Great review, John. I must admit that I've been having a ball with mine as well. The interface is fantastic, the sounds good enough (it's not an Axe-FX but it will be ample for most) and its simplicity is refreshing. If I had to decide between this and the Helix, I'd pick the HeadRush every time. I just hope the HeadRush crew bring some updated models to the table and soon. Some of the Eleven code is starting to date in comparison to the competition. That's my only gripe, though. Thanks again.
2.0 has brought a few more amps and over a hundred IR's and Choptones has some free rigs and IR's now too. Also there is some free downloadable artist rigs now too.
I have own the Helix. Very great board. The massive amounts of effect and stomps are fantastic. But the amp models which are great are not the same as the Headrush. The HR sounds and feels more realistic to me. I have also gone back to back with my settings with an AX8. It was to me just as good. I still liked my HR better. It has something that I find real and sounds great. I did miss some of the Helix effects. So I bought the HX effects and run it the HR. Best of both worlds now. 😁✊
I had chance to test drive one today and was impressed. It is my favorite of the new multi FX boards. I do wish the wah pedal affects were better. But the rest are good.
I'm loving the Headrush but totally agree. The wah lacks feel and the open closed transition is way too on or off. Morely wah sound nothing like my Morely.
The ability to adjust delay feedback and mix with the pedal is a pretty big selling point. You can get some real great effects from that. I usually can't do that outside of automating the delay inside of the DAW.
John, can you tell us how the overdrive quality is, compared to say any Boss/Roland multi-effects pedal? I know it's got mad functionality, but I can't find anything that rates the sound quality. And can you run two overdrives together? Say a Tube Screamer type with a Boss Turbo Overdrive?
AFAIK, there is no PC-based rig editing. The Eleven Rack had one; perhaps that's what John's thinking of. I own one of these, after having had an 11R. My only complaint - also a problem with the 11R - is that the rigs are not volume-bal;anced at the output level. For example, you can take the Twin and Matchless amp models and the Twin is not nearly as loud as the Matchless. You can manually balance the rigs, but each rig has to be done separately. It would be great if you could set a global output level that applied to all rigs and then mod individual rigs accordingly. It's only a voltage or current setting, after all.
I LOVE this thing…BUT….. I’ve been playing with the Headrest Pedalboard for a week and absolutely love it. BUT it has a huge flaw (for me) that makes impossible for me to use on stage. If you could assign/save a saved loop to a “Rig” I’d buy this thing today. For me, I use a looper like a sampler sometimes to run a saved loop during a song. Since I can’t scroll through the saved loops & load them with your foot it means that between each song on stage I have to enable the looper section, bend down select & load the sample by hand. I have about 40 samples stored in a Jamman I just tap through for each song. I was thrilled to load them all in via USB / simple drag & drop, only to find out there was no way to access or load them with any of the 12 pedals :( Also, the fact that the looper switch is on the top far right and the record/start/stop are on the bottom far left is inconvenient too. If I want to quick add a little loop, jump back and play something over it it’s about 5 or 6 moves from either end of the pedal board back & forth. Hard to do on stage without looking like you’re playing hackysack, or wiping out. To start and stop a loop you have step to the left or cross your legs. Would be so great if they were next to each other. Other things that would make it perfect (for me) would be if the looper had a one time start single trigger setting. Also an XLR in for a mic would be epic. I could live without those things, but not having to load samples by hand each song. I really hope they can come up with an update that solves this problem. If so I’ll buy one immediately. I was so excited about this thing. So much this is the 1st time I’ve ever even written a review on anything. Other wise. Killer pedal, built like a tank. Wish I could make it work for my shows. - Cheers all - Dan
Everyone who is in the market for one of these eventually ends up at this point, lol. For me, it came down to price. The Helix is $1000 dearer in Australia and I don't hear $1000 worth of difference between them.
Does the line out have the cabinet sim removed, or when you give us the mic'd amp sound, are we hearing a cabinet sim, then put through a real cabinet?
pretty sure it has the option to remove the cab sim from the signal chain. I think you'll need to put a power amp between the board and the cab though.
I would have much rather have a video that shows the quality of teh effects and amp models and using it live not the looper...the looper is just an extra add on...you find a preset called whammy shred and you dont shred or use it as a normal whammy pedal?? this review made me think this was a cheap digitech multi effect with a looper instead of teh awesome modeler this headrush truly is this competes with axe fx and kemper not some cheap multi effect unit
Dennis Breault.What you read and what you experience in person, are two different things. To me it sounds more organic than the Line 6 helix, tried both at Guitar Center.
If I’m it mistaken Akai bought the rights to the Avid Eleven Rack software and then they tweaked that code and integrated into their own hardware. I have an 11R. I’d love to compare it to the HR.
