I play in a hard rock / metal cover band and I use the Headrush. Absolutely fantastic tone and perfect for gigging. This units distortion at volume is second to none.
@MusicWeaponsFood I run my complete signal to front of house when I can. To move air behind me, I run into an Orange Crush head into the effects loop return and then a 2×12. Sometimes I will run into a powered 12 speaker, which will give a pure tone.
So I’ve had this thing for about a year and a half. I absolutely love it. Even the built-in presets are great. I’m still building rigs. I just built a rig so I could play Be Quiet and Drive by Deftones. It took maybe like 10 minutes total time to find the tones and I was good
I’d take my (Eleven Rack Driven!) Headrush over Helix ANY DAY! This thing sounds phenomenal, is easy (and fun) to use, and helps a person really learn the ins and outs of building a rig.
I have often wondered if I should have gotten a headrush, I wanted one over helix but thought helix was better, helix is good but it seems an easier user experience to dial in a headrush, whats your take?
Best interface on a programmable effects pedalboard I've seen to date. Also it was noticeable how the captains strat tones were preserved through the unit.
It's literally a complete rip-off of the Helix, not only cosmetically, but also with the ability to adjust parameters hands-free, while being limited in other ways, with different amp/effect sounds, plus a touch screen.
I don't even know what you are reviewing here, but the banter was spot on. You guys made me laugh loudly, which is a strong achievement from anything on the internet.
My very first Multi-effects unit that I owned was the Zoom 9000S, I'll never forget it, it was a hand held unit smaller than a portable DVD player, you attached the processor to an amp or table and the foot-switch (included) stayed on the floor, the best setup so far, I don't understand why they haven't advanced on that all these years
I like the Headrush more than the Helix Lt even though the Helix Lt has more functions, the Headrush amp models sound closer to a tube amp making it more realistic sounding in my opinion of course.
Got my HR today, planned to check it out for some days and then see if I keep it or my Heelix. It took me 15 minutes to see: Heelix is gonna get sold. HR has better tone on almost every Amp, so much better dynamic response, so much more natural feel, it's just so much more like the real thing. Might be that Kemper's equally great, dont know - but Heelix: lost. And so much fun with the touchscreen. Set up my signature sound in like 5 minutes. My GF' s not gonna see me tonite..
Excellent review guys. I was contemplating buying this unit and was a bit skeptical but after this review I can't miss out on this awesome unit. Thanks for the review and the laughs, cheers.
Having used both of these units, my only legit complaint is the with the flexibility of the chain on the headrush. I like the way both units sound. If you've ever mic'd an amp and played away from the amp and just heard yourself through monitors, that's your point of comparison. That said both have a legit quality sound. Helix has more flexibility with a longer amount of time to learn the unit. Headrush is easier to get a convincing sound out of but lacks the detailed flexibility in the chain and with some of the settings on specific components. I am sticking with the Helix for now but am open to other units in the future.
you know what, I love this demo for it's honest learning on the fly of how to use the pedal. i'm an older bloke considering moving away from the individual stop box and want something that is straight forward and fast to get a good sound. also not everywhere appreciates my mesa head and quad box, so di is very handy. i'm sold
So Rob just rips the tremolo bar of his guitar, on a whim, starts playing slide with it, and instantly sounds better than me.... Damn it. I need to practice more.
I use Helix's foot controls to change parameters all the time - totally freeing to be able to boost mids during a solo when the room just isn't working right for you and not having to wait until the end of the song to change parameters. Cool to see that coming to other products too.
Alex Church post editing does wonders. this unit sounds good but post editing is the only way i can figure how they got the fender gt 40 to sound good. every other review ive heard sounds like trash.
Pete Thorn and Rabea Maassad have video's out that show how good this actually sounds...with Rabea doing a full review shortly. I'm a soundman...rubbish in ....rubbish out...no amount of editing will make crap sound good. This thing gives me a Headrush with the tonal landscapes I've heard so far.
Yeah, I'm finding the Eleven really brittle and powdery, no realism to it. Or rather, it sits right in the middle of Uncanny Valley. I played the AxeFX and it was like plugging into a patch bay where on the other end WAS the vintage amp, cab and Neumann U87 mic. Shocking difference. I play BlackStar, GrooveTubes and Wampler plus home made valve amps - I grew up with triodes so virtually none of the digital stuff comes close, though I am a technophile too.
Maison Spires focus on learning songs you love. Practice on low speed daily until you got it perfect. Only with some discipline early on you'll get through the hard phase.
