Headrush Pedal board. Eleven modeling

Last question (tonight) - I noticed nobody has mentioned the "K Word" (Kemper). Is it a player in this game and/or worthy of consideration?
 
Last question (tonight) - I noticed nobody has mentioned the "K Word" (Kemper). Is it a player in this game and/or worthy of consideration?

I own a Kemper. It's a great unit in its own right, however by comparison, effects aren't necessarily its strong suit. Pound for pound, FAS offers a larger range of higher quality effects overall, especially reverb.
 
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Let's see: in both mono AND stereo, we've got flange, phase, slap/tape echo, .99 pitch shift, doubler, chorus, env follower, wan, whammy, vol ... oh, yeah - reverb.

Did I leave anything out? Ah, yes - a looper, please.

I will download/demo the editor when I return to civilization Tuesday - assuming one can do so w/o having an FAS device to speak to.

On that topic, is the FX8 at its end-of-product cycle and perhaps a long-term dead end? Is it's processing up to par with (dare I say) Helix/HR and/or other FAS?

The FX8 is a great unit, however as its namesake implies, it's only capable of running 8 effects simultaneously and lacks a looper. The AX8 might very well meet your needs, and the Axe FX II will definitely meet or exceed your requirements, no question.
 
... and tremolo, and pitch-shift stereo vibrato, and (wait for it) gapless preset changes with tail-over echo/reverb and Groovy Hip Multicolor scribble strips while you're at it.

In other words - if I'm dropping Cubic Dollars on anything more than an FX8 or HR (which seems like saving money short-term but maybe not such a great long-term game plan) it had best do it all - or at least quite a bit. (Scribble strips was a joke, gapless tail-over not a joke).

Just read Joe Gore's 12/16 Premier Guitar review and watched John Bohlinger's video (both of whom I know and trust) and it's looking like I'll be selling another vintage U87 sooner than later...
 
4) I'm not gigging, nor am I engineering anymore (well, sadly not very often). I'd probably fall into the "bedroom player" category I see mentioned here (except it's my office). That said, I do appreciate both quality and functionality - as well as not wasting time. If we limit use to stereo effects and no amp modeling, would you still drop your $$$$ on FAS? If yes, which one(s)? What would your FAS "fx only" setup look like?

5) Was your FAS a "first purchase" in an "all-in-one" or did you graduate up to it? If so, what was your path?

6) Have you had any hands-on experience with the Helix or Headrush (11R) products? Better yet, any A/B taste tests?

4) I rarely use the front panel. I'm a knob, and I don't bother with it except for specific things that can only be done on the front panel. For creating presets, the PC editor is delightful. It could not be easier. If you're a bedroom player, it makes all the more sense to use the editor because you don't have to worry about bringing a laptop to your gig. Regarding FX only with no modeling, that's actually what I bought the Axe FX II XL+ for in the first place (see #5 below).

5) My preamp was an ADA MP-1, and the all-in-one FX was a Rocktron Intellifex. I outgrew the Rocktron and wanted more and better quality FX for my MP-1 rig. I bought the Axe after reading reviews and lurking here. I was NOT looking for any modeling, just FX. Well, that didn't last, because while I was happy with the MP-1, it was a one-trick pony, and it didn't make sense to not use the Axe's modeling for what I was trying to achieve, so I built a new rig around the FAS. The MP-1 is back in its old pedal & cab-based rig collecting dust.

6) I have no experience with Helix or 11R, but I do not fee like I am missing anything.
 
My 2c's, I got my AX8 to use multi-fx and MIDI control my JVM410, the amp modeling I thought would be nice for home recording.
A few months later the JVM was gone and I use the Fractal for everything, the reason is the tones are just too good.
I think if I'd got anything else I would have just ended up being disappointed

If Bollinger's a mate of your have a chat with him about the AX8 as he certainly seemed very impressed with it when he reviewed it

And on a more general note about the Headrush, the interface looks to be very good but I really dont like the tones people like Marco and Burgs are getting out of them in videos
YMMV
 
Thx, AK - your story is by no means unusual - seems like a lot of FracHeads wound up becoming such without fully intending to. Speaks volumes for the user experience.

I had a great conversation re: same with Andrew @FAS this morning - seems the more I dig into it the more it's becoming a decision between an AX8 or a II+. My gut is that the FX8 is a fine product (at an easier price point to sneak past Purchasing) but something tells me the Audiot in me will run up against CPU limitations waaaay too soon. There's truly no substitute for horsepower.

Bohlinger is a mutual acquaintance more than mate - but that doesn't alter the clear enthusiasm that he so many other "pro's" have for these products.

As I mentioned to Andrew: "looks like it's time to sell another U87 from the storage closet..."
 
I'm coming to the conclusion (quite rapidly, I might add) the NOBODY'S effects are in the league as the Axe FX (within the realm of guitar/instrument devices, that is).

On the topic of effect processing power: Andrew linked me to a Wiki post stating that the AX8 does, indeed, have more overall processing power than the FX b/c it has a second processor that is 100% dedicated to amp/cab modeling only. Put another way, the effects processor in both units (AX and FX) is exactly the same, and given the same processing blocks being run on both devices they will both hit CPU overload at the exact same point.
 
On the topic of effect processing power: Andrew linked me to a Wiki post stating that the AX8 does, indeed, have more overall processing power than the FX b/c it has a second processor that is 100% dedicated to amp/cab modeling only. Put another way, the effects processor in both units (AX and FX) is exactly the same, and given the same processing blocks being run on both devices they will both hit CPU overload at the exact same point.

Between the two, the primary advantage of the AX8 is the ability to run more than 8 effects simultaneously.
 
Between the two, the primary advantage of the AX8 is the ability to run more than 8 effects simultaneously.

Unless you use CPU intensive effects a lot, like reverb, delays, pitchshift, certain drives, in which case you'll hit the CPU wall pretty fast with less then 8 effects just as easy.
 
Unless you use CPU intensive effects a lot, like reverb, delays, pitchshift, certain drives, in which case you'll hit the CPU wall pretty fast with less then 8 effects just as easy.

Sure, but with the FX8 it doesn't matter whether you hit the CPU threshold or not. 8 effects is the limit.
 
Sure, but with the FX8 it doesn't matter whether you hit the CPU threshold or not. 8 effects is the limit.

Nothing wrong with 8 effects tops though. Unless I switched on all my pedals at once I don't think I've ever ran 8 pedals at the same time when I was still using a (huge) pedalboard. I bought the Line6 Pod HD 500 based on that it could run 8 effects in total. Only to be severely disappointed by it hitting the CPU wall with less effects. If a modeler could actually do 8 effects, including CPU intensive ones, without hitting that CPU threshold I'll gladly take that 8 effects limit.
 
Nothing wrong with 8 effects tops though.

There is in my case because that includes more than just reverb, delay and distortion. It includes things like EQ and compression, and I can easily use 3 blocks just for shaping EQ alone. Some of my favorite presets use more than 10 blocks, not including the amp and cab.
 
In my opinion, the HeadRush's effects aren't in the same league as the Axe FX.

No, but for what its intended..LIVE...this is not an issue at all. The delays, reverbs and choruses i tried on the HR where great for live use and in a mix, the quality difference can be hardly noticeable when dialed correctly.
 
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