understand is that doing so strips away ALL of the value of having the four tracks! Because your song sections now comprise only one stereo track each ... so now your brilliant “4 channel” machine isn’t any more advanced than a $99 Nuxe Looper, which actually has WAY more functionality because at least with it you can actually chain up to 99 sections/loops! In short calling this thing "the most advanced looper" is just total marketing bullshit. Sorry... it's just another plain STUPID Looper when you actually want to use it in an actual song/arrangement capacity. To be able to chain the actual 4 channel loops (into interesting, changing, textured, MUSICAL SECTIONS!!!) and not just sequence single tracks IN a “limited-to-only-4-sections” capacity ...well, THAT would be very useful Headrush! ... Meanwhile here’s a metaphor for you all to chew on before you go plunk down $900: ”We've got this great new RV fer y’all ... sooo advanced better than any motor-home out there ... every feature imaginable in a "home" ... except ... uh... you can only drive this thing around the block. Doesn't drive on highways." Seriously Headrush! Do your homework! It's like when you came out with the "killer" Gigboard and then totally tied it's lush stereo "sonic hands" with a frikin' MONO FX send/return! You just sucked the life out of every decent pedal I have ... looping into/through your box. Okay... now for a little compassion on my end: I LOVE the Gigboard. I almost sent it back because of that... meaning when I discovered that I couldn’t insert my $600 Strymon Timeline without collapsing it to mono (like essentially turning it into a $99 Boss delay!) ... I originally said, “fuck it”... BUT... in the case of the Gigboard (it really it IS a killer sounding beast) I was actually able to gerry-rig a workaround using a $2 stereo adapter cable from my stereo Timeline back into the aux in. Otherwise I really would have sent it back. Here’s why I’m telling you this: this proved that the Gigboard actually HAS the ability to have a stereo FX send/return... but they DIDN’t integrate it. The Looper also totally HAS the capacity to chain its four channel loops and make it actually highly functional/desirable... but again, they HAVEN’T integrated it! WTF not?? is my big question. It really makes you wonder who’s “drivin’” doesn’t it? My advice: until they get their asses in gear, and stop letting lame-o marketing dweebs run the show instead of integrating needing functionality based on talking to real-world users/musicians/producers/song-writers (or possibly “padding profits” with some down-the-road- “upgrade”)... don’t waste your money and/or support this kind of bullshit!
Wow, I didn't even realize how limited the Serial function was on this thing. I mostly use Sync, so didn't bother delving deep into the serial function. I said it in one of my other comments that the people that think this is "the most advanced looper" just didn't read the manual on the other loopers or were afraid of the user interface (old school menus, attenuator knobs) of other loopers. The RC50 and RC300 have SO many more looping abilities...under the current most updated firmware on the headrush, there is A LOT to be desired. I wonder what their R&D was on this thing when it came to its looping capabilities. They didn't even add a way to turn the microphone on and off with a footswitch. I feel like that's the FIRST thing any live looper would mention if asked. "Hey, don't forget that EVERYONE that live loops has to deal with the microphone feedback dilemma and make sure you add a way to route the microphone in and out of the looper with a tap of your foot, so when you're recording guitar parts it's not also recording your voice". The boss RC-300 has a way to turn the microphone input on/off with an external footswitch. Still requires two microphones, but at least they tried to solve the problem. Headrush didn't even address it in their first two firmware updates. It's like they just forgot about all the people that actually use a looper in a live environment to produce/arrange/on-the-fly.
Hey I'm kind of confused by what you mean that you can't chain them... I was under the impression you could record and overdub and set up your verse loop on 1, then go do your chorus on 2, and switch between them (etc.). Is that not the case? Or do you mean something else
Here’s the FAQ.
www.headrushfx.com/kb/article/2470
302 drum/perc backing loops included. There’s amp modeling, but not the same as the headrush pedal/gigboards. I don’t know what the differences are (the faq doesn’t say). Frankly I’m tired of specs. If it sounds right, it is right.
As a guitarist that also uses a drum machine and synth to perform it would be amazing if the amp modeling was legit.
Why didn't they hire someone who can ACTUALLY stay on beat and properly use a looper...
PRESS ON ONE! Right? Love you Mitch.
Lol yeh noticed that too but he did play a full 4 bars later on so I figured he knew how to end a loop. OAN I own rc303 & 505 and others but I noted some criticisms in the comments here - hopefully fixed in updates last 2 years ?
No loop decay? No resampling? Sheesh, this is basic. Should sell millions. Strictly one for the Ed Sheeran generation, not Robert Fripp/David Torn/Andre LaFosse
Oh it has all of that and more! Wait until tomorrow when all the info drops
HeadRush FX Oh ok, my bad. Am interested again now!
@@XISTH All good!! We are excited for you to see what it's all about! :)
@@HeadRushFX I just read through the manual and found no reference to loop decay. Is this function called something different on your device? I've seen it labeled 'feedback' on other loopers. Basically setting the amount the previous loops attenuate after each new layer is added.
Alan Kahler ahhh sorry about that, when we saw decay we thought you meant fade. You can fade any track you want at different rates. In terms of feedback controls that is something that will be added soon.
He didn't even record the loop fully and in time. Come on now, you're a " musician" trying to sell an expensive product.
That was lazy at best
Looper advanced features explained by someone who is not even able to make a loop..
worst demo video of all time. Dinosaur uses incredible technology to jazz noodle.
bro can't loop
Not for guitarist! You will need external effects and a midi sync'd drum machine if you don't want to play to a click track! Plus, this thing is huge! RC-300 smokes this overpriced pig!