Maison Spires I will say spend the money on a good professional guitar teacher. I tried to learn without one for 10 years and at a certain point i just hit a wall skill wise and wasnt able to get over it because i didnt have the right “tools“ (technique, mindset etc.). And learn theory
I use multi effects live weekly, and I will never run any unit direct to front of house without going to into a Hughes and Kettner Redbox 5! Game changer for me and everyone who has tried it. Goes from digital to real in $99
Truly a new contender in the flood of multi FX devices. The real need is for a unit that truly sounds great going direct into a full range system (a PA, a computer interface...) can cover all the sounds I would need to play any gig. I play in a band doing a huge variety of music, I play in church, I play in the pit orchestra for stage musicals... NEED a huge variety of tones - (saturated leads, Elvis rhythm, rockabilly, clean jazz, clean strumming, early and late Beatles... ) Similar units do well in some areas but not in all areas. I bought a Line6 PodHD500 in 2010 and have never used it live. I was expecting to use it directly into a PA system, but could NOT get the sounds I was after. (something about the word "POD" in the name led me to believe that that's what it was meant to do - go direct.) I am finding that plugging it into a power am and guitar cabs, it can really sound amazing. It's just that I bought it THINKING I was going to go direct with it. I'll play with that a little longer. It might even finally replace my BOSS GT-8 which I've been happily gigging now for 12 or so years. But this HEADRUSH thing... next time I'm looking to upgrade, it's a serious candidate. I'd be very interested in it's MIDI capabilities. Can each PATCH have it's own MIDI parameters assigned to the pedal?
The feature i love the most on this pedalboard is the displays on every switch, i wish all pedalboards had that, touch screen is nice also, but the displays on the switches is it.
Just a note: You don't have to delete a block before choosing another one...the only reason to use the delete function is if you don't want anything in that block, otherwise you just choose a new effect/amp/cab and it loads up over whatever was there before. Also you don't have to delete all the blocks to start with an empty "rig" all you do is tap the upper right 3 dots and select "new rig". This thing is already amazing and that's right out of the box with more updates to come like the cool "lock screen" function they just added that allows you to add a photo to the lockscreen page.
Just got a Headrush. It will solve all my problems and give years of bliss! That's what it's supposed to do, right? Trying to decide on what gear to buy is going to lead us to special recovery groups!! Line 6 OR Fractal? No wait, Kemper!! Oh, hey, Positive Grid!! Screw it, I want a REAL amp. 2 years later, I really want the convenience of a pedalboard. Back to Kemper.. Now I have 4,000 profiles and I can barely remember my name. Did I mention the headaches? ... Okay, Headrush and simplicity. No, hold on again, I just saw a guy on TV with a Kemper! I must have the best!!! I must!!! Okay, lets do Headrush and simplify life!!!...
yes, and a three comparison between Headrush, Helix Line 6, and Fractal Ax8 would be awesome. I am trying to decide which of the 3 to buy in the future and cannot make this decision at the moment.
I tried these and still prefer having individual analog pedals. I have delay/reverb, wah, looper and whammy dt pedals and my amps have distortion/clean channels which is really everything that I need right now. I priced out the multi FX units and they cost more than my custom analog pedal board so I went the analog pedal route. If I was to buy a combo unit, the new Line 6 HX looks promising as does the Zoom G3XN unit. But at this point, I want ultra compact so an Eventide H9 would be good as well.
Renaissance Man you are missing the point of these units. They are designed to replace your normal amp so you can just run direct to the board. They are also great for recording.
You can change parameters with the Helix with your feet. This is not a groundbreaking development. They just made it slightly easier to access and use.
Thanks for the review guys. I‘ve managed to procure one of these and your review is totally correct but one thing I‘d like to add is that their customer support leaves much to be desired. First off, the homepage is inop to log into your account and sending them an email is pretty much useless since I‘ve not gotten a response for two mails sent in two weeks. Ive had a Boss GT100 for y few years now and their customer support was almost immediate......for 1/3 of the price
I have to agree, all of these tones sound way better than when you covered HeadRush at NAMM. Maybe it was the environment, also as you mentioned, it wasn't updated/it was an early beta version. I'm looking forward to seeing Rabea's in depth review!
You guys do the best Demonstrations- thx for laffs as well - watching from out at Sea on my cruise ship gig ... I 99% 4 sure getting this HeadRush ! Thx great playin Gentleman..
That first sound should be known as the "music store preset" - you know - the super distorted and over-processed sound that seems impressive and imprints on a newbie to make a sale. Those over-the-top sounds can still be kinda fun though.
