Headrush Prime

[Guitarjon]

Hey all,

Headrush FX just released the new Prime pedalboard and they sent me one to demo. It's an interesting unit for sure. I will say straight up that it's not perfect but I'm having a lot of fun with it. I talk about it more in-depth in my review but here are some of the main/new features:

- Amp cloning
- ReValver amps/cabs
- Vocal effects including effects from Antares
- You can process entirely seperate vocal and guitar chains at once
- Nice touch screen hi rez interface

So some of the pros are that the user interface is really nice. Working with this thing is fun! I love how you can load an infinite amount of IRs. The effects are cool and it has some unique features!
Some of the cons are that the amp modeling feels a bit dated (that also counts for the revalver stuff), not all the stock cab/mic options sound good and the amp cloning isn't super accurate. As I said in the video, for high gain stuff it was a bit of a challange for me to find a tone that I liked within a short amount of time. It takes effort. More than with other modelers. That is just my own opinion though and it might be very different from yours.

If you have any questions, I'll be here to talk about it!

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

From what I can tell Headrush has good effects, easy to use interfaces, etc
...but their amp modeling is just so dated. It's like they did very very flight tweaks to mid 2000s modeling architecture

 

[GunpointMetal]

If this was made by Zoom and $500 cheaper I'd probably give it a shot.

 

[Xaios]

Have they announced a price?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Roll Out!

 

[Guitarjon]

Have they announced a price?

It's 1249 at Thomann

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

It's 1249 at Thomann

 

[rokket2005]

I saw something that you can load 3rd party VSTs too, which I assume is how they have Autotune built in. If it's done well it will have huge consequences for the rest of the modeling world. They snatched Neural's whole sandwich right out of their hand and ate it right in front of them. The biggest fuck you.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I saw something that you can load 3rd party VSTs too, which I assume is how they have Autotune built in. If it's done well it will have huge consequences for the rest of the modeling world. They snatched Neural's whole sandwich right out of their hand and ate it right in front of them. The biggest fuck you.

I read the manual a bit and I can't find anything about that.

I mean it's got some pretty cool ideas. Having wifi capabilities and linking to Dropbox to be able to transfer IRs, presets, and other misc files is actually pretty cool.

 

[BurningRome]

Headrush MX5 is by far the best User Interface experience I've had vs Helix Stomp, Line 6 GT1000 Core and Fractal FM9.

The touch screen and interface is how the other brands should be doing it.

 

[rokket2005]

I read the manual a bit and I can't find anything about that.

I mean it's got some pretty cool ideas. Having wifi capabilities and linking to Dropbox to be able to transfer IRs, presets, and other misc files is actually pretty cool.

Ah, Cordy had a video up before they got officially announced cause Thomann leaked them early or something and apparently there was some sort of VST hosting talk in the leak.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Ah, Cordy had a video up before they got officially announced cause Thomann leaked them early or something and apparently there was some sort of VST hosting talk in the leak.

I just watched the video and yeah, he was going by the fact the plugin Revalver itself can act as a VST host. In the end it's just the Prime using Revalver's amp modeling + amp capturing tech. Maybe it can be added in the future?

 

[CTID]

Headrush MX5 is by far the best User Interface experience I've had vs Helix Stomp, Line 6 GT1000 Core and Fractal FM9.

The touch screen and interface is how the other brands should be doing it.

agreed, but to me the sound is still more important. i'd take a slightly more difficult interface with my helix with better models, over the interface being better on the headrush, but the modeling being worse imo

 

[op1e]

I think this is new tech and not 11 Rack carried forward like the previous Headrush boards. That's why I stayed away before. Damn 11R came out same time as my gsp1101, I already have outdated amp modeling that I know how to deal with lol.

 

[Spinedriver]

I just watched the video and yeah, he was going by the fact the plugin Revalver itself can act as a VST host. In the end it's just the Prime using Revalver's amp modeling + amp capturing tech. Maybe it can be added in the future?

So it has all of the ReValver amps from version 4 ? I seem to recall it being ok but that was years ago and something tells me all of the 'deep editing' ReValver had won't be in the Headrush (ie: changing the plate voltages of the pre/power tubes, bias, etc...).

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

So it has all of the ReValver amps from version 4 ?

I'm guessing so? Headrush's parent company owns the company that did Revalver now so they can use their modeling architecture now.

 

[shredmonster76]

I had the original headrush pedal board, and while it was really cool and easy to use interface wise, it just didn't sound great to me. I used it in 4 cable with my evh stealth as the tone because i didn't care for the amp models. i sold it after a year and got an fm3. straight out of the box the fm3 sounded fantastic, I made some edited presets of the petrucci rig and and thats it, im done. I don't even use the tone from the stealth anymore, its just a power amp these days. i typically don't like to mess with settings much, but the interface on the fractal was easy enough that i could dial in my tones easy enough. i care much more about how it sounds versus how easy it is to navigate the interface. also, from my experience, fractal is much more active about updating their products and adding features.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I'm guessing so? Headrush's parent company owns the company that did Revalver now so they can use their modeling architecture now.

I doubt the Headrush will allow you to modify the amps.

 

[cindarkness]

So it's 2x the price and 4x the size of my current MX5 🤔

I might consider selling the MX5 and getting this but I'm definitely going to hold onto it for now. I do like the bigger touchscreen, more pleasant looking UI and the addition of Revalver amps - if they're anything good of course..

The vocal stuff and capture tech isn't my thing. I do see myself capturing some of my II II II II tones though.
The big boooooo from me is the lack of a PC editor of course, what the heck Headrush? Just make it happen.. But it's 2023 and even the Quad Cortex still doesn't have one.

 

[Spinedriver]

So it's 2x the price and 4x the size of my current MX5 🤔

I might consider selling the MX5 and getting this but I'm definitely going to hold onto it for now. I do like the bigger touchscreen, more pleasant looking UI and the addition of Revalver amps - if they're anything good of course..

The vocal stuff and capture tech isn't my thing. I do see myself capturing some of my II II II II tones though.
The big boooooo from me is the lack of a PC editor of course, what the heck Headrush? Just make it happen.. But it's 2023 and even the Quad Cortex still doesn't have one.

The Cortex doesn't have any kind of editiing software ? From the company that primarily sells VSTs !??!
That just doesn't make any sense.