New Headrush pedalboard: Headrush Prime

I think Mitch Gallagher nailed it in the Sweetwater video when he called this a “Workstation.”

As a reformed keyboardist that word has a specific meaning. In a keyboard workstation you expect it to be able to do everything at a professional level, but it might not be easy or inspiring to get it to do those things.

I think a lot of keyboardists don’t care because they appreciate having everything in the box. Other ones care about how a Rhodes feels drastically different from Triton which feels drastically different from a B3. It’s very analogous to what’s going on in the guitar world now.
 
Headrush Prime is (IMO) worth the sub $1200 cost (after discount at GC).
Marshall JCM and Bogner Ecstasy tones (to my ears) sounded/responded good.

Already having Helix, ToneX, etc... I was most interested in the Amp/Pedal "clone" feature.
For me, that was a bit of a let down (due to additional latency).
Once I had input levels figured out (near ~0dB), the Clones actually sounded good.
With input levels at ~-6dB, decays sounded off/strange (not smooth into the noise-floor).

For someone who doesn't already have a modeler... HRP offers a lot for the cost.
Most folks could play a gig or record with it... without issue.
Is HRP enough to sway folks away from their current preferred guitar processor?
That's a much higher bar/threshold...
 
Initially this thing really piqued my interest because I am a a singing guitarist and it doesn't just have auto-tune, it has comps, delays, gates, and other vocal fx that I use. On top of that as some here know, I am a big fan of having EVERYTHING all in one box.

That said, I was watching some of the vids for the vocals portion of the Prime (and the looper) and thought I'd compare what can be done with HR Prime to my current rig which is my LT and Digitech Vocalist FX Live. Digitech with LT is a better rig IMHO. I don't really use auto-tune all that much, and when I do it's definitely much easier to use on my Digitech. Also I have a lot more delays, reverbs and everything else on the Digitech.

Vocals portion on the Prime eats up possible guitar DSP and my vocal pedal does not. It's not really that much of a bother to have my vocal pedal next to the Helix on stage. So for now It's a pass for me but who knows, maybe down the road I will grab one. Capturing and using captured rigs is interesting to me but I am very happy with the way my LT is dialed in.
 
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the swede said:
if one had an 2004 VoxTonelab SE? Asking for a friend…
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Pfft. You TGF guys just can't help buying the latest shiny thing. I hear the Headrush Prime MkII is coming out next week. The old Prime will be worthless!

mission-impossible-self-destruct.gif
 
Lysander said:
Stomptrooper owners, represent!
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I borrowed a stomp and the 1 path thing was just too restrictive after having a Helix Floor and LT for so long. I unfortunately need too many things on the same path as a poly capo so I couldn't even use separate patches for different effects.
 
Bob Zaod said:
I borrowed a stomp and the 1 path thing was just too restrictive after having a Helix Floor and LT for so long. I unfortunately need too many things on the same path as a poly capo so I couldn't even use separate patches for different effects.
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DSP usage is much improved past fw 3.5. I mentioned this elsewhere: it's not full-blown Helix, but i rarely have to compromise when building presets anymore.

Also, the Stomp can do dual paths just fine?
 
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Bob Zaod said:
I borrowed a stomp and the 1 path thing was just too restrictive after having a Helix Floor and LT for so long. I unfortunately need too many things on the same path as a poly capo so I couldn't even use separate patches for different effects.
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If you sit down with a Stomp expecting it to "replace" a Helix Floor/ LT/ Rack, yeah, there are a lot of pain points. The limitations in terms of path independence always get me. UI is also a little bit clumsier, of course.

BUT the Stomp is so fantastically small, and every time I think, "Oh, I'm going to need to buy an X..." I remember that there are like 400 of them in my Stomp. :D
 
Lysander said:
Also, the Stomp can do dual paths just fine?
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I don't think it's capable of doing two completely independent paths, each with its own input and output. (Though I may be mistaken, or it may be possible to "fake" this with some hard panning or whatever.)
 
mbenigni said:
I don't think it's capable of doing two completely independent paths, each with its own input and output. (Though I may be mistaken, or it may be possible to "fake" this with some hard panning or whatever.)
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Right. Sorry, i misread @Bob Zaod 's comment as asking for parallel signal paths - yeah, Stomps cannot do independent paths like Helix does.
 
mbenigni said:
I don't think it's capable of doing two completely independent paths, each with its own input and output. (Though I may be mistaken, or it may be possible to "fake" this with some hard panning or whatever.)
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There is a Rig configuration where the vocal and guitar inputs are separate... and the processing paths are separate.
What's not possible is routing the vocal and guitar to separate outputs (at least not via analog outputs).
Not sure when recording via USB. It may be possible to record vocal and guitar outputs separately.
 
Lysander said:
DSP usage is much improved past fw 3.5. I mentioned this elsewhere: it's not full-blown Helix, but i rarely have to compromise when building presets anymore.

Also, the Stomp can do dual paths just fine?
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The 80's Metal tribute thing I think I could do it. But even that I need a poly capo, amp, cab, and a chorus. Not sure I could pull that off with a Stomp. Easy way to try is see if I could do it on one path with my LT. To me the extra real estate of the LT is worth it because I have both gigs I am involved in covered in one patch plus a couple synth patches if I feel like using them.
 
The product looks feature rich. The helix came a long way since its first firmware so if there are small things they can be bettered over time.......BUT my biggest concern is that Headrush product support and updates have been historically lacking. Inmusic is a shell of a company. They bought ReValver and BFD years ago and have done next to nothing with them...except apparently put their IRs on this platform. I have zero faith that Inmusic and Headrush will progress the platform. Only the future can tell.
 
dean701 said:
BUT my biggest concern is that Headrush product support and updates have been historically lacking. Inmusic is a shell of a company. They bought ReValver and BFD years ago and have done next to nothing with them...except apparently put their IRs on this platform. I have zero faith that Inmusic and Headrush will progress the platform. Only the future can tell.
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Certainly understand the concern/sentiment
FWIW, Inmusic has done a decent job supporting the newer MPC Key-61.
They've released numerous firmware updates... as well as developing optional (a la cart) instrument/effects "plugins".

If you're expecting Fractal/Cliff level support with firmware updates, I don't see that happening.
I'd expect to see similar to what Headrush did with the original unit. Firmware updates are fewer/slower than Line-6... but more often than Boss.
 
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