All modelers have their own voicing, just like tube amps. Soldanos are very different tones from Bogners, and Helix, Headrush, and Fractal all have their own voicing, each great in their own way. And as everyone knows, never judge a modeler until you have created your own patches and experimented. Love my Headrush, just I do my Fractal, both different and unique.
Having never heard a good sounding Line6 amp its hard to throw down $1500 and then have to download 3rd party IRs to make it sound decent? I know its cool to be able to sound like 100 amps and 100 different players but what is your distinctive tone? What makes you? Its not all talent Cobain had a sound.
Prasanth Selvadurai totally agree. I’d take my (Eleven Rack Driven!) Headrush over Helix ANY DAY! This thing sounds phenomenal, is easy (and fun) to use, and helps a person really learn the ins and outs of building a rig.
Another Note: The gain parameter for the Amp/Cab combo is to be found in the "Cab"....so if you go into "hands free mode" by holding down the "Cab" button for 2 seconds the parameters for the Cab pop up and one of them is gain. I think the idea is to have the preamp gain in the amp input section and the overall gain in the cab output section but I'm sure about that.
What I really want is a multi-switchable preamp/poweramp modeller like the kemper but in pedal form so I can have my whole rig on a pedalboard but still use my analog pedals. Sometimes you just want a totally different tone for different songs so that would be cool.
This is looking like a good alternative to the Helix for me. I'm interested in something like this for gigging, and when I saw Daniel from Pain of Salvation (Rob, you seriously need to check this band out if you haven't already! I have a feeling they'd become a desert island band for you, especially on the "The Perfect Element Pt. 1" and "Remedy Lane" albums) using a Helix at their show in Toronto, it was amazing, and it looked like such a simple rig that's incredibly versatile, but I also love how this has far less steep of a learning curve than the Helix and that's where it has a huge appeal to me. I just want something I can plug into, not spend a huge amount of time messing around, and get a decent passable tone. I wouldn't record with it. I have real amps for that. But when you're playing a bar or a small club, no one's going to care that you're using digital amp modelling, and no one's going to be able to tell the difference. And for gigs, that's where this is hugely appealing!
Just as any product of this type. A lot of options and you always go for the same old overdrive and reverb or delay.... Just have a nice pedalboard with a few analog pedals then ;) Seriously, the big selling point of modellers is "A ton of amps and pedals for a fraction of the cost". Problem is for most applications you need a good clean, a good od and some ambiance. That's it! The rest is just down to playing the damn song from the heart! ;)
I like the touchscreen. Although I think it is quite overwhelming at first... probably would take hours and hours to go through everything..but that's what makes it fun....I think..
Yeah, I know, you'd wanna have it tweaked before ya gig..you can still control it with your feet..I still haven't bought in to these all in one platforms yet either. Still waiting til the best one emerges.
until some chick in the front row spills a drink on it or some stage diver tromps on it. also, leaning over to edit shit is very annoying. have a fender mustang floor unit and it gets old. much prefer a rack and indestructible foot controller.
One problem many of these modeled things have (and Mustang amps are another example) is that the default settings are always way too extreme. You turned on the vibrato and immediately turned it off. Why? It was set to seasick right off the bat. If it started on a milder setting you might have stuck with it. It's too easy to end up with a caricature of a good sound that way. Just start me in a useful, left of noon place, and I can get a better feel for what this does and adjust from there.
Totally agree ...stompbox presets should use a 10 oclock or 30% starting point instead of the 50% (of every parameter) that seems to be used... Same with the built in rigs or patches, they are always over the top and need a lot of tweaking just to get something usable.
Fast forward to 2020 and neural dsp does this exact same thing and all of a sudden its the next big thing. Shows the power of marketing! Sadly I backed out of buying a quad cortex as their delivery schedules were just absolutely messed up. Was thinking of replacing my kemper, but never again :P
Seen the same factoid about "hands-free" editing in all of these Headrush demos/first impressions... it's the same feature that came out of the box in the Line 6 Helix.
cabinets and amps simulations sounds ok, i would like to hear the harmonizer effect on this unit, i hope it doesnt have any of that chirpy sound that other cheap units have, it would bring this unit a step above all prevous brands and units I have tried in the past.
I love the Captain and Chappers, however with multi-effect and multi-genre equipment I feel these videos would feel slightly more complete with a greater roster of players. Ie please get B to drop some A, have some Danish blues and some soulful Mick. Just a friendly suggestions, love the content regardless!
+Rob Chapman +Capt We all agree the Headrush is an intuitive/easy unit to use... but how does it sound, how does it feel? Are we talking old school digital sounds (POD, Eleven rack...)? Or does it feel organic like the newer stuff?
