stringrazor
Inspired
A good friend left his Headrush pedal with me overnight and I got to spend more time with it than I did at NAMM and also put it head-to-head (with no rush :-D ) with my Axe II.
I found the models I listened to too bright before EQ. My go-to Axe model model is a Vibrolux with a 1-12 cab. On the HR, that combo, naked, is bright and scooped. It can be made to sound pretty good but the available parms are extremely limited compared to what the Axe offers in the amp block.
There's no pitch block available right now in the HR other than an Octave fx so no generated harmonies are possible (a showstopper for me).
UPDATE: I was wrong, they hid the harmonizer function under EXPRESSION. Looks like it needs to be assigned to an expression pedal but I didn't get a chance to suss it out. Next time
Control-wise, I didn't see a way to have an expression pedal turn a wah on/off just by using the pedal.
The looper is a high point for the HR. I didn't test the claimed 20 minute capacity but the interface easily let me record, overdub, play/record at half or double speed, play half or extend the loop, an peel back overdub layers in the order recorded.
I do love the color-coded scribble strips....
My conclusion is that the HR is decent overall but really shines visually. The interface is brilliant. Editing can easily be done onstage. The looper is done well too. The patches aka "Rigs" can be made to sound pretty good and for many I guess the lack of deep editing and simplicity of the parms offered is a good thing. I was disappointed in the missing pitch functions. <UPDATE: it's there, not capable of custom harmonies tho'> I'm glad I had this opportunity because it really makes me appreciate my Axe II more. The HR interface may be stunning but one doesn't play the interface and the Axe II is several orders of magnitude deeper in tone shaping capabilities. The HR of course has the capability for user-upgradable f/w so I would expect some improvement but it's been out for a while and it's obvious upgrade frequency isn't what we here have come to be used to.
I found the models I listened to too bright before EQ. My go-to Axe model model is a Vibrolux with a 1-12 cab. On the HR, that combo, naked, is bright and scooped. It can be made to sound pretty good but the available parms are extremely limited compared to what the Axe offers in the amp block.
There's no pitch block available right now in the HR other than an Octave fx so no generated harmonies are possible (a showstopper for me).
UPDATE: I was wrong, they hid the harmonizer function under EXPRESSION. Looks like it needs to be assigned to an expression pedal but I didn't get a chance to suss it out. Next time
Control-wise, I didn't see a way to have an expression pedal turn a wah on/off just by using the pedal.
The looper is a high point for the HR. I didn't test the claimed 20 minute capacity but the interface easily let me record, overdub, play/record at half or double speed, play half or extend the loop, an peel back overdub layers in the order recorded.
I do love the color-coded scribble strips....
My conclusion is that the HR is decent overall but really shines visually. The interface is brilliant. Editing can easily be done onstage. The looper is done well too. The patches aka "Rigs" can be made to sound pretty good and for many I guess the lack of deep editing and simplicity of the parms offered is a good thing. I was disappointed in the missing pitch functions. <UPDATE: it's there, not capable of custom harmonies tho'> I'm glad I had this opportunity because it really makes me appreciate my Axe II more. The HR interface may be stunning but one doesn't play the interface and the Axe II is several orders of magnitude deeper in tone shaping capabilities. The HR of course has the capability for user-upgradable f/w so I would expect some improvement but it's been out for a while and it's obvious upgrade frequency isn't what we here have come to be used to.
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