I think I like almost everything about this thing but the weight. 15 and a half pounds, really? Even my GT-6 is starting to feel too heavy lugging around and that's only 10 lbs
gibvel I believe that headrush has the power supply/transformer housed inside the board explaining why it weighs what it does. Nice to have just the cord running to the power outlet.
Fred Garvin if you need a lot of tones and do not want a lot of cables, this is the way to go. However, if you only need one "amp sound" flavored by your choice is stomp pedals, an "all in one box" would be overkill. Different tools for different jobs.
A lot of gear companies are cheap as hell. With crappy screens forcing you to use a computer, never enough memory, no power switches, cheap materials. We are stupid for putting up with this.
Bolinger is such a fantastic musician. Love his playing and his reviews.
I realize it is quite randomly asking but does anyone know a good site to stream newly released tv shows online?
@Rhett Myles Try FlixZone. You can find it on google =)
Love to own the Headrush effects pedal board, great review.
Great review, John. I must admit that I've been having a ball with mine as well. The interface is fantastic, the sounds good enough (it's not an Axe-FX but it will be ample for most) and its simplicity is refreshing. If I had to decide between this and the Helix, I'd pick the HeadRush every time. I just hope the HeadRush crew bring some updated models to the table and soon. Some of the Eleven code is starting to date in comparison to the competition. That's my only gripe, though. Thanks again.
2.0 has brought a few more amps and over a hundred IR's and Choptones has some free rigs and IR's now too. Also there is some free downloadable artist rigs now too.
I🤣
Great pedalboard, and very organic sounding IMO.
I have own the Helix. Very great board. The massive amounts of effect and stomps are fantastic. But the amp models which are great are not the same as the Headrush. The HR sounds and feels more realistic to me. I have also gone back to back with my settings with an AX8. It was to me just as good. I still liked my HR better. It has something that I find real and sounds great. I did miss some of the Helix effects. So I bought the HX effects and run it the HR. Best of both worlds now. 😁✊
I had chance to test drive one today and was impressed. It is my favorite of the new multi FX boards. I do wish the wah pedal affects were better. But the rest are good.
I'm loving the Headrush but totally agree. The wah lacks feel and the open closed transition is way too on or off. Morely wah sound nothing like my Morely.
@@lawsiesteve1649 you know you can set the perimeters for the wah so you can set it off and on at what ever position you want
The ability to adjust delay feedback and mix with the pedal is a pretty big selling point.
You can get some real great effects from that. I usually can't do that outside of automating the delay inside of the DAW.
That's a great tool . Dig the reviews John . Good Job
I want it. Now.
thanks,,been on the fence, but great review,,might grab it
Mine is on its way!!!! 😁
another cool thing is that you can record loops and save them
Super fun review. Thank you.
Great explanation!!!! Best one out there.
Best is here, but more for those that own one vs quick overview…. ruclips.net/video/dYucwWmPBl8/видео.html
Great Playing. What is the colour of your prs called. I can't find it anywhere. Beautiful looking guitar.
can it be used for bass... if so could you also do another demo with a bass guitar great review by the way cheers rob
Yes it can. It only has 1 bass model at the moment which is a SVT Blueline model. It has bass presets as well.
Would love to hear what it sounds like through that amp,,,,,
Great demo! Seems like the clean tones are great, the dirt tones suck.
John, can you tell us how the overdrive quality is, compared to say any Boss/Roland multi-effects pedal? I know it's got mad functionality, but I can't find anything that rates the sound quality. And can you run two overdrives together? Say a Tube Screamer type with a Boss Turbo Overdrive?
It's best to use the amp and pedal on the big box and use the rest of the modular effects on it and use real stomp box overdrive for real amp
That intro was bad-ass
AFAIK, there is no PC-based rig editing. The Eleven Rack had one; perhaps that's what John's thinking of.
I own one of these, after having had an 11R. My only complaint - also a problem with the 11R - is that the rigs are not volume-bal;anced at the output level. For example, you can take the Twin and Matchless amp models and the Twin is not nearly as loud as the Matchless. You can manually balance the rigs, but each rig has to be done separately. It would be great if you could set a global output level that applied to all rigs and then mod individual rigs accordingly. It's only a voltage or current setting, after all.
In the global settings there are some volumes settings for Db, maybe you can do it from there?
tbh I haven't found the need of a PC editor with how simple this thing itself is to use. But I know that HR is working on a PC editor
I LOVE this thing…BUT…..
I’ve been playing with the Headrest Pedalboard for a week and absolutely love it. BUT it has a huge flaw (for me) that makes impossible for me to use on stage. If you could assign/save a saved loop to a “Rig” I’d buy this thing today. For me, I use a looper like a sampler sometimes to run a saved loop during a song. Since I can’t scroll through the saved loops & load them with your foot it means that between each song on stage I have to enable the looper section, bend down select & load the sample by hand. I have about 40 samples stored in a Jamman I just tap through for each song. I was thrilled to load them all in via USB / simple drag & drop, only to find out there was no way to access or load them with any of the 12 pedals :(
Also, the fact that the looper switch is on the top far right and the record/start/stop are on the bottom far left is inconvenient too. If I want to quick add a little loop, jump back and play something over it it’s about 5 or 6 moves from either end of the pedal board back & forth. Hard to do on stage without looking like you’re playing hackysack, or wiping out. To start and stop a loop you have step to the left or cross your legs. Would be so great if they were next to each other.