Indeed, but I wonder if that higher price is due to its profiling features. In other words, it would be nice to hear a comparison at a sound emulation level only.
What's the point? They all work. They all make great sounds. I have the Headrush and I love it. I'd probably love the Helix too! It's just like comparing valve amps. They all do the same thing in different ways, so you buy the one that suits you. Comparisons are utterly pointless!
Eleven code... no wonder I like it. Nice, complex, saturated overdrive with a very tight ass end... Closer to an AX8 than a Helix. GOT IT and ITS AWESOME:)
i sold my fender deluxe reverb amp, mesa boogie, egnater tourmaster.. After trying the helix Lt at the guitar center, after watching all comparisons and all youtube videos and reading all reviews online... i knew helix is great coz im a former hd500 user and i love it. But i went decided buying the headrush coz it saves my time and time is gold. Its quicker to program sounds specially when u r onstage playing, you can make a quick change if you want. Helix and headrush are both good... i just need an easier interface. 👍🏼 actually i bought a helix bag for my headrush.
Message to the editor: if you get a recording when Rob stares at the camera for a few seconds, just like in 10:00, put a buffering circle over his head, PLEASE!
before anyone says "well you can do that if you want", yes I know I can. Just wondering why on all similar units to this the CAB/IR is always placed immediately after the amp in the signal chain, therefore before any post effects. in the real world cab & mic would be last in the chain.
This is the Top Gear of music channels
Edit: the old Top Gear
I play in a hard rock / metal cover band and I use the Headrush. Absolutely fantastic tone and perfect for gigging. This units distortion at volume is second to none.
What does your physical rig look like with this thing. What do you run it through? Does it need a power amp to power it?
@MusicWeaponsFood I run my complete signal to front of house when I can. To move air behind me, I run into an Orange Crush head into the effects loop return and then a 2×12. Sometimes I will run into a powered 12 speaker, which will give a pure tone.
So I’ve had this thing for about a year and a half. I absolutely love it. Even the built-in presets are great. I’m still building rigs. I just built a rig so I could play Be Quiet and Drive by Deftones. It took maybe like 10 minutes total time to find the tones and I was good
Share what you used if you don't mind...
14:27 that pick teleport was glorious.
I’d take my (Eleven Rack Driven!) Headrush over Helix ANY DAY! This thing sounds phenomenal, is easy (and fun) to use, and helps a person really learn the ins and outs of building a rig.
I have often wondered if I should have gotten a headrush, I wanted one over helix but thought helix was better, helix is good but it seems an easier user experience to dial in a headrush, whats your take?
@@pauljosse headrest all the way....fewer amps but the amps sound more realistic and the gain sounds better and of course, its easier to operate.
There needs to be a "sounds like" now using this
they could use it for everyone and be fine. "Sound like any artist using the headrush"
except it wouldnt work for most as you'd still need the right amp to push it through.
@@stevehudson6695 this Headrush has all the amps and pedals to get any tone, you should see the 200 different speaker IR that sounds so real.
Best interface on a programmable effects pedalboard I've seen to date.
Also it was noticeable how the captains strat tones were preserved through the unit.
It's literally a complete rip-off of the Helix, not only cosmetically, but also with the ability to adjust parameters hands-free, while being limited in other ways, with different amp/effect sounds, plus a touch screen.
Head rush or gt1000?
@@toddmerriott6901 GT-1000
I don't even know what you are reviewing here, but the banter was spot on. You guys made me laugh loudly, which is a strong achievement from anything on the internet.
My very first Multi-effects unit that I owned was the Zoom 9000S, I'll never forget it, it was a hand held unit smaller than a portable DVD player, you attached the processor to an amp or table and the foot-switch (included) stayed on the floor, the best setup so far, I don't understand why they haven't advanced on that all these years
The editing is getting better and better.
But I do miss the chickens somewhat.
So do I, they were brutal
Would love a little tutorial on the exploding cups. I kind of get how it's done but have never tried it or seen it explained.
Rabea does the audio editing, Rory does the video editing
funny editing mistake at 3:43
Deliberate nodding head. Not a mistake.
Oh man. I am already a fan of this thing. That starting tone was smooth as fuck.
That intro sounds INCREDIBLE with headphones in
Lee's little jabs at Rob are priceless!
I like the Headrush more than the Helix Lt even though the Helix Lt has more functions, the Headrush amp models sound closer to a tube amp making it more realistic sounding in my opinion of course.
Am I the only one tripping out in how freaking amazing this pedal board sounds !?
