Hi @aspiers,
Here are some things that have made an impression on me after a couple weeks using the Headrush Pedalboard. They have their own terminology with some slight logical differences (setlists, songs, rigs, scenes vs. banks, pedalboards, snapshots). I’m sticking with the MOD terminology here and glossing over some functional nuance in the features where it’s not important.
Building pedalboards
- Grid layout - uses a block-based layout system with a few different options available for splitting and merging the signal path. Tap an open slot, select an amp/cab/effect, done. It is automatically connected into the signal chain appropriately.
- Drag 'n drop - change the order of effects around arbitrarily just by dragging to a different slot, no need for disconnect+reconnect dance.
- Demo’ing sounds - you can cycle through different effects available when filling or editing a slot by jogging a dial - instant comparisons. To find out what the 9 different flanger or 17 different fuzz pedals sounded like I was creating tedious temporary setups using switchboxes for example.
- Amp + Cab combos - being targeted toward guitar players, naturally it comes with a good stock of high-quality amp and cab simulators. There’s also a good selection of third-party vendors providing IR kits for a variety of sounds/genres. There’s an option for linking amp+cabs where if you select an amp the associated cab will automatically be placed next to it. When a slot has an amp/cab it has an option to double up so you can have 2 amps and/or cabs and they don’t have to be of the same model. Nothing earth-shattering, but another nice touch that helps speed up building.
Adjusting / Exploring
- Auto-mapped controls - when you build pedalboards, each slot that you fill automatically gets mapped to an available footswitch. Drop a distortion effect into a pedalboard and you now have a footswitch hooked up to operate it as a stompbox.
- Hands-free mode - hold the footswitch for an effect and you can access a hands-free editing mode using the footswitches and exp. pedal for selecting and modifying parameters.
- Foot navigation - a hold on a dedicated footswitch gives you a menu to adjust the layout/function of the footswitches for a few different modes. It’s easy to use and once you get used to it, you can easily navigate between Banks, within Banks, and manage your current pedalboard within a few foot presses.
File Transfer / Firmware update
- File Manager - a dedicated app that connects to the device and lets you manage your files in clearly marked directories for: banks, pedalboards, IR files, and looper files. Duo backup/restore is opaque and I happen to know how to access the data directly only because I’m curious and Linux-capable.
- Access Looper files - You can save your looper audio into named files and retrieve them with the file manager. You can add samples / backing tracks via the file manager and then load them in the looper
Reverb tails
Support built-in for handling reverb tails when changing state or switching snapshots. I don’t have a good sense of how well this is handled across the board with digital effects products. Headrush highlights it on the product box and I’m increasingly aware that this is a pretty important audio capability to support, especially for modern or post-rock musicians relying on modulated signals.
Looper pre/post
The looper is intended as a one-trick pony and will never be much use to people who rely on looping for recording or performing. Even so, it’s been really useful to have at the ready for spontaneous moments. As well, the looper has a handy “pre/post” option and by setting “pre” you move the looper to the start of the signal chain. Loop a few chords or a solo line in this mode and then you can start dialing in the parameters without having to touch the instrument.
Production build quality
I struggled with noise/static on the Duo, constantly fiddling with In/Out gains, guitar pickup volume, different combos of amp/cab plugins and pre/post levels. So far no noticeable noise except for some that creeps in on the hottest or super-verby boards (as expected).
Cohesive set of effects
I’m aware of concern for being too generic or too limited but I’ve found from my experience and research that you can get a wide variety of sounds and fine-tune as needed. I like that each of the effects has been hand-selected and designed to work with the system as a whole.
Routing overrides / Alternate outputs
You can override the outputs in the settings and use different outputs for different points in the signal chain (like send the dry signal through the line outs, and the wet signal through the XLR outs). The feature is useful if you need to move between a PA and amp so you can choose whether to include amp/cab processing in the output or not without having to modify your pedalboards.
Audio interface / Re-amping
Use it as an audio interface for recording, or run your recorded clean signal through from the DAW to apply effects processing and capture the wet signal