Other things that would make it perfect (for me) would be if the looper had a one time start single trigger setting. Also an XLR in for a mic would be epic. I could live without those things, but not having to load samples by hand each song.
I really hope they can come up with an update that solves this problem. If so I’ll buy one immediately. I was so excited about this thing. So much this is the 1st time I’ve ever even written a review on anything. Other wise. Killer pedal, built like a tank. Wish I could make it work for my shows. - Cheers all - Dan
they have a looperboard, I'm not sure hwo well it integrates with pedalboard though
Put the looper in the HR effects loop
Will it make a cup of tea?
Can the aux be used as monitor in for in-ear use?
I like it!
Me agrada lo que veo !
have you done a 2.0 update?
I sold my POD and now looking for a floor model like this. It's either this or Helix.
I was in the same position as you and im so glad i went with the HeadRush
Everyone who is in the market for one of these eventually ends up at this point, lol. For me, it came down to price. The Helix is $1000 dearer in Australia and I don't hear $1000 worth of difference between them.
@Tommy Deluciano you could have just got a bad helix, but the headrush is a great tool too
Why not demo it direct to PA?
did you put that in front of the amp or in an effects loop?
Does the line out have the cabinet sim removed, or when you give us the mic'd amp sound, are we hearing a cabinet sim, then put through a real cabinet?
pretty sure it has the option to remove the cab sim from the signal chain. I think you'll need to put a power amp between the board and the cab though.
Thanks. I figured that was possible. What I was asking was whether they defeated the cab sim for this demo. Just wanted to know what I was hearing.
nunca vi nenhum guitarrista famoso tocar com pedaleira
« This is JUST a way to amplify ».... and you’re skipping cab simulation which is the most important factor for axe fx style hardware
I would have much rather have a video that shows the quality of teh effects and amp models and using it live not the looper...the looper is just an extra add on...you find a preset called whammy shred and you dont shred or use it as a normal whammy pedal?? this review made me think this was a cheap digitech multi effect with a looper instead of teh awesome modeler this headrush truly is this competes with axe fx and kemper not some cheap multi effect unit
someone recognize he has the hair form michael myers in Halloween H20 :D
It's better with a PRS ...
Anyone know if the Beatbuddy drum pedal will sync up with this looper via MIDI?
Now that's a good question. I have that pedal too. Getting this board tomorrow. I'll hook it up and try.
6:00 tweaking on gear
ya versatile but heard it sounds digitally er shitty lol at least what i read. is the tc electrictronics G system better sounding?
Dennis Breault.What you read and what you experience in person, are two different things.
To me it sounds more organic than the Line 6 helix, tried both at Guitar Center.
and... does it have DRUM MACHINE !!! :-)
No drum machine
I wonder if they will see a lawsuit from Akai.
They ARE Akai. Owned by Akai.
is this not made by Avid? Avid does not own Akai.
Avid and Akai and Headrush and a ton of other companies are all owned by the same mother company
Akai is owned by Grande Holdings. They do not own Avid.
If I’m it mistaken Akai bought the rights to the Avid Eleven Rack software and then they tweaked that code and integrated into their own hardware. I have an 11R. I’d love to compare it to the HR.
I think I like almost everything about this thing but the weight. 15 and a half pounds, really? Even my GT-6 is starting to feel too heavy lugging around and that's only 10 lbs
gibvel I believe that headrush has the power supply/transformer housed inside the board explaining why it weighs what it does. Nice to have just the cord running to the power outlet.
A 1,000 dollars for this thing. I will stay with my stomp boxes.
jealous ? ...
@@mick2181 over confident!??!
Not getting suckered into another all in one box.
Fred Garvin if you need a lot of tones and do not want a lot of cables, this is the way to go. However, if you only need one "amp sound" flavored by your choice is stomp pedals, an "all in one box" would be overkill. Different tools for different jobs.
Man all the effects or rigs you chose sound bad
toy
It's expensive that's for sure but it's a tool not a toy, if you don't have a use for doesn't mean it's a toy.
Watch your timing bro, otherwise awesome
I think that my hd500x with models pack is better than this headrush
Rubgar the hd500x is great, but is difficult to dial in. Most headrush users find this easier to use and dial in.
A lot of gear companies are cheap as hell. With crappy screens forcing you to use a computer, never enough memory, no power switches, cheap materials. We are stupid for putting up with this.