The tone at the start is so amazing
Rory edits the videos. Rory's awesome
Got my HR today, planned to check it out for some days and then see if I keep it or my Heelix. It took me 15 minutes to see: Heelix is gonna get sold. HR has better tone on almost every Amp, so much better dynamic response, so much more natural feel, it's just so much more like the real thing. Might be that Kemper's equally great, dont know - but Heelix: lost. And so much fun with the touchscreen. Set up my signature sound in like 5 minutes. My GF' s not gonna see me tonite..
Looking into kemper, helix, headrush... my mind is spinning more than a rotary!
Kleiber Do you own a Helix and don’t know how to spell it properly? Hmmm...
Just tested the helix floor side by side with HR .... i agree with you 150%... HR feels and sounds better.
Just like to say how much I love Lee's white strat. Especially the pickguard
Excellent review guys. I was contemplating buying this unit and was a bit skeptical but after this review I can't miss out on this awesome unit. Thanks for the review and the laughs, cheers.
Having used both of these units, my only legit complaint is the with the flexibility of the chain on the headrush. I like the way both units sound. If you've ever mic'd an amp and played away from the amp and just heard yourself through monitors, that's your point of comparison. That said both have a legit quality sound. Helix has more flexibility with a longer amount of time to learn the unit. Headrush is easier to get a convincing sound out of but lacks the detailed flexibility in the chain and with some of the settings on specific components. I am sticking with the Helix for now but am open to other units in the future.
Love the Doom reference. The Captain was like...uh sure. Lol
you know what, I love this demo for it's honest learning on the fly of how to use the pedal. i'm an older bloke considering moving away from the individual stop box and want something that is straight forward and fast to get a good sound. also not everywhere appreciates my mesa head and quad box, so di is very handy. i'm sold
So Rob just rips the tremolo bar of his guitar, on a whim, starts playing slide with it, and instantly sounds better than me.... Damn it. I need to practice more.
You two are the best reviewers I've seen. I always seek out any review that you do for the equipment that I want. Every time.
But does it Miku?
I use Helix's foot controls to change parameters all the time - totally freeing to be able to boost mids during a solo when the room just isn't working right for you and not having to wait until the end of the song to change parameters. Cool to see that coming to other products too.
Mike Farnsworth I've only used foot edit once, but it was pretty cool and useful.
Rob's playing tho! Getting insane levels of goodness!
The tones in this video are absolutely incredible! Great work!
Alex Church post editing does wonders. this unit sounds good but post editing is the only way i can figure how they got the fender gt 40 to sound good. every other review ive heard sounds like trash.
Pete Thorn and Rabea Maassad have video's out that show how good this actually sounds...with Rabea doing a full review shortly.
I'm a soundman...rubbish in ....rubbish out...no amount of editing will make crap sound good.
This thing gives me a Headrush with the tonal landscapes I've heard so far.
That little repeat head nod at 1:16 and 1:21 so on made me laugh and do a double take every time.The editing is dope
Rob's playing in this video was outstanding!
Chappers: '...I'll come back fat...'
Captain : '...ter...'
Just gold. Lol.
not really ever been a fan of multi effects, but this one makes sense to me
Last time I was this early, I still thought I'd be able to tell the difference between a tube amp and a Kemper.
I've got an Eleven Rack which I use to keep dust off things under it, the amp modelling is awful! I do hope this is better.
thats fucking funny…
be well my friend.
I am. Once you get to know the Kemper's sound signature, the difference is very obvious.
Yeah, I'm finding the Eleven really brittle and powdery, no realism to it. Or rather, it sits right in the middle of Uncanny Valley. I played the AxeFX and it was like plugging into a patch bay where on the other end WAS the vintage amp, cab and Neumann U87 mic. Shocking difference.
I play BlackStar, GrooveTubes and Wampler plus home made valve amps - I grew up with triodes so virtually none of the digital stuff comes close, though I am a technophile too.
eleven rack is god awful
25:44 rob: "yeah man i'm not all about the gain "
never hath falser words been spoken
I always wanted to learn to play the guitar, but the beginning seed so slow and frustrating...
Maison Spires focus on learning songs you love. Practice on low speed daily until you got it perfect. Only with some discipline early on you'll get through the hard phase.
Maison Spires I will say spend the money on a good professional guitar teacher. I tried to learn without one for 10 years and at a certain point i just hit a wall skill wise and wasnt able to get over it because i didnt have the right “tools“ (technique, mindset etc.). And learn theory
that fucking advert man...
Maison Spires Lol dude
I like the genuine replies lol.. by the way you might wanna check out yousician it makes learning fun!
I use multi effects live weekly, and I will never run any unit direct to front of house without going to into a Hughes and Kettner Redbox 5! Game changer for me and everyone who has tried it. Goes from digital to real in $99
this is amazing it's like a usable nonshitty version of any line 6 pod
Truly a new contender in the flood of multi FX devices. The real need is for a unit that truly sounds great going direct into a full range system (a PA, a computer interface...) can cover all the sounds I would need to play any gig. I play in a band doing a huge variety of music, I play in church, I play in the pit orchestra for stage musicals... NEED a huge variety of tones - (saturated leads, Elvis rhythm, rockabilly, clean jazz, clean strumming, early and late Beatles... ) Similar units do well in some areas but not in all areas.
I bought a Line6 PodHD500 in 2010 and have never used it live. I was expecting to use it directly into a PA system, but could NOT get the sounds I was after. (something about the word "POD" in the name led me to believe that that's what it was meant to do - go direct.) I am finding that plugging it into a power am and guitar cabs, it can really sound amazing. It's just that I bought it THINKING I was going to go direct with it. I'll play with that a little longer. It might even finally replace my BOSS GT-8 which I've been happily gigging now for 12 or so years.
But this HEADRUSH thing... next time I'm looking to upgrade, it's a serious candidate. I'd be very interested in it's MIDI capabilities. Can each PATCH have it's own MIDI parameters assigned to the pedal?
"People don't watch us for a slick demonstration, Lee." Too true. I watch for personalities and interactions.
'A headrush community in the cloud'; wow man. I want to join.
That first tone sounds better than a lot of stuff I've been hearing lately
Great review and Chaps you're fast becoming one of the most influential guitarists on my playing :)
Some awesome Ty Tabor sounding riffs during the intro!!
Because of you two fine chaps, Im getting one of these!!!
The feature i love the most on this pedalboard is the displays on every switch, i wish all pedalboards had that, touch screen is nice also, but the displays on the switches is it.
Just a note: You don't have to delete a block before choosing another one...the only reason to use the delete function is if you don't want anything in that block, otherwise you just choose a new effect/amp/cab and it loads up over whatever was there before.
Also you don't have to delete all the blocks to start with an empty "rig" all you do is tap the upper right 3 dots and select "new rig".
This thing is already amazing and that's right out of the box with more updates to come like the cool "lock screen" function they just added that allows you to add a photo to the lockscreen page.
Lee's face at 10:35 will give me nightmares
Just got a Headrush. It will solve all my problems and give years of bliss! That's what it's supposed to do, right? Trying to decide on what gear to buy is going to lead us to special recovery groups!! Line 6 OR Fractal? No wait, Kemper!! Oh, hey, Positive Grid!! Screw it, I want a REAL amp. 2 years later, I really want the convenience of a pedalboard. Back to Kemper.. Now I have 4,000 profiles and I can barely remember my name. Did I mention the headaches? ... Okay, Headrush and simplicity. No, hold on again, I just saw a guy on TV with a Kemper! I must have the best!!! I must!!! Okay, lets do Headrush and simplify life!!!...
I feel the struggle.. it's real
My exact story..... 😂😢😅
I'd love to see a rack version, with more I/O Loops, maybe some digital I/O and a DI out ;)
please do headrush vs helix!!!!!
yes, and a three comparison between Headrush, Helix Line 6, and Fractal Ax8 would be awesome. I am trying to decide which of the 3 to buy in the future and cannot make this decision at the moment.
Renaissance Man how did it turn out?
Well I'm not Matthew, but I had the same predicament. Went with the helix and its great.
I tried these and still prefer having individual analog pedals. I have delay/reverb, wah, looper and whammy dt pedals and my amps have distortion/clean channels which is really everything that I need right now. I priced out the multi FX units and they cost more than my custom analog pedal board so I went the analog pedal route. If I was to buy a combo unit, the new Line 6 HX looks promising as does the Zoom G3XN unit. But at this point, I want ultra compact so an Eventide H9 would be good as well.
Renaissance Man you are missing the point of these units. They are designed to replace your normal amp so you can just run direct to the board. They are also great for recording.
You can change parameters with the Helix with your feet. This is not a groundbreaking development. They just made it slightly easier to access and use.
Loving the old school chapters bleed the light reference near the beggining😂👍
I beg you Chappers, as much as I love you please kill that signature bend you do at the start of every video.
Then how can you truly know its him?
This is probably the best tones rob has had for a while on this show. Maybe because it goes straight to a computer.
Thanks for the review guys. I‘ve managed to procure one of these and your review is totally correct but one thing I‘d like to add is that their customer support leaves much to be desired. First off, the homepage is inop to log into your account and sending them an email is pretty much useless since I‘ve not gotten a response for two mails sent in two weeks. Ive had a Boss GT100 for y few years now and their customer support was almost immediate......for 1/3 of the price
Thank you gentleman. Thoroughly enjoyed this demo on a truly inspiring piece of kit. Cheers.
I have to agree, all of these tones sound way better than when you covered HeadRush at NAMM. Maybe it was the environment, also as you mentioned, it wasn't updated/it was an early beta version. I'm looking forward to seeing Rabea's in depth review!
You guys do the best Demonstrations- thx for laffs as well - watching from out at Sea on my cruise ship gig ... I 99% 4 sure getting this HeadRush ! Thx great playin Gentleman..
That first sound should be known as the "music store preset" - you know - the super distorted and over-processed sound that seems impressive and imprints on a newbie to make a sale. Those over-the-top sounds can still be kinda fun though.
All modelers have their own voicing, just like tube amps. Soldanos are very different tones from Bogners, and Helix, Headrush, and Fractal all have their own voicing, each great in their own way. And as everyone knows, never judge a modeler until you have created your own patches and experimented. Love my Headrush, just I do my Fractal, both different and unique.
Rob made reference to Diablo once years ago and now he's talking about the "Doom engine." A nerd after my own heart! lol :)
The pedal looks like a line 6 Helix.
Having never heard a good sounding Line6 amp its hard to throw down $1500 and then have to download 3rd party IRs to make it sound decent? I know its cool to be able to sound like 100 amps and 100 different players but what is your distinctive tone? What makes you? Its not all talent Cobain had a sound.
This was a very useful video and helped me when choosing. Also the touch screen is fab 😃😃😃😃
Please do a comparison between units such as the Helix, Headrush, Ax-fx, Kemper, BIAS! Any comparison of these would be great!
Haha, I love how they edited in Rob's nodding throughout the video.
I appreciate 2 brits saluting during the star spangled banner lol.
Love your content rob! You're a very inspirational guitar player!!:)
Just got one an it is so simple to use. Sounds great as well.
Prasanth Selvadurai totally agree. I’d take my (Eleven Rack Driven!) Headrush over Helix ANY DAY! This thing sounds phenomenal, is easy (and fun) to use, and helps a person really learn the ins and outs of building a rig.
When Lee's cup was zapped away with that strange sound, the background lighting of my keyboard turned itself off. I was really freaked out...
Another Note:
The gain parameter for the Amp/Cab combo is to be found in the "Cab"....so if you go into "hands free mode" by holding down the "Cab" button for 2 seconds the parameters for the Cab pop up and one of them is gain.
I think the idea is to have the preamp gain in the amp input section and the overall gain in the cab output section but I'm sure about that.
I meant I'm NOT sure about the idea behind separating the input gain and the overall gain
Rob's guitar tone at the beginning reminds me of Eddie's 87-88 sound and tone but with more balls and girth.
I'm always going to be a valve amp guy, but this sounds pretty awesome.
I'm voting the chapman pick. The sharp edges will give it an aerodynamic advantage, and it has some mass.
What I really want is a multi-switchable preamp/poweramp modeller like the kemper but in pedal form so I can have my whole rig on a pedalboard but still use my analog pedals. Sometimes you just want a totally different tone for different songs so that would be cool.
Isn't that Axe AX8?
I'd love to see a shootout between portable batterie powered amps for those times when a plug isn't available. Thanks!
This is looking like a good alternative to the Helix for me. I'm interested in something like this for gigging, and when I saw Daniel from Pain of Salvation (Rob, you seriously need to check this band out if you haven't already! I have a feeling they'd become a desert island band for you, especially on the "The Perfect Element Pt. 1" and "Remedy Lane" albums) using a Helix at their show in Toronto, it was amazing, and it looked like such a simple rig that's incredibly versatile, but I also love how this has far less steep of a learning curve than the Helix and that's where it has a huge appeal to me. I just want something I can plug into, not spend a huge amount of time messing around, and get a decent passable tone.
I wouldn't record with it. I have real amps for that. But when you're playing a bar or a small club, no one's going to care that you're using digital amp modelling, and no one's going to be able to tell the difference. And for gigs, that's where this is hugely appealing!
Just as any product of this type. A lot of options and you always go for the same old overdrive and reverb or delay....
Just have a nice pedalboard with a few analog pedals then ;)
Seriously, the big selling point of modellers is "A ton of amps and pedals for a fraction of the cost". Problem is for most applications you need a good clean, a good od and some ambiance. That's it! The rest is just down to playing the damn song from the heart! ;)
Antonio Duarte And that is something Boss seemed to understand making their Katana amps.
I like the touchscreen. Although I think it is quite overwhelming at first... probably would take hours and hours to go through everything..but that's what makes it fun....I think..
Dunno, touchscreens on the floor?
Yeah, I know, you'd wanna have it tweaked before ya gig..you can still control it with your feet..I still haven't bought in to these all in one platforms yet either. Still waiting til the best one emerges.
until some chick in the front row spills a drink on it or some stage diver tromps on it. also, leaning over to edit shit is very annoying. have a fender mustang floor unit and it gets old. much prefer a rack and indestructible foot controller.
Coppulor that could happen, for sure..
Coppulor would girls be more spilling-prone then blokes?
One problem many of these modeled things have (and Mustang amps are another example) is that the default settings are always way too extreme. You turned on the vibrato and immediately turned it off. Why? It was set to seasick right off the bat. If it started on a milder setting you might have stuck with it. It's too easy to end up with a caricature of a good sound that way. Just start me in a useful, left of noon place, and I can get a better feel for what this does and adjust from there.
Totally agree ...stompbox presets should use a 10 oclock or 30% starting point instead of the 50% (of every parameter) that seems to be used...
Same with the built in rigs or patches, they are always over the top and need a lot of tweaking just to get something usable.
Bought one yesterday with free 108 speaker and good price.
10:30 when you just handed over the ring of power to the bad guy look.
Fast forward to 2020 and neural dsp does this exact same thing and all of a sudden its the next big thing. Shows the power of marketing! Sadly I backed out of buying a quad cortex as their delivery schedules were just absolutely messed up. Was thinking of replacing my kemper, but never again :P
Seen the same factoid about "hands-free" editing in all of these Headrush demos/first impressions... it's the same feature that came out of the box in the Line 6 Helix.
ye boi, i've been waiting for that review
cabinets and amps simulations sounds ok, i would like to hear the harmonizer effect on this unit, i hope it doesnt have any of that chirpy sound that other cheap units have, it would bring this unit a step above all prevous brands and units I have tried in the past.
I love the Captain and Chappers, however with multi-effect and multi-genre equipment I feel these videos would feel slightly more complete with a greater roster of players. Ie please get B to drop some A, have some Danish blues and some soulful Mick. Just a friendly suggestions, love the content regardless!
Helix has the ability to adjust parameters on the fly with your feet. It is called Pedal edit mode.
+Rob Chapman +Capt
We all agree the Headrush is an intuitive/easy unit to use... but how does it sound, how does it feel? Are we talking old school digital sounds (POD, Eleven rack...)? Or does it feel organic like the newer stuff?
I need a comparison video, kemper vs helix vs headrush!
Alexander Radsby Think the Kemper is in a whole different price range. Probably not really comparable to these more affordable pieces.
Indeed, but I wonder if that higher price is due to its profiling features. In other words, it would be nice to hear a comparison at a sound emulation level only.
What's the point? They all work. They all make great sounds. I have the Headrush and I love it. I'd probably love the Helix too! It's just like comparing valve amps. They all do the same thing in different ways, so you buy the one that suits you. Comparisons are utterly pointless!
Chap said “fatten the load!” Then just stared into my soul. Like. FOREVER!
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but the DI out is the only output that will send an amp/cab sim....the regular output will not.
I like it. Could do with a bit less reverb but damn can Rob shred.
Eleven code... no wonder I like it. Nice, complex, saturated overdrive with a very tight ass end... Closer to an AX8 than a Helix. GOT IT and ITS AWESOME:)
Can you do a shootout between the Headrush and Line 6 Helix LT? That would be cool!!
i sold my fender deluxe reverb amp, mesa boogie, egnater tourmaster..
After trying the helix Lt at the guitar center, after watching all comparisons and all youtube videos and reading all reviews online... i knew helix is great coz im a former hd500 user and i love it. But i went decided buying the headrush coz it saves my time and time is gold. Its quicker to program sounds specially when u r onstage playing, you can make a quick change if you want. Helix and headrush are both good... i just need an easier interface. 👍🏼 actually i bought a helix bag for my headrush.
Yeah. The Helix backpack is awesome.
Message to the editor: if you get a recording when Rob stares at the camera for a few seconds, just like in 10:00, put a buffering circle over his head, PLEASE!
The Captain meets Ricky Tomlinson (from The Royle Family)
the beginning guitar sounds like the guitars on Soundgarden's "Outshined"
before anyone says "well you can do that if you want", yes I know I can. Just wondering why on all similar units to this the CAB/IR is always placed immediately after the amp in the signal chain, therefore before any post effects. in the real world cab & mic would be last in